Star Search 2019 is the 11th installment of the long-running Chinese talent competition Star Search, hosted by Mediacorp, since 1988. This was the first season of Star Search since 2010, returning after a nine-year hiatus. The grand prize includes a Mediacorp management contract and an Audi Q2 SUV (without Certificate of Entitlement).
The series premiered on 20 September on Toggle and 22 September on both Channel 8 and their YouTube channel. Three live telecast episodes were streamed live on 6 and 13 October (semi-finals), and 3 November (finals). The series concluded on a clip show titled The Journey aired on 8 and 10 November, on Toggle and Channel 8, respectively.
In the finals aired on 3 November, Zhang Zetong, a 26-year-old Carousell assistant manager from Malaysia mentored by Christopher Lee, was announced the winner, while Herman Keh from Team Christopher Lee and Ye Jiayun from Team Chen Hanwei finished second and third, respectively. While the top three contestants were offered a contract and won respective prizes, in an unprecedented move made on 5 November, Mediacorp announced that all 12 finalists were all offered contracts, a first in Star Search history.
Development The show's revival was first announced by the last season's host Quan Yi Fong and former contestants Christopher Lee and Zoe Tay during the Star Awards 2019 award ceremony held on 14 April 2019 (as part of the award's silver jubilee celebration), after featuring a walk-in showcase performance as one of the performance segments. A teaser clip was first shown on-air on that night, featuring Tay that bragged the show's success, how they changed their lives in their entertainment career and gone on winning awards from Star Awards, while the narrator narrates at the closing of the clip (今天的超级红星, 来自/出自于当年的才华新秀 (lit. The All-time Favorite Artistes that came/first appeared from that year's Star Search); displayed on-screen as 红星出于新秀 (lit. The stars originated from Star Search)); the season will be billed as one of the "biggest returns in television history".
To commemorate the franchise's return, Toggle archived the previous ten seasons of the show's grand finals.
Auditions The auditions were announced on 14 April 2019, with the open auditions held in May; other auditions not announced on-air were talent scout auditions, replacing overseas auditions, which were not held for the first time since season five. Contestants could also submit their online applications (for open auditions) until 10 May 2019. Selected contestants from the scouting or closed auditions received an Express Pass (shaped as a chatbox with the show's hashtag) and could directly perform the talent round without having to queue. Known judges who appeared in the auditions include Irene Ang, and former Star Search winners Qi Yuwu and Zoe Tay.
+Summary of talent scouts Date and time(s) Venue 16 April 2019, 9am-2pmITE College Central 16 April 2019, 3pm-6pmITE College East17 April 2019, 9am-5pm Nanyang Polytechnic18 April 2019, 9am-5pmSingapore Polytechnic22 April 2019, 9am-5pmRepublic Polytechnic23 April 2019, 9am-5pmNgee Ann Polytechnic24 April 2019, 9am-5pmTemasek Polytechnic25 April 2019, 9am-5pmBugis/Central Business District27 April 2019, 11am-5pmOrchard29 April 2019, 11am-5pmPlaza Singapura/The Cathay
+Summary of open auditions Date(s) Venue4 May 2019, 10am-7pmNgee Ann City Civic Plaza12 May 2019, 10am-7pmBugis+
For the first time, augmented reality and virtual reality were used on a green screen during the acting segment in the auditions. The augmented reality versions were also heavily used during the grand finals, notably the title card before and after commercial cuts, as well as the NOOOICE! guest performance.
Marketing Jean Yip Group was the only sponsor to return from the past season. New sponsors include Bee Cheng Hiang, Bonia, KFC, Mitsubishi Electric, Simmons and Win2 Crackers, who previously sponsored another reality competition SPOP Sing! last year, as well as Samsung Galaxy, Senka, PD Door, Poh Heng jewelry, official car Audi and travel agency website Trip.com.
Top 24 Meet and Greet A meet-and-greet session was held on 21 July 2019 at Funan's The Base, with special guests and former contestants Zoe Tay, Vivian Lai, Yao Wenlong and Brandon Wong. A second session was held on both locations at Gardens by the Bay and Woodlands Temporary Bus Interchange on 10 August 2019. A third meet-and-greet session, which also officiated the launch of the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 in Singapore, was held on Plaza Singapura on 17 August 2019. A fourth meet-and-greet session was held at Bugis+ on 15 September 2019.
Another meet-and-greet session featuring the top 12 finalists and former contestants will be held 19 October at Wisma Atria.
Screen Debut short videos A series of 24 one-minute video titled Screen Debut each featuring a contestant pairing with guidance trained by former Star Search contestants, was uploaded on Toggle and aired as commercials starting on 30 August 2019. Each video featured different approaches and stories, and how the finalists made their debut on its first role and showcasing their talents.
Prelude episodes Two prelude episodes were uploaded on Toggle on 20 and 27 September, and televised on Channel 8 two days after. The first prelude episode focus highlights on the auditions on the first half and training sessions on the second half, including never-seen behind-the-scenes of production for Screen Debut videos. The second prelude episode features mentoring sessions by star mentors Chen Hanwei, Huang Biren and Christopher Lee; during the second half, in a format similar to The Voice and The X Factor, as well as the third Project Superstar season and its ninth season which also involved mentoring, the finalists selected his or her mentor he or she wants to work with if available, and the mentors, each with four contestants per gender, will mentor their respective contestants through the remainder of the season. Both episodes were also captioned in English subtitles.
The Journey special A special clip show episode, titled The Journey, was uploaded on Toggle on 8 November, and broadcast on 10 November at 3.05pm, right before the re-run of the Finals. The clip show features the final 12 in their preparation for the finals, including their interviews along with their mentors and the judges about the competition and training throughout the season.
Contestants The 24 contestants was announced on 4 July 2019 in a live conference held at Gillman Barracks. On the second Prelude episode, 24 contestants were divided into three teams, with each team helmed by each mentor, who chose eight finalists (four per gender) to form a coaching team (the team names are respectively labeled in parentheses) of their own to mentor them. The final 24 finalists and their respective teams were confirmed as follows:
Key:
ActAge(s)OccupationGenderMentor/teamSemi-finalsResultZhang Zetong 张哲通26Assistant managerMaleChristopher Alliance2WinnerHerman Keh 郭坤耀23Student/Part-time ModelMaleChristopher Alliance1Runner-upYe Jia Yun 叶佳昀17StudentFemaleHanwei Corps1Third placeSheryl Ang 洪丽婷 20Full-time ModelFemaleChristopher Alliance2FinalistGini Chang 曾晓晴24Primary School TeacherFemaleChrisopher Alliance1Vanessa Ho 何鎂琪19StudentFemaleBiren Family1Kiki Lim 林昭婷17StudentFemaleBiren Family2Zane Lim 林子颖22Student/Part-time ModelMaleBiren Family1Juin Teh 郑六月29Self-employedFemaleHanwei Corps1Tyler Ten 邓伟德23Student/Part-time ModelMaleHanwei Corps2Jernelle Oh 胡煜诗25Self-employedFemaleHanwei Corps1Zhai Siming 翟思铭22StudentMaleBiren Family2Gail Borjiet 博乐26Full-time ModelFemaleChristopher Alliance1EliminatedNatasha Chandra 陈靖霞21StudentFemaleBiren Family1Chin Yi Yang 陈昱仰17StudentMaleHanwei Corps1Bryan Kok 郭奕鑫18StudentMaleHanwei Corps2Lee Wenn Hon 李文康24University GraduateMaleBiren Family1Kenneth Liew 廖志翔20StudentMaleChristopher Alliance2Joel Low 卢家伟32Theatre ActorMaleChristopher Alliance1Christy Mai 麦芷琪20StudentFemaleHanwei Corps2Alyssa Peh 白苑芳26University GraduateFemaleBiren Family2Jared Soh 苏健凯23StudentMaleHanwei Corps1Sunny Xu 徐佳訸17StudentFemaleChristopher Alliance2Tan Hao Thian 陈浩天17StudentMaleBiren Family1Withdrew
Semifinals The live semifinals started on 6 October 2019 and 13 October 2019. Each week, twelve acts performed; six went through to the finals, and six were eliminated.
Week 1 (6 October) Overseas Judges: Phoebe Huang, Bowie Lam, Man Shu-sam Media Judges: Chong Liung Man, Dasmond Koh, Marcus Wee, Ryan Lai, Terence Lim, Chloe Neo, Ang Eng Tee, Connie Chen
Tan Hao Thian withdrew prior to the semi-finals for personal reasons.
Round 1 and 2: Dance Round and WeMovie Acting Segment The Dance round, along with the introduction dance, carries a 10% weightage towards the overall score. Following the segment, the finalists portrayed dramas segments of WeMovie He is 21 (他21岁) with the order of performance from the dance round played for the corresponding episodes. The acting segment weighs 40% towards the overall score.
Team Performance description Order Dance description Acting description Christopher Alliance 1 Performed a jazz-step dance to the instrumental version of "Feel It Still". A university student Fong Chi-Wai was killed due to an overdose with sleeping pills. The coroner visited Fong's family and inquire the answers of Fong's death. (Cast: Chang Hio Cheng as Mei-Yi (Fong's older sister), Jeff Wang as the coroner, Herman Keh as Chi-Hao (Fong's younger brother), Joel Low as Bo-En (Fong's future in-law), Gail Borjiet as Jia-Jia (Fong's neighbor)) Hanwei Corps 2 Performed a K-pop rendition. Continuing from the first episode, the coroner visited Fong's campus (taped at Singapore Polytechnic) and asked their friends of Fong to inquire about the cause of his death. (Cast: Jernelle Oh as Li-Ling (Fong's girlfriend), Jeff Wang as the coroner, Chin Yi Yang as Yi-Fan (Fong's best friend), Jared Soh as Ming-Jie (Fong's best friend), Juin Teh as Shuang (Fong's best friend)) Biren Family 3 Performed an instrumental version of Bruno Mars's "Treasure". Continuing from the second episode, the coroner tried many ways to identify Fong's cause of death, using various evidences provided by eyewitness including an uploaded video. (Cast: Zane Lim as Song-Pin (reporter), Jeff Wang as the coroner, Natasha Chandra as Si-Ting (eyewitness), Vanessa Ho as Mei-Fang (eyewitness who uploaded the video), Tan Hao Thian as assistant (uncredited in video))
Round 3: Media Charisma Media Charisma carries a 30% weightage towards the overall score. At the end of each segment, the show will reveal the act with a current higher score based on the preferences by the Media judges. The results are as follows: Segment Results (team) Episode 1 Chang Hio Cheng(Christopher Alliance) Episode 2 Episode 3
Round 4: Spontaneous Act The fourth and final round, Spontaneous Act, carrying a 20% score, involve acts performing scenarios with a question given from the producers. Teams have one minute to discuss their order of performance, and each act had 25 seconds to present forth their answers.