• 
• 

Ever since winning the Asian amateur singing contest in 1980 at the age of 19, Maneenuch Smerasut, director of Star Maker Academy, has spent the past 27 years as a high-profile artist and voice trainer.

Maneenuch is better known as Khru Uan among thousands of her students, which include Thailand's Amita Tata Young, an Asian pop idol.

"After winning the contest, I continued my education and earned a degree from Berkeley College of Music in Boston in 1986.

"I also produced two albums and later focused on voice techniques and training. In 1987, MS Voice Studio was set up to provide the professional training service.

"In principle, voice techniques mean breathing control and voice placement. We need to know the anatomy to control our breathing and place our voice properly so that our vocal chords are not overworked.

"Overall, we aim to improve the quality of articulation so voice training is useful in many professions, not only for singers. Politicians, bankers, businessmen and masters of ceremony can gain from learning the proper techniques.

"In the medical field, voice techniques can also be used for correcting some speech problems. I've helped a few politicians, who could not pronounce some vowels properly, to improve their public speech.

"For those aspiring to be artists or vocalists, voice techniques can help boost their confidence on stage. In fact, the right training is to encourage kids to think while singing so that they can do it properly.

"For the music industry, voice-training courses, music theory and stage-performance training are all important, but voice techniques are less known publicly," Maneenuch said.

Her current project is to scout for young talent for the music and entertainment industry. Titled the C-SA (Children-Singing Academy) contest, the six-week event that started last month has attracted about 2,000 applications.

"There are five Sunday concerts for selected participants, aged between 13 and 19, with the final round scheduled for June 1 during which we'll select 23 winners.

"During each weekly round, professional commentators are invited to take part so that they can give their opinion and advice for improvement.

"The national TV audiences will then vote for their favourite performers via mobile phones," Maneenuch said.

As she hopes to retire in the next eight years, when she reaches 55, Maneenuch says she will launch a "Maneenuch-cloning" scheme as one of her last projects.

"One of Khru Uan's core values is the passion for training young artistic minds. Maybe, I would invite applications from youngsters who want to be another Khru Uan when it's time," she said.