Singer Yuna tells young fan on a Google Hangout her career hasn't come without tears
R&B singer Yuna hosted a Google Hangout fan session last Friday. She fielded questions about her career which has moved her from her home of Malaysia to Los Angeles, where she's now based.
But it was when 12-year-old Danish Anaqi Aaron asked her about setbacks she's faced that she got really candid about one memory.
A decade ago, as a 19-year-old law school undergrad, she auditioned for Malaysian singing competition One in a Million. She cleared the first couple of rounds, but eventually didn't make the top 20.
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"I remember crying after getting eliminated," she said. "I wanted to say (to the judges), 'You didn't pick me, but you're wrong about me not having talent.'"
Here's Yuna's audition for the show:
Yuna today, however, is riding the sort of success that the younger her may never have expected. Earlier this month, she performed her song "Crush" with Usher and The Roots in Philadelphia, and has worked with Pharrell Williams.
She told Danish that during her One in a Million stint she was also hard at work putting out material on MySpace -- a platform the tween probably has never encountered.
During the time, she was doing live gigs as well. Some she did for free, some paid a piddling sum, she added. "Can you imagine? We were getting paid 100 ringgit ($25) per show, and I split that four ways with my band, too!" she laughed.
"The point is, if you want to live your dreams, you need to be really brave. I used to be affected by criticism thrown at me, and I would get really down.
"But I got to a point where I just decided to go for it, no matter what negativity is around you," said the singer.
The Hangout session was orchestrated by skincare brand SK-II, as part of a broader marketing campaign about following your dreams.
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Victoria Ho is Mashable's Asia Editor, based in Singapore. She previously reported on news and tech at The Business Times, TechCrunch and ZDNet. When she isn't writing, she's making music with her band
