BLOGGERS often hide behind the security of their computer screens and keyboard. They write what’s on their mind, post a couple of photos and videos, and move on to the next topic. While many have since become mainstream personalities, it is rare that we get to see these bloggers doing things that they may or may not blog about.

Seven top bloggers in Malaysia have come together to let their readers take a sneak peek into their lives in the latest online show, Project Alpha.

The fast paced, lifestyle-driven show is a collaboration between Kyanite Sdn Bhd and blogging community Nuffnang.

Project Alpha will be the first Malaysian online show to look beyond the screen to unveil the real faces behind the nation’s top bloggers, taking a look into their lives – who they are, how they live and from where they derive their inspiration to blog.

Nicole Tan

It provides recognition for the bloggers across the nation and the three-minute episodes will be aired daily online for seven weeks on nuffnang.com.my.

“I was approached a couple of months ago by Michael (Lim of Kyanite) who asked me if I was interested to be in a show about bloggers. A meeting was set up to see what I was like in person,” says Poh Huai Bin of sixthseal.com.

The 28-year-old project manager who has been blogging since 2002, impressed the producers and was immediately selected for the show.

“I met Jojo (Struys) and she was keen to get me on board, so before I knew it, I was told about my filming schedule in two weeks, which resulted in a mad scramble for me to clean up my condo,” he says.

Huai Bin joins Baharudin Che Wil (budiey.com), Kenny Sia (kennysia.com), Mira Abu Bakar (redmummy.com), Nicole Tan (nicolekiss.blogspot.com), Ahmad Nazuwan Amran (beautifulnara.com) and Audrey Ooi (fourfeetnine.com) to film the first season of Project Alpha.

It didn’t take much to convince Nicole to appear on the show as she felt that she was definitely going to be on it no matter her opinion.

Huai Bin

“The way the producers talked to me on the phone felt like I was to be on the show whether I was going to agree or not. But I’ve always admired Nuffnang’s work and whatever they recommend has to be good, right?” says Nicole, 25.

On the other hand, Ahmad Nazuwan was a little hesitant at first as he thought that his blog was still a little too ‘young’ to be featured on Project Alpha. He called Timothy Tiah, one of the founders of Nuffnang, for advice.

“He said not to worry because my blog traffic is huge. I think that’s one of the reasons my blog was picked to be featured in Project Alpha. Another reason I hesitated was because I was afraid my mother would not give the permission to use the house for the shooting,” says the 26-year-old accountant.

Ahmad Nazuwan’s blog accumulated almost 3 million page views last month alone.

“My blog is about Malaysian celebrities – latest gossip, news and photos – and has been around since last December.

“The main reason I blog, besides the fact that there is a lack of gossip blogs in Malaysia, is to let people know about the latest celebrities news in a santai (chill) way. I want people to come, relax and enjoy what I write and I want them to know the real story,” he says.

Nicole too gets almost 3,000 unique visitors daily on her blog, which documents her travel expeditions around the world.

In the episode that features Nicole, viewers will get to see parts of her travel footage and some from the video session she shared with Jojo.

“They didn’t particularly follow me all day around. The shoot lasted for two days. What was going to be shot was already decided, but it wasn’t exactly scripted because when the camera started rolling, we would just let the conversation flow,” she says.

Huai Bin though has an interesting story to tell – about a stunt that almost went wrong during the filming of Project Alpha.

“I was to do a fire breathing scene and I’ve never done it before. It can be quite dangerous, to say the least, when flames and kerosene come into contact,” he says.

Ahmad Nazuwan

Though the director insisted that he practised with water first, Huai Bin wanted the scene to be real and raw. It just so happened that there was a slight miscommunication between the parties and Huai Bin was handed a coconut shell filled with kerosene instead of water.

“The cameras rolled, I took a sip of the kerosene and grinned because I inadvertently got my wish.

I took the torch and expelled all the kerosene, nearly burnt my mouth while at it, creating a huge flame, much to the consternation of everyone and immediate yells of ‘Cut!’ from the director,” says the daredevil.

“They were all so worried about me using real kerosene the first time that I think I got a bit of a reputation as a devil-may-care adrenaline junkie.”

Nevertheless, there wasn’t any other ‘life-threatening’ incidents after that but Huai Bin adds that the footages they took will make for an interesting episode.

“It’s an opportunity for my readers to see me in a totally different medium, in this case, film instead of just photos, text and amateur videos. It’s a sneak peek into my daily life and what makes me tick, which granted, is all on my blog, but in a new format that I think will have its own appeal,” he says.

Ahmad Nazuwan’s readers are up for a little surprise when they catch the episode that features him, says the blogger.

“My readers have always thought of me as a female. So they may be a little shocked to find out that I am actually a male. But then I’ve already posted a few teasers about Project Alpha on my blog and they seem to be supportive of my involvement in the project.”

Project Alpha will be aired on nuffnang.com.my, hitz.fm and YouTube daily for seven weeks starting from Sept 18 (Friday) onwards.