It appears Gold 905 radio station has finally caved: They have given the persistent "Celebrity Name Drop" contestant, who knew deep down he had won, the full S$10,000 cash prize and shopping spree.
Gold 905 announced on Facebook on May 22:
Hi everyone,
Thank you for all your feedback and posts.
We have reached out to Mr Shalehan again to convey that we are deeply sorry. Since Tony Hadley has said that Mr Shalehan said his name correctly, who are we to disagree? The full prize of $10,000 cash and shopping spree will also be awarded to Mr Shalehan.
We value all our listeners and your continued support.
Plot twist
This latest twist comes after the contestant, Muhammad Shalehan, 32, who was deemed not to have originally won, enlisted the help of the celebrity Tony Hadley to pronounce his own name on video and securing his endorsement.
Shalehan, an SMRT train captain, fought hard for his win.
After his endorsement by Hadley exploded online, Gold 905 offered a S$5,000 prize, which Shalehan turned down.
Shalehan told The Straits Times: "If they offered me that S$5,000 with an apology and told me that they are sorry that the rules did not apply consistently or fairly and were not well-explained, I would accept it. For such a big company to apologise, it means a lot to listeners."
"We are not fools, we are adults with kids. I did not beg for the prize, I showed evidence that they were wrong and that Tony Hadley backed me up. I'm going to stand my ground."
Background
Gold 905 had organised a long-running game, Celebrity Name Drop.
Shalehan called in on April 21 after hundreds of tries.
He was the first caller who successfully named all 14 celebrity voices each saying a word of this phrase: "Gold 9-0-5, the station that sounds good, and makes you feel good".
Shalehan was told by deejay Chris Ho that he got 13 out of 14 correct answers -- without being told which he got wrong.
Subsequently, another caller named Jerome Tan called in on May 6 with the same set of 14 names, and won.
This led to an intense scrutiny about what happened, with listeners and Shalehan questioning Gold 905 on why the same 14 answers were rejected.
Several online commenters also noted that the eventual winner mispronounced Belinda Carlisle's name.
The full list of names are: Tony Hadley, Madonna, Maggie Wheeler, Ellen DeGeneres, Jim Carrey, George Clooney, David Bowie, Belinda Carlisle, Julie Andrews, Lionel Richie, Stevie Wonder, Meryl Streep, Michael Buble and Rebecca Lim.
Shalehan found a contact for Hadley and sent an e-mail to Hadley's manager, explaining what had happened.
He then got an encouraging reply from Hadley himself in the form of a video.
"I've listened back to the tape, and as far as I'm concerned, you pronounced my name absolutely correctly," said the 59-year-old former lead singer of 1980s band Spandau Ballet.
BBC also picked up on the story.
Gold 905 then posted a lengthy explanation on its Facebook page on May 20 to defend itself and stand by its decision to deny Shalehan the win.
Shalehan revealed to ST that the token prize was S$5,000 cash.
Shalehan told ST: "More than anything, I want an apology. I have morals. I have dignity. It's a lot of money for me but I'm not going to be the person who gets some money and okay I shut up, case closed. I'm not angry at Mr Jerome Tan, I'm upset that the station misjudged my answer."