Kelvin Tan Wei Lian (陈伟联, born 5 October 1981) is a Singaporean former Mandopop singer who earned a living as a busker before he won the first edition of Project SuperStar in 2005.
Born blind due to Leber's congenital amaurosis (which causes the retina to disintegrate), Tan grew up listening to 1980s Mandopop ballads, which inspired him to learn to play the piano and guitar.
[1][2] According to The New Paper reporter Mindy Tan, his performances drew large crowds (including Malays and Indians), some of whom were so "impressed [by] his music" that they would "sit on the pavement nearby for up to an hour listening to him".
[1] In 2008, Tan and Sun Yajun led a choir rendition of the song, On The Same Blue Planet (同在蓝色星球上), at the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Paralympics sailing regatta at Qingdao, China.
In it, Kelvin interprets household classic tunes from the 80s, 90s and 00s; including Liang's Friendship Forever (细水长流), 夜的眩晕, 让夜轻轻落下, Dick Lee's Home, Roy Li's 等你等到我心痛, Eric Moo's 你是我的唯一, 情谊藏心里, among others.
The medley consisted of English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil National Day songs, and was highly praised for the sensitivity and fluency of Kelvin's interpretation.
[citation needed] In 2019, Kelvin was invited to perform the theme song, 守护你的善良, for Mediacorp's Channel 8 TV Drama, You Can Be An Angel 3 (你也可以是天使3).
[15] He acted in the getai movie 881 and several television serials (notably The Dream Chasers), winning Most Popular Newcomer at the 2006 Star Awards.
[5] He also participated in variety television shows in Singapore (notably as a guest judge on Campus Superstar) and Taiwan (such as Happy Sunday), but some Taiwanese hosts rejected him over fears that their jokes would offend him.
[1] Another controversy arose when he was a contestant on the Singapore Mandarin edition of Don't Forget The Lyrics, as netizens were concerned that being unable to see the monitor would disadvantage him.
[2] Tan lives in a four-room HDB flat in western Singapore, together with his father (a mechanic), mother (a housewife), and younger sister (a research analyst).