Let’s Meet the Sunsilk Academy Fantasia’s 14 Finalists! @ Singapore Flyer

I’m at the Singapore Flyer to attend one of the biggest and most exciting events of the year! What’s the next-big-thing? Sunsilk Academy Fantasia’s Final 14 Unveiled!

Yes!!! This is going to be one of the hottest singing reality TV show that will be showing on Starhub Cable TV Channel from 8 July 2012 onwards! This has to be one of the first singing reality TV show broadcast locally!

The first round of auditions are held last month attracted more than 500 people to participate in this singing contest. So far, one private casting, two full days of open auditions and one close-door audition has been carried out in search for the next superstar. 14 finalists of the inaugural Sunsilk Academy Fantasia have finally been chosen and unveiled during the press conference. Only one finalist will emerge as the winner to bag away a two-year singing contract and a recording album with Ocean Butterflies Music.

I felt really like a reporter working for the press while I was there. There were alot of buzz and excitement going on in the Bayview room as the reporters and media personnel were all waiting patiently for the first-time appearance of the 14 finalists for this contest. We will be the first to know who these finalist are and we will also be the first to interview them!

Emcee for Sunsilk Academy Fantasia Media Conference: Lin Pei Fen She’s a local DJ from 93.3 FM. I must say that she’s an eloquent speaker who is fluent in both languages. It’s not easy juggling with both languages these days!

That man on the left is Mr Tan Tong Hai, Chief operating office of Starhub.

Martha Contretas, Sales Director and Project Developer for Asia,Comarex The format creator of Academy Fantasia,Martha and Adrianna from TV Azteca, flew down from Mexico to grace this event.

What is truly unique about the 14 finalists is the fact that the 14 of them were all from different walks of life. These are real-life people with a 9-to-5 jobs who had a talent and passion for singing. On top of that, they are all pursuing the same dream of being part of the music industry as a Singer. Those of us who love singing, like myself, would have dreamt that we could be superstars one day, just like Stefanie Sun or Lin Jun Jie. But sometimes we are just being drawn back into reality when we lack the faith and believe that we could actually achieve our dreams. So I really admire the 14 finalists who made sacrifices just to catch their dreams before everything is gone. They have the guts to run after their dreams. Do you?

Joe Tsai (Cai Rongzhu) Host for Sunsilk Academy Fantasia

Vee (Age:22 ) Student

Vee has a sweet and demure voice that matches her girl-next-door look. It was a pleasant surprise to know that we were in the same alma mater and she was my junior.

Hui Xian ( Age : 19) Student

Natalie ( Age: 21) Pre-school teacher

Fiona ( Age: 24) Client Services Executive

This girl used to be a former FHM model and because of that, I am pretty sure most people who pay more attention to her physical outlook. It must be pressurising!

Zhi Lin ( Age: 22) Freelancer

Chloe ( Age : 27) Marketing Communications Executive

Chloe came across to be as this really sweet and gentle lady who is really smiley 🙂

Jessie ( Age : 21) Student

Jun Yang (Age: 20) Malaysian, Student

Apparently, Jun Yang has already made his name known in his hometown, Malaysia. This boy which had the makings and looks of a superstar appears to be confident of himself and feeling comfortable in his own shoes.

Zhang Chi ( Age: 18) China, Student

Zhang Chi is the youngest among all the other finalist. He will never go without noticed because he has this straight-forward and direct personality which make him stand out from the rest. During the press conference, his earnest and straightforward response made some of us giggle. He’s a natural comedian.

Kenneth (Age: 25) Real Estate Agent

This tall and slim-built guy might appear as a heart-throb among the girls during the competition. He is quick-witted, confident and swift in his responses and this also made him stood out from the rest.

Up til this point, I must say that the guys in the competitions had a more diversified personality as compared to the girls. I wonder if there’s going to be any frictions when the 14 people from different backgrounds come together and live under the same roof.

Phil Carmalt (Age: 30) British, Bank Executive

Phil is this simple, sincere,self-motivated and down-to-earth guy who tries his very best in everything that he do. If you had watch his audition video on YouTube, you would know what I mean. Because of that, I’m not surprise if girls would get charmed by his smile.

Irwin (Age: 25) Student

You bet! He is also studying at my alma mater. Sharing common things in life helps to draw people closer together. His funky style is striking especially with his thick black rimmed-glasses that framed his face nicely.I reckon that he might be the middleman to dissolve the frictions between people because of his contagious smile. It’s really hard not to smile back while he smiles. I love that pair of yellow shoes by the way!

Guang Li (Age: 21) China, Student

Guang Li is a natural-born entertainer who likes to imitate famous personalities like Jay Chou and Ah Du. I actually took a video of him strutting his stuff but I’ve accidentally deleted the video. I hope I’ve got another chance to film him again!

ET ( Age: 24) Full-time performer

This guy really knows what he is doing! He seems experienced in the performing arts scene and know how to satisfy his crowd of audiences.

All the best, lovely people! You’ll have our fullest support!

Joey Tsai with 14 lovely and talented people

Demostration of using the Sunsilk Academy Fantasia Mobile App

We had Vee and Irwin to introduce us about the Sunsilk Academy Fantasia Mobile App.

Starhub has developed a special mobile add called the Sunsilk Academy Fantasia app to enable viewers to keep up with the latest updates and news throughout the whole contest season. You could read up on the contestant’s profile and check out exclusive photos and videos taken during the contest. One of the main features of this app is the karaoke function which enables us to sing along and record our voices which could be shared on Facebook.

Some refreshments served after the press conference.

We headed to Bayview room 2 for a up-close and personal interview.

Honestly, I wasn’t a reporter and have to admit that I’m not really good at interviewing people too. So I was pretty nervous at first but I kind of get the hang of it after talking to them. The 14 finalists were split into three groups and I started off my interview with this group first.

The all-girls group.

These gentlemen, surprisely, were very polite. They made the effort to shake our hands and thank us after the interview. After the formal interview, we had a little chat with them. Their outgoing personalities really lightened and loosen up the atmosphere.

The first-part of the interview was a little stressful as I feel that the atmosphere was rather tense. But when it came to the last group, the atmosphere was less tense and I felt more at ease with myself. I had to thank these guys for lightening up the whole atmosphere which made this press conference a memorable one for me.

Can’t wait to meet these people again!

Don’t forget! Sunsilk Academy Fantasia debuts on 8 July 2012 on the Academy Fantasia Channel (Starhub TV Channel 110). You can also catch it online at starhubtv.com and StarHub TV on mobile. Watch them live on TV as they will be closed off from the world once they enter the academy that has a 18-hour camera surveillance that will capture the contestant’s every move and progress.

E City ( Starhub Channel 111 or 825) will screen daily and weekly recaps the highlights of this programme.