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| Network: | MediaCorp Channel 8 Toggle YouTube |
Star Search 2019 is the 11th installment of the long-running Chinese talent competition Star Search, hosted by Mediacorp, since 1988. This was the first season of Star Search since 2010, returning after a nine-year hiatus.[1] The grand prize includes a Mediacorp management contract and an Audi Q2 SUV (without Certificate of Entitlement).
The series premiered on 20 September on Toggle and 22 September on both Channel 8 and their YouTube channel. Three live telecast episodes were streamed live on 6 and 13 October (semi-finals), and 3 November (finals). The series concluded on a clip show titled The Journey aired on 8 and 10 November, on Toggle and Channel 8, respectively.
On the finals aired 3 November, Zhang Zetong, a 26-year-old Carousell assistant manager from Malaysia who mentored by Christopher Lee, was announced the winner, while Herman Keh from Team Christopher Lee and Ye Jiayun from Team Chen Hanwei finished second and third, respectively.[2] While the top three contestants were offered a contract and won respective prizes, in an unprecedented move made on 5 November, Mediacorp announced that all 12 finalists were all offered contracts, a first in Star Search history.[3] [4]
The show's revival was first announced by the last season's host Quan Yi Fong and former contestants Christopher Lee and Zoe Tay during the Star Awards 2019 award ceremony held on 14 April 2019 (as part of the award's silver jubilee celebration), after featuring a walk-in showcase performance as one of the performance segments.[5] A teaser clip was first shown on-air on that night, featuring Tay that bragged the show's success, how they changed their lives in their entertainment career and gone on winning awards from Star Awards, while the narrator narrates at the closing of the clip (今天的超级红星, 来自/出自于当年的才华新秀 (lit. The All-time Favorite Artistes that came/first appeared from that year's Star Search); displayed on-screen as 红星出于新秀 (lit. The stars originated from Star Search)); the season will be billed as one of the "biggest returns in television history".[6] [7] [8] [9]
To commemorate the franchise's return, Toggle archived the previous ten seasons of the show's grand finals.[10]
The auditions were announced on 14 April 2019 with the open auditions held on May; other auditions not announced on-air were Talent Scout Auditions, replacing overseas auditions, which were not held for the first time since the season five. Contestants can also submit their online applications (for Open auditions) until 10 May 2019.[11] Selected contestants from the scouting or closed auditions may receive Express Pass (shaped as a chatbox with the show's hashtag) and could directly perform the talent round without having to queue. Known judges appeared in the auditions include Irene Ang, and former Star Search winners Qi Yuwu and Zoe Tay.
| Date and time(s) | Venue |
|---|---|
| 16 April 2019, 9am-2pm | ITE College Central |
| 16 April 2019, 3pm-6pm | ITE College East |
| 17 April 2019, 9am-5pm | Nanyang Polytechnic |
| 18 April 2019, 9am-5pm | Singapore Polytechnic |
| 22 April 2019, 9am-5pm | Republic Polytechnic |
| 23 April 2019, 9am-5pm | Ngee Ann Polytechnic |
| 24 April 2019, 9am-5pm | Temasek Polytechnic |
| 25 April 2019, 9am-5pm | Bugis/Central Business District |
| 27 April 2019, 11am-5pm | Orchard |
| 29 April 2019, 11am-5pm | Plaza Singapura/The Cathay |
| Date(s) | Venue | |
|---|---|---|
| 4 May 2019, 10am-7pm | Ngee Ann City Civic Plaza | |
| 12 May 2019, 10am-7pm | Bugis+ |
For the first time, augmented reality and virtual reality were used onto green screen during the acting segment in the auditions. The augmented reality version were also heavily used during the grand finals, notably the title card before and after commercial cuts, as well as the NOOOICE! guest performance.[12]
Jean Yip Group was the only sponsor to return from the past season. New sponsors include Bee Cheng Hiang, Bonia, KFC, Mitsubishi Electric, Simmons and Win2 Crackers, who previously sponsored another reality competition SPOP Sing! last year, as well as Samsung Galaxy, Senka, PD Door, Poh Heng jewelry, official car Audi and travel agency website Trip.com.
A meet-and-greet session was held on 21 July 2019 at Funan's The Base, with special guests and former contestants Zoe Tay, Vivian Lai, Yao Wenlong and Brandon Wong.[13] A second session was held on both locations at Gardens by the Bay and Woodlands Temporary Bus Interchange on 10 August 2019. A third meet-and-greet session, which also officiated the launch of the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 in Singapore, was held on Plaza Singapura on 17 August 2019.[14] A fourth meet-and-greet session was held at Bugis+ on 15 September 2019.
Another meet-and-greet session featuring the top 12 finalists and former contestants will be held 19 October at Wisma Atria.[15]
A 24 one-minute video series titled Screen Debut, each featuring a contestant pairing with guidance trained by former Star Search contestants, were uploaded on Toggle and aired as commercials starting on 30 August 2019. Each video featured different approaches and stories, and how the finalists made their debut on its first role and showcasing their talents.[16]
Two prelude episodes were uploaded on Toggle on 20 and 27 September, and televised on Channel 8 two days after. The first prelude episode focus highlights on the auditions on the first half and training sessions on the second half, including never-seen behind-the-scenes of production for Screen Debut videos. The second prelude episode features mentoring sessions by star mentors Chen Hanwei, Huang Biren and Christopher Lee; during the second half, in a format similar to The Voice and The X Factor, as well as the third Project Superstar season and its ninth season which also involved mentoring, the finalists selected his or her mentor he or she wants to work with if available, and the mentors, each with four contestants per gender, will mentor their respective contestants through the remainder of the season. Both episodes were also captioned in English subtitles.
A special clip show episode, titled The Journey, was uploaded on Toggle on 8 November, and broadcast on 10 November at 3.05pm, right before the re-run of the Finals. The clip show features the final 12 in their preparation for the finals, including their interviews along with their mentors and the judges about the competition and training throughout the season.[17]
The 24 contestants was announced on 4 July 2019 in a live conference held at Gillman Barracks. On the second Prelude episode, 24 contestants were divided into three teams, with each team helmed by each mentor, who chose eight finalists (four per gender) to form a coaching team (the team names are respectively labeled in parentheses) of their own to mentor them. The final 24 finalists and their respective teams were confirmed as follows:[18] [19]
Key:
| Act | Age(s) | Occupation | Gender | Mentor/Team | Semi-finals | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zhang Zetong 张哲通 | 26 | Assistant manager | Male | Christopher Alliance | 2 | Winner | |
| Herman Keh 郭坤耀 | 23 | Student/Part-time Model | Male | Christopher Alliance | 1 | Runner-up | |
| Ye Jia Yun 叶佳昀 | 17 | Student | Female | Hanwei Corps | 1 | Third-place | |
| Sheryl Ang 洪丽婷 | 20 | Full-time Model | Female | Christopher Alliance | 2 | Finalist | |
| Gini Chang 曾晓晴 | 24 | Primary School Teacher | Female | Chrisopher Alliance | 1 | Finalist | |
| Vanessa Ho 何鎂琪 | 19 | Student | Female | Biren Family | 1 | Finalist | |
| Kiki Lim 林昭婷 | 17 | Student | Female | Biren Family | 2 | Finalist | |
| Zane Lim 林子颖 | 22 | Student/Part-time Model | Male | Biren Family | 1 | Finalist | |
| Juin Teh 郑六月 | 29 | Self-employed | Female | Hanwei Corps | 1 | Finalist | |
| Tyler Ten 邓伟德 | 23 | Student/Part-time Model | Male | Hanwei Corps | 2 | Finalist | |
| Jernelle Oh 胡煜诗 | 25 | Self-employed | Female | Hanwei Corps | 1 | Finalist | |
| Zhai Siming 翟思铭 | 22 | Student | Male | Biren Family | 2 | Finalist | |
| Gail Borjiet 博乐 | 26 | Full-time Model | Female | Christopher Alliance | 1 | Eliminated | |
| Natasha Chandra 陈靖霞 | 21 | Student | Female | Biren Family | 1 | Eliminated | |
| Chin Yi Yang 陈昱仰 | 17 | Student | Male | Hanwei Corps | 1 | Eliminated | |
| Bryan Kok 郭奕鑫 | 18 | Student | Male | Hanwei Corps | 2 | Eliminated | |
| Lee Wenn Hon 李文康 | 24 | University Graduate | Male | Biren Family | 1 | Eliminated | |
| Kenneth Liew 廖志翔 | 20 | Student | Male | Christopher Alliance | 2 | Eliminated | |
| Joel Low 卢家伟 | 32 | Theatre Actor | Male | Christopher Alliance | 1 | Eliminated | |
| Christy Mai 麦芷琪 | 20 | Student | Female | Hanwei Corps | 2 | Eliminated | |
| Alyssa Peh 白苑芳 | 26 | University Graduate | Female | Biren Family | 2 | Eliminated | |
| Jared Soh 苏健凯 | 23 | Student | Male | Hanwei Corps | 1 | Eliminated | |
| Sunny Xu 徐佳訸 | 17 | Student | Female | Christopher Alliance | 2 | Eliminated | |
| Tan Hao Thian 陈浩天 | 17 | Student | Male | Biren Family | 1 | Withdrew |
The live semifinals will start on 6 October 2019 and 13 October 2019. Each week, twelve acts will perform; six will go through to the finals, and six will be eliminated.
Overseas Judges: Phoebe Huang, Bowie Lam, Man Shu-sam
Media Judges: Chong Liung Man, Dasmond Koh, Marcus Wee, Ryan Lai, Terence Lim, Chloe Neo, Ang Eng Tee, Connie Chen
Tan Hao Thian withdrew prior to the semi-finals for personal reasons; Tan was not replaced and the elimination went ahead as normal.
The Dance round, along with the introduction dance, carries a 10% weightage towards the overall score. Following the segment, the finalists portrayed dramas segments of WeMovie He is 21 (他21岁) with the order of performance from the dance round played for the corresponding episodes. The acting segment weighs 40% towards the overall score.
| Team | Performance Description | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Order | Dance Description | Acting Description | ||
| Christopher Alliance | 1 | Performed a jazz-step dance to the instrumental version of "Feel It Still". | A university student Fong Chi-Wai was killed due to an overdose with sleeping pills. The coroner visited Fong's family and inquire the answers of Fong's death.(Cast: Chang Hio Cheng as Mei-Yi (Fong's older sister), Jeff Wang as the coroner, Herman Keh as Chi-Hao (Fong's younger brother), Joel Low as Bo-En (Fong's future in-law), Gail Borjiet as Jia-Jia (Fong's neighbor)) | |
| Hanwei Corps | 2 | Performed a K-pop rendition. | Continuing from the first episode, the coroner visited Fong's campus (taped at Singapore Polytechnic) and asked their friends of Fong to inquire about the cause of his death.(Cast: Jernelle Oh as Li-Ling (Fong's girlfriend), Jeff Wang as the coroner, Chin Yi Yang as Yi-Fan (Fong's best friend), Jared Soh as Ming-Jie (Fong's best friend), Juin Teh as Shuang (Fong's best friend)) | |
| Biren Family | 3 | Performed an instrumental version of Bruno Mars's "Treasure". | Continuing from the second episode, the coroner tried many ways to identify Fong's cause of death, using various evidences provided by eyewitness including an uploaded video.(Cast: Zane Lim as Song-Pin (reporter), Jeff Wang as the coroner, Natasha Chandra as Si-Ting (eyewitness), Vanessa Ho as Mei-Fang (eyewitness who uploaded the video), Tan Hao Thian as assistant (uncredited in video)) | |
Media Charisma carries a 30% weightage towards the overall score. At the end of each segment, the show will reveal the act with a current higher score based on the preferences by the Media judges. The results are as follows:
The fourth and final round, Spontaneous Act, carrying a 20% score, involve acts performing scenarios with a question given from the producers. Teams have one minute to discuss their order of performance, and each act had 25 seconds to present forth their answers.
| Team | Name | Order | Question | Acting Environment | Overall Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christopher Alliance | Joel Low | 1 | My car broke down. You called me to help but it's no use. I know how to fix motorcycles, not vehicles | Roadside | Eliminated | |
| Hanwei Corps | Juin Teh | 2 | Mediacorp Campus | Advanced | ||
| Biren Family | Zane Lim | 3 | Durian Stall | Advanced | ||
| Hanwei Corps | Jared Soh | 4 | Have you taken your medicine? Why are you so disobedient? You must take your medicine regularly. Come, take it. | School Hall | Eliminated | |
| Biren Family | Natasha Chandra | 5 | Office | Eliminated | ||
| Christopher Alliance | Herman Keh | 6 | Park | Advanced | ||
| Biren Family | Vanessa Ho | 7 | How are you feeling? I feel good... today's weather was good. | Night Store | Advanced | |
| Christopher Alliance | Gail Borjiet | 8 | Streets | Eliminated | ||
| Hanwei Corps | Chin Yi Yang | 9 | Shopping Centre outside Singapore | Eliminated | ||
| Christopher Alliance | Chang Hio Cheng | 10 | Hey boss, are those black things on my mee siam burnt garlic? Does garlic have legs? | Home | Advanced | |
| Hanwei Corps | Jernelle Oh | 11 | Wardrobe Room | Advanced |
Overseas judges: Phoebe Huang, Bobby Au-yeung, Man Shu-sam
Media judges: Jeremy Tan, Mervin Wee, Irene Ang, Ryan Lai, Terence Lim, Connie Chen, Ang Eng Tee, Chong Liung Man
Similar to Week 1, the 12 acts performed a dance and WeDrama Turning Chair (回转椅子) during the two segments, with the episode corresponding to the performance order during the dance round; both components weigh 10% and 40% towards the overall scores, respectively.
| Team | Performance Description | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Order | Dance Description | Acting Description | ||
| Hanwei Corps | 1 | Performed a zumba street dance routine. | Fong Zhiwei sit on the chair from an antique shop to return in time to their barbecue party to prevent an accident that caused Jiajia's eye to be burnt, but the events transpired into another disaster where Zhiwei was involved in a car accident; later, Fong's friends visited the shop and discussed who would sit on the chair to change the events.(Cast: Tyler Ten as Fong Zhiwei, Florence Tan as the shopkeeper, Bryan Kok as Bo-en (Zhiwei's best friend), Christy Mai as Meiyi (Zhiwei's girlfriend), Ye Jia Yun as Jiajia (Meiyi's best friend)) | |
| Biren Family | 2 | Performed an electro step dance. | Lin Yifan and his wife Liling visited the antique shop to change the events of perpetrator over the car accident case (which occurred on the first episode) and her runaway, respectively.(Cast: Lee Wenn Hon as Lin Yifan, Florence Tan as the shopkeeper, Alyssa Peh as Liling (Yifan's wife), Zhai Si Ming as Ming-jie (Liling's brother), Kiki Lim as Shuang (Liling's sister), Priscelia Chan as the reporter) | |
| Christopher Alliance | 3 | Performed a contemporary dance. | Songpin and Siting visited the antique shop to change the events of Meifen's suicide. However their truth of both Songpin and Siting were revealed along the way, including a planned marriage and a family reunion.(Cast: Florence Tan as the shopkeeper, Sunny Xu as Siting (shopkeeper's daughter), Teoh Ze Tong as Songpin (Meifen's boyfriend), Sheryl Ang as Meifen (Songpin's girlfriend), Kenneth Liew as Siyang (shopkeeper's son & Siting's brother)) | |
Media Charisma carries a 30% weightage towards the overall score. The results for the Charisma was revealed after each segment of the Acting round. The results are as follows:
| Segment | Results (Team) | |
|---|---|---|
| Episode 1 | Christy Mai (Hanwei Corps) | |
| Episode 2 | Kiki Lim (Biren Family) | |
| Episode 3 | Sheryl Ang (Christopher Alliance) |
The fourth and final round, Spontaneous Act, carrying a 20% score, involve acts performing scenarios with a question given from the producers. Teams have one minute to discuss their order of performance, and each act had 25 seconds to present forth their answers.
| Team | Name | Order | Question | Acting Environment | Overall Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hanwei Corps | Tyler Ten | 1 | I've been meeting those weird people lately; am I that weird? I bet you're a weirdo too | Toilet | Advanced | |
| Biren Family | Lee Wenn Hon | 2 | Park | Eliminated | ||
| Christopher Alliance | Sunny Xu | 3 | Palace Grounds | Eliminated | ||
| Biren Family | Zhai Si Ming | 4 | Hello...? Who are you? Is that really you? Is what you are saying real? | Wet Market | Advanced | |
| Christopher Alliance | Teoh Ze Tong | 5 | Mountain | Advanced | ||
| Hannwei Corps | Bryan Kok | 6 | Construction Site | Eliminated | ||
| Christopher Alliance | Sheryl Ang | 7 | We must not be selfish, we must help each other out | Friend's house | Advanced | |
| Hanwei Corps | Christy Mai | 8 | Mediacorp Campus | Eliminated | ||
| Biren Family | Kiki Lim | 9 | Office | Advanced | ||
| Hanwei Corps | Ye Jia Yun | 10 | I want a black coffee, exactly 96 °C just nice, or else it would burn | Amusement Park | Advanced | |
| Biren Family | Alyssa Peh | 11 | Hospital | Eliminated | ||
| Christopher Alliance | Kenneth Liew | 12 | Home | Eliminated | ||
The final performances took place on 3 November. During the end of the second semifinals, the hosts announced that the Samsung Galaxy's Most Photogenic Breakthrough Award (a cash prize of $10,000 and a trip to Seoul, South Korea) will be given out during the show, with the three mentors voting for the winner with the most improvements made throughout the season. The award went to Vanessa Ho of Team Huang Biren.
Guest judges: Doreen Neo, Stephen Fung, Simon Yam, Carina Lau, Man Shu-sam
Guest performers: Desmond Tan, Romeo Tan, Jeremy Chan, Jeffrey Xu, NOOOICE!
The X-Factor and Viral Dance segments carries 20% and 10% weightage towards the final scores respectively. The order is performed by the contestants for the respective genders.
| Act | X-Factor | Viral Dance | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Name | Order | Description | Order | Description |
| Hanwei Corps | Juin Teh | 1 | Performed a piano piece | 13 | Performed street dance "I Wanna Be A Celeb" by Celeb Five, a K-Pop group from South Korea. |
| Jernelle Oh | 2 | Performed fencing | |||
| Ye Jia Yun | 3 | Performed softball | |||
| Christopher Alliance | Chang Hio Cheng | 4 | Performed Chinese Fan Dancing | ||
| Sheryl Ang | 5 | Performed Stilt walking | |||
| Biren Family | Vanessa Ho | 6 | Performed DJ | ||
| Kiki Lim | 7 | Performed acoustic guitar | |||
| Hanwei Corps | Tyler Ten | 8 | Performed Muay Thai | 14 | Performed flash mob robot dance |
| Christopher Alliance | Herman Keh | 9 | Performed Street dancing | ||
| Teoh Ze Tong | 10 | Performed vigorous exercises | |||
| Biren Family | Zane Lim | 11 | Performed soccer | ||
| Zhai Si Ming | 12 | Performed basketball | |||
This round carries 20% weightage towards the final score. For this round, mentors and their contestants ballot on questions issued by each celebrity (acting as respective characters in selected scenes). Contestants have 25 seconds to present their answers for the scenarios.
| Act | Order | Eloquence Question | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Name | Celebrity | Narrator | Question | Selected Scene | |
| Hanwei Corps | Ye Jia Yun | 1 | Qi Yuwu | Lee Teng as Stephen Chow | It is the first day you are filming and an idol celebrity slapped you; would you be slapped or you slap back? | Star Search 1999 |
| Tyler Ten | 2 | Lee Teng as Gordon Lam | When you receive your award and while you are making an acceptance speech, what would you do if the microphone becomes faulty? | Star Awards 2011 | ||
| Jernelle Oh | 3 | Lee Teng as Tang Yaojia | When you fall in love with an actress from the same drama, would you publicly confess your romance? | C.L.I.F. 2 | ||
| Juin Teh | 4 | Lee Teng as Mona "Salah" | You have already figured out the truth, so would you spread the word to your friends? | N/A | ||
| Christopher Alliance | Chang Hio Cheng | 5 | Chen Hanwei | Kym Ng as Chen Hanwei's mother | Would you rather become a mother or go for acting career? | Star Search 1988 |
| Sheryl Ang | 6 | Kym Ng as a fan of Fang Ansheng | If you happened to see your idol slack off, would you pretend not to watch or go and watch? | Morning Express | ||
| Herman Keh | 7 | Kym Ng as Bobo | If your rival keep spitting saliva at you, would you bear the grudge or inform someone? | The Best Things in Life | ||
| Teoh Ze Tong | 8 | Kym Ng as Chen Hanwei's black rose | If your friend request to borrow your lucky charm, would you do so? | Star Awards | ||
| Biren Family | Kiki Lim | 9 | Christopher Lee | Jeremy Chan as Yan Fei | How would you react if your zipper pants opens? | Star Search 1995 |
| Zane Lim | 10 | Jeremy Chan as a condor | If you were given a choice, would you portray as a protagonist, an antagonist, or a condor? | The Return of the Condor Heroes | ||
| Zhai Si Ming | 11 | Jeremy Chan as a golden clock | If the presenter incorrectly announces your name and happens you are not the recipient of the award, how would you react from the gaffe? | Golden Bell Awards | ||
| Vanessa Ho | 12 | Jeremy Chan as Zed Lee | Should Zed Zed be listening to his father or mother's advice? | Zed Lee | ||
The fourth and final round carries a 50% score towards the final score. Contestants from each team will pair with a former Star Search finalist on a rendition of a previously aired Singaporean drama with a role played by the respective mentor.
| Team | Order | Acting Description | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drama | Guest Actor | Description | |||
| Hanwei Corps | 1 | A Song to Remember | Desmond Tan | (Cast: Tyler Ten as Xu Kun, Ye Jia Yun as Yu Hong, Juin Teh as Song Qiao-Er, Jernelle Oh as Liu Jiumei, Desmond Tan as Luo Xiaoxiao) | |
| Christopher Alliance | 2 | The Guest People | Jeffrey Xu | (Cast: Chang Hio Cheng as Woo Jin-yan, Sheryl Ang as Loo Ju-Xiang, Herman Keh as Zhang Jing-hong, Jeffrey Xu as Sun Shi-zhong, Teoh Ze Tong as Zhang Zong-Zhi) | |
| Biren Family | 3 | My Lucky Charm | Romeo Tan | (Cast: Kiki Lim as Lucky, Zhai Si Ming as Zhang Fenshou, Romeo Tan as Lim Tianming, Vanessa Ho as Fang Yingying, Zane Lim as Chen Jinfang) | |
| Award | Result | |
|---|---|---|
| Samsung Galaxy's Most Photogenic Breakthrough | Vanessa Ho (Biren Family) | |
| Third Place | Ye Jiayun (Hanwei Corps) | |
| Runner-up | Herman Keh (Christopher Alliance) | |
| Winner | Zhang Zetong (Christopher Alliance) |