Star Search 2024 is the 12th installment of the long-running Chinese talent competition Star Search, hosted by Mediacorp, which first premiered in 1988. The season premiered on 20 October and concluded on 24 November.
Hong Kong-based Nanyang Polytechnic student Tiffany Ho was named the winner of the season, with breakdancer Gladys Bay finished as runner-up and swimming coach Jona Chung finishing in third place. Ho was the first female winner in Star Search in 21 years since Felicia Chin back in season eight, and not counting the male-female champion format between seasons four and eight, Ho was the first overall female winner in 31 years since Ivy Lee back in season three. Ho won a Mediacorp management contract along with a BYD Auto vehicle (without a Certificate of Entitlement) won by each finalist in the top three. Six contestants from this season besides the two runner-ups were also signed to Mediacorp a month later on 24 December, with Amy Ang signing to its content creator network Bloomr.SG; Bay, Chung, Chua Seng Jin, Gladys Ng, Ler Ka Ying, June Tan, and Tan Zi Sheng were signed on The Celebrity Agency.
The season was announced on 21 June 2024 via various social media platforms and its Chinese news website 8world, announcing a theme of X Factor. To promote the season, three rounds of meet-and-greet sessions with various Mediacorp celebrities were held from 28 to 30 June at Orchard Central. Last season's runner-up Herman Keh, along with Chen Ning JJ Neo, Richie Koh, Sammi Tan, Tyler Ten and Zhai Siming, hosted the first day; Ben Yeo, Bonnie Loo, Daryl-Ann Jensen, Denise Camillia Tan, Fang Rong, Hazelle Teo, Jeremy Chan, Lim Pin Juen, Tan Ting Fong, Tay Ying and Yunis To in the second day; last season's top three Ye Jia Yun, Herman Keh and winner Zhang Zetong, along with Benjamin Tan, Hong Ling, Jensen Wang, Jernelle Oh, JJ Neo, Lim Pin Juen, Seow Sin Nee and Sheryl Ang, on the third.
The auditions were announced on 22 June 2024 and applications opened until 13 July 2024, applicable for aspirants with ages between 17 and 30, and go through either rounds of auditions for a place in the live shows. In addition to the open auditions, talent scouts across five different polytechnics were also held prior to open auditions.
Following the audition and rounds of selections, the show announced on 23 August that they have shortlisted 20 contestants to compete this season, but not explicitly told of the names of the hopefuls at the time of announcement; they also revealed that these contestants had to attend masterclasses hosted by various celebrities and industry experts for two months thru September. The top 20 cast for the season include a married breakdancer couple, an online influencer, a contestant of Thai and Chinese heritage (Gladys Ng), a contestant of Indian and Chinese heritage (Sufeia Azura Sunir), some sporting professionals and one loyal viewer of Channel 8 dramas.
BYD Auto replaces Audi as its official car this season, with the top three finalists winning a BYD car each (BYD Seal, Atto 3 and Dolphin for the winner, runner-up and third place finalists, respectively). Mitsubishi Electric is the only sponsor to return from the previous season. New and known sponsors for this season were Holistic Way, Recogen and Shopee.
The 20 contestants were announced on 12 September, as follows:
The semifinal stage were broadcast over three taped 90-minute episodes from 20 October thru 3 November. All episodes provide closed captioning, unless otherwise stated. Unlike the previous seasons, all episodes are given a parental guidance rating similar to other primetime programs.
The first episode covers highlights based on the two rounds of open audition, including the Emotion (which enact a script given by the producers) and Charm (which test on charisma, physical and mental fortitude, or fashion detail) challenges covered by the contestants, as well as Talent Scouts across the five Polytechnics.
The second episode features the Top 20 contestants attending a 29-day masterclass (大å¸ÂçÂÂ) and training inside a private "Talent House" bungalow, from several professional artists, producers, designers and studio management, hosted by Dennis Chew and Guo Liang. The results for each of segments and its featured contestants were as follows:
The contestant's potential profession are revealed at the end of the episode, with eight aligned to hosting profession, and the other 12 aligned to acting.
The top 20 contestants compete in a series of three tasks assigned by production, and are judged by Mark Lee, Kym Ng and season one winner Zoe Tay. These contestants are grouped into teams of two, helmed by either Lee Teng or Quan Yifeng, to complete these challenges, which are:
Eight contestants were eliminated after the episode. The summary for each of the contestant's tasks (in order of appearance) and the final results (weighted percentages of scores in parentheses) were:
In the pre-finale episode, through the one-minute aptitude tests which involve script reprisals of drama serial scenes, both Qi and Yeo handpicked six contestants to serve as their respective mentors for the final and which films they will partake in the final. The episode also shows behind-the-scenes footage of the short films and supporters from each of the finalists.
Unlike the first four episodes, the final was a live broadcast and no closed captioning were provided (except for the Drama segment). The guest judges for the finale were Raymond Lam, Christopher Lee and Sandra Ng. The guest performers for the finale were Desmond Ng performing the theme song of "é£Âé«Â梦è¿Â" (backed by a live band and chorus singers), and Tasha Low performing her single "Everything You Wanted". The episode reran with post-production edits on 30 November.
For these two rounds, contestants performed their own expertise and one dance skit. The X-Factor segment and Dance skit carries 25% and 15% weightage towards the final scores respectively.
During Jadon Lim's X-Factor segment, a viral screenshot about an unpeeled $450 price tag pasted in his erhu was visible. Lim confirmed that it was loaned from the Chinese Orchestra group from Nanyang Technological University after his own erhu was broken, and there was no involvement in theft.
Round three carries a 30% score towards the final score. In this round, contestants drew lots on questions issued by each celebrity (acting as respective characters in selected scenes). Contestants have 25 seconds to present their answers for the scenarios. Dennis Chew co-lead each of the segments.
This round carries a 30% score towards the final score. In the final round, the 12 finalists were divided into two groups to participate in either one of two short films.