Tan Yng Jich | Sep 2000

What was usually Mambo night at Zouk became a "Madonna" night on 13 September. It was the night where Singapore's biggest Madonna fan would be revealed. For the past few weeks, the search for Madonna's biggest fan in our little island was fierce, with ads placed in all major media. It was narrowed down to three finalists to vie for the title at Zouk.

The event hosts for the night were Jamie Yeo and Daniel Ong from Perfect 10, and the crowd were mostly made up of guys (hey, it was Mambo night afterall), and of course Madonna's fans. Starting the event at around 8.30pm, the two hosts introduced the judges before giving the audience an idea of what was to be the programme for the night. There would be two rounds to the event, the first was to be a showcase of 10 of the finalist's Madonna collectables.

The first finalist was Mark Seow

He entered the stage dressed as Madonna in her "Music" MTV, right down to the fingernails! Fan of the Queen of Pop for the past 13 years, Mark displayed his various collections that ranged from a movie poster to a rare "Ray Of Light" vinyl, and even a white promotional vinyl of Madonna's second album!

Second finalist was Maguerita Tan

She is a journalist of Max magazine. Like Mark, Maguerita has been a fan for 13 years, collecting more than 5,000 items on Madonna alone! She displayed a couple of interesting items, like Madonna comics, stamps and even a candle holder bought from Holland Village.

Richard See was the last of the three finalists

His collection includes a life-size standee of Madonna in her now-famous "Erotica" pose. A fan for ten years, Richard has amassed an amazing array of items, including one picture of the diva taken by chance by Richard himself. There were red vinyls, a "Dick Tracy" statutte and even the promotional poster for the "Erotica" album.

Question and answers round was next and it was on first-come-first-serve basis. Jamie and Daniel shot questions ranging from Madonna's first appearance in the movies to asking the finalists to guess a scene from one of her MTVs. Maguerita won the round with a total 5 questions answered.

While the finalists took a breather backstage to calm their nerves, the audience were given a treat to Madonna's album with an exclusive preview of five tracks from her latest album. The mostly hip-hop album is a dramatic change from her last album, "Ray Of Light". "Music" is more hip-hop, more electronic music included as compared to the more spiritual tunes of the previous album.

After that short break for the judges to contemplate the winner, it was time to reveal who was Madonna's biggest fan in Singapore. And to no one's surprise, Maguerita won the title for herself! Winning $500 in cash plus a plaque stating that she is the biggest fan, Maguerita also got for herself exclusive Madonna merchandise that included a T-shirt, vinyls, sunglasses all from her latest album, "Music".

The other two finalists didn't go home empty-handed though, they were given the "Music" posters as well as a couple of merchandise. Then it was time to "boogie woogie" to the music! Everyone had fun that night, but I'm sure the person who had the most fun was Maguerita. Congratulations!