''Hey Gorgeous'' (, previously styled ''Hey! Gorgeous'', ) is a Singaporean talent-scouting competition which searches for new talents in tertiary institutes. The show ran for three seasons, with a change in its Chinese title during the second season. A similar contest was held in 2009, although it was not broadcast on television.

History

''Hey Gorgeous'' was preceded by a talent-scouting competition entitled ''School Belle and the Beau'' (流星花园), which only aired on

MediaCorp Channel 8 Channel 8 ( zh, 8頻道) is a Singaporean free-to-air television channel, airing in Mandarin Chinese. It was created by Mediacorp, Television Singapura on 31 August 1963 with experimental broadcasts, before going official on 23 November that ye ...

for one season in 2004. This season was hosted by

Dennis Chew Dennis Chew Chong Kheng (born 15 August 1973), also known as Zhou Chongqing, is a Singaporean radio deejay, actor, variety show host and singer. Chew is known for playing Aunty Lucy, a character which requires him to cross-dress as a middle-ag ...

and

Belinda Lee Belinda Lee (15 June 193512 March 1961) was an English actress. A profile for the British Film Institute's Screenonline website asserts: "of all the Rank Organisation's starlets, Belinda Lee stands out as the most notorious, yet paradoxically ...

, and spawned artists such as

Elvin Ng Elvin Ng Choon Siong (; born 23 December 1980) is a Singaporean actor and former model. Early life Ng attended Jurong Primary School, Catholic High School and National Junior College. He graduated with an honours degree in English literatu ...

to fame. It took its current name when it was broadcast on

MediaCorp Channel U Channel U (marketed as U頻道, formerly named 优频道) is a Singaporean free-to-air television channel owned by Mediacorp. It was launched on 6 May 2001 by SPH MediaWorks. On 1 January 2005, the channel was transferred to Mediacorp after a ...

in 2007. Two years later, a similar competition, entitled Hey Gorgeous Online (校花校草上网追赶跑), was carried out in a wider variety of schools, and was hosted by

YES 933 YES 933, formerly known as 933醉心频道 (''933 Zuìxīn píndào'', "933 Intoxicated Channel"), is a Mandarin radio station owned by Mediacorp in Singapore. The station now holds the slogan of 顶尖流行音乐电台，引领潮流时代 (' ...

DJs. Public voting was carried out through voting online at the Hey Gorgeous website. After a four-year hiatus, there is a slight change to the format, as well as its Chinese name. The second season launched artistes like

Carrie Wong Carrie Wong Si Tian (; born 1 January 1994) is a Singaporean actress. She was discovered through the reality television competition '' Hey Gorgeous''. Early life The only child of a housewife mother and father who works in a security firm, ...

Somaline Ang Hong Ling (born Somaline Ang Ling; ; 16 August 1994) is a Singaporean actress. Early life and education Born to a Thai mother and a Singaporean Chinese father, Hong graduated from Fuchun Secondary School. She has two siblings, one of whom i ...

Richie Koh Richie Koh (born 16 June 1993) is a Singaporean actor who is signed to MediaCorp and China's LongAllStar Entertainment Group. In 2023, Koh won the Star Awards for Best Actor for his critically acclaimed role as an intellectually disabled in ...

& to fame and the third season launched artistes like He Yingying to fame.

Judges and hosts

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and

Ben Yeo Ben Yeo Chi Lung () is a Singaporean actor and television host. Career A former model, Yeo was first scouted on ''Snap'', SPH MediaWorks Channel U's talent show. He won the competition and was signed by SPH MediaWorks. When MediaWorks merged M ...

serve as the hosts for all seasons.

Fiona Xie Fiona Xie (谢婉谕, Xie Wanyu; born 24 January 1982) is a Singaporean actress, variety show host, and was named as one of the Seven Princesses of Mediacorp in 2006. She was prominently a full-time Mediacorp artiste from 2001 to 2009. Xie became ...

was one of the main hosts for the first season, but did not appear in subsequent seasons after leaving MediaCorp. During the second season, other artists such as

Shane Pow Shane Pow (, born 4 October 1990) is a Singaporean actor and was named as one of the 8 Dukes of Caldecott Hill. Education and early life Pow has an elder sister. He was educated at Woodlands Ring Secondary School and Ngee Ann Polytechnic. Pow ...

and

Romeo Tan Tan Romeo (; born 9 April 1985) is a Singaporean actor, who has been named as one of the 8 Dukes of Caldecott Hill. Tan came into prominence after finishing in fourth place on the tenth season of the television series ''Star Search'' in 2010 ...

join them during the campus searches. In the third season,

Vivian Lai use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = , death_cause = , body_discovered = , resting_place = , resting_place_coordinates ...

and

Kate Pang Kate Pang (, born 11 March 1983) is a Singaporean and Taiwanese former actress and television host. She was a full-time Mediacorp artist till 31 October 2017 but continues to film on an ad hoc basis. Acting career Pang was a model in Taiwan befor ...

joined as main hosts. During the finals of the second season,

Dai Xiangyu Dai Xiangyu (), previously known as Dai Yangtian (), is a Chinese actor and model formerly based in Singapore. He was a prominently a full-time Mediacorp artiste from 2007 to 2013. Career Dai was born in Shaoxing, Zhejiang province in 1984. He di ...

Rebecca Lim Rebecca Lim (; born 26 September 1986) is a Singaporean actress who won Best Actress in a leading role at the Asian Television Awards and two Best Actress in a Leading Role awards, a Best Supporting Actress award and 10 consecutive Top 10 Most ...

and Zhang Zhenhuan formed the judging panel.

Sheila Sim Sheila Beryl Grant Sim, Baroness Attenborough (5 June 1922 – 19 January 2016) was an English film and theatre actress. She was also the wife of the actor, director and peer Richard Attenborough. Career Sheila Beryl Grant Sim was born in L ...

Xu Bin Xu Bin (; born 19 February 1989) is a Chinese actor based in Singapore. He is managed under NoonTalk Media and was named as one of the 8 Dukes of Caldecott Hill. Life and career Xu was born in Fuzhou, China, and moved to Singapore to pursu ...

and

Kym Ng Ng Kwee Khim (; born 1 July 1967), best known by her stage name Kym Ng (), is a Singaporean television host and actress. She is known as one of Mediacorp’s Variety Ah Jies (综艺阿姐). Ng has received numerous accolades locally and regio ...

served as judges during the semifinals of the third season.

Format

In all seasons, the first few episodes involve a campus search in which the hosts travel to various tertiary institutions and look out for good-looking students. In the first season, contestants were grouped according to their genders and schools, and they had to put up performances. Since season 2, the contestants are to participate in certain games in order to win points. Contestants are awarded based on their overall performances, and the top few from each school would then move on to the semi-finals. The semi-finalists would then undergo a bootcamp where they try out outdoor activities, where they would be judged by special local artistes. During the finals, the finalists have to show their EQ, fashion sense, and wit, and would by judged by public votes.

Criticism

The second season was criticised to have bent ethics by having a lecturer divulging her students' particulars and administrative headshots to the hosts, as well as having the lecturer making calls to her student to be on the show.

Series overview

References

{{reflist Singaporean reality television series 2007 Singaporean television series debuts Channel U (Singapore) original programming Channel 8 (Singapore) original programming