When Sezali won the competition, some viewers were unhappy with it. They brought in the fact that he won because the Malay community voted overwhelmingly for him, but more disturbingly that the competition was a Malay-based one. This is due to the fact that he and the past two Idols are Malays. That is a rather unfair statement to make. It smacks of underlying racism. I am not a Malay, incidentally.
I was watching the finals and I feel that Sylvia sang the required Idol finale song in a dull and inexpressive manner. Touched by an Angel expresses the joy and awe at having received blessings and graces from God. Her rendition was devoid of such feelings. It was blatantly felt. She may have been a freethinker but that does not mean that she cannot attempt to imagine how it is for a non-atheist.
Singing a song with such a profound title requires the singer to understand the real meaning of the lyrics and bring out the emotions associated with it. This very reason made me feel that Sezali deserved to win the competition, because there was clear expression of such feelings in his rendition.
I concur with his comment that "Here we are all Singaporeans. There is no Chinese Idol or Malay Idol." His critics may still think that he may have been saying it to justify his win, but I think there is complete truth in it. It seems to me that they are just unhappy that Sylvia did not win instead. Anyway, the official statistics stated that she secured 39% of votes while Sezali secured 61% of votes. Enough said.
Art Fazil wrote his take on this issue. I like his ending sentence: " His victory was the triumph of talent over mass appeal." This is a very telling and irrefutable statement :D
