Chang - I look Chinese but...

Chinese dentist who makes finals in Indian Idol tells reporter SHEELA NARAYANAN:

HE speaks with a thick Indian accent and sings Hindi songs with passion and aplomb.

And fans of reality TV series Indian Idol have been showering him with votes to keep him in the top 20.

His fans have gone as far as putting a clip of his segment from the show on video sharing website YouTube.

But wait, don't be surprised.

This young man is Meiyang Chang, a 24-year-old Indian-born Chinese dentist who hails from Dhanbad, West Bengal, where a small community of Chinese migrants have long held root.

Meiyang has quickly become a hot favourite in the third season of Indian Idol, the local franchise of the global reality show.

As the only Chinese in the finals, he has surprised many Idol fans and garnered much support among netizens, especially female fans, who have dubbed him 'cute', including those here who catch the weekly show in Singapore on Sony Entertainment Television (StarHub Ch 91, 11.30pm to 1.30am).

Video clips of Meiyang's vocal performances are also widely circulated, and a big hit on YouTube.

And it's not just looks or the novelty factor. Enthusiastic fans have touted him as a potential top five finalist for his vocal prowess. Right now he is in the top 13.

Speaking to The New Paper recently from Mumbai, where he was rehearsing for the show, Meiyang admitted he was a little surprised by all the excitement surrounding him.

'I am really happy and very flattered by the attention,' he said in fluent English with a thick Indian accent.

A third-generation Indian-born Chinese, Meiyang's forefathers hail from the Hubei province in China.

Said the young man, who is a Buddhist: 'They came over mountains and through forests to India. But I can't speak the dialect very well or any Mandarin.

'I only know a few words here and there. I may look Chinese, but my heart is Indian.'

He added that his grandmother and his parents still speak to each other in their dialect.

Meiyang explained that he didn't have the opportunity to pick up his mother tongue as he was sent to boarding school at the age of 7.

Said the only child of a dentist father and a mother who owns a beauty salon: 'They did it because they wanted to give me a good education.

'Some compromises had to be made, which meant I had to be away from them.'

But life at boarding school was 'a very bad time', he revealed, as he was teased for looking different from the other boys.

As a result, he said he ended up being very shy and reserved despite his easy-going persona on television.

'I was the only Chinese boy there, so I was the butt of all the racist jokes. It left a deep impact on me,' he said.

He went on to follow in his father's footsteps by doing dental studies in Bangalore because 'dentistry is in my DNA'.

'My father and most of my cousins are dentists,' he added.

Two years ago, he graduated from dentistry college and started a practice in Bangalore, where he eventually auditioned for Indian Idol.

While he claims to be a bathroom singer, he believes he inherits his set of pipes from his father.

'My dad has always watched Indian Idol and he sings very well. I thought I would give it a try since I love music a lot,' he said.

Apart from wowing home audiences, Meiyang's singing prowess has drawn extravagant praise from Indian Idol 3 judges.

Judge Anu Malik, a popular Bollywood music director, told him on one episode: 'I love your voice. It is magical. You will make it to the top 5.'

Another judge, Udit Narayan, described his singing as 'fantastic.'

The blogosphere has also been buzzing madly about him. One blog called UltraBrown said: 'Meiyang Chang's achingly innocent voice and humble demeanor make him sound like a young Kumar Sanu (popular Bollywood playback singer).'

Fans on the Indian Idol forum sites have also praised his voice.

Ms Anju Daryanani, a 48-year-old businesswoman, who never misses an episode, said she was amazed that a Chinese boy could sing Hindi songs so well.

'I was eating pizza when I heard him sing. I was so surprised, the pizza fell out of my mouth,' she said.

But while Meiyang is blazing the trail for his community on Indian Idol, he isn't the first Indian-born Chinese contestant on an Indian reality television show.

There is Chou Chiang, 31, a Mumbai-based freelance photographer who was on Channel (V)'s reality show, Crush, a few years ago.

The show had lovelorn young men tracking down a long-lost 'crush'.

Recently, another Indian-born Chinese man from Kolkata, 20-year-old Anthony Yeh, won a reality show called Roadies, about a group of young people on a cross-country motorbike trip.

Both Crush and Roadies were not screened in Singapore.

When contacted, Mr Chou said Meiyang peaked interest outside India because of Indian Idol's popularity on cable television.

'In a way, his being there puts the community on the national map. The Chinese community here is very averse to popularity. They hate to be in the limelight,' he said.

Meiyang's popularity could also be due to his novelty factor on the show.

One that he willingly admits might be the reason why his star is still shining bright.

He said: 'But once the novelty wears off, then it's my singing they have to judge me on.'

I lookhinese but my heart is Indian