Jaclyn Victor

Jaclyn Joshua Thanaraj Victor (born 4 December 1978) is a Malaysian singer, actress and businesswoman who won the inaugural Malaysian Idol, Ikon Malaysia, Gegar Vaganza Season 9 & Gegar Vaganza All Stars.

As the winner of Malaysian Idol, she won a recording contract with Sony BMG Music Entertainment.

She represented Malaysia in the first Asian Idol and Ikon Asean.

She has been dubbed "Asia's Divette" for her vocal prowess and a legend in Malaysia.

Jaclyn Victor is known for her Malay-language hits such as Gemilang, Di Pohon Asmara, Wajah, Cepat - Cepat, Ceritara Cinta, Satu Harapan, Bertamu Di Kalbu, Beribu Sesalan, Jagalah Diri, Ikut Rentakku, Seindah Mimpi, Nisan Cinta and Perempuan.

Jaclyn was born in Kepong, Kuala Lumpur, on 4 December 1978.

She is the only daughter of Maggie Victor, a single mother of Tamil Indian descent.

Jaclyn's father died when she was nine years old, prompting her mother to take on three jobs simultaneously to support her and her three younger brothers.

At the age of eighteen, Jaclyn started singing in clubs and hotel lounges.

With the support of friends and family, Jaclyn and her friend, Ravi Sivalingam a.k.a. Ravi the Rat, recorded an album, titled "Dream".

This album was produced and written by Ravi Sivalingam and co written by Jaclyn.

There were attempts to promote this album including an appearance on the 8TV television show Latte @ 8.

In 2004, her mother encouraged her to audition for Malaysian Idol, which she did along with ten thousand others.

The judges Roslan Aziz, Fauziah Latiff and Paul Moss, put her through to the next round.

Having secured a final thirty-third spot, Jaclyn performed "Superwoman" live, becoming the seventh person to reach the top twelve.

In the first spectacular show, the theme for the week was "Song from your Pop Idol".

Jaclyn choose a song by the Indonesian diva Ruth Sahanaya, "Keliru".

Coached by Aubrey Suwito, Juwita Suwito along with Elaine Pedley, her performance took her through to the next round.

The second theme was "Song from your Classic Idol".

Jaclyn's choice was "When I Fall in Love" and Michael Xavier Voon joined in as performance coach.

Her performance gained resounding praise.

After another double elimination sending off Fahmy and Rydee, Jaclyn was back the following week performing a "Song from the 80s", Chaka Khan's "I Feel For You".

She went on to the "Rock Show" with a performance of "Sweet Child O' Mine".

The last six contestants included Nikki, Dina, Vick, Andrew and Saipul.

Jaclyn performed an effortless "Lady Marmalade", but received a less favourable comment from Roslan, who said that "she is a super singer but not an idol", and he felt bored week by week of her performances thus far.

On the results show, she found herself in the bottom two for the first time (with Nikki, who performed "Emotion"), but she survived the elimination.

After reaching the last three, her chances were improved by her performance of Alicia Keys' "If I Ain't Got You".

Jaclyn had become one of the final two contestants on Malaysian Idol, and on 9 October 2004, she took the title with 76% of audience votes over Dina.

In tears, Jaclyn performed the ballad "Gemilang" (Glory), the song written for the winner of Malaysian Idol, which subsequently appeared on her first album Gemilang.

The song's music video incorporated short scenes of Jaclyn in Malaysian Idol.

Jaclyn's album achieved gold status within weeks of going on sale.

Her debut album "Gemilang" under the label Sony BMG won "Best Pop Album" and "Album of the Year" awards in Anugerah Industri Muzik 2005, while the title track won main prize at Anugerah Juara Lagu in 2005.

In 2012, Jaclyn Victor signed a recording deal with KRU Music and released an album entitled "Ikut Rentakku".

After winning a number of awards, she signed a new agreement with KRU Music and released an English language EP entitled "Unleashed" in 2014.

Jaclyn performed at the 2017 SEA Games after giving birth to her second child & it's her second time performing at the Sea Games after the 2011 ceremony.

She also performed as a finalist for the 6th time at the Anugerah Juara Lagu 2019.

Jaclyn Victor joined the season 9 of Gegar Vaganza and declared as the champion in November 2022.

Jaclyn released a new single in 2023 titled "Kembalilah" under her own label, Rag Doll Records.

In December 2023, she won in Gegar Vaganza All Stars, winning back to back at two seasons of Gegar Vaganza.

As of 2022, Jaclyn Victor has won 10 Anugerah Industry Muzik (Malaysia's equivalent of the Grammy awards), 5 awards in various categories at Anugerah Juara Lagu, 2 Anugerah Bintang Popular, 2 Anugerah Planet Muzik & an Anugerah Skrin thus making her one of the most acclaimed and successful artists in Malaysia.