Survival of Sound singing competition

Kampar, July 23 - Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman's Survival of Sound is through to its final round of singing competition. The finals was held at Heritage Building and organized by UTAR Kampar Music club divisions, Voice of Utar (VOU) and Voice of Choir and Acapella (VOCA).

The event started at 8.00PM with the arrival of VIPs, chairman of Music club Lim Yir Fang, chairman of S.O.S Brian Teh, music composer Mr Chai, music teacher Ms Estee and social media influencer Jeii Pong. Among the program lineups were performances by The Voice Factory singing competition 2015 champion, year two Marketing student Woo Ke Ni, Jeii Pong and UNNORM band.

VIPs Mr Chai, Lim Yir Fang, Jeii Pong and Ms Estee.

The competition started right after the speech by music club chairman Lim Yir Fang. The competition works this way, 12 contestants are selected from 30 contestants during the semi finals to proceed to the finals. The finalists will be divided into six groups, therefore there will be two contestants in a group and they will compete against each other.

A winner will be chosen among the two to advance to the second section of the competition, top six. For the second section of the competition, top six contestants will compete among them by singing their individual songs using the minus one method (Karaoke). A winner will be chosen from the last 6 contestants.

The 12 finalists' song performance during first section of the competition will be accompanied by a live band of seven members. The members include acoustic guitarist Yuan Xin, electric guitarist Goh Chun Hoe and Leslie Lim, Bassist Tan Yih Wei, drummer Chong Ze Hem and pianist Ong Jun Yang and Romaric Yeap. This is a first time in many years a singing competition decided to have the contestants perform with a live band. Along with the stage decoration, the concept of the competition depicts popular TV talent show Sing! China.

From most left:Chun Hoe, Leslie, Chun Yang, Romaric, Ze Hem, Yuan Xin and Yih Wei.

The first contestant to sing during the first section was year one Psychology student Aeral Lee, with her song, 'Eternal Summer' by MayDay. Her powerful voice together with strong vocal balance definitely set the bar fairly high for the other contestants. Her strong impression on the judges landed her a spot in the top six together 5 other contestants.

Stefnie Ng, year two Psychology student was also among the 12 finalists who managed to advance to top six. When asked how she felt now that she came so far into the competition, she said "I was happy but also quite surprised myself." Her first song, 'Fool' by Yoga Lin represents her in real life, quoted by her. Stefnie thanked her supporters for coming later in the interview.

"I am honestly very nervous and worry that I cannot do well later because I wanted to enter the top six" quoted year one Public Relations student, Janice Nyew when asked how she felt being in the final round of the competition. She added "I also want to thank my supporters for being supportive of me." Later, her performance of G.E.M Tang's version of 'Intoxicated' got her a place in the top six.

Janice Ngew, year one Public Relations student.

At the end of the first section, came Ke Ni's performance of 'Mo' by Na Ying. Her wide vocal range and good control of emotions in the song proved that she is no doubt a champion. When asked about her opinions on the contestants of S.O.S singing competition, she said "All 12 finalists are really strong and their talents cannot be compared because they each have their own strength," and she wished them good luck.

Ke Ni, champion of Voice Factory singing competition.

After that, the event took a 10 minute break for the audiences to vote for their favorite contestant for the Popularity award. The emcees announced the result for top six finalists after the break. Among them are, Tay Jor Jun, Areal Lee, Stefnie Ng, Janice Ngew, Sam Jaycee, and Lim Kok Chuen. While the top six prepare for their second song, Jeii Pong performed Eason Chan's 'Rang Wo Pei Zai Ni Shen Pian' and 'Me Too' by Meghan Trainer. For the second section of the competition, all six contestants gave their best and stepped up their game to win the judges' heart.

Lim Kok Chuen, one of the top six finalists.

Right after was the band performance by UNNORM, a band that sings Japanese songs. Now that is something that we don't normally heard in bands by UTAR students, which explains their unique band name.

Before announcing who won, the emcees announced the contestant who won the Popularity award, Stefnie Ng. The Popularity award were chosen by the public by a voting method where each S.O.S final singing competition represents five votes.

Stefnie Ng, winner of Popularity award and 2nd runner-up.

Finally, when it was time to announce who won, the audiences held their breath and cheered name who they thought deserve to win. The judges deliberated for a while before coming to decision.

In the end, year three Finance student, Tay Jor Jun came off as the champion of Survival of Sound singing competition with her favorite song "How Far I'll Go" a Moana soundtrack that got many of the audiences singing along to the famous track. In her interview, Jor Jun also praised the committees of the event for their hard work in making the event successful. Phang Wai Yen, the emcee of S.O.S singing competition also agreed that the event will well planned and came off as a success. First runner-up went to Aeral Lee and second runner-up Stefnie Ng.

Champion of S.O.S singing competition Jor Jun and Brian Teh, chairman of the event.

Chairman of singing competition, Brian Teh, year one Banking and Finance student quote "It was our honor to be able to have the VIPs from a strong music background to be here with us today. I also want to thank my team that has been with me through thick and thin. There were miscommunication here and there but we have been through it all."

Top six contestants took a group shot before the event concluded.