David Wong, a former Island entertainer who has become a best-selling pop musician in Hong Kong, has a song in the running for theme music to the 2008 Olympics.

Wong's "Wishing Star," a reflective ballad, is one of three original melodies on the short list of finalists as the main theme song for the Beijing Olympics, running Aug. 8 through Aug. 24, 2008.

"I wake up every morning with a heart attack," he said while visiting home for his 1977 Kalani High School reunion this month. "The anticipation and waiting has been going on for two years. And they'll drag it till the very end."

"Wishing Star," the sole contender with English lyrics, was composed in 2005, said Wong.

He said the buzz is that his entry (selected from a field of 18,000 entrants) is leading the pack, but the race is far from over.

If selected, it would be the main and recurring anthem for the XXIX Olympiad in Beijing.

"They'll decide 100 days before 8-8-08," said Wong. So the announcement will occur in late April.

Wong also has been tapped to compose another tune — "To Fly Away," a three-minute piece — for the Olympics opening ceremony. The request came from Zhang Yimou, the world-renowned film director who is at the helm of the lavish opening ceremony.

"The shorter song is for when they release the doves at the opening ceremony," said Wong. "That was a big surprise, to get that request."

In anticipation of the Olympics, Wong has largely relocated to Beijing, after living in Hong Kong and Taipei for several years. In Hong Kong and Taipei, he has amassed a wide following. His eighth and latest CD, "Passion," is now the No. 1 seller in Hong Kong, where he is known as a pop-rock-jazz icon.

Fluent in English, Mandarin and Cantonese, Wong's cross-cultural diversity has made him accessible to Asian audiences. He left his moderately successful career in the Islands in the mid-1980s.

"I think I fell into the marketplace at the right time," said Wong, whose musical pendulum swings from ballads to pop to punk.

But the reach for Olympic gold — that theme song ring — has been the focus of his efforts the past few years.

"I first heard about a call for professional or amateur entries, with lyrics and music, for the Olympics theme," he said. "I entered in 2005. And it's been crazy since."

He submitted a song with English lyrics because of a personal motive: "It's not a matter if you're the biggest or the best — it's important that you're the first," said Wong.

In Beijing, Wong, who performed here in the past with The Krush, Triad and Nohelani Cypriano, is known as Huang Dawei, which is David Wong with the words reversed.

"If my song's chosen, I will be at the Olympics with 400 of my friends," he laughed.

He said that popularity of his "Passion" CD could portend a triumph with the Olympics theme. "Everything's coming together; I think that's a good omen."

Reach Wayne Harada at wharada@honoluluadvertiser.com.