New Talent Singing Awards Vancouver Audition
New Talent Singing Awards Vancouver Audition or NTSA Vancouver for short, is an annual singing contest organized by Fairchild Television in Vancouver, held every July. The winner of the contest will represent the city of Vancouver in the NTSA International Finals, usually held in Hong Kong, organized by TVB.
Contest format
Original Format: Regional - North America - Hong Kong
From its start in 1994, 15 finalists competed in NTSA Vancouver for the top 2 spots. Those two contestants will then enter the NTSA North American Finals. 12 to 15 regional winners from Canada and the US would compete for the title of North American champion. The North American champion would then compete as the "overseas contestant" in the NTSA Finals in Hong Kong.International Event: Regional - Canada - International
With the emergence of several Australian, European and Asian cities like Melbourne, London, Amsterdam and Shanghai wanting to be included in the event, in 1997, TVB Hong Kong created the NTSA International Finals. Instead of having one "overseas contestant" from North America competing in the NTSA Finals, now each participating country would send regional representatives to compete in the NTSA International Finals.With that, the North American Finals were cancelled starting that year. Fairchild TV continued to host the NTSA Canadian Finals to search for National representatives while the American cities just sent their regional winners directly to the NTSA International Finals.
In the NTSA Canadian Finals, representatives from 7 Canadian cities would compete for the top 3 places, which would give them the opportunity to represent Canada and their city in the NTSA International Finals.
New Century, New Format: Regional - International
In 2000, Fairchild TV decided to scrap the NTSA Canadian Finals, and have one representative from each of the three cities that Fairchild TV is based in: Vancouver, Toronto, and Calgary to compete in the NTSA International Finals. Since this was the case, the winner of the regional competitions in those cities would directly enter the International Finals. The same year, Fairchild TV Vancouver decided to reduce the number of finalists from 12 to 8, making the competition extremely intense. The number of finalists temporarily increased back to 12 in 2007, but dropped back to 8 finalists in 2008.Contest venues
NTSA Vancouver is one of the two big annual productions for Fairchild Television Vancouver and has been held at many state-of-the-art venues.- 1994 Orpheum Theatre
- 1995 Gateway Theatre
- 1996 Plaza of Nations Outdoor Stage
- 1997 Tom Lee Music Theatre
- 1998 Plaza of Nations Indoor Glass Dome
- 1999 Radisson Hotel Ballroom
- 2000 Plaza of Nations Indoor Glass Dome
- 2001 Plaza of Nations Indoor Glass Dome
- 2002 Plaza of Nations Outdoor Stage
- 2003 The Centre in Vancouver for Performing Arts
- 2004 The Centre in Vancouver for Performing Arts
- 2005 The Centre in Vancouver for Performing Arts
- 2006 Chan Shun Concert Hall at Chan Centre for the Performing Arts
- 2007 The Centre in Vancouver for Performing Arts
- 2008 The Centre in Vancouver for Performing Arts
- 2009 The Centre in Vancouver for Performing Arts
- 2010 River Rock Show Theatre at River Rock Casino Resort
- 2011 River Rock Show Theatre at River Rock Casino Resort
- 2012 River Rock Show Theatre at River Rock Casino Resort
Special performing guests
- 1994 No Special Guest
- 1995 Liz Kong 江希文
- 1996 Karen Tong 湯寶如
- 1997 No Special Guest
- 1998 Kenneth Wong 黃君諾, Daniel Kwan 關浩正, Phillip Lau 劉健濤
- 1999 No Special Guest
- 2000 Gabriel Harrison 海俊傑
- 2001 Fei Fei Ding 丁菲飛
- 2002 JanaJana
- 2003 Brenda Lo 盧業瑂, Annabelle Louie 雷安娜, Albert Lui 雷有曜
- 2004 Pansy Lau 劉鳳屏, Thelma Leung 梁聖子, William Ho 何活權
- 2005 Wilfred Lau 劉浩龍
- 2006 Niki Chow 周麗淇
- 2007 Stephanie Cheng 鄭融
- 2008 Kay Tse 謝安琪
- 2009 Tat Dik 狄易達, JJ Jia 賈曉晨
- 2010 Prince@Lollipop 邱勝翊(王子), Xiao Jie@Lollipop 廖俊傑(小傑)
- 2011 Jonathan Wong 王梓軒
- 2012 Ivana Wong 王菀之
Major award winners
Contestant careers
- 1994 Winner Angus Ting returned to Hong Kong and formed the band A-dAY. With the song, "Portrait ", his band won the 19th Annual CASH Song Writers Quest organized by the Composers and Authors Society of Hong Kong in 2007.
- 1995 Best Stage Performance Award Winner James Chu went to Taiwan and was signed by Forward Music, a subsidiary of BMG Entertainment Taiwan. He released an album in 1998 under the stage name 楊軒. However, that album was ill-received, and he was dropped from his label. Since then, he has joined Jungiery and now makes up one half of songwriting duo VJ.
- 1996 Winner Daniel Kwan entered Fairchild Television and become a popular host for several years before deciding to go back to Hong Kong.
- 1996 First Runner-Up Victor Chow also became a host with Fairchild Television for a couple of years, often partnered with 1996 Best Stage Performance Award winner Lily Cosnos. The two were later rumoured to be dating.
- 1997 First Runner-Up Aaron Wong later entered Fairchild TV and has hosted various programs until 2001 including a guest stint on What's On in 2000.
- 1998 Winner Jacky Chu went on to capture First Runner-Up in the NTSA International Finals. He signed with Universal Music Taiwan in 2002 and released a solo album. That album did not sell very well and just like his brother, Jacky was dropped from his label. However, he then joined the Warner Music Taiwan musical quintet, 183 Club, as their lead singer, finally finding fame in 2005. He has also acted in several Taiwanese dramas since 2004. In 2007, he was dismissed from 183 Club and their management company due to his incessant partying and nightlife.
- 1998 Second Runner-Up Ruby Lu was signed to EMI Taiwan and released an album in 1999. However, the album received minimal promotion, which led to poor sales. She then turned to radio and is now a popular radio host in Taiwan.
- 1998 Finalist Elva Hsiao signed to Virgin Records in Taiwan and released her self-titled début in 2000 under the stage name 蕭亞軒. She is one of the first NTSA Vancouver contestants to succeed in the Asian music industry and is now a bonafide Asian diva.
- 1998 Finalist Michelle Hsu was signed to Sony BMG Entertainment in Taiwan. She was paired up with another girl to form the popular musical duo, 蜜雪薇琪.
- 1999 Winner Jade Kwan went on to win the NTSA Canada Finals and won the Best Potential Newcomer Award in the NTSA International Finals. She signed a record deal with Hong Kong label BMA Music under the stage name 關心妍 and is now a popular Cantopop singer in Hong Kong.
- 2000 First Runner-Up Benny Yau was approached by Fairchild TV right after he competed to host What's On, which he hosted for the next 2 plus years. Currently, he still remains affiliated with Fairchild, performing and presenting various programs for the station. He is one of the judges at the NTSA Vancouver 2007 Auditions and Semi-Finals.
- 2000 Second Runner-Up Suzanne Chung was signed to the management company owned by Hong Kong superstar Andy Lau. She had a bit part in the 2002 movie, Dance of a Dream and also sang duets with Lau on the soundtrack under the stage name 鍾依澄. However, she has dropped off the radar since.
- 2000 Finalist Leslie Tsang was approached by Fairchild TV at the same time as Benny and became a host for them for the next 3 years. She is currently in Hong Kong.
- 2000 Finalist Alex Lee signed with Virgin Records Taiwan and released his solo album in November 2005.
- 2001 Winner Cindy Cheung was a host for What's On for Fairchild TV, and has hosted the NTSA Vancouver Finals from 2003 - 2006. She ended her contract with Fairchild TV in November 2006 and have since returned to Hong Kong.
- 2001 Second Runner-Up Jenny Chang went on to sing the song "Lights Out", which won the Best Arrangement Award at the 11th Annual Canadian Chinese Songwriter's Quest in 2006.
- 2001 Finalist Abraham Siu hosted What's On for Fairchild TV for 2 years and has now formed a rap duo with 2005 First Runner-Up, Aaron Chan called Am3ition in early 2007.
- 2002 Winner Rita Leung will be releasing her first published book in 2007.
- 2002 First Runner-Up Kitty Bao is currently a host for Fairchild TV's mandarin channel, Talentvision.
- 2002 Finalist April Li is currently a DJ for Fairchild Radio in Vancouver.
- 2002 Finalist Sandy Cheung currently hosts Leisure Talk on Fairchild TV.
- 2002 Finalist Stanley Cheung returned to Hong Kong and joined the band, Cheers. In late 2006, he entered The TVbeople Contest held by TVB and was signed as a "TVbeople", who are artistes that appear in television ads promoting various TVB programs.
- 2002 Finalist Jessica Yu returned to Taiwan to pursue a singing career, following her parents' footsteps in the music industry.
- 2003 Best Stage Performance Award Winner Reika Li hosted programs for Talentvision and was an MC at the NTSA Vancouver Finals 2004.
- 2003 Finalist Eunice Ho originally entered Fairchild TV as a host for What's On but later became a Promotion Executive for the station as well until March 2006. She is currently a presenter for Hong Kong TVB's entertainment news channel.
- 2003 Finalists Kevin Chiu and Scarlet Wong both hosted What's On for Fairchild TV until late 2004.
- 2004 Winner Michael Lee entered the 12th Annual Canadian Chinese Songwriter's Quest organized by Fairchild Radio and won First Place and Best Song Arrangement with the song "Shine In Love", which he wrote and performed.
- 2004 First Runner-Up Min Zhang entered the 10th Annual Canadian Chinese Songwriter's Quest organized by Fairchild Radio and won with the song "未完之旅程", which she co-wrote and sang as a duet with her friend Susan Chen.
- 2004 Finalist Ming Fai Lee currently hosts What's On for Fairchild TV.
- 2005 Winner Lorretta Chow participated Miss Hong Kong 2007 & won 2nd Runner Up.
- 2005 First Runner-Up, Aaron Chan formed a hip-hop group called Am3ition with 2001 Finalist, Abraham Siu in early 2007 and had released an album locally. He also was one of the Masters of Ceremonies at NTSA Vancouver 2007 and was part of the coaching team for finalists in 2007 and 2008. In August 2008, Chan was involved in a bar brawl and was murdered outside of Atlantis nightclub in downtown Vancouver. He was 25 years old.
- 2005 Finalist Jessica Cheung currently hosts What's On for Fairchild TV.
- 2005 Finalist Dickson Chu hosted programs in the spring of 2006 for Fairchild TV.
- 2006 Finalist Seena Zhang entered a singing contest organized by Fairchild TV rival, CHMB AM 1320 and won.
- 2008 Finalists Gary Yan and Cherry Kwok currently host What's On for Fairchild TV.
Vancouver success in [NTSA International]
- Daniel Kwan 關浩正: NTSA International 1996 First Runner-Up
- Jacky Chu 祝釩剛: NTSA International 1998 First Runner-Up
- Jade Kwan 關惠文 : NTSA International 1999 Best Potential Newcomer Award 最具潛質新人獎
- Lorretta Chow 周美欣: NTSA International 2005 Trendy Image Award 時尚形象大獎
- Phil Lam 林漢輝: NTSA International 2007 One-Minute Stage Explosion Award 火爆舞台一分鐘大獎 & Top 4 Finalist
- Dionne Phillips 余迪安: NTSA International 2008 Trendy Style Award 時尚型格大奬 & Top 10 Finalist