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MElANIE C is Blown AWAY by Asian acts
London-based pop star Melanie Chisholm, better known as Melanie C or Mel C, is on an Asian adventure after being appointed as a judge on the Asiaâs Got Talent TV show
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ondon-based pop star Melanie Chisholm, better known as Melanie C or Mel C, is on an Asian adventure after being appointed as a judge on the Asia's Got Talent TV show.
Chisholm, who joins other celebrity judges, such as David Foster, Anggun C. Sasmi and Vanness Wu for the show, has been blown away by talented performers from 15 countries across the continent.
'It's very exciting. We saw some incredible acts. So diverse,' Chisholm told selected media, including The Jakarta Post, through a phone interview recently.
'There were dancers, acrobats, magicians, singers, musicians ' such a huge range of acts. From traditional acts to lots of things I've never seen before. We, the judges, are really excited to get the show aired so everybody can enjoy the wonderful things that we saw,' added the former member of iconic UK girl band the Spice Girls.
In Indonesia, the inaugural season of Asia's Got Talent premiered March 12 on AXN Asia. The show airs every Thursday.
Chisholm further said that performers with traditional acts differentiated themselves from any other act, especially the ones from Europe.
'The big difference from me is the traditional acts from different countries. They've been educating me, in terms of wonderful costumes, instruments that I haven't seen before, traditional dancing from different places,' added Chisholm, who also bears the epithet Sporty Spice.
Asked about her favorite acts, Chisholm said performances that made her laugh nailed her interest the most. 'We saw so many great acts. We felt so many emotions because the performances were really moving ' some of them were just incredible and breathtaking.
'For me, the things that I love, or that really moved me and amazed me, are performances that made me laugh ' that might be my favorite acts,' added the 41-year-old.
After almost 20 years in the music and entertainment business, Chisholm said that she felt very lucky to have seen and done such a wide array of things.
With the Spice Girls, Chisholm released three albums: Spice in 1996, Spiceworld in 1997 and Forever in 2000. The band's debut album and second album each sold more than 20 million copies worldwide. The Spice Girls phenomenon created hit songs, such as 'Wannabe', 'Mama', '2 Become 1', 'Stop' and 'Viva Forever', which became anthemic global pop songs in the 1990s.
Chisholm said she felt blessed to have the Spice Girls as part of her life, as the band's positive vibe had motivated a lot of people, especially women, to pursue their dreams.
'This is one thing that I'm proud of. I was at the British Music Awards. There are so many female performers from all over the world now, but you know in the UK we have artists like Jessie J, Adele and lots of great female artists, and they were all Spice Girls fans.
'Although musically they are very different, they were all inspired by [the Spice Girls]. They had a dream and achieved it,' she added.
A lot of people, especially Spice Girls fans, have been excitedly speculating about a possible reunion performance by the group in the future.
But Chisholm dismissed such speculation. 'We have social reunions ' we love to get together and get our children together, but we don't have any plan at the moment to perform together again.'
As a solo artist, Chisholm has released six albums ' Northern Star, Reason, Beautiful Intentions, This Time, The Sea and Stages, which have all sold more than 12 million copies.
Chisholm has also performed the role of Mrs. Johnstone in the West End musical Blood Brothers, for which she was nominated for 'Best Actress in a Musical' at the Laurence Olivier Awards. In 2012, she costarred in the musical Jesus Christ Superstar. 'I feel so lucky,' said the mother of one.
'I'm so proud of everything that I've achieved with Spice Girls, I have a wonderful daughter, and now I have this new role on the show. I feel so lucky to have a job that I love. Hopefully, that will continue,' said Chisholm, who is working on her seventh solo album.
As a working mother, Chisholm admitted that it was tricky to juggle travel and home life. Therefore, she said, when she was at home, she devoted all her time to her daughter.
'Luckily, I spend a lot of time at home in London now, and I've got the chance to take [my daughter] to school every day. And if I'm working, I try to be home before she goes to bed. We do spend a lot of time together, though,' she added.
