Septembert 15 , 2006
By Low Lai Chow

Despite getting kudos from the judges as making the biggest improvement out of her season two cohort, the only female contestant in the Top 5, 18-year-old student Jasmine Tye found herself out of the running for next Sunday’s grand finals. But being No. 3 is good enough for this cauliflower-turned-singer. “I never really expected to make it this far.”

Were you gutted at having to leave the competition just when you were getting to the finals?
I never really expected to make it this far. I’m very happy as it’s been a very fulfilling journey. The only thing I was disappointed about was my performance. I could have done better. Was it my worst performance all season? Nope, that was Wannabe. Er, I wasn’t thinking straight at the moment!

Awaiting the news on your last results show — what was that like?
Deep inside, I wasn’t really nervous. But the atmosphere was so tense that you couldn’t help but feel a little nervous. Otherwise it was a very enjoyable evening for me. I stopped feeling nervous during the results show since the seventh Spectacular — I felt that I should be enjoying myself.

Ken Lim attributed your subpar performance this week to it being one of your off days. Was it really the case?
I agree, to a certain extent. But I wouldn’t use it as my excuse for my performance, although certain things did not go according to plan. What happened? I’m not supposed to reveal it, but it took some time for me to re-focus again. I wasn’t in the correct state of mind when I was singing my song. I was trying very hard to emote, mostly for the first song.

Did you consciously hold back after last week’s sensational performance?
I was very self conscious on stage. I regretted that. I always want to challenge myself not to leave the stage feeling I could have done better. Honestly, I held back a little. But I tried my best.

The judges seemed to dish out loads of praise on Jonathan and Hady, but gave you a fair bit of criticism.
All four of them had a point in their comments. Up till yesterday, I was learning so much from them. When they said I shouldn’t be doing this kind of song at this stage of the competition, it was true, you know? I guess they were just being fair and trying to point out what went wrong. Nah, I don’t have hard feelings. I love them all!

Dick Lee thought you seemed to ‘just give up” during your second performance. Was it all in his mind?
I’m not very sure what he was thinking. All I know is that when I reviewed my performance, I called my friends and they said I seemed a little low on my energy. It could be the reason why he felt that way. But I knew the fire was burning within me.

What is it like being the last gal in the competition ever since the Top 5?
I never thought it was something to honk about. At first I felt that I should be doing the girls proud, and that kind of unnecessary pressure on myself. Later, I realised I shouldn’t forget what I came to do, which is to beat my previous performances (every week). That has stuck with me ever since I realised I was the only girl left. It was a privilege to be there standing, still.

Did the guys bully you?
They came by regularly to knock on my door and check if I was okay. They were very nice! We all got along very well.

Compared to the songs that the judges specially picked out for the Top 4 last week, the songs that you guys chose for the My Favourite Songs theme this week seemed less contemporary and er, more fuddy. Why do you think that is so?
Hmmmm… I’m not very sure. For our favourite songs, it was really up to us on how we wanted to reach out to our fans. For me, I wanted to do songs that could reach out to all kinds of people. I picked My Valentine — even though it was old — because in its time, it was a major hit. I felt that younger generations should know it, and if they don’t, I wanted to let them know the song was pretty nice!

Rahimah said she thought the winner would be a guy because female fans usually vote fervently. And now a male winner is confirmed.
From what I heard, some felt that there would be a female winner too. It all boils down to how each contestant performs at that moment. It depends whether they can perform that night.

Does the performance count or does it all lie on the fans’ loyalty?
It works both ways in how you maintain your fans’ loyalty through your performance and how you move more people with it. That’s something I strongly believe in.

We’ve seen you around the MediaCorp premise with really dark eye bags. Is being in the competition all that tough?
It’s genetic. My family have dark eye rings. Even my relatives. I used to have time to put masks once a week. Then when I joined Idol, it become once a month… to no more! Things got busy and I haven’t really had the time. And sometimes I don’t have time to put on makeup. The journey has been tiring but fulfilling. People say that nothing comes without hard work, so I guess a lot of hard work is involved. Maybe that contributed to my eye rings.

So many contestants were falling ill. Is everyone in the competition almost always sick?
I guess it’s how you — I know it sounds like a cliché — understand yourself and how you’re disciplined to take care of your body. If you survive on very little sleep, go ahead. But strike that balance. I do put in the effort to make sure I don’t fall ill, and I’m someone who doesn’t usually fall sick. If I do, it’s a very painful process! I take vitamins and make sure I get enough rest. Once or twice I got allergies, but other than that, I’m quite okay. I’ve not fallen sick in the competition. Maybe just once — gastric.

Are you chuffed to learn you’re a Xiao Di Di (Mandarin for ‘little boy’) killer like how Joakim is a Xiao Mei Mei (‘little girl’) killer?
It’s an honour, but I don’t want to stop there. I would love to reach out to the older generation, like aunties and uncles. When I meet fans, I get girl fans in the roadshows too. And most of the screams I heard are from girls! Maybe because they’re higher pitched. But, yeah. Do guys come up to me with smitten looks? I don’t think so. They’re more like supporters.

You come across as this really, really nice gal. Where do you get that from?
I’m just being myself. There are times when I suffer from really sad pangs and get frustrated. I try to remain positive. Even though things may not go according to plan, I just want to smile a bit.

At 18, you are one of the youngest ones. Ever had any issues with that?
I never felt that being young is a disadvantage. You still have a long way to go. Even though you may not have the experience, you must be able to absorb. You’re fresh and new, and the hunger is there. It’s never been a problem for me. It’s no stumbling block.

What was the most fun you had on the show?
Hanging out with other contestants. I really made very good friends there and I know they’ll be my friends for life. Did our habits rub off on each other? In the boot camp, me, Rahimah and Siew Woon slept in the same room. I had a habit of removing my makeup, Siew Woon had a habit of changing her clothes and Rahimah, brushing her teeth. To this day, I would find myself brushing my teeth so many times a day!

What will you miss most?
The people, the production people, and even the hairdresser. They’re very nice and took care of me. I‘d also miss doing the music video shoots. The end result is always something to laugh about. My favourite was the one with Chinese characters, where I fell off a chair! It was really hot that day and we had to make sure our costumes weren’t torn.

So what’s next on your to-do list?
I’ll be starting school next semester at NUS, Faculty of Science. I wanna learn driving so I can fetch my parents around! And get proper training for writing songs. That’s always been my dream. I started writing songs two years ago.

You’ve written songs before?
The first song I wrote — it’s called Game of Illusion — was inspired after reading this whole series of comic books. I’m very proud of that song ‘cos I wrote that in Chinese. It’s about comic characters and how love should be like that. I have some songs that are sad, and different songs that about finding my strength. I know this would be something I would do for a long time. Maybe be as accomplished as Dick Lee — he’s someone who really inspires me. Stacie Orrico too. And Kit Chan!

Who is going to bag the title, you think?
I truly think it really depends on the day itself. Both of them are really strong competitors and deserve to be where they are. I’m so proud of them. It really boils down to their mentality.