Kids in fine Voice

“It’s the most ambitious programme for children we’ve ever created,” says Surin Krittayaphongphun, vice president for marketing and sales at Bangkok Entertainment Co, the operator of Channel 3.

“It will showcase the abilities of Thai children to viewers all around the world and make their dreams come true. It’s also a show that families can watch together.

The junior’s show has already proved successful in Germany and the Netherlands and Thailand is the second Asian country to broadcast the reality singing competition for children between the ages of seven and 14 years. South Korea’s version was launched in February and has gone down well with viewers.

Here, more than 2,000 kids auditioned for the Bt100-million talent contest. 

“It shows moments of pure innocence and joy,” says Ardkit Suntornwat, managing director of True Music. “We thought hard about the design because children obviously have more limitations than their adult peers. We finally decided to shorten the competition to nine weeks, which we don’t feel will put too much pressure on the youngsters.”

While “The Voice Kids Thailand” follows the same format as the “The Voice”, the rules are slightly different with a “Sing Off” added to “Blind Auditions”, “The Battles” and live performance. For the “Sing Off”, each coach brings his or her team after back after “The Battles” with everyone singing the number they chose for the audition. The coaches then select two finalists.

The three coaches for “The Voice Kids Thailand” are singer Thanaporn “Parn” Wakprayoon, who is a voice coach at RS Public, LoveIs artist Popetorn “Two” Soonthornyanakij and Nipaporn “Zani" Thititanakarn, the winner of “Academy Fantasia” Season 6. Singer-actor Songsit “Kob” rungnopphakhunsri again dons his host jacket and is joined by actress Rinlanee “Joy” Sripen.

“The coaches have the hardest jobs as not only do they have to instruct the children but they also have to teach them how to be winners and losers. They really need to care about the children’s feelings,” says Ardkij. “We just finished shooting a round of ‘The Battles’. During the editing, we all had tears in our eyes. We’re confident that the audience will also be affected.”

Scotch Industrial (Thailand) is the main sponsor and will present a Bt1 million scholarship to the winner and Bt100,000 scholarship to the “Super Kid”.

Parn, Two and Zani are all enjoying the experience so far.

Parn may have the easiest task of the three as she’s used to working with young artists. “But kids in the competition and with RS have very different goals. Those at the label have enough time to continuously develop until they record their single. The children in the contest have nothing as yet so the demands are both easier and harder,” she says. 

“I don’t emphasise winning or losing. If an adult conveys a ‘must win’ attitude, they’ll feel pressure and their music becomes aggressive. I don’t want to see parents placing all their hopes on their children’s shoulders, because the kids will be stressed and not enjoy singing.”

Two agrees, adding that while he was initially nervous about assuming coaching responsibilities, he’s able to use his studio experience to help the youngsters.

All three adopted slightly different techniques for their selection during the “Blind Auditions”.

“I used only my ears,” says Parn.  “I listened to their accents, singing skills and if they were hitting the right note. Some children think they must be dramatically active, which is wrong. There were a lot of contestants that we didn’t select and we regret that.”

“The ‘Blind Auditions’ were the hardest for me because I don’t know anything about the standards of children’s abilities and voices, which are very different from those of adults,” Two says. “And the youngsters vary in age and vocal strength. I chose them by listening to their accuracy in hitting the notes but more importantly, I used my own feelings.”

While Zani also used her ears, she relied on her instincts. “My stage career was born from a contest, so I instruct them based on my own experience.”

But isn’t it difficult to prepare the children for “The Battles” and not put pressure on them?

Parn nods in agreement. “I try to emphasise EQ rather than techniques. Most contestants already have good skills so our job is to sharpen those skills. I teach them how to work together without competing. I tell them that if they are unfriendly, they’ll feel alone while appearing on stage. I also record the 15 contestants’ observations in ‘The Battles’. Some are talkative and overactive; others quiet and unfriendly. So, I have to find a way to break the ice so that they team up. They need those skills if they are to become professional singers.”

“I don’t flatter them too much and am honest about what is good and not good,” says Two. “I want them to learn about losing. They all need to understand that losing doesn’t mean you’re not good enough. But still voting someone out is difficult and I feel very sad watching those tears flow on stage.”

Zani uses psychology to keep her young charges calm. “Most of contestants are very innocent. My way of coaching is to tell them to feel free to show their talents and we’ll work on the techniques later. For the Battles, I tell them that we work together as a team, not competitors. If I select one of them to be a winner, I want them to know that the winner is a representative of our team.”

 

 

Sing it!

_ “The Voice Kids Thailand” airs at 5.45pm today on Channel 3. Find out more at www.thevoicekidsth.com.