New Talent Singing Awards (Traditional Chinese: 新秀歌唱大賽) or NTSA for short, later re-organised into New Talent Singing Awards International Finals (Traditional Chinese: 全球華人新秀歌唱大賽) or NTSA International Finals for short), and most currently renamed TVB8 International Chinese New Talent Singing Championship (Traditional Chinese: TVB8全球華人新秀歌唱大賽) is an annual singing competition organised by TVB that searches out new singers to enter the Asian music industry.

Current logo of NTSA International Finals, in use since 2005.

History

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Beginning (1982–1992)

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Logo of NTSA from 1982 to 1996.

Held in Hong Kong only, contestants are required to compete through multiple rounds to display their vocal talent through different genres of songs and/or vocal challenges such as singing cappellas or in a different language etc. The winner is guaranteed a recording contract with Capital Artists Recording Company.

Overseas addition (1993–1996)

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With increased Hong Kong Chinese emigrated to North America, TVB opened "Overseas Contestant" category to attract contestants and held the contest in cities such as Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

International affair (1997–2004)

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Logo of NTSA International Finals from 1997 to 2004.

With the emergence of several Asian, Australian and European cities like Shanghai, Melbourne, London, and Amsterdam wanting to be included in the event, in 1997, TVB Hong Kong created the New Talent Singing Awards International Finals 全球華人新秀歌唱大賽. Instead of having one "overseas contestant" from North America competing in the NTSA Finals (now renamed the New Talent Singing Awards Hong Kong Regional Finals 全球華人新秀歌唱大賽香港區選拔賽 ), now each participating country would send regional representatives to compete in the NTSA International Finals (much like an international beauty pageant would). Also, due to the downsizing of Capital Artists, Emperor Entertainment Group (EEG) took over organising the contest with TVB.

EEG & Mandarin dominance (2005–present)

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The international finals and the Hong Kong regional finals changed their names and logos once again in 2005. Because of the heavy influence of co-organiser Emperor Entertainment Group (EEG), the Hong Kong regional finals is now simply called EEG Singing Contest 英皇新秀歌唱大賽, completely discarding the "New Talent" part of the English title. As for the International Finals, since TVB has decided to move the contest to its mandarin channel, TVB8, the international finals changed its name into TVB8 International Chinese New Talent Singing Championship TVB8全球華人新秀歌唱大賽. Because of the move, there has been many more contestants representing different regions of Mainland China since 2005. In 2006, spots for several "Internet Region Representatives" are devoted solely to Mainland Chinese contestants who does not live in an area where a NTSA Regional contest is held.

Starting in 2009, TVB has stopped organising EEG Singing Contest and instead has its new reality-show style singing competition, The Voice 超級巨聲 select Hong Kong's representative for the International Finals. Because the 2009 NTSA International Finals was held during the run of season one of The Voice, the show selected the contestant with the highest average score thus far, Hong Kin Chan to represent Hong Kong. However, a day before the International Finals he pulled out due to sickness, marking it the first time Hong Kong was not represented in the history of the competition.

Cities hosted NTSA regional contests (past and/or present)

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Past winners and notable contestants

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NTSA has been the start of many Asian celebrities today. Some have stayed in the music business and have become popular performers, while some have become actors and TV presenters. Below is a list of winners as well as past contestants who have made a contribution to the entertainment business after competing in NTSA.

Year Contestant Representing Region (1997 Onwards) Placement and Award(s) Ref.
1982 Anita Mui (梅艷芳) --- Winner
1982 Rita Carpio (韋綺姍) --- First runner-up
1983 David Lui (呂方) --- Winner
1983 Samey Fong (方心美) --- Top 10 Finalist
1983 Deric Wan (溫兆倫) --- Finalist
1984 Dicky Cheung (張衛健) --- Winner
1984 Gallen Lo (羅嘉良) --- Finalist
1985 Alex To (杜德偉) --- Winner [1]
1985 William So (蘇永康) --- First runner-up
1985 Gina Lam (林楚麒) --- Second runner-up
1985 Grasshopper (草蜢) --- Finalist
1985 Eddie Ng (吳國敬) --- Finalist
1985 Elvina Kong (江欣燕) --- Finalist
1985 Hacken Lee (李克勤) --- Semi-finalist
1985 Vivian Chow (周慧敏) --- Semi-finalist
1985 Derek Kok (郭政鴻) --- Semi-finalist
1985 Sarah Wong (黃寶欣) ---
1986 Pui Ling Man (文佩玲) --- Winner
1986 Andy Hui (許志安) --- First runner-up
1986 Leon Lai (黎明) --- Second runner-up
1986 Shirley Kwan (關淑怡) --- Finalist
1987 Hui Hong Fong (方曉紅) --- Winner
1987 Canti Lau (劉錫明) --- First runner-up
1988 Patrick Tam (譚耀文) --- Winner
1988 Sammi Cheng (鄭秀文) --- Second runner-up
1988 Ekin Cheng (鄭伊健) --- Finalist
1988 Bondy Chiu (趙學而) --- Finalist
1989 Mei Kwan Tong (湯美君) --- Winner
1989 Edmond Leung (梁漢文) --- Finalist
1990 Chun Tung Tsui (徐鎮東) --- Winner
1991 Lee Ka Keung (李家強) --- Winner
1991 Karen Tong (湯寶如) --- Top 5 Finalist
1992 Stephanie Che (車婉婉) --- Winner
1993 Andrew Cheung (張崇基)

Peter Cheung (張崇德)

--- Winner
1993 Coco Lee (李玟) --- First runner-up
1994 Gabriel Harrison (海俊傑) --- Winner
1995 Eason Chan (陳奕迅) --- Winner
1995 Miriam Yeung (楊千嬅) --- First runner-up
1995 Joyce Tang (滕麗名) --- Finalist
1996 Denise Ho (何韻詩) --- Winner
1996 Cindy Au (歐倩怡) --- Second runner-up
1996 Patrick Tang (鄧健泓) Overseas Contestant (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) Finalist
1997 Wilfred Lau (劉浩龍) Hong Kong Winner
1998 Jacky Chu (祝釩剛) Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada First runner-up
1999 Noella Choi (蔡瑋瑜) Toronto, Ontario, Canada Finalist
1999 Jade Kwan (關心妍) Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Best Potential Newcomer
1999 Emma Yiu London, England Finalist
2000 Kit Wan Liu (廖潔韻) New York City, USA Winner
2000 (林凯璇) Malaysia First runner-up, Best Stage Performance Award, Best Potential Newcomer
2001 Ling Xia Kuo (郭凌霞) Shanghai, China Winner
2002 BE4 Shanghai, China Winner
2002 Deep Ng (吳浩康) Hong Kong Second runner-up
2003 Nga Ming Tong (唐雅明) San Francisco, USA Winner
2003 William Chan (陳偉霆) Hong Kong Finalist
2004 Ming Li Wang (王明麗) Johor, Malaysia Winner
2004 Fayse Goh (吳國菲) Penang, Malaysia First runner-up
2004 Keith Wong (王琪) (王凱駿) Hong Kong Second runner-up
2004 Dennis Mak (麥子豪) Hong Kong Finalist of Hong Kong Regional Contest
2005 Wei Liu (劉維) Shanghai, China Winner
2005 Meeia Foo (符琼音) Malaysia First runner-up, Perfect Tone Award
2005 Lorretta Chow (周美欣) Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Trendy Image Award
2005 Sherman Chung (鍾舒漫) Hong Kong Finalist
2005 Vincy Chan (陳家欣 (泳兒)) Hong Kong First runner-up of Hong Kong Regional Contest
2006 Andrew Tan (陳世安) Penang, Malaysia Winner
2006 Ken Hung (洪卓立) Hong Kong First runner-up of Hong Kong Regional Contest
2006 Laiying Wang (王來穎) Rotterdam, The Netherlands Best Stage Performance Award
2007 Hau Yian Or (柯皓燃) Zhejiang, China Winner
2007 Thor Lok (駱振偉) Hong Kong Winner of Hong Kong Regional Contest
2008 Xu Pan (潘旭) Jilin, China Winner
2008 Celia Liang (梁曉珺) Sydney, Australia First runner-up
2009 Keat Yoke, Chen (曾洁钰) Pahang, Malaysia Winner, Perfect Tone Award
2009 Melissa Seow (蕭麗施) Melbourne, Australia First runner-up
2010 Hubert Wu (胡鴻鈞) Hong Kong Winner
2010 Peace Teo (張詒博) Johor, Malaysia First runner-up
2011 James Li (利健森) Brisbane, Australia Winner
2011 Rachel Chua (蔡艾珈) Singapore First runner-up
2011 Jerry Liu (廖仲謙) Hong Kong Second runner-up
2012 Sheldon Lo (羅孝勇) Hong Kong Winner
2012 YingLong Wang (王應龍) Sichuan, China First runner-up
2012 Emily Hui (許家欣) Toronto, Ontario, Canada Second runner-up
2013 Zheng Xinqi (郑兴琦) Sichuan, China Winner
2014 Uriah See (徐凯) Johor, Malaysia Winner
2015 Jacqueline Ng (黄裔媁) Penang, Malaysia Winner
2016 Brian Chew (周奕斌) Penang, Malaysia Winner

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Chia, Elisa (17 April 2023). "Happy marriage is Alex To's secret to raising a happy kid". New Straits Times. ProQuest 2801927690. Retrieved 5 June 2024 – via ProQuest.
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