Campus SuperStar is a Singaporean television music competition to find new singing talent. Contestants are students from secondary schools, junior colleges and institutes of technical education. The third season began airing on MediaCorp Channel U on 4 January 2009 and ended on 12 April 2009.
This was the first season to have a reduced number of finalists from 20 to 12, without equal gender representation (eight female finalists and four male finalists), and this season was also notable for being the only season in which the competition have two revival rounds, the 'immunity' and 'sudden-death' eliminations during performance show, an elimination-based sing-off, a non-Chinese contestant was a part of the top 12, and one male and three females represented in the finale, as opposed to two per gender on the past two seasons (the format also happened on the fourth season in 2013).
The series was won by Jarod Lee, a 13-year-old student from Ngee Ann Secondary School, and won a two-year MediaCorp management contract and a cash prize of $2,000, beating Rachel Chua, a 14-year-old student from Anglican High School, who was also the first and only contestant to be eliminated and reinstated in the competition twice.
Judges and hosts
Jim Lim was confirmed to be returning to the judging panel after judging season two of the show. Li Feihui was also announced to return for this third year as a judge. Season two judge and vocal coach Jimmy Ye declined to return as a judge for the third season. It was announced that two new judges would be brought in to replace Ye on the judging panel. Award-winning lyricist Xiaohan and singer Ken Tay were instated as the third and fourth judge.
Season two host Pornsak returned to host the show. Former season two host Dasmond Koh left the show and his position was taken over by actress Felicia Chin and SuperHost runner-up Lee Teng. U Are the One winner Yuan Shuai hosted the online streaming programme as the show's social media correspondent, increasing the show's involvement with its fans and offering behind the scenes information and news.
Selection process
Applications and first auditions
The audition was opened to students studying in secondary schools, junior colleges or institutes of technical education in Singapore. Auditions in front of the judges for season 3 took place in MediaCorp on 8 and 9 November 2008. Applicants are to report to the venue for the audition in their respective school uniforms. Out of 2046 applicants, 141 were put through to the second round of the auditions.[1]
Second auditions
Similar to the first auditions, the second auditions took place in MediaCorp on 15 November 2008. 107 contestants were eliminated at this stage of the competition, leaving 34 to compete in the final round of the auditions.[2]
Third auditions
34 contestants competed at this stage of the competition on 24 November 2008. 22 contestants were eliminated and the remaining 12 were put through to the live shows as finalists. For the first time in Campus SuperStar history, the contestants do not have equal gender representation; eight females and four males advanced to the finals.
The live shows began on 12 January. Each week, the contestants' performances took place on Monday at 8:00pm and the results were announced on the same night at 11:30pm. As with previous seasons, each live show had a different theme. The results show often featured guest performances and sometimes a group performance by the remaining contestants.
On the first live show, sixth live results show and live final, One Million Starseason one winner and the show's ambassador Yoga Lin performed. The first live show also featured performances by Singaporean band Mi Lu Bing and singer Olivia Ong. The fourth live results show included performance from One Million Star season 3 fifth runner-up Wong Jing Lun while Project SuperStarseason one runner-up Kelly Poon performed on the fifth results show. Project SuperStar season one female runner-up Shi Xin Hui and Malaysian singer Fish Leong performed on the seventh live result show. Project SuperStar season one male second runner-up Derrick Hoh performed on the eighth live results show, while Taiwanese hip hop band Da Mouth performed on the eleventh and thirteenth. The twelfth live results show and thirteenth live show included performance from Taiwanese boy band Fahrenheit. The eleventh and twelfth live shows also featured performance by Singaporean singer Jocie Kwok. Singaporean singer Meixin performed on the thirteenth live show as well. One Million Starseason two runner-up Rachel Liang and the winner for the first season of Project SuperStar, Kelvin Tan performed for the live final.
Guest judging roles were brought in during the eighth, twelfth and thirteenth week of the live shows. Former Project SuperStar judge Dawn Yip attended the eighth live show, and Singaporean singer Maggie Theng attended the twelfth live show. Lee Wei Song, Kelvin Tan, Wu Jia Ming and Theng attended the thirteenth live show as guest judges as well. During the twelfth week of the live shows, it was announced that judge Jim Lim was unable to present for the live shows due to work commitments in Taiwan with singer A-mei. During the week, it was announced that former judge Cavin Soh would replace him as a judge on the show.
Results summary
Colour key
–
Contestant did not perform
–
Contestant received the lowest judges' score or was in the bottom two based on judges' score or failed to receive enough judges' score and was in the danger zone
–
Contestant received the lowest combined total or was in the bottom two and was eliminated
–
Contestant received the lowest judges' score and was eliminated (did not face the public vote)
–
Contestant did not face the public vote was immune from elimination
–
Contestant received the highest judges' score or combined total
Musical guests: Season one and season two top 20 finalists featuring season three hosts and Euphoria Cheerleading Team ("CSS进行曲"), Mi Lu Bing ("世界麻烦借过一下"), Olivia Ong ("如燕") and Yoga Lin ("残酷月光" and "伯乐")
The top 12 finalists were revealed in this pre-recorded 2-hour special episode, featuring performances from the finalists together with former alumnus from the past seasons.
Contestants' performances on the first pre-recorded show
For the first six weeks of competition, contestants are split into two groups competing in one of the two weeks. This week's sing-off is the only time the elimination is decided by muting one of the microphones.
Contestants' performances on the second live show
Contestant
Order
Song
Judges' score
Result
JL
XH
KT
FH
Total
Adrian Jorge
1
"不完美"
6.0
6.0
4.5
4.0
20.5
Sing-off/Eliminated
Rachel Chua
2
"第一天"
6.5
7.5
8.0
7.5
29.5
Safe
Rachel Lim
3
"I Believe"
6.0
7.0
6.5
6.5
26.0
Safe
Shelly Tsai
4
"一个人的精彩"
5.5
7.0
5.0
5.5
23.0
Sing-off/Safe
Jarod Lee
5
"I Believe"
6.5
9.5
8.5
7.0
31.5
Safe
Joselin Ng
6
"那又如何"
6.0
6.5
6.5
6.5
25.5
Safe
Week 3 (19 January)
Theme: Their representation songs
Sing-off song: "遗失的美好"
Similar to week 2, contestants compete in one of two groups performing the same theme. Beginning this week, the sing-off eliminates the contestant when their pitch was altered to a lowered pitch.
Musical guest: Yoga Lin ("分享" with Ridhwan Azman, Rachael Chang, Benita Cheng, Jarod Lee, Rachel Lim, Joselin Ng, Jeremy Teng and Yap Jia Min; "爱情是圆的" and "病态")
Contestants' performances on the seventh live show
Contestant
Order
Song
Judges' score
Result
JL
XH
KT
FH
Total
Joselin Ng
1
"我相信"
6.0
7.5
7.5
7.0
28.0
Sing-off/Safe
Jarod Lee
2
"改变自己"
7.0
8.0
7.0
7.5
29.5
Safe
Yap Jia Min
3
"有你多好"
8.0
9.0
9.0
8.5
34.5
Safe
Jeremy Teng
4
"专属天使"
6.0
6.5
6.5
5.5
24.5
Sing-off/Eliminated
Week 8: Wildcard round 1 (2 March)
Theme: Derrick Hoh's challenge (billed as "I want to challenge Derrick Hoh!")
Musical guest: Derrick Hoh ("咬字" and "很想你")
Sing-off songs: "朋友一生一起走" (remaining four singers) and "老鼠爱大米" (Chang and Li Li)
The six singers who were eliminated from the first six live shows returned to the stage to perform for the Wildcard round. Beginning this round, individual scores from the judges are no longer shown, as the scores are shown at the end of all the performances; a scoring quota is also imposed from this round onward, which determines the safety of each of the contestants; one contestant with a higher or lower score will be exempt from the public vote that week. The scoring quota this week is set at 39.0 points (a snippet of Hoh's performance from the first season). Two contestants will be reinstated from the competition, one with a higher judges' score above the quota, and a second with a higher combined total from the remaining contestants. Former Project SuperStar judge Dawn Yip was brought in as the guest judge.
Contestants' performances on the eighth live show
Contestant
Order
Song
Judges' score
Result
Jeremy Teng
1
"我可以"
31.0
Sing-off/Not revived
Mavis Li Li
2
"3-7-20-1"
37.5
Sing-off/Revived
Shelly Tsai
3
"我知道你很难过"
28.0
Sing-off/Not revived
Adrian Jorge
4
"终于说出口"
28.5
Not revived
Rachel Chua
5
"你是爱我的"
40.5
Immune/Revived
Rachael Chang
6
"我想有个家"
29.5
Sing-off/Not revived
The results show is the only one where two Sing-off songs were decided (Teng, Tsai and Chang in order) and a computerized elimination for one singer (in the case, Jorge).
Week 9 (9 March)
Theme: Motivating drama theme songs
Sing-off song: "遇见"
For the next three weeks, two contestants were eliminated from each week of the shows. The quota for the week is 26.
The target quota for this week is 30. The contestant with the lowest score below the quota will face immediate elimination, or the highest score above the quota will be immune from public vote and immediately advance to the finals. Of the two remaining contestants, the combined total determined which singer will advance to the final, and which singer was eliminated.
Contestants' performances on the eleventh live show
At the end of the results show on the previous week, each of the four judges select one eliminated contestant from week 8 to 10 to compete in the second Wildcard Round next week; ultimately, Li Li and Ridzwan were not chosen to compete this round and faced permanent elimination.
The contestant with the highest judges' score would be immune from elimination (did not face the public vote) and was immediately reinstated from the competition; of the remaining three contestants, the contestant with a higher combined total would also be reinstated from the competition. Lim did not appear on the judging panel for week 12 due to work commitments in Taiwan with singer A-mei; season one judge Cavin Soh took his place on the panel. Singer Maggie Theng was brought in as the guest judge as well.
Contestants' performances on the twelfth live show
Contestant
Order
Song
Chosen by
Judges' score
Result
Rachel Lim
1
"我不难过"
Ken Tay
34.5
Sing-off/Eliminated
Joselin Ng
2
"失恋无罪"
Li Feihui
39.0
Sing-off/Revived
Benita Cheng
3
"一笑而过"
Xiaohan
33.0
Not revived
Rachel Chua
4
"Open Your Eyes"
Jim Lim
42.5
Immune/Revived
Week 13: Final (6/12 April)
6 April (Prelude)
Musical guests: Da Mouth ("国王皇后"), Meixin ("孤单的人总说无所谓") and Fahrenheit ("默默")
All top 12 finalists returned to the stage in this pre-recorded non-elimination performance show. It featured group performances from the finalists as well as a look-back on their journey in the competition.
Contestants' performances on the thirteenth pre-recorded show
Contestant
Order
Song
Rachael Chang, Mavis Li Li & Shelly Tsai
1
"特务J"
Benita Cheng, Rachel Lim & Mavis Li Li
2
"站在高岗上"
Ridhwan Azman, Rachael Chang, Benita Cheng & Jeremy Teng
3
"小酒窝"
Ridhwan Azman, Adrian Jorge & Jeremy Teng
4
"失恋阵线联盟"
12 April (Round 1)
Themes: Alumni duets: oldies songs; contestant quartet: designated song
Project SuperStarseason one winner Kelvin Tan, singer Maggie Theng, music producer and composer Lee Wei Song and Wu Jia Ming were brought in as the guest judges.
Contestants' performances on the fourteenth live show: round one
