Digicel Play

The locally-produced show is a first of its kind talent show profiling Papua New Guinea’s most talented, unique and brightest entertainers.

Live auditions for the show took place around the country in November and December, 2016 and saw hundreds of people turn up to try out for a spot on the coveted show. 

Six singers, four dancers, three magicians, three comedians, one beat box group and one theatrical artist impressed the judges in Port Moresby, Lae, Mt Hagen and Kokopo made it through to the televised heats late last year.

Show producer Ailynn Sokot says there will be two semi-finals.

The first to go on air this Saturday, January 14, on TVWAN Life Channel will feature 9 contestants. The other 9 will be featured in the second semi-finals, a week after.

Sokot says the same judge panel will be judging but this time, according to head judge Calextus Simeon, the judging will be a lot tougher.

“The judges would like to see the contestants elevate each performance in the semi-finals. We heard from the contestants that there will be a few surprises,” he said.

Bray received news on Wednesday that he will watch the next generation of wrestling talent perform at WWE NXT in Sydney, as the winner of the 30-Day Supa Plan Competition.

“To be honest, I did not believe at first,” he said.

But all doubts have been cleared.

Bray today picked up his prize which includes return airfares for two from Port Moresby to Sydney on Saturday 10 December, four-nights’ accommodation, $1000 AUD spending money and two tickets to the WWE NXT at Qudos Bank Arena on Tuesday 13 December.

Jack Spade will shine the light on this newest show on the TVWAN Life channel, bringing a class of his own, as super judge Calextus Simeon describes.

“So far, if we have to put all our contestants together, he’s actually at the moment leading,” Simeon said, referring to Jack Spade.

He acknowledged the skills put into play by the aspiring magician, who is focused on being the one unique talent in PNG.

During these two years, TVWAN has successfully become the leader in media entertainment in Papua New Guinea, locally producing more than 700 hours of content made up of over 5,000 local news stories, and broadcasting more than 100 hours of live rugby and 50 hours of drama every month. 

Digicel Play CEO Nico Meyer said he was incredibly proud of what TVWAN has achieved since its inception two years ago.

“We set out to become the best TV network in PNG and what we have been able to accomplish at TVWAN in such a short time is amazing,” he said.

But unlike other centres, the Mount Hagen talent is unpredictable for the judges and is expected to surprise them.

 Loop PNG got to talk with the super judge of the Yu Em Khax show, Calextus Simeon:

“The Mt Hagen auditions is one that is hard to predict, frankly speaking, because I don’t know what kind of talent to expect.

“We know that up in the highlands, they may have some surprising package for us.”

“I would like to see talents from the Highlands because one of the things we are lacking are talents from that region.

The newest show to be produced out of Digicel Play’s production studio in Gordon, Yu Em Khax is a new reality television show creating exciting opportunities for the most talented and unique entertainers in the country.

Yu Em Khax premiered on TVWAN Life on Saturday 5 November and has been met with great enthusiasm from Digicel Play subscribers ever since. With the build-up of great performances from the Lae auditions, the hype has been set for the other locations to live up to. Lae has set the pace, and Hagen will be the next to bring their A game.

Ragath Solomon, Meshach Dobunaba and Heno Giwi were never a band until yesterday.

“We decided to drop by and make fun of those who were here to audition,” says Solomon.

But they had a change of mind after a brief chat with one of the staff of Yu Em Khax, Sarah Palek.

“So Sarah talked us into trying out for the audition and we just formed a group then. We were never a group prior to this,” Giwi explained.

According to the organisers, every act who made it into the main auditions are expected to return to the Lae International Hotel where the event will be staged.

Yesterday’s main auditions saw duo singers, solo singers, b-boy group, a girl who busts pop and lock dance moves, stand-up comedians and a magician.

Due to the time factor yesterday, at least 20 more acts who missed out will try out in the main auditions which continues in the morning segment.

A total of 7 crew members left Port Moresby late yesterday for the capital of Morobe Province. Seven more will leave today and a few more on Saturday in time for registrations, which begin at 10am.

Lae is the second centre the scouts of Digicel Play’s newest TV show are in to search for talents.

The idea of the show is to identify one unique talent in PNG, thus auditions are open to all acts; singers, dancers, musicians, comedians, poets, illusionists and magicians are all welcome!