8:24 am Friday, December 01, 2006
Project Stupidstar
I don't understand. Why does Mediacorp steal ideas wholesale from other countries without thinking if they're suitable for the local environment? Case in point is Singapore Idol and the thinly re-packaged Project Superstar.Hello, the public voting mechanism works in USA because they have so many different states and preferred music styles. Most importantly, it's impossible for any contestant to buy votes because the 'general public' out there will surely outweigh the people he/she knows and can influence. So no grey area.Back in Singapore... *sigh* Obviously contestants can buy votes. It's already a running criticism that one can become the winner as long as he/she is able to come up with the money for friends and family to make voting phone calls. 
Singapore is so small that the people you know already make up a big percentage of the population. You're even luckier if your school or alma mater rallies people to vote for you.To shrink the pool of 'general public' even further, fatigue from all the 'reality'-style competitions have set in and most people don't even bother to follow them anymore. So what happens? The audience ends up being only supporters of the contestants. So it boils down to whose supporters are richest and can outdo the rest.I nearly vomited blood when Mediacorp flashed a time-filler to blow it's own trumpet: Apparently they franchised the Project Superstar idea to Vietnam, which successfully found its winner. Hey, the fact that it's franchised doesn't prove that it's good - just that there are other suckers out there who buy into your speel.Going into the 2nd round of this year's Project Superstar, already we see the effects of kelong. A few contestants brimming with potential have been voted out. A few who deserve to have their microphones confiscated are proceeding to the next round! 
What is worse is that marks given by the judging panel amounts to only 30% of the final tally, which means expenditure on voting can totally change a contestant's chances. And ironically, almost all the contestants were students of the individual judges. Maybe the 30% was to safeguard biasness, but it doesn't help lah.I'm waiting to laugh in Mediacorp's face when all the good contestants get kicked out one by one, and we see the best-of-the-lousiest face-off in the finals. And the record label has to groom and promote a singer who sucks and cannot make it. It's their fault for having no common sense. If I am going to spend so much money on this competition, it only makes sense to ensure that the candidate with the more potential wins right?
Having said so much, I wonder why I'm still following the competition. I guess I feel sad for the good contestants. And also wonder why the hell they are putting themselves through this, knowing fully well that it's all a game; that they are being made use of by Mediacorp to milk some voting earnings. Talent and effort do not count, only money. Contestants quit their jobs and get their hopes up, for nought.I guess in a way, I'm also hoping that maybe next week (or the week after next, or the week after that) those lousy contestants will run out of funds and be booted out. Ha! And that those deserving contestants can finally get the chance to shine. But then again, by then they might have all dropped out like flies dying off.Labels: Cynic In The House
>
Singapore is so small that the people you know already make up a big percentage of the population. You're even luckier if your school or alma mater rallies people to vote for you.
What is worse is that marks given by the judging panel amounts to only 30% of the final tally, which means expenditure on voting can totally change a contestant's chances. And ironically, almost all the contestants were students of the individual judges. Maybe the 30% was to safeguard biasness, but it doesn't help lah.
Having said so much, I wonder why I'm still following the competition. I guess I feel sad for the good contestants. And also wonder why the hell they are putting themselves through this, knowing fully well that it's all a game; that they are being made use of by Mediacorp to milk some voting earnings. Talent and effort do not count, only money. Contestants quit their jobs and get their hopes up, for nought.