Star Search Second Runner-Up Ye Jiayun Almost Had A Wardrobe Malfunction During The Finals
But she handled it like a pro.
When Star Search 2019 second runner-up Ye Jiayun made her entrance at the finals on Nov 3, the 17-year-old Liu Wen-lookalike carried herself like a supermodel, strutting out with a softball bat over her shoulder, a killer smile on her pretty face, and not an ounce of stage fright. Well, at least that's what we thought.
The Star Search alums in the audience were also just as impressed, with a number of them picking her out as the female finalist who exuded the most X-factor. “When she came out, it was like ‘Wow’,” said 1988 champ Zoe Tay. “She looked very confident and didn’t show fear despite speaking in front of so many people.”
As it turns out, the Nanyang Polytechnic student had us all — including Ah Jie — fooled.
Fake it till you make it?
When 8days.sg caught up with the Star Search 2019 Top 3 (Jiayun, champ Teoh Zetong and first runner-up Herman Keh) for a chat yesterday (Nov 4), the trio had just come from a full day of interviews and looked like… well, like how anyone would after six months of intense training and rehearsals culminating in a huge televised competition.
Despite her lack of sleep, Jiayun was attentive and engaging during our conversation. She was even animated, especially when describing to us how “super nervous” she was when she first made her appearance on stage.
“When I was walking, I almost didn’t want to twirl because I was so scared. My legs felt like jelly!” she exclaimed.
The Top 3: Zetong, Herman, and Jiayun
Fortunately for Jiayun, her stress levels dropped as the show went on because she “felt like everything was going smoothly”. However, that changed when a small disaster struck during the dance segment.
“Right after I jumped in the beginning, my shoe came loose and it almost flew off my foot, and I nearly fell down!” she recalled. “At that point of time I panicked a bit and lost count of the beat, but I quickly salvaged it and put in extra effort for the rest of the dance to make up for the mishap.”
Looks like she’s already handling minor performance hiccups like a pro.
Dancing queen, young and sweet, only 17
8 DAYS: Has getting into the Top 3 sunk in for you yet?
YE JIAYUN: Honestly, no. I’m still quite shocked. I never expected to get into the Top 3 because everyone did exceptionally well at the finals. What makes it even more surprising is that I know there were many hot favourites… and I wasn’t one of them! (Laughs)
What do your parents think of the result?
I haven’t sat down to talk to them properly yet, but judging from the way they behaved in the audience during the finals, I believe they’re very proud of me. They were so supportive that I, honestly, cringed a bit. (Laughs) But I’m very grateful, of course!
You just did a full day of press. Has it been hard getting used to the surge of media attention?
Today is more chill because it’s mostly been one-on-one interviews, but the press conference after the finals was quite stressful because there were a lot more reporters and most of the questions were in Mandarin, which I’m not very fluent in. Plus, I wasn’t ready for a press conference because I did not think I would get in at all! We were all told to prepare winning speeches, but to be honest, I was like, “No need lah, I won’t win.” (Laughs)
But there she was, meeting Simon Yam and showing off a trophy she never thought she’d get
How will signing a contract with Mediacorp affect your plans for school?
The company is still in the midst of drawing up the contract and I think they have to make some changes because I’m still a student. I’m prepared to sign because I believe I’ll be able to juggle school and work. But in any case, I definitely intend to finish my studies, at least with a diploma. As for university, I’ll think about it when the time comes.
As the youngest finalist, did you ever feel out of place among the older contestants?
Not at all! We got along really well and they felt like brothers and sisters to me. We had a lot of fun times together and I will miss them very much.
What are some advantages and disadvantages you think you would have starting out in showbiz at such a young age?
The advantages are having more room for growth and being able to learn things faster. As for the disadvantages, I don’t have as much experience, so it’s easy to get overwhelmed and stressed. Acting was the hardest thing for me to get used to because I was quite self-conscious and shy, but thanks to all the training sessions, I’ve become more confident and less afraid to try new things.
Jiayun as Yu Hong (played by Joanne Peh, whom she’s said to resemble) in A Song to Remember
Did you ever got comments from the production team or mentors that stung?
There were some harsh truths I had to listen to, although I understand that they were just trying to help me. For example, when we were rehearsing for the acting challenge, I thought I was getting all my character’s evil expressions right, but my mentor (Chen Hanwei) told me that I looked too kind and that I wasn’t concentrating hard enough. I feel like I still could’ve been a bit more menacing during the finals, but I think I did better than rehearsals for sure.
Looking back, what were the most difficult parts of your Star Search journey?
A lot of things were hard while I was going through them, but in hindsight, it wasn’t so bad. I never once felt like giving up and I had lots of encouragement from the other contestants to keep me going.
Congratulations, Jiayun!
Photos: KELVIN CHIA/ 8days.sg and Mediacorp Photo Unit
Click here to watch Star Search 2019 grand finals on Toggle.
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