'Don't bother listening to her, she's tone-deaf': Yang Guang Ke Le tears up recalling getai competition experience

Her stage name may reflect her sunny disposition and pleasant demeanour, but her experience in the competition was far from peachy. 

In a recent episode of the Mediacorp talk show Hear U Out, Yang Guang Ke Le revealed how she was bullied during the 2018 Getai Challenge competition.

Alongside her was Desmond Ng, a fellow Mediacorp actor who also has roots in getai, and personally took part in the 2015 Getai Challenge. Coincidentally, he was the emcee during Ke Le's competition.

Responding to Hear U Out host Quan Yi Fong's question about whether she suffered any bullying during the competition, the 25-year-old shared: "People were really doubting my ability… I was really quite hurt. I think they said that I was tone-deaf."

At that moment, Ke Le admitted that she did sing out of tune during the competition, but saying that she was "tone-deaf" was too far, she felt. 

"People made fun of me when it was my turn to sing, they'd say, 'Oh, you can go to the washroom. Don't bother listening to her, she's tone-deaf.'"

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And when Yi Fong, 48, asked how she coped with these negative comments, Ke Le candidly replied: "In the past, I was hurt - I'd cry, but that was all. What else could I have done? It's not like I could've insulted them back, right?"

She then explained that these people never said those words directly to her face, but would spread rumours behind her back instead. And as it turns out, these dissenters were the other getai veterans in the industry, Ke Le said.

Yi Fong later asked if she would tell them to give her a chance to grow if she could go back in time, and Ke Le promptly teared up.

"No one would listen," Ke Le said, choking back tears. "No one would listen to your pleas for a chance. No one would listen.

"In this arena and this profession, you have to prove your abilities before others will acknowledge it."

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Yi Fong added in retrospect: "I often see that when a cheerful person gets attacked, there's more to how they feel than what they show. You might be hurt, but you have to put up a front."

Ke Le chimed in: "I was fortunate, I only had two options when faced with such attacks. I can give up, or I can do better… I refused to give up."

Desmond, who remained quiet while Ke Le was speaking, suddenly interjected.

Said the 35-year-old: "I have to speak up for her (Ke Le)... Singing only accounted for 20 points in total. But she had high scores for her overall performance, including her dancing, costumes and stage appeal."

Ke Le has a long background of performing that began at a young age due to her passion for singing, she said during the talk show.

She attended Mandarin classes and had vocal lessons, and was even trained to sing dialect songs.

Her mother also took her to participate in various competitions, including singing, modelling, fashion and dancing ones.

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She won many of these competitions and has a large trophy collection in her home, she shared.

She ultimately finished in the top five for the 2018 Getai Challenge.

Today, she's an accomplished Mediacorp artiste with roles as a host in Happy Great World and Happy Great World 2 as well as the Star Awards 2022 Backstage Live.

Most notably, she's also acted in Jack Neo's Ah Girls Go Army where she portrayed the happy-go-lucky Princess See.

As for singing, she's more than proved herself capable of doing so and is still active in the getai scene.

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khooyihang@asiaone.com

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