Fans of the hit reality television series, American Idol, gathered at Hog’s Breath Café on April 29, all in hopes of winning a pair of tickets to catch the finale live in Los Angeles.

The party at Hog’s Breath Café at CHIJMES marked the 9th week of Season 8 of the grueling competition, with only 4 contestants left.

The purpose of the event was to award the biggest American Idol fan in the audience a pair of tickets to Los Angeles for a once-in-a-lifetime chance to be part of the finale. Ignoring the sweltering heat in the open-air foyer, 5 ‘contestants’ vied for the title of ‘the ultimate American Idol fanatic’. Any one who volunteered within the span of a minute could take part in the competition.

5 people eagerly hopped onto the stage the minute the host called for participants. The task was simple enough, each contender had to pick an envelope containing a list of 10 questions about American Idol seasons 1 to 8. The winner of the round would be the person who could answer the most questions correctly within 60 seconds.

Following that, a lucky draw was held to pick a ‘mystery competitor’ from the audience to participate in the last round against the winner of the previous challenge. Both of them had to piece together a jigsaw puzzle, and the person who completed it first would win the grand prize.

In the end, 24-year-old Loo Yi Hun won the tickets to the finals on this coming May 21. The grand prize consists of a four-day three-night stay at Holiday Inn LA City Centre, which is walking distance to the Nokia Centre where the finals will be held. On top of that, Yi Hun will receive spending allowance per diem.

The part-time tuition teacher said, “I just came tonight to watch the show and I never expected myself to win anything! I am very excited that I’ll get to see Adam [Lambert] perform live.”

Meanwhile, audience members watched the new episode of American Idol on large projector screens and enjoyed tasty roasted chicken skewers, mashed salmon dips and sausages provided by Hog’s Breath Café.
American Idol seems to be well received among Singaporeans.

Star World marketing and publicity executive and also organiser of the event, Heng Wei Wei, said, “Last year, prior to the finale, STAR WORLD’s three-day American Idol weekend marathon earned record ratings for the channel. The back-to-back telecast of Idol season seven eclipsed the competition and made STAR WORLD the No.1 English cable channel in Singapore for the three days among adult cable viewers 18+.”

The show airs every Wednesday and Thursday at 6pm, with a second telecast at 8pm on Star World cable channel 18.

This party is not held annually so it was an exceptional treat for those who attended this year’s.

Wei Wei adds, “There are no plans for next year’s party because season 8 hasn’t ended!”

Since American Idol has been running for 8 years, Star World wishes to remind viewers and fans that Star World airs it first.

This week, Allison Iraheta was ousted after performing a mediocre version of ‘Cry Baby’ in Rock week on Idol. The 3 remaining vying for the coveted title of Season 8’s American Idol are all men, Adam Lambert, Kris Allen and Danny Gokey.