Watching Juliet Teo, 25, lip-synch to Jolin Tsai's latest hit (唯舞独尊) and imitate her moves, one would think that she is a great fan of the Taiwan pop sensation.
But the part-time actress says she isn't one.
Still, she gives a winsome - and bone-tickling - performance of the Taiwanese singing star in the vodcast she submitted for the AsiaOne This Is Me contest, and won herself a 30GB iPod.
On why she chose to do a comical spoof on Jolin, Juliet told AsiaOne: "I've watched the Jolin Tsai MTV before and decided to incorporate my own ideas to make it funnier. This contest gives me the right platform to showcase my creativity."
She took "only one day" to produce it, and roped in her elder sister for a cameo role in the 2-minute clip, which shows her dancing and singing in the stairway outside her HDB flat and the children's playground. She even poses as a Jolin wax figure.
On her inspiration for this piece, she said: "My friends forward MTV spoofs to me sometimes and I find them very funny." She wanted to do one herself but there was no trigger until she found out about this vodcast contest in AsiaOne.
On being one of the first two winners, an elated Juliet gushed: "I feel great! It's definitely a sense of achievement."
The other winner in the podcast category is Ashley John, 23, for his music track, titled Love in Isolation. He won a 4GB iPod Nano.
Ashley, who is doing a double major in public relations and screen and sound, at Murdoch University in Perth, Australia, said that he produced the special track for his girlfriend "who I have grown to love very much over the last 11 months."
The AsiaOne juding panel was impressed by his professional sound mixing.
Ashely credits his friends for helping to put together the track.
Mr Ashley John (left) with friend, Mr David Blumberg.
"A friend of mine did the vocals, another friend, David Blumberg and I, play the guitars and keyboards. David and programmed the beats and bass together," he adds.
"I wrote this song based on a feeling that's superseded all my past relationships," said Ashley, who explained in his submission that the title of his track - 'Love in Isolation' - "suggests a long distance relationship".
He says music has always been an essential part of his life. "Music holds so many secrets to the universe and things about yourself, and only you can find out by tapping into your talents," he enthuses.
This is Me contest, which targets at youths who want a space to express themselves, kicked off last week and will run till October. There will be a new theme every three weeks. The second theme, starting this week, centres on My Friends.
"AsiaOne wants to give youths a platform to express themselves because many of them feel that they are not being listened to. It's our way of reaching out to youths and finding out what makes them tick in this World Wide Web environment," says Ms Irene Ngoo, Editor of AsiaOne.
"We want to know the music they listen to, the friends they hang out with and do things together, how connected they are, what captures their own space and their hopes, dreams and aspirations.
"This Is Me contest is for youths, about youths and by youths, targeting today's tech-savvy generation who grow up surrounded by video games, personal computers, iPods and cell phones, and with a can-do attitude."
Why podcast?
"Podcasting has proven to be a flexible, simple and versatil way to package information that can be easily disseminated and consumed," adds Ms Ngoo, who says response to the first segement has been encouraging.
The contest is not over yet for Juliet and Ashley. As winners of the My Music segment, they qualify to compete against the rest of the winners from the three remaining themes, as well as all featured entries on the Gallery Page at the end of the competition.
The grand vodcast and podcast winners will each walk away with an Apple MacBook.
