"I want to be someone who is known for writing and performing her own music," said Ng, a 15-year-old North Bergen resident. "Performing on the stage is my life. I hope to make it someday as a pop star. That's my dream."
Well, the talented teenager is well on her way to fulfilling her dreams, if her performances in the annual New Jersey Network Hispanic Youth Showcase are any indication.
Last week, Ng captured first place in the 13-to-17 age group for the performing arts, playing the piano in the competition. It marked the fifth time that Ng has won the competition - three times playing the piano and twice as a vocalist. No other performer has won that many times during prior Hispanic Youth Showcases.
Ng won the competition that was held at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark and was taped for broadcast on NJN sometime in August.
"It's really a great experience for me," Ng said. "It gives me the chance to represent the Hispanic community and acts as another chance that I might get discovered. Hopefully, someone will watch the show and say, 'Hey, I like that girl,' and they'll want me to perform for them."
Ng has been a performer since she was only 4 years old.
"Performing is my life," she laughed.
She even attends the School for the Professional Performing Arts in New York. In the past, Ng has performed ballet at the Metropolitan Opera with the American Ballet Theater and at the New York State Theater with the New York City ballet. Ng has studied with the Yolanda Academy of Music and Dance in Union City.
But she also adores singing and playing the piano. In the recent competition, Ng performed the Spanish song, "Espana Cani." The tune, reminiscent of music one might hear at a Spanish bullfight, is very familiar to sports fans, because it is played regularly in arenas to stimulate excitement from the home fans.
"It's a song that people are very familiar with," Ng said.
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Ng said that she likes to sing more than anything else, especially when it's her own composition.
"I spend a lot of my time writing new songs and performing," Ng said. "I guess my style is a combination of pop, R&B [rhythm and blues] and Spanish heritage. It's a lot different than anything else."
Added Ng, "When you're writing your own songs, you're putting all of your feelings down on paper. No one else can do that for you. I get my inspiration from emotions I feel and experiences I've had. It makes me sing with more feeling. I really love what I do."
Ng doesn't feel like she's doing anything out of the ordinary.
"It's just what I do and it's what I love to do," Ng said.
She's on the road to being discovered as well. She has signed a development deal with Universal Records, who will monitor her progress.
"If they really like me and what I'm doing, then they'll sign me to a record deal," Ng said. "That's what I'm hoping for. I still want to get discovered."
And perhaps be the next J. Lo - only without Puffy.
"That would be nice," Ng said. "I wouldn't mind that."
And even though she's only 15 years old, it can't hurt to dream. Ng said that she hopes to go back to the Hispanic Youth Showcase next year and try to defend her title.
"Even though I've won there a lot, I'll still go, because I feel like those people are my family," Ng said. "I broke the record this year, winning for the fifth time. Maybe next year, I can get my sixth."
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