One in a Million season 3

The third season of the Malaysian TV series One in a Million aired from 23 January to 1 May 2009, was won by Shah Indrawan Ismail, the first male and first established artist.

Auditions
The preliminary auditions for season three of One in a Million were held in the following locations:

This time, auditions were open to hopefuls aged 16 to 32, compared to the previous season's 18-30 limit. Besides these, pre-audition road shows were held in these cities (two weeks before their respective auditions), featuring promotions for One in a Million and performances by OIAM alumni from both past seasons.

All preliminary auditions were preceded by different judges. Those who qualified from the auditions underwent another audition stage in Berjaya Times Square on 30 November and 1 December, where they met Paul Moss and Syafinaz. The telecast on 8TV began with footage from this stage, unlike in previous seasons which began with the individual preliminary auditions.

Not unlike in previous seasons, artistes who still or used to hold recording contracts were still welcome, but this time around, they skipped the preliminary auditions to participate on the main audition on 1 December, in the Gardens Hotel, Mid Valley. Among those who qualified included Norafizah Mohd Yasin, winner of TV3's Mentor; Tomok, lead vocalist of New Boyz; Amylea Azizan, Akademi Fantasia alumnus.

Top 12 Finalist
According to the order of elimination.

Central Eliminations
Only eighty have qualified into the Central Eliminations round held in Peninsula Residence, Damansara from 11 till 19 December (aired on 6 and 13 February). A major twist in this season is the Blind Test, in which contestants performed behind a paper screen, only to have their shadows seen by the judges which focused on their voices, brought forward as the first challenge. According to Moss, he and Syafinaz would have found it more effective to sort out the more desirable voices. 20 have been eliminated from this stage.

Secondly, came the group singing in which the remaining sixty formed into groups of six or seven, each of which are all of the same gender. The female groups chose between One Step at a Time (Jordin Sparks) and Cinta di Akhir Garisan (Ziana Zain); while the males had Juwita (Citra Terindah) (M. Nasir) or My Girl (The Temptations). Another 20 were sent packing after this test.

The remaining forty were divided into the Top 20 and Bottom 20 based on the judges' evaluation, after which each of the Top 20 picked an MP3 player from a table, studies the song in it, and chose a duet partner from the Bottom 20. Paul Moss remarked had he been in the Top 20, he would pick a weaker contestant to gain an edge into the next stage. Having said that, the twenty best finalists were selected not based on being the better in their respective pairs.

The Central Eliminations concluded with a one-on-one final evaluation in which each contestant went on stage either alone or in a pair, sang on their own in front of the judges, each contestant was shown their fate immediately after their performance ends. As is of the previous seasons, only 12 make it into the competition rounds.

Performances
The competitive performances are held every Friday, going on-air at 9.30 pm, beginning 20 February 2009, in Sri Pentas 2, Plaza Alam Sentral, Shah Alam. The surprise of the season is, each week from Top 12 till Top 7, an immunity will be granted to the week's best performer as per judges' evaluation, which exempts him/her from the voting sessions, thus guaranteeing him/her a spot in each coming week's performances. As usual, voting lines open only after the show, with which viewers send in SMSes to vote in or out each contestant. The finalist with the lowest votes leaves at the beginning of each coming week's show.

Week 1: Top 12 (20 February 2009)
The Top 12 opened their first night with the song Itu Kamu (originally sung by Estranged).

The judges announced the immunity system as their surprise after all 12 performed individually, with Esther being first given the honour to be exempt from the decisive public voting.
 * Immunity: Esther

Week 2: Top 11 - Memori Tercipta (27 February 2009)
The theme of the night was "Memori Tercipta" ("A Memory is Born"), songs which remind them of someone).
 * Guest judge: Salamiah Hassan
 * Eliminated: Ayu - "Makhluk Tuhan Paling Sexy" (Mulan Jameela)
 * Immunity: Amylea

Week 3: Top 10 (6 March 2009)

 * Guest judge: Jaclyn Victor
 * Eliminated: Han - "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" (Aerosmith).
 * Immunity: Aweera

Week 4: Top 9 - Songwriters' Week (13 March 2009)
Finalists selected from ten contemporary Malaysian songs and sought guidance from the songs' respective composer.

(Composers' names given if not the same person as the original singer.)
 * Guest judge: Fauzi Marzuki
 * Eliminated: Pija - "Satu Harapan" (Jaclyn Victor, Audi Mok)
 * Immunity: Tomok

Week 5: Top 8 - Opposites Attract (20 March 2009)
Each contestant performed a song originally recorded by singers of the different gender from theirs.
 * Guest judge: Jay Jay
 * Eliminated: Anith - "Kerna Kamu" (Faizal Tahir)
 * Group performance: "Seksis" (Anita Sarawak)
 * Immunity: Esther

Week 6: Top 7 (27 March 2009)
Amylea introduced an original composition of hers for the first time in this performing week; however it did not suffice for the judges who eventually granted Tomok his second immunity for improvising one of Syafinaz's songs.
 * Guest judge: Francissca Peter
 * Eliminated: Fify - "Don't Speak" (No Doubt)
 * Immunity: Tomok

Week 7: Top 6 (3 April 2009)
The judges announced that no new immunity would be granted for the rest of the competition, thus resting the fate of all six finalists completely in the hands of the voting audience. The Top 6 show lasted for just over an hour due to the decimated number of contestants and the time saved as the result of the immunity system being revoked.
 * Eliminated: Rizu - "She Will Be Loved" (Maroon 5)

Week 8: Top 5 - Tribute to Sheila Majid (10 April 2009)
Contestants took on Sheila Majid's hit songs.
 * Guest judge: Sheila Majid
 * Eliminated: Simon - "Ku Mohon"
 * Group performance: "Jatuh Hati"

Week 9: Top 4 - In Concert (17 April 2009)
Each contestant was to pull off a concert-like, themed performance for approximately four minutes. Three of them did medleys.
 * Guest performance: Shila and Dafi - RENTAK OPTIMIS aka Camnilah
 * Eliminated: Amylea - "I'm Yours" (Jason Mraz)

Week 10: Top 3 - Judges and fans' favourites (24 April 2009)
The finalists were to repeat two songs which they performed through the weeks of the competition from Top 12 till Top 5.
 * Eliminated: Nine - "Karma" (Cokelat)

Week 11: Top 3 - Grand Final (1 May 2009)
The final stage of the competition was held in Stadium Malawati, Shah Alam, on 1 May 2009. Tomok narrowly escaped elimination after being announced to have the fewest votes at the moment, as a result of a week-long opinion poll set up by 8TV in which fans chose all three to compete rather than only two of them. Votes from last week's performances were carried forward to the one-hour showdown throughout which viewers could vote for the last time. Each contestant was assigned two SMS lines and one landline in anticipation of a major influx of votes.

1st Round Performances 2nd Round Performances At 10.30 pm, Tomok was announced the winner of OIAM3.
 * Third place: Aweera
 * Runner-up: Esther
 * Champion: Tomok

Elimination chart

 * Clues
 * Male contestants
 * Female contestants
 * Champion / Winner
 * Second place / Runner-up
 * Third place
 * Safe
 * Immunity
 * Eliminated


 * Trivia
 * At the seventh week concert, the immunity system was withdrawn and stopped.