PENANG

The album, produced by Cloverleaf Records in collaboration with Bimbit.com, is not only done in a digital format but is also tri-lingual with three songs in Malay, two in English and one in Chinese.

Among them, Pesanan Ringkas recently hit the No.1 spot on the Channel [V] online Malaysian AMP chart while Change – A Tribute to the Environment was written in conjunction with Penang’s No-Plastic campaign in mind.

In line with this, Percaya is produced using minimum plastic where, instead of a CD, buyers will get a scratch card which will reveal a series of PIN numbers used to download the album legally from Bimbit.com’s music portal onto their PCs.

Jzelynn, 27, says: "It has always been my dream to record an album. I learnt that it is never too late to make your dream come true."

Jzelynn had earlier given up hopes of a music career after a series of disappointments.

"I loved to sing since I was young," she recalls but her mother was always telling her that she sang out of tune and sounded like a frog!

That did not stop her from entering singing competitions. And when she was 13, she came up second runner-up at a Yamaha singing competition. That made her parents look at her in a different light and they began to have more faith in her talent.

Her big break came at 17 when she became one of the finalists of the TV3 singing competition Sinaran and was offered a recording contract. Sadly, the album never got made.

"The recording company felt it was too risky to have a Chinese singer cutting a Malay or English album," she says. "They were afraid the album might not sell."

Jzelynn was heartbroken and decided to return to Penang and forget about her dream of becoming a singer.

She took a degree in Mass Communications and settled for a nine-to-five job. But one night two years ago, when she was having fun singing at a karaoke joint, she was approached with a recording deal.

It didn’t take long for Jzelynn to switch gear and restart her singing career, and as she adds: "It is better late than never."

Her favourite composer is David Foster, whom she named as "the greatest composer of our time", and her all-time favourite singer is Whitney Houston.

"Other than the fact that Houston has an amazing talent and voice, I admire her for what she has been through in her life as a singer," she says.

"From her rise to being one of the best female singers in the world to the difficult times in her life, especially with the problems in her marriage, she has demonstrated amazing courage in facing all that and still managed to make a tremendous comeback in her singing career!

"She is indeed a role model to me and definitely to many other women in this world."

Locally, she prefers P. Ramlee whose songs have remained evergreen and still have appeal to audiences of all races. "He’s truly a 1Malaysia singer in every sense of the word.

""I would like to follow in his footsteps. I just want my audience to forget my face and just enjoy my songs."

With the release of her first album, Jzelynn is now eager to expand her repertoire and try her hand at acting and perhaps even hosting a TV programme.

She is also currently the brand ambassador of Reebok, Baptain Salon and Tripo-X in Malaysia.