SINGER Phyu Phyu Kyaw Thein will be releasing her third album soon, which will be composed of cover versions of famous songs in English. The singer has also been busy filming a movie about a singer and her bodyguard, reminiscent of The Bodyguard featuring Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner.

Timeout: Tell us about your third album and future plans?

I’ve recorded about half of it so far. I selected some of my favourite English songs and arranged them it as a remembrance. And I’m also choosing songs for my fourth album which will have original songs.

What songs did you select?
The songs are “Underneath Your Clothes” by Shakira, “The Power Of Love”, “It’s All Coming Back To Me” and “My Heart Will Go On” by Celine Dion, “Zombie” by The Cranberries, “Angels” and “Jillian” by Within Temptation, “Via Dolorosa” by Sandi Patti and a few songs by Alanis Morrissette, Queen and Bonnie Taylor.

You once said that your voice was a gift from God. Have you ever thought about how your life would be without it?

Without it, there wouldn’t be a singer called Phyu Phyu Kyaw Thein and I would just be a doctor.

How about your latest movie?

I can’t tell you exactly when it (the movie) will come out because I have heard that there are some delays. In my experience, I have to give more time to acting and find it more tiring.

Nowadays, people do more than one career in the arts. Actors and actresses are releasing albums and singers are acting in films. What do you think about this trend?

Artists may have more than one hobby or pursuit. Each differs according to the level of interest they have. Depending on this, they do more than one type of work when they have the chance.

How did you become involved in films?

When people do a job, their ideas, concepts and expectations are not the same. For me, this is very simple. You can gauge my love of acting through the VCD of my first album Lone Wa Ma That Sine Taut Par (Nothing To Do With). I acted in the movie three years after I had the offer to perform in it. One of the reasons is that the role of the actress in the movie has to be matched to a singer like me.

What abilities should a person have to succeed in a variety of performing arts?

I want to give a good and suitable example. I want you to re-member Win Oo, who was exceptional in the history of Myanmar performing arts. Everybody knows him as a hand-some Academy Award winning actor and a wonderful singer. But he did more than that. He composed his songs beautifully. He directed and acted in romantic films such as Suang Ein Mat (Winter Dream) and Hmone Shwe Yi (a Myanmar name for the most beautiful rose). He was also the publisher and editor in chief of Sandar Magazine and wrote about 30 works. He was an educated man and an aircraft pilot. So, to be like him, what abilities must we have? Do you think we should also try to be like him? If we can do all those things do you think we could even be like him?

What challenges do you face in balancing your careers?

Actually, being a doctor itself is a challenge and being a singer is a challenge too. But facing these two challenges together creates a more exciting challenge. Don’t you think that life is more thrilling and perfect because of excitements and challenges?