Is this The Final 1 contestant Rui En’s doppelganger?

If you’ve seen the trailer for the second season of reality singing competition show The Final 1, which will premiere next weekend (July 5) on MediaCorp TV Channel 5, you might have noticed a contestant who looks strikingly like actress Rui En.

Faux Rui En is actually Priscilla Tan, a 26-year-old marketing executive. “I don’t think I look like her — she’s quite good looking,” Tan said, with a laugh. “I think she’s a great actress and she’s pretty and she’s got a lot of fans, so yeah, she’s someone that I think is cool. (Rui En) has that very hot vibe, I think, and I’m more the girl-next-door kind.”

The likeness is also due, in part, to the makeup Tan was wearing when the trailer was filmed. Although in her “regular” life, Tan said she doesn’t really wear makeup at all. “Even when I go to work, I just put on some foundation, blusher and lip balm.”

Similarly, when it comes to her music, Tan believes in keeping things minimal. “I’m a very simple person — (it’s) just me and my plain old piano,” she said. Signing up to be a contestant on The Final 1 was a “step of faith” for her. “Putting yourself out there, being on TV and everything — I don’t even know if my singing was good,” she confessed. “It was just something I really love, and I saw an opportunity to have a good experience and try something I’ve never done before.”

Whether she does become the last singer standing will depend on the judges, of course. The format for this second season of the Final 1 features a twist: The judges will have complete authority over who stays and who goes throughout the series — up until the final two, when the winner will be at the mercy of public votes. Who are the judges? Ken Lim and Taufik Batisah will make their return as deciders of the contestant’s fates, along with one other “mystery judge” whose identity will be revealed only in the third episode. Apart from the last three episodes, which will be shown “live”, the rest of the episodes will be pre-recorded in front of a live audience at *Scape. (You can get tickets to the next recording on June 27 here: http://www.scapers.sg/events/the.final.1).

Sure, some people may pooh-pooh singing competitions on TV, but previous finalists and winners of such shows have, on more than one occasion, talked about how these competitions gave them the all-important leg-up they needed to start their career. If nothing else, it provided an opportunity to sing to an audience of thousands.

Taufik, for example, who’s now a successful pop star in the region, has often credited his win on the first edition of Singapore Idol, more than a decade ago, for catapulting him to stardom. The previous winner of The Final 1, Farisha Ishak, has also had success with a solo album, Aligned, released last year. Sezairi, who has been doing a lot of work since winning the third edition of Singapore Idol — his next projects include a role in the film, 1965; a track on the soon-to-be-released album, Sing, Love; and his own album in the works — has tipped his hat to the competition too. “I consider myself lucky because I did have my big break on Idol,” he told TODAY previously.

Nevertheless, the road to stardom won’t be easy — and that, in a way, is what the producers of this season want to highlight too. Bernard Lim, head, Family Segment at MediaCorp, said the new season will also provide valuable insights into the local music industry. “Audiences will be taken through an exciting journey of aspiring singers learning about the realities of the business, and gain an understanding of the elements involved in building a musical identity,” said Lim. “The Final 1 Season 2 places a strong emphasis on community bonding among Singaporeans, as the auditions and the elimination rounds are held at the CDCs and *SCAPE, respectively.”

Each of the 13 episodes also has a theme of sorts, such as Relatability, Marketability or Stage Presence.

Tan has her work cut out for her. Challenging her for the title are other hopefuls, not all of them are your regular bedroom singers, either. Take Gareth Fernandez. You could say the 24-year-old student is a semi-professional singer. He isn’t just actor-host Brendon Fernandez’s kid brother. In October last year, he released an EP, titled Subliminal Love. He was also a featured artiste at the countdown show, Celebrate SG50, the popular Mosaic Music Festival at The Esplanade and the annual music market, Music Matters Live, among other events.

Then there’s Jermaine Leong. The 16-year-old, also a student, has been on TV before, in the Channel 5 telemovie Love Is Love: Sunrise; and in okto programmes such as Fableicious, Zero Hero, Knockout and Dream School. And then there’s Isaac Ong Yijie, 26. Ong dabbles in theatre — his stage credits include Singapore Repertory Theatre’s Behind The Yellow Line and Action Theatre’s MAKAN drama festival, and one thing he has going for him is the fact that he has a little more experience with the competition than the others. He made it as far as the Top 60 during the first season of The Final 1, and this year, he’s hoping that this second chance is the one that will give him his break. Other contestants also have a strong following online, some of them garnering thousands of views for their music videos.

But Tan is keeping her eye on the prize. “I guess my dream would be to have my own album and be signed to a good label, and basically just do music the way I like,” she said.

That may sound like a big dream, but, as a wise man once said, you’ve got to start somewhere. And if you don’t dream, then how can your dreams come true? ADDITIONAL TEXT BY CHRISTOPHER TOH

Catch The Final 1 starting July 5 at 9.30pm on MediaCorp TV Channel 5.