KUALA LUMPUR: Crazy Rich Asians is former 8TV Quickie host Henry Golding's Hollywood debut, but it has also launched another Malaysian, Cheryl Koh, on the international stage.
The 22-year-old Los Angeles-based singer and songwriter, also known as Cheryl K, is the voice behind the film's catchy theme song Money, which is featured at the beginning and end of the Hollywood film.
"Money talks about how badly you want and need money, despite having everything else.
"It’s actually a very old Motown song by Barrett Strong, written by Janie Bradford and Berry Gordy Jr and has since been popularised by The Beatles and Bruno Mars.
"However, the version I sing is written in Mandarin and English, which makes it special to Asian audiences," she said in a recent interview.
Cheryl has just graduated from the University of Southern California with a bachelor of science in business administration and a minor in music industry.
She describes her debut performance for the soundtrack of a Hollywood film as a dream come true.
"It has always been on my bucket list to hear my voice in a film and see my name scroll up during the end credits – never would I imagine it would come so soon.
"I’ve never been more proud to be Asian and sing in two languages with such soul," she said.
Cheryl, from Shah Alam, admires Beyonce, Adele and Mariah Carey, and first found fame winning the World Championship Of Performing Arts (WCOPA) 2011 in Los Angeles.
In the contest, she won four gold medals including the Hollywood Industry Award and Champion Of The World Senior Division Award.
Cheryl mesmerised the American judges with her vocal prowess delivering the songs of Beyonce.
A fan of pop, R&B, jazz and soul music, she starred in the musical Peter Pan, which was staged at Istana Budaya in 2007 and Dan-Sing Through Broadway the following year.
In 2012, she made her debut appearance on MTV Southeast Asia with the soulful song, The Moment, written and composed by JD of Pop Shuvit.
Crazy Rich Asians is a rom-com-drama based on Kevin Kwan's novel of the same name and is helmed by Asian-American director, Jon M Chu.
Set to premiere here on Wednesday, the Hollywood production also stars Tan Sri Michelle Yeoh, Carmen Soo and Malaysian-born comedian Ronny Chieng.