Singapore is desperately searching for its own William Hung, the unlikely singing sensation from Hong Kong.
The city state's version of the American Idol talent show premiered this week in arguably the best time-slot on local television - after live coverage of its National Day celebrations on Monday night.
The first episode of Singapore Idol drew more than 1.2 million viewers, the largest audience ever achieved by a locally produced television programme.
Thousands of Singaporeans spent the past two months auditioning for the show, with hopefuls including a former Miss Singapore contestant and a part-time security guard who has just had a sex change.
But much of the publicity surrounding Singapore Idol has focused on the talentless, rather than the talented.
'Like William Hung, it was the losers who shone during the first episode and who got Singapore talking,' the Straits Times newspaper said in its review of Monday night's debut.