(Clearwisdom.net) The second annual Chinese International Vocal Competition hosted by New Tang Dynasty Television (NTDTV), will hold its Asia-Pacific region preliminaries between July 5th and 6^th, 2008. The preliminary round will take place in the Performance Hall of National Chiayi University. Close to 100 Taiwanese musicians entered the competition.

Photo archive - October 17, 2007: Final results of the Inaugural Chinese International Vocal Competition

Enthusiastic support for NTDTV

This is the first time in which the competition's preliminary round is held in Taiwan. In order to allow more people to gain a deeper understanding of the essence and profound meanings of traditional Chinese culture, the organizers searched far and wide in the process of finding musicians qualified to enter the event. The competitors are musicians of diverse backgrounds, including well-known, established singers, indigenous musicians, music students, and even visually impaired musicians.

Manager for the international vocal competition's Asian-Pacific preliminaries Mr. Xu Qianwen said in an interview, "After watching the Divine Performing Arts Spectacular, many of Taiwan's renowned musicians from the previous generation came to understand that the series of competitions hosted by NTDTV is aimed at promoting traditional culture. They are very supportive because they know these are events held to revitalize pure truth, pure compassion and pure beauty, and thus they strongly recommended potential entrants to participate. In addition, many indigenous friends, and those of Hakka descent very much support the platform of international competition built by NTDTV, so they were also enthusiastic entrants."

The Chinese International Vocal Competition is a pioneering event

As a co-host of the vocal competition, the music faculty of National Chiayi University provided the competition venue. Professor Liu Rongyi, Dean of the Music Faculty said he felt very honored to be a co-host of this important competition. "I see the efforts made by NTDTV in promoting and preserving aspects of traditional Chinese culture. There are many competitions around the world for vocalists and other areas of music. However, I think those familiar with the music world realize that a vocal competition specifically targeted at Chinese people is a pioneering event," he said.

Mr. Xu Qianwen shared some of the trends in this year's competition. "There are some trends, for example, in duet performances by husband and wife. In some cases, the wife sings while her husband plays the accompanying instrument. The oldest entrant is more than 70 years old, while the youngest singer was under 20 years old. As we are judging contestants on the inner meaning of their performances, we hope to give these friends of different age groups the chance to realize their dream of entering the world's stage."

In 2007, eleven Taiwanese competitors were selected for the competition in the US. Of these entrants, one obtained first prize, two gained silvers, another won bronze, and several others were awarded for excellence in performance. Mr. Xu hopes that all entrants in this year's preliminaries will have the opportunity to attend the competition in the US.

The Chinese International Vocal Competition preliminaries are held in different regions throughout the world. Entrants who are selected for the semi-finals attend the competition in New York. The first prize of the competition includes an award of $10,000 USD, while silver, bronze and awards of excellence are also given.