Malaysian musician Bernie Lu Huey has emerged as one of the top 12 semi-finalists of the Asia auditions of the prestigious Japanese singing talent show “I Can Sing in Japanese!”
Organised by Asian entertainment channel GEM, the biannual singing competition has been running since 2011 in Japan, attracting various aspiring non-Japanese singers from all over the world including Denmark, Spain, and even Jamaica.
The show is a platform to allow the non-Japanese singers who have a passion for singing Japanese songs to showcase their talents in front of a panel of professional judges.
The past panel of judges include veteran singer Akiko Wada, legendary producer Tetsuya Komuro, and leader of famous Japanese boy band SMAP, Masahiro Nakai.
Bernie will be going up against other finalists from Hong Kong, Cambodia, Indonesia, Singapore, Philippines and Thailand.
The next round of auditions will take place this Sunday (12 February) in Singapore where only one winner will represent Asia at the global stage in Tokyo, this year.
Each season, around 12 to 16 groups of performers from all over the world are invited to Tokyo to compete on the show.
Some past winners from Asia include Singapore’s Jeremy Teng, Indonesia’s Fatimah Zahratunnisa and Michael David Bodin from the Philippines.
“I Can Sing in Japanese!” is set to air on the GEM Channel later this year.