Originally posted by sbst275:
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
among them chew chor meng is the worst. he cannot act at all.