THREE NTU girls walked away $50,000 richer after coming out tops in the second season of SuperBand organised by MediaCorp.
Indie-pop band Tu Zi, also known as Rabbits in English, beat 15 other bands in the music competition which sees local groups battling out on television every week. In the final, the public votes for the winning band.
Tu Zi is made up of team leader and bassist Carissa Foo, drummer Joyce Tan and guitarist-cum-vocalist Sarah Lam, all 21.
And yet winning is not just a high point, and Foo said: “We’re thankful and relieved. It’s a good closure for us.”
Simply put, it was a lot of hard work. Tu Zi agreed that they were busiest on the week before the finals on October 5th; they had to miss a week of lessons to prepare for the competition.
“We chose music over school since it was our last dash through everything,” said Foo, a third-year English Literature student at the School of Humanities and Social Sciences.
Despite missing lessons, Tan said catching up was not a huge problem, as she had help from her schoolmates
“My lecturers understand my situation and agreed to give me deadline allowances for my assignments,” Foo added.
Although Foo considers Tu Zi’s music raw, SuperBand judges and their supporters have lapped up their sincere and unpretentious approach to music since the competition aired in June this year.
The band is well-liked for their colourful, preppy image and performances inspired by bands like The Beatles and The Beach Boys.
Tu Zi never expected to win as “other bands are very strong” but they led in the popularity votes during the finals, thanks to “pro-active supporters who voted avidly”, Lam said.
The girls said winning the nationwide competition did not change the way friends treated them, apart from the teasings of some.
“My friends greet me with a ‘Hey superstar!’ and said they have a superstar as a friend now,” Lam said.
