WHEN Tan Bee Keow first belted out a Hokkien classic on Taiwanese TV, many among the studio audience were stunned into silence.

The 20-year-old Ipoh native is the first Indian contestant to join One Million Star, Taiwan's highest-rated regional reality TV singing competition, which is now into its seventh season.

And she has outlasted thousands of talented hopefuls from Taiwan, China and Southeast Asia to reach theTop14.

The spunky freelance getai performer admitted readily in a phone interview with The New Paper from Taipei that her "biggest selling point" on the show is her skin colour.

"Before I came along, there weren't any contestants who were as dark-skinned as me," she said.

"It makes me special and in a way, it's a boost of confidence.

"I often exceed people's expectations when I sing Hokkien songs... They give me very positive remarks like, 'Wow, how are you able to sing so well?'"

It turns out that her fluency in Mandarin and dialects such as Hokkien and Teochew were not a result of hard work, but of bittersweet circumstances.

Born to Indian parents but adopted by a Chinese Malaysian couple when she was just eight months old, Tan was brought up as a Chinese girl.

Her adoptive parents, who worked as farmers, spoke Hokkien to each other and conversed mostly in Mandarin to their daughter.

They enrolled her in a Chinese primary school and she joined the public school system for her secondary and pre-university studies.

"Since I was four or five, I've been greatly influenced by my dad," she recalled.

"He loved Hokkien evergreen tunes, and whenever he played them, I'd move my body to the music."

She has been performing at temples and on the Malaysian getai circuit for the past 11/2 years, after graduating from high school.

In July, accompanied by her mum, Tan made a trip to Singapore to participate in the local leg of One Million Star VII's auditions, which were open to budding singers of all nationalities.

From more than 500 applicants in Singapore, 11, including Tan, eventually received the opportunity to join the main contest in Taipei. (See report below.)

One Million Star VII has successfully launched the careers of several previous contestants, like powerhouse vocalists Yoga Lin, Aska Yang, Jam Hsiao and Singapore's very own Huang Jinglun.

It's currently airing over E City (StarHub Ch 825) on Sundays at 9pm.

Tan has been based in the bustling, cosmopolitan city of Taipei for nearly three months now, an experience that has to date left her with nothing but a wonderful impression of the Taiwanese people.

"In the early stages of the competition, when I was out shopping with the other contestants on the streets, sometimes I'd get curious stares and glances from the locals,"Tan said with a chuckle.

"But you can tell they're not malicious. They just don't bump into foreigners like me very often.

"At times, I'd meet strangers, too, who don't know what language they should use to talk to me."

Now that she has become something of a household name in Taiwan, most of the stares have turned into warm, friendly smiles.

Approached on the streets

"I've had people call my name out loud," she said. "Some uncles and aunties have even walked up to me to chat in Hokkien.

"They tell me to take care of myself, or that I'm too thin and should eat more."

While she is aware that her race has given her a slight upper hand on One Million Star VII, Tan is prepared for the day the novelty wears off.

"I'm strongest when I sing classic Hokkien songs, but the judges have recently been encouraging me to take on more pop tunes and Mandarin songs," she said.

"They don't like contestants to stick to their comfort zones...They want us to be as versatile as we can."

Now that fame might beckon with the exposure she's getting on TV, how would she react if her biological parents decide to come looking for her after her stint in the competition?

Tan told Razor TV in an earlier interview matter- of-factly: "It's been so long, I don't think they would (want to look for me).

"They would have done so many years ago if they really had the desire to.

"I also do not have the intention to be reunited with them."

'We shouldn't care so much about nationality'

SOMETHING looked amiss from the start.

In July, during the Singapore leg of the auditions for Taiwanese singing competition One Million Star VII, there were only five local contestants among the 11 who made the cut to join the fold in Taipei.

The others were Malaysians and a Shanghainese, Shi Xu Jing, 24, resident singer at Clarke Quay nightspot Lunar Asian Fusion Bar.

Among the Singaporeans was a face familiar to local TV viewers: 20-year-old Renfred Ng, who in 2006 had emerged the male runner-up of the first season of Channel U reality TV singing contest Campus SuperStar.

Despite this, Ng failed to impress the Taiwanese judges and was knocked out in the early stages of the competition.

Likewise for the other four Singaporeans, Ms Dai Weixian, Ms He Cairong, Ms Huang Xinyi and Mr Xu Hanwen.

None of them progressed beyond the Top 40.

In comparison, the Malaysians fared much better and cracked the Top 14.

Besides Tan Bee Keow, there's also 22-year-old Negeri Sembilan native Jess Lee Kar Woei, an undergraduate at the National University of Singapore, and 23-year-old events planner Tay Ying Ying from Johor Baru.

So where did all our home-grown singing talents go?

Producer-composer Eric Ng, 34, co-owner of music publishing house Funkie Monkies, told The New Paper that while he isn't following this season's One Million Star, he feels "they often lack the drive to go all the way, compared to their Malaysian and Chinese counterparts".

He said: "Somehow, Singapore's environment has created a very practical mentality in our youngsters... The music industry does not guarantee success and perhaps, this has made many of them think, 'I want to sing, but I don't know whether I can make it'.

"If such thoughts are hindering you, it's harder to shine."

But veteran musician Roy Loy, 44, who was one of the judges on the Channel U reality singing competition Project SuperStar, disagreed.

"I feel that it's pure coincidence that there are more Malaysians and Chinese who have done better this time round," he said.

"Besides, in music, there shouldn't be any barriers like nationality.

"Nowadays, it's all about collaboration.

So many songs are written these days across countries - the melody could be from a Singapore songwriter and the lyrics from a Taiwanese... We shouldn't care so much about nationality."

This article was first published in The New Paper.