Singapore’s Talentime stars reunite for Sing60 at Fort Canning
Five ex-contestants of the once-popular singing contest return for one unforgettable night
[SINGAPORE] Before Netflix and Spotify, before American Idol and Singapore Idol, there was Talentime.
For nearly four decades – from its radio debut in 1949 through the glitzy televised spectacle of the 1980s – Talentime was Singapore’s most beloved stage. It discovered voices, launched bands, and defined what it meant to be a musical dreamer in Singapore.
“In those days, people had less to do,” recalls Max Surin, who took part in three Talentime contests – in 1971, 1972 and 1978 – and later fronted the popular band Tokyo Square. “Talentime was the biggest entertainment platform in the country. If you liked music at all, you wouldn’t miss the show.”
The programme eventually faded from television but not from memory, as its alumni went on to shape Singapore’s music and entertainment scene in their own ways.
Now, decades later, Surin is reuniting with four fellow Talentime alumni – Clement Chow, Ann Hussein, Faridah Ali and Gerry Rezel – to perform at Sing60, a two-day music festival celebrating 60 years of Singapore music.
Each one is a star in their own right. Chow is the singer-songwriter best known for his lead vocals in Count On Me, Singapore. Ann won Talentime in 1980 and joined the band Gingerbread, which rose to fame with songs like Roses. Faridah and Rezel were part of Variations, the group that clinched second place in Talentime 1978.
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All five are now in their 60s and 70s – but they still sing with the spark of those early years, when music was raw and heartfelt, and television could make the whole nation stop to listen.
Voices of a nation
“Those days, you had to really sing,” says Ann. “There was no editing, no mixing, no autotune. If you were bad, everyone knew it instantly.”
Talentime also “proved that Singapore could produce its own stars,” says Chow. “These weren’t imported acts or studio-managed idols. They were ordinary people who sang their hearts out – with sequins and bell-bottoms and all.”
To win Talentime in the 1970s or 80s was to experience a kind of fame that felt pure and uncalculated. Contestants sewed their own costumes, rehearsed in borrowed studios, and prayed that their poofed-up hairdos survived the studio lights.
“There was no social media, no Instagram, no TikTok,” recalls Rezel, who sang with his university bandmates in Variations. “TV was the only so-called ‘social media’ we had. When you were on Talentime, the whole country knew your face.”
Ann remembers the dizzying aftermath of her win and the rise of Gingerbread. “We got fan mail by the sack. I had to get friends and family to help me reply to everyone. When I went to crowded areas like Geylang or Orchard, people would recognise me – photos, questions, interviews, non-stop. I had to dress down when I took public transport so no one noticed me.”
The prizes were charmingly modest, as Surin recalls: “Finalists didn’t get much money – but they gave you things. A refrigerator, a TV, a toaster. You’d go around to different places to collect your prizes.”
The real reward, though, was something no sponsor could give: the full attention of a nation that knew your face and voice.
A reunion of eras
For the upcoming Sing60 festival, the quintet will perform on Sunday (Dec 7) the very songs they once sang on Talentime – including George Michael’s Careless Whisper, Johnny Nash’s I Can See Clearly Now, and The Beatles’ Here Comes the Sun and Got To Get You Into My Life. For older audiences, these songs are little time machines that “will transport them back to their living rooms and their old TV sets,” says Chow.
They’ll join a lineup of popular Singapore performers including Benjamin Kheng, Mavis Hee, Charlie Lim, shazza, Shabir, Shye, Glenn Yong, Iman Fandi, A Vacant Affair, The Great Spy Experiment, Aldrin and EJ Missy, among many others.
Organised by The Rice Company Limited and produced by Global Cultural Alliance, with support from The Business Times and The Straits Times, this multi-genre spectacle will sprawl across Fort Canning Park on Dec 6 and 7, with different performances each day.
But Sing60 isn’t just about music. Every ticket sold will fund a seat for a child or youth from a less privileged background. Tickets can also be offset via the SG Culture Pass, which grants all Singapore citizens aged 18 and above S$100 in credits.
Rezel, for one, is thrilled to be part of an all-Singapore showcase. “Any platform that can showcase talent will help the industry. We need more of that today – at a time when people are bombarded with so many options.”
The others agree. “For one night, we get to relive that feeling again,” says Chow, “that sense of community. Back then, everyone was watching Talentime together. Now we get to sing it back to them.”
Sing60 runs at Fort Canning Park on Dec 6 and 7, with different performers each night. Tickets from Sistic. SG Culture Pass can be used to off-set ticket purchase.
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