A.f.o radio talks to BLUSH by A.F.O.Radio on Mixcloud

—————————————————————-

BLUSH

Blush” is made up of five girls from the Philippines, India, China, Japan and South Korea who beat hundreds of other pop star wannabes during a talent search across Asia last year.After surviving weeks of gruelling training and an elimination process, the five are ready to make a big splash on the music scene – both in the East and the West

“We are hoping we can get global and touch everyone’s heart out there with our music,For us we are really happy that all of our countries can come together through music and we could go out there to show the diversity of Asia, how wonderful it is as a whole. “We got real different cultures, languages, dialects and (there are) all kind of crazy things going on in Asia,” “We are from different countries but the same dream connects us together.”says BLUSH member Alisha Budhrani from India.

—————————————————————-

The group’s bid for superstardom may be a long shot, but they have been supported by an A-list of Los Angeles-based producers who have worked with top names like Lady Gaga, the Black Eyed Peas and Beyonce.

BLUSH consists of 21-year-old Angeli Flores of the Philippines, Victoria Chan, 28, from Hong Kong, and Natsuko Danjo, 20, of Japan.  25-year-old South Korean Lee Ji Hae9-year-old Alisha Budhrani, a Hong Kong resident of Indian origin.

The story sounds like a teenage dream. But, in the mold of  Spice Girls, Blush is the product of a team of producers with a hard-nosed business plan. Five years in the making, the group’s sound and image has been carefully managed and tested against focus groups of teenage girls. Already, band members have adopted cute nicknames Queen V, Nacho, Jelly, Ali B and Tiger Lady.

—————————————————————-

“Each one of these girls can be a superstar on their own. Each of them blend together (to) create something we have never experienced before. It’s not the same old, same old girl band, boy band,” Steve Schnur has produced over 150 soundtrack albums and worked with Florence and The Machine, a British band nominated for best new artist at the Grammy Awards this year along with co-producer Darrell Brown, who has worked with Bon Jovi, Faith Hill and LeAnn Rimes.

They are now preparing to complete their debut album after winning a place in “Project Lotus”, a talent programme led by a former Disney executive who wants Blush to be Asia’s music ambassador in the West.

—————————————————————-

“It started with a very simple question of why there has never been an Asian singer that made it big in the West.We want them to take on the world’s stage successfully, we want them to be a very successful group, we want them to achieve the top hits in America, in Europe,” ” said Project Lotus producer Jon Niermann, the former president of Disney in Asia Pacific.

The latest bid from Asia to tap into the key Western market comes after many previous attempts that have fallen flat by Asian artists who first gained fame in their home countries.

The band – named “Blush” to reflect the members’ “feminine, fun, innocent and sweet” side – has recorded six songs so far, mainly pop.

—————————————————————-

Blush was formed from a talent search called Project Lotus, spearheaded by Jon Niermann, former Walt Disney Asia Pacific President and Eliot Kennedy, a Grammy-winning songwriter and music producer who has worked with Celine Dion, Robbie Williams and the Spice Girls among others. The producers scouted Philippines, China, Japan, India and South Korea to find girls who would comprise Blush. From a thousand of hopefuls, girls were narrowed down to twenty-five, where eliminations were held each week until ten girls made it to the final round last November 29, 2010 in Hitec, Hong Kong. The final round named the five girls who were chosen for their vocal ability, uniqueness, stage presence and dancing―Project Lotus’ set of qualifications. Project Lotus, a documented footage of the talent search held since June 2010, is set to be shown across Asia in May.

Having worked with Asian talents for many years now, Jon wanted to form a group that would represent Asia globally. “We start wondering why Asian talents haven’t made it big in the West and that was really the inspiration of finding a way to bridge the Asian singers with the West. And we thought a girl group was a good way to do it and we thought to represent Asia, they need to be from different countries,” Jon shared.

—————————————————————-

What makes Blush interesting aside from their different nationalities are their various backgrounds and different personalities that the girls can especially relate to. Two of the members were former contestants of a talent search in their respective countries, Angeli joined GMA-7’s “Pinoy Idol” and Ji-hae was a former contestant of Superstar K in Korea. “It was a great experience joining ‘Pinoy Idol’ and I grew up listening to Regine Velasquez’s shows,” Angeli said. If Ji-hae had not been a singer, she would have been a lawyer as she majored in Law in college.

—————————————————————-

Alisha, on the other hand, was once a back-up dancer of Coco Lee and Eason Chan. “When I was Eason’s back-up dancer, I was only fifteen so it was a pretty experience because it taught me how to grow up, it taught me about showbiz a little bit,” Alisha shared. Natsuko, the feisty-looking girl among the group had a dance crew in Japan and has been dancing for 17 years already. Victoria was a former gymnast and has attended junior music choir program at the Hong Kong Performing Arts.

—————————————————————-

Blush is just about to debut and the girls are already excited to let the world hear their music and share their bright personalities and different cultures. Aside from their talents, the girls also rely on their teamwork for them to make it big globally. “We are all together and we believe that togetherness and unity is the key. Because if we just go on our separate ways, then we’ll just fall apart. We want to stick together,”

—————————————————————-

The music of Blush is edgy and fun with a unique spin, delivered by five gifted girls on a mission. The members are all Asian, and all five have world-class talents and charm. They snagged none other than Snoop Dogg for their premiere global single and video, “Undivided,” which hit #3 on the US Billboard Dance Charts in August, 2011 making Blush the first ever Asian group or artist to have their debut single hit Top 3 on a major US chart. The momentum is real. What you’re feeling is Blush.

—————————————————————-

Within a short time, Blush has built a series of strong collaborations starting with opening for Justin Bieber and The Black Eyed Peas as well as performing alongside the likes of B.o.B. and Far East Movement amongst others. Their U.S. national TV debut was on the hit show “So You Think You Can Dance” where they were the featured artist along with Snoop. In addition, they’ve recorded the new song “Up, Up and Away” for the second season premiere of the #1 Disney Channel TV series “Shake It Up.” They have their single in Electronic Arts’ “The Sims 3 Pets” game as well as the new Mattel toy “Fijits.” Crowds are lining up. Fans are building.

—————————————————————-

The proof is in the music. Tracks on their forthcoming debut album come from an unprecedented global roster of award winning hit songwriters and producers, including the late Tal Herzberg (The Black Eyed Peas, Justin Timberlake, Gwen Stefani, Lady Gaga), electronic music icon JXL/Wolverine (Britney Spears), top remixer Sander Kleinenberg (Janet Jackson, Daft Punk), acclaimed grime/house DJ Alex Guadino, Dave Audé (Beyoncé, Selena Gomez), progressive house star Morgan Page (Katy Perry, Deadmau5, Madonna), Darrell Brown (Keith Urban, Bon Jovi), Steve Schnur (veteran A&R executive and producer of over 150 soundtrack albums, including tracks by Florence + The Machine and Busta Rhymes) and mixed by Manny Marroquin (Pink, Rihanna). Other songs on their upcoming album include potential hits “Dance On,” “Fell in Love With a Song,” Break You,” “Surrender,” “Holding On To A Dream,” and their namesake tune “Make You Blush.”

—————————————————————-

—————————————————————-

—————————————————————-

—————————————————————-

ALICE & LING LING – NOW OFFICIALLY THE 6TH & 7TH ”BLUSH’ERS

—————————————————————-

AND THESE TWO…JUST HAD TO SPOIL IT !

—————————————————————-

ROCK & ROLL BLUSH!

—————————————————————-

Blush – “Dance On” (WAWA Remix) [Official Club Mix Video]

—————————————————————-

Blush – “Undivided” featuring Snoop Dogg [Official Music Video]

—————————————————————-

WITH THANKS & APPRECIATION – J.S CONCERT PRODUCTIONS

—————————————————————-