Keningau songstress looks East

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Stephanie hopes to further her career in Taiwan after finishing second in Astro contest

Stephanie wins RM17,000 for being the first runner-up.

Stephanie wins RM17,000 for being the first runner-up.

RISING star Stephanie Liew Pei Sing is hoping to follow the footsteps of Fish Leong and Nicholas Teo to build her singing career in Taiwan after finishing second in the Astro Star Quest (ASQ) 2010.

The 19-year-old Keningau songstress is also hoping to come out with albums and act in movies.

“My parents strongly support my singing career and I am hoping to further my career overseas,” said Stephanie who has a three-year contract with Astro.

The young, free and single lady confided that her idols are Taylor Swift and Rainie Yang and she likes singing, dancing and playing piano.

She started singing at the age of eight when her primary two class teacher at SRJK (C) Yuk Yin was looking for a pupil to represent the class in a singing competition.

“I had stage fright but I liked to sing at that time,” she said.

With the encouragement of the class teacher and support of her parents, she picked up the courage and went on stage to sing for her class. She later took part in other singing contests in Keningau, Kota Kinabalu and other parts of Sabah but mostly won consolation prizes. Her breakthrough came when she emerged as the champion of the Hakka association singing competition.

Stephanie, who completed her Form Five at SM Ken Hwa last year, is taking up a music course at Sedaya College in Kuala Lumpur.

On the Astro Star Quest 2010, Stephanie said she did not expect to be among the top five finalists.

“I was satisfied after entering the semi-finals and never expected to be in the finals,” she said.

Stephanie lost to the eventual champion Teo Yi Poi, 22, of Johor Bahru in the finals at Stadium Putra Indoor, Bukit Jalil. The show was shown live on Astro Zhi Zun HD, the first Chinese HD channel in Malaysia.

The second, third and fourth runners-up were Fyone Tan Huey Ying, 18, of Batu Pahat, Chang Yew Joe, 20, of Ipoh and Alvin Gan Wee Loon, 20, of Kuala Lumpur respectively.

Stephanie, who was commended by the judges for always choosing the right song to perform, sang Wang Ling Rou’s When We’re Together and Genie Zhuo’s Love Castle. She also did pretty well in the duet Legend with Taiwan’s One Million Star season one winner Yoga Lin, to move on to the fourth round.

In the final battle with Teo, they had to perform Tiger Huang’s It’s not Easy in their own way. Stephanie’s pop-rock rendition paled in comparison to Teo’s but still gave her a trophy, RM17,000 in cash and other prizes worth RM55,400.

Stephanie will join Teo and Fyone to represent Malaysia at the annual International Chinese New Talent Singing Competition in Hong Kong later this year where they will compete against talented performers from around the globe.

“I hope to bring glory to Malaysia in Hong Kong,” said the only daughter of a businessman father who recently returned to Sabah where she performed at an Astro event in Kota Kinabalu.

She would be taking a short break before returning to Kuala Lumpur to work on Chinese New Year songs.

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Stephanie wins RM17,000 for being the first runner-up.

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Stephanie with her trophy.