On 15 December 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 season 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 on 9 August 2009, 8:30 pm on Channel 5, with subsequent episodes telecast on Wednesdays at 8:00pm from 12 August. 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 contestants were put up at Orchid Country Club at
Yishun for a week of intense auditions and training. They were then reduced to a Top 76 for a group round, Top 54 for an Idol first where the contestants write and compose a duet and perform it, then the Top 40 of sang-off at
Caldecott Hill. Top 24 consisted of half the contestants (6 males and 6 females) performing each night on 2 separate Piano Shows for a spot in the Top 12. The Piano Show has no theme, and contestants can sing any song they want. The Results Show was screened 30 minutes after the Performance Show. Voting began at the start of the Piano round at 8:00 pm, and closed at 9:45 pm (later extended to 10:00 pm and finally to 10:15 pm). The Top 3 public vote-getters, regardless of gender, advanced together with 3 of the judges choices per episode. Coincidentally, in the piano shows, all the contestants who made it to the next round by public voting were male contestants. There was no Wild Card round for previously eliminated contestants, 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 beginning 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 It was revealed on 14 September that MJ Kuok, who had gotten into the finals by public voting after Piano Show 1, had withdrawn from the competition on 11 September, citing "personal reasons". The news was confirmed in
8 Days Magazine. He was then replaced by Nurul Huda from Piano Show 1. It was revealed that she had received the next highest number of public votes out of all the other eliminated contestants. 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 to and until the Top 5. The save was never used, when the judges decided not to save Faizal Isa, who was 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 Lee, 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 on 25 November, similar to
American Idol Season 6, although, unlike the American version where the bottom group was never revealed, Charles and Tabitha were first revealed to be the bottom two before they were announced as safe. Votes for that week were added to the following week's votes, with the contestant with the lowest-combined (Charles) being eliminated the following week. The order for the final performance show was decided by a coin toss immediately after the Top 3 results show. Sylvia won and decided to go first. The Grand Finale, unlike Season 2, was not a two-night event. The performance was aired at 8:00 pm on 27 December 2009 and the results show at 10:00 pm on the same day. It was held at the
Singapore Indoor Stadium with a full capacity of 12,000. The special guest was international recording artist
Charice where she performed 3 songs which included her first single
Note to God. The Singapore Idol stage will be torn down from the MediaCorp TV Theatre permanently thereafter. This season was abound with controversy. During the Top 8 and 7, while the judges claimed both nights as "girls' nights", the girls filled up the bottom groups. This resulted in extensive media promotion for the females left in the competition, and the idea of a female idol was fuelled by both the judges and the episodic trailers. However, the last male standing in the Final 3,
Sezairi Sezali, still ultimately won, receiving 61% of the votes cast in the finale. While Sylvia became the first female to make it to the finals, Sezairi's win makes all three Singapore Idol winners young
Malay males.
Piano Shows Group 1 •
Group performance: "
Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" Nurul Huda was originally eliminated but was invited back to the competition as a replacement of MJ Kuok, who withdrew from the competition after being voted into the top 13 by the public.
Group 2 •
Group performance: "
Burnin' Up"
Spectacular Shows Top 13 – Chart Toppers •
Group performance: "
I Don't Care"
Top 12 – The Year I Was Born •
Group performance: "You Give Me Wings"
Top 11 – An Asian Feast ====Top 10 – A Tribute to
Michael Jackson==== •
Group performance: "
Black or White" On the results show, the "bottom two" was not announced. Gurmit Singh first revealed that Charles, Nurul and Malaque were in the "bottom three". Gurmit then eliminated Nurul immediately and the other contestant which was in the "bottom two" together with Nurul was not revealed.
Top 9 – For Someone Special This week, the contestants each perform a song to dedicate to somemore in their life (e.g. friend, family member etc.) •
Group performance: "
Just Stand Up!" On the results show, no "bottom three" was announced as the voting results were announced in "random order". Gurmit Singh announced the safe contestants one by one. After Sylvia, Faizal, Malaque, Duane, Tabitha and Sezairi were announced as safe, Charles, Mae and Amira were the last three remaining. Gurmit Singh then eliminated Amira immediately. Charles and Mae were not necessarily among the bottom three vote-getters that week.
Top 8 – Mambo Mania •
Group performance: "
Just Can't Get Enough"
Top 7 – My Folks Love This This week, the contestants perform a song selected by their parents. •
Group performance: "
Ain't No Mountain High Enough"
Top 6 – Killing Me Softly (with This Song) •
Group performance: "
Boys and Girls"
Top 5 – You Asked for It The contestants are each given a list of songs chosen by the public (a different list for each contestant). They each chose a song from their list to sing. •
Group performance: "
I Gotta Feeling" On the results show, the "bottom two" was not announced. Gurmit Singh first revealed that Charles and Tabitha were in the "bottom three". Gurmit then eliminated Faizal immediately and the other contestant which was in the "bottom two" together with Faizal was not revealed.
Top 4 (first week) – A Song for a Cause In this week, being a week before
World AIDS Day, the contestants each compose their own songs to perform as well as a cover song to play their part for charity. On the results show, Gurmit Singh first revealed that Tabitha and Charles were in the "bottom two". However, the two contestants were then declared safe together with Sylvia and Sezairi and no one was eliminated. Gurmit Singh stated that it was a surprise non-elimination round and votes for that week would be carried over to the following week. The contestant with the lowest combined votes over the two weeks would be eliminated the following week.
Top 4 (second week) – Step Up and Dance! •
Group performance: "
Dance Floor Anthem (I Don't Want to Be in Love)"
Top 3 – Judges' Choice Top 2 – Favourite Performance / Contestant's Choice / Winner's Single •
Group performance: "
I Gotta Feeling" / "
Bad Romance" / "
Boom Boom Pow"
Elimination chart Post-Idol Of the 13 Finalists, only the Top 3 contestants have continued to remain in the
public eye.
Sezairi Sezali and
Sylvia Ratonel have released their debut studio albums,
Take Two and
Sylvia Ratonel respectively. Singles were released from the album and have made it into the Top 10 on the
987FM Top 20 Chart, with the best-performing single being Sylvia Ratonel's "It's Raining" (it peaked at #3). While
Tabitha Nauser has not released an album, she collaborated with international artists
Sean Kingston,
Steve Appleton,
Jessica Mauboy and
Jody Williams on the official theme song to the
2010 Youth Olympics, "Everyone". Nauser was given the opening lines of the first verse, and her vocals can be heard harmonising with the other artists in the choruses and bridge. The song was released as a CD single, which included an acoustic version of "Everyone" performed by Nauser alone. Successful airplay of the song made "Everyone" reach No. 1 on the 987FM Top 20 Chart, making Tabitha Nauser the first Singaporean vocalist, at least in recent years, to achieve that feat. "Everyone" remained on the top spot for 2 weeks. ==References==