STAR BLOGGERS

As a former contestant of Singapore Idol, one could say life is grand. I occasionally get recognized in the street, receive a two word introduction of myself at any party and helps grease the wheels of my career in media. However, there is an aspect of being a contestant of Singapore Idol that accords me with an unparalleled view of things that no other Singaporean has.

We see what happens behind the scenes. In fact, I have always found it exciting to be the fly on the wall, hanging out with the camera crew, spying on the production team as they switch live from commercials to the actual show, sitting in the make up rooms as everyone spends hours on hair and false eyelashes, trying to get into our racks of costumes while lost in out own little worlds of lyrics and choreography. You see, this is the Singapore Idol that the audience doesn’t see. What Singapore sees on television is a carefully orchestrated music show that is timed to the second while the reality of it all is far from the truth.

Having been through the punishing schedules of last season’s idol, I found it very interesting to see this year’s batch of contestants around Mediacorp, reliving the dream. I remember walking past the TV studios where the top 100 were being whittled down, hearing contestants belt out Stevie Wonder at every toilet door. I remember seeing Sylvia sitting on a bench with her contemporary Nurul, having a conversation about what it takes to be an idol and just how psyched they would be if they could make it past the F1 weekend where they would free tickets to the F1Rocks concerts. I remember seeing Sezairi, walking around wardrobe with his signature glasses, lost in the music. I remember watching the faces of the other contestants as they poured through what the New Paper and Today newspapers had to say about their performance.

It brought back many memories of my own time in Singapore Idol. The raw excitement of the Idol theme as we stand on the stage with Gurmit in the wings ready to announce us in. The feeling that as a singer you can be the master of your own fate for once and ride on the publicity train in its full glory of marketing and glitz. I had that strange flashback while standing backstage with the sound crew in the Indoor Stadium, minutes before the announced this season’s winner of Singapore Idol.

One of the guys in charge of the mixers turned to me and asked, “Sezairi of Sylvia?” I shrugged partially out of political correctness and partially out of confusion. It was really a toss up.

 It was the question on everyone’s lips. No one could deny the absolute fan base of Sezairi and the fact that two times before, Malay male idols had been voted as Singapore’s choice. However, the streets were abuzz with the possibility of a female idol for once, seeing that so many had come close to it in years before with the likes of Olinda Cho and Jasmine Tye. Personally, I was wondering exactly how this was going to play out. Did the fact that Charice Pempengo the pint sized Philipino belter had swung her support behind Sylvia Ratonel as being a fellow “pinoy” have any impact? Did the individual vocal performances manage to re-distribute the voting numbers? Was the impeccable choice of wardrobe a possible swing factor? Or if we are going to be frank about this, did race and sex have anything to do with this?

Recent figures released by KPMG state that Singapore Idol winner Sezairi Sezali received 61% of total votes cast against hot favourite Sylvia Ratonel. Would it be safe to say then that the Malay community backed Sezairi as they did with Hady and Taufik and that the Philipino community could not match the en masse sms behemoth of Sezairi’s fans? Could this be a case of girls versus boys, where enraptured teenage girls hungry for Facebook stardom sms wildly for their favourite male contestants while female contestants have an uphill task of trying to win votes? Noone can say I don’t know what I’m talking about. I was there, believe me. I know how hard it is as a girl to appeal to the sms voters without stooping so low by making that silly “call me” gesture with my hands.

However, must Sezairi’s win be emotionally contested just because he was the third Malay boy to win Idol? Shouldn’t his musical abilities stand on their own merit? On the flipside, is it really such an injustice that Sylvia did not win? Judging by the eager looks of the record companies and artiste management agencies who were bustling about her at the post-Idol party in the Indoor Stadium, she should be getting an offer soon.

I remember giving an interview about what the Singapore Idol means to me. I said that the Singapore Idol is Singapore’s musical ambassador to the world. Although he is a close friend, when I look at Taufik singing in Indonesia and Malaysia, I feel proud to know that this was one of Singapore’s working musicians who made it big. Just before Hady was announced the Asian Idol, I was working the late night shift at 938LIVE where I read the news. It was almost surreal. Here was my friend on TV in Indonesia, fighting amongst the best singers in Asia and I was waiting with bated breath together with the news journalists to announce his victory on radio, live as it happened.

Singapore Idol was not just a passing phase to me; it’s become an indelible part of my life. It helped me to become a radio DJ on 938Live and then having my own daily show on Symphony 92.4fm. It helped me begin my career as a producer and director. As a singer, it made me a headline at the Esplanade and pushed me overseas to perform for such dignitaries as the King of Thailand! The best part of it is, I never even won the competition and hard work, luck and some very supportive people helped to open those doors for me. Such is the luck I hope Sylvia will find.

In Sezairi’s case, his predecessors have set the benchmark of excellence.

Now that the hoopla of reality TV is over, the hard work of being a bonafide singer and performer can start.  

Mathilda De Silva has been singing in bands and acoustic duo since she was 12! She also performed at this season’s Singapore Idol grand finals.  So when it comes to music, she knows what she is talking about. What has she been up to since her time at Idol? She has been a DJ, an actress, a producer and of course singing.  Way to go girl!

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