Iskandar Ismail wins SG Mania
SINGAPORE — After eight weeks, Iskandar Ismail pipped his fellow contestants Sarah Aqilah and Sufie Rashid to emerge the winner of the inaugural reality singing competition SG Mania.
SINGAPORE — After eight weeks, Iskandar Ismail pipped his fellow contestants Sarah Aqilah and Sufie Rashid to emerge the winner of the inaugural reality singing competition SG Mania.
Iskandar, son of legendary singer R Ismail, was a clear favourite with the audience and judges, garnering 40.3 per cent of the vote, ahead of Sufie (31.4 per cent) and Sarah (28.3 per cent). Along with his trophy, he took home a grand prize of S$25,000 cash, while Sufie received S$3,000 and Sarah received S$2,000.
The two-hour grand finale that was telecast live on Tuesday night paid tribute to Malay pop legend P Ramlee, who rose to fame in the early 1950s in Singapore during the rise of Malay entertainment. Apart from the three contestants, guest performers included Taufik Batisah as well as veteran singers Azhar Ahmad, Yusman Umar, Asiyah Sinan and Suraya Hassan.
SG Mania is a new series that features past contestants and winners of past reality singing competitions organised by MediaCorp, such as Anugerah, Juara, Singapore Idol, Live The Dream and The Final 1, competing for top honours. Senior vice-president of MediaCorp’s Malay Broadcast Division, Zakiah Halim, said the hope was for the series to not only “serve as a platform for evergreen songs to be appreciated by the younger generation”, but also give support to Singapore singers.