THE SEARCH IS ON AS CARLSBERG DIAMOND IDOL 2014 RETURNS FOR THE 4TH YEAR

Kota Kinabalu, 23 July 2014 – Carlsberg Diamond Idol 2014 (CDI), the popular talent search competition in East Malaysia proudly presented by Carlsberg - the most preferred beer brand in Malaysia, returns for its fourth installment and will be looking to unearth more talented singers from the two Borneo states.

“Since its inception in 2011, CDI has generated lots of buzz. The singing competition is aimed at discovering new talents and providing these budding young singers a platform to be heard and perform before a panel of internationally renowned professional judges. Our 2012 CDI Champion, Esther Thian, for example, had a good headstart, as she won the Astro Star Quest Singing Competition in 2013 and went on to compete in Million Star singing competition in Taiwan. We are once again proud to be presenting this and to use this as a platform to be closer to our consumers,” said Gary Tan, Sales Director of Carlsberg Malaysia during the launch of CDI at Kick Bistro & Fun Pub, Kota Kinabalu.

This year the cash prizes for the competition are valued at more than RM30,000, including a cash prize of RM12,000 for the Grand Finale champion. There will be four auditions, to be held in Kota Kinabalu, Sandakan, Miri and Kuching. Participants are to perform two songs, either in English, Bahasa Melayu or any Chinese dialect. Only 12 participants from each audition will advance to compete at the respective Area Final.

The top 3 of each Area will advance to the Grand Finale, which will be held on 2 November 2014. To prepare for the Grand Finale, they will attend the Diamond Idol Camp at Kota Kinabalu for three days, where they will be involved in team building activities, dance lessons, practice sessions for theme songs as well as video shooting. Professor Dr. Fred Chin will be leading the camp as motivational trainer, whilst Skyler Liew will be their dance instructor. The camp was first introduced in CDI 2012 with the aim of grooming and boosting confidence of the grand finalists through a series of workshops, and had received very good feedback.

This year’s CDI is proud to have a prominent panel of judges comprising of singer/song writer, Zchen, a local artiste who has gained fame in Taiwan and Hong Kong; Marsha Milan Londoh, the third runner-up of Akademi Fantasia Season 3; as well as singer/songwriter and music producer, Jonathan Tse.

Also present at the launch event were last year’s CDI Champion, Slyvester Lee and second runnerup, Jacqueline Lau who entertained the guests for the rest of the evening with two songs each.

For more information on Carlsberg Diamond Idol 2014, visit www.carlsbergdiamondidol.com.my or Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/CarlsbergDiamondIdol.