PSS2 First runner-up: Carrie and Nat

It’s final. Despite strong showings by the top four contestants, only one guy and one girl will make it to the Project SuperStar 2 Grand Final held at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Sunday Feb 4, and it was not Carrie and Nathaniel.

The top four put up a tough fight as they vied for the two coveted spots in the Grand Final, and it was a close call to make. The judges had weighed in by awarding higher points to Carrie Yeo (an average of 39.7 points against Tan Diya’s 37.5 points) and Daren Tan (an average of 39 points against Nat Tan’s 37 points), but the voters did not seem to fully agree. They crowned the ‘double Ds and Tans’ – Diya and Daren, as the female and male winner respectively.

Carrie

To be eliminated just when she was one step away from competing at the Singapore Indoor Stadium must have been a poignant moment for Carrie, who had been eliminated earlier and only made it back to the competition through the Revival Round. After all, Carrie is a fan of the acoustics in the Indoor Stadium.
"I do have some regrets. We are just one step away from the Indoor Stadium, and the acoustics there should be very good. So, to get to sing there would be very shiok," said Carrie, showing signs of disappointment.
Although Carrie apparently lost on popularity in the females’ final, what she did not know was that she had won just the week before. According to Paul Chan, Vice-President for Branding & Promotions of MediaCorp TV, Carrie had the highest points among the girls after the judges’ scores and the number of votes were combined in the week when Averil Chan was eliminated (Semi-Final 3). Previously, Diya had been leading the pack every week. This week, Diya’s overall points from judges’ scores and public votes accounted for 62.1% while Carrie received 37.9%.

"I have regrets, but I don’t feel sore about losing," said Carrie.

Now, we have heard plenty of "I feel happy for [insert name of winner]" from runners-up of any competition, so it was quite refreshing to hear Carrie graciously acknowledging her "complicated feelings" towards the result. She said she was not upset because Diya won but because she herself lost.

"I felt like having a good cry because after all, I was still eliminated. However, there was no time to cry because we had to do interviews and go back to the office for meetings. But I still cried when I got home," shared Carrie, who was dressed in a very simple combination of T-shirt and jeans.

After the results were announced, Carrie appeared to be taking it in her stride. However, tears welled up in her eyes when the farewell video clip was shown.

"I don’t like to cry in front of others, because I was not totally devastated that I was eliminated. I was also happy and satisfied that I reached the Top 2, so I tried to stop the tears from flowing out," she said.

Oh, but Carrie is still happy for Diya for making it into the Grand Final. In fact, she will not only be helping Diya with her song choice but will be sending text messages to friends to ask them to buy Diya’s album."I will also buy a few copies myself," Carrie said with a laugh. See, that’s what friends are for.

--- Adapted from Channel U Website ---