Alex Dyson teams up with Universal to find new talent in Aus and Asia-Pacific

Universal Music Group and Marriott International Aloft Hotels are teaming up with mentor Alex Dyson to find the freshest unsigned talent in Australia and the Asia-Pacific region.

Aloft Star Asia Pacific invites artists from Australia, Greater China, India, South-East Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand) and South Korea to submit two of their original songs to the competition.

From there, judges will select five lucky finalists that will be sent on an all-expenses trip to Seoul, South Korea to battle it out for a massive grand prize.

The loot includes A&R mentoring from Universal, a professional recording session and an accompanying music video to be produced and released by the global company.

Joining Dyson as competition mentors will be Bollywood composer Salim Merchant, Greater China singer and actress Rachel Liang and Korean R&B star SAAY.

Former triple j presenter Dyson is ecstatic to support a possible Aussie representative, commenting,”I’m so pumped to be helping a new Australian act play the show of a lifetime in South Korea.

“Whether that means giving solid advice, carrying the bags, or just giving a well-earned foot-massage, I’ll go the extra mile.”

Once the finalists are chosen, fans will have the opportunity to vote for their favourite artist to see them take out the title at the grand final, held at Aloft Seoul Meyongdong on September 20.

Olivier Robert-Murphy, global head of new business at Universal Music Group, is excited at the opportunity that the partnership with Marriot International offers emerging artists.

“We love their shared ambition to discover and nurture original singer-songwriters across such a diverse and musically vibrant region,” Robert-Murphy said.

“We’re thrilled to expand our global relationship with Marriott International in such a strategically important region for both companies.”

Applications are open from Friday, June 25 until Tuesday, July 31. For more information and to submit an entry, see here.

Finalists will be announced on September 3.