ASIAN IDOL, Here I come

SINGAPORE Idol 2 champion Hady Mirza will be representing Singapore in the inaugural Asian Idol, the Asian version of World Idol.

The reality singing competition will be held in Jakarta, Indonesia next month.

World Idol, which took place in Britain for the first time in December 2003, saw past Idol winners from 11 countries - including America's Kelly Clarkson, UK's Will Young, Australia's Guy Sebastian and eventual winner, Norway's Kurt Nilsen - going throat to throat for bragging rights.

Singapore Idol judge Ken Lim, who's also the director of Hype Records which manages Hady, told The New Paper: 'We've been communicating through e-mail with the organiser. We're waiting for the dates and we haven't committed on paper, but it's most likely on. It's a great regional opportunity for Hady.'

According to the Bangkok Post, Hady will be competing against Idol winners from across the region, like the Philippines' Mau Marcelo, India's Abhijeet Sawant, Malaysia's Jaclyn Victor and Vietnam's Phuong Vy.

Indonesia hasn't selected its representative yet, but it will be either Delon Thamrin, Mike Mohede, Ihsan Tarore or Rini Wulandari, who are all former Indonesian Idol winners.

Hady, 27, told The New Paper: 'This is 10 times more exciting and yet 10 times more stressful than Singapore Idol because it's on a bigger stage!

'I'm trying to sleep these days but it feels like I'm going to war!'

What does he think of his chances then?

'It will be an exciting show because all of them are such good vocalists,' he said.

The crooner has spent the past two weeks preparing for Asian Idol and is in the process of shortlisting his song choices. He will be required to perform one English song and one Malay song.

SMS VOTING

According to AFP, three shows will be broadcast to all six countries, where viewers will be able to vote for their favourite Idol by SMS.

Channel 5 will be airing the shows on 14, 15 and 16 Dec.

The first show is a 'Road To Asian Idol' special premiering at 8.30pm, the second day features the performance show at 10pm and the third day is the live results show at 10pm where the winner will be announced.

To prevent viewers from voting along purely patriotic lines, each will have to choose two performers. The winner will be the Idol who receives the most SMS votes from their fellow countrymen as well as fans from other countries.

He or she will win a round-the-world trip. Invited judges from the Asian editions of Idol, including Ken, will be present to comment on the performance of each singer.

Source: http://tnp.sg/show/story/0,4136,147974,00.html