New Talent Singing Awards (

Traditional Chinese A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...

: 新秀歌唱大賽) or ''NTSA'' for short, later re-organised into New Talent Singing Awards International Finals (

: 全球華人新秀歌唱大賽) or ''NTSA International Finals'' for short), and most currently renamed TVB8 International Chinese New Talent Singing Championship (

: TVB8全球華人新秀歌唱大賽) is an annual singing competition organised by TVB that searches out new singers to enter the Asian music industry.

History

Beginning (1982–1992)

Held in Hong Kong only, contestants are required to compete through multiple rounds to display their vocal talent through different genres of songs and/or vocal challenges such as singing cappellas or in a different language etc. The winner is guaranteed a recording contract with Capital Artists Recording Company.

Overseas addition (1993–1996)

With increased Hong Kong Chinese emigrated to North America, TVB opened "Overseas Contestant" category to attract contestants and held the contest in cities such as

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, New York, Los Angeles and

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

International affair (1997–2004)

With the emergence of several Australian, European and Asian cities like

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, London,

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

and Shanghai wanting to be included in the event, in 1997, TVB Hong Kong created the New Talent Singing Awards International Finals 全球華人新秀歌唱大賽. Instead of having one "overseas contestant" from North America competing in the NTSA Finals ( now renamed the New Talent Singing Awards Hong Kong Regional Finals 全球華人新秀歌唱大賽香港區選拔賽 ), now each participating country would send regional representatives to compete in the NTSA International Finals ( much like an international beauty pageant would ). Also, due to the downsizing of Capital Artist, Emperor Entertainment Group took over organising the contest with TVB.

EEG & Mandarin dominance (2005–present)

The international finals and the Hong Kong regional finals changed their names and logos once again in 2005. Because of the heavy influence of co-organiser Emperor Entertainment Group (EEG), the Hong Kong regional finals is now simply called EEG Singing Contest 英皇新秀歌唱大賽, completely discarding the "New Talent" part of the English title . As for the International Finals, since TVB has decided to move the contest to its mandarin channel, TVB8, the international finals changed its name into TVB8 International Chinese New Talent Singing Championship TVB8全球華人新秀歌唱大賽. Because of the move, there has been many more contestants representing different regions of

Mainland China "Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...

since 2005. In 2006, spots for several "Internet Region Representatives" are devoted solely to Mainland Chinese contestants who does not live in an area where a NTSA Regional contest is held. Starting in 2009, TVB has stopped organising EEG Singing Contest and instead has its new reality-show style singing competition, The Voice 超級巨聲 select Hong Kong's representative for the International Finals. Because the 2009 NTSA International Finals was held during the run of season one of The Voice, the show selected the contestant with the highest average score thus far, Hong Kin Chan to represent Hong Kong. However, a day before the International Finals he pulled out due to sickness, marking it the first time Hong Kong was not represented in the history of the competition.

Cities hosted NTSA regional contests (past and/or present)

Amsterdam, The Netherlands Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, New Zealand * Brisbane, Australia *

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, Canada *

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

United States *

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, Postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an Eastern China, eastern coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is o ...

, China *

Johor Johor (; ), also spelled as Johore, is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia in the south of the Malay Peninsula. Johor has land borders with the Malaysian states of Pahang to the north and Malacca and Negeri Sembilan ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...

London, England London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, United States *

, Australia *

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, United States *

Penang Penang ( ms, Pulau Pinang, is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, by the Malacca Strait. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay ...

, Malaysia *

Perak Perak () is a state of Malaysia on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. Perak has land borders with the Malaysian states of Kedah to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kelantan and Pahang to the east, and Selangor to the south. Thailand's ...

, Malaysia *

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

, The Netherlands *

Sabah Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indone ...

, Malaysia *

, United States *

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

, China *

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...

, China *

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, Australia *

, Ontario, Canada *

Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popul ...

, China *

, British Columbia, Canada *

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

, Canada *

Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Jiang ...

, China *Internet Region (*Note: This is a special category reserved for Mainland Chinese contestants who lives in an area where a NTSA Regional contest is not held to compete online. )

Past winners and notable contestants

NTSA has been the start of many Asian celebrities today. Some have stayed in the music business and have become popular performers, while some have become actors and TV presenters. Below is a list of winners as well as past contestants who have made a contribution to the entertainment business after competing in NTSA. {, class="wikitable" !Year !Contestant !Representing Region (1997 Onwards) !Placement , - , 1982 , , Anita Mui (梅艷芳) , , --- , , Winner , - , 1982 , ,

Rita Carpio Rita Maria Carpio (; born June 17, 1965) is a Hong Kong pop singer of Filipino-Macanese ethnicity. Active since the 1980s, she is most well known for the 1990 Cantopop classic "You Needn’t Be Acquaintances to Meet with Each Other" (相逢何必 ...

(韋綺姍) , , --- , , First runner-up , - , 1983 , , David Lui (呂方) , , --- , , Winner , - , 1983 , , Samey Fong (方心美) , , --- , , Top 10 Finalist , - , 1983 , , Deric Wan (溫兆倫) , , --- , , Finalist , - , 1984 , , Dicky Cheung (張衛健) , , --- , , Winner , - , 1984 , , Gallen Lo (羅嘉良) , , --- , , Finalist , - , 1985 , ,

Alex To Alex To (born Alejandro Delfino on 10 February 1962) is a Hong Kong- and Taiwan-based singer and actor. He is the winner of the 4th annual New Talent Singing Awards in 1985. He has released numerous albums throughout his career and mainly ha ...

(杜德偉) , , --- , , Winner , - , 1985 , ,

William So William So Wing Hong (; born 24 September 1967) is a Hong Kong actor and a Cantopop singer. He began his musical career by participating the New Talent Singing Awards in 1985 and won the competition as the first runner up to Alex To. His perfor ...

(蘇永康) , , --- , , First runner-up , - , 1985 , , Gina Lam (林楚麒) , , --- , , Second runner-up , - , 1985 , ,

Grasshopper Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are among what is possibly the most ancient living group of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grasshopp ...

(草蜢) , , --- , , Finalist , - , 1985 , , Eddie Ng (吳國敬) , , --- , , Finalist , - , 1985 , ,

Elvina Kong Elvina Kong Yan-yin (; born 6 July 1967) is a Hong Kong television actress and presenter currently under contract to TVB. Background Kong was born in British Hong Kong on 6 July 1967. She was a finalist in the New Talent Singing Contest 1985 ...

(江欣燕) , , --- , , Finalist , - , 1985 , ,

Hacken Lee Lee Hak Kan (; born 6 December 1967), better known as Hacken Lee, is a Hong Kong singer, television host and actor, active from the 1980s until today. In 2013, Lee's song "House of Cards" swept multiple awards in many Hong Kong award ceremonies, in ...

(李克勤) , , --- , , Semi-finalist , - , 1985 , , Vivian Chow (周慧敏) , , --- , , Semi-finalist , - , 1985 , ,

Derek Kok Derek Kok Jing-hung (, born 18 November 1964) is a Hong Kong actor who had worked for TVB from 1986 to 2015. He filmed over 70 dramas. He is specialised in action and Chinese Kung Fu performance. Career His career started when he entered the Ne ...

(郭政鴻) , , --- , , Semi-finalist , - , 1985 , Sarah Wong (黃寶欣) , , , - , 1986 , , Pui Ling Man (文佩玲) , , --- , , Winner , - , 1986 , ,

Andy Hui Andy Hui Chi-on (born 12 August 1967) is a Hong Kong singer and actor. Hui is considered one of the most successful Hong Kong singers, with an extensive list of Cantonese and Mandarin hits to his credit. Early life Hui's mother is Vietnamese. ...

(許志安) , , --- , , First runner-up , - , 1986 , ,

Leon Lai Leon Lai Ming SBS BBS MH (born 11 December 1966), is a Hong Kong actor, film director, businessman and Cantopop singer. He is one of the " Four Heavenly Kings" of Hong Kong pop music. He uses his Chinese name "Li Ming" or "Lai Ming", whi ...

(黎明) , , --- , , Second runner-up , - , 1986 , ,

Shirley Kwan Shirley Kwan, Milo Kwan, Bik Luik Kwan, Kwan Suk'E, or Kwan Suk Yee (, born 15 August 1966) is an influential Cantopop singer from Hong Kong. Kwan first shot to fame in 1989 with the hit, " Happy Are Those in Love" () and was widely popular throu ...

(關淑怡) , , --- , , Finalist , - , 1987 , , Hui Hong Fong (方曉紅) , , --- , , Winner , - , 1987 , , Canti Lau (劉錫明) , , --- , , First runner-up , - , 1988 , , Patrick Tam (譚耀文) , , --- , , Winner , - , 1988 , , Sammi Cheng (鄭秀文) , , --- , , Second runner-up , - , 1988 , Ekin Cheng (鄭伊健) , --- , Finalist , - , 1988 , Bondy Chiu (趙學而) , --- , Finalist , - , 1989 , , Mei Kwan Tong (湯美君) , , --- , , Winner , - , 1989 , , Edmond Leung (梁漢文) , , --- , , Finalist , - , 1990 , , Chun Tung Tsui (徐鎮東) , , --- , , Winner , - , 1991 , , Lee Ka Keung (李家強) , , --- , , Winner , - , 1991 , , Karen Tong (湯寶如) , , --- , , Top 5 Finalist , - , 1992 , ,

Stephanie Che Stephanie Che Yuen Yuen (born 28 December 1974) is a Hong Kong actress and singer. Che started her career as the winner of New Talent Singing Awards New Talent Singing Awards (Traditional Chinese: 新秀歌唱大賽) or ''NTSA'' for short, ...

(車婉婉) , , --- , , Winner , - , 1993 , , Andrew Cheung (張崇基), Peter Cheung (張崇德) , , --- , , Winner , - , 1993 , , Coco Lee (李玟) , , --- , , First runner-up , - , 1994 , , Gabriel Harrison (海俊傑) , , --- , , Winner , - , 1995 , , Eason Chan (陳奕迅) , , --- , , Winner , - , 1995 , , Miriam Yeung (楊千嬅) , , --- , , First runner-up , - , 1995 , ,

Joyce Tang Joyce Tang Lai-ming (; born 20 January 1976, in Hong Kong) is an actress of Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB). She entered the show business via the New Talent Singing Awards in 1995. She is better known to viewers as a tough woman mostly due ...

(滕麗名) , , --- , , Finalist , - , 1996 , , Denise Ho (何韻詩) , , --- , , Winner , - , 1996 , , Cindy Au (歐倩怡) , , --- , , Second runner-up , - , 1996 , , Patrick Tang (鄧健泓) , , Overseas Contestant (

, Alberta, Canada ) , , Finalist , - , 1997 , , Wilfred Lau (劉浩龍) , , Hong Kong , , Winner , - , 1998 , ,

Jacky Chu Jacky Chu () is a Taiwanese actor and is a former member of Taiwanese group 183 Club. Music career Jacky entered New Talent Singing Awards Vancouver Audition 1998 and won. He then represented Vancouver in the International Finals and ended fi ...

(祝釩剛) , ,

, British Columbia, Canada , , First runner-up , - , 1999 , , Noella Choi (蔡瑋瑜) , ,

, Ontario, Canada , , Finalist , - , 1999 , , Jade Kwan (關心妍) , , Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada , , Best Potential Newcomer , - , 1999 , , Emma Yiu , , London, England , , Finalist , - , 2000 , , Kit Wan Liu (廖潔韻) , ,

, USA , , Winner , - , 2001 , , Ling Xia Kuo (郭凌霞) , ,

, China , , Winner , - , 2002 , , BE4 , , Shanghai, China , , Winner , - , 2002 , , Deep Ng (吳浩康) , , Hong Kong , , Second runner-up , - , 2003 , , Nga Ming Tong (唐雅明) , ,

, USA , , Winner , - , 2003 , ,

William Chan William Chan Wai-ting (born 21 November 1985) is a Hong Kong singer, dancer and actor. In 2003, he participated in New Talent Singing Awards where he won several awards. He was then signed under Emperor Entertainment Group. He began his singin ...

(陳偉霆) , , Hong Kong , , Finalist , - , 2004 , , Ming Li Wang (王明麗) , ,

, Malaysia , , Winner , - , 2004 , , Keith Wong (王琪) (王凱駿) , , Hong Kong , , Second runner-up , - , 2004 , ,

Dennis Mak Boy'z is a Hong Kong Cantopop duo produced by EEG consisting of members Kenny Kwan and Steven Cheung. Kwan left the group in 2005, and was replaced with Dennis Mak in 2005. In 2006, William Chan joined the group, forming the trio Sun Boy'z. T ...

(麥子豪) , , Hong Kong , , Finalist of Hong Kong Regional Contest , - , 2005 , , Wei Liu (劉維) , , Shanghai, China , , Winner , - , 2005 , , Lorretta Chow (周美欣) , , Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada , , Trendy Image Award , - , 2005 , , Sherman Chung (鍾舒漫) , , Hong Kong , , Finalist , - , 2005 , , Vincy Chan (陳家欣(泳兒)) , , Hong Kong , , First runner-up of Hong Kong Regional Contest , - , 2006 , , Andrew Tan (陳世安) , ,

, Malaysia , , Winner , - , 2006 , ,

Ken Hung Ken Hung Cheuk Lap is a Hong Kong cantopop singer. He started his career after earning a second place in the EEG Singing Contest (aka 25th annual New Talent Singing Awards Hong Kong Regional Finals). During 2007, he went to help in the office for ...

(洪卓立) , , Hong Kong , , First runner-up of Hong Kong Regional Contest , - , 2006 , , Laiying Wang (王來穎) , ,

, The Netherlands , , Best Stage Performance Award , - , 2007 , , Hau Yian Or (柯皓燃) , ,

, China , , Winner , - , 2008 , , Xu Pan (潘旭) , , Jilin, China , , Winner , - , 2008 , , Celia Liang (梁曉珺) , ,

, Australia , , First runner-up , - , 2009 , , Keat Yoke, Chen (曾洁钰) , , Pahang, Malaysia , , Winner , - , 2009 , , Melissa Seow (蕭麗施) , ,

, Australia , , First runner-up , - , 2010 , , Hubert Wu (胡鴻鈞) , , Hong Kong , , Winner , - , 2010 , , Peace Teo (張詒博) , ,

, Malaysia , , First runner-up , - , 2011 , , James Li (利健森) , , Brisbane, Australia , , Winner , - , 2011 , , Rachel Chua (蔡艾珈) , , Singapore , , First runner-up , - , 2011 , , Jerry Liu (廖仲謙) , , Hong Kong , , Second runner-up , - , 2012 , , Sheldon Lo (羅孝勇) , , Hong Kong , , Winner , - , 2012 , , YingLong Wang (王應龍) , ,

, China , , First runner-up , - , 2012 , , Emily Hui (許家欣) , , Toronto, Ontario, Canada , , Second runner-up , - , 2013 , , Zheng Xinqi (郑兴琦) , , Sichuan, China , , Winner , - , 2014 , ,

Uriah See Uriah or Uriyah () is a Hebrew given name. It may refer to: People In the Bible *Uriah the Hittite, a soldier in King David's army in the Books of Samuel *Uriah, a priest under Ahaz in the Books of Kings *Uriah (prophet), a prophet murdered by Je ...

(徐凯) , , Johor, Malaysia , , Winner , - , 2015 , , Jacqueline Ng (黄裔媁) , , Penang, Malaysia , , Winner , - , 2016 , , Brian Chew (周奕斌) , , Penang, Malaysia , , Winner

External links

NTSA International Finals 2005 Official Website
Singing talent shows TVB original programming Cantopop Hong Kong music-related lists Hong Kong television-related lists

History

Beginning (1982–1992)

Overseas addition (1993–1996)

International affair (1997–2004)

EEG & Mandarin dominance (2005–present)

Cities hosted NTSA regional contests (past and/or present)

Past winners and notable contestants

See also

External links