Singapore: –Aloft  Hotels, Starwood’s innovation hub for next-gen travellersand MTVtoday announced the winners of the inaugural Asia Pacific edition of Project Aloft Star, in three key competition clusters covering major markets: China(Pandabros),India (NataniaLalwani) and the Southeast Asia (Clinton and Ashley) cluster consisting of Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. Project Aloft Star isamusic talent discovery competition thataims to identify and support the hottest emerging music artists,the three-month competition kicked off on 30 June and received more than 200original video submissions from music talents across the five countries. Fans also placed over 170,000 votesfor their favourite entries via online voting.

The 15 finalists had the opportunity of a lifetime performing at the finals held in China, India and Malaysia in front of a panel of judges comprised of Aloft Hotels, MTV and music industry executives from Asia, which included:

•             PalashSen, founder and frontman of India’s biggest band Euphoria;

•             YanizMerican of YZ International which manages top Malaysian artists such as Joe Flizzow, Too Phat and Mizz Nina;

•             Shan Qi, renowned planner-musician-producer-director who is also known as ‘China Fashion Festival Godfather’ and Chan Waikei, the Content and Creative Director of MTV China Networks.

Finalists were judged on the criteria song-writing and music composition, creativity and originality, technical skill, “wow” factor, and showmanship and stage presence.

 Winners were awarded a US$10,000 cash prize and will be featured in MTV Seen, a video spot of the competition that will air on MTV Asia, MTV China and MTV India’s channels this month. They will also be featured in individual vignettes on MTV’s respective websites. In addition, Clinton and Ashley from Malaysiawas invited for a three day, two night all-expenses paid trip to Seoul, South Korea and given the opportunity to perform at the opening of Aloft Seoul Gangnamslated for 14 November this year.Specifically in India, judges also handed out prizes to finalists for Most Entertaining Act (Rahul Jain), Best Band Performance (Stebin Ben), Best Voice (BobyTechi), Most Creative Performances (NataniaLalwani) and Wow Factor (Keith Castellino) and they received vouchers for a complimentary stay at Aloft Bengaluru Cessna Business Park.

“Helping our guests discover great new music, whether they’re on the road or visiting a w xyz bar in their hometown, is one way Aloft is committed to delivering a vibrant experience that is ‘different by design’. With music in its DNA and millennials in its sights, this collaboration with MTV to kick off Project Aloft Star has been immensely fruitful – sharing the same vision to discover emerging music artists in the region,” said Vincent Ong, Senior Brand Director, Asia Pacific Brand Management, Starwood Hotels & Resorts. “There is no lack of talent in the region judging from the quality of entries; and Aloft Hotels will continue to serve as aplatform for supporting great music alongside pioneering cool initiatives in design and technology for the next generation traveller”

“MTV, being the biggest and boldest global youth brand, is driven by a single aim to constantly engage and involve our young audience. Opening submissions on MTV’s platforms across Asia Pacific for Project Aloft Star allowed us to uncover youths who have shown real dedication to their craft and this has given them the opportunity to showcase their talents to more people,” said Paras Sharma, Vice President, MTV and Comedy Central Brands and Digital Media, Viacom International Media Networks. “Through this expanded collaboration with Aloft, we hope we’ve helped open more doors for the winners. Here’s to more great music from our local musicians!”