Twenty-seven year old Hady Mirza becomes the first Asian Idol when he bested five other ‘idol’ contestants held Sunday, December 16, 2007 in Jakarta, Indonesia.
He sang ‘Beautiful Day’ by U2 and Singaporean song ‘Berserah’ during the performance show a night before which earned him the ticket to his way to being the first Asian Idol.
Hardy’s victory was, in a way, unexpected especially that neither of the judges present during the results show predicted him to win in Asian Idol 2007.
Favorites to win were Mau Marcelo of the Philippines and Mike Mohede of Indonesia.
At any rate though, Hady and the other five contestants were all deserving to win. That’s why they’re called “Idol” in their respective countries.
Hady Mirza is the first Asian Idol
Sunday, December 30, 2007Why Jaclyn did not win Asian Idol title?
Sunday, December 23, 2007There are several reasons why Malaysian Idol Jaclyn Victor did not make it at the Asian Idol Contest.
The first of these is her habit, which is a common Malaysian habit, of dragging words rather than singing them out straight.
Her second setback was her over-glamorous outfits. It would have been better had she dressed in a sarong kebaya or baju kurung rather than colourful outfits, which could have turned many off. The third would be lack of home support, which means that the local media did not promote or support her prior to the show.
The fourth, Malaysians have the tendency to look at who the person is before getting hooked up.
Hopefully, in future, the media, notably local TV, will be more supportive.
It was this factor that made Singapore Idol Hardy Mirza a success.
He had his nation behind him, and when you add the second vote, he made it big.
Jaclyn could have made it with local support.
'Are you kidding me?'
Wednesday, December 19, 2007WHAT a jaw-dropper.
Singapore Idol Hady Mirza winning regional singing competition Asian Idol was an upset victory that not even his biggest supporter could've expected, especially since he was up against a field of contenders who boasted more powerful voices and compelling personalities.
But no one seemed more stupefied than the dark horse himself.
Right after the result was announced last night at the television event held at Jakarta International Expo, the 27-year-old R&B crooner looked like he'd been hit by a truck.
He immediately collapsed on his knees and covered his face with his hands.
He finally regained his composure and got back on his feet as the other Idols' reps congratulated him.
Teary-eyed and still-shocked Hady was seen mouthing the words 'Are you kidding me?' to them.
Philippines' Mau Marcello
We have the smallest population compared to Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and India, yet Hady somehow managed to gain the majority of millions of SMS votes cast from the six participating countries during last night's results show.
Besides bragging rights, he also pocketed an all-expenses-paid round-the-world trip on business class.
Just minutes before his name was announced, the panel of regional judges was predicting hot favourites like Indonesia's Mike Mohede, the Philippines' Mau Marcello and Malaysia's Jaclyn Victor to emerge tops.
Indian judge Anu Malik even named Hady when he said 'upsets happen, so we have to be prepared for that'.
On Saturday night's performance show, it seemed as if Hady was at the bottom of the totem pole as he didn't exactly bowl the judges over.
He belted out the Malay song Berserah and U2's Beautiful Day.
Malaysia's Paul Moss sniped about his first song: 'You capture people's hearts with your looks and performance, not so much with your voice... You make (singing) look difficult while the others make it look easy. Voice-wise, you will struggle against the rest.'
For Beautiful Day, a still-unimpressed Moss paid a backhanded compliment: 'You're almost too good-looking for the song. It needs a real rock attitude, and your voice ran out of power and range at the peaks.'
Malaysia's Jaclyn Victor
Only Singapore judge Ken Lim, director of Hype Records and Hady's boss, was kind - for once.
He said: '...you kept it real and sincere - you finally justified being Singapore's idol.'
For Hady's second song, he encouraged: 'You look like a singer and you sound like a winner... The Asian Idol is going to be someone with the most appeal rather than the best singer.'
As always, it looks like Ken was right.
The Electric New Paper, Singapore - The Electric New Paper News
The rise and rise of Hady Mirza
He wasn't pegged as one of the male favourites but the 27-year-old from Singapore emerged as winner of the Asian Idol competition that pitted six Idol winners from India, Indonesia, Vietnam, The Philippines, Singapore and Malaysia last Sunday.
"Did you think I would win? I didn't. Not even for a moment," he told TODAY on Monday morning. "This is not for my personal glory, but for Singapore."
Hady's journey to this "Singapore glory" began as a schoolboy at Beng Wan Primary School. Born Jan 28, 1980, his earliest musical memory is of himself as a seven-year-old singing Toto's I'll Be Over You during the 10-minute walk to his Serangoon Road school. And at his grandmother's house, he'd be "flanked by a guitar-wielding uncle on one side and a Madonna-crazy auntie on the other".
The Siglap Secondary School alumnus got his first taste of performing when he joined hip-hop groups while in National Service, but that experience did not last.
While still in NS, he hooked up with Taufik Batisah and fellow local artiste Adib for a set at Hard Rock Café, which he has described as "one of the most memorable gigs I've ever done".
But it was only after his NS stint in 2002 that things started rolling. He auditioned — and got — the singer's spot with Raw Energy, the resident band at the now-defunct Manchester United-themed Devil's Bar.
"Taufik also came to audition," recalled Dennis Foo, the man behind Devil's Bar, and now the CEO of St James Power Station. "Of the two, I had to pick one, so I picked Hady.
"Last year, when Hady won Singapore Idol, he SMSed me, it was still 'Thanks, boss'," joked Foo.
"Now it's just 'Thanks, Dennis!' He's easygoing, you know? When you call someone, 'a real cool guy' — that's Hady. He's soft-spoken, he won't talk too much, but he delivers everything vocally onstage."
Hady showcased his stuff at Devil's Bar six nights a week, wowing the crowds with a diverse range — from sweet soulful sounds, to all-out rockin' tunes — before the opportunity to appear on Singapore Idol 2 came early last year.
His emphatic victory — he garnered about 70 per cent of the votes — led to a debut eponymous album, which achieved platinum status in four days and won him Most Popular Artiste (Singapore) and Most Popular Song (Singapore) at Anugerah Planet Muzik 2007, a yearly Malay music award show that celebrates music from Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.
"Singapore Idol changed me a little bit, but I try to go through my day as normally as possible," he said.
"Normal" includes spending as much time as possible with his family.
"Most of the time we do normal family stuff, like makan (eat), just be together."
He used to help out with the family stall at Geylang Serai during Ramadan, selling roasted meat.
"We would start roasting the chickens from five in the afternoon until 2am. I can say that for the entire 30 days of fasting, my body reeked of smoke."
But of course, those days are far behind. Where does he go from here?
"I hope that one day, Hady will hold his own concert in the Indoor Stadium," said Foo. "If you see 8,000 or 10,000 people turn up for Hady Mirza then you'll know he's really made it."
Singaporean is first ‘Asian Idol’
The 27-year-old bested five other “Idols” from around the region, including Filipina Mau Marcelo, in the singing tilt held in Jakarta.
Apart from bragging rights as the first Asian Idol, Mirza won a world tour.
He told Channel News Asia on Monday, “Winning was never on my mind … especially since I was up against contestants with better vocal [skills]. I just wanted to do Singapore proud.”
During performance night on Saturday, judge Paul Moss of Malaysia put Mirza to task for his strained performance. In contrast, Marcelo was praised by the judges—as were Indonesia’s Mike Mohede and Malaysia’s Jaclyn Victor.
Marcelo’s rendition of “Ako ang Nagwagi” even merited a standing ovation from judge Anu Malik, a leading Bollywood music director.
Marcelo, Vietnam’s Phuong Vy and Mohede were consistently in the top three of an online poll conducted in the competition’s official website. Mirza was often in the bottom two, along with India’s Abhijeet Sawant.
So why did Mirza win?
One explanation is offered by Perci Intalan, head of Creative and Entertainment Production of ABC 5, which aired the contest locally: “Hady must’ve gotten more of that crucial second vote outside his home country.”
As a rule, text senders were asked to choose two contestants, to level the playing field and prevent hometown votes from influencing the outcome.
Terra Daffon, ABC 5 senior vice president for Corporate Affairs, agreed: “Perhaps that was what happened. Voters paired strong candidates with weak ones like Singapore and India who were trailing in the online survey.”
Daffon further speculated: “It’s possible that the voting glitches we experienced here (Manila) happened everywhere except Singapore where the voting was processed.”
Text votes in Manila were delayed by eight hours and the delays continued until Sunday—night of the results show.
Intalan explained that the glitch was caused by “a clog in the telephone companies.”
On Saturday’s show, Singaporean judge Ken Lim asserted that the first “Asian Idol” should possess “commercial appeal.”
On Monday, Lim reiterated on Channel News Asia that “looks and voice” had won the title for Mirza.
As for Marcelo?
She seems unruffled.
She was more thrilled about working with “American Idol” champ Taylor Hicks, a guest on finals night. “He’s a Richard Gomez lookalike!”
Singaporean is first ‘Asian Idol’ - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos
Did Hady win by SMS voting FLUKE?
Barely a day after Singapore's Hady Mirza sent shockwaves throughout the region by clinching the Asian Idol title, netizens are already raining on his victory parade.
Their theory?
That the 27-year-old R&B crooner only won because voters from the other five participating countries had adopted a tactical plan which eventually backfired.
Here's how: With one SMS, voters must choose two different countries to ensure fairness and minimise any potential national bias - a system that inadvertently benefitted Hady.
According to many postings on the official Asian Idol forum and MediaCorp's forum, people might have cast the first vote for their home idol, and the second vote to the one who's the least threatening, most unlikely to win and from the smallest country - to avoid improving the chances of the closest rival.
Hence, Singapore's Hady.
'Either way, the voting system has certainly worked to Hady's advantage.'
Hady took the title on Sunday night when he defeated five other Idol winners from Indonesia (Mike Mohede), Malaysia (Jaclyn Victor), the Philippines (Mau Marcelo), Vietnam (Phuong Vy) and India (Abhijeet Sawant).
The regional singing competition was televised live from Jakarta.
Despite being considered one of the weaker singers and hardly the judges' favourite, Hady managed to garner the lion's share of the almost two million SMS votes cast.
And therein lies the ongoing debate about how he pipped outstanding powerhouse singers like Jaclyn, Mike and Mau.
Did he really have the most mass appeal? Or was it all a fluke?
Hady's supporters laud his charm, good looks, X-factor and marketability, insisting he possesses the 'total package' and is 'star material'.
On the other side of the spectrum, adjectives like 'unbelievable', 'disappointing', 'anti-climactic', 'weird' and even 'funny' cropped up to describe his win.
Disgruntled netizen look4realdeal suggested that if there's ever another Asian Idol, people should 'vote for talent and not out of fear your country will lose if you cast your second vote to (someone with) real talent'.
Others were more sarcastic, like Malaysian blogger KlubbKidd who claimed Asian Idol broke 'the Ten Commandments'.
He wrote: 'There goes the 'thou shalt not worship false idols' with the win (by Hady) and 'thou shalt not steal' with the robbing of the glory of three very much more worthy talents (in Mike, Jaclyn and Mau) who so deserved the title more than the pretty boy who tried to sing.'
But Mr Anthony Ong, president of Hady's fan club, prefers to believe his idol's triumph wasn't an accident.
Together with four other members, the 26-year-old multimedia producer flew to Jakarta to support Hady, casting 'a few hundred votes' each.
Mr Ong said: 'No one can be sure which theory is true or not. I'm sure some voted strategically, but I believe the rest voted on talent, appeal and likability.
'Anyway, Asians have already chosen Hady and they have to live with it. He shone the most, compared to the rest who may have amazing voices but can't sell.
'It's a big achievement for him and for all of us in Singapore. We are overjoyed.'
Asian Idol host Soo Kui Jien added: 'At the end of the day, whether he's deserving or not, he won fair and square. And nobody can take that away from him.'
When confronted with the theory, a fatigued Hady - who only got two hours of sleep early yesterday morning - shrugged the speculation off.
He told The New Paper over the phone from Jakarta: 'People can have their own opinions and theories.
'I was the underdog in the competition... I was prepared to hug whoever was going to win.
'But I still believe that in terms of sincerity and connecting with the audience, I did pretty well.'
Ken: Hady has Malay market advantage
KEN Lim, Singapore's rep on the Asian Idol judging panel, countered the controversial theory with his own.
Said the Hype Records director, who's also Hady Mirza's boss: 'You cannot 'get lucky' with six different territories.
'I don't think voters from the region think so much into it. They are the type who are not so concerned about strategy, but vote for whom they like enough to want to spend money on.'
He felt that strong vocalists like Jaclyn Victor, Mau Marcello, Mike Mohede and Phuong Vy ended up 'fighting among themselves', which paved the way for India's Abhijeet Sawant and Hady - who are 'a different sort of artiste' - to come from behind.
'Hady had the advantage of singing in Malay and reaching out to Indonesia and Malaysia, while Abhijeet was handicapped by language barrier and wrong choice of song,' he added.
Ken revealed that after watching the first round of performances - where Hady sang Taufik Batisah's Malay song Berserah - he sensed that 'this boy has a chance'.
He said: 'I realised that he had the best balance out of all of them. I'm a commercial person, and I was looking at how the Asian Idol must appeal to audiences across Asia, beyond a voice with power and range.'
So what does being the first-ever Asian Idol mean for Hady's hitherto tepid music career?
Ken, who is working on his protege's second album, said: 'It makes our work easier, now that he's more recognised.
'But competing in the commercial market against established acts is a different ball game altogether.'
The Electric New Paper, Singapore - The Electric New Paper Show
A new era for local music, or just an idle dream
SINGAPORE : Some call it a triumph to silence the sceptics; others, an unexpected and lucky win.
But fluke or not, the crowning of Singapore's Hady Mirza as the first Asian Idol on Sunday is stirring the embers of hope among those who yearn nostalgically for the days when home-grown names like Anita Sarawak and Sweet Charity were top draws at the concert box office - locally and in South-east Asia.
Could Hady's win herald a revival of those glory days of the 1960s and '70s for Singapore's music scene?
Singapore Idol judge Florence Lian, for one, believes it has debunked the cynical perception that homegrown singers aren't any good.
"It just rubbishes the belief that Singapore only grooms Chinese singers. For me, the biggest hope will be that this win changes the buying patterns and thinking of music fans here," said Ms Lian, a senior vice-president at MediaCorp Enterprises.
"The win is something Singapore should be very proud of," said the first Singapore Idol, Taufik Batisah. "Hopefully, local listeners will open up their eyes and ears."
But some viewers were surprised that the 27-year-old winner of the second season of Singapore Idol could beat out strong singers such as Indonesia's Mike Mohede, 24, and Malaysia's Jaclyn Victor, 29.
"Truth be told, it wasn't Hady's best performance; even his rendition of U2's Beautiful Day seemed tepid when compared to his routines on Singapore Idol," said a viewer who declined to be named.
Even though he thought Hady redeemed himself with his poignant version of the ballad Berserah (Surrender), which Taufik wrote, another viewer wondered if the win was a case of chance over talent.
"Hady's performance wasn't as powerful as some of the more technically-gifted singers," said Ms Nurul Huda Ahmad, 27.
Mr Mohd Isa Talib, 32, however, argued that "what Hady lacks in singing ability, he makes up for in performance. He is good looking and has stage presence — that is a formidable combination in a contest like Idol".
But is Hady the man to lead a Singapore musical invasion of South-east Asia?
Consider his first commercial outing. Taufik's 2005 debut album, the Blessings, which contained mostly English songs, sold 36,000 copies. Hady's self-titled debut album — a mix of English and Malay songs — was released the following November and has sold just 12,000 copies.
Hady fan Mohd Ali, 24, put this down to flawed strategy.
"He was marketed more as a international product to appeal to an English audience, which limited him. He should have been targeted, instead, at the Malay market, both here and in Malaysian and Indonesia," he said.
This is why he thinks Hady should now ride on his Asian Idol success to capture the South-east Asian market — in much the same way that homegrown acts such as Tanya Chua found fame in the Mandarin market in Taiwan, after a disappointing start in the local English music scene.
But Singapore Idol judge Douglas Oliveiro, 50, remains sceptical.
"I think a lot of people will celebrate Hady's win but I don't think it will make an impact on the local music landscape. We've been talking about such plans for 15 to 20 years, yet nothing constructive has come out of this, other than providing a little ray of hope," said Mr Oliveiro.
Hady himself remained typically modest.
"I don't think my being named Asian Idol will start a new chapter in the acceptance of Singaporean music," he told TODAY from Jakarta on Monday, minutes before boarding a plane home. "Winning this title is not about personal glory for me — the real honour was the chance to represent my country."
But Member of Parliament for Tanjong Pagar GRC Baey Yam Keng reckons that Hady's win has given Singaporeans' sense of national pride a boost, and would be an inspiration for the many other talented artistes out there.
Mr Baey said: "Awards like these give people the confidence or the aspiration and motivation to break out of the domestic market." -
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