Campus SuperStar

The original judging panel was Foong Wai See, Li Feihui, Cavin Soh and Peter Tan. Foong Wai See, Cavin Soh and Peter Tan left the judging panel after judging one season. They were replaced by two new judges, namely Jim Lim and Jimmy Ye, who joined Li Feihui in season two. Jimmy Ye stayed for just one season and left the show before season 3. Singaporean lyricist Xiaohan and singer Ken Tay joined the judging panel in season three. Li Feihui and Ken Tay did not return as a judge in season four and they were replaced by Dennis Chew.

Li Feihui was the judge for season 1, 2, and 3 of the show.

Guest judges may occasionally be introduced, especially in the live finals when the judging panel lineup was increased. Music producer and composer Lee Wei Song was employed as a guest judge for all seasons in the live final. Other guest judges that were instated during the live finals are Lee Shih Shiong in season one, Billy Koh in season two, Kelvin Tan, Maggie Theng and Wu Jia Ming in season three, and Li Feihui Eric Moo in season four. Guest judges were also used in the revival rounds for season three, Dawn Yip joined the judging panel in the first revival round, while Cavin Soh and Maggie Theng joined the second.

Season 1 of the show was hosted by Dasmond Koh, Hong Junyang and Sugianto. Hong Junyang and Sugianto left the show after season one and they were replaced by Pornsak for season 2. Dasmond Koh and Fiona Xie did not return to host season 3 and were replaced by Felicia Chin and Lee Teng. Yuan Shuai was employed as the online correspondent in season 3. Lee Teng and Pornsak returned in season 4 to host the show while Felicia Chin and Yuan Shuai did not return.

Guest hosts may occasionally be introduced, especially in the live finals when the number of hosts was increased. Ng Hui and Ben Yeo were instated as the guest hosts during the live final in season one. Fiona Xie hosted the auditions episode in season two. Fiona Xie also hosted the season two live final, and was joined by Ben Yeo, Lee Teng and Charlyn Lim. Ben Yeo returned as a guest host for the live final in season four.

Judges timeline

In the first two seasons, the competition was mostly identical to Project SuperStar and was split into two categories: male and female. Starting season 3, the categories were removed (a format similar to most reality competitions) and finalists were selected without equal gender representation.

There are four/five stages to the competition:

• Stage 1: Online auditions (season 3–4 only)
• Stage 2: 1st Judges' auditions (live audience for season 1–2; closed-door for season 3–4)
• Stage 3: 2nd Judges' auditions (closed-door)
• Stage 4: Final Judges' auditions (live audience for season 1–2; closed-door for season 3–4)
• Stage 5: Live shows (finals)

In seasons 1 to 2, a round of first auditions is held in front of a panel of judges in the public with a live audience. Shortlisted auditionees from the first auditions would be invited to attend the second round of closed-door auditions held in Mediacorp. Successful auditionees from the second round of auditions were put through to the final round of auditions with live audience. At the end of the final round of auditions, the judges would select ten contestants each from the male and female category and put them through to the live shows.

In season 3 to 4, major changes made to the competition including the removal of categories and the public auditions (which replaced by closed-door auditions), and the reduction of the number of contestants that were put through to the live shows from 20 to 12. Additionally, auditionees have to submit a video of them performing a song and only selected applicants would be invited to the closed-door auditions.

The finals consist of a series of two live shows, the first featuring the contestants' performances with the revealing of the judges' score and the second revealing the results of the public voting, culminating in one or more acts being eliminated. Celebrity guest performers also feature regularly. These live shows are filmed at MediaCorp TV Theatre. Both live shows were broadcast on Monday nights, with the exception of the grand finale live shows on Sunday (season 2 held on a Saturday night instead of a Sunday).

The performances from the contestants were judged based on their singing technique, body language, and overall presentation. Most of the live shows has had a different theme; each contestant's song is chosen according to the theme. A celebrity guest connected to the theme is occasionally invited onto the show. After each contestant has performed, the judges comment on their performance and give them a score out of 10 with intervals of 0.1 (0.5 for the first 3 seasons). Phone and SMS lines for public voting open at the start of the show (gift-to votes open from the end of the show until the day before the start of the next live show) and the viewing public vote on which contestant they want to keep in the competition. Once the number of contestants has been reduced to four contestants, these contestants go on to appear in the grand final which decides the overall winner. The allocation of the scores varies on each stage of the competition and season:

• In season 1 (entire season) and 2 (semi-finals and grand finals), the judges' score and public votes constituted 30% and 70% of the overall combined score, respectively.[1]
• In season 2 (quarter-finals), 3 (except grand finals) and 4 (except for the first two live shows and grand finals), the judges' score and public votes constituted 70% and 30% of the overall combined score, respectively.[2]
• For the grand finals for seasons 3 and 4, the judges' score and public votes constituted 50% of the overall combined score each.
• For the first two live shows for season 4, the judges' score, public votes and scores accumulated from the live radio shows and print photo shoot, constituted 50%, 30%, 15% and 5% of the combined score, respectively.

In season 4, it is mandatory for contestants to perform songs originally created or sung by Singaporeans throughout the entire competition.

Before the results are announced, there are live or pre-recorded performances from one or more invited celebrities, occasionally with performers connected to the week's theme. In the first two seasons, one or two contestants from each from the male and female category was eliminated from the competition after receiving the lowest overall combined total, until the competition comes down to the last male and female winner, who would be crowned as Male and Female category winners, respectively. The two category winners then compete head-to-head, and the category winner receiving a higher combined total was crowned the overall winner.

On seasons 3 and 4, the format of elimination are mostly identical to the first two seasons, but unlike previous seasons, rather than each eliminating equal numbers of contestants per gender each week, eliminations applied individually without regard to contestants' gender affiliation, thus introducing the possibility of a final four without equal gender representation.

Some twists were introduced during the later stages of season 3: 'immunity' whereby the contestant who received a higher judges' score was immune to elimination and immediately advanced to the next round, while "sudden death" elimination were also introduced whereby the contestant who received a lower judges' score was eliminated from the competition immediately; contestants who was either immune or immediately eliminated did not face the public vote that week. Season 4 removed 'immunity' and 'sudden death' eliminations in favour of live radio shows & print photo shoot (which was held on the first two live shows)

Season 3 introduced 'sing-off' during the results shows as part of the elimination/result announcement process. All contestants who were brought to sing-off had to perform one pop song chosen by the producers; during the sing-off, the microphone's pitch starts out on the contestant's original pitch; the first contestant to produce an altered pitch (or muted, during the first live show) was eliminated. Later stages of the competition, as well as Revival rounds and Grand Finals, starts out with altered microphone pitches; the first contestant to sing out his or her own pitch advanced or won the competition.

For the first three seasons, Revival rounds were introduced midway through the competition to allow eliminated singers performed for a chance to reinstate them back to the competition. For the first two seasons, the first twelve eliminated singers (six per gender) from the first six quarter-finals were to participate in the Revival round on week seven (this is unlike the original counterpart, Project SuperStar, where only the eight singers eliminated on the second quarter-finals were eligible), and one singer per gender receiving the highest combined score will be reinstated from the competition, bringing the total number of semi-finalists to ten.

Season 3 saw the only season to have two revival rounds, one after week seven, and one after week 11. With the removal of the categories, any two contestants were reinstated (one with a higher judges score, and one with a higher combined score from the remaining singers), bringing the total number of semi-finalists to eight. Another revival round happen on week 11, where each judge had to select four of six singers to participate in the second revival round, marking the first time in Campus SuperStar that not all the eliminated singers were eligible to participate in the revival. Two contestants were reinstated, bringing the total number of finalists to four.

The Revival rounds were removed on season 4. Prior to removal, seven contestants (including one contestant who was successfully reinstated twice) were brought back to the competition; four contestants have made it to the grand finals, and one contestant have gone on to win the season.

The winner of Campus SuperStar is awarded a two-year management contract with MediaCorp and a cash prize ($2,000 for season 1 to 3, and $5,000 for season 4). Season 4 winner also receives an opportunity to perform with Mandopop singer Della Ding Dang in Glass Anatomy the Musical. Other contestants may also be offered artiste contract with MediaCorp, but this is not guaranteed.