Singapore Idol - Debuts Mon, Aug 9, 8.25pm!

Honeybunz SG

Premieres Mon, 9 August, National Day, right after the National Day Parade at 8.25pm. Episode 2 on 11 August, Wednesday at 8.30pm *same week!!* Thereafter, Thursdays from 8pm.
VOTING begins Thursday 26 August.

After June's month-long auditions, Singapore Idol is ready to hit your TV screens this Aug 9, National Day!

Hosted by popular host-actor Gurmit Singh, Singapore Idol looks set to create waves locally. Known as the Idols Phenomenon around the world, this riveting programme format has already engulfed the populations of a number of countries from the UK, America, Canada and Germany, to Poland, the Netherlands, the Pan Arabic region and most recently, Australia. The Idols format on which Singapore Idol is based is jointly owned by FremantleMedia and 19TV.

As with Idol contests around the world, the winner will be richly rewarded. Not only will the winner attain fame and a ridiculous amount of media exposure, he/she will also walk away with a recording contract.

BMG Singapore will be providing the grand prize of a recording contract to the winning Idol.

For the clueless, BMG is the global music division of Bertelsmann AG, one of the world's leading media companiesHere's more - BMG owns more than 200 record labels in 41 countries including Ariola, Arista Records, J Records, Jive Records, BMG Heritage, RCA Music Group and RCA Label Group - Nashville.

Singapore Idol will utilise the format where contestants are chosen from mass auditions around the nation, then whittled down to a group of just ten finalists. By then, audiences would have picked their favourites in terms of contestants as well as judges Dick Lee, Florence Lian, Douglas Oliverio and Ken Lim. Each week, the finalist with the least votes from the viewing public will be sent home, until only one remains he or she will be crowned the Singapore Idol.

Kelly Chew, Managing Director, BMG Singapore says, "We are already in talks with renowned songwriters Jörgen Elofsson & Eclectic, who have written hit songs for Christina Aguilera, Cher and Jessica Simpson amongst others, and we hope to invite them to compose original songs for our winner".

After reading all that, how can you NOT be as excited as we are?

Who knows, the next Ruben Studdard, Clay Aiken or Kelly Clarkson may be living next door to you when Singapore Idol debuts on Channel 5 on National Day, Mon, Aug 9 at 8.25pm!

Honeybunz SG

:: cast bios ::
Singapore Idol

Dick Lee (Judge)

Multi-talented Dick Lee has firmly established himself as a prolific international music producer, performer, composer, and founder of the talent management company Music and Movement. He is often recognized through his works as the spokesperson for the New Asian generation.

The album, The Mad Chinaman, which shot him to regional prominence, was his 1989 release. Dick moved to Japan where he continued to develop the new Asian identity through his solo work, as well as collaborations with top Asian artistes like Sandy Lam from Hong. He has to date, written countless songs for the top singing talents in Asia.

Apart from being an accomplished singer-record producer-composer, he was also appointed Regional Vice-President of Artiste and Repertoire for Sony Music Asia, based in Hong Kong from 1998 to 2000.

Dick is also passionate about musicals. He has written many staged musicals including Beauty World, Fried Rice Paradise, and Jacky Cheungs acclaimed SNOW.WOLF.LAKE (1997).

Dick continues his love of theatre by being Associate Artistic Director of The Singapore Repertory Theatre, an appointment he has held since 1998.

He was also appointed Creative Director for Singapores 2002 National Day Parade where he was responsible for conceptualising and developing the music aspects of the show. He was also responsible for identifying fresh talents as well as established performers for this mega-extravaganza.

In acknowledgement for Dicks works and contribution to the music scene, he was awarded numerous accolades. Some recent achievements include:

1995 The Perfect 10 Music Achievement Award for outstanding contribution in the Singapore Music scene, by leading radio station, Perfect 10.

1996 Best Original Movie Theme Song in the Golden Horse Awards for his song, The Search of My Life, which was selected as the theme song for the hit movie, He is a Woman, She is a Man, starring Leslie Cheung and Anita Yuen.

1998 Received the awards for Top Local English Pop Song and Top Local Composer of the Year in the Composers and Authors Society of Singapore Ltd (Compass) Awards.

1999 Best Original Movie Theme Song in the Hong Kong Academy Awards for the theme song of the movie The City of Glass, starring Leon Lai and Shu Qi.

Awarded three top accolades in the Compass Awards for:
COMPASS Artiste Excellence Award
Top Local Chinese Pop Song
Top Local Composer of the Year 1999
2000 Top Local Composer of the Year in the COMPASS Awards 2000
2001 Top Local Composer of the Year in the COMPASS Awards 2001
2003 Fukuoka Asian Culture Prizes - Arts & Culture Prize
2004 Best Malay Pop Song in the COMPASS Awards

Honeybunz SG

Douglas Oliveiro (Judge)

Multi-talented Douglas Oliveiro has led the live music scene since the 90s and continues to be one of Singapores most prominent icons in the music industry.

His crooning vocals have set many hearts ablaze during Energys live performances. Douglas debuted at the popular Fire Disco in 1991 and quickly earned himself a loyal following with his signature pop-rock tunes.

After his five-year stint at Fire Disco, Douglas moved on to Sparks in 195 and established the early success of the club.

Douglas was also invited to be a TV host by local TV station MediaCorp and was seen hosting local music programme Rolling Good Times from 1994-1996. His charisma and unequivocal stage presence made the series a great success.

In 1996, Douglas joined Hard Rock Café and began his touring circuit around the region. He was seen performing in Bali, Jakarta, Beijing and Singapore with the band and sweating up the stages in different parts of the region.

With the aim to find a place of his own to play, Douglas and Energy joined hands with Bar None in 1999 and became the resident band. In 2003, Douglas formed a new band 9Lives with some of the most talented local musicians.

Together with East (Bass, Vocals), Addy (Guitars, Vocals), Dindo (Keyboards, Vocals), and Fazly (Drums/Percussion), 9Lives is Singapores most prominent and successful local band having more than a decade of unequalled resounding success all over Asia. Playing too hits from the 50s till today, 9Lievs now makes their home at Bar None as co-owners and resident band.

As a band, 9Lives wants to find the balance between what the audience wants, and also have the courage to play what it wants to play. Douglas finds great satisfaction that he is no longer restricted to a set list of songs that he has to play and is free to interact with the audience and play what they want to hear.

Voted as Singapores Sexiest Man in 1994 and having won the StarHub Radio Music Achievement Award in 2002, Douglas Oliveiro is the closest we were going to get to Aerosmith, a true rock star with unrivalled musical talents.

Honeybunz SG

Florence Lian (Judge)

Florence Lian, Senior General Manager of English Programming and Marketing, is a renowned Broadcaster with a wealth of experience in Radio Broadcasting in various aspects of its operations. She was also a TV host for several years on various variety shows, and she has a prolific track record in judging numerous talent competitions.

Florence started her broadcasting career in April 1989 with Perfect Ten 98.7FM, and was one of its most popular radio personalities.

In July 1993, she was appointed the Programmes Manager. Under her charge, dedicated time-belts with dedicated personalities was launched, a first in Singapore Radio.

Her contributions included developing the Class 95FM personalities, such The Morning Express with Joe and Jessica, and The Love Goddess on LoveSongs, and launching benchmark promotions for the station, including the well-loved Class 95FM Movies-In-the-Park series. Notable Programming contributions include the launch of Retro Nites, a dance format on Class 95FM that became established and expanded over the years.

In the Nov/Dec 1996 AC Nielsen Radio ratings survey, Class 95FM took the Number position in the English market.

Since April 2001, Florence holds her current designation, Vice President of English Programming and Marketing. Her responsibilities include overseeing the operations for the top 3 English stations in Singapore, Class 95FM, Perfect Ten 98.7FM and GOLD 90FM.

She is also responsible for developing Marketing strategies for the corporate and station brands, including the data basing operations for the RadioCard.

Honeybunz SG

Ken Lim (Judge)

For more than 2 decades, Ken has made significant contributions towards the development of Singapore's pop culture. Music composer; international album producer; music publisher; record financier; power manager; concert promoter, Ken's impressive career transcends all facets of the music and entertainment industry.

Today, Ken is the Director of Hype Records, which he started 10 years ago. The company deals in record production, concert promotions, event management, campaigns, artiste management, publishing and television and film productions.

Ken's Contributions to The Music Industry:

Ken started his music career at the young age, winning The Most Outstanding Composition Award at the Asia Popular Song Festival in his teens.

Thereafter Ken represented Singapore in countless song festivals all over the world. One of these was the prestigious Seoul Song Festival.

In Singapore, Ken's music also gained popularity. In 1991 and 1993, Ken was commissioned to produce the official theme songs for the XI Asian Games in Beijing and the XVII Sea Games in Singapore, respectively.

Apart from commercial projects, Ken has also been an active contributor to National and Charity events. In 2001, the Ministry of Information and the Arts commissioned Ken to produce the official version of Singapores national anthem-- 'Majulah Singapura'-- launched on National Day 2001.

In June 2001, Kens composition The V in you, specially written to commemorate the international year of volunteers was the first Asian composition to be presented and performed at the United Nations Assembly in New York. This prestigious invitation was both Singapores and Asias first cultural presence at the United Nations.

Ken's Contributions to the Discovery & Creation of Talents and Pop Icons:

Since mid 1980's, Ken has been actively discovering and developing talents. He is credited for discovering local stars and expanding the popularity of television stars by turning them into recording artistes. More importantly, he has been successful in exporting many local artistes to other Asian countries such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia and China.

Besides local talents, Ken has also worked with artistes from Taiwan and Hong Kong. In 2001, Ken partnered with Tsui Hark, Hong Kongs top film director, and produced the worlds first cyber recording artistes --AM FM-- and won the prestigious Sigraph awards in New Orleans.