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Fancy yourself as the next Jay Chou or Jolin?

Winners of the Sutasi Grand Final talent contest can expect US$1 million in cash and prizes including a global promotion contract. PHOTO: COURTESY OF VEDA INTERNATIONAL CORP

Mando pop, Thai rap, Korean hip-hop: all popular in their respective countries and throughout Asia. But young talents from this part of the world are rarely heard on Western radio stations or seen on MTV.

Colleen Zulian, however, is on a mission to change this by holding televised talent contests, collectively known as Sutasi, throughout Asia to introduce rising stars from the East to the international music market. Winners can expect cash prizes and record deals amounting to US$1 million.

"Hopefully what we are doing will rectify this problem and make them known internationally and give them recognition," the president and chairwoman of Asia Sounds Pty Ltd said at a press conference on Tuesday.

"I didn't know that Jay Chou (周杰倫) was from Taiwan," she said. "I thought he was Korean." Mistaking Chou's nationality is emblematic of the local music industry's lack of overseas marketing, said Zulian, who has worked with international acts such as Burt Bacharach, Bob Dylan and Ani DiFranco.

Sutasi is a competition that includes a songwriting contest and a music contest to find the hottest unsigned performer in Asia. Twelve finalists from each of three regions - Southeast Asia, South Asia and East Asia - will battle it out on live television to represent their nation in the grand finals.

Applications for East Asia - which includes Taiwan, China, Japan and Korea - are now being accepted through the Sutasi Web site at www.sutasi.com.

The site features information in Asian languages including Thai, Vietnamese, East Timorese, Lao, Burmese, Japanese, Korean and Chinese. Music industry professionals and celebrities as well as the public will judge the contest, she said.

Zulien says Sutasi differs from other talent contests because it looks at more than just the music of a region.

"We call it a window into Asia because we are incorporating a travelogue about the cultures that they come from so we can show the different cultures of Southeast Asia. We will do it for Taiwan, Korea and China," she said. 
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