An (internet) star is born

And I’m not talking about Hady Mirza who won Asian Idol – I don’t actually care about what’s on the tube. Whats on Youtube, however, is another thing.

So this caught my attention via tomorrow.sg:

Ling86 appeals to me for the earnestness that shines through her sung poetry. It’s in how ordinary she seems at first – from the bedroom backdrop to her nondescript appearance. She’s every bit the girl next door I would pass by when roaming the library without knowing she could write heartfelt songs and actually sing them well with her Norah Jones-esqe voice.

With over 800,000 hits and counting on Youtube, I think she’s well on her way and I hope a record company which won’t bastardise her creativity will sign her on. While I think Singapore is an island overflowing with puerile bullshit, I do listen to music by our own artistes. I own albums by The Observatory and Rani Singam and don’t label them “Local” because it’s just degrading to differentiate them as such.

As for Ms. Ling86, bless her soul, she joked that there are plenty of bad songwriters on Youtube but you know what, she’s definitely not one of them. And if she ever releases an album, you’ll probably find it on my playlist.

ps, No, I don’t own any Taufik Batisah or Hady Mirza albums.