Dennis Chew Was So Fierce To The Star Voice Contestants, Even Fellow Celeb Mentor Zhong Kunhua Felt Scared
He’s already dishing out the tough love in the first episode of Mediacorp's radio talent search.
The first episode of Mediacorp’s radio talent hunt The Star Voice just aired, and it looks like the competition is shaping up to be a tough one.
After all, the celeb mentors, Love 972 DJ and All-Time Favourite Artiste Dennis Chew, Capital958 sports commentator Pan Jiabiao and YES933 jock Zhong Kunhua, are definitely not mincing their words.
Just look at this screenshot of a very disappointed Dennis, who we reckon will be the Simon Cowell or Gordon Ramsay of the show.
So what exactly happened that made the usually chirpy Dennis have such a scary look on his face? Here's a quick recap:
The competition has already been whittled down from over 1000 hopefuls to the top nine contestants, which means that we’re basically seeing the cream of the crop here.
And here they are: Eleanor Tan, 20, Esther Leong, 25, Jensen Wang, 26, Sammi Tan, 21, Kelly Wong, 29, Joey Tay, 27, Yunis To, 28, Kharissa Pundarika, 24, and Jeff Tan, 29.
For their first challenge, the contestants were split into groups of three by drawing lots. The winners of the challenge will get first dibs when it comes to which celeb mentor they want.
Of the three teams, however, it was the news segment team that appeared to be struggling from the get-go.
Comprising of Eleanor, Jensen and Jeff, the trio lamented that they had a bit of trouble coming up with a script.
And when the time came for them to present their segment…. well, you’ve seen how Dennis reacted, right?
Seeing the usually cheery Dennis all solemn and brooding is a truly unnerving experience. And he did not hold back when giving his critiques too.
Dennis first explained that he had high expectations for that particular team, as the topic they received gave them lots of room to expand and explore. However, they did not measure up to his expectations.
”I want to ask you guys: 'What’s going on?' After hearing your segment, if I were a listener all I’d hear is [talk of] chicken and birds, and it’s not even funny,” he scolded.
Kunhua also went on to share: "Dennis is not usually like this in front of the cameras, so I could tell he was definitely angry."
Kunhua even joked that he felt like inching away from Dennis at that time.
“It's not that I’m fierce, I’m just strict. For me, my journey in radio really has not been easy. So I hope that they can make full use of this platform. I might have been a bit harsh with my words, but I just hope that they can make full use of this opportunity,” Dennis later said.
So… how did the other two teams fare? And did anyone eventually choose Dennis as their celeb mentor, or will we be facing another ‘no one wants to join Joanne Peh’s team in Streamers Go Live’ situation?
You’ll just have to watch the full episode below to find out.
Catch more of The Star Voice and behind-the-scenes clips on meWATCH here.
Photos: meWATCH, Dennis Chew/Instagram