I'm in the next phrase of the V-singer Singing Contest!
Before I continue to share more about the contest, I would like to give my thanks to:
Sincere friends who've been concerned about my progress in the contest
Strangers who've left encouraging comments/messages on my Youtube video and FB page.
Good friends who have stayed with me through thick & thin all these years as I pursue my passion for singing.
My Shifu, Long Papa (Won), for giving me a platform to perform weekly at All About Eve Bar even the fact that I have ZERO music knowledge, totally NO musical background nor any stage experience 3 years back.
Gods I've been praying to. 你们真的有显灵!
Readers, that's YOU, who still visit despite my lesser time to generate more blog content for you.
Judges from my previous singing contests. Thank you for giving me your most sincere & constructive feedbacks.
Evan Tiang & Desmond Wong, the first to get me involved in song-jamming sessions.
People who've looked down on me: You are my motivation to prove you wrong.
Jackie Goh, for everything you've done for me for the past 3 years.
I am extremely thankful for my life now: the people around me, the happy vibes, the opportunities, the music lessons, the luck, my past experiences... The thing is, I'm not going to stop right here; this is a wake-up call for me to keep improving & strive to become a better self, to try & reach for the stars in the sky above.
I'd love to become a professional singer.
I want people to be able to relate to me via my songs.
I want my music to bring joy, love & important messages to people.
I want to be heard & be able help the less fortunate with this little gift of mine from God.
Auditions of V-singer Singing Contest 2012
The very first V-singer audition was held in August 2012. I decided to give it a shot when I was not selected as one of the finalists for Sunsilk Academy Fantasia. The audition was held in the Ocean Butterflies(OB) Music Forest Dance Studio and I sang one of Kit Chan's song: 喜欢你 (I like you).
The judges commented that I skipped a few beats and was inconsistent with my song tempo due to my nervousness. Thank god they decided to give me a second chance. I was selected to go for the 2nd audition.
Contestants who were in the 2nd audition were asked to record & submit a Youtube Video with the theme, Love Songs. I chose a Jacky Cheung song titled '咖啡' (which means 'Coffee').
When a surprise phone call from Ocean Butterflies came, I was exhilarated; I made it to the 3rd audition! Coincidentally, the date of the audition clashed with a wedding gig but fortunately, I made it to both events.
During the 3rd audition, I performed a self-composed song, 梦中情人.
V-singer singing contest is totally different from any other singing contests.
We are auditioning to get into this SPECIAL MUSIC COURSE conducted by outstanding music instructors who will treat & groom all V-singer students as if they are the up and coming contracted-artistes of Ocean Butterflies!
The Stats
Out of the 600+ contestants who have participated, 57 contestants are going to go through a 2-month V-singer music course. It'll be 8 weeks of intensive training including dancing, vocal techniques, speech & communication, mic handling, improvement on stage presence & more! The 57 contestants are separated into a total of 4 classes. I'm in the final class.
Out of all the 57 contestants, the top 10 students will be selected at the end of December 2012. The top 10 will be given opportunities to perform for various events between January to March 2013. Finally, a winner will emerge to win a car and a singing contract from Ocean Butterflies!
Our First lesson has commenced last Sunday.
It's a meet-&-greet session where all 57 contestants were to come up with their very first singing performance in front of their classmates.
Images powered by CASIO EX-JE10 Camera
Bringing out my brand new CASIO EX-JE10 camera for the first time, whee~!
It's so light and tiny!
Vocal instructor Liu Zhi Wen sharing with us some insights of his vocal training lessons:
Our instructor who'll help us discover our body gestures & better enhance them so that we'll look better when we perform:
Powered by CASIO EX-JE10 camera.
Yiyang finally made it here from school for our performance!
Yesu Yesu.
Young 14 year old Alton performing Lin Jun Jie's 害怕:
I'm seriously impressed by how he handled the emotions of the song so well. In fact, I realise the younger contestants were able to express themselves through the songs better than the rest.
Zhou Man Jun, 14 years old:
=== Familiar face alert ===
YY from Channel U's School Superstar:
Powered by CASIO EX-JE10 camera.
=== Another familiar face alert ===
Hanrey Low from Let's Talk.
He's starring in the latest Jack Neo's Boys To Men Movie!
This classmate... urmmm... I forgot her name but remembered that she performed her self-composed song titled Idol, for someone whom she used to like a lot and who now has become her boyfriend! Her boyfriend is Mr Singapore 2012, Mai-siao-siao! She takes part beauty pageants too.
She sat down on the chair because Vee commented how tall the classmate was:
Tai Zheng Aka Superman performed Forever Love.
He's in MY CLASS, YES AH!:
Jia Ling performed her show impressively too! I'm really proud to have a classmate like her, dedicated and professionally finished her show. She was the final performer for the day.
I was the 2nd last performer and by the time it was my turn, my body was aching from top to bottom and totally brain dead paying FULL attention to the rest of my classmates' performances in order to complete my homework.
I suck when it comes to performing during singing contests: breaking into cold sweat, body trembling and feeling nauseous. My knees go weak and I turn pale as ghost standing in front of the panel of judges. I still do.
Then again, I can't seem to stop myself from participating in these contests to gain more exposure-- the learning milestones. Whenever I make progress and move a step higher by being selected to the next round, I tell myself that I want to strive to improve; a boost for myself and my undying passion for singing.
I found another reason to join singing contests: Making new friends who hold the same value as I do; our love & value for music are unbeatable. We hold the same frequency, the understanding of fear of rejection and anticipation we contain within ourselves. In times like these, we support and encourage one another to do our best; Times like these when we meet true friends.
I met Tommy and Hanrey for the first time. Actually it's the 2nd. The first time when we were at the TCP awards ceremony, I didn't have a chance to speak with them. They are the funniest & funkiest duo I met at singing contests!
Left to right: Tommy, Hanrey, Me
Tommy Ng (Duo Mi) is the 'class monitor' of Channel U Youth Talkshow, Let's Talk (Ni Zai Jiong She Me). Catch him on Season 3 which will be telecast this month, AUGUST 2012.
The trailer is already showing and he's acting in it. Tried to find the trailer on Youtube but can't find any*
Hanrey is one of the youth speakers as well from Let's Talk Season 2 and recently starred in Jack Neo's latest film, Ah Boys To Men. I believe he will be in Let's Talk Season 3 too! His nickname is Mee Kia.
Here is Hanrey's audition video:
I have another friend who is passionate about singing and his name is extrodinary: Tiger Zhou.
I'm trying to find the video of others but there are just too many of them!
My hands were waving this sacred sheet of paper like the people in the picture: exhilarated & breathless. I'm in the NEXT ROUND!!!
The 2nd round of audition is done online through this announcement video:
The theme for the 2nd round audition is: Love Song.
I decided to choose the song 'Coffee' by Jackie Cheung.
Unlike any other songs, the song title does not appear anywhere in the lyrics. The song writer relates how love is like coffee (a metaphor) ; using its sweetness, bitterness, hotness & coldness to describe a relationship.
The flavor's too strong, isn't it,
Or else why would it be so bitter we can't speak?
Everytime, I'm all alone, asking myself
"Is our love really still there?"
Or maybe the flavor's already gone,
Even if we put in more sugar it wouldn't get any better.
Maybe it's best that after drinking this cup, we each go our own way
Don't sit across from me and enjoy my suffering!
Chorus:
A failed love is like a joke,
When it was hot, I couldn't get my mind to think properly.
But after it cooled down I see that I was so stupid..
Why do people get trapped so easily?
A flavorless love is like a lie,
When it's sweet, you only believe in it.
After it becomes bitter, every sentence is torture..
Why is it so hard for people to stop being attached?
=== BURST OUT LAUGHING ===
My sister made an interesting discovery to my video which made me burst out laughing like a mad woman.
In the chorus, the lyrics mentioned that a failed love is like a joke. The word 'Joke' is pronounced as 'Xiao Hua' in mandarin, which has a similar pronunciation as 'Little Flower' (Xiao Hua).
Then, it said a flavorless love is like a lie. The word 'Lie' is pronounced as 'Huang Hua' in mandarin which has a similar pronunciation as 'Yellow flower' (Huang Hua).
Sounds like what I'm singing in the video.
I. agreed. with. her.
Is that a good or bad thing?
Jokes aside, I've done recording and wish I have better sound equipment to do it! How budget was my recording done?
Let's go on the tour and you'll see.
==== BEHIND THE SCENES ====
Welcome to my 'recording studio'!
The chair was where I was seated throughout my recording. Knowing I was doing work, Bubble Leong kept very quiet in his bed next to me. The pretty backdrop belongs to Silver Ang.
As for the background, one side of it was held on with pieces of masking tape while the other side was pegged up.
My childhood books for reading to act as a tripod for my camera. They come in handy that's why I couldn't bear throwing them away after so many years. Recording from high angles make your face look slimmer.
It took me more than 10 takes, with plenty of trial-and-error with the macbook, speaker & mic to finish my recording. Stuffed myself with peppermint candies to smooth out my vocals as I'm still having a sore throat and cough since a week plus ago.
Thankfully, my boss is able to save minus one tracks from his home-karaoke system so I got him to help me. But the minus track wasn't passed to me until a few days back as he was extremely busy at work and didn't have time to prepare the track for me.
First, the music was too soft from the ASUS laptop, I found an external speaker (my 25th birthday present from William bro) to enhance the music. Then I realise the music became too loud and my voice couldn't be heard at all in the video. I dug in my closet and found an old but working computer mic to pick up my voice. The mic didn't work at first and it took me about 30minutes to figure how the plug-in works.
Finally I had to adjust the screen to fit the backdrop nicely and test out a suitable angle to place my mic.
By the time I finished recording 4 hours later, Bubble Leong was fast asleep in his bed. My voice is too soothing or it may be because of the too-long waiting time.
After reviewing the video after uploading, it turned out the music is STILL louder than my vocal probably as I have placed the mic too close to the speaker. It sounded okay on my headphones though.
MAJOR (- _ - ").
Tip when doing recording at home: SWITCH OFF YOUR FAN to minimise the 'walkie-talkie' effect (noise that makes people think you're driving); unless that's your intention.
Try your very own recording too, it's FUN!
For more information and updates on V-singer contest, visit www.v-singer.com.
Wish me luck in this contest!
Show your support by liking my video.
