ManSA (Manhunt Singapore Alumni): BEHIND THE MAGIC

Contrary to public belief, photo-shoots aren’t as easy, breezy and beautiful as most people would think. If you’ve always thought it’s such a piece of cake for models or pageant contestants to just stand in front of a camera, strike a pose for the photographer and that’s all there is to it, think again!

Each and every gorgeous photo that you see on magazines, websites and other forms of social media is actually the culmination of hours of hard work, unseen to the public eye, by an ensemble of talented individuals, comprising of hair stylists, make-up artists, style directors and photographers, whose dedication, expertise and efforts to their respective crafts should most deservedly be given the utmost respect and recognition.

Hence, this year, with special thanks to Beam Artistes Pte Ltd, organizer of Manhunt Singapore, for granting us an exclusive backstage pass, we here at the ManSA blog are thrilled to bring you on a discovery journey behind the scenes of our very first Manhunt Singapore official photo-shoot of the year!

Bright and early, our Manhunt Singapore and Senior Manhunt finalists (Left to Right: Armand Rafi, Andrew Chua, Terence Teo, Benjamin Khoh, Jason Tan, Eric Koa and Justin Toh) "reporting for duty" at their very first photo shoot at 10am in the morning, accompanied by our lovely lady assistants Erin and Suri!

More of our Manhunt Singapore and Senior Manhunt Singapore finalists awaiting their turn for hairstyling and make-up.

(Left to Right: John-Nathan Chan, Harry Tanujaya, Dylan Huan, Jake Cheng, Koh Ben Kiong and Rafiq Johar)

(Left to Right: Kleve Tan, Rajesh Ramalingam, Andy Chng, Micah Lim, Kendrick Lim and Issac Tan)

First up for our finalists' transformation process: Our dedicated hair artisans from Spectrum Hair Inc by Touche hard at work sprucing up our finalists' follicles.

Clipping, combing, hairspraying, blowdrying ...

It's a tedious and time consuming task, and we salute our ladies who repeated the process over and over again for all our 25 finalists!

Kudos to your hard work, ladies!

Next up, is our talented team of M.A.C Cosmetic make-up artists!

Real men wear make-up too!

Concealing little flaws and blemishes, accentuating cheekbones, highlighting our finalists gorgeous eyes, and enhancing their masculine beauty to the next higher level is no mean feat!

But the end result is obvious. Check out our debonair, handsome finalists!

Close your eyes, purse your lips, and relax! We're not gonna poke you in the eye.

Besides spritzing and cleansing the face, our make-up team provide free facial massages too!

Onto our next stage of transformation - the body make-up process! First in line is Manhunt Singapore finalist Herman Lim experiencing the wonders of the muscle firming cream, as his fellow comrades Hadi Omar (standing) and Armand Rafi (seated) looks on amused.

Scrutinizing every inch and spot of our finalists' muscled physiques...

... whether it's necks, chests, arms, legs or abs...

...and making sure everything looks FLAWLESSLY PERFECT!

Whoever said you need a gym to work out? Our finalists demonstrate that cables, a heavy bag, or even a towel could be adapted into a tool of fitness!

Hadi Omar, making sure he stretches his abs and biceps, as well as practice his dazzling smile before his photoshoot.

Meanwhile, in another corner, Andrew Chua is hard at work making sure his arms and abs are in tip-top condition too.

Good things are meant to be shared. Here we see our green rubber cables making its rounds from Jake Cheng, Rajesh Ramalingam to Khye Norello as they pumped up those bulging biceps! And alongside them, Rafiq Johar was also busy crunching his rock hard abs and makin' em pop!

Push-ups were also a popular choice amongst our finalists, as Justin Toh here demonstrates with a smile.

Whether it's in a tank-top or shirtless, Harry Tanujaya just makes working out look like a breeze with that charming grin of his.

Dylan Huan, Micah Lim, Koh Ben Kiong, Andy Chng and Issac Tan putting their best arms forward.

One final workout before the official photoshoot begins! Let's put our best efforts into it!

Camaraderie first, competition second... check out the new friendships formed between our Manhunt Singapore finalists! (Left to right: John-Nathan Chan, Issac Tan, Jake Cheng, Rajesh Ramalingam, Francis Nathan and Andrew Chua)

(Left to right: Gilbert Tang, Armand Rafi, Koh Ben Kiong, Rafiq Johar, Kleve Tan and Jake Cheng)

Why so serious? Let's goof around! (Left to right: Khye Norello, Hadi Omar, Andrew Chua, Issac Tan, Harry Tanujaya and Kendrick Lim)

(Left to right: Jason Tan, Francis Nathan, Andrew Chua, Justin Toh, Khye Norello, Herman Lim, Gilbert Tang and Terence Teo)

This might not be a bodybuilding competition, but that didn't stop our finalists from striking their most impressive muscle poses just for fun! Abs Galore!!!

Jason Tan and Francis Nathan checking out whose leg is longer or perhaps who has less leg hairs? Hadi aspire to be Superman: Man of Steel or Buzz Lightyear? And what exactly did Terence Teo say to Justin Toh that got him so bewildered?

Waiting for their turn in front of the camera can be a long boring process for our finalists, so why not lighten the mood by sharing a laugh between each other.

Our finalists' favourite pasttime at the photoshoot: Texting, playing games, instagraming, our guys sure love their phones!

Our photographer Barry Seah "cruelly" taunting the guys by feasting on carbs and sinful indulgences like chwee kweh!

Herman Lim and John-Nathan volunteering to be the first "guinea pigs" for the test shoot.

Our guys have their serious moments too, like in this instance where they listen attentively as important news and helpful advice are shared with them by Artist Manager Richmond Loo.

Our Guys In Black looking way COOLER and more HANDSOME than "Men In Black".

Come, come, everybody line up!

Form a straight line, just like back in Primary School!

The many expressions of our photo shoot Style Director Ernest Seah.

Just some final touches to complete our guys' transformation for the perfect look in front of the camera.

Manhunt Singapore finalists: Andrew Chua, Benjamin Khoh, Francis Nathan, Hadi Omar and Harry Tanujaya.

Last-minute advice and touch-ups before going in front of the camera.

Manhunt Singapore finalists: Herman Lim, Huang Zhong Xi, Issac Tan, Jake Cheng and Jason Tan

"Look at the camera, remember to smile, make sure your lips are dry, and give me your best effort ok?"

Manhunt Singapore finalists: Justin Toh, Kendrick Lim, Khye Norello, Koh Ben Kiong and Rafiq Johar.

Style Director Ernest Seah working his magic and making our guys SMILE!

Senior Manhunt finalists: Andy Chng, Armand Rafi, Dylan Huan, Eric Koa and Gilbert Tang

"Smile till it hurts!!! Imagine you're selling toothpaste!!!"

Senior Manhunt finalists: John-Nathan Chan, Kleve Tan, Micah Lim, Rajesh Ramalingam and Terence Teo.

Organizer Samuel Seow having heart-to-heart chats with our finalists on their interesting life stories, and striking a pose with Suri our wonderful, not to mention gorgeous, coordinator.

Issac Tan, Kendrick Lim, Jake Cheng, Huang Zhong Xi, Koh Ben Kiong, Dylan Huan and Rafiq Johar sharing some amusing anecdotes from their personal lives.

Cameras, cameras, cameras everywhere! Our gleeful shutterbug team included Senior Manhunt finalist John-Nathan Chan, ManSA alumni and blog founder Jonathan Sung, ppi Creative Designer & Assistant Photographer Film (Chidchanok), Manhunt Singapore 2013 Official Photographer Barry Seah, and ManSA alumni and blog assistant manager Edward C. Yong.