Malaysian Idol

Did You Know?

• The first season winner was Jaclyn Victor, with runner-up Faradina Mohd. Nadzir (Dina).
• The first season winner's single was "Gemilang", written by music director Aubrey Suwito.

Overview

Auditions were held to select the top finalists. The first season was hosted by Soo Kui Jien and Sharifah Aleya; for the second season, Cheryl Samad replaced Aleya as co-host. The show presented in a bilingual English/Malaysian format, with Jien handling much of the English dialogue and Aleya or Samad the Malaysian portions. The competition follows the Idol series concept: contestants audition before three judges, then proceed through a theatre elimination round (similar to American Idol's Hollywood Round) where judges decide who advances. The final phase consists of weekly performances before a live audience, with the contestant receiving the fewest SMS and telephone votes eliminated each week. Judges provide feedback but do not determine elimination.

Judges

Two of the three judges were native Malaysians, and the third was a New Zealander; two were male. The judges were Roslan Aziz, a Malaysian musician, album producer, songwriter, and singer; Fauziah Latiff, a Malaysian singer and actress; and Paul Moss, a New Zealand singer, songwriter, producer, and A&R director for Positive Tone.

Season 2 (2005)

After open auditions and three theatre elimination workshops, eleven finalists remained. Each week the contestant with the fewest votes was eliminated. The finalists released a compilation album titled Malaysian Idol 2. The winner, Daniel Lee Chee Hun (Daniel), defeated Norhanita Hamzah (Nita); Daniel had consistently placed first in the weeks leading to the finals. He received approximately 1.2 million of the 1.67 million votes cast (about 68%) during a 24-hour voting window after the final show. The final show took place on September 23, 2005, and the results show on September 24, 2005, at Genting Highlands's Arena of Stars. The winner's theme song was "Mimpi", written by Pot of the Malaysian band Innuendo. On March 12, 2006, 8TV's CEO announced that Malaysian Idol would not return for a third season; it was succeeded by One in a Million.