Singapore Idol is a
television show on Channel 5 of
MediaCorp TV.
It is a competition among undiscovered
singers in Singapore
. Like others in the
Idol series, it is modelled after
Pop Idol. The current judges are
singer/songwriter
Dick Lee and record
producers Florence Lian and
Ken Lim.
Previous judges included local singers Douglas Oliverio and
Jacintha Abisheganaden. The
show is currently hosted by local celebrity and funnyman
Gurmit Singh and
Hady
Mirza, winner of
Singapore Idol 2. Previous host
Daniel Ong was a local deejay. The show
is produced by
MediaCorp Studios and
FremantleMedia Operations BV. The show was put on hiatus for a
while after the second season and was replaced by another reality
contest, Live The Dream.
Season 3 premiered on Singapore's National Day 2009, exactly 5 years after the
beginning of Season 1.
Season 1 (2004)
Season 1 of
Singapore Idol premiered on the National Day
of Singapore (
9 August) in 2004. This
season produced a few memorable, albeit notorious, performers
during the audition round. They included Skyy Sia aka Bananaman,
who wore a mask of watermelon and bananas; Kelvin Sim, who
accompanied his very bad rendition of
Fool's Garden's "Lemon Tree" with a dance that
rivalled that of
William Hung; and
Patrick Khoo, who literally whispered
George Michael's "
Careless Whisper".
As with other shows in the
Idol series, the viewers' votes
decide who goes on to the next round. This has always produced
controversial results in every singing
competition. In the third preliminary round, Jerry Ong, whose
singing was described by judge Florence Lian as being "constipated"
and "weak", was voted through to the finals, beating favourites
Beverly Lim Morata and Nur "Nana" Hasanah, both of whom were
thought to be better singers. Candice Foo, who got in to the finals
from the second week, withdrew from the contest at the last minute
due to "financial difficulties". In a bigger upset, Jeassea K.
Thyidor, considered by many to be a frontrunner in the competition,
was eliminated in the very first round of the finals by a margin of
200 votes. This sparked a brief anti-Jerry campaign that lasted for
the next 2 weeks until his elimination on October 15. In the final
weeks of the Spectaculars, many speculated that
Olinda Cho, one of the most consistent
performers, would go on to the Grand Finals with
Taufik Batisah, but
Sylvester Sim, who had been in the Bottom 2/3
positions more than anyone else, made it through instead.
In the
final showdown held at the Singapore Indoor Stadium
on 1 December 2004, Taufik beat Sylvester with 62%
of the votes to become the first Singapore Idol. The song
both Taufik and Sylvester were required to sing was
I
Dream. Both received recording deals from
Sony BMG on the same day.
Taufik's album,
Blessings, was released on
17 January 2005. Sylvester's album,
Take Flight, was released on
8 April 2005. Another finalist,
Maia Lee, also released an album titled
Emotionally Advised on
20 August
2005. Olinda and Daphne would also release their debut alums in
years to come. Sylvester was granted a release from Hype Records in
mid 2006 due to personal problems.
Top 11 Weekly Song Themes
- Top 11 theme: Parents' Choice
- Top 9 theme: Rock 'N' Roll
- Top 8 theme: Live Disco
- Top 7 theme: Song by Favorite Singer
- Top 6 theme: Big Band
- Top 5 theme: R&B/Soul
- Top 4 theme: Asian Pop
- Top 3 theme: Movies and Musicals
- Top 2 theme: Judges' Choice, Contestant's Choice and Winner's
Single
Elimination Chart
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Legend
|
| Female |
Male |
Top 30 |
Wild Card Public
Vote |
Wild Card Judges'
Choice |
Withdrew |
Top 11 |
|
Safe
|
Bottom 3
|
Bottom 2
|
Eliminated
|
| Stage: |
Top
30 |
|
Finals |
| Week: |
27/8 |
3/9 |
10/9 |
17/9 |
1/10 |
8/102 |
15/10 |
22/10 |
29/10 |
5/11 |
12/11 |
19/11 |
1/12 |
| Place |
Contestant |
Result |
| 1 |
Taufik Batisah
|
|
|
2nd |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Winner
|
| 2 |
|
|
Elim |
|
PV |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Runner-Up
|
| 3 |
Olinda Cho
|
1st |
|
|
|
|
Btm 4 |
|
|
|
|
|
Elim |
|
| 4 |
Daphne Khoo
|
|
1st |
|
|
Btm 4 |
|
|
|
|
|
Elim |
|
| 5 |
|
|
|
1st |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Elim |
|
| 6 |
|
|
2nd |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Elim |
|
| 7 |
Maia Lee
|
|
Elim |
|
JC |
|
|
|
Elim |
|
| 8 |
Jerry Ong
|
|
|
3rd |
|
|
|
Elim |
|
| 9 |
David Yeo
|
3rd |
|
|
|
|
Elim |
|
| 10 |
Jeassea K Thyidor
|
2nd |
|
|
|
Elim |
|
| 11 |
Beverly Lim Morata
|
|
|
5th |
JC |
Elim |
|
| 12 |
Candice Foo
|
|
3rd |
|
|
WD1 |
|
1Candice Foo withdrew from the competition 1 day
before the Top 12, citing "financial" reasons. Her
departure was too last minute for any replacement to
enter.
2The Top 11 elimination round featured a double
elimination. Beverly Lim Morata was eliminated
first, followed by Jeassea K Thyidor.
Season 2 (2006)
Auditions
for season 2 were held on 11 February 2006 at *Scape in Orchard Road
and was extended twice due to overwhelming response
- 12 February at the same location and
19 February in Toa
Payoh. The season premiered on
21
May with clips of the auditions.
Dick
Lee, Florence Lian and
Ken Lim returned
as judges while Douglas Oliverio was replaced by
Jacintha Abisheganaden. After
widespread criticism of his hosting abilities in season 1,
Gurmit Singh was paired with
Daniel Ong as co-hosts for season 2.
Ex-contestant from Singapore Idol season 1
Daphne Khoo hosted Singapore Idol On Demand, an
online subscription service that provided media downloads and
exclusive footage of the show.
A day after the results for Piano Show #4 were announced, MediaCorp
revealed that a computer glitch in the voting process had
mistakenly sent Mathilda D'Silva into the top 12, instead of Nurul
Maideen. Mathilda was placed in the wildcard show and was
subsequently voted into the finals. Shortly after the technical
glitch fiasco, frontrunner and wildcard contestant Meryl Joan Lee
announced her withdrawal from the contest to focus on her
studies.
The final 12 contestants were housed in Hangout @ Mount Emily, a
budget hotel, for as long as they remained in the
competition.
The Final Showdown for the title featured Jonathan Leong and Hady
Mirza singing three songs each at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. Due
to the frequency jam that took place in the first season, the
finals was held on 2 separate days; the performance show on the
24th of September, and the results show on the 25th of September.
One of the songs which both contestants sang was "You Give Me
Wings", which became the winner's first single. On 25 September
2006, 26-year-old
Hady Mirza was declared
the winner of Singapore Idol 2006 with about 70% of the votes cast.
Hady's self-titled debut album was released in mid November 2006.
Hady would then go on to compete in
Asian
Idol and become the first Asian Idol in December 2007 in an
upset victory.
Top 12 Weekly Song Themes
- Top 12 theme: Parents' Choice
- Top 11 theme: #1 Hits from 1996-2006
- Top 10 theme: Classic Jazz
- Top 9 theme: Songs by British Singers/Bands
- Top 8 theme: Home, Family and Friends
- Top 7 theme: Rock 'N' Roll
- Top 6 theme: Asian Pop
- Top 5 theme: R&B and Soul
- Top 4 theme: Judges' Choice
- Top 3 theme: Contestant's Favourites
- Top 2 theme: Contestant's Choice from Judges' List,
Spectaculars Encore & Winner's Single
Elimination Chart
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Legend
|
| Female |
Male |
Top 28 |
Wild Card Public
Vote |
Wild Card Judges'
Choice |
Top 12 |
|
Safe
|
Bottom 3
|
Bottom 2
|
Eliminated
|
| Stage: |
Top
28 |
1 |
Finals |
| Week: |
1/6 |
8/6 |
15/6 |
22/6 |
29/6 |
13/7 |
20/7 |
27/7 |
3/8 |
10/8 |
17/8 |
24/8 |
31/8 |
7/9 |
14/9 |
25/9 |
| Place |
Contestant |
Result |
| 1 |
Hady Mirza
|
|
|
1st |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Winner
|
| 2 |
|
1st |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 3 |
Jasmine Tye
|
|
2nd |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Elim |
|
| 4 |
Paul Twohill
|
2nd |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Elim |
|
| 5 |
Joakim Gomez
|
|
|
2nd |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Elim |
|
| 6 |
Nurul Maideen
|
|
|
|
1st |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Elim |
|
| 7 |
Mathilda D'Silva
|
|
|
|
Elim |
1st |
|
|
|
|
|
Elim |
|
| 8 |
|
|
1st |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Elim |
|
| 9 |
Jay Lim
|
|
|
3rd |
|
2nd |
|
|
|
Elim |
|
| 10 |
Emilee Kang
|
|
|
|
2nd |
|
|
|
Elim |
|
| 11 |
Gayle Nerva
|
|
3rd |
|
|
1st |
|
Elim |
|
| 12 |
Norman Then
|
4th |
|
|
|
2nd |
Elim |
|
Wild
Card |
|
|
Elim |
|
|
Elim |
|
|
Geraldine Chua
|
|
4th |
|
|
|
|
Primero Ang
|
|
|
Elim |
|
|
Piano
Show 4 |
Annabelle Lu
|
|
|
|
Elim |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Loh Wan Hua
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Piano
Show 3 |
Randy Chua
|
|
|
Elim |
|
|
Roslan Muhamad
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Piano
Show 2 |
Melissa Loo
|
|
Elim |
|
|
Milly Khoo
|
|
|
Piano
Show 1 |
James Tay
|
Elim |
|
|
Janson Tay
|
|
|
Levin Ng
|
|
|
Terence Tay
|
|
1Meryl Joan Lee was originally offered a Wild
Card slot, but she turned down the offer, officially eliminating
herself from the competition.
Season 3 (2009)
On December 15 2008, Mediacorp mentioned in its
free-circulating-paper, TODAY, that Singapore Idol Season 3 would
be one of the new programmes for 2009. The third installment comes
three years after the previous.
Registration for Singapore Idol 3 officially started on 1 May 2009,
and the season premiered right after the National Day Parade
segment on August 9, 2009, 8.30 PM on Channel 5.
Returning host
Gurmit Singh co-hosted
with Singapore Idol 2 winner
Hady Mirza,
replacing Season 2's
Daniel Ong. The
returning judges were
Dick Lee, Florence
Lian and
Ken Lim, with
Jacintha Abisheganaden leaving the
show.
The top 100 was reduced to a final 40 after sing-offs at
Caldecott Hill. This was then cut to the Top
24, with 12 contestants (6 guys and 6 girls) performing each night
on 2 separate Piano Shows for a spot in the Top 12. The Results
show is screened 30 minutes after the Performance Show. Voting
begins at the start of the Piano round, and closes at 9.45 PM
(later extended to 10 PM). The top 3 public vote-getters,
regardless of gender, will advance together with 3 judges' choices
per episode. Coincidentally, all the contestants who made it to the
next round by public voting are male. There will be no Wildcard
round for those who failed to make the cut, unlike the previous two
seasons.
After the top 12 was revealed during the second piano show results
segment, the judges announced that Mae Sta Maria would join the 12
and form a surprise top 13. The season has received mixed to
negative feedback from fans due to the new rulings (absence of the
Wildcard round, lack of a gender cap and voting at the start of the
show rather than at the end).
It was revealed on 14 September that MJ Kuok, who had gotten into
the finals by public voting after the first Piano Show, had
withdrawn from the competition on Friday (September 11), citing
"personal reasons". The news was confirmed in
8 Days
Magazine. He was then replaced by Nurul Huda from the first piano
show. It was revealed that she received the fourth highest public
votes after the top 3 that night.
This season also introduced the "Judges' Save", similar to
American Idol Season 8, which could be used only when the
judges unanimously decide to save an eliminated contestant up and
until the Top 5. The save was ultimately not used, when the judges
decided not to save Faizal, eliminated in 5th place. In retrospect,
except for the Top 13 results show, where Gurmit explicitly asked
the judges if they wanted to save Syltra, the judges' save was
hardly, if only briefly, mentioned.
Another first for the franchise was a surprise non-elimination
round during the Top 4 results show, similar to
American Idol Season 6, although, unlike the American
version where the bottom group was never revealed, Charles and
Tabitha were revealed to be the bottom two.
Top 24 Contestants
| Contestant Name |
Age |
Occupation |
| Charles "Stitch" Wong |
22 |
Student |
| Sezairi Sezali |
22 |
Student |
| Sylvia Ratonel |
21 |
Secretary |
| Tabitha Nauser |
17 |
Student |
| Faizal Isa |
17 |
Student |
| Duane Ho |
16 |
Student |
| Mae Sta Maria |
27 |
Bank Teller |
| Malaque Mahdaly |
20 |
Student |
| Fathin Amira |
17 |
Student |
| Nurul Huda |
21 |
Sales Assistant |
| Farhan Shah |
19 |
Student |
| Justin Jap |
21 |
Student |
| Syltra Lee |
18 |
Student |
| MJ Kuok |
21 |
Student |
| Benjamin Chow |
19 |
Full-Time National Serviceman |
| Charlene Torres-Tan |
20 |
Student |
| Douglas Wong |
24 |
Student |
| Frances Maria |
19 |
Teaching Assistant |
| Gabrielle Ferdinands |
22 |
Student |
| Jannah Shaharuddin |
21 |
Student |
| Jonathan Cheok |
24 |
Flight Attendant |
| Ryan Lee |
18 |
Student |
| Samantha Lee |
18 |
Musician |
| Theodore Teow |
20 |
Full-Time National Serviceman |
Top 13 Weekly Song Themes
Top 13 - Chart
Toppers
Bottom Three: Fathin Amira, Malaque Mahdaly & Syltra
Lee
Bottom Two: Malaque Mahdaly & Syltra Lee
Eliminated: Syltra Lee
Top 12 - The Year I Was Born
Bottom Three: Justin Jap, Malaque Mahdaly & Tabitha
Nauser
Bottom Two: Justin Jap & Malaque Mahdaly
Eliminated: Justin Jap
Top 11 - An Asian Feast
Bottom Four: Farhan Shah, Sezairi Sezali, Sylvia Ratonel
& Tabitha Nauser
Bottom Two: Farhan Shah & Sezairi Sezali
Eliminated: Farhan Shah
Top 10 - A Tribute to Michael
Jackson
Bottom Three: Charles "Stitch" Wong, Malaque Mahdaly &
Nurul Huda
Eliminated: Nurul Huda
Top 9 - For Someone Special
Eliminated: Fathin Amira
Top 8 - Mambo
Mania
Bottom Three: Malaque Mahdaly, Sylvia Ratonel & Tabitha
Nauser
Bottom Two: Malaque Mahdaly & Sylvia
Ratonel
Eliminated: Malaque Mahdaly
Top 7 - My Folks Love This
Bottom Three: Charles "Stitch" Wong, Mae Sta Maria &
Sylvia Ratonel
Bottom Two: Mae Sta Maria & Sylvia
Ratonel
Eliminated: Mae Sta Maria
Top 6 - Killing
Me Softly
Bottom Two: Charles "Stitch" Wong & Duane
Ho
Eliminated: Duane Ho
Top 5 - You Asked For It
Bottom Three: Charles "Stitch" Wong, Faizal Isa &
Tabitha Nauser
Eliminated: Faizal Isa
Top 4 (Week 1) - A Song For A Cause
Bottom Two: Charles "Stitch" Wong & Tabitha
Nauser
Eliminated: None
Top 4 (Week 2) - Step Up & Dance!
The list below is not yet arranged in order for the performance.
Elimination Chart
Legend
|
| Female |
Male |
Top 24 |
Public Vote |
Judges' Choice |
Withdrew |
Returned As
Replacement |
Top 13 |
Winner |
|
Safe
|
Bottom 3
|
Bottom 2
|
Eliminated
|
| Stage: |
Top
24 |
Finals |
| Week: |
2/9
|
9/9
|
23/9
|
30/9
|
7/10
|
14/10
|
21/103
|
28/10
|
4/11
|
11/11
|
18/114
|
25/115
|
2/12
|
9/12
|
16/12
|
| Place |
Contestant |
Result |
|
Charles "Stitch" Wong |
|
|
|
|
|
Btm 3 |
|
|
Btm 3 |
Btm 2 |
Btm 3 |
Btm 2 |
|
|
|
|
Sezairi Sezali |
|
|
|
|
Btm 2 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sylvia Ratonel |
|
|
|
|
Btm 4 |
|
|
Btm 2 |
Btm 2 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Tabitha Nauser |
|
|
|
Btm 3 |
Btm 4 |
|
|
Btm 3 |
|
|
Btm 3 |
Btm 2 |
|
|
|
| 5 |
Faizal Isa |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Elim |
|
| 6 |
Duane Ho |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Elim |
|
| 7 |
Mae Sta Maria |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Elim |
|
| 8 |
Malaque Mahdaly |
|
|
Btm 2 |
Btm 2 |
|
Btm 3 |
|
Elim |
|
| 9 |
Fathin Amira |
|
|
Btm 3 |
|
|
|
Elim |
|
| 10 |
Nurul Huda |
Elim |
RP1 |
|
|
|
Elim |
|
| 11 |
Farhan Shah |
|
|
|
|
Elim |
|
| 12 |
Justin Jap |
|
|
|
Elim |
|
| 13 |
Syltra Lee |
|
|
Elim |
|
| 14 |
MJ Kuok |
|
WD2 |
|
Piano
Show 2 |
Benjamin Chow |
|
Elim |
|
| Charlene Torres-Tan |
|
|
| Gabrielle Ferdinands |
|
|
| Jonathan Cheok |
|
|
| Samantha Lee |
|
|
Piano
Show 1 |
Douglas Wong |
Elim |
|
| Frances Maria |
|
| Jannah Shaharuddin |
|
| Ryan Lee |
|
| Theodore Teow |
|
1Nurul was originally eliminated in the first
Piano Show. She was called back after Top 13
finalist MJ withdrew.
2MJ was originally voted into the Top 13 by the
public, but withdrew, citing "personal reasons".
3Gurmit did not specifically reveal the Bottom 3
for this week. Instead, he randomly announced the
safe contestants one by one. When it was down to Mae
(alone in her group), Charles and Amira (in another group), he
eliminated Amira directly.
4Gurmit first revealed Charles and Tabitha to be
in the "unsafe" group. When it was down to Faizal,
Gurmit eliminated him directly.
5No one was eliminated because it was a surprise
non-elimination round. Votes are to be carried over
to the next week and the one with the lowest combined total would
be eliminated.
References
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