All the finalists are very good. They should be, they’ve reached there after a long search. The winner will be chosen by judges and, to an extent, our votes. Apart from ranking the finalists by their musical abilities, talent, performance, stage presence and other criteria, I hope the judges will also rank them by a “most likely to succeed in the global arena” criteria , ie hit potential in the global scene.
Part of the objective of Asia Sounds and Sutasi is to place Asia on the global contemporary music scene. (refer their websites).
The judges must also gauge which of the finalists is most likely to meet some measure of success in the global contemporary music arena. This obviously includes success in the “Pan Asian” area but to succeed in other parts of the world the winner must have a contemporary sound and a presence that touches a chord outside Asia too, particularly the US where the winner will be headed.
The judges will have a tough time deciding on the winner so the “likely to succeed in the world” criterion is important. Since we’re talking about the global arena, genre could be a key factor. Perhaps the winner should not be too “esoteric” or ethnic as that may not have enough takers in the West and in Australia in the contemporary music category.
The winner should be capable of making a mark (even a small mark) in the world music scene. That will set the ball rolling for the future. A winner that fails to make the grade in the world scene will not help the cause of establishing Asia-based music in the global arena.
Wisdom is key to being a good judge…
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