#asq2016

Kuala Lumpur, 31st December 2016 - Malaysians, including fans of Royal Pirates were invited to usher in 2017 with the biggest countdown concert in town by Astro, featuring K-pop, Taiwanese and local superstars at the Central Park, Desa ParkCity on 31st December 2016, starting from 8PM onwards till midnight for the New Year Countdown 2017. This concert has set the stage for the grand finals of Astro Star Quest (ASQ) 2016, where the 20th champion will be crowned in the presence of all previous 19 winners! Together with Korean-American band Royal Pirates, Mandopop singer-songwriter Bii, and one of the most noteworthy ASQ alumni Nicholas Teo and Canto-pop singer Eric Kwok who served as judges for this year’s ASQ grand finals. This event marked the third visit for Royal Pirates in Malaysia, where they had their first fanmeeting and showcase in June 2015 and November 2016 respectively. Malaysian fans are sure very lucky!

 Astro Star Quest 2016 finals started at 8PM sharp with the grand opening with Dato Sri Liew Yew Chung, CEO of London Choco Roll as well as Wong Siah Ping, who served as Astro Chinese Customer Business’ Vice President. Then, the performances of the top 5 finalists started with Eugene Wen Keng Soon (26, Selangor), Steve Eer Xiao Hui (21, Johor), William Tan Kian Hong (24, Kelantan), Wengdyy Ooi Wen Lih (24, Kedah) and Brian Chiew Yi Bin (19, Penang) who sang their hearts out to wow the judges and fans.

Setlist:    1.      Eugene

Performances: “Show Me Your Burlesque”, “舞娘” and “人间烟火”

Opponent vs. Brian (PK performances): “被驯服的象” and “你在烦恼什么”

Collaboration performance: “Lady Marmalade” (feat. Jacklyn Victor)

 2.       Steve

  Performances: “A Whole New World”, “Love Yourself” and “还是会” + “爱情废才”

 Opponent vs. William (PK performances): “I’m Yours”, Drum Solo and “OAOA”

 Collaboration performance: “黑裙子” (feat. Apple, 2015 ASQ Winner)

  3.      William

 Performances: “The Fox” and “Move Like Jaggers”

 Opponent vs. Wengdyy (PK performances): “女孩儿与四重奏”, “谁人董是非” (composed song) and “Nobody”

Collaboration performance: “当你老了” and “时间都去哪儿了” (feat. Rachel Liang)

 4.       Wengdyy

Performances: “十字街头”, “浮夸” and “斑马斑马” 

Opponent vs. Eugene (PK performances): “黑吃黑” and “血腥爱情故事”

Collaboration performance: “夜的第七章” (feat. 张引山)  

5. Brian

 Performances: “伤心的人别听慢歌” and “春花梦路” 

 Opponent vs. Steve (PK performances): “你好不好”, “演员” “特务J” and “大艺术家”

 Collaboration performance: “W.H.Y” (feat. 东于哲) At 10:15PM, it was about time for the prize presentation. Winner for PEOPLE’s Choice Award Astro 2016 goes to Brian who will be taking back RM2,000 cash. The prize was presented by Astro Chinese Customer Business Vice President Wong Siah Ping. Then, the winners list goes as follows below which was presented by Dato Sri Liew Yew Chung, CEO of London Choco Roll as well as Wong Siah Ping, who served as Astro Chinese Customer Business’ Vice President. 

The spectacular event continued on with the performances of former Malaysian Idol alumni, Jacklyn Victor with “Titanium” as well as other ASQ ex-winners. As the hour approaches, the performers including the Korean-American band, Royal Pirates gathered on stage to usher in the new year of 2017.

Before Royal Pirates performed on stage, they were interviewed regarding the performances displayed today and their feelings towards tonight’s results.

Q: So could you tell us about what you think about tonight’s results?

Moon: Well yes um, we all became big fans of Wengdyy. We were really happy with the results. But Brian really killed the show too. We don’t know what to expect-

James: In a good way.

Moon: Yeah in a good way. He killed it. So yeah. We were like, “Is it gonna be Brian or Wengdyy?” and then they won and we both were like, wow.

Q: They both were overwhelming favourites. So what do you think Brian’s performance? What does it take that Wengdyy have done better than him?

James: I think Wengdyy has her value as an artist, she’s very unique and she has a colour that comes across very honest. So I think that’s what touches people as well as her tone is very, um, almost haunting. It’s a very epic scale type of charisma that she has. We’re excited to see how she can do in the future.

Moon: I think Wengdyy has that style that really, you know, touches people in a good way. (Laughs)

Exsy: I also think that she has definitely has a great presence on stage. I think she’s very charismatic and she’s very unique in her own way. And I love how she has like her personal colour of music. I think Brian was stable throughout the whole show while Wengdyy has that one point where she wows everybody.

 Q: You guys have been them performing from the semi-finals till today. Besides the two of them, do you guys think that anyone gave you any surprise tonight? Or rather the most improved?

Moon: I think Brian. Because at first Brian stood up to me that much, but as the show goes on and he kept on improving and tonight he improved so much that he became a possible winner. So I was really proud of him and it was a pleasant surprise that he improved so much.

James: Um, I think the same thing and also Steve, I like how she chose her songs this time and she was able to show her strengths a little more. I wanna say more about Wengdyy. I noticed that during the song where she wore the white dress, there was like a malfunction. They were trying to put it on the back and they pushed her while she was singing and she was still stable. There was maybe like two or three seconds before the lift went up so I was really impressed how she didn’t even get fazed by that and she did it like a professional as this is a competition. That’s really interesting. Very proud.

Exsy: I want give a prize to everybody because everybody is a winner. I think everybody worked hard and improved a lot. I was very proud of each and every one of them so everybody is a winner.

 Royal Pirates started performing their hit songs “Drawing The Line” and “Dangerous” at 00:25AM, followed by Taiwanese superstar Bii with “都是你害的” and “Love More” and ended with a group performance at 01:00AM.