Jaclyn Victor
Jaclyn d/o Joshua Thanaraj Victor (b. December 4, 1978) was the winner of the first season of Malaysian Idol, and has since become a successful singer. Victor, popularly known as Jac, was the first to gain the title of Malaysian Idol, a singing competition spawned from the "Idol" series that started off as Pop Idol in the United Kingdom. As a result, she won a recording contract under Sony BMG Entertainment and collaborated with famous composers such as Aubrey Suwito, Azlan Abu Hassan, and Ajai. She is under the management of The 8 Unit.
Biography and music career
Early life
Victor was born in Kepong, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on December 4, 1978. She is the eldest and only daughter of Maggie Victor, a single mother of Malaysian Indian descent. Her siblings includes three younger brothers. When Victor was nine years old, her father passed away, prompting her mother to take on three jobs simultaneously to support her four children. At the age of eighteen, Victor started singing in clubs and hotel lounges to help overcome the financial burdens of her family.With the support of friends and family, Victor and her friend Ravi the Rat (who incidentally wrote all the songs) recorded an album, titled Dream. This self-produced album features songs co-written by Victor as well. Attempts to promote this album includes an appearance on TV show "Latte @ 8".
Malaysian Idol
Jaclyn Victor auditioning for Malaysian Idol
In 2004, her mother encouraged her to audition for Malaysian Idol after hearing 8TV Chief Executive Officer Ahmad Izham Omar a.k.a Zakiah Omar saying, "Who knows, somebody in Bukit Kepong could be the first Malaysian Idol." Along with ten thousand others, Victor auditioned for Malaysian Idol. Impressed by her strong voice and personality, the judges Roslan Aziz, Fauziah Latiff and Paul Moss put her through to the next round. Upon landing a final thirty-third spot, Jac performed live, earning praise from the judges for her performance of Superwoman, which was also received very well by Malaysians as she accumulated the most votes that evening, becoming the seventh person to reach the top twelve.
In the first spectacular, the theme for the week was "Song from your Pop Idol". Victor chose a song in Malay, Keliru (Confused). Her performance took her through to the next round. The second theme was "Song from your Classic Idol". Victor's choice was When I Fall in Love. After another double elimination sending off Fahmy and Rydee, Victor was back next week performing a "Song from the 80s", Chaka Khan’s I Feel for You. She went on to the "Rock Show" with a performance of Sweet Child o’ Mine.
The last six contestants included Nikki, Dina, Vick, Andrew, and Saipul. Victor performed an effortless Lady Marmalade, but received a less favourable comment from Roslan, who expressed that "she is a super singer but not an idol", and he felt bored week by week of her performances thus far. On the results show, she found herself in the bottom two for the first time (with Nikki, who performed Emotion), but she survived the elimination. After reaching the last three, her chances were improved by her performance of Alicia Keys' If I Ain’t Got You.
Victor had become the final two contestants on Malaysian Idol, and on October 16, she took the title of Malaysian Idol, earning 76% of audience votes over Dina.[1] In tears, Victor performed the ballad Gemilang (Glory), the song written for the winner of Malaysian Idol, which would subsequently appear on her début album Gemilang. The song's music video incorporated short scenes of Victor through her journey in Malaysian Idol.
Post-Idol career
Victor's single, "Gemilang", set a new Malaysian record. Her album achieved gold status within weeks of going on sale. Her previously-released album Dream, sold out within days, despite the sudden 390% increase in price. She won the "Best Newcomer Award" on Hitz. FM and "Best New Artist" in Anugerah Bintang Popular.
Since winning, Victor has appeared in numerous television and talk shows such as Pillow Talk and Muzik-Muzik. She has also performed "Gemilang" at a Tsunami Concert held to aid victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. She has performed in duets with Hazami, Taufik Batisah, Akademi Fantasia's second winner, Zahid, Delon Thamrin, and Misha Omar.Victor emerged as the champion during the Asian Music Festival in Shanghai with her winning song, "Gemilang" ergo, placing her in row with previous local winners like Siti Nurhaliza, Deja Moss and Misha Omar. On 21 January 2006, Victor walked away with RTM Hits 1’s Best Song and Best Performance awards for Gemilang. Later, on 5 February the same year, the song earned her and its composer Aubrey Suwito and lyricist Azmin Mudin the coveted Juara Lagu (Champion of Songs) and Best Ballad Song awards in TV3's 20th edition of the Anugerah Juara Lagu, an annual song festival which honours each year's best-crafted songs. She was highly expected to win the "Anugerah Vokal Terbaik" (Best Vocal Award) in the TV3's most highly-anticipated song event. Nevertheless, she lost the title to Hazami who performed "Kata" (Say). Still, she got standing ovations on that miraculous night for both of her performances [another song that she performed that night was "Wajah" (the Look)]. Victor grabbed the Best Female Artiste award at the Anugerah Planet Muzik (Music Planet Awards) in Singapore on 24 March.
On April 29, 2006, Victor won four of seven nominations from the Malaysian music scene's biggest night, the 13th Anugerah Industri Muzik. They are Best New Artist, Best Musical Arrangement in a Song, Best Pop Album and Best Album.She is curently competing for the Ikon Malaysia awards for the solo category.Victor has made it to the Semi-Finals and made it to the final along with Dayang Nurfaizah. in the final, Jac sang a medley songs which is " Impian"( hopes)from her first album, " cepat-cepat" in her second album and her dead song "gemilang"
Inilah Jac
Launched in 25 August 2006 after a series of delays, the second album, titled Inilah Jac (translated as "Now this is Jac", in an emphasising tone), promises to show her fans and those unfamiliar with her, her true capability in music. Music mogul Ahmad Izham Omar commended her new effort by saying, "At first, she was a singer; now she's a vocalist."Around the time the album was launched, not only her single Cepat-Cepat is receiving rave airplay, she was on a trip in Australia for both leisure and business purposes, including visiting the famous Mount Buller, and performing in two concerts in Adelaide's Australia for Christ Fellowship Church (alongside Malaysian singer-songwriter, Juwita Suwito), and in Melbourne's Paradise Community Church (which inaugural Australian Idol winner Guy Sebastian is a member of; though Sebastian himself did not appear). While in Australia, Victor also received an interview from gospel radio station HCJB. In November 2006, she finally landed her first "proper" music video (previously her videos are snippets from studio recording sessions or footage from her Malaysian Idol days) when she filmed Ceritera Cinta with male crooner Rio Febrian in his homeland in Indonesia. In 2007, Victor received an AIM award for Best Female Vocal Performance in an Album as well as two APM nominations, all of which are attributed to Inilah Jac. In the same year, she joined Ikon Malaysia and in July, she emerged as the champion of its solo category. Besides this, two of her songs have been made as opening themes for two Malaysian television series, Fara (Cepat-Cepat) and Manjalara (Satu Harapan).
Discography
Albums and EPs
Dream
- Released: 2002
- Format: CD
- Label: (independent)
- Singles: In a Dream, Not Gonna Fall
Malaysian Idol CD Single: Jac
- Released: 2004
- Format: CD
- Label: Sony BMG
Gemilang
- Released: 2004
- Format: CD
- Label: Sony BMG
- Certification(s): Gold (RIM)
- Singles: Gemilang, Di Bawah Pohon Asmara
Wajah
- Released: 2005
- Format: CD
- Label: Sony BMG
- Writer(s): Habsah Hassan
Malaysian Idol Karaoke
- Released: 2005
- Format: CD & VCD
- Label: Sony BMG
Inilah Jac
- Released: 2006
- Label: Sony BMG
- Singles: Cepat Cepat, Ceritera Cinta, Jealous, Cinta Tiada Akhirnya
Satu Harapan
- Released: 2007
- Label: Sony BMG
Inilah Jac - Edisi Terhad
- Released: 2007
- Label: Sony BMG
Singles
- In a Dream (2002, released only in independent music circles)
- Gemilang (2004)
- Di Bawah Pohon Asmara (2005)
- Tiada Lagi Indah (2005)
- Cuma Setia (2005)
- Wajah (2005, theme song for "Bersamamu" TV3)
- Getaran Rinduku (2005)
- Cepat Cepat (2006)
- Ceritera Cinta (2006, duet with Rio Febrian)
- Jealous (2007)
- Satu Harapan (2007, theme song for Malaysian version of Telenovela Mi Gorda Bella, Manjalara)
- Cinta Tiada Akhirnya (2007)
- Kau Muzik di hatiku (2007, duet with Vince Chong) (OST of High School Musical 2 - Malaysian Edition)
Awards
- Hitz. FM Best Newcomer Award - 12 March 2005
- Anugerah Bintang Popular Berita Harian - Most Popular New Female Artist - 13 April 2005
- Malaysia's Global Chinese Recommended Golden Arts Award (Music Category) - 16 July 2005
- XIII Shanghai Asian Music Festival Golden Prize - 28 October 2005
- RTM Hits 1 - 21 January 2006
- Best Song Award - Gemilang
- Best Performance Award
- TV3 Anugerah Juara Lagu - 5 February 2006
- Juara Lagu Best Ballad Award - Gemilang
- Song Of The Year Award - Gemilang
- Anugerah Planet Muzik (Singapore) - 24 March 2006
- 13th Anugerah Industri Muzik (AIM) Malaysia - 29 April 2006
- Best New Artist
- Best Arrangement in a Song
- Best Pop Album
- Album of the Year
- URS Magazine Award
- 14th Anugerah Industri Muzik (AIM) Malaysia - 28 April 2007
- Best Female Vocal Performance in an Album
- IKON MALAYSIA
- Winner of Ikon Malaysia - Solo
Concerts
- Zoom in with Jaclyn Victor (2005)
- Konsert Fenomena Jaclyn Victor & Misha Omar (2005)
- Sunday Nite Live at Planet Hollywood (2006)
- Zoom in with Jaclyn Victor (2006)
- Konsert Fenomena Jaclyn Victor & Dayang Nurfaizah (2006)
- Down Memory Lane with Jaclyn Victor (2007)
