SO WHAT WAS IT LIKE BEING THERE IN THE FLESH?
It was a hazy afternoon when I made my way down to ME@OUE
to meet what was then the Top 11 contestants of “The Final 1” competition. I
wasn’t really sure what to expect, seeing as in all likelihood, they were all new
to this whole game of meeting the press and being interviewed. Just as they
were probably wondering what questions they might have to deal with that day, I
was wondering what kind of answers I might expect from this bunch.
The press conference began with Rozz from 987FM
introducing everyone present to the Top 11 - Debbi, Farisha, Faith, Gail, Glen,
Hashy, Jean, Louisa, Meryl, Shaun & Yuresh – and giving us a quick glimpse
into each of the 11 personalities.
.jpg) |
| The Top 11 contestants from "The Final 1" (Pic: Mediacorp Channel 5) |
Next, members of the media took turns interviewing the contestants. I was paired with a writer from The New Paper, and we were given 15-20 minutes with each group of contestants. I had prepared a fixed list of questions for them, looking to see how each of them would answer the same set of questions.
WHO DID YOU INTERVIEW
FIRST & WHAT DID THEY SAY?
Our first group included Shaun, Hashy, Louisa & Glen...
they managed to answer 5 of the questions I had prepared.
 |
| Shaun, Hashy, Louisa & Glen in the hot seat! (Pic: Mediacorp Channel 5) |
Q: What is your most memorable experience so far, being in “The Final 1”?
Shaun: I guess for me, it’s getting into the Top 11, ‘cos
I didn’t expect anything like that to happen. I was hoping to get into the
remaining 2, and as they announced both Hashy and Yuresh, I was like “Oh OK,
I’m going home to sleep, and I’m going back to work tomorrow”, and then the whole
twist came, so I think that was probably the most memorable for me.
Hashy: The most memorable would be I thought that I was going to be sent home in the Top 20 round, but in the end, I managed to perform well for the Wild Card round, and that really was the most memorable, apart from the fact that when I was in the Top 40, I got picked by all 3 judges.
Louisa: Well, I guess the most memorable thing for me in
this competition is getting to know all these people, and also like what Hashy
said, being picked by the 3 judges in the Top 40 round. I think from then, I
was feeling very blessed already.
Glen: I think my very existence in the Top 11 is quite a
remarkable experience already, ‘cos you don’t expect things like this to happen
to you. And like, with the amount of effort you put in, it’s just special lah!
It’s how you actually dedicate that amount of time and effort for this kind of
thing. It’s a learning experience.
Q: Apart from
yourself, who do you think will be “The Final 1”, and why?
Louisa: I’m actually hoping, and I believe so, that Yuresh should be the final 1, because I think he’s very deserving. I’m not saying that you guys are not, but you know, because I’m always very touched when he sings, like we all are, because we can always feel his sincerity, and I think he’s an amazing musician. Although the other 10 are very deserving, that’s what I feel, and that’s why we’re all here in the first place. But I feel that Yuresh is the most deserving person. I’m really in love with his music.
Shaun: I think I would agree with Louisa as well. ‘Cos
when Yuresh sings, he puts so much emotion into the song, that it just blows
everyone away, and everybody is just glued to the screen.
Louisa: And it’s so effortless.
Shaun: And the thing is, we know him off-camera, and he
lives music, you know. Everywhere, he’s with his guitar.
Hashy: Onstage & offstage he is like that.
Louisa: He’s a very humble nice guy.
Q: If you could go
anywhere in the world to hone your craft and take it to the next level, where would
you go, and why?
Glen: I guess I would go to the UK. I like the atmosphere
there. It’s different from like being in Singapore. The hustle and bustle of
the city is always going to be choking you somehow, like in a positive way and
in a negative way also. It pushes you to do things, but it’s a bit too forced.
But when you’re overseas, and you’re like somewhere else, you kinda like leave
Singapore behind, and you start afresh. You can get a new mood altogether, a
new vibe.
Louisa: I think I would go to Australia or the US,
because I have a family in Australia which I’m very close to, and I was in the
US for awhile for a competition, so I’m actually really close to these 2
countries. I feel that if you’re comfortable with something, you should go
ahead with it, like if you believe in something. Singapore is cool, but
honestly, you can’t really go far if you don’t really push yourself and go to
the extreme, you know. And I’m actually very blessed to be in this competition
and to use this as a platform to improve myself, and I’m sure the rest feel the
same way.
Shaun: I think for me personally, it doesn’t quite matter
which country it is, but I picture a cabin in the woods somewhere, and I would
like to share it with a few very close musicians of mine, and just stay there
for like 3 to 4 weeks, everyday just waking up to the sun, having a
black coffee, and just spending the whole day writing music, exploring
yourself, exploring whatever types of music you like, and just creating stuff.
That’s always been my dream.
Q: If you went on
tour overseas, and could only bring one item with you that reminds you of
Singapore, what would that be?
Shaun: Tons of chicken rice? (he laughs) Probably chili
padi lah.
Louisa: I would like to bring laksa.
Hashy: I’ll bring laksa too.
Shaun: It’s always about the food.
Louisa: Yeah, it’s always about the food. Singapore food
is amazing! It’s like where can you find such…
Hashy: …diverse flavours.
Louisa: Yah!
Glen: I guess I would bring my guitar along. If you asked
me to bring one item, I’ll bring my guitar along, because there are a lot of
things you can do on a guitar to remind you of certain things. There are
certain songs that mean certain things. So I guess I’d still bring my guitar.
Hashy: I’ll still bring my laksa.
Louisa: Yeah, I’ll still bring laksa. Other than our
instruments, I think food is still very important.
Q: Who would you
want to collaborate most in your music, and why?
Louisa: Can I say first? I’m very excited. I wanna
collaborate with One Direction. I’m sorry, a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s
gotta do! Because honestly speaking, not everyone likes their music, but I do. They’re
awesome!
Shaun: For me, it would have to be Stephan Jenkins,
singer-songwriter from Third Eye Blind. I’ve listened to his music, this one
album, ever since I was in secondary school, and I see him as a poet, who puts
poetry to music. The way he writes his lyrics and all that, it’s awesome, and I
feel like it’s beautiful, and at the same time, he’s got such a beautiful way
of putting sadness, loneliness, a lot of feelings into it, so I would really
like to write a song with him, if ever there was a chance. Yup.
Hashy: I really love Feist. But if I had to collaborate
with a singer, I would collaborate with Yuna, she’s Malaysian, and I think
she’s quite close to Singapore for me to collaborate with.
Glen: I guess I really like Kodaline and I feel like I
really wanna dig deep into their brain and find out how they actually do
something like that, but I guess it wouldn’t really be realistic. My second best
in line to work with would be Yuresh.
Our second group included Yuresh, Jean & Meryl… they managed to answer 3 of the questions I had prepared.
 |
| Yuresh, Jean & Meryl facing the media (Pic: Mediacorp Channel 5) |
Q: What is your most memorable experience so far, being in “The Final 1”?
Yuresh: For me, the most memorable experience up till now
would be the first round in the Top 60, ‘cos that was the first time we
actually really got to hear everybody sing, and being the typical Singaporean
that I am, before I joined this competition, my image of a Singaporean vocalist
wasn’t that high. You know, I feel bad about saying that now, but it’s because
I wasn’t really exposed much to local talents, so being in the competition, in
the Top 60 round, I was sitting there, watching everybody sing, and at least 55
out of the 60 were good enough in my books to be in the Top 40, so it was really
eye-opening for me.
Jean: I think for me, the most memorable experience would
be the Top 60 as well. I am somebody who is quite scared to get too close to
people, because it’s a competition, and I am quite emotionally invested in
people, so I would say that the most memorable right now for me would be the
Top 11. Because we just had our boot camp, and I got to know each one much
better, and I am quite emotionally attached now, so I’m quite scared. I don’t
know how it’s going to happen the next few weeks, so I would say the moments
that we spend. I think the most memorable moment would be the backstage. That’s
the most memorable moment for me, because a lot of people don’t really know
what’s going on backstage, right… but it’s very fun, it’s not so serious
backstage, so I guess it’s that element that makes it much lighter than what
you see in front of the TV. I think that’s when we de-stress. So that’s what
the most memorable moment would be… the backstage, yeah.
Meryl: For me, the backstage moments are very very memorable, especially the boot camp. But the one thing that got my heart racing especially hard was the first time that we did a live show on TV, I think that was the Top 20 round, and I was the first contestant, I was the opening number, the first contestant to even sing live on national TV for this particular show, and I just remember it being extremely nerve-wrecking, ‘cos I didn’t know whether I would fall, because there’s no way that you could cut that out. Before that, I was in Singapore Idol, but I never made it to the round where you have to sing live, so this was my first official live show on TV, and I was just filled with so much nerves that when I was onstage, I was literally trembling. So yeah, that was very memorable, and when I finally went onstage and I finally did my thing and I got good comments from the judges, I felt very validated.
Q: Apart from
yourself, who do you think will be “The Final 1”, and why?
Jean: In honesty, it’s very tough. I cannot put my finger
down on just one person, because everyone deserves a spot right now. Everybody
is just so good. Everybody has their strength. Everybody is so different! This
competition is legit… man, the talent is craaazy! So I can’t really put a
finger down, because every single one has their own strength that complements
their style. There’s no two that’s similar in the Top 11, so I would say that
yeah, I really don’t know, to be honest, I can’t put a finger down.
Q: Any favourites?
Jean: For me, it would be Yuresh. I’ve told him this
before, when he sings, my heart flutters. Because I use my heart a lot as well.
So when he sings, I feel it, like really feel it, so yeah.
Yuresh: I’m gonna cry already
Jean & Meryl: Awww!
Meryl: I really do think that all of us are really strong
at what we’re good at, but I think it really boils down to how the audience
perceives us. And if we’re talking about our favourites right now, I really do
think that we’re sitting with the top favourite, Mr Yuresh here.
Yuresh: Do you really think I’m the top favourite?
Meryl: Because out of all of us, we all have our
strengths, but when it comes to how the audience perceives us, if I am not
wrong, Yuresh has not received a single bad comment from any single audience. Not
on Twitter, not on Facebook…
Jean: Yes, yes, yes. Jean agrees, Jean agrees.
Yuresh: Well, it really warms my heart to hear all this,
like really, because they are as much my friends as they are my competitors,
and I do care for each and every one of them. Maybe I’ve not opened up too much
about myself, but I’ve always been willing to listen to any problems, to like
try to help here and there, because at the end of the day, as musicians, we’re
heading in the direction where we should be heading in… in the local scene
especially, we’re steering away from that very stereotypical old school mindset
in terms of like singing songs and everything, and we’ve been building a lot
more on our own personal branding and the way we want to see ourselves as
musicians in the future. So for one thing, I’m very happy to see, me as a
musician, comes across to, not only the audience, but my competitors and my
friends as well, so it’s very nice to see. Yeah, and like they said, everybody
in the competition deserves to be where they are, and there’s no one person
that deserves to be the final one more than the other, but at the same time, if
you ask me, for different reasons, like I feel the most hungry contestant in
this competition is Meryl, ‘cos she knows what it is to be away from music, and
that’s the one thing I couldn’t give up, I couldn’t give up being away from my
music, because it was really too big a part of my life. And it caused me a lot
of problems, like school, and you know like mindset, ‘cos like you’re very like
troubled by the way like the world revolves around in Singapore, so like that’s
the one thing I really admire with Meryl. She made the decision to go back to
what was important to her, and that’s the one thing I would hope I never lose
sight of, what’s important to me. As much as changing and getting all of these
comments from people in the industry, at the end of the day, I always revert
back to my own self and think like what’s really gonna help me, what direction
I wanna go in, like that’s very nice to see. And people like Jean, there’s like
this raw like typical diva-like power. It’s not so much like a diva, she
doesn’t carry herself in that like very like diva-like mentality. She’s like
the mother of the competition, she’s so sweet and like so motherly and
everything, you know. Personally, my favourite in the competition so far would
be a very close call between Farisha and Glen. Glen, because he’s my bro. We’re
bandmates. We play in the same band and everything, so like if I’m not in this
competition, I’d vote for him all the way. Farisha really took my breath away,
like the first time I heard her sing, I was stunned, I was this close to tears,
‘cos she sang one of my favourite songs, “To Make You Feel My Love”.
Q: If you could go
anywhere in the world to hone your craft and take it to the next level, where
would you go, and why?
Meryl: For me, no question, it’s New York City. I’m a
HUGE jazz person and New York is the capital of modern jazz in the world. I
would love to go there and study with the masters, well there are so many great
people there. Ornette Coleman is there. New York is the place that I would
really love to go to learn from these masters before they pass on, so yeah, New
York.
Jean: As for me, I would say the Philippines, because I
grew up in Lucky Plaza. I am very surrounded with the Lucky Plaza atmosphere,
because my Mum works there, so I kinda literally grew up there, and I’m surrounded
with all the music and the whole Pinoy culture. And the thing is that, what I’m
doing and what the Philippines, the craft that they’re honing, is very similar,
you know, what the style I’m doing is very similar. But the only thing that I’m
worried of is the competition there, because there’s so much good singers in
the Philippines and it’s very hard to really break through the market. Another
market I would consider would be maybe my father’s side, Myanmar. Because
Myanmar is growing economically, it’s growing as a country, and it’s starting
to break out of their little bubble. My Dad has asked me before, have you
considered trying out the market there, and I’m not sure, but right now I would
say the Philippines. Yeah.
Yuresh: Well, for me, as a musician, I’ve always been
drawn to the British and Australian indie scenes, ‘cos like I feel it brings
the most heartfelt music. I’m a singer-songwriter, so I spend a lot of time
writing music, writing lyrics, and the things that I draw inspiration from is usually
very much relevant to the environment, or the way the world is right now, or in
terms of love (but not in that whole corny sense), and I really like the way
the musicians are portrayed in that country, like the UK and the Australian
scene especially, so those are the 2 that I would really want to break into, if
I ever had a chance to.
WHO DID YOU INTERVIEW AFTER
THAT & WHAT DID THEY SAY?
Our final group included Debbi, Farisha, Gail & Faith… and they also managed to only answer 3 of the questions I had prepared.
 |
| Debbi, Farisha, Gail & Faith chatting with the press (Pic: Mediacorp Channel 5) |
Q: What is your most memorable experience being in “The Final 1”?
Debbi: For me, I guess it would be the bootcamp, because
it’s through this bootcamp that we actually really get to bond with each other
a lot more, and get to know everyone, and how they sing and stuff like that,
and have sung with each other. That’s what I feel would be most memorable in
this entire competition.
Farisha: I think it was the bootcamp as well, because not
only did we get to bond, but we got to grow. For me, personally, from the
bootcamp and from the workshops during the bootcamp, I got to know myself as a
person and as an artist, and who I want to be as an artist.
Gail: Yah, bootcamp. I really enjoyed myself during the
past 4 days, because we really bonded. For me, joining this competition, I
didn’t think I would make friends, and I’m so happy to get to know these
people, because they’re great!
Faith: I guess it’s also the bootcamp, because we had a
slumber party, and it was really fun. I only had 2 things that we really enjoyed,
other than the learning process of like the workshops and all, we had this
slumber party, just the girls, so we really got to know each other, and then we
had “The Final 1 Got Talent”. It’s our re-enactment of our auditions. So ‘cos
these auditions are closed, it’s not open like throughout, so we re-enacted it,
and it was really funny, ‘cos our peers were the judges, and we had to sing the
way we auditioned. So mine was like I came in shorts, so my re-enactment was
like in shorts and everything. And it was like really funny, because we really
got to see what we were doing during auditions lah, and I guess it was quite
memorable. And hearing comments from your own peers, it’s beneficial.
Q: Apart from
yourself, who do you think will be “The Final 1”, and why?
Debbi: I guess, for me, it would be either one of the guys, honestly speaking. Because in a way, guys have more advantage in this kind of competition, because like especially when the guy is good-looking, he can appeal more to ladies. Because if you realize in this kind of competitions, you don’t see guys going like, “oh my god, it’s a girl, I’m gonna vote for her!” You don’t’ see them doing this kind of thing. But when you see the girls looking up to the men in this competition, they’ll go like, “oh my god, Glen! Oh my god, Shaun!” you know, that kind of thing. So to me lah, if it was besides me, I would think it would be Glen, because he has a nice tone. He also has the looks and he can present himself well onstage.
Farisha: I think it will be a girl, ‘cos I mean, it’s
always been guys, so why not change it, right? And I think my answer for that
question would be Hashy, because I think she’s very popular, and she’s very
active on social media as well, and she’s got that distinctive tone in her voice,
and I believe that her genre of music will do well in the music industry, so
that’s why I think that she might win.
Gail: I think Shaun has a good chance of being “The Final
1”. To me, he has the total package.
Faith: For me, I think it will be Yuresh, ‘cos even
though he’s very quiet and reserved and everything, he actually takes music
very seriously, and he knows what he wants. Not in terms of like he knows what
he wants, but you just know that he’s very serious when it comes to giving
comments. Like I mentioned, during the final 1 thing right, we had a
re-enactment, he’s very serious, and he really talked through like how he feels
about your performance, and he’s so sincere, you just don’t know what to say
after he says something. Yah. It’s not just because he melts us and then he’s
the final 1, as in he’s really really so serious that, like for us, most of us
are just like, “Let’s have fun!”, but when it comes to practice, he knows what
he wants.
Q: If you could go anywhere in the world to hone your craft, take it to the next level, where would you go?
Debbi: I would go to the US, States.
Farisha: US.
Gail: I would go to the Philippines and the US.
Faith: US… like party in the USA!
Having done the interviews, we could now relax a little
and enjoy some canapés, while we waited to be interviewed ourselves. Yes,
that’s right. The unique thing about this press conference was that at the end
of the day, the tables would be turned, and the members of the press would be
interviewed too. Basically, we were told that we would be asked our opinions of
how the contestants handled their interviews with us.
WHAT ARE YOUR
THOUGHTS & COMMENTS ON HOW THE CONTESTANTS HANDLED THEIR INTERVIEWS WITH
YOU?
Taking into consideration that this press conference was probably a first for the contestants, they actually handled it rather well, they kept it real, and on the whole, I was quite impressed with them. However, that being said, their inexperience and nerves did show through. Some of them were rambling on and on, and it took a long time to get their message across, if at all. The interviewer is given a limited amount of time to get the interview done. If you take forever to finally answer their questions, you will not get to complete the interview. At best, the interview that is published will not be as interesting a read as it could’ve been, and what you’ll end up with is an article that could have come out better, if you’d only had better ways of dealing with the questions you were asked and had answers that communicated more to the reader about yourself; who you are as an artist, who you are as a personality, and who you are as a person. At worst, there may be nothing worthwhile to publish, and your interview may be dropped altogether.
SO WHAT CAN ONE DO
TO BECOME A MEDIA DARLING?
Where interviews are concerned, keep it simple and communicate, and get your message across to the interviewer effectively. Otherwise, we might switch off after awhile, when we realize that you don’t seem to know what you’re talking about, or that you’re not making much sense. Being clear is basic. Being entertaining would be the cream on top of the media cake. Now that’s a whole other skill altogether!
Also, remember to keep it real. Be yourself. Be honest.
‘Cos if you’re faking it, or giving “PR answers”, it will come through in your
interview.
Media darlings make it fun and worthwhile for the media
to connect with them. They answer the questions they are asked, and give the
press what they need to get their jobs done properly.
As for interesting interviews, have you ever watched an
interview on TV and found it very entertaining to watch? Perhaps the
interviewee said something meaningful that totally made sense to you, or something
that you could just relate to, or something so witty and funny that you’ll
never forget it? Go study those interviews. What was so great about them? And
how can you adapt what they did in their interviews to your own interviews with
the press?
I would say that out of the 11, my Top 4 picks for the
title of “The Final 1” media darling would be Shaun, Louisa, Jean & Glen.
I felt that Shaun was very articulate, he speaks well,
and he was able to communicate effectively, conveying clearly what he wanted to
say. And it helps that he’s incredibly good-looking and has a somewhat
charismatic presence, such that people are quite naturally drawn to him.
Louisa was bubbly, highly personable, cheerful, and very easy
to talk to. Interviewing her, it felt more like I was chatting with my bestie.
She has such a great smile, and she was just so adorable!
Jean’s warm and sincere personality put me at ease with
her right away. It is clear that she is all heart and a real people’s person,
and I can picture her really reaching out and having good camaraderie with all
of her fans.
As for Glen, while he seemed somewhat reserved, I felt
that his quiet manner actually helped build his unique persona, rather than take
away from it. Glen has a gentlemanly charm and a depth that makes you want to spend
more time with him, to see what treasures you might find.
AFTER WATCHING
LAST NIGHT’S SHOW, HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT SHAUN WINNING THE ECLIPSE MEET THE
PRESS CHALLENGE?
I think the right person won this challenge. He was one of my Top 4 picks, and I would’ve been happy with any of my Top 4 winning the media challenge, but I agree that he deserved to win, because he has pretty much been consistent in dealing well with the press throughout the competition, be it on radio, TV, print media, or social media.
THANK YOU FOR
TAKING THE TIME TO CHAT WITH ME.
