Photo Credit: AXN.

AXN has announced the celebrity judging panel for their popular Asia’s Got Talent reality show.

The judging panel will be headed by Grammy-award winner David Foster. The other celebrity judges will be UK pop sensation and former Spice Girl Melanie C, Indonesian pop idol Anggun and Taiwanese-American pop idol Van Ness Wu.

David Foster

As a music producer, Foster has launched the careers of some of the world’s greatest music icons, such as Michael Buble, Josh Groan and Celine Dion.

Besides this, he has also created hit songs and award-winning platinum and gold albums for Earth, Wind & Fire, Natalie Cole, Michael Bolton, Seal, Chaka Khan, Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton, Chicago, Hall & Oates, Brancy, N Sync, Boz Scaggs and Gloria Estefan. He has also propelled classical singers such as Andrea Bocelli and Josh Groban to mainstream popularity and created soundtracks for hit films such as ‘The Bodyguard’, ‘Urban Cowboy’ and ‘St Elmo’s Fire.’

In his career so far, Foster has won 16 Grammy awards from 47 nominations and is currently the chairman of the Verve Music Group.

Anggun

The biggest Indonesian rock star of the 1990s, Anggun has been singing since the age of seven, and she released her first Indonesian studio album, ‘Dunia Aku Punya’ at the age of 12 – featuring hit single ‘Mimpi.’ This has since been recognised as one of the 150 Greatest Indonesian Songs of All Time, by Rolling Stone Magazine.

Following her hit release, Anggun has released many more singles and albums, including ‘Snow on the Sahara’ in 1997, which was released in 33 countries worldwide, and topped music charts in Italy and Indonesia, as well as made the top 20 in Finland, France, Japan, Spain and the USA. To date, her songs have also featured in Danish movie ‘Open House; as well as Hollywood box-office hit ‘Transporter 2.’

Melanie C

Formerly a part of the now-defunct girl group Spice Girls, Melanie has since successfully launched her career as a solo artist, selling more than 12 million records from six albums that she has released. To date, she has the second most No 1 singles in the UK and is the only female to top the charts as part of a quintet, quartet, duo as well as solo.

In addition, in the West End musical, Blood Brothers, Melanie performed the role of Mrs. Johnson and was nominated ‘Best Actress in A Musical’ at the Laurence Olivier Awards.

Van Ness Wu

Born and raised in California, Van Ness moved to Taiwan at the age of 21 to launch his career. His breakthrough came when he snagged the lead role in popular hit idol drama ‘Meteor Garden’ and its sequels. Following his success, Van Ness and his co-actors formed pop idol group F4 and released three studio albums.

In 2002, Van Ness released his debut solo album and followed this with six other solo studio albums up to 2013, as well as singles collaborating with musicians such as Kayne West, Beyonce and Coco Lee. He has also acted in TV series including ‘Autumn Concerto’, ‘Material Queen’ and ‘Peach Girl’ as well as movies ‘Three Kingdoms’, ‘Resurrection of the Dragon’ and ‘Kung Fu Chefs.’

Judges must select Asia’s most mind-blowing performances

On the show, these four renowned judges must select Asia’s most jaw-dropping and mind-blowing performances. Those who move on to the semi-finals will face an even more intimating judge – the AXN audiences at home, who will ultimately determine who wins the first season of Asia’s Got Talent.

Semi Finals and Final to be held at the Marina Bay Sands

The semi-finals and the final will be held at Singapore’s iconic Marina Bay Sands, with the winner being rewarded with a contract to return and perform live at Asia’s leading entertainment destination.

Will premiere in March

Billed as the biggest talent competition in the world, the Asian edition will light up screens across Asia starting from this March, and will feature some of the region’s most incredible performing artists as they compete to take home the coveted title.

Superb panel of judges

Said Hui Keng Ang, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Sony Pictures Television Networks, Asia, “We have put together a superb panel of judges for Asia’s Got Talent. This is definitely our most ambitious original series to date and is very much in line with the type of smart, high-quality programming that audiences have come to expect from AXN.”

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