Nathan Hartono

Nathaniel Hartono Xiang, popularly known as Nathan Hartono[2] (born 26 July 1991) is an Indonesian Singaporean singer-songwriter and actor. Nathan made his debut as a singer after he won the Teenage Icon singing competition in 2005 and released his debut album, LET ME SING! Life, Love and All That Jazz in 2006.[3] Nathan also ventured into acting and starred in his first television series, Halfworlds in 2015.[4] As the first runner-up of the first season of Sing! China, as of January 2017 he also works with the committee to Promote Chinese Language Learning (CPCLL) to enrich the learning of the Chinese language among Singapore students. Hartono became the first naturalised citizen to sing for Singapore’s National Day Parade (NDP) theme song in 2020.[5][6]

Nathan Hartono
向洋
Born	26 July 1991 Singapore
Nationality	Indonesian[1]
Citizenship	Singaporean[1]
Alma mater	Anglo-Chinese Junior College Berklee College of Music
Occupation	Singer songwriter actor
Years active	2005–present
Partner(s)	Na-Young Jeon (2018–present)
Parents	Thomas Hartono (father) Jocelyn Tjioe (mother)
Family	Norman Hartono (brother) Nydia Hartono (sister)
Musical career
Instruments	Vocals guitar
Labels	Aquarius Musikindo Yellow Music Warner Music Singapore
Chinese name
Chinese	向洋
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Xiàng Yáng

Early life

Born in Singapore on 26 July 1991 to Chinese Indonesian parents,[7][8] Nathan's father, Thomas Hartono, is the managing director of PT Anandini Vimala, while his mother, Jocelyn Tjioe, is the senior vice president of Singapore-based Tung Lok group, which was founded by his grandfather.[9] Nathan has an elder brother, Norman Hartono, and a younger sister, Nydia Hartono.

Nathan completed his primary school education at Nanyang Primary School and continued to Anglo-Chinese School (Barker Road) for his secondary education before graduating from Anglo-Chinese Junior College.[10] In 2009, he was conscripted into the Singapore Armed Forces for national service.[11] He subsequently studied at the prestigious Berklee College of Music majoring in Music Production & Engineering in Boston, and has taken a break from school since 2014.[12]

Coming from an English-speaking family, Nathan struggled with learning the Chinese language in primary and secondary school, describing it as an "unclimbable mountain" in a 2017 interview. It was not until he entered junior college when he discovered his newfound interest in learning Chinese. In the same interview, he added that learning the language "could open up a lot of opportunities." After his stint at Sing! China, he could finally complete sentences in Mandarin without pausing or inserting English words.[13]

He has also spoken of how he is influenced by Frank Sinatra.[14]

Career

2005-2009: Teenage Icon and music debut

After winning the 2005 Teenage Icon singing competition, Nathan made his debut as a singer in 2005 and released his first album, LET ME SING! Life, Love and All That Jazz, in 2006 which consisted of 11 tracks. The album charted as the number one album on HMV's Jazz Chart for two weeks after its release.[11]

In 2007, Nathan performed at the Mosaic Music Festival[15] and released his second album, Feeling Good with Nathan Hartono, which was recorded live during his sold-out shows in June the same year at the Esplanade. The album has a total of 12 tracks, with most of the songs covered by Nathan such as "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head", "Everybody's Changing", "Moody's Mood for Love", "Seven Nation Army" during his concerts.[16]

Nathan had also performed "Where I Belong" at Singapore's annual National Day Parade celebrations in 2008[17] and in 2009, he sang the theme song, Asia’s Youth, Our Future at the Asian Youth Games and also released a new album, Realise, which is a repackaged album of his first two albums.[18] In that same year, he performed at Stephanie Sun's concert as a guest performer.

2010-2016: Nathan Hartono, Indonesia debut and Halfworlds

In 2011, Nathan made his debut in Indonesia under Aquarius Musikindo, and released his first single, Terlanjur Sayang. He also took part in Pangdemonium's production of the rock musical, Spring Awakening opposite Julia Abueva.[19][20]

In 2012, Nathan was nominated for an ELLE Award 2012 for his performance.[21] He released his first EP, Nathan Hartono, which consists of 5 tracks, was a departure from his usual jazz work, exploring acoustic pop and folk style[22] In December 2012, he released a Christmas single titled, I'll Be Home For Christmas and also recorded a track titled, "Layu Sebelum Berkembang" for the official soundtrack of Indonesian feature film Langit Ke 7.

On June 30, 2013, Nathan released an original single on his official YouTube channel titled, Thinkin Bout Love, which is only available digitally. In 2015, he released his second Indonesian single, Pasti Ada Jawabnya, three years after his first Indonesian album.[23]

On 16 June 2016, Nathan acted in a web series drama called Can You Not?! produced by YouTube channel TreePotatoes. It was a 10 episode web drama. Beth (Janice Chiang) is an ambitious, cutthroat producer. Jason (Benjamin Kheng) is a brilliant, but cocky director. Dave (Nathan Hartono) is a charming, handsome gentleman who happens to be their client. Put them together, toss in a high-stakes corporate film project and you get a recipe for mayhem!.[24]

2016-2017: Sing! China and CPCLL Ambassador

In 2016, Nathan's breakthrough showing at the first season of Sing! China made him more famous in Singapore as well as in other Mandarin-speaking countries. He had become the first Singaporean to pass the blind auditions (all three of Singapore's previous entries to the show's predecessor, The Voice of China, had failed to do so). Upon catching the attention of all four judges who participated in the show: Jay Chou, Wang Feng, Na Ying, and Harlem Yu, he selected Chou as his mentor.[25]

Under Chou's tutelage, he then worked his way to becoming the first Singaporean to make it to the semi-finals of both this show and The Voice of China. There, he was given 47 votes from the judges and 333 votes from the audience miraculously, thus finishing first in the semi-finals and successfully advancing to the finals - again as the first Singaporean contestant to do so. By then, his opponents were Chinese nationals Xu Geyang, Jiang Dunhao, Yang Meina and Wang Chenrui, as well as teenager Jeryl Lee of Malaysia.[26]

He finished second overall in the final round that took place on October 7 at the Beijing National Stadium, after singing a mashup of classic hits "Moonlight Under The City" and "Women's Flower".[27] This result was, nevertheless, the best a Singaporean (and any contestant who is not a Chinese citizen) has done in the competition since it went global in 2014.[28]

This was amid controversy over the media voting process at the end of the finals. While there was supposed to have been 81 judges, 92 votes were cast – 45 of which were for Hartono and the remaining 47 for eventual champion Jiang Dunhao. Notwithstanding, amid speculation among netizens that the contest was rigged,[29] Hartono had expressed that he was not at all disappointed by the results.[30]

He returned to Singapore on Oct 9 to fans who received him at Changi Airport.[31] Subsequently, in January 2017, he was appointed as an ambassador for the committee to Promote Chinese Language Learning at an event graced by chairman and Parliamentary Secretary for Education Low Yen Ling, in recognition for his achievements and for his efforts to improve his Mandarin during the course of the programme, and will work with the committee to promote the learning of the Chinese language among Singapore students.[32] He was also nominated for The Straits Times Singaporean of the Year award.[33]

2018-present: Mandarin debut

In 2018, Hartono made his debut in the Chinese market by releasing a Mandarin-language version of his song "Electricity", which was released on February 7, 2018 in China, and February 9 elsewhere. Following that, later he released a Mandarin music video on February 12, 2018.[34]

In the end of 2019, Hartono comeback under Warner Music China, with a mandarin single song "Dig Deep", releasing the music video on December 26, 2019. Hartono is currently working on a series of releases in both Mandarin and English due for release in 2020.[35]

In 2020, Singapore’s National Day Parade (NDP) theme song “Everything I Am” is performed by Hartono.[36][37][38][39]

Personal life

In 2018, Hartono announced his long-distance relationship with Dutch-Korean singer Na-Young Jeon on Instagram.[40]

Discography

Studio albums

Album information	Track listing
LET ME SING! Life, Love and All That Jazz[41] Released: January 1, 2006 Label: Yellow Music	Track listing Life Is Good Thinking of You Look at Us Pure Imagination My Crush Reminiscing Haven't We Met Easy I Will / Here, There And Everywhere (Medley) Thinking of You (Jazz-it-up version) Let Me Sing!
Feeling Good with Nathan Hartono[42] Released: 2007 Label: Yellow Music	Track listing Rock With You Haven't We Met Everybody's Changing Seven Nation Army You Make Feel So Young Moody's Mood For Love Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head Daydream Sir Duke Life Is Good My First, My Last, My Everything If It's Magic
Realise[43] Released: January 1, 2009 Label: Yellow Music	Track listing Stay Life Is Good Thinking of You Look at Us Pure Imagination My Crush Reminiscing Haven't We Met Easy Medley: I Will / Here There Everywhere Thinking of You (Jazz It Up Version) Let Me Sing (Live) Rock with You (Live) Haven't We Met (Live) Everybody's Changing (Live) Seven Nation Army (Live) You Make Me Feel So Young (Live) Moody's Mood For Love (Live) Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head (Live) Daydream (Live) Sir Duke (Live) Life Is Good (Live) My First, My Last, My Everything (Live) If It's Magic (Live)

EPs

Album information	Track listing
Nathan Hartono[44] Released: September 1, 2012 Label: Nathan Hartono	Track listing Take Me Home Life of a Superhero The Right Ones There Is Much More to This Weight of Her Love

Singles

Album information	Track listing
Terlanjur Sayang Released: August 15, 2011 Label: Aquarius Musikindo	Track listing Terlanjur Sayang
I'll Be Home For Christmas Released: December 20, 2012 Label: Aquarius Musikindo	Track listing I'll Be Home For Christmas
Layu Sebelum Berkembang[45] Released: December 20, 2012 Label: Aquarius Musikindo	Track listing Layu Sebelum Berkembang
Thinkin Bout Love Released: July 5, 2013 Label: Nathan Hartono	Track listing Thinkin Bout Love
Pasti Ada Jawabnya Released: March 5, 2015 Label: Aquarius Musikindo	Track listing Pasti Ada Jawabnya
Electricity[46] Released: July 22, 2016 Label: Nathan Hartono	Track listing Electricity
爱超给电 (Electricity Mandarin version)[47] Released: February 9, 2018 Label: Warner Music Singapore	Track listing 爱超给电
解谜 (Dig Deep Mandarin version)[48] Released: December 26, 2019 Label: Warner Music China	Track listing 解谜

Soundtracks

Album information	Track listing
Layu Sebelum Berkembang Official soundtrack for Indonesian feature film Langit Ke 7 Released: 2012 Label: Aquarius Musikindo	Track listing Layu Sebelum Berkembang

Soundtrack appearance

Year	Title	Album	Notes
2019	等	Non-album single	Theme song for When Ghost Meets Zombie

Filmography

Television series

Year	Title	Role	Network
2015	Halfworlds	Coki	HBO Asia
2019	Remember Us This Way		MediaCorp Channel U

Television shows

Year	Title	Network	Notes
2016	Sing! China	Zhejiang Television	Contestant Finished 2nd

Films

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2019	When Ghost Meets Zombie[49]	Pong	First lead role Pairs up with Ferlyn Wong

Other work

Aside from his work with the CPCLL, Nathan also takes part in the following:

In 2012, Nathan was the Ambassador of the Singaporean Eco Music Challenge.[50] He was also the Opinion Leader (Music) of Puma Faas Beats Campaign 2012.[51]

In 2017, Nathan was one of the Ambassadors, along with paralympian Theresa Goh and actor Ebi Shankara, of Pink Dot SG.[52]

References

1. "Nathan Hartono says he is proud to be Singaporean, after some ask why he is singing this year's NDP song". The Straits Times. July 19, 2020.
2. Hadi, Eddino Abdul (2016-10-17). "The Life Interview With Nathan Hartono: Cool crooner from young". The Straits Times. Retrieved 2018-09-14.
3. "Celebrity Chow with Singapore-born singer-actor Nathan Hartono". Lollipop SG. July 18, 2014. Archived from the original on April 14, 2016. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
4. "Nathan Hartono turns loverboy for Halfworlds". Today. December 26, 2015.
5. "NDP 2020 theme song 'Everything I Am' performed by Nathan Hartono". sg.style.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2020-08-09.
6. "8 questions with Nathan Hartono, the singer of official NDP 2020 theme song 'Everything I Am'". mothership.sg. Retrieved 2020-08-09.
7. "Who is Nathan Hartono? Here is The Truth Behind Indonesian Singing NDP Song 'Everything I am'".
8. "Jay Chou is his mentor: Singapore singer Nathan Hartono impresses judges at Sing! China competition". The Straits Times. July 18, 2016.
9. Wee, Marie (March 7, 2013). "Power Pairings, Part 4: Treasuring Time Together". Singapore Tatler. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
10. "Close up and personal with Nathan Hartono". Hturdekan. September 9, 2008.
11. Chee, Kenny (September 8, 2009). "Teen jazz sensation Nathan Hartono is looking forward to NS". AsiaOne. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
12. Hon, Jing Yi (May 30, 2015). "Nathan Hartono and his "fat kid syndrome"". Today. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
13. "Nathan Hartono conquers his 'unclimbable mountain'". The New Paper. February 1, 2017. Retrieved October 9, 2017.
14. Lam, Kenneth (August 13, 2007). "The Email Interview: Nathan Hartono". Theurbanwire.com.
15. "MOSAIC Music Festival 2007 • 9 - 18 Mar 07". Mosaic Music Festival. March 18, 2007. Archived from the original on July 15, 2009.
16. "Feeling Good with Nathan Hartono". The UrbanWire. October 2007. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
17. "Singapore Guide Music – Nathan Hartono". Actually. December 20, 2013. Archived from the original on August 16, 2016. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
18. "Realise". Newspaper SG. July 16, 2009. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
19. "Spring Awakening". Pangdemonium's. 2011. Archived from the original on 2012-11-16. Retrieved 2012-11-29.
20. "Spring Awakening". Justified. February 15, 2012. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
21. "Elle Magazine Elle Awards 2012 Nominees". XinMSN. 2012. Archived from the original on 2012-10-28. Retrieved 2012-11-29.
22. "Nathan Hartono EP". CD Baby.
23. "Pasti Ada Jawabnya". Aquarius Music. 2015. Archived from the original on November 15, 2016. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
24. "Can You Not?! - The Full Webseries (TreePotatoes)". YouTube. 1 September 2016. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
25. Lee, Venessa (July 16, 2016). "Singer Nathan Hartono shines in Sing! China". The Straits Times. Retrieved July 17, 2016.
26. Hon, Jing Yi (7 October 2016). "Meet Nathan Hartono's competition". Today. Retrieved October 24, 2016.
27. "Singer Nathan Hartono shines in Sing! China". Channel NewsAsia. October 7, 2016. Retrieved October 7, 2016.
28. "Live updates on Nathan Hartono's finals in Sing! China". Today. 7 October 2016. Retrieved October 24, 2016.
29. "Netizens debate how 81 judges cast 92 votes in Sing! China final". AsiaOne. October 10, 2016. Retrieved October 8, 2016.
30. "Nathan Hartono - Timeline". Facebook. Retrieved October 11, 2016.
31. "Nathan Hartono returns to Singapore on Sunday night". The Straits Times via Kopitiam Bot. October 10, 2016. Archived from the original on October 24, 2016. Retrieved October 12, 2016.
32. "Nathan Hartono performs in school visits as new Chinese language ambassador". The Straits Times. January 9, 2017. Retrieved October 9, 2017.
33. "Who will be ST Singaporean of the Year?". The Straits Times. February 1, 2017. Retrieved October 9, 2017.
34. Abdul Hadi, Eddino (5 February 2018). "Nathan Hartono's debut Mandarin single to be released on Feb 7". The Straits Times. Singapore Press Holdings. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
35. "Nathan Hartono Caps Off the Year With Emotional Second Mandarin Single "Dig Deep"". outnowmagazine.com. Retrieved December 26, 2019.
36. "NDP 2020 music video features Singaporeans who joined fight against COVID-19; theme song performed by Nathan Hartono". CNA. Retrieved 2020-08-09.
37. "Theme Song Music Video". www.ndp.gov.sg. Retrieved 2020-08-09.
38. "NDP 2020 theme song 'Everything I Am' performed by Nathan Hartono". sg.style.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2020-08-09.
39. "8 questions with Nathan Hartono, the singer of official NDP 2020 theme song 'Everything I Am'". mothership.sg. Retrieved 2020-08-09.
40. "Nathan Hartono reveals girlfriend: I didn't want it to be a secret". The New Paper. 2018-06-27. Retrieved 2018-11-28.
41. Let me sing! : life, love & all that jazz (Musical CD, 2006). WorldCat. OCLC 73566352.
42. "Feeling Good". All Music. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
43. "Realise". iTunes. Retrieved October 25, 2016.
44. "Nathan Hartono". iTunes. Retrieved October 25, 2016.
45. "Layu Sebelum Berkembang". iTunes. Retrieved October 25, 2016.
46. "Electricity". iTunes. Retrieved October 25, 2016.
47. "Electricity (Mandarin Version)". iTunes. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
48. "Dig Deep (Mandarin Version)". iTunes. Retrieved December 26, 2019.
49. Yip, Wai Yee (20 July 2018). "What's more scary than seeing a ghost? Starring in When Ghost Meets Zombie, says Nathan Hartono". The Straits Times. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
50. "Nathan's Slices Of Green". Eco Music Challenge 2012. Archived from the original on 28 May 2013. Retrieved 29 November 2012.
51. Goh, Gerald (9 April 2012). "Singapore jazz singer Nathan Hartono loves to play games". AsiaOne. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
52. "Pink Dot rally pulls in the crowds". The Straits Times. 1 July 2017. Retrieved 1 July 2017.

External links

• Official website at Aquarius Musikindo
• Official website at Music & Movement
• Nathan Hartono Official Instagram on Instagram
• Nathan Hartono Official Tumblr on Tumblr