Special Post: Bananana Launch by Media Prima

Not too long ago, in a land where humans ruled the earth, a group of friends came together to celebrate the birth of one of the cutest yellow creatures we've ever seen (no it's not the DiGi man)!

There were cakes and cookies, candies and lollies, balloons and one single Shark (from Seefood) that filled the entire room.

Every Magical creature was present; Snow White, Pocahontas, Sailormoon and even a friend of Harry's from Hogwarts dropped by.

It was such a big event that Darth Vader decided to ditch his mask and smile at the camera for once.

While Willie (Wonka) was taking photos with Little Red Riding Hood and Darth, the birthday boy walked into the room.

He was accompanied by his friends Boboiboy, Pow Pow, Ivan (Iwan) and the Bola Kampung gang, who walked around and took pictures with everyone while the music played and people were dancing.

When all the dancing had ended, Gokuzam took to the stage and asked the crowd a very serious question. It was so serious everyone was scratching their head just thinking of the answer! He asked:"Do you know what Beethovan's favourite fruit is?" The crowd was silent and then someone shouted "Bananana!" And yes, that's the story behind how Bananana got his name :)

Bananana is actually a new character for our kids programs across all the TV stations in Media Prima. We trust that you'll be seeing a lot of Bananana on TV3, TV9, ntv7, 8TV or even on Tonton in the future after this post. And when people ask you what Bananana is or how Bananana got his name, you can smile and tell them this story!

Not-So-Wacky Wednesdays: Thank You For Supporting ntv7 What Men Want

I usually post some funny video on Wednesdays but I really wanted to talk about something different today.

If you don't know, ntv7 has just finished airing this reality series called "What Men Want". Despite the split between some who loved the show and those who didn't see much of it, we really want to appreciate all of you who talked about it online, blogged about it, shared a video, tweeted about the program or even liked a picture on facebook. Thank You.

I finally watched the video the producers of the show Mai & Yin posted on their phoSumpro! YouTube channel and gawd it sent me into tears :'( Actually it didn't but really, it was great working with them on the show and the amount of belief they had in us when we wanted to have them cut extra scenes to put up online, shots from the episodes to promote the show, etc. They even put so much effort into answering every question people had on the show about facebook! So if you've ever posted something and got a response, you know it's them!



I can't say enough that a show's success always depends on the viewers, meaning YOU. The show can be the most expensive production in the world and yet if no one watches it, it won't amount to anything at the end of the day. That's why YouTube stars can be the stars they are now because of the people who watch & support them!

To make our local production industry better, we definitely need more support from everyone. We're always trying our best to raise the bar higher with production works and having a platform online for people to comment and give us feedback so we do love it when people tell us they love something or when they think we can improve on something. It's a small step but I think it'll go a long way if we get adequate support & feedback.

Thanks to TianChad, Budiey, Norman Goh, Jayren, Daily Chilli, Cari Forum, etc. for helping spread the word about this show online! You guys rock :)

ntv7 Feel Good Run

I still remember the Feel Good Run committee starting out and planning the Feel Good Run waaaaaay back in Jan/Feb of this year. It felt a bit far then, like we couldn't plan most things because we weren't sure of the number of participants who would want to run with us. Now, we have maxed out on our participation and people are still asking us how they can join!

Needless to say, it was all thanks to every one of you out there who, through word of mouth, spread the news about this run and registered to support! Even the artists spread the news among themselves, and the turnout? Well look at the list of participating artists HERE and you'll see how supportive they are! (Shoutout to famous blogger Niki Cheong for running with us too!)

So back to the Feel Good Run, the committee believed that our aim was to live up to the name "Feel Good Run" so there were loads of considerations as to what performances there should be, what events should we have and what other feel good experiences could we give the participants out there. So from there we had the idea of having free carnival games--for kids and people who would bring their families to the run; then there would be some performances by artists like John (Project Superstar), Dina (Malaysian Idol), and freebies from sponsors. (Sure hope it's happening enough for ya!)

Also, boxes and boxes of items have started to fill the office cause we've started receiving the goodie bag items from our sponsors! Can't reveal what the items in the goodie bags are yet, so you have to finish the run in order to find out... but promise it's good stuff! And we want to pack them all up with love so everyone in the ntv7 family is going to help out and pack your goodie bags! That way you'll really know we love you :)

So guys, we're excited about the event and we know you are too. Let's all anticipate this coming Sunday, the 3rd of July! But before you my little blog, here are the 7 running funfacts and some Feel Good Run videos to cheer your day up.

Feel Good Run Running Funfacts:



Feel Good Run Videos:

Will Fabes really run during the Feel Good Run?



Naz and Nadia needing support from you and your families!



Baki and Nicholas, who do you think has more fans who'll come and support them? (Chinese version)

Next Stop, Melaka!

Hey guys!

So it's been a while since my last post and what have I been doing? I've been really busy preparing for the Yuan Carnival that's happening this weekend 18th & 19th June at SJK(C) Cheng, Melaka!

You know, so much work and preparation goes into planning the Yuan Carnival for one venue, and this year we're going to 7 venues all over Malaysia! Last month we had a Yuan Carnival in Batu Caves with much much success and this weekend we're all prepped to go to Melaka to bring some fun to our Melaka friends!

If you haven't already known by now, the Yuan Carnival is the equivalent of Jom Heboh but it's more for fellow Chinese Malaysians. "Yuan" in Chinese means "Round" or "Togetherness" in that sense, making it all the more meaningful as we see parents, grandparents, and children all come together to have fun and bring smiles home.

Even though we started out with having mainly Chinese Malaysians visit the Yuan Carnival, at the last venue in Batu Caves, we were pleasantly surprised by the fellow Chinese, Indian and Malay who all came to support the event! That's one thing about being Malaysian, we come together, have fun, and share moments that make us truly 1 Malaysia :)

Because it's also Father's Day this weekend, I was trying hard to figure out a way that I could have the kids celebrate with their Fathers at the Yuan Carnival, while having fun. I thought long and hard, but as how brilliant ideas are, they sometimes come not from you, but from the people around you...

I'm lucky to have really inspiring and creative people around me. An idea came from a colleague of mine where we could have the kids take photos together with their dads! So we made a frame (sort of similar to our facewalks) that looked like an envelope with a postage stamp that said "I ♥ Dad". We'll compile all these pictures and put them up on ntv7's facebook for everyone to see. Bet it's gonna be a sweet moment!

An additional bonus is that the picture with the most likes on facebook will get tickets to watch the Glitz performance in Genting for the whole family! Yes, it's only possible to join if you're coming to the Melaka Yuan Carnival, so if you're itching to celebrate with your family this Father's Day then come on down!

Going to leave for Melaka tomorrow and I just can't wait! I'll need some tips on where to eat in Melaka though, so drop me a comment and tell me where's the best satay celup okay?

Will Grey Be Okay?

Let's recap on Season 6's finale:

The husband of a patient is angered by the death of his wife because he was promised that she would live. He carried a gun and he walked into Grace Mercy West, shooting 18 people including Derek Shepherd (Patrick Damsey).

Following the traumatic incident, the doctors are back to work in this season's opening. Although they seem ready to jump back into being a surgeon again, they have to go through a counselor who will need to assess each one's mental state. Only one rule applies here, get the green light and you'll get to operate.

You can never get enough of Grey's Anatomy, cause there's so much to expect from this new season. Cristina and Owen's relationship take a big change (this one's interesting to watch), Derek's a changed man after getting shot, Lexie suffers a nervous breakdown from the incident (another interesting one to look for) and April goes back to her perk-annoying self, being cast as a regular on the show now.

Slowly bringing the cast out of the seriousness of Season 6's finale, Season 7's opening was very well woven together. The writer tells you the questions you've been dying to know, like what happened Meridith's baby in a very subtle and simple way, while mapping out the new storyline in store for Season 7.

So if you missed the team then you better tune in this Saturday (21/5) at 10pm cause Grey's Anatomy is back!

Facewalk @ ntv7

Being the fun-loving and feel good peeps that we are, all of us in ntv7 decided to do a facewalk in our office.

What's a facewalk you might ask? Well if you're always on top of the social media or viral campaign news then you might've heard of Facepark--a campaign by Diesel last year.

Taking tips from the campaign, we made our own little boards and named it facewalk!

Now mind you, this was no easy feat cause there were 40 boards to be made for everyone and it was all done manually. The cutting, the border drawing, everything. But working together made the job less painful...

But what made it fun for us was everyone got really creative and decorated their boards with all kinds of cut outs from magazines, their favorite toy, and all sorts of things that they personally liked (just like facebook)

The office was abuzz with everyone asking other people from other TV stations and departments to "like" their facewalk and leave a comment. I think personally the comment box was the best addition to the facewalk cause I got a lot of very nice compliments from everyone else and it's like those "Happy Birthday" cards you get with nice words and everytime you read them, you get encouraged.

So why did we do a facewalk? Well we were going to do a presentation to our dear boss Ahmad Izham Omar and knowing how much he loved the digital media space, we wanted to surprise him. Needless to say, he called us officially nuts and took a picture of us :)

Anyone want to try their own version of facewalk?

Dance like Nobody's Watching - Dansa II

Eeek, did the blog grow a little moss while I was away? Sorry about the lack of updates since the last post, I've been busy with a lot of stuff, not involving picking out a favourite shoe in case you were wondering...

But I'm back and I'm going to bring you behind the scenes of our latest Press Conference for Dansa II!

So the PR team was all over the place before the press conference, as usual they had to make sure everything was running fine before we introduced the Season 2 of this well loved Dance/Travel Program.

The moment I reached Full House in Sunway Giza, one of the PR peeps was in a full decked baju melayu! Turns out, he was going to host the press conference and had to dress to suit the cultural themed event.

All over the stage were mannequins in respective cultural costumes featured in Dansa II. I can't name you each one but what I can name you are some of the places the Dansa crew went to film--Thailand, Taiwan and Macau! *envy*

These beautiful portraits were lined all around the otherwise plain room, kinda reminds you of an art gallery doesn't it? Made me feel like standing and admiring each portrait while wondering what went on in that particular scene.

You know, during the press conference, Dansa II's host Sasha Bashir was actually having a fever. But because of her passion for dance and culture, she pressed on a gave a wonderful opening performance. It is with this sort of commitment that the tagline for Dansa shines even more: Dance like nobody's watching.

She's not the kind to fall back or give up; but chooses to press on and learn a new dance despite the difficulties. It's that realism and determination in her that makes me want to watch as she travels and makes the most of it. Well, it's also cause she visits the nicest places like Macau!

Dansa II will be aired every Thursday at 7.30pm, from the 10th of March 2011!

DRiVE-ing Something New

If you guys have been following our twitter, you'd know that yesterday we tweeted about something involving "drive", "press conference" and "Daphne Iking". If you thought "Oh, Daphne Iking is hosting a new show about driving!" then well... you're not quite right on the mark.

Actually, late noon yesterday ntv7 had a press conference at Delicious where Daphne Iking was the host for the press conference. And the name of our new series is called.... DRiVE! Get it now?

The Retail Business Director for Esso Malaysia, Puan Faridah Ali summed up the show pretty well--DRiVE is for car enthusiasts who want practical information to help them choose the car that best suits their needs. Combined with the safe driving and fuel saving tips, we hope this programme will make life on the move a better one for all motorists.

But now if Daphne Iking isn't the host, then who is? 

Nont Wathanasin (better known as Non) will be the host of this series, giving you guys all the tips and tricks coupled with fun and entertainment. Now although cars ARE the main guests for each episode, there'll also be some celebrity guests to watch out for--the lovely Joanna Bessey, Jaclyn Victor, and of course male celebrities like Adam Carruthers. So wait up for the 29th of July for the first episode!

DRiVE airs @ 8.30 p.m. every Thursday.

ntv7 Ends 2008 With A Bang!

ntv7 is set to hold the most anticipated star-studded year-end party for the second time, the Star Live Concert 2008 on Saturday, 13^th December 2008, from 8:30 p.m. to 11.30 p.m. at Padang Timur Petaling Jaya opposite Amcorp Mall. Broadcasted live over the channel, this concert is set to bring the roof down with riveting performances by 13 local and international Chinese singers and groups. Held in conjunction with the Chinese Winter Festival, this concert is free of charge.

Sports Toto has pledged their sponsorship for this event. Their help and support as the Main Sponsor will enable ntv7 to make this concert a memorable one for all. The Official Radio Station is 988 FM and the Concert Management is Galaxy.

This second annual year end concert organized by the station will usher in the new year, boasting one of the biggest artiste line-up of the year. Audiences will be thrilled to know that among the stars set to perform that night include our main attraction, top artistes Wakin Chow (also known as Emil Chow) from Hong Kong, Harlem Yu from Taiwan,and JJ Lin from Singapore. Also in the international lineup are Janice and Vincy from Hong Kong, Fan Wen Chi, Jam Hsiao and Y2J, all from Taiwan. On the local front, we have the famed Danny One, Cheng Lee, Ming, Manhand and Desiree Tan who promises non-stop powerhouse performances throughout the three hour concert.

ntv7 will be organizing five road shows leading up to the actual event. Members of the public can enjoy performances by some local artistes and they can grab their chance to redeem the concert tickets through exciting games planned. The ntv7 Roving Team - The 7 Patrol will also give out tickets to the public. Details of the road shows are as follows:

1. Ipoh Parade : 8 November 2008 (8.00 pm – 10.00 pm)
2. Plaza Pelangi Johor Bahru : 16 November 2008 (6.00pm - 8.00pm)
3. Jusco Metro Prima Shopping Centre, Kepong : 22 November 2008 (4.00pm - 6.00pm)
   
4. Seremban Parade : 29 November 2008 (7.00 pm – 9.00 pm)
5. Berjaya Times Square : 6 December 2008 (4.00pm – 6.00pm)