This Talented Malaysian Was Selected To Sing For Disney's New Movie
She nailed it!
By Tang Ruxyn — 10 Nov 2016, 10:16 AM
Malaysian singer Ayda Jebat landed a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity when she was chosen to sing for an upcoming Disney animated film
The local artist has earned the honour of singing 'Bawaku Berkelana', the Bahasa Malaysia version of 'How Far I'll Go', one of the original soundtracks from the highly anticipated animated musical fantasy, Moana.
'How Far I'll Go' is a powerful and a self-empowering anthem that is included in the feature film that tells the story of an adventurous teenager who sails out on a daring mission to save her people.
The song is sung in the film in English by Hawaii native Auli’I Cravalho, the voice actress of Moana.
How did she manage to get such a coveted opportunity?
Ayda told Malaysian film portal Cinema Online that she was approached by a representative from Disney Southeast Asia months ago regarding the project.
"It's a great opportunity, and it is my first time collaborating with Disney," the 24-year-old singer-actress was quoted as saying.
Singing 'Bawaku Berkelana' proved to be a challenging task as the singer-actress said that it was definitely one of the hardest songs she has ever sung
"The song is very powerful and it was hard to sing because you have to put in a lot of emotions in it. There are also a lot of high notes."
"I'm not used to singing ballad songs because I'm a pop singer, so this was my first time singing a ballad," she reportedly said.
But the top 14 finalist of season 9 of 'Akademi Fantasia', the popular Malaysian reality singing competition, has come a long way since. She was determined to give her very best - and she did!
It was reported that the recording session took three hours and five takes in order to ensure that the song was "perfect".
The talented songstress said that she was humbled and cherished every moment spent working on the special song
"It was definitely a great experience, and I had a lot of fun. At the same time, working with Disney provides me with a great platform to connect with younger fans, especially those who are into Disney movies," the Malacca-born was quoted as saying by NST Online.
Besides Ayda, four other top Southeast Asian singers namely Janella Salvador (Philippines), Maudy Ayunda (Indonesia), Myra Maneepat Molloy (Thailand) and Minh Nhu (Vietnam) were also selected to perform the 'Moana' soundtrack. Each of the artistes performed the in their native language, with the exception of Janella, who sang in English.