Karen Kong (Simplified Chinese: 龚柯允, Traditional Chinese: 龔柯允) is a popular female singer from Labuan Island, East Malaysia. Her primary audience consist of fans from the South-East Asia region (Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Philippines and Indonesia).
Karen Kong (or Karen K to her fans) is a Malaysian singer of Chinese ethnicity. She was a student of S.M.K St Anne, Labuan. She was a participant in Malaysian Idol in 2004, but she was eliminated in the first round.
Kong's debut single was launched in January 2007. She immediately garnered attention due to her entire album being written in Malay, which is quite unusual for an ethnic Chinese artist in Malaysia. Her debut EP also includes her singles "Cinta Hello Kitty" and "Ku Tak Upaya", both penned by fellow Malaysian songwriter Asmin Mudin (writer of Malaysian Idol Jaclyn Victor's Gemilang). Both were featured on several radio station top charts including ERA, Xfresh and others.
On 15 January 2007, Kong released her full Malay album, Mulakan, which not only featured the debut single, but also nine other tracks including "Na Na Na Nada Cinta", a remake of the Japanese song "Kiss of Life" by Ken Hirai.
On 17 July 2007, she made a first in the Malaysian music scene by being the first artiste to hold a web concert. In September, she announced her plan to produce a Mandarin album (and her Chinese stage name, as stated above). The album, titled Showtime, which has since been finished and scheduled for release on 27 October, however, hit a snag when it was found that retail stores refuse to distribute or sell the album. This lead her company to only sell her album in a 50-leg promotional tour around the country.
