Singapore's longest-running talent search is taking a break.
Star Search - the 17-year-old competition which produced stars such
as Zoe Tay, Chew Chor Meng and Ivy Lee - will not be held this year
as scheduled.
However, the biennial talent quest, first held in 1988, is not
being put to pasture for good. Instead, it's going under the knife
for a makeover.
"Star Search will not be cancelled. We are currently developing a
new concept for the talent search in the hope of improving it,"
said Paul Chan, MediaCorp TV's channel vice-president of network
programming and promotions for Chinese broadcast.
Chan added that Channel U's own show to unearth local singing
talent, Project Superstar - which began registration on Saturday -
was not a factor in the forced hiatus of Star Search, pointing out
that "every talent search serves a different segment of the
population".
He also highlighted the need for Star Search to evolve to keep up
with the times. "The younger generation of Singaporeans are better
exposed compared to 10 years ago, having been brought up in an
environment that has a greater emphasis on creativity," said
Chan.
No details were released as to what format the revamped Star Search
will take, or when it is scheduled to take place.
Initially a contest to discover local acting talents, Star Search
went regional in 1999 - incorporating contestants from Malaysia,
Hong Kong and China. The winner that year, Jeff Wang, hailed from
Taiwan, while Guangdong native Qi Yu Wu was also a finalist in the
same competition.
Past winners have also gone on to become household names, including
Christopher Lee (1995's male runner-up) and Jacelyn Tay (1995's
female winner). The most recent winners were Felicia Chin and
Kelvin Cui Peng from the 2003 edition of the competition. -
TODAY