The first Singapore Idol is held

Singapore Idol first premiered on MediaCorp TV’s Channel 5 on 9 August 2004.^[1] Many Singaporeans had called for a local version of American Idol after it was shown on Channel 5 and became a popular hit.^[2]

Singapore Idol was open to both Singaporeans and foreigners between the ages of 16 and 30 and the grand prize was a platinum recording contract with international label, BMG.^[3] In light of the overwhelming response to the first-round of auditions held on 5 June 2004, which saw about 1,000 applicants, the auditions were extended by a day to 6 June.^[4] Subsequently,another round of auditions was held on 12 June.^[5]

The inaugural Singapore Idol was hosted by popular actor-host Gurmit Singh. The four judges were: producer-performer Dick Lee, Hype Records director Ken Lim, MediaCorp Radio senior general manager Florence Lian and singer Douglas Oliveiro.^[5] Singapore Idol is the 23rd Idol franchise^[6] and the first to be produced in Asia.^[7] While it closely followed the Idol format jointly owned by British companies FremantleMedia and 19TV, it is not an exact replica of American Idol.^[8]

Singapore Idol proved to be a huge success. About 8,000 people turned up to watch the finals of the first season held at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on 1 December 2004.^[9] Over 1.1 million votes were cast, with Taufik Batisah dominating 62 percent of the votes, beating Sylvester Sim to be crowned the first Singapore Idol.^[10] The success spurred the production of two more seasons of Singapore Idol, one in 2006 and the other in 2009.^[11]

References

1. Tan, J. (2004, August 10). Plenty of promise. Today, p. 34; Seah, L. (2004, August 11). Losers, you win. The Straits Times, p. 5. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
2. Ng, S. Y. (2004, May 11). Hopefuls idolise show. Today, p. 2. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
3. Today, 11 May 2004, p. 2
4. Almenoar, M. (2004, June 6). More auditions today. The Straits Ttimes, p. 4.  
5. Chew, D. (2004, June 12). Idol chatter. Today, p. 24; Another shot at Idol, stardom. (2004, June 9). Today, p. 2. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
6. Today, 11 May 2004, p. 2.
7. Osbourne, M. (2004, January 5). Popular format finally comes to Asia. Variety. Retrieved 30 July 2014 from: http://variety.com/2004/music/news/singapore-sings-for-idol-in-2004-
8. Chia, E. (2004, May 7). Fast-forward stardom. Today, p. 50. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
9. Thomas, S. (2004, December 25). S Singapore idolmania. The Straits Times, p. 6; Chia, E., & Liyana Othman. (2004, June 7). Idol-a-try. Today, p. 21. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
10. Thomas, S. (2004, December 7). Taufik won by a landslide. The Straits Times, p. 3. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
11. Eddino Abdul Hadi. (2009, June 6). Hady Mirza to co-host S’pore idol. The Straits Times, p. 115. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.