Singapore Idol -The Incarnation of Irrationality

This country is about to send yet another youngster down the ominous path of musical mediocrity by denying the fact that Singapore Idol is not the talent show it claims to be.

By The Strategist
Editor, Ridzwan.com

My wife received a peculiar SMS just the other night. The message was from an ex-teacher who was teaching in secondary school. It read a short and sweet “Vote for Faizal”. Apparently an ex-school boy is taking part in the odious singing show and the well-meaning teacher was trying to garner votes from the Alma Matter.

Missus, being the feisty little lady that she is, decided to have a little fun and replied, “If I were to vote, I will vote based on merit rather favor or affiliation, won’t you?” The teacher could only afford a meek reply with “Aiyah! So mean! I admit the song was dull but has stage presence.” My wife ignored her last SMS and thankfully the conversation went on no further.

The SMS broadcast by the teacher is by no means an isolated event that Wednesday night. The latest season of Singapore Idol is on air and giggly teenage supporters throughout the island are busy soliciting support for their respective favorites in the hope that they are voted through to the next round.

This is exactly where the problem lies. Singapore Idol is not a talent show and we cannot continue to pretend that it is. Unlike genuine singing competitions where talent is selected based on the judgment of an experienced jury, Singapore Idol is, in all reality, a jamboree of irrational juveniles who splurge their parents’ money on countless SMS messages in order to secure the presence of their favorite faces.

This would have been fine in other countries such as the USA where a critical mass exists to support even the most mediocre of artists. But in Singapore, where the population stands at only 5 million, a show like Singapore Idol will only elect an unsuspecting youngster who will eventually have to resort to endorsing convenience stores and taking on redundant hosting stints in order to make ends meet.

Let’s stop sending our Muslim youngsters down this ominous path. Too often winners of these so called “talent” shows quit their education in order to pursue a musical endeavor, only to realize too late that they were indeed voted in due to a pretty face rather than a pretty good talent. By the time they sober up, it may be too late to recover from their temporary fantasy and secure a more stable career.

We should be all for developing the local music industry, but not in this manner. Singapore’s talents need to be elected by those who know their music well in order to give our artists their best shot at survival. Not by smitten teenagers, and most definitely not their respective teachers.

The writer is a student enrolled in the Bachelor of Islamic Revealed Knowledge at the International Islamic University & doing the Master of Science (Strategic Studies) at the Nanyang Technological University.