Ahmad belting out the song “Butterfly” with feelings

Ben showing off his gravity-defying dance moves

Shon performing his magic in the hopes to clinch a place in the finals of UCSI’s Got Talent competition

Kuala Lumpur, 29 May 2009 - UCSI University students proved that there was an unending stream of talent in their midst during the UCSI’s Got Talent semifinals that was held at the auditorium of its Kuala Lumpur campus. The auditorium was overflowing with students, fans and supporters of the 14 semifinalists selected from a pool of 50 talents in the preliminary stages.

Whistles, claps, cheers and whoops abounded from the crowd, encouraging their favourite talent. The enthusiasm of the crowd rivalled some of the renowned talent contests that were aired on television.First up was Jasmine Jacob who sang a melodious song titled “Dedebu Cinta”. Next was a monologue about life as a young adult by Vithyappriya who expressed excellent voice projection as she delivered her lines without mikes. Lidya who hails from Indonesia, sang the song “Listen” that was popularised by singer Beyonce. She had her large group of supporters providing her much-needed support as she confessed to the judges of her bad throat that night. Darsyini did a fantastic Arabic fusion dance and kept the audience awed with her grace and supple movements.

Nigerian student Abigail who most recently was heard singing a duet during the recent orientation, performed a technically flawless song made popular by Whitney Houston, “Greatest Love of All”. This was followed by magician Shon Chong, who performed his mind-reading trick just using an A3 sized flipchart as script.

Celine Tan was up next and she strummed her guitar as she rendered her yet untitled composition. Iliya Ibrahim from Nigeria epitomized the international community at UCSI University by performing his own rap song in Mandarin, Bahasa Malaysia and English. His song was about us being equal in God’s eyes. His performance amazed the audience and they showed their appreciation with resounding cheers and claps.Guitarist Gideon Tan sang the song entitled “What Hurts the Most” with the accompaniment of his guitar, while Phyzix, one half of the Beatbox group B2 comprising Dudebox & Phyzix performed a beatbox number that sounded as good as any deejay performing his stuff at a club. Benjamin & Liew Sau Shen both played their guitars and rendered Ronan Keating’s “When You Say Nothing at All” with much emotion and eloquence. This was followed by self-professed new kid on the block, 1st year local student, Ahmad Nahri, who brought the house down with the song “Butterfly”. His guitar playing skills, singing and crowd pleasing antics earned him praises from all three judges. Guitar toting Indonesian students, Erwin and Rocky played the song “Cannon in D” while final contestant Ben, filled his hip-hop dance performance with gravity challenging flying acrobatics.

Thus, UCSI University students can now expect to witness a spectacular performance by the finalists who will only be named during UCSI University’s Prom Night on 20 June 2009 when the finals of the UCSI’s Got Talent Contest would be held. Another attraction for this contest will be its judges comprising of the celebrity couple Christien New and Lavin Seow as well as renown R&B singer-songwriter Liang.