Come 8 July 2012, expect a whole lot of drama to hit your viewing screens! StarHub is importing Academy Fantasia, a popular and internationally-successful singing competition into Singapore. With the promise to groom the winner to stardom, this multi-platform singing competition will bring reality TV to a whole new level where viewers get to see the makings of a star from start to finish.
Named Sunsilk Academy Fantasia, this 10-week competition is StarHub’s biggest ever foray into content production, and inaugural collaboration with Sunsilk, a leading hair care brand. StarHub will also work with Refinery Media, an established local production house to produce Sunsilk Academy Fantasia. Refinery Media is the creator and producer of Supermodelme, an Asian modeling reality contest that offers viewers sneak peeks into the competitive fashion industry.
Auditions for Sunsilk Academy Fantasia, which will be held at Square 2 shopping mall on 19 May and 20 May 2012, are open to youths of all nationalities between the ages of 16 and 30. 14 contestants will be selected to enter the finals. These 14 finalists will then be housed in a specially built academy monitored by close circuit cameras. For 10 intensive weeks, they must adapt to living life in the limelight, whilst undergoing intensive training which include singing, dancing and acting lessons by well-known personalities.
Contestants will pit against one another on their singing abilities and showmanship during weekly concerts held at Dragonfly Bar, St. James Power Station where contestants with the lowest votes will be eliminated. Results will be based on a 70-30 ratio, with 30 percent of votes decided by a panel of judges and 70 percent through SMS voting by the public.
The winner of Sunsilk Academy Fantasia will bag the coveted prize of a two-year singing contract and a recording album with renowned local record label, Ocean Butterflies Music (OBM). OBM will take the winner under its wings and be responsible for grooming the winner. Mr Billy Koh, one of Singapore’s most influential figures in the Chinese music industry and founder of Ocean Butterflies Music, will be one of the resident judges for the competition.
The Sunsilk Academy Fantasia weekly concert will be hosted by Joe Tsoi, who was born and educated in Singapore but ventured to Taiwan to develop his career in the early 1990s. He is a veteran in hosting youth and entertainment programmes such as are Joe’s Music Report, Asian Music Spin and 100% Entertainment. The Sunsilk Academy Fantasia daily shows will be hosted by Louis Wu, who was one of the finalists in the 2005 Super-Host competition, and Ophelia Su Bei Ru, a popular host discovered in the first season of One Million Star.
