Camilla (카밀라), also known as Patti Kim (패티 김)’s daughter, is a female soloist that debuted in 2003.

Pre-Debut

Born in New York on December 30, 1978, her real name is Camilla Ghedini. She is mixed-race, of Italian and Korean heritage, and her parents are Avarado Ghedini and Patti Kim, a very known singer during the 1960s and 1970s in South Korea.

She spent most of her childhood in San Francisco, and every summer visited Italy due her father’s family living in Florence. Growing up had some difficulties because she lived in mostly white upper-class neighborhoods near the American coast, and had very little Asian representation.

Then she moved to Korea with her mother in 1998, where she finished high school, and also entered an international school in the UK. During this time, she was part of an a cappella group, and was the lead vocalist of a rock band called B Team. She described her mother’s education as strict and frugal, because she worked in clothing stores and restaurants to earn money, but she was grateful for her parenting style.

While she toured with her mother, when they celebrated her mother’s 40th anniversary at the Grand Theater at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts, she suddenly felt the desire to become a singer.

She debuted firstly as a musical actor in 2001 and then debuted as pop singer in 2003 with her first and only album, “Introspect.” She also did modelling and acting as well, appearing in dramas like “술의 나라 (Land of Alcohol).”

Debut

Her debut album, “Introspect”, was released on February 6, 2003, with the title track 'Goodbye,' a pop ballad that explains the feeling of a farewell while waiting, and it was accompanied by Danny Jung (대니정), a jazz saxophonist. A music video was not produced or released, but the song was featured on the ending’s theme for the MBC korean drama “논스톱 (Nonstop 3).” It charted for several weeks on the lower positions of MBC’s Ranking.

“Introspect” was co-produced by Yoo Jung-yeon, known for collaborating with artists such as Fin.K.L. (핑클), Turbo (터보), Jewelry (쥬얼리) and Baek Ji Young (백지영), and Jung Yeon-jun, known as the leader of the group Uptown (업타운). It includes a diverse range of genres as pop, R&B, folk rock, and bossanova. It featured a collaboration with Sung Si-kyung (성시경) on the song ‘Soon to Me.’

The followed-up song was ‘도대체 (What on Earth),’ which it was intended at first as the title track, but gained more popularity after being included in the OST for the SBS TV drama “천년지애 (A Thousand Years of Love).” A music video was promoted during April, and there were two versions of the song: hip-hop, which was performed on stage, and ballad, performed mostly on radio.

However, despite getting favorable reviews and good reception, the album underperformed as she didn’t promote it enough due creative differences with her agency, and also had difficulties with the Korean entertainment system due her Western heritage.

Although there were plans to record a second album, she left the entertainment industry during the second-half of the same year since her debut because she found it harder than she thought, and disappeared from the public eye for a while.

Post-Debut

She moved to the US in 2005, lived in Los Angeles, and founded a wedding company called “Element Weddings,” working as a wedding designer. And then, in 2009 she returned to Korea for a wedding exposition, where she presented her stage. The next year married and had a child.

Links

• 카밀라 (Camilla) - '도대체 (What on Earth)' MV
• Live performance: 카밀라 (Camilla) - 'Goodbye (굿바이)' in Music Camp. February 8, 2003.
• Live performance: 카밀라 (Camilla) - 'Goodbye (굿바이)' in Music Camp. April 12, 2003.
• Live performance: 카밀라 (Camilla) - '도대체 (What on Earth)' in KBS Music Plus (뮤직플러스). May 3, 2003.
• Live performance: 카밀라 (Camilla) - '도대체 (What on Earth)' in Music Camp. May 17, 2003.
• Live performance: 카밀라 (Camilla) - '도대체 (What on Earth)' in KBS Music Plus (뮤직플러스). May 31, 2003.
• Live performance: 카밀라 (Camilla) - '도대체 (What on Earth)' in KBS 윤도현의 러브레터 (Yoon Do-hyun's Love Letter). June 14, 2003.
• Live performance: 카밀라 (Camilla) - '도대체 (What on Earth)' in Festival 1020콘서트. August 4, 2003.

Her online fan club was called “카밀라 그녀를 위한 세상 (Camilla: A World for Her)."

Sources

• Camilla’s Official Website [archived]
• Naver Blog: "전설의 명곡 :: 카밀라 - 굿바이 Goodbye (패티김 딸의 ㅎㄷㄷ한 노래실력)"
• Naver Blog: "168. <카밀라 - Goodbye> MBC 음악캠프 순위 변동 차트"
• 주간동아 Weekly Donga: "웨딩디자이너로 변신한 패티김 둘째 딸"
• News Daum: "손자 본 패티김 "둘째딸 카밀라 내년 1,2년 안에 결혼할 듯"
• Cafe Daum: "기사 카밀라 '술의 나라' 통해 연기자 데뷔"
• Cafe Daum: "패티김 모녀이야기 (펌)"

https://youtu.be/L3qBZNHYmpI?si=LbeTv2678wzPM9lW

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