Meet Katherine Ho, the Voice Behind Your Favorite Song from the ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ Soundtrack

From Cosmopolitan

This post contains spoilers about Crazy Rich Asians, in theaters August 15.

Crazy Rich Asians is an emotional rollercoaster of a movie that leaves you in a state of hopefulness, joy, that ahhh feeling. And that’s thanks, in part, to the Mandarin cover of Coldplay’s “Yellow” that arrives in the film’s final act. The song, performed by Katherine Ho, a former The Voice contestant, is bookended by an intense battle of words between Rachel Chu (Constance Wu) and Eleanor Young (Michelle Yeoh) over a game of mahjong, and an unconventional airplane proposal, two things that were not in the first book of Kevin Kwan’s trilogy.

If you held your breath during that intense mahjong scene, the familiar melody of “Yellow” was a sign that it was OK to exhale again, regardless of whose side you ended up choosing. (Rachel’s, but don’t tell Eleanor.)

In January 2018, Ho, who grew up in Thousand Oaks, California, had just kicked off her second semester at the University of Southern California. One evening, she received a text from one of her camp directors from A Cappella Academy, a Los Angeles-based summer program she had attended for three years while in high school. The director had two questions: Could she sing in Mandarin? And would she be interested in submitting a demo for an unnamed film and TV project?

In less than 24 hours, with the help of her parents acting as dialect coaches over the phone, Ho recorded a partial demo of “Yellow” in Mandarin in a practice room on campus. A few days later, “I was doing my chemistry homework and I suddenly got an e-mail from a vocal contractor saying I got the job,” Ho recalled in a phone interview earlier this week.

It wasn’t until about an hour before recording that Ho found out exactly what project she was doing this for. “One of the Warner Bros. executives called me and told me… of course I freaked out because I had been following the progress of the film ever since Constance Wu, my idol, posted about it on Instagram,” she says. “It made me kind of nervous to go in.”

Ho’s version of “Yellow,” which is called “Liu Xing” (shooting star or meteor), is commanding, heartfelt, and bright. Following a montage that serves as a final check-in with some of the other characters, the movie goes back to Nick and Rachel, and Katherine’s voice returns with a roar to tie a nice bow at the end of an historic 121 minutes.

“It’s such an emotional scene,” Ho says. “[The song] focuses on being scared to go for someone or something. In the end, you take the leap of faith and love wins in the end.”

And the song almost didn’t make it to the movie. As director Jon M. Chu recently told Quartzy, Coldplay said no at first. Looking past the term’s racial connotations, Coldplay’s “Princess of China” music video, and his own memories of being called “yellow” in high school, Chu wrote a letter to the band and explained what the song meant to him. In other words, he re-appropriated the name of the song.

Per Quartzy, Chu wrote, “The color of the stars, her skin, the love... It was an incredible image of attraction and aspiration that it made me rethink my own self image.” The band responded within an hour, and fast forward to August 2018, it’s one of the most talked about elements of Crazy Rich Asians, right up there with Henry Golding’s leading man charms and Awkwafina’s “bok bok, bitch.”

Below, Katherine Ho opens up about her biggest fans (her parents), her musical influences, and what it’s like to watch a film like Crazy Rich Asians as a young Asian American.

On what Crazy Rich Asians means to her:

“I always knew I was ‘the other’ or on ‘the outside’ but until this film, I always thought that was the norm, like, OK, I’m not gonna be the dominant culture, that’s fine, I’ll do my own thing. But this film really made me think about what it means to be Asian American and just really feel proud of it. There were definitely a lot of little moments in the film and book where it’s super relatable to me. Seeing those little moments that I thought were no big deal-like Rachel's mom picking out a red dress and the mahjong scene-seeing those on the big screen truly validated the uniqueness of my Asian American identity. I truly mean it when I say it, I’ve never felt more proud to be Asian.”

On her parents’ reaction to the song:

“My dad told me-he has a long commute to work-he told me he’s been listening every day, probably hundreds of times by now. My dad was actually with me at the recording session. They’re super excited that I get to do something in Mandarin. Of course they’ve always supported my singing, but the fact that I can combine it with who I am, my cultural roots... I’m super thankful to have their support.”

On her musical influences:

“My most longstanding musical influence is Taylor Swift. She’s one of my favorite artists, I really admire her songwriting style. She combines that with super catchy melodies and is a very genuine and honest person. I love Khalid too, his music is super chill and I love his vibe. Tori Kelly is a huge inspiration to me, Colbie Caillat. Lauv. Sara Bareilles. I love people who have a storytelling quality.”

On The Voice season 10:

“It was an awesome learning experience. The main thing I took away from it was being more confident in my abilities and my artistry. It was really cool working with Adam [Levine]. I grew up listening to his music. The other contestants were so talented. It was so humbling to be around them and the off-camera coaches, too. It was just really crazy for me, I never had anything this glamorous or this big, it was kind of a whirlwind.”

On where she’d like to see her career go from here:

“I’m actually very torn right now. I am very passionate about life sciences. I am considering a career in health care. I’m currently a biology major, but I’m still super passionate about songwriting and singing, so I’m taking a songwriting minor. I truly am passionate about both fields. The medicine thing is totally not something my parents are forcing on me, not like the traditional stereotype. Honestly, I think my parents would be more happy if I pursued a career in music.”

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