5. Maia Lee
Season: 1
Best remembered as the girl with tattoos, Maia channelled wild child vibes during the competition; an image still deeply entrenched in many.
Maia and Sylvester dated during their Idol days and the couple even registered their marriage, but broke up after the media got wind of their marriage application.
In 2005, Maia became a writer/ celebrity guest interviewer for The New Paper. That year, she also released her debut solo album, Emotionally Advised. The next year, she wrote as a Celebrity Star Blogger for STOMP.
In 2009, she signed with film production company Kelvin Sng Productions.
Maia is a controversy magnet, making headlines multiple times for all the wrong reasons. By age 26, Maia had already given birth twice as a single mother.
Maia has since cleaned up her act and has been trying to remove her 33 tattoos since 2014. The mother of three got married four years ago, and now runs a children’s clothing line Poppykins Boutique she founded in 2009.
6. Hady Mirza
Season: 2
The winner of Singapore Idol’s second season, Hady garnered about 70% of one million cast by television viewers. Hady later signed under former Singapore Idol judge Ken Lim’s record label, Hype Records.
In November 2006, Hady released his debut self-titled album Hady Mirza, which achieved Platinum status within 4 days.
The next year (2007), he won the first Asia Idol competition held in Jakarta, where Idol winners from several Asian countries — namely Singapore Idol, Malaysian Idol, Indonesian Idol, Indian Idol, Vietnam Idol, and Philippines Idol — faced each another.
At the yearly Malay music award show Anugerah Planet Muzik 2007, Hady bagged the award of “Most Popular Artiste (Singapore)” and “Most Popular Song (Singapore)” for his self-penned Malay single Merpati.
Hady had stayed away from the spotlight since 2013, and chose to concentrate on FRHM Youth instead, an organisation he co-founded to promote a Muslim education and way of life among youth.
On 29 March 2014, Hady surprised fans when he suddenly tied the knot in Johor Bahru. Not much is known about his wife, except that she goes by the name Nurjannah Nur Wahid, a Malaysian from a simple family from a village in Pontian.
Now, the 35-year-old plans to focus on his new business venture selling tempe ikan bilis sambal (spicy fermented soybean and anchovies) via his Facebook page Tempting Tempe, and unfortunately has no plans to go back to singing.
Leave a Reply