MANILA, Philippines – If United Colors of Benetton had a band of singing, dancing girls, perhaps Blush would be it. Sure in this case they’re all Asians, but the premise is the same: we’re all from different worlds but that shouldn’t stop us from standing together, united.

 

Herding together a Chinese, an Indian, a Korean, a Japanese and a Filipino to form a Pan-Asian “super group,” FarWest Entertainment, the group behind this massive undertaking, has made it its mission to “find great Asian talent and bring it to the West,” as its Chairman/CEO, Jon Niermann, tells Bulletin Entertainment in an exclusive interview.

 

Blush was finally introduced in early April to the media in an intimate luncheon marked by a rousing performance of a few original songs. Although the venue proved a little too cramped for dancing, the girls nevertheless belted like pros ready to conquer the world—their first stop of which is Southeast Asia, and then Los Angeles by end of April.

 

Truth is, headways are already being made in the ‘conquering the West’ department. Korean girl groups and boy bands have already had major successes in the States. Philippine pride, Charice, has a flourishing international career highlighted by a record-setting Billboard 200 album chart appearance, a stint on “Glee,” and high-profile associations from Celine Dion, David Foster, Oprah Winfrey and more. And just last week, Time magazine closed its 2011 TIME 100 Poll of the most influential people in the world with South Korean pop/R&B singer-dancer-superstar, Rain, at the top spot.

 

But this is the first time that a group has been formed together to represent the region as a whole. FarWest Entertainment discovered these diamond-in-the-rough performers through an Asia-wide talent search last year. From 3,500 hopefuls, they narrowed the numbers down to 125 talents from each of the five countries; then to 60 each, and finally five per country. The remaining girls went through a reality show-type audition-and-elimination process in Hong Kong (minus the histrionics, mind you) to get the final five.

 

“Oh yeah, it was grueling,” Niermann (who is also the producer and host of “Asia Uncut”) says of the boot camp. “They would get up at 7 am, six days a week, doing about an hour’s worth of exercise… I mean, some of these girls have never exercised before, let alone get up at 7 am.” Their schedule consisted of breakfast, three hours of dance, lunch, another five hours of singing and dancing, and dinner. “Then after that it was their own time to perfect [their routines]. Because every Friday, there’s a performance where one girl from each country would go home,” Niemann says.

 

And this hard-earned place in Blush is not lost on the girls.

 

At 28, Victoria Chan from China is the big sister of the group. Born in Liverpool, England to Chinese parents, she grew up in Hong Kong and has been singing since age three. She says that being in Blush has taught her one important thing. “No matter how good you think you are, there is always still something to learn… to [make you] grow,” she says.

 

Ji Hae Lee, 25, from Korea, notes, “We have a lot of practice, recording… It was tough, but I really enjoyed it because we get along, we cook together, eat together…” An alumnus of “Superstar K,” an “American Idol”-type show in Korea, Ji Hae still showed difficulty speaking in English. “It’s really hard to communicate, and my pronunciation is always [wrong],” she laughs, but says of the others girls, “But they help me a lot.”

 

21-year-old Angeli Flores of the Philippines shares in Filipino, “I’m ecstatic. I used to join a lot of contests… most of them I would lose.” Singing from a very young age, Angeli started performing in bands at the age of 16. “I’m so happy I’ll be able to go beyond the Philippines, I’ve made it internationally and I can’t believe it!” She says that being from different countries and cultures and having different preferences proved difficult at first. “But as time went by, we become close, we got more comfortable with each other.”

 

 

For Natsuko Danjo, 20, the eliminations had been very trying—she was in Hong Kong when the devastating earthquake and tsunami hit her homeland of Japan. “My brother lives in Tokyo and I tried to call him but I could reach him for a couple of days… But my family, they’re all fine,” she shares. A dancer who loves hip-hop, Li’l Wayne and Michael Jackson, Natsuko does the occasional rap in some of the songs.

 

 

Articulate, intelligent and driven, India’s Alisha Budhrani, 19, says, “I’m very grateful because I know there are many people out there who wait for this opportunity, and wish they could even have the opportunity… let alone be in a band or whatever. And I have to thank my parents a lot—though they do their duty, they still support me and they try to be my best friends. I love them for that.” Born and raised in Hong Kong, she went to British school and has “done so many things that are quite international,” which she says made her open-minded. Originally a dancer who branched out into singing only “eight or nine years ago” after watching Mandy Moore sing “Only Hope” in “A Walk to Remember,” she shares that she learned a lot in being a finalist for the group.

 

“And you know what’s weird,” Alisha adds, “I don’t usually make New Year’s resolution but last year I made one that I’m gonna follow my dreams; I’m gonna make sure I go in this magazine and I’m gonna make sure that I appear on radio—and all those things came true! So now I have a secret list that I haven’t told the girls. I have 2011 to 2015 goals. “ She then adds, with an air of certainty, “I’ll tell you when they come true.”

 

In the meantime, Blush (www.blushband.com) will be busy performing, recording, and carving their niche in the world.