Muhammad Taufik Bin Batisah, (born December 10, 1981) is the winner of the first season of the reality TV series Singapore Idol. He is a Singaporean of mixed Bugis and Indian descent.
Taufik participated in the first season of the reality TV series Singapore Idol in 2004. On 1 December 2004, Taufik was crowned the Singapore Idol at the Singapore Indoor Stadium before an audience of more than 8,000 fans and 1.8 million viewers across the country. He scored a recording deal with Sony BMG and a management deal under Hype Records' artiste management arm, ArtisteNetworks. It was later revealed that Taufik had won 682,000 of the 1.1 million votes cast that night, while his opponent Sylvester Sim managed 418,000 votes.
After his win, Taufik clinched a string of endorsements for brands such as Harmuni Rice, Samsung, 7-Eleven stores and HSC drinks. He even became the first Singapore artiste to endorse for the Swiss watch-maker, Swatch.
He received further recognition at the Anugerah Planet Muzik 07. As well as being voted the Most Popular Singapore Artiste, his single Usah Lepaskan (Don't Let Go) won the awards for being the Most Popular Singapore Song and the Best Singapore Song. Usah Lepaskan was the Number 1 Song of the Year on Ria 89.7FM.
In 2007, Taufik debuted his Malaysian album titled, Teman Istimewa (Special Friend) on 5 September and was the album long-awaited by the Malaysian Fiknatics (as his fans are called).[citation needed] Taufik produced 90% of this album and three songs are the Malay version of his earlier English songs First, Holding On and I Promise Forever. Seribu Tahun (A Thousand Years), a song which he co-wrote, swept the Malaysian radio charts after it became the theme song for Malaysia's Channel TV3 hit drama series, Kerana Cintaku Saerah (Because Of My Love Saerah).
In 2008, Taufik won the Most Popular Artiste (Singapore) Award and Most Popular Song (Singapore) Award for his composition Berserah (Surrender) as well as the Best Singapore Artiste Award at Anugerah Planet Muzik 2008. He also received the Singapore Youth Award (Arts and Culture), awarded by the National Youth Council, in recognition of his achievements in the music industry and for being a role model to the younger generation. Meanwhile, Taufik’s music compositions also received greater recognition as Berserah took the No. 1 spot for Song of the Year and Teman Istimewa took 5th place on the RIA 89.7FM radio station's 2008 Top 30 Countdown.
Taufik also launched his fourth music album Suria Hatiku (Light of My Heart) . This critically acclaimed Malay album showcases a wide variety of songs of different genres and had spurned multiple Number #1 hits. The album is a music collaboration between his mentor, Ken Lim, renowned music producer, M. Nasir, and singer, Hady Mirza.
Taufik was named the Most Popular Singapore Artiste for the third consecutive year at Anugerah Planet Muzik Award 2009, his composition Usah Lepaskan was awarded the top Malay song with the highest royalties by Compass. Taufik also performed at the Angureah Planet Muzik Award held in Jakarta and the Singapore Day 2009 event in London. He was also invited to represent Singapore to perform at the ASEAN – Korea Commemorative Summit in Korea and performed at APEC Singapore 2009's “Singapore Evening at The Esplanade”.
It had been an exuberant start for Taufik in 2010. Besides fronting the finale performance at the Chingay Parade 2010 and performing for the second consecutive time under the invitation of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Korea and Singapore's NAC, he continued to earn recognition for his music. He earned the top honor roll of six major awards at the first AnugeraHitz.sg Awards, which honored the best in the local Malay music industry. 2010 also saw Taufik diversifying his art and making his theatrical debut in Dick Lee’s Fried Rice Paradise – The Musical.
In 2011, Taufik was part of the “Home” video project under Total Defence Campaign and also fronted the “WeAreOne” funding raising project for the Japan Tsunami. He also released an Eid ul-Fitr collaboration album Kenangan Di Hari Raya (Memories on Eid) with Hady Mirza. In August, he represented Singapore in performing with the Asia Traditional Orchestra for Korea’s Independence Day in Seoul. Taufik also wrote and recorded a duet single Aku Bersahaja (Simply Me) with Indonesian diva Rossa. The pair debuted the single to an overwhelming response at Rossa’s “Harmoni Cinta” Concert at Esplanade.
