Sandara Park marked her 41st birthday with a 2025 version of her cover of 'Smile In Your Heart.' Screenshot from DARA TV on YouTube
K-pop superstar Sandara Park celebrated her 41st birthday on Wednesday by releasing a new version of her cover of "Smile In Your Heart."
Park first covered the song, originally performed by Jam Morales, for her 2005 extended play, which was released before she debuted in the K-pop industry and while she was still active in Philippine show business.
The full video was uploaded on YouTube, but Park wrote in an Instagram post that she dedicated the cover to her fans, called Daralings, as well as to 2NE1 fans, the Blackjacks.
On X (formerly Twitter), Park said she was surprised that even her non-Filipino fans were familiar with her songs from the Philippines.
"Should I also try to sing these songs in my future shows? 'Smile In Your Heart' is in English lyrics so it should be ok right?" she said.
In another X post, she stressed that "music is a universal language."
"I should always remember that language is not a problem at all hehe as long as we love each other," she said.
Park spent much of her youth in the Philippines before joining the ABS-CBN talent show "Star Circle Quest" in 2004, which helped launch her local showbiz career.
During her time in the country, she pursued music, with her most notable song being "In or Out," and appeared in several TV shows and films.
Park endeared herself to Filipino audiences, even earning the nickname "Pambansang (National) Krung Krung" (a slang term meaning funny or quirky), and she remains beloved in the Philippines even as she focused on her K-pop career abroad.
In 2009, she debuted as a member of 2NE1, one of K-pop's most influential and popular girl groups, which recently reunited for a tour.
READ: 2NE1 delivers hits as reunion tour stops in '2nd home' PH
Over the years, Park has continued to appear on Philippine television, serving, for instance, as a judge on the 2016 talent competition "Pinoy Boyband Superstar," and making guest appearances on various variety and talk shows.
In a recent Instagram post following her visit to the Philippines for a celebrity basketball game, Park referred to the country as her "second home."
FROM THE ARCHIVES