The Singapore Idol saga has returned, featuring a new addition to the Idol family and refreshing changes that will spice up the competition.

Over the weekend, the hype over Singapore Idol has been revived once again. After 3 long years of Idol absence, MediaCorp’s Channel 5 is bringing back the reality TV show everyone can’t stop talking about.

The official announcement was made on June 5, 2009, at the Singapore Idol press conference held at the Picturehouse, The Cathay. Local radio deejay, Jean Danker, clad in a tight, purple dress hosted the event. One by one, she introduced the producers, the judges and hosts.

The panel of judges features singer-songwriter Dick Lee, director of Hype Records Ken Lim, and head of corporate communications & marketing for MediaCorp radio Florence Lian.

On the dynamics between the 3 judges, Dick Lee says, “Three of us are good, old friends. We’re going to just be us and have fun. We want to bring that little bit out.”

Wondering how differently the comments for and criticisms of contestants will be expressed? Dick Lee adds, “I’m not going to be a nice guy anymore. The last two seasons I still have to have people like me after the show, but now I don’t care.”

Ken Lim, who has been called Singapore’s version of Simon Cowell, says, “I don’t know, maybe [I’ll] just try to dress a little better.”

Due to the rumours of this year’s installment adopting a new host, everyone was keen and excited to find out who the he or she was. To some people’s disappointment, funnyman Gurmit Singh returns as host this season.
However, a new title has been added to the Idol family, the one of ‘big brother’ to the contestants. He is Hady Mirza, winner of Singapore Idol Season 2, and Singapore’s very own Asian Idol.

The big brother offers advice and encouragement to the participants. The producers thought this was a good idea because Hady had gone through what the contestants will be going through, and is able to relate to them.

Hady says, “This is one way for me to give back to whoever is going to proceed to the top 12… and I’m just here to help the contestants along in any way I can.”

Although it seems like the Idol family has minimal changes, there are many new features to the show.
As the Idol franchise belongs to FremantleMedia Enterprises, naturally Singapore Idol will adopt the new elements of the recently concluded season of American Idol that saw Kris Allen crowned.

The new features are:
• The judges’ veto- where the judges are allowed to ‘save’ contestants up till the top 5 remaining contestants.
• The salvation song- where 2 contestants with the lowest votes battle it out.
• Also, contestants will be allowed to bring music instruments on stage during performances.
• Universal Recording is coming on board as the official recording label of this season’s Singapore Idol.

One of the producers of Singapore Idol, Rahmad, says “We want to add new elements to enhance reality TV. But we don’t want to give away too much, there will be many twists and turns and surprises along the way.”

On top of these, the Idol team is looking for new types of contestants this season. They are very heartened by the thousands of applicants, whose overwhelming response prompted and extension of the auditions. One interesting fact is that younger people aged 16 to 18 are taking part this year.

Rahmad adds, “Music has evolved, music has changed, and these are the people that we want to tap on.”
Ken Lim also added that, “Looks (affect the decision), but what we’re looking for is not decent looking, but different looking.”

Check back for UrbanWire’s profile on Hady Mirza, coming soon.