New Talent Singing Awards Vancouver Audition (Chinese: 新秀歌唱大賽溫哥華選拔賽) or ''NTSA Vancouver'' for short, is an annual singing contest organized by

Fairchild Television Fairchild TV or FTV is a Canadian Cantonese language exempt specialty channel."Waging a war over a large, wealthy, educated audience ; Fairchild TV and CFMT are battling it out to deliver the news to Canada's Chinese community". ''Toronto Star' ...

in Vancouver, held every July. The winner of the contest will represent the city of

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 ...

in the NTSA International Finals, usually held in

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 ...

, organized by

TVB Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) is a television broadcasting company based in Hong Kong SAR. The Company operates five free-to-air terrestrial television channels in Hong Kong, with TVB Jade as its main Cantonese language service, and ...

Contest format

Original Format: Regional - North America - Hong Kong

From its start in 1994, 15 finalists ( 12 finalists from 1996 onwards ) 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 (and some runners-up) 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

International Event: Regional - Canada - International

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 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 majo ...

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 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 ...

wanting to be included in the event, in 1997,

Hong Kong created the NTSA International Finals. Instead of having one "overseas contestant" from North America competing in the NTSA Finals ( now renamed the NTSA Hong Kong Regional Finals ), now each participating country would send regional representatives to compete in the NTSA International Finals ( much like an international beauty pageant would ). With that, the North American Finals were cancelled starting that year.

Fairchild TV Fairchild TV or FTV is a Canadian Cantonese language exempt specialty channel."Waging a war over a large, wealthy, educated audience ; Fairchild TV and CFMT are battling it out to deliver the news to Canada's Chinese community". ''Toronto Star'' ...

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 (

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 ...

and

always sent two representatives while other cities:

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 ...

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

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 ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

and either

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

sent one ) 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:

, and

( although sometimes

and

would combine to produce one contestant representing

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 ...

) 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 ( the other being

Miss Chinese (Vancouver) Pageant Miss Chinese Vancouver Pageant (Chinese: 溫哥華華裔小姐競選), also known as MCV and formerly branded as Miss Chinese (Vancouver) Pageant, is an annual beauty pageant organized by Fairchild TV that selects Vancouver's representative for ...

) and has been held at many state-of-the-art venues. *1994 Orpheum Theatre *1995 Gateway Theatre *1996

Plaza of Nations The Plaza of Nations was an entertainment complex located on the northeast shore of False Creek in Vancouver, British Columbia. It was part of the British Columbia Pavilion during Expo '86, and along with Science World, Canada Place, and the R ...

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 ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

*2004 The Centre in Vancouver for Performing Arts *2005 The Centre in Vancouver for Performing Arts *2006

Chan Shun Concert Hall The Chan Centre for the Performing Arts is located on the campus of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is situated within the natural landscape of the campus and is surrounded by evergreens and rhododendr ...

Chan Centre for the Performing Arts The Chan Centre for the Performing Arts is located on the campus of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is situated within the natural landscape of the campus and is surrounded by evergreens and rhododendro ...

*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 River Rock Casino Resort in Richmond, British Columbia is the largest casino in the province of British Columbia. The casino is owned by Great Canadian Gaming. The hotel has a total of 396 rooms, including standard rooms and suites and it is situ ...

*2011 River Rock Show Theatre at River Rock Casino Resort *2012 River Rock Show Theatre at River Rock Casino Resort

Special performing guests

Faichild TV would sometimes hire Asian singers or local artists to be the Special Guest(s) performing in the finals. *1994 ''No Special Guest'' *1995 Liz Kong 江希文 *1996

Karen Tong Karen may refer to: * Karen (name), a given name and surname * Karen (slang), a term and meme for a demanding woman displaying certain behaviors People * Karen people, an ethnic group in Myanmar and Thailand ** Karen languages or Karenic ...

湯寶如 (1991 NTSA Top 5) *1997 ''No Special Guest'' *1998 Kenneth Wong 黃君諾 (1995 NTSA Vancouver Winner), Daniel Kwan 關浩正 (1996 NTSA Vancouver Winner), Phillip Lau 劉健濤 (1997 NTSA Vancouver Winner) *1999 ''No Special Guest'' *2000 Gabriel Harrison 海俊傑 (1994 NTSA Winner) *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 (of the band 太極 Tai Chi) *2004 Pansy Lau 劉鳳屏, Thelma Leung 梁聖子, William Ho 何活權 *2005

Wilfred Lau Wilfred Lau Ho-Lung is a Hong Kong singer and actor. He is also known as "師兄" (C-Hing, Senpai) in the entertainment industry because he was the winner of the 16th annual New Talent Singing Awards International Finals in 1997, despite not bei ...

劉浩龍 (1997 NTSA International Winner) *2006

Niki Chow Niki Chow (周勵淇, previously 周麗淇; born August 30, 1979) is a Hong Kong actress and singer. Early life Chow was born and raised in Hong Kong. She is fluent in Mandarin. However, netizens have pointed that her Cantonese pronunciation ...

周麗淇 *2007

Stephanie Cheng Stephanie Cheng (born 10 October 1984) is a Hong Kong cantopop singer. She debuted under Go East Entertainment with the song "Grown Up" in 2003 and has since released more than six albums and EPs. She is best known for her song "Traffic Light" ...

鄭融 *2008

Kay Tse Kay Tse On-kay (; born 13 March 1977) is a Hong Kong Cantopop singer. She is a prominent figure in Hong Kong music and popular culture and was once frequently referred to in the media as a "grass-roots diva" and "goddess". She is known for song ...

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 Ivana Wong Yuen Chi (Chinese: 王菀之; born 18 June 1980) is a Hong Kong female singer-songwriter who entered the music industry in 2005. In subsequent years, she swept the board of creative singer awards as well as songwriting awards. She w ...

王菀之

Major award winners

Contestant careers

*1994 Winner Angus Ting (丁文俊) returned to Hong Kong and formed the band A-dAY. With the song, "Portrait (寫真)", his band won the ''19th Annual CASH Song Writers Quest'' organized by the

Composers and Authors Society of Hong Kong The Composers and Authors Society of Hong Kong Ltd.(CASH) is a copyright society in Hong Kong established in 1977 which aims to administer and enforce collectively the rights of composers and authors of musical works subsisting under the copyright l ...

in 2007. *1995 Best Stage Performance Award Winner James Chu (祝鏘鎛) went to Taiwan and was signed by Forward Music, a subsidiary of

BMG BMG may refer to: Organizations * Music publishing companies: ** Bertelsmann Music Group, a 1987–2008 division of Bertelsmann that was purchased by Sony on October 1, 2008 *** Sony BMG, a 2004–2008 joint venture of Bertelsmann and Sony that wa ...

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 (a talent company in Taiwan) and now makes up one half of songwriting duo VJ (who writes for popular groups such as 5566, 183 Club, and

K One K One is a Taiwanese boy band. The five-member band was formed in 2003 and disbanded in 2008. History K One belongs to the management company, Wingman, managed by former 5566 member, Rio Peng. Other artists that belong to this company include ...

). *1996 Winner Daniel Kwan (關浩正) entered

and become a popular host for several years before deciding to go back to Hong Kong. *1996 First Runner-Up Victor Chow (仇耀斌) also became a host with

for a couple of years, often partnered with 1996 Best Stage Performance Award winner Lily Cosnos (邱莉莉). The two were later rumoured to be dating. *1997 First Runner-Up Aaron Wong (黃敏豪) later entered

and has hosted various programs until 2001 including a guest stint on What's On in 2000. *1998 Winner Jacky Chu (祝釩剛) ( brother of James Chu ) went on to capture First Runner-Up in the NTSA International Finals. He signed with

Universal Music Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, Dutch law. UMG's cor ...

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 Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and t ...

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 (盧春如) was signed to

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

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 Elva Hsiao (, born 24 August 1979) is a Taiwanese singer, dancer, actress and businesswoman. Since being signed to a record deal in 1998 after competing in a singing competition, Hsiao has gone on to release fourteen studio albums and has achie ...

(蕭雅之) signed to

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwid ...

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 (徐佳期) was signed to

Sony BMG Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyout o ...

Entertainment in Taiwan. She was paired up with another girl to form the popular musical duo, 蜜雪薇琪 (Michelle*Vickie). *1999 Winner

Jade Kwan Kwan Wai-Man (born 31 July 1979), better known professionally as Jade Kwan Sum-Yin (), is a Cantopop singer and philanthropist based in Hong Kong. Originally from Vancouver, she entered the music industry after winning the 1999 New Talent Singin ...

(關惠文) 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 Cantopop (a contraction of "Cantonese pop music") or HK-pop (short for "Hong Kong pop music") is a genre of pop music written in standard Chinese and sung in Cantonese. Cantopop is also used to refer to the cultural context of its production ...

singer in Hong Kong. *2000 First Runner-Up

Benny Yau Benny Yau (Traditional Chinese: 邱穟恆), born 8 May 1980 is a Canadian television presenter, singer, and actor known for hosting '' What's On'' on Fairchild TV, and as the lead singer of the band The WestCoast Players. Career Yau entered a ...

(邱穟恆) was approached by

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 (鍾煥燊) was signed to the management company owned by Hong Kong superstar

Andy Lau Andy Lau Tak-wah (; born 27 September 1961) is a Hong Kong actor, singer-songwriter and film producer. He has been one of Hong Kong's most commercially successful film actors since the mid-1980s, performing in more than 160 films while maint ...

. She had a bit part in the 2002 movie, ''

Dance of a Dream ''Dance of a Dream'' () is a 2001 Hong Kong romantic comedy film co-produced and directed by the film's cinematographer, Andrew Lau and starring Andy Lau, Anita Mui and Sandra Ng. Plot Namson Lau (Andy Lau) is a ballroom dancing instructor. On ...

'' 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 (曽穎妍) was approached by

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 (李崗霖) signed with

Taiwan and released his solo album in November 2005. *2001 Winner Cindy Cheung (張瑋恩) was a host for What's On for

, 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 (張聖伶) went on to sing the song "Lights Out", which won the Best Arrangement Award at the 11th Annual Canadian Chinese Songwriter's Quest (第十屆加拿大中文歌曲創作大賽) in 2006. *2001 Finalist Abraham Siu (蕭正中) hosted What's On for

for 2 years and has now formed a rap duo with 2005 First Runner-Up, Aaron Chan (陳佑綜) called Am3ition in early 2007. *2002 Winner Rita Leung (梁璟裕) will be releasing her first published book in 2007. *2002 First Runner-Up Kitty Bao (鮑芳) is currently a host for

's mandarin channel,

Talentvision Talentvision is a Canadian Mandarin Chinese specialty channel. It is owned by the Vancouver-based Fairchild Media Group (a subsidiary of the Fairchild Group) and TVB. Talentvision's studios are located inside Aberdeen Centre in the Golden Vi ...

. *2002 Finalist April Li (李江歌) is currently a DJ for

Fairchild Radio The Fairchild Group ( zh, t=新時代集團, s=新时代集团, p=Xīnshídài Jítuán, j=San1si4doi6 Zaap6tyun4, first=t) is a Canadian business conglomerate, with headquarters in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Fairchild Group operates ...

in Vancouver. *2002 Finalist Sandy Cheung (張梓欣) currently hosts Leisure Talk on

. *2002 Finalist Stanley Cheung (張景淳) returned to Hong Kong and joined the band, Cheers. In late 2006, he entered The ''TVbeople Contest'' held by

and was signed as a "TVbeople", who are artistes that appear in television ads promoting various

programs. *2002 Finalist Jessica Yu (余宛綺) returned to Taiwan to pursue a singing career, following her parents' footsteps in the music industry. *2003 Best Stage Performance Award Winner Reika Li (李佳) hosted programs for

and was an MC at the NTSA Vancouver Finals 2004. *2003 Finalist Eunice Ho (何詠雯) originally entered

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

's entertainment news channel. *2003 Finalists Kevin Chiu (趙啟榮) and Scarlet Wong (黃心美) both hosted What's On for

until late 2004. *2004 Winner Michael Lee (李今平) entered the ''12th Annual Canadian Chinese Songwriter's Quest'' (第十二屆加拿大中文歌曲創作大賽) organized by

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 (張敏) entered the ''10th Annual Canadian Chinese Songwriter's Quest'' (第十屆加拿大中文歌曲創作大賽) organized by

and won with the song "未完之旅程" ("Unfinished Journey"), which she co-wrote and sang as a duet with her friend Susan Chen. *2004 Finalist Ming Fai ( Michael ) Lee (李明輝) currently hosts What's On for

. *2005 Winner

Lorretta Chow Lorretta "Lori" Chow (born 10 July 1988) is a Hong Kong-Canadian fashion model, actress and singer active in the Hong Kong entertainment industry. She was the second runner-up at the 2007 Miss Hong Kong Pageant and a former managed TVB artist. ...

(周美欣) participated Miss Hong Kong 2007 & won 2nd Runner Up. *2005 First Runner-Up, Aaron Chan (陳佑綜) formed a hip-hop group called Am3ition with 2001 Finalist, Abraham Siu (蕭正中) 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 (張葆頤) currently hosts What's On for

. *2005 Finalist Dickson Chu (朱健榮) hosted programs in the spring of 2006 for

. *2006 Finalist Seena Zhang (章穎) entered a singing contest organized by Fairchild TV rival, CHMB AM 1320 and won. *2008 Finalists Gary Yan (甄嘉亮) and Cherry Kwok (郭鈺淳) currently host What's On for

Vancouver success in NTSA International

Here is the list of Vancouver representatives who have won awards in the NTSA International Finals. * Daniel Kwan 關浩正: NTSA International 1996 First Runner-Up * Jacky Chu 祝釩剛: NTSA International 1998 First Runner-Up *

關惠文 ( 關心妍 ): NTSA International 1999 Best Potential Newcomer Award 最具潛質新人獎 *

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

External links

*{{IMDb title, id=0413043, title=New Talent Singing Awards Vancouver Audition 2000
Organizer Fairchild TV Official WebsiteNTSA Vancouver Audition 2008 Official Website
Vancouver audition Music of Vancouver Music competitions in Canada