Serene Koong (born 21 September 1988) is a Singaporean singer, songwriter and producer. She is a three time Global Chinese Golden Chart Award, three time Singapore Hit Awards, Star Awards winner, and Asian Academy Creative Awards National Winner.
Career 2010-2013 In May 2010, Koong released her debut Mandarin album, 55:38:7, composed of ten original compositions. Her single "明知我愛你" peaked at number 3 on YES 933 醉心龙虎榜. The single was nominated for Best Local Composition at the 2010 Singapore Hit Awards; Koong received four nominations total and won the Most Popular Newcomer award and the Meritorious Newcomer award.
Koong was also involved in song production for television series and films with "在我左右" for Mediacorp Channel 8's television series New Beginnings and "手中线" for the film Love Cuts starring Zoe Tay and Kenny Ho. Same year, Koong had filmed two advertisements with Fraser and Neave, one of which featured her original song "Lala" performed with Jiahui Wu.
In March 2012, Koong made her debut in Taiwan with the album 聲.體.輿言, distributed by Warner Music Taiwan. In the same year, she performed at the Esplanade's Huayi Chinese Festival of Arts.
In 2013, Koong formed her music company, GoodGirlMusic, to manage her career. She produced, wrote, and performed the theme song "Happiness Isn’t Hard" (幸福不难) for Mediacorp Channel 8's television series The Dream Makers. Her song was selected from 55 musicians who submitted their work to Mediacorp. That year, Koong was named "Top Downloaded Female Artist" by MeRadio at the for the song "Happiness isn’t Hard".
2014-2017
In 2014, Koong won the Best Theme Song at the Star Awards for "Happiness Isn't Hard." The song was also named the Top Dedicated Hit Song by UFM1003 and reached number one on the Singapore iTunes Mandopop chart. Koong received two Global Chinese Golden Chart Awards including "Outstanding Artiste Award" (Singapore, UFM1003) for the song and a nomination for Best Theme Song at the 19th Asian Television Awards. Koong was the Mandarin lead singer for the theme song, "网织同心" (Knit with One Heart), of the Singapore Chingay Parade 2014, which was presented at the parade with Lee Wei Song as music director.
In July 2015, Koong wrote a song "Precious" (心肝) for Kelvin Tong's film (Grandma Positioning System) in the SG50 anthology film 7Letters. She was inspired by the eulogy of Lee Kuan Yew to his wife Kwa Geok Choo. She was the producer, vocal producer, songwriter and performer of the song, which peaked at number five on the Singapore iTunes Mandopop chart. In December, her single "All Alone" (当世界只剩下我一个人), which she wrote, produced, and performed for The Dream Makers II, peaked at number two on the Singapore iTunes Mandopop chart.
In August 2016, Koong was among the three Singaporean artists whose works charted on the Global Chinese Golden Charts TOP 20 (first half of 2016).Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: On 7 May 2017, Koong received the Outstanding Artist of The Year presented by UFM100.3 award at the Global Chinese Golden Chart Awards.
2018-Present On 9 August 2018, Koong appeared on the prelude episode of SPOP Sing!, a singing competition the search for the next homegrown talent. She also served the series as a vocal and performance Mentor to the Top 20 contestants.
In 2021, Koong served as the Vocal and Performance Mentor on SPOP Wave!. On 30 September, Koong was announced as the National Winner for Best Theme Song / Title at the Asian Academy Creative Awards, with her work "When It Leads Me Back To You", which she wrote, performed and produced for Mediacorp Channel 5's drama series Slow Dancing.https://www.facebook.com/asianacademycreativeawards/videos/272209418091231
In 2023, Koong wrote, performed and produced the ending theme song for All That Glitters which began airing on September 18.
In 2024, "TENDER", written by Koong, Lai Zhenming, and Ferry, was presented on Melody Journey by Lai. The song was chosen and performed by Shan Yichun.
Discography Studio albums TitleAlbum details55:38:7 Released: 2010 Label: Rock Records聲 . 體 . 輿言 Released: 2012 Label: Warner Music Taiwan
Singles TitleYearAlbum"Happiness Isn’t Hard" (幸福不难)2013Non-album single "心肝"2015Non-album single "当世界只剩下我一个人"2016Non-album single "酸甜苦澀"2018Non-album single "Save Me From Myself"2019Non-album single "When It Leads Me Back To You"2021Non-album single "Breathe Again"2023Non-album single "直到最后 Eternally"2023Non-album single
Other songwriting credits YearCreditTitleArtistAlbum2016Writer"独家献映"BBF王者之路2017Writer"想象空间"Janice Vidal衛蘭2018Writer"北极光"Su Miaoling北极光Writer"Honeymoon" (蜂蜜月亮)Valen Hsu绽放的绽放的绽放2024Writer"TENDER"单依纯音乐缘计划
Awards and nominations Year Award ceremony Category Nominated work Result Ref2010Singapore Hit AwardsMost Popular Newcomer Meritorious Newcomer Best Local Composition"明知我爱你" Best Local Singer 2011Star AwardsBest Theme Song"在我左右" (Theme song for New Beginnings) Singapore e-AwardsBest Lyrics 最佳作詞"平行線" FreshMusic AwardsBest Local Singer 最佳本地歌手奖 2013 Singapore Hit Awards MeRadio Top Downloaded Hit Award (Female Artiste) "Happiness isn’t Hard" Best Composition 最佳本地作曲 "Happiness isn’t Hard" Best Lyrics 最佳本地作词 "Happiness isn’t Hard" 2014 Global Chinese Golden Chart Awards Top Dedicated Hit Song "Happiness isn’t Hard" Outstanding Artist Award Star Awards Best Theme Song "Happiness isn’t Hard" (Theme song for The Dream Makers) Asian Television Awards Best Theme Song 最佳主题曲 "Happiness isn’t Hard" (Theme song for The Dream Makers) 2015 Global Chinese Golden Chart Awards Outstanding Artist of The Year 年度推崇大歌手 "当世界只剩下我一个人" 2018 23rd Compass Awards Top Local Soundtrack "Happiness isn’t Hard" (Theme song for The Dream Makers) 2021 Asian Academy Creative Awards Best Theme Song / Title Theme (National level) "When It Leads Me Back To You" for Slow Dancing
References
External links
GoodGirlMusic Pte. Ltd.