13 finalists, from almost 500 hopefuls who flocked to the auditions, made it to the first episode of Rivermaya : Bagong Liwanag. The search for the newest member of ang banda ng bayan airs every Sunday, at 9.15 pm, on Studio 23, with grand finals on October 24th, (airs on October 28th.) Rivermaya : Bagong Liwanag (The Audition Specials) is presented by Smart, Samsung, and San Miguel Beer in cooperation with PLDT and Human.

Each episode in the 7-week season gives viewers a behind-the-scenes peek on what it takes to be in a band, as the finalists face a different musical challenge every week. Episode 1, entitled Paying Your Dues, took a look at the first steps of the audition process. (After all, these hundreds of hopefuls were no different from the members of Rivermaya when they tried out at the first auditions in 1993.)

The starting 13 are : Omar Aspacio, 27, a coffeeshop barista from the Central Colleges of the Philippines; Yan Asuncion, 22, a graduate from the U.P. Los Banos who grew up in Saudi Arabia; Jacob Clemente, 23, from Hagonoy, Bulacan; Hans Dimayuga, 19, and Martin de Vera, 24, both from De La Salle University; Jayson Fernandez, 18, who grew up in Bicol and Laguna; Nickolo Katigbak, 23, a computer programming student; Ken Kurosawa, 24, a Japanese-Filipino, also from DLSU-Benilde; Miche Magnaye, 24, the lone female and a student at the U.P. Conservatory of Music; Jona Paculan, 20, a psychology major from the Ateneo de Manila; Kenneth Pasia, 32, a jeans designer; MJ Podolig, 28, a wedding singer from Bulan, Sorsogon who traveled 10 hours to join the auditions; and Mike Salzseider, 22, an events organizer of German descent from DLSU-Dasmarinas.

Tune in to the second episode of Rivermaya : Bagong Liwanag on Sunday, Sept 23, at 9.15 pm on Studio 23, when the finalists face their first challenge – to perform a capella at the UST college square to a crowd of strangers. Mentors are Karl Roy of Kapatid, Miggy of Chicosci and Mike Elgar of Rivermaya. Text RIVERMAYA to 2910 for cool Rivermaya content.