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Mediacorp DJ Joakim Gomez reflects on Singapore Idol past, is at peace with being known as 'failed singer' from the show

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Joakim Gomez recently reflected on his time as a contestant on the second season of the reality singing competition Singapore Idol which aired in 2006.

The then-17-year-old had made it all the way to the top five of the competition, despite heavy criticism from judges Dick Lee, Florence Lian and Ken Lim. Gomez had even received a constant stream of acidic comments from viewers.

In the latest episode of the CNA series The Assembly – which features neurodivergent individuals posing questions to well-known Singaporean figures such as Kit Chan and Gurmit Singh – 987 DJ Gomez addressed "a former hater" of his and spoke about how he dealt with his emotions at the time.


One of the interviewers, Stephanie Fam, started off by apologising to Gomez – saying she would be asking a very sensitive question. She went on to admit that she “used to be a former hater” of the radio DJ.

"I didn’t think you deserve to be in Singapore Idol in the first place," said Fam. "At least I didn’t think you deserved to get as far as you did."

She then asked Gomez how he managed to deal with the hate during that time to which he stoically replied, “I would have hated myself on Singapore Idol as well.”

"How can the better singers be eliminated and not this Joakim Gomez guy who is so terrible?" asked Gomez.

He went on to credit his close friends and family who cheered him up during a time when he was “very angry" and "felt the entire world was against [him]”.

Gomez, however, refused to “victimise himself” and in addition to his support system, added that “therapy [was] always available”.

That wasn’t the only time in the episode where Gomez was made to answer questions about his Idol days.


Earlier in the interview, another interviewer asked Gomez if he was still remembered as the “failed singer in Singapore Idol”.

Explaining that it was during a time before the age of social media, he said it was as recent as 2022 when somebody posted a TikTok video of him during the contest and it went viral.

"I was like, 'Oh no! What is this doing here?'" he said, before explaining that it was not something he wanted to run away from but instead, he would rather “let it be in the past”.

Joakim Gomez said even though people might still remember him as the “failed singer”, he is fine with it.

"I’m okay with it because that’s the truth. I wasn’t a good singer on Singapore Idol, like the better singers kept getting knocked out instead of me," he explained.


Following the release of The Assembly episode, Gomez took to Instagram to share that while he is "completely at peace" with being associated as "the failed singer from Singapore Idol", he felt that it was time to bring the "narrative to a close in public interviews".

"It's not that I'm running from it – I never will – but I'm mindful of not oversaturating the public with the same story," he wrote.

"I'm happy to share my experiences in more private or intimate settings, but for future interviews, I want to focus on giving something fresh – new insights or updates about my present-day career."

He added that he was "happy" to have sat down with the neurodivergent journalists featured in The Assembly.

"Their insights and how they craft and put questions to people will definitely differ from non-neurodivergent individuals. If we don’t give them a chance to be a source of inspiration for others, who will?"

This story was originally published in 8Days.


For more 8Days stories, visit https://www.8days.sg/


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