On 27-29 September 2024, the Royal Thai Embassy, Yangon, organised the live opening stage, the semi-final and the final rounds of the T-Pop Star Challenge, Myanmar, at the Junction City, Yangon. With support of GMM Grammy, GMMTV and ONE31, the biggest music and entertainment companies in Thailand, the contest was open for Myanmar nationals to submit online audition clips from 22 June to 13 July 2024. From more than three hundred audition clips, twelve contestants were chosen to advance to the semi-final by a panel of forty judges from different occupations.
The judging panel of the semi-final and the final rounds included two Thai artists - Lula and Gun Napat - and two Myanmar artists - Oak Soe Khant and Wyne Lay. In the semi-final round, four contestants progressed to the final receiving the highest scores from the judges and the popular online voting.
In the final, Baron Hayne, a twenty-seven-year old man from Keng Tung, won the contest and received 3,500 USD in cash and a trophy. The first runner-up is a twenty-eight-year-old man from Hpa-An - Min Yin Ko. The second runner-up is a twenty-five-year-old man from Tachileik - Sai Lao Seng. The third runner-up is T Saw Santhapas, a thirty-year-old man from Yangon. The three runners-up received 1,600 USD, 1,000 USD and 700 USD in cash respectively. During both rounds, all judges and special guests, including Palaphol Pholkongseng, Sea-Keen and Aun-Ashi from GMMGrammy and GMMTV, delivered special performances.
The contest has drawn public attention in both Myanmar and Thailand. Its online social platforms which have been activated since 22 June 2024 received an increased engagement throughout the competition (almost nine thousand clicks to www.tpopstar.com, more than seven thousand followers on Facebook: T-Pop Star Challenge, Myanmarand and nearly six hundred subscribers on Youtube: TPopStarChallengeMyanmar)
The programme on 27-29 September was broadcasted live on Facebook and Youtube with the following details of the engagement as of 30 September 2024:
- Opening Stage (27 September 2024)
- Semi-Final (28 September 2024)
- Final (29 September 2024)