Yvonne Chua, 23 and Stephanie Koh, 21 defeated 10 other finalists and emerged from a total of 406 aspiring contestants as the top two winners at the Scoot: K-Pop Star Hunt 3 Singapore Auditions.
The duo will represent Singapore this October to train at the renowned Korean artiste management company, FNC Entertainment, with 14 other contestants across the region including Hong Kong, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand as well as Indonesia, a new addition to this year’s K-Pop Star Hunt. Together, they will battle it out to be crowned the ultimate winner of the talent reality series.
“I’m very grateful for the opportunity and glad that my efforts paid off,” exclaimed Chua, who participated in this competition for the second time. “I think I was over ambitious in my song choice last year. I sang Jessie J’s ‘Do it Like A Dude’ and I don’t think I commanded the stage well. But this time, I told myself to sing and dance separately and I guess I did better this time.”
Chua who celebrated her 24th birthday a day before the competition felt that making through the competition was the best birthday gift so far. “I made a wish about this (competition) and it came true, so I’m really happy about it.”
21-year-old YouTube musician Stephanie Koh shared “I did not expect it at all, it’s kind of mind-blowing because I didn’t expect the strong competition at all. Ya, it came as quite a shock!”
With more than 270 video submissions and 132 walk-in auditions, the competition was definitely an intense one. The Singapore leg of Scoot: K-Pop Star Hunt 3 saw three judges Mr. Eddy Tan, Vice President, Original Productions – Entertainment, FOX International Channels (FIC); Mr. Michael Jung, Head of channel M, FOX International Channels and representative for CJ E&M; Singapore guest judge, home grown singer and superstar idol, Mr. Derrick Hoh.
Scoot: K-Pop Star Hunt 3 premieres on Saturday, 30 November
2013 on channel M, SingTel mio TV Ch. 518 (HD) and StarHub TV Ch. 824/
874 (HD)
The judges agreed that it was an unanimous vote for the top two for they displayed great talent on stage. “The contestants this year were really amazing. They were all good and even, it was a difficult choice to select the winner,” Mr. Eddy Tan said.
“We had a lot of discussion and there were people giving different perspectives, but in the end we all chose the same people. There was definitely a great vibe among the judges this year,” Mr Derrick Hoh added.
Asked about this year’s competition and the winners, Mr. Derrick Hoh remarked, “Yvonne and Stephanie were outstanding to us as they exhibited the full package of potential stars, showcased through their performances and dominating stage presence, two important factors we often look out for.”
For winners Yvonne Chua and Stephanie Koh, the journey to superstardom has only just begun. The two will continue their journey to become the next K-Pop idol when they meet up with the other winners from Hong Kong, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand and Indonesia.
After the weekly elimination rounds, the top 4 finalists will be heading to Singapore for a special final showcase concert for one last performance upon which the winner will be decided.