Arriving with an amiable smile,
casually dressed in a red T-shirt, jeans and a
trendy pair of sneakers, Taufik Batisah, our very
first Singapore Idol, is no longer mobbed
by hordes of screaming fans. But that doesn’t
mean he’s lost the charm which wooed Singaporeans
in the first season of Singapore Idol.
As he shakes my hand firmly and takes up his
seat at a quiet café at Holland Village,
it seems fame has taken its toll on him. He
looks decidedly more grown up than when we first
saw him on TV.
Our conversation starts with the recent edition
of Singapore Idol. We speak at length
about the top 12 hopefuls and more specifically,
about finalists Hady Mirza and Jonathan Leong.
Taufik, who has previously met them, feels
that both were already winners to have come
thus far in the competition. But he falls short
of passing any harsh judgement on his successor,
Hady Mirza.
“Hady has strong vocals,” Taufik
comments diplomatically and adds: “People
like whatever is current...I anticipated that
I won’t be in the limelight forever,”
“I actually wouldn’t want that
at all. I’d rather be a consistent performer
instead of sky-rocketing and becoming a passing
phase or a one-hit wonder. Whatever goes up
has to eventually come down, right? But I’d
like to be the one who stays constant.”
In the same breath, he gives credit to his
fans who have stayed constant with him, even
though over the past year, he hasn’t made
as many public appearances or given as many
performances as he’d like to.
The media, too, seems to have left him out
of their radar but, as Taufik explains, he had
actually been busy with a second album that
will re-launch his career with a big bang.
And his return couldn’t have come at
a better time, having picked up two prestigious
awards recently: The Best Singaporean Artist
(MTV Asia) and the Most Popular Artist (Anugerah
Planet Muzik).
When asked about what he sees himself doing
in the next five to ten years, Taufik reveals
that he has plans to venture into show hosting
on television and probably acting. But music,
he asserts, remains his top priority. He would
like to see himself breaking into foreign markets
such as Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia and perhaps
even Japan.
Taufik also mentions producing and writing
for other local singers. Hopefully, with his
experience and talent, we can finally develop
our Singaporean brand of music and market it
to the rest of the world.
My final question – and this is the clincher
– is whether he feels fame has abandoned
him. He flashes his trademark grin before replying:
“When you’re on top, everyone wants
a piece of you. I am grateful to have my loyal
following; they have been there for me and I
am touched beyond words.
“My aim is not to disappoint them and
to put in more so they get what they’ve
been waiting for. For those who thought my career
is dwindling, a new chapter is about to be opened.”
Sheena Akbal is a second-year student under
the BA (Hons) Arts Management programme at LASALLE
College of the Arts.
