She also collaborated with Brazilian all-stars band, Bossa Negra, to release a single of her Mandarin translation of popular bossa nova standard ‘Summer Samba’ in 2010. ĭong released her EP, ‘Lullaby Nomad’, in 2008, which launched with a concert at the Esplanade Recital Studio. A featured performer with major local groups such as the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, JASSO and Dingyi, she is well-regarded by music industry peers. Six months after exiting the talent competition, Joanna began pursuing a music career in earnest, landing her first regular singing gig in The Courtyard at Raffles Hotel. She first came into the public eye when she joined the first-ever Singapore Idol competition in 2004 and reached the Top 40.
They wed in 2012.ĭong is also friends with fellow Singaporean singer Olinda Cho, after they met as teammates of Team Jay Chou on the sidelines of Sing! China in 2017. ĭong met her husband, theatre practitioner and educator, Zachary Ho, on the set of ‘Descendants of the Eunuch Admiral’ in 2010. After attending The Raffles Girls' School and Victoria Junior College, she graduated from the National University of Singapore with honours in sociology. The only child of divorced parents, her initial forays into the world of entertainment came in the 1980s when her mother, a former Chinese teacher, started entering her into karaoke competitions, many of which she won.