Singapore's reality TV winners: Where are these singers now?

Television singing competition The Final 1 crowned its Season 2 winner Jermaine Leong earlier this month, on Oct 4. We look back to some of the past Singapore winners of local televised singing competitions and find out what they’ve been up to since.

By Hong Xinying

Jermaine Leong, Season 2 winner of The Final 1. Image: Mediacorp/ Twitter

On Oct 4, 16 year-old singer Jermaine Leong emerged victorious as the season 2 winner of televised singing competition The Final 1. The polytechnic student was up against undergraduate Charlene Su, 19, at the singing competition’s finale night, held at Capitol Theatre.

Just last Sunday (Oct 13), another Singaporean singer Sufie Rashid was crowned the season 12 winner of Malaysian singing competition Akademi Fantasia (AF). The 24 year-old has participated in Singapore Idol and The Final 1 but was eliminated after making it to the top 40 contestants in both shows.

It seems like ages ago when the first Singapore Idol winner was crowned (the show debuted in 2004). So, what have the other competitors been up to in recent years?

Taufik Batisah

Taufik Batisah with his Anugerah Planet Muzik (APM) awards. Image: Taufikbatisah/ Instagram

The Final 1 judge knows what it’s like to compete in a singing contest. After all, he was the winner of the first Singapore Idol winner in 2004.

The 33 year-old’s star continues to shine. Last Friday (Oct 9), Taufik won big at the recent Anugerah Planet Muzik (APM) 2015, a regional Malay music awards ceremony. He bagged four wins, including gongs for the Most Popular Artiste (Singapore), Social Media Icon, Most Popular Song (Singapore) and the APM Most Popular Song for chart-topping track, #AwakKatMane.

To date, Taufik has released five solo studio albums. He has also appeared on stage for theatrical productions including Fried Rice Paradise — The Musical (2010). Taufik’s wedding to Sheena Akba on Apr 4 also made headlines.

Farisha Ishak

Farisha Ishak at The Final 1 Season 2 finale night. Image: Farisha Ishak/ Facebook

Her win in 2013 launched her career, as she beat Shaun Jansen in the first season of The Final 1. Shortly after her win, the petite singer decided to take a break from her undergraduate studies to focus on her music career.

She then released her debut album Aligned, in 2014 and has made recent guest performances on stage for The Final 1 season finale, as well as the Pesta Perdana, a local Malay television awards show, in April. The 20 year-old is currently signed to Hype Records and has also sung in celebratory SG50 music video, ‘These Are the Days’, alongside local stars Julie Tan, Alfred Sim, Tay Ke Wei, Shabir and Sufie Rashid.

Alfred Sim

The third time turned out to be the charm for this former athletics coach, who came in first place for Mandarin singing competition Project Superstar season 3 in 2014. The 33 year-old had previously participated in Season 1 and 2 of the televised competition but did not make it past the stage rounds.

Alfred Sim on The Voice of China Season 4. Image: Alfred Sim/ Facebook

It’s been a busy year for the Project Superstar alum, who married fellow Singapore singer Tay Kewei in January, after quietly dating the star for nearly a decade. Their relationship was made public at the Project Superstar finale in 2014, which Tay attended. Earlier this year, the couple had also auditioned for the fourth season of The Voice of China. Both singers however, were eliminated during the preliminary stages of the competition. Sim is said to be currently working on his solo album under Japanese record label S2S; he shared a teaser photo in April this year on Facebook.

Hady Mirza

This local singer has gone under the radar in recent years. The 35 year-old made his name when he won the second season of Singapore Idol in 2006. He then released two albums – Hady Mirza and Sang Penyanyi in 2006 and 2009 respectively – on Hype Records and worked on a single with Taufik Batisah in 2012. His most recent single ‘Betapa Berat Cintaku’ was also released in the same year.

Since 2013, Hady has kept a relatively low profile. According to local newspaper Berita Minggu, Hady is working on FRHM Youth, a group he co-founded to mentor youths through religious classes and group activities. Hype Records director and former Singapore Idol judge Ken Lim also told local tabloid The New Paper that “it’s a sabbatical” for Hady.

Hady Mirza and his wife at their wedding in 2014. Image: Hype Records/ Facebook

A year later in 2014, the singer married Nurjannah Nur Wahid, at a private ceremony held in Pontian, Johor. According to The New Paper, his mother had introduced his wife-to-be to Hady and the two decided to tie the knot six months after they had first met.

Hady’s only recent activity on Facebook and Twitter are made in relation to Tempting Tempe, a business venture selling homemade spicy tempe with ikan bilis. Netizens have posted photos of Hady with bottles of the tempe on Facebook; according to fans, the star is said to have made these home deliveries personally and has shared snaps taken with customers on his Facebook too.

Kelvin Tan

He is the Mandopop singer who won the first season of Project Superstar in 2005. The Project Superstar winner subsequently released three solo albums and enjoyed regional success for a few years. He had to put singing aside when his contract with record label Warner Music was not renewed in 2010, reported The New Paper. Since then, Tan worked as an exhibition guide and also participated in regional singing competition Asian Wave in 2012. He made it to round two before he was booted out of the competition.

Project Superstar winner Kelvin Tan to compete at the Asean Para Games 2015. Image: Kelvin Tan/ Facebook

Soon, the 33 year-old will debut as an athlete at the upcoming Asean Para Games, to be held from Dec 3-9 in Singapore. According to The Straits Times, Tan will be competing as part of the Singapore team for goalball, a team sport for the visually impaired where athletes compete to roll the ball into the opponent’s goal.

Ebi Shankara

Actor-hosts Ebi Shankara (left) and Darius Tan (right). Image: ebishankara/ Instagram

The youngest winner of annual Tamil singing competition Vasantham Star in 2007 (he was 19 years old then) is currently hosting and acting on-screen and for the local theatre. Apart from hosting stints for the National Day Parade and the SEA Games, the now 27 year-old has also acted in local stage adaptations of comedy film Army Daze, the starring role as Vinod in Haresh Sharma’s Off Centre as well as pantomimes by Singaporean theatre company Wild Rice.

Ebi also serves as the co-artistic director of homegrown theatre group Ravindran Drama Group, which produces shows in Tamil as well as in English.