The pinoy music we all love!

Fuse, a British Filipino band, had entered the Area Finals of Live and Unsigned, the leading original music contest in UK. Live and Unsigned was recognized as the definitive music competition for original acts.

The band consists of Cherrie Anderson, from Manila, and Hal St John from London. They competed with hundreds of contingent who came for the audition. Anderson and Hall together with Larry Catungal played the kulintang during their number. Anderson said, "Sobrang happy and excited. We can’t wait for the next round. I think nagustuhan ng judges na kakaiba ang ginawa namin. Kami lang ang naglagay ng kulintang, immediately, walang katulad namin. So nakaka-intriga siguro sa kanila." According to the performers most of their British and Filipino supporters travelled from London to Ipswich just to watch them. The two have qualified to present at the Regional Finals which happened at Ipswich Corn Exchange. They will be competing with 9 other performers from the same region in the Area Finals which will happen in May. They will be judged if they will be competing in the Live and Unsigned Festival (grand finals) at the O2 Arena in London.

The group was known in UK as the only band who tried to blend Western and Eastern cultures to make cool, bold, original and exciting music.

Fuse is creating electro-pop, Western type of music with the blend of traditional Filipino native music like Kulintang. Live and Unsigned had made 30, 000 entries in the past years. It is the main original contest in UK for unnamed bands and artists. Chris Grayston, the events director of Live & Unsigned, stated that the competition is world's distant from X Factor and other TV talent contests. They judge the originality, live ability and credibility of a group. Demos are not judge but live auditions. The list of celebrity judges includes former Sex Pistols Manager Malcolm McLare, pop RnB star Dane Bowers and Annie Nightingale of Radio 1. [via abs-cbnnews.com]