The 5 Search


The 5 Search premiered on MediaCorp Channel 5 on 4 January 2015. It is a Singaporean reality-acting-hosting competition programme that finds the next face of the broadcasting channel, Channel 5. The judges are actress and Dim Sum Dollies member Selena Tan, actor Tay Ping Hui and host Bryan Wong. Class 95FM radio personality Jean Danker was employed as the host of the show.
Each week, there would be two segments of competition – one with regards to acting, and another for hosting – which all comes with a particular theme. The contestants on the show are required to outperform their fellow competitors in these segments to survive elimination for the week. They are also mentored by local industry veterans and get the opportunity to act or host alongside them.
On 1 March 2015, Kayly Loh was announced the winner of The 5 Search, with Shrey Bhargava and Aiken Chia as the runners-up. She received a two-year artiste management contract from MediaCorp, and a cash prize of $30,000.

Top 15 finalists

Finals

Color key:

Week 1 – Top 15

The show kicked off with a hosting challenge, which the contestants were tasked to pitch a product that was picked out by random to the judges within one minute. The winner of this challenge received immunity and was immediately saved from elimination for the week. For the acting challenge, the contestants were split into three groups of five, and were tasked to work on a scene from the local situation comedy Spouse for House. The resident judges also acted as the mentors for the contestants.

Week 2 – Top 12

This week, the hosting challenge of the show required the contestants to host under circumstances that were out of their comfort zones. They were tasked to deliver an opening link, conduct an interview with an interviewee, perform an ad-lib, as well as a closing link. They were judged based on their poise and professionalism despite the discomfort. The winner of this challenge received immunity and was immediately saved from elimination for the week. For the acting challenge, the contestants paired up with one another to act out a two-minute scene, and they were all given acting roles that were outside of their personal comfort zones.
ContestantOrderHosting challengeOrderActing challengeResult
ContestantOrderLocationOrderCharacter Result
Kayly Loh1Causes for Animals Singapore5Ruth Safe
Jeevan Kularetnam2Causes for Animals Singapore5Henry Eliminated
Caryn Cheng3Causes for Animals Singapore3Priscilla Safe
Gina Lin4Causes for Animals Singapore2Felicia Bottom 5
Aiken Chia5MegaZip Adventure Park2Richard Safe
Ron Teh6MegaZip Adventure Park1Weng Cheong Eliminated
Michelle Wong7MegaZip Adventure Park1Rena Safe
Leroy Yap8MegaZip Adventure Park6Yang Bottom 5
Shrey Bhargava9Porta Pumper6Remesh Immuned
Esther Goh10Porta Pumper3Suzie Safe
Laanya Asogan11Porta Pumper4Rebecca Eliminated
Fadhli Abdullah12Porta Pumper4Justin Safe

;Two-minute scene titles and plots
This week, the show started off with the acting challenge. The contestants were split into three groups of three, and required to come up with a two-minute skit on the spot in the improvisational theatre format. Unlike the previous weeks, the winners of this challenge received an advantage for the following hosting challenge, instead of an immunity. For the hosting challenge, the contestants were required to conduct an interview with one of the following local celebrities – Pierre Png, Aileen Tan, and Judee Tan, who acted as the "difficult guests" on a talk show. The winners of the acting challenge were given the opportunity to chat with their interviewees for 10 minutes, while the rest were given five minutes to get ready at the studio. As all contestants performed well during the acting challenge, the results for this week were solely based on the hosting challenge.
ContestantOrderActing challengeOrderHosting challengeResult
ContestantOrderCharacterOrderTalk show guestResult
Shrey Bhargava1Real estate agent6Pierre PngBottom 3
Aiken Chia1Newlywed husband3Aileen TanBottom 3
Kayly Loh1Newlywed wife5Pierre PngSafe
Caryn Cheng2Female elderly1Aileen TanSafe
Esther Goh2Lost traveller4Pierre PngSafe
Leroy Yap2Male elderly7Judee TanEliminated
Fadhli Abdullah3Son9Judee TanSafe
Gina Lin3Daughter2Aileen TanSafe
Michelle Wong3Mother-turned-vampire8Judee TanSafe

;Two-minute improvisational theatre skit plot
This week, the show commenced with the hosting challenge. The contestants were required to host in pairs on a food show, and were assessed on their adaptability to new elements and last-minute changes in the course of their hosting. The winner of the hosting challenge was given the opportunity to join the hosts of the morning show on 987FM on the following day. For the acting challenge, the contestants were paired up once again and were tasked to act on the set of long-running drama series 118. The winners of the acting challenge were given the chance to watch and meet the casts of the musical Cats.
Bryan Wong did not appear on the judging panel due to work commitments with a travel show and was replaced by MediaCorp Radio's vice-president for English programming Georgina Chang.
ContestantOrderHosting challengeOrderActing challengeResult
ContestantOrderLocationOrderCharacter Result
Aiken Chia1Rasa Istimewa Waterfront Restaurant1Sam Safe
Kayly Loh1Rasa Istimewa Waterfront Restaurant2Alex Safe
Fadhli Abdullah2Rasa Istimewa Waterfront Restaurant2Robert Bottom 2
Michelle Wong2Rasa Istimewa Waterfront Restaurant1Jo Bottom 4
Shrey Bhargava3Dancing Crab4Husband Bottom 4
Caryn Cheng3Dancing Crab3Maggie Safe
Esther Goh4Dancing Crab4Wife Safe
Gina Lin4Dancing Crab3Jenny Eliminated

Week 5 – Top 7

This week, the show commenced with the acting challenge. The contestants were required to work with the creative and executive producer of comedy television series The Noose Prem Anand to create a "noose-worthy" comedy character. They were required to perform their own research on the possible characters that they would like to play, and later pitch their ideas to Anand who then assisted them in the scripting and developing of their characters The winner of the challenge was given the opportunity to appear in one episode of the upcoming season of The Noose. For the hosting challenge, the contestants were tasked to host an entertainment segment about the Celebrate SG50 event. They were given 24 hours to research about the event, and the celebrities that they were going to hold the backstage interviews with. They were judged based on their prep work, quality of the interview question, interaction with the celebrity interviewees, and ability to convey the sense of excitement and party atmosphere to the television audience.
ContestantOrderActing challengeOrderHosting challengeResult
ContestantOrderCharacter OrderCelebrity intervieweesResult
Caryn Cheng1Maia Boom Khrong 4Vernon Cornelius & The MuttonsSafe
Aiken Chia2Goh Ying Jim 3Rahimah Rahim, Pam Oei & Denise TanSafe
Michelle Wong3Hally Yu 6Benjamin Kheng, Narelle Kheng & Fauzie LailyBottom 3
Kayly Loh4Marthalia Suharto-No Gudman 2Trick, Tabitha Nauser & John MolinaSafe
Esther Goh5Ai Pang Chan 5Desmond Tan, Romeo Tan, Shigga Shay & Ann HusseinBottom 3
Shrey Bhargava6Osayang Been Loving 7Alfred Sim, Tay Kewei, Miguel Antonio & Suhaimi YusofSafe
Fadhli Abdullah7Si Mee #?@! 1Yasminne Cheng, Shane Pow, Julie Tan & Max SurinEliminated

Week 6 – Top 6 (first week)

This week, the show commenced with the acting challenge. The contestants were required to work with MediaCorp actor Terence Cao on an acting sequence, and they were all given the same script and scenes to act. The winner of the challenge was given the opportunity to attend a-week-long of action classes conducted by Sunny Pang to perfect their skills. For the hosting challenge, the contestants were required to work in pairs together with a charity organisation. Each pair had to present a story, and helping their respective charity organisation with their day-to-day operations.
ContestantOrderActing challengeOrderHosting challengeResult
ContestantOrderCharacterOrderCharity organisationResult
Esther Goh1Undercover agent3Singapore Buddhist LodgeSafe
Caryn Cheng2Undercover agent1The Food Bank SingaporeSafe
Shrey Bhargava3Undercover agent2SWAMI HomeSafe
Kayly Loh4Undercover agent2SWAMI HomeSafe
Michelle Wong5Undercover agent3Singapore Buddhist LodgeBottom 2
Aiken Chia6Undercover agent1The Food Bank SingaporeBottom 2

It was revealed that Aiken Chia and Michelle Wong were in the bottom 2. However, the two contestants were then declared safe by Bryan Wong, who stated that there was no elimination for the week.

Week 7 – Top 6 (second week)

This week, the show commenced with the hosting challenge. The contestants were required to hold a live interview with various celebrity interviewees on the set of The 5 Show. The winner of the challenge was given the opportunity to host a video segment on The 5 Show. For the acting challenge, the contestants were required to work in pairs, and reinterpret local musical numbers.
ContestantOrderHosting challengeOrderActing challengeResult
ContestantOrderCelebrity intervieweesOrderCharacter Result
Esther Goh1Alaric Tay & Juliet Tay3Alice Eliminated
Michelle Wong2Alaric Tay & Juliet Tay1Kat Safe
Aiken Chia3Alaric Tay & Juliet Tay3Jeremy Bottom 3
Caryn Cheng4Rosalyn Lee & Justin Vanderstraaten1Lexie Bottom 3
Kayly Loh5Rosalyn Lee & Justin Vanderstraaten2Sister Safe
Shrey Bhargava6Rosalyn Lee & Justin Vanderstraaten2Brother Safe

Week 8 – Final: Top 5

There were four challenges during the final – drama acting challenge, comedy acting challenge, pre-recorded hosting challenge and live hosting challenge. In the drama acting challenge, the contestants all acted in a pre-recorded short skit together with MediaCorp actress Priscelia Chan. In the comedy acting challenge, each of the contestants collaborated with a comedy actor and put up a live comedy sketch. In the pre-recorded hosting challenge, each of the contestants hosted their own show that came with a celebrity guest appearance. For the live hosting challenge, the contestants paired up with Jean Danker and presented their fellow contestants and celebrities who appeared in the comedy acting challenge.
The judges' scores made up 50% of the overall results, and the remaining 50% were determined by public votes via the Toggle Now application or text messaging.

Elimination chart