AXN Announces “Asia’s Got Talent” Judges: David Foster, Melanie C, Anggun and Van Ness Wu
SINGAPORE (13 January 2015) – It’s a YES! Grammy-award
winner David Foster, UK pop sensation and former Spice Girl Melanie C,
Indonesian rock icon Anggun and Taiwanese-American pop idol Van Ness Wu have
been named as the celebrity judging panel for the season premiere of hit talent
search show, “Asia’s Got Talent” on AXN.
Billed as the biggest talent competition in the world,
“Asia’s Got Talent” will light up screens across Asia in March on AXN and will
feature some of the region’s most incredible performing artists as they compete
to take home the coveted winning title.
Hui Keng Ang, Senior Vice President and General Manager,
Sony Pictures Television Networks, Asia said, “We have put together a superb
panel of judges for ‘Asia’s Got Talent’. This is definitely our most ambitious
original series to date and is very much in line with the type of smart,
high-quality local programming that audiences have come to expect from
AXN."
Paul O’Hanlon, Managing Director of FremantleMedia Asia
said, “We’re proud to say that ‘Asia’s Got Talent’ will be the largest version
ever of the Got Talent franchise, and our judges bring a depth and breadth of
experience and talent worthy of this show.”
A
powerful judging panel:
Anggun,
Rock Icon
Anggun started singing at
seven and by 12 released her first Indonesian studio album, ‘Dunia Aku Punya’,
with hit single ‘Mimpi’ recognized as one of the ‘150 Greatest Indonesian Songs
of All Time’ by Rolling Stone magazine.
A series of singles and
albums followed to make Anggun the biggest Indonesian rock star of the 90s. Her
international breakthrough came in 1997 with ‘Snow on the Sahara’ which was
released in 33 countries worldwide, topped music charts in Italy and Indonesia,
and made the top 20 in Finland, France, Japan, Spain, and the US. Following
that, Anggun released five more studio albums, and released songs that featured
in Danish movie “Open Hearts” and the Hollywood box office hit, “Transporter
2”. Anggun is a recipient of the ‘Chevalier
des Arts et Lettres’ from the French government. She is also a
judge on “X Factor Indonesia”
and “Indonesia’s
Got Talent” TV series.
David
Foster, Music Producer
David Foster discovered and
launched some of the greatest music careers including Michael Bublé, Josh
Groban and Celine Dion. He has created hit songs and award-winning platinum and
gold albums for Earth, Wind & Fire, Natalie Cole, Michael Bolton, Seal,
Chaka Khan, Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton, Chicago, Hall & Oates, Brandy, ’N
Sync, Boz Scaggs, and Gloria Estefan; propelled classical singers like Andrea
Bocelli and Josh Groban into mainstream popularity; as well as created
soundtracks for hit films like “The Bodyguard”, “Urban Cowboy”, and “St.
Elmo’s Fire”. In 2008 and 2011, David performed and hosted his very
own, star-studded “Foster & Friends” concerts in Las Vegas to celebrate the
music from his career and toured Asia annually from 2010 – 2012. David has won
16 Grammy Awards from 47 nominations, and is the chairman of Verve Music Group.
Melanie was part of the
iconic five-member Spice Girls, in which she was nicknamed ‘Sporty Spice’.
Following that, as a solo artist, Melanie sold more than 12 million records
from six albums that she released. She has the second most No.1 singles in the
United Kingdom and is also the only female to top the charts as part of a
quintet, a quartet, a duo and solo. Melanie also performed the role of Mrs
Johnstone in the West End musical “Blood Brothers,” for which she was nominated
for ‘Best Actress in a Musical’ at the Laurence Olivier Awards. In 2012,
Melanie co-starred in the musical “Jesus
Christ Superstar”, and also judged the preceding talent
search series “Superstar” to
select the lead actor for the said musical.
Van Ness Wu was born in
California where he took classes in performing arts, acting and languages in
Hollywood before moving to Taiwan at 21 to build his career. His breakthrough
came with his lead role in the wildly popular hit idol drama “Meteor Garden” and
its sequels. Van Ness and his co-actors of the series formed the pop idol group
F4 – now known as JVKV – and released three studio albums.
Turning his attention to his
solo career, Van Ness released his debut solo album in 2002 and followed that
with six other solo studio albums up to 2013, as well as singles collaborating
with musicians including Kanye West, Beyoncé, Wang Lee Hom, Kangta, and Coco
Lee. He also acted in many other TV series including “Autumn Concerto”, “Material Queen” and
“Peach Girl”, as well as movies such as “Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the
Dragon” and “Kung Fu Chefs”.
“Asia's Got Talent” is the 63rd version of "Got
Talent", which won the Guinness World Records title for being the world's
"Most Successful Reality TV Format" in 2014. The hit format is
co-owned by FremantleMedia and Simon Cowell’s Syco Entertainment.
The season premiere of “Asia’s Got Talent” on AXN is
proudly presented by Marina Bay Sands, BIG COLA, Pantene, Caltex, Jetstar and
Tune Hotels.
Marina Bay Sands is the premier sponsor of “Asia's
Got Talent.” As Asia's leading entertainment destination and crossroads
for global celebrities, Marina Bay Sands provides opportunities for local
talent to shine on the world’s
stage.
BIG COLA is the exclusive beverage partner of “Asia’s Got
Talent”. With BIG COLA, ‘if you can dream it, you can do it’. Contestants and
fans across Asia will be encouraged to ‘Think BIG’ and ‘Dream Bigger’ in
pursuit of their dreams.
Pantene, the exclusive haircare partner of “Asia’s Got
Talent”, makes hair stronger inside and shinier outside to enable contestants
to shine and be the world’s number one talent.
Caltex is the exclusive petroleum partner of “Asia's Got
Talent.” Caltex delivers a hassle-free experience to get people back on their
journey quickly, so they can have more time and energy to do whatever matters
most to them. By being a part of “Asia's Got Talent,” Caltex wants to celebrate
key moments of the contestants’ journey to stardom, providing viewers the
opportunity to enjoy the journey with them.
Jetstar is proud to
be the official airline of the very first edition of “Asia’s Got Talent.” With
more than 600 weekly flights to 22 destinations across 13 countries in Asia
Pacific, Jetstar enables talent to fly further, connect with families and
fulfil dreams.
Tune Hotels is an
international select-service hotel brand that provides accommodation with high
quality essentials in key gateway cities. Five star beds and power
showers help “Asia’s Got Talent” contestants get a good night’s sleep and
perform at their best.
AXN is a leader of
regionally produced original content in Asia, with notable ratings successes
including four seasons of the international Emmy-nominated “The Amazing Race Asia”;
the Asian Television Award-winning “Cash Cab Asia”; “The Apprentice Asia”; “Cyril: Rio Magic”;
“Cyril’s Family Vacation: Hawaii Edition”; and the Asian Television
Award-nominated “Cyril: Simply Magic.”
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