FORGET Bieber fever, and brace yourselves instead for a "Blush crush".

Newly formed Pan-Asian girl band Blush - which has been billed as the first A-Pop (Asian- pop) group - has big plans for international stardom, and are making good headway, too.

The quintet were the opening act for 17-year-old Canadian teen superstar Justin Bieber at his Hong Kong concert last month, and are working with A-list Los Angeles producers for their debut album.

They're not shy about coining a term like "Blush crush" either, describing the upcoming phenomenon as "being inspired by the Blush love and Blush power to go after your dreams".

"This opportunity (to be a part of Blush) wasn't handed to us - we worked hard for it and have learnt that it is precious," explained one of its members, Alisha Budhrani. "We hope others will be inspired to follow their passions."

Blush were speaking to my paper at TAB in Orchard Road during a five-day promotional trip to Singapore last week.

The Blush girls - comprising Budhrani, 19, who represents India; Victoria Chan, 28 (China); Natsuko Danjo, 20 (Japan); Lee Ji Hae, 26 (South Korea); and Angeli Flores, 19 (Philippines) - are based in Hong Kong, where they live together.

And they are unabashedly a manufactured group, not unlike the hugely successful 1990s pop powerhouse, the Spice Girls.

Blush are the brainchild of husband-and-wife team Jon and Stacey Niermann of independent production company FarWest Entertainment. The group was formed through a televised talent search, Project Lotus, which saw thousands across Asia competing for a spot in the final five.

But while the sassy fivesome are keen to break into the United States, they will retain their Asian roots, they say.

Their record, to be released by the year's end, will include songs in the girls' mother tongues and also feature traditional Asian instruments such as the sitar. In the meantime, the girls still celebrating their first milestone: the release of their first single, Undivided. The track was co-written by none other than American rapper Snoop Dogg, who will also appear in the song's music video, which was filmed in Los Angeles last month.

On working with Snoop, Flores enthused: "It was a lot of fun, because he's a very chilled-out and down-to-earth guy."

Chan added that the rapper, 39, took the time to chat about "where we're from and what we're doing", and even picked up take-out from one of his favourite restaurants, Roscoe's House of Chicken and Waffles, for them.

Their next big US appearance is in August, when Blush will perform on reality dance competition So You Think You Can Dance.

Blush are hopeful of being received well in the US, since Asian celebs, such as Filipino singer Charice Pempengco, who has a recurring role on TV show Glee, are doing well.

"There's so much Asian talent out there... We're hoping we'll be able to see that same success," said Budhrani.

Download Blush's single, Undivided, for free from www.blushband.com

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