It’s not easy being a star. But it’s even harder being a Star Search finalist. And when you can overcome all odds to emerge champion for what’s possibly one of the toughest talent searches out there, then you are truly something. So congratulations to Carousell guy Teoh Zetong, who trumped the competition and walked home with a Mediacorp contract and an Audi Q2. You can read 8days.sg's post-win story about him here.

Now about the finals, which was split into three rounds: a dance segment, a spontaneous question-and-answer challenge and three skits where the contestants showed off their acting chops.

We never understood why dance is a factor for choosing a star, and it didn’t help that during the semis, the dance portion of the competition didn’t exactly flatter the rookies. But tonight’s dance performance was surprisingly impressive. At least for the ladies. Their dance number, a rehash of the viral Tomioka High Dance Club’s ’80s-inspired ‘bubbly dance’, was an absolute delight to watch, no thanks to the girls’ unabashed campiness.

On the other hand, the guys’ dance routine, which also paid homage to another Japanese viral dance — dance group World Order’s synchronised slow dance, in this case — paled in comparison and ended up being more comical than cool.

Remember how we said that the improv acting challenge during the semis was the most sweat-inducing, nerve-racking thing to watch on screen in 2019? Well, we spoke too soon. The spontaneous question-and-answer challenge tonight deserves that title instead. It basically required the finalists to think on their feet and answer within 25 seconds the (sometimes inane) questions given by taskmasters Lee Teng, Kym Ng and Jeremy Chan.

Talk about being in a pressure cooker. While the improv acting challenge saw them acting out scenarios they imagined, this challenge, which didn’t give them any time to prep, not only required them to be creative, they also had to be eloquent. Which was no easy feat for the kids, most of whom are more used to speaking in English.

It reminded us of the Miss Universe Q&A round but instead of answers about world peace, the judges wanted DRAMA. There were some standouts like Tyler Ten who mimed his answer with his butt and Ye Jiayun who asked judge Simon Yam to slap her. Seriously, she did.

But in the end, the challenge belonged to… Lee Teng, Kym and Jeremy, who all got to showcase their talent for impersonation and comedy. It also succeeded in embarrassing (in a good way, of course), Qi Yuwu, Chen Hanwei and Christopher Lee as the questions were based on their careers and came with clips from their, um, fledgling past. 715, in particular, looked absolutely horrified when his Star Search 1999 vid was flashed.

Then came the acting round where the finalists had to reenact scenes from past Ch 8 dramas A Song to Remember, The Guest People and My Lucky Charm. They were joined by Star Search alums Desmond Tan and Romeo Tan and 2010 champ Jeffrey Xu, who stole his skit and proved just how underrated he is.

There were a handful of truly amazing performances during the acting challenge — kudos to a very emotive Chang Hio Cheng and Juin Teh, who got slapped and groped, for bringing it. But surprisingly, the finalists who aced the acting round, didn’t go on to make the Top 3. In the end, joining winner Zetong on the podium were Lasalle dance major Herman Keh and Nanyang Poly student Ye Jiayun who came in second and third respectively.

It goes to show that the three overseas judges, Simon Yam, Carina Lau and Stephen Fung (who were joined by Mediacorp Chief Content Officer Doreen Neo and veteran filmmaker Man Shu Sum on the panel), meant what they said at the start of the show. Carina explicitly said she was looking for a winner with “charisma” while Stephen articulated how he would pick star quality over acting talent because “acting can be nurtured”. If you read our cover story on the Top 12, you know we couldn’t agree more with them.

But when it came down to the nail-biting finish between Herman, who earned praise for his comedic timing, and Zetong, who was told he was leading man material and who we said was destined to be the next heartland heartthrob, we still had no idea which direction the judges were going to go. Until, well, the results were announced and it became as clear as the stars we search for on a cloudless night.

Click here to watch Star Search 2019 grand finals on Toggle.

Photos: Mediacorp Photo Unit