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Jocie Guo’s back after name scandal, cancer scare

The singer of viral hits ‘Mouse Loves Rice’ and ‘No More Panic’ makes her return after “hiding in a cave” for years

Jocie Guo’s back after name scandal, cancer scare

Videos: Tay Yixuan

Remember the songs 'Mouse Loves Rice' ('Lao Shu Ai Da Mi') and 'No More Panic' ('Bu Pa Bu Pa') from the mid 2000s? Love it or hate it, you probably heard either song at least a dozen times a day at the peak of their popularities.

That brings about the follow-up question: do you remember the name of the singer of these viral hits? Like many other Singaporeans, you may have forgotten all about Jocie Guo (also known as Guo Mei Mei), who was the voice behind these catchy tunes.

Fast forward over a decade later, a much more mature-looking Jocie had her first media meet-and-greet session yesterday "after hiding in a cave for the past six years.”

WATCH: Jocie on why marriage is not for her

During her years of absence, she spent much of her time in the mainland, where she was signed to a Chinese company that “focused on performances, rather than releasing albums,” said Jocie.

Her last mini album Perfect World was released in 2014 made barely a blip on the radar, but she never gave up.

"It's a miracle in itself that I'm standing here in front of everyone today," the 35-year-old gushed at a live session held at Dal.Komm Coffee yesterday, where she sang snippets of five of the songs off her latest album.

Her full-length album, Your Name, which is her first in six years, has nary an infectious ear-worm in it. Rather, the majority of the songs are emotive ballads that are a far cry from the songs that rocketed Jocie to fame."I think I'm too old to dance now," she chuckled. "I've been through quite a bit since I released those songs (...) I'm really glad to have met a label that understands me and gave me a chance to sing the kind of songs that I want to sing."

Continued on next page: Jocie on her unintended rise to infamy and close brush with cancer


Jocie with her mother, who shares the same birthday as her (March 21).



Rise to infamy

Jocie has had her fare share of bumps in the road along the way - in 2011, she was hit by a double whammy when Guo Mei Mei, a then-19-year-old Chinese girl, shot to internet notoriety for being unapologetically open about being a mistress of a rich, older man. She became one of the most hated personalities on the internet, and Jocie was unknowingly dragged into the mess because of their identical Mandarin names.

"There was a period of about six months where I didn't work - companies were worried that having me in their projects would have a negative effect on their work (...) my voice wasn't loud enough to tell others that she and I are different people, and I was told off by those who didn't know the difference between the both of us," Jocie shared.

She added, wryly, “That [internet celebrity] Guo Mei Mei looks completely different from me. [My] debut songs were quite popular too, didn’t anyone pay attention to my looks?”

“I decided that I won’t go to the extent of changing my name just because of her,” said Jocie, who also wanted to stick by the name her parents gave her, “Instead, I told myself to work even harder to make my name known to the public.”

WATCH: A medley of Jocie's songs off her latest album

Close brush with cancer

Whatever can go wrong will go wrong. That same year, she discovered a potentially cancerous growth in her womb, which the doctors said they could only diagnose after conducting an exploratory surgery on her. Thankfully, it was benign in nature and she slowly nursed herself back to health.

“They told me that having a child would actually help me to recover,” the songbird chuckled. “But I’m not intending to do it regardless.”

Her bold statement made us wonder if she has any intention to tie the knot somewhere along the road. “If the purpose of getting married is a form of commitment to one another, I don’t see any problem in that but if it’s for the sole purpose of having a baby, then that’s not for me,” she explained.

Jocie continued with a chuckle, “Perhaps I’m too selfish in this sense, but the financial aspect of having a child would mean that I wouldn’t be able to chase my dreams as freely as I’m able to at this point of time.

“That’s why I don’t want kids.”

Jocie’s latest studio album, Your Name, is now available on iTunes and n major CD stores.

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