Project SuperStar

"Project SuperStar" (zh-s|s=绝对 SuperStar) is a singing talent search competition organised by MediaCorp and broadcast every Wednesday and Thursday at 8pm on Channel U in Singapore. Project SuperStar was organised to uncover and develop young talent in Mandarin pop in Singapore. Closely modelled after the Pop Idol, 24 contestants were selected to enter the Quarter Finals of the competition. For both seasons, it was hosted by Quan Yifeng and Jeff Wang. Episodes were pre-recorded, and broadcast on Wednesday for male contestants, while episodes on Thursday feature female contestants. Result shows were shown on the same Thursday of the week at 11.30pm.

Format

Male and female contestants will perform on 2 separate days, Wednesday and Thursday respectively, with the results of both female and male category announced on Thursday at 11.30pm. Contestants would sing and their performance would be assessed by judges present at the show itself, and also by the public.

Judges would give a score each upon 10, and the total score upon 50, accounts for 30% of the final score for the contestant for that particular episode. The remaining 70% is obtained from telepolling and SMS voting from the public. The judging team is made up of Ye Peifen, Li Feihui, Xu Huanliang, Fang Zhonghua and Lee Wei Song, some of which are Singapore’s acclaimed singers and producers.

Quarter Finals

There are 5 rounds in the Quarter Final, including a Revival Round for eliminated contestants.

In each episode in the Quarter Final, each contestant would perform a solo piece as well as a duet. In the 1st 2 episodes, the male and female categories are sub-divided into two groups of six, in which the bottom-two ranked contestants in every group would be eliminated from the competition. A total of 4 male and 4 female contestants will be eliminated.

These 8 eliminated contestants will not be eligible to enter the Revival Round.

The remaining 8 male and 8 female contestants will advance to the 3rd and 4th round of the Quarter Final. Each of the male and female categories are now sub-divided into two groups of 4, in which 2 contestants will be eliminated in each group. 4 male and 4 female contestants will advance to the Semi Final.

The other 4 male and 4 female contestants who were eliminated will have another shot at stardom when they will compete in the 5th Quarter Final, which is the Revival Round, in which only 1 male and 1 female contestant will advance to the semi-finals, forming the top 10 along with the other 8 contestants.

emi Finals

The 5 male and 5 female contestants once again are divided by gender. There will be 4 rounds of Semi Final. They would undergo judging and elimination similar to that in the Quarter Final. However, they would not be required to perform duet.

The performance will be based on a theme each week. A live band will replace the original music accompaniment, with each contestant singing 3 songs. Based on their final score, a male contestant and a female contestant would be eliminated each week. Eventually, the male and female winner of their respective categories would advance to the Final.

Themes

*Top 10 : A slow song and a dance item
*Top 8 : Oldies' night
*Top 6 : Theme song of a local drama/movie
*Top 6 : A song by local artist
*Top 4 : Same song with slow and rock versions
*Top 4 : An English song
*Top 4 : Productions choice, same song, different rendition
*Top 2 : Command the attention of the huge audience through a song
*Top 2 : An unplugged song
*Top 2 : Duet with Guest
*Top 2 : Designated song by judges to point out contestants' weakness
*Top 2 : Contestant's choice

Final

Before the Grand final, both the male and female finalists would be required to record and release limited editions of a Single, of which the sales record will be tracked. The singles would only be available for a few days. This accounts for 70% of their score in the final. The remainder 30% comprise of telepolling and SMS voting results. Unlike previous rounds, judges have no say in the eventual winner, though they will express their opinions on who is better in each of the 5 rounds.

On the day of the actual performance, each of them would have to perform 5 songs in the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Project SuperStar Season 1 (2005)

Season 1 was broadcast from June 22 to 1 September, 2005.

Kelvin Tan and Kelly Poon emerged winners of their respective categories and competed in the grand final at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on 1 September 2005.

Kelvin Tan became the eventual winner with a better sales record and results from telepolling, garnering 64% of the votes. He won a recording contract with Play Music and has since released his debut album. Second-placed Kelly Poon earned a contract with Universal Music and has also released her debut album in February 2006.

Hong Junyang and Chew Sin Huey also released their debut album in May 2006 and October 2006 respectively. Derrick Hoh Wei Jian has also signed contracts with Play Music.

The table below shows the 24 contestants who competed.

Project SuperStar Season 2 (2006-07)

Season 2 was broadcast from 8 November, 2006 to 4 February, 2007.

Daren won the title of the 2nd season's Singapore Project Superstar with the margin of 59% to Diya's 41%

The table below shows the 24 contestants who competed.

Project SuperStar Season 3 (2009)

Based on the magazine iWeekly No ___ and Channel U website, announcements by MediaCorp on television, a 3rd season will be installed in the year 2009.

Spin-offs

After the Project SuperStar Season 1 (2005) grand final, MediaCorp produced an entertainment and lifestyle program, entitled SuperFunkies. This program was hosted by 10 of the more popular contestants in the Project SuperStar lineup. It has since ended its run on January 2, 2006.

The success of the Project SuperStar competition has also prompted MediaCorp to produce a series of similarly styled talent search competitions, such as SuperHost, Campus SuperStar and SuperBand.

Malaysian Television Station, 8TV bought the program franchise rights and hosted their version of Project SuperStar which began on December 2005 and is also to begin its third season early February 2008. Besides that, Ho Chi Minh City Television (HTV9) also bought the program franchise rights and a female champion Phuong Trinh was crowned.

See also

* MediaCorp
* Channel U
* Campus SuperStar
* SuperBand
* Project SuperStar (Malaysia)
* Project SuperStar (Vietnam)

External links

* [http://u.mediacorptv.com/project/format.htm Program Format]
* [http://u.mediacorptv.com/project/ 1st Season Official Website]
* [http://www.channelu.com.sg/pss2 2nd Season Official Website]