Whereas most 13-year-olds have just finished their Primary School Leaving Examination and started on secondary school education, Shawn Tok has gone one up on everyone his age and older by winning Campus Superstar 2.

He beat every contestant older than him in a talent competition organised for students below tertiary education to emerge youngest winner ever.

His supporters out-voted closest fellow rival Benjamin Hum to make Tok the sole male winner despite scoring lower points assigned by a panel of music industry-based judges.

Has his feat proved that a competition designed to pit contestants against one another based on singing talent alone, or on a showcase of X-factor, otherwise known as charisma? 

In an interview with The Observer, Lee Wei Song, judge of the first and second season of Project Superstar, said, “This is not (solely) a singing competition.” 

The local music veteran composer and producer said such competitions judged an individual’s entire performance and depended on the X-factor, how one carries himself or herself and the star quality one possesses. 

Singing itself is no good indicator of a rising star. 

“The contestants can sing well, but they are merely singing. You can’t see their personality (in the performance),” said Lee. 

He agrees the quality of singing has been deteriorating as contestants do not challenge and prepare themselves sufficiently and think they can rely on other factors to win. 

Lee said, “It is not that the contestants cannot sing, but they don’t push themselves hard enough (to achieve what they want), (they are) always going for shortcut.” 

“If you like music, you have to grab hold of every opportunity, not being afraid of hardships… Before you join a competition, you must ask yourself ‘Are you ready?’ 

“They joined the competition without developing their ability to the fullest,” Lee added. 

However, this does not amount to contestants relying on charisma to win competitions.

Sugene Gan, singer and founder of Genie Sound Advice, said that the local music market is small and singers confident of their talent have tried out the competitions before. 

The 26-year-old, better known by the moniker Genie, said, “It may be due to the relatively small market. Most people have typically taken part in the first round of the competition, hence there are lesser people participating in the following round(s).”

And it appears that the ones to suffer from the talent decline are not the singers but the fans. 

Third-year communications and new media major, Pegan Chong, said she was disappointed with the yardstick viewers used to decide who should win. 

“Whether the contestants make it to the next round was dependent on the voters, and not their singing abilities. I mean, hello, this is supposed to be a singing competition,” she said. 

Sensing this decline and wanting to provide a training ground for singers, Lee has started Star Champs in Lee Wei Song School of Music aimed at grooming people for singing competitions.

The preparatory course teaches acting, dancing and public speaking and is a collaboration with record companies and has Taiwanese singer/actor Alec Su You Peng as one of the teachers. 

Lee said, “Lee Wei Song School of Music will always be opened to prepare you for the singing competitions. 

“I would love to see a superstar who can bring glory to the nation in the next season, and not merely in Singapore.”