Post by uptowndragon on May 9, 2008 1:20:55 GMT 7
Gang Starz 2 Showcase @ One Utama (6/05/08)
As a prelude to the live weekly shows for Gang Starz 2, TV3 organised a special showcase at One Utama in Petaling Jaya to introduce the top 12 finalists to the media & general public. Vying for the USD 100,000 grand prize are the vocal groups Step & PGZ from Thailand, Faith & Brown Tone from Singapore, Paragon Child & 3.5 from Philippines, 3 Voices, D'Raz & D'Reborn from Indonesia, and our very own One Nation Emcee, South Trio & Akasia.
Hoping to take the show to new heights, TV3 certainly pulled out all the stops and put together a rather impressive showcase to reflect the stations regional aspirations. Instead of the usual mall stage and in house PA system playing back minus one tracks, TV3 had a large reddish (to represent Hotlink, their main sponsor) stage set up with professional sound & lights and a multi piece live band to accompany the contestants, within a cordoned off area complete with proper seating, multiple LCD TV screens for viewing the show's promo clips & a simple buffet for the invited guests. Even a red carpet was laid for the attending VIPs mostly made up of corporate sponsors of the show.
The only unfortunate thing was the sound system failed to perform to expectations and denied us the opportunity to clearly hear the vocal abilities of the Top 12 contenders. As such, it was impossible to gauge who the leading contenders were going to be as their vocals were mostly muffled, lacked any form of clarity and at times were inaudible. Irregardless of the poor sound, it was quite apparent that Thai group Step maybe the earliest to exit the show, as they clearly had no vocal ability whatsoever, although they may have looked visually enticing with their physical showmanship. The other Thai group PGZ didn't fare any better either and sounded rather one dimensional, and may be facing eliminations fairly early in the competition as well. We are wondering whether these 2 groups were included just to make the Thai quota.
Although we could not make clear judgment calls on their actual vocal prowess, some of the hopefuls clearly caught our eye and stood out from the rest, based on their appearances, personalities and from their performing abilities.
Among the contenders to look out for are 3.5 (Three Point Five, made up of Jeli, Sherylad & Stephanie) from the Philippines who feature two Philippine Idol finalists (Top12 & 5) in their line up of 3 gorgeous girls. It could have been 3 Philippines Idol finalists in the line up had it not been for the Gang Starz producers unceremoniously (and can be viewed by many as discriminatorily) dumping their tomboyish looking ¡°point 5¡± who is their fourth member (PI Top 3) from their group for not looking feminine enough although she was the best vocalist of the group. It is sad that industry veterans continue to send out the wrong message to music lovers when they favor product packaging over real talent, instead of educating us on how to appreciate quality over flash. Even on a product marketing point of view, it seems that the producers have failed to capitalize on the fact that they could have had 3 Philippines Idol finalists competing as group, which would have been super grand for the ratings of the show. We are only glad that the remaining girls have decided to maintain their original name and have vowed to do their very best in honor of their ejected friend.
Also looking interesting were the distinctively funky Malaysian hip hop group One Nation Emcee, featuring 3 maturing lads (Zydee, Jojoe & Kozae) & 21 year old sweetie Mimi, from the Land Below The Wind. ONE initially was made of 5 members when OIAM season 1 finalist Aleya was incorporated into their group after the rest of her original group was rejected. However, it appears that Aleya did not turn up for the show's orientation (seems she went missing) and was subsequently disqualified for indiscipline by the producers leaving ONE back to its original line up. It is rather surprising that a singer with Aleya's calibre and experience should choose to exit the show in a rather unprofessional manner but I suppose only Aleya will be privy to what really transpired, so we are not going to speculate. It was however a very big missed opportunity for her as she could have done really well in this competition, along with the rest of ONE.
Charming themselves like queens to everyone around them, were un-identical twins Maharani Bianca & Maharani Athina, and fellow member Shinta Rosari, from Indonesian pop oriented contenders 3 Voices. The young, sweet & trendy looking lasses from Bandung were seen easily endearing themselves to everyone present, including their fellow competitors, production crews & members of the media. The spunky three looked a lot younger (I would say 15) than their actual age (19 & 20) and had us all eating out of their hands with their bold, bright & fun personalities, and may end up just being one of the top contenders in this competition.
Notable mention should also go to both Singaporean groups, Faith & Brown Tone. Faith, an all girl affair reassembled together by the audition judges, is made of the more proficient members of two different groups that auditioned, featuring Jess & Ice from Anghell, and, Zarina & Lyn from Rapture. Although they only had a short period of time to organise themselves as a brand new group, they seemed to have gelled themselves together rather nicely based at their energetic on stage performance. Brown Tone on the other hand is an experimental pop fusion group made of 3 charismatic guys (Mad Locko, Gecko & Zulfa) & a petite head turner Liyana a.ka. Lady Elle, that hope to win our hearts with their own brand of music.
But the word going around is that Paragon Child, a polished all boys¡¯ line up, from the Philippines may just be the biggest contender this season. I can't really vouch for that at this stage as the sound system was pretty awful that day, but according to some of our Rentak Sejuta crew who were also present at the showcase, that may be just the case. We however cannot dismiss anyone from this competition just yet (except Step), as the impending weeks might just prove different, as the competition heats up. We will have a little more clarity as the show progresses, and will make our predictions then. Whatever the case, Gang Starz 2 has already progressed with a bang, and we look forward to many entertaining & lively Sundays from all the contenders, as they aim to be the best vocal group in the region.
On another note, we are pleased to announce that Gang Starz season 1 winners The Lima from Indonesia are poised to release their debut album on May 13, which was recorded under KRU label and will be distributed by Universal Music.
As a prelude to the live weekly shows for Gang Starz 2, TV3 organised a special showcase at One Utama in Petaling Jaya to introduce the top 12 finalists to the media & general public. Vying for the USD 100,000 grand prize are the vocal groups Step & PGZ from Thailand, Faith & Brown Tone from Singapore, Paragon Child & 3.5 from Philippines, 3 Voices, D'Raz & D'Reborn from Indonesia, and our very own One Nation Emcee, South Trio & Akasia.
Hoping to take the show to new heights, TV3 certainly pulled out all the stops and put together a rather impressive showcase to reflect the stations regional aspirations. Instead of the usual mall stage and in house PA system playing back minus one tracks, TV3 had a large reddish (to represent Hotlink, their main sponsor) stage set up with professional sound & lights and a multi piece live band to accompany the contestants, within a cordoned off area complete with proper seating, multiple LCD TV screens for viewing the show's promo clips & a simple buffet for the invited guests. Even a red carpet was laid for the attending VIPs mostly made up of corporate sponsors of the show.
The only unfortunate thing was the sound system failed to perform to expectations and denied us the opportunity to clearly hear the vocal abilities of the Top 12 contenders. As such, it was impossible to gauge who the leading contenders were going to be as their vocals were mostly muffled, lacked any form of clarity and at times were inaudible. Irregardless of the poor sound, it was quite apparent that Thai group Step maybe the earliest to exit the show, as they clearly had no vocal ability whatsoever, although they may have looked visually enticing with their physical showmanship. The other Thai group PGZ didn't fare any better either and sounded rather one dimensional, and may be facing eliminations fairly early in the competition as well. We are wondering whether these 2 groups were included just to make the Thai quota.
Although we could not make clear judgment calls on their actual vocal prowess, some of the hopefuls clearly caught our eye and stood out from the rest, based on their appearances, personalities and from their performing abilities.
Among the contenders to look out for are 3.5 (Three Point Five, made up of Jeli, Sherylad & Stephanie) from the Philippines who feature two Philippine Idol finalists (Top12 & 5) in their line up of 3 gorgeous girls. It could have been 3 Philippines Idol finalists in the line up had it not been for the Gang Starz producers unceremoniously (and can be viewed by many as discriminatorily) dumping their tomboyish looking ¡°point 5¡± who is their fourth member (PI Top 3) from their group for not looking feminine enough although she was the best vocalist of the group. It is sad that industry veterans continue to send out the wrong message to music lovers when they favor product packaging over real talent, instead of educating us on how to appreciate quality over flash. Even on a product marketing point of view, it seems that the producers have failed to capitalize on the fact that they could have had 3 Philippines Idol finalists competing as group, which would have been super grand for the ratings of the show. We are only glad that the remaining girls have decided to maintain their original name and have vowed to do their very best in honor of their ejected friend.
Also looking interesting were the distinctively funky Malaysian hip hop group One Nation Emcee, featuring 3 maturing lads (Zydee, Jojoe & Kozae) & 21 year old sweetie Mimi, from the Land Below The Wind. ONE initially was made of 5 members when OIAM season 1 finalist Aleya was incorporated into their group after the rest of her original group was rejected. However, it appears that Aleya did not turn up for the show's orientation (seems she went missing) and was subsequently disqualified for indiscipline by the producers leaving ONE back to its original line up. It is rather surprising that a singer with Aleya's calibre and experience should choose to exit the show in a rather unprofessional manner but I suppose only Aleya will be privy to what really transpired, so we are not going to speculate. It was however a very big missed opportunity for her as she could have done really well in this competition, along with the rest of ONE.
Charming themselves like queens to everyone around them, were un-identical twins Maharani Bianca & Maharani Athina, and fellow member Shinta Rosari, from Indonesian pop oriented contenders 3 Voices. The young, sweet & trendy looking lasses from Bandung were seen easily endearing themselves to everyone present, including their fellow competitors, production crews & members of the media. The spunky three looked a lot younger (I would say 15) than their actual age (19 & 20) and had us all eating out of their hands with their bold, bright & fun personalities, and may end up just being one of the top contenders in this competition.
Notable mention should also go to both Singaporean groups, Faith & Brown Tone. Faith, an all girl affair reassembled together by the audition judges, is made of the more proficient members of two different groups that auditioned, featuring Jess & Ice from Anghell, and, Zarina & Lyn from Rapture. Although they only had a short period of time to organise themselves as a brand new group, they seemed to have gelled themselves together rather nicely based at their energetic on stage performance. Brown Tone on the other hand is an experimental pop fusion group made of 3 charismatic guys (Mad Locko, Gecko & Zulfa) & a petite head turner Liyana a.ka. Lady Elle, that hope to win our hearts with their own brand of music.
But the word going around is that Paragon Child, a polished all boys¡¯ line up, from the Philippines may just be the biggest contender this season. I can't really vouch for that at this stage as the sound system was pretty awful that day, but according to some of our Rentak Sejuta crew who were also present at the showcase, that may be just the case. We however cannot dismiss anyone from this competition just yet (except Step), as the impending weeks might just prove different, as the competition heats up. We will have a little more clarity as the show progresses, and will make our predictions then. Whatever the case, Gang Starz 2 has already progressed with a bang, and we look forward to many entertaining & lively Sundays from all the contenders, as they aim to be the best vocal group in the region.
On another note, we are pleased to announce that Gang Starz season 1 winners The Lima from Indonesia are poised to release their debut album on May 13, which was recorded under KRU label and will be distributed by Universal Music.
