GeTai Challenge winner Desmond Ng: Chinese music is cooler than English music

It’s safe to assume that this shiny new salary is a far cry from Desmond’s early days, where he and childhood friend/fellow getai crooner Wang Wei Liang (of Ah Boys to Men fame) barely made $500 a month. They were both introduced to the getai scene by their former lion dance troupe boss.

As expected, public and media attention on Desmond has also skyrocketed. “Last time, I would only get recognised around neighbourhood areas, but now, it has spread to Orchard Road! (laughs)” And, even though he doesn’t consider himself that good-looking, he has amassed his fair share of female devotees, some of whom will show up to his shows to shower him with care in the form of handmade cards and herbal tea.

We have some good news for these lady admirers of his: Desmond is single. “My last relationship ended over a year ago,” he revealed. “I don’t have a girlfriend right now.”

Speaking of his idol-worthy good looks (that clearly send girls into a tizzy), we wondered out loud if Desmond would ever make a genre switch from getai to mainstream pop. “I treasure getai too much to completely let go of it – after all, it’s what has given me the platform to perform all these years,” he said, before adding, “I would accept any opportunities to try out pop music but I would hope to still continue with getai at the same time.”

That said, an English record is out of the question, despite his bilingual abilities. “English songs aren’t very… cool,” he said with a wary chuckle. “They’re not as cool as Chinese songs.”

Now, before English music fans get up in arms over his frank statement, Desmond has a perfect good explanation: “What I mean is, I’m not as cool singing English songs compared to Chinese songs. I’m not talking about all English music in general.”

Continued on next slide: A recap of the GeTai Challenge grand finals

Six months after two days of closed-door auditions took place in February this year, the Getai Challenge singing competition culminated in an hours-long performance extravaganza at Sentosa’s Resorts World Ballroom in front of 4,000 eager spectators.

Prior to the grand finale, the top 10 contenders, selected from over 30 other hopefuls, duked it out over a period of 12 episodes, after which six – Desmond, Hao Hao, Xie Wei Na, Marcus Chin, Zhu Li Li and Li Bao En – had the chance to continue fighting for the crown at Thursday’s gig.

At the judging panel were singer Eric Moo (who made a public declaration to write a song for the winner), getai veterans Liu Ling Ling and Wang Lei, actor Chen Han Wei and composer Jim Lim. The finalists were judged based not just on their singing skills, but also other factors like their costumes and audience interaction, and each of them had to go through two rounds of performances.

After the first round of eliminations, Li Li, Marcus, Desmond and Hao Hao managed to score enough points to move to the second part of the competition, which is when the party really got started, at least in terms of the outrageousness of the sets and costumes: glowing sakura trees and giant balloons bouncing above the audience for Hao Hao, full-fledged ancient Chinese garb for Marcus, a wedding scene for Li Li, and of course, Desmond’s angelic 40-strong children’s choir.

Continued on next slide: Desmond is declared the winner

Finally, it was time to announce the victor – but not before acknowledging the “bottom” two of the top four: Li Li was named third runner-up, Hao Hao second runner-up, and then, Desmond declared the overall champion, leaving the first runner-up spot for Marcus.

Looking visibly stunned as he was handed his trophy, Desmond said, “I’ve never gotten number one anywhere before in my life, this is the very first time. I hope you’re proud of me, mum and dad.”

Good friend Wei Liang, looking unlike his usual tough guy self with tear streaks across his face, remarked, “I feel nothing but pride for him.”

Continued on next slide: The GeTai Challenge Toggle Award winners

Besides the main competition, fans also had the chance to vote for their favourites in three online awards on Toggle, namely “Best Costume”, “Best Interaction” and “Most Popular”. Hao Hao walked away with “Best Costume” and “Most Popular”, while Desmond nabbed “Best Interaction”, even though he joked, “I’m so stiff! I don’t think I even interact with the audience that much!”

Click through our gallery for more photos from the GeTai Challenge grand finals:

Zhu Li Li, Marcus Chin, Xie Wei Na

Li Bao En, Desmond Ng, Hao Hao.

Hao Hao sang Jay Chou’s ‘Ju Hua Tai’ with Malaysian singer Vanessa Voon.

Xie Wei Na and guest performer Lin Wen Yu added an unconventional touch to their A-mei cover with ukuleles.

Marcus Chin did a series of impressive impersonations of famous singers for his performance. Our personal favourite: his Jay Chou signature mumbling (“If you don’t understand what I’m singing, then it’s Jay Chou!”)

Host Wei Liang joined pal Desmond on stage to unleash some badass beats on the Chinese drums, before taking on Jay Chou’s ‘Fearless’.

Don’t let her petite stature and young age (23) fool you – Bao En, who took the stage with her boyfriend, stuns with a serious set of pipes.

There was a brief reunion between sister duo Ming Zhu Jie Mei as Zhu Li Li (also known as Michelle Choo) invited her sister Zhu Ling Ling (Sandy) to perform with her for the first time in five years.

Joshua Tan, Bunz, Tosh Zhang and Maxi Lim were present to support their fellow Ah Boy Wei Liang, and later performed the theme song of their movie ‘Who Else’ and popular Hokkien song ‘Wo Wen Tian’.

Audience members and judges alike were left gaping in awe when Marcus rolled out onto the stage dressed as an ancient Chinese army general. All his backup dancers were appropriately outfitted as well, making his set resemble that of a legitimate theatre play.

Hao Hao brought us back to the early 2000s when he channelled Aaron Kwok for ‘Para Para Sakura’.

Although Li Li has been married for many years, this was the first time she got to don a wedding dress, fulfilling a long-time dream of hers. Her performance was so emotional that it moved both herself and concertgoers to tears.

Desmond dedicated his touching rendition of Chopstick Brothers’ ‘Father’ to his parents.

Eric Moo also delighted audiences with live performance of ‘Tai Sha’ and ‘Jiao Ruan De Ming’.

Hao Hao and Bao En during an autograph session backstage.

Chen Hanwei, Jim Lim, Eric Moo, Liu Ling Ling and Wang Lei.

Eliminated contestants 2Z Jie Mei, Bao Bei Jie Mei, Luo Yi Qi, Li Bao En, Cheng Ze and Xiu Ping got the chance to return to the stage for a joint performance.

Awww, look who was there to give her daddy some support: Marcus’ adorable five-year-old daughter Elise.

Kym Ng and Pan Ling Ling were also in the audience that evening.

Hao Hao’s mother flew all the way from Taiwan to watch her son perform (but appeared to be even more nervous than him!).