The Swaggerific Boyz receiving both
praise and criticism from the judges after
their performance
Neo Tan pulls out all the stops for
his Russian number
Dennis Lau giving his opinion on one
of the performances, while (from right)
Lam, Dino and Ms. Ooi, look on
Amala Darishna Naidu receives her award
for Project Echo from one of the judges,
Ms. Nur Mashita bt. Kamalun Ariffin
David Suryadi impresses judges with
his Spanish version of the popular single,
"You Raise Me Up"
Kuala Lumpur, 9 July 2010 - UCSIU’s
Got Talent was back for its second year running after
crowning its first winner last year. This year’s competition
was stiff, as dozens who were chosen were whittled down
to ten semi-finalists, and finally to six finalists.
The six performed at UCSI University’s Derierre Le
Masque, a night of fun and mystery, organised by
the University’s Student Council. Neo Tan Chee Hao emerged
as the winner, after performing a Russian song by Vitas
entitled Opera 2. The 1st runner up was the Swaggerific
Boyz, a three-student band R&B who performed an original
number. Indonesian student, David Suryadi came in third
for his Spanish rendition of “You Raise Me Up”.
UCSIU’s Got Talent is an annual talent competition,
jointly organised by the University’s Student Council
and the Student Affairs Office. The competition is aimed
at encouraging students exhibit their hidden talents,
like singing, dancing, acting or even playing an instrument.
Judges for the finals were Dennis Lau, an electric
violinist, pianist and songwriter; Syed
Farradino Omar (Dino), producer, host and
news anchor for Astro Awani; Ooi Pei Boon, UCSI
University Student Affairs Office Director; and Steve
Lam, a former UCSI University student, and the creator
of The Hive, an initiative which encourages and promotes
independent bands.
The first place winner, Neo who took home a cheque worth
RM1,000 hopes to use it to further develop his passion
for singing. This third year Mechatronic Engineering
student has been mentoring with a student from the University’s
School of Music for the past year.
Guest judge, Dino said that he was pleasantly surprised
at the level of talent exhibited by the students at
the competition, “The students were really good at differentiating
themselves, especially those who had practiced hard
singing in a language which was foreign to them”.
Dennis Lau was also equally impressed with the contestants,
“If I was a producer, I would sign some of them up for
a recording deal”.
The other contestants who performed in the finals were
Runway-18, a middle-eastern Metal band, balladeer, Michelle
Hiew who performed a Celine Dion number, and “Opps”,
a two-girl band who sang Reflection by Christina
Aguilera.
This masquerade-themed party also saw more than 400
students in hand-made and store-bought masks vying to
win the “Best Mask” competition. Mime performances,
tarot card reading and magic shows also added to the
“fairground” atmosphere.
The event was also the platform for the Student Council
to choose the Project Echo ambassador. Project Echo
was a month-long competition inviting proposals from
students across all faculties on changes to make the
UCSI University community more environmental conscious
and friendly. Psychology student, Amala Darishna Naidu
was declared the ambassador after beating two other
finalists, Foundation in Science student, Mohamed Houssein
Dahir and Mass Communications student, Pravena Jayakumar.
"Without
prejudice to the rights of UCSI the information herein
is correct at the time of printing and UCSI reserves
the right to make amendments without prior notice."
Last updated:
27 Jul 2010
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