Are these Singapore Idols still idols?
It has been over a decade since the debut of Singapore Idol, the reality television singing contest modelled after the popular American Idol.
Although the competition initially got dream chasers and TV viewers psyched up, it never quite attained the amount of success its US counterpart did.
Singapore idol managed to air for three seasons, with the last being in 2009.
Post-Idol journey, where are these Singapore Idol alums now?
MustShareNews finds out what happened to 14 Singapore Idols you used to go gaga over:
1. Taufik Batisah
Season: 1
Taufik won 682,000 of 1.1 million votes cast, making him Singapore Idol’s very first winner. His victory scored him a recording deal with Sony BMG and a management deal under Hype Records’ artiste management arm, ArtisteNetworks.
Thereafter, Taufik clinched a string of endorsements for brands including Samsung, HSC drinks, 7-Eleven stores, Harmuni Rice, and even Swatch.
In 2005, Taufik released his first English album Blessings, which included his winning song in the competition I Dream. The album was well received and sold over 36,000 copies, securing a place in the Singapore Guinness Book of Records as the best selling local English album in the past decade. The same year, the singer also held his first solo concert showcase An Evening With Taufik.
Taufik has released five solo studio albums to date.
In April last year, Taufik wedded production manager Sheena Akbal, who works in an events company.
2. Sylvester Sim
Season: 1
The first runner-up of Singapore Idol’s first season secured 418,000 of 1.1 million votes, losing to Taufik Batisah.
Sylvester released his debut Chinese album Take Flight 起飞 in 2005, and his self-composed songs such as suo yi (所以)，xiang long shi ba zhang (祥龙十八掌), and di yi ge yuan yin (第一个原因) hit the Hong Kong charts. The album was so popular it was sold out on the day of release.
A week after Singapore Idol‘s finals, Sylvester was invited to work with Jolin Tsai’s concert in Singapore. Sylvester could also be seen on the small screen in guest appearances in variety shows like NKF charity and movies Already Famous and Everybody’s Business.
He was also in the auditions of the Chinese singing competition The Voice of China, where he emerged the Top 6.
However, 2016 doesn’t seem to be as smooth sailing. On 12 Jan, the singer was accused of having an affair with a female singer from Unplugged bar at Dempsey, where he is an entertainment manager.
Their suggestive text conversations were leaked by the woman’s husband and went viral online. Sylvester has been married to singer-dancer Sisy Wang since August 2012. Regarding the alleged affair, he told Wanbao:
Every lounge singer is my ‘BB’. I have a responsibility to care for them. As for the texts about kissing and bathing, they were just some ridiculous jokes. But we are absolutely innocent.
Sure, Sly, whatever you say. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Anyhow, Sylvester has released his new Mandarin single A New Hope, available on Spotify and KKBox, and announced the launch of his songwriting competition Are You My Lyricist. Fans can also anticipate the release of the singer’s new album, which he hopes to launch by the end of the year.
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