Who is the true Singapore Idol? I believe it’s anyone who can emulate Taufik Batisah. In our first SI, you had a man who was unexpectedly voted into the Top 12, but persevered and improved by leaps and bounds. In other words, he was a man who took the opportunity given to him and proved that he deserved to remain in the competition, winning even the harshest critic over.

Will there be someone like that in this year’s competition? Who knows.

What I do know, however, is that Gayle Nerva’s Idol journey ended way too prematurely. It was a depressing SMS that I got from Kathy in the midst of my Freshman Orientation Camp’s “Secret Pal Night” - “Gayle is out! can you believe it?” And to add to the travesty, she was in the bottom three with Jay and Paul! The voting public is esssentially making the Wildcard round redundant, by systematically eliminating Norman, then Gayle and then keeping Jay in the bottom three.

Nonetheless, I am grateful for Gayle’s chance to reach the Spectaculars. Her almost daily blogs were just so genuine I think she endeared even more fans to her. In her farewell video, she noted how overwhelmed she was by the love of her fans, especially those that grew into friends during the course of the jouney. I believe that made all the difference. If Gayle’s sheer presence in the Idol competition could elicit such an outpouring of love… then she’s already a winner.

Keep singing, Gayle Nerva! We’re always going to be behind our Gaylie.