Cheak Hong IanThe Unveiling of the iTALENTS
A durian (tropical fruit with a spiky green shell and pungent yellow flesh) is hardly the most popular source of inspiration for song composers.
But at the Ministry of Sound (MOS) at Clarke Quay on Feb 20, 20 contestants of the online talent search programme iTALENTSTAR had to be inspired by that and more.
These contestants, all members of online social networking portal Friendster , went through many such entertaining challenges before a live audience at MOS’s Main Arena. These ranged from needing to create songs based on random objects, to test their creativity and spontaneity, to sourcing $500 over the phone to test their resourcefulness.
Tan Jun Wei, 20, who came to support his cousin, 18 year-old iTALENT Tan Xin Hui, was brimming with confidence.
“I think she will win!” he declared after watching her sing an ode to a teddy bear, but hurriedly added that he would never join such talent searches.
The Competition
The participants are among 80 youths chosen from 4 Southeast Asian countries: Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. These iTALENTs, 10 male and 10 female, were shortlisted from thousands of entries submitted and given the chance to show the world their talents and charisma through videos, pictures and blogs as part of 6 online challenges.
The voting for the first of these challenges; the Glamour Challenge, began on Mar 3.
Friendster users worldwide can view the online profiles of these iTALENTs on www.italentstar.com and begin voting for them online. These votes will go towards the selection of the top male and female champions from each country, who will get Nokia N82 mobile phones, holiday trips and have chances to be selected as Youth Ambassador and Host for Animax , the official regional TV station for iTALENTSTAR. Country champions will be announced on Apr 9.
The Final Showdown
The 8 country champions will then face off with each other from Apr 14 to 24 in the final challenge phase where people vote for their favorites based on their blogs, videos and pictures posted on Apr 14. The top male contestant and top female contestant will then be crowned as the Asia iTALENTSTARs in an exciting finale event on Apr 25.