Quite surprised to find my blog entry inside one of the Superstar Bloggers, BB, entries. As a gesture of courtesy, I replied to his comments too. It's not a retaliatory post against him - just a normal conversation between two bloggers. I fully respect his opinions on my blog posts.
F1 谢慧娴 喜欢你没道理 原唱者: 张韶涵, Angela
BB: Huixian best chance is to sell ‘cuteness’. She already sounded like some 7th Month Ge-tai singer at the last round with her nasal crying tone. If she acts anymore mature, she will be a total put off. Looking and sounding cute is definitely her biggest selling focus, dear. Btw, I am cute….
Sean: Agreed. I think Huixian is a soprano in her school choir so her voice is naturally and trained to be high but I personally thinks she has her own singing techniques. The hard part is still settling down on an appropriate stage image that is comfortable to the eyes and ears of the audience.
F2 许政宁 - Super No. 1 原唱者: 卓文萱, Genie
BB: This I am with you, Sean. Yes, pity this girl is playing cute and safe when she can attract male and female alike. A good ballad….I am not too sure because she hasn’t yet excel in her vocal range (she can if she works harder). I prefer Zhengning to look or act ‘shuai’. She is really more than just another ‘pretty vase’ in this competition.
Sean: I think Zhengning received some formal training from some music school in her free time so she has potential to give a good visual performance if she has enough practice in time. Her vocals need work but I won't call her "a pretty vase" because she may show improvements since her last performance. We'll wait and see ba.
F3 张芮恩 - 理想情人 原唱者: 杨丞琳, Rainie
BB: I see dead people. Frankly, Joanna is good vocally but her deadpan, cold fish lifeless facial emotions just turned me off. Many times, I wanted to run up to her and punch her face, dig her eyes, pinch her cheeks, slap her hard till her face swell up like a pig and take a scissor and anyhow cut her hair like some 'xiao char bo' or do something drastic and induce some real pain into her.
Somebody please chain me up next time when she is around me…..
Sean: Wah...not so serious ba? I believe by now, Joanna, would have received feedback from the judges to rectify her facial expression weakness but it is left to be seen if she will remember to un-stiffen, loosen up and focus her eyes appropriately on the cameras and audience.
M1 饶梓杰 - On The Way 原唱者: 黄俊源
BB: 100% not with you, Sean. I heard the Malaysian SuperStar singing this song. That fellow is quite hip and modern and able to dance very well. Zijie hasn’t proven yet that he can emote fast songs. Plus, Zijie as a rocker? Thanks for the joke. I see Pinocchio on drugs….
Sean: I did not hear the Malaysian Superstar perform this song but I agree that this song requires quite a lot to pull off successfully. Zijie hasn't really proved himself incapable either (or unlike you, I never got to see him rehearse this song and thus fully measured his capabilities for this song). Pinocchio? Heard his reputation as a joker but perhaps an image shift for this song may let people see beyond the joker into the potential as a Superstar?
M2 范平庚 Superman 原唱者: 曹格, Gary
BB: If Benjamin is focused enough, he can carry this song. Though I feel Fukuan will do even better with this piece. Cao Ge also not ‘sleazy’ what…so Benjamin doesn’t have to act like that…just a bit more sexy will do (like me lor).
Sean: I meant the song's feel as a little sensual. Haha...Anyway, I suppose Benjamin chosed this song for a reason. I will be looking at how Benjamin shakes off his JJ-like singing and challenge himself with another genre of song and performance.
M3 吴福宽 只对你说 原唱者：林俊杰, JJ
BB: Fukuan is one of the strongest in this contest. Capable to fight for the overall champion title only if he picks his song CAREFULLY. Not an easy one this time round. He did well at the last round with more ‘mi-si-ren’ manly expression. Yes, he can do better. People like to see a transformation and Fukuan is showing that…like what happened to Zhiyang last year. I predict he will get high scores from the judges but as a result people won't vote hard enough for him to stay on in the contest....(choy..choy...choy...).
Sean: Agreed with you. I think Fukuan knows what he is doing to maximise his vocal strengths but his stage presence is still a little stiff (body language and gesticulation). Votes-wise, it will be determined by how Fukuan can win over more votes from his supporters and even earn votes from swing-voters.
(Extract source: http://u.mediacorptv.com/css2/tabloid.htm)
Replies to tags:
<O-lEvEl>: No intentions to do that. I am not after fame, just hoping to give the contestants an extra viewpoint of their performances (if they choose to read and listen). No obligations on their parts at all.
<Pinky>: Well, the bacteria inside may kill me but I don't intend to end my life anytime soon or in that manner, so I will politely reject your suggestion.
<Adebayor>: Oh. I am surprised he reads my blog too. Thanks for informing me. Pro? No. I just give my honest opinions on their song selections. Maybe I am wrong about some parts but I'll just take those errors in my stride. I don't see his opinions as a form of firing though.
<Azlan>: I never intended to show my face right from the beginning. Yes. I am definitely not handsome because I am born that way. I accept that reality. Bald? No. Ugly like hell? Dunno. I never been to hell before.
<peepee>: Just came back and just read his post. See my replies to his comments ba.
<jo-josh's sis>: What to do? Can't control them so just let them be. Haha. I just treat them as entertainers on my tagboard. I am also thinking - my comments are rude meh? I was already very polite. Oh yes, the CSS 2 web address for the Superstar Blogger is above in the extract source.
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Campus Superstars 2 Quarter Finals 3A Song List
F1 谢慧娴 喜欢你没道理 原唱者: 张韶涵, Angela
Audience familiarity with song: ***
Song & Performance difficulty: ***
This song is quite a bad selection for Huixian but although her voice range can hit Angela's, the song is actually very difficult to sing because the song is highly-dependent on the tune to pace the lyrics and it is very easy to get off-beat. Also, the only audible and possible area to showcase any form of vocal is at the chorus and only minimal. Unless Huixian can surprise by carefully avoiding the overly-sweet/cartoonish portrayal of the song, I highly recommend Huixian to drop this song and pick another song.
F2 许政宁 - Super No. 1 原唱者: 卓文萱, Genie
Audience familiarity with song: **
Song & Performance difficulty: **
Another happy-song selection and it reminds me of songs that Jiajun will choose - safe, simple songs that can move audience but not necessarily scores. It puzzles me why Zhengning would choose this song because she is like trying to pit "being cute" against Huixian and Joanna when her stage image could have been much more versatile. I would say this is not a good selection because the song did not really suit Zhengning's image and she would have done better if she picked a good soulful ballad and showcase her vocals, an area which many still doubted.
F3 张芮恩 - 理想情人 原唱者: 杨丞琳, Rainie
Audience familiarty with song: ***1/2
Song & Performance difficulty: **1/2
I am surprised that Joanna chosed this song because given her vocal prowess and reach, she could have easily chosen something harder and showcase more of her stronger vocal attributes. However, it is a safe selection as the ballad has distinctive verse-chorus portions and easy to reach vocal range of the song. Thus as long as Joanna focuses on emoting and moderate audience interaction, the performance should not be too difficult for her. There is only one danger - the judges may feel that this song is too easy for a 3A quarter-finalist.
M1 饶梓杰 - On The Way 原唱者: 黄俊源
Audience familiarity with song: ***
Song & Performance difficulty: ****
I think Zijie picked an interesting song which has the potential to move the audience and score decently. Of course, he would need to pack enough punch into the chorus and sing with a flair of rock-and-roll attitude, which seemed suited to his stage image. There is actually a lot of room for creativity in the song, including dance moves, poses, audience interaction and of course, vocal showcasing as well. I will be expecting a good performance.
M2 范平庚 Superman 原唱者: 曹格, Gary
Audience familiarity with song: ***1/2
Song & Performance difficulty: ***1/2
Benjamin picked a sleazy-sounding song with a remix portion within as well for his semi-finals and I wondered if he could really carry the song convincingly onstage, given his straight-clean studious image thus far. Judges would be also looking at the appropriateness of the song, matching songs to faces so unless Benjamin revamped his stage image and attire, I would say that the song may not be really suitable for him. Then again, there is still some time before the semi-finals, he may still surprise somehow if he can get his act together in time.
M3 吴福宽 只对你说 原唱者：林俊杰, JJ
Audience familiarity with song: ****
Song & Performance difficulty: ***1/2
This song hinges strongly on the slow-buildup from the verses to the chorus and Fukuan must learn grasp the emotions behind it to impress the audience and judges. Chorus would have to be distinctive and the endnotes must be held clearly and firmly in order to exit the verses gracefully. Since it's already the 3A quarter-finals, I would want to bring across the point that Fukuan still have that unpolished and not-so-confident look onstage. A little touch-up on his outward stage image and some work on his facial expressions would be necessary to match the groovy feel of the song.
Reply to tags:
My thanks to Joanne, conman, Cuiping for their compliments and support for my blogging. The journey would have been much lonelier without all of you standing behind me against those raving nay-sayers.
To Yamato: Would my age make a difference? I suppose if I had wanted people to know my age, I would have made it public, wouldn't I? I know some other taggers had laughed at people older than themselves but I just wanted to remind those people - they are also getting older by the seconds even as they mock Age and eventually themselves. Anyway, thank you for popping over and hope to see your tags and any constructive comments as well. =)
Audience familiarity with song: ***
Song & Performance difficulty: ***
This song is quite a bad selection for Huixian but although her voice range can hit Angela's, the song is actually very difficult to sing because the song is highly-dependent on the tune to pace the lyrics and it is very easy to get off-beat. Also, the only audible and possible area to showcase any form of vocal is at the chorus and only minimal. Unless Huixian can surprise by carefully avoiding the overly-sweet/cartoonish portrayal of the song, I highly recommend Huixian to drop this song and pick another song.
F2 许政宁 - Super No. 1 原唱者: 卓文萱, Genie
Audience familiarity with song: **
Song & Performance difficulty: **
Another happy-song selection and it reminds me of songs that Jiajun will choose - safe, simple songs that can move audience but not necessarily scores. It puzzles me why Zhengning would choose this song because she is like trying to pit "being cute" against Huixian and Joanna when her stage image could have been much more versatile. I would say this is not a good selection because the song did not really suit Zhengning's image and she would have done better if she picked a good soulful ballad and showcase her vocals, an area which many still doubted.
F3 张芮恩 - 理想情人 原唱者: 杨丞琳, Rainie
Audience familiarty with song: ***1/2
Song & Performance difficulty: **1/2
I am surprised that Joanna chosed this song because given her vocal prowess and reach, she could have easily chosen something harder and showcase more of her stronger vocal attributes. However, it is a safe selection as the ballad has distinctive verse-chorus portions and easy to reach vocal range of the song. Thus as long as Joanna focuses on emoting and moderate audience interaction, the performance should not be too difficult for her. There is only one danger - the judges may feel that this song is too easy for a 3A quarter-finalist.
M1 饶梓杰 - On The Way 原唱者: 黄俊源
Audience familiarity with song: ***
Song & Performance difficulty: ****
I think Zijie picked an interesting song which has the potential to move the audience and score decently. Of course, he would need to pack enough punch into the chorus and sing with a flair of rock-and-roll attitude, which seemed suited to his stage image. There is actually a lot of room for creativity in the song, including dance moves, poses, audience interaction and of course, vocal showcasing as well. I will be expecting a good performance.
M2 范平庚 Superman 原唱者: 曹格, Gary
Audience familiarity with song: ***1/2
Song & Performance difficulty: ***1/2
Benjamin picked a sleazy-sounding song with a remix portion within as well for his semi-finals and I wondered if he could really carry the song convincingly onstage, given his straight-clean studious image thus far. Judges would be also looking at the appropriateness of the song, matching songs to faces so unless Benjamin revamped his stage image and attire, I would say that the song may not be really suitable for him. Then again, there is still some time before the semi-finals, he may still surprise somehow if he can get his act together in time.
M3 吴福宽 只对你说 原唱者：林俊杰, JJ
Audience familiarity with song: ****
Song & Performance difficulty: ***1/2
This song hinges strongly on the slow-buildup from the verses to the chorus and Fukuan must learn grasp the emotions behind it to impress the audience and judges. Chorus would have to be distinctive and the endnotes must be held clearly and firmly in order to exit the verses gracefully. Since it's already the 3A quarter-finals, I would want to bring across the point that Fukuan still have that unpolished and not-so-confident look onstage. A little touch-up on his outward stage image and some work on his facial expressions would be necessary to match the groovy feel of the song.
Reply to tags:
My thanks to Joanne, conman, Cuiping for their compliments and support for my blogging. The journey would have been much lonelier without all of you standing behind me against those raving nay-sayers.
To Yamato: Would my age make a difference? I suppose if I had wanted people to know my age, I would have made it public, wouldn't I? I know some other taggers had laughed at people older than themselves but I just wanted to remind those people - they are also getting older by the seconds even as they mock Age and eventually themselves. Anyway, thank you for popping over and hope to see your tags and any constructive comments as well. =)
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Movie Review: The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
Sushi Rabbit is a person who loves all things Japanese, especially good anime and when she found out about the abovementioned movie, she was all out for it.
"Sean, I want to watch that movie."
"Orh. Nice meh?"
"I heard it's from a very famous group of anime artistes who drew the famous "Long Mao" cartoon."
"Is it? Not very familiar with that cartoon but let's go see it ba."
I did not regret that. It was a good movie. The protagonist, Makoto, chanced upon a futuristic time device which actually allowed her to time travel back in any part of her life and she found out that she had that ability seconds before her impending death at a train crossing due to her faulty bicycle. With her new ability, Makoto began to use it to avert the daily little disasters that had always plagued her usual self and she grew complacement with it - totally unaware that there was only a limited number of times she could do "Time Leaping".
Disaster finally stuck when Makoto tried to use her ability to match-make her best friend, Kosuke, to a shy girl in school and rejected a best friend's proposal for dating her. She overlooked some details when she travelled back in time and caused the death of her friends just when she exhausted all her "Time Leaping" charges. It was then she discovered that her best friend-cum-secret admirer, Chiaki is actually a boy from the future and that the device actually belonged to him.
Chiaki sacrificed his last "Time Leaping" charge to save Kosuke and rectified Makoto's mistake but lost his final chance to get back to his homeland in the future. Guilt-ridden, Makoto, in her new gained life, decided to make use of her final "Time Leaping" charge (brought back by Chiaki) to right all the selfish wrongs and accept Chiaki's proposal.
The movie brought back memories of a much darker English movie, The Butterfly Effect, which had the same theme of time travel and I must say that I enjoyed "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time" very much because it managed to weave both the humour and the sombre issue of time travel seamlessly as I enjoyed watching Makoto trying to fix her daily blunders and her ultimate anguish when she discovered her mistakes during her "Time Leaping" fixes.
The movie is only shown in a few theatres and for those who enjoyed both a good laugh and a sombre reminder of how important time is - I strongly recommend this movie.
Time waits for no one.
Monday, June 25, 2007
Performance Reviews of Campus Superstar 2 QF 2B
F1 Seah Hui Xian 谢慧娴 - 好听 by 许茹芸, Valen
Huixian's breathing was obviously heavier than necessary for the performance. The way she stretched out her notes were also rather weak and a tad unstable and thus her control of her voice was not good enough - there were even two off-key words. Huixian also did not engage the audience once she reached the chorus and looked as if she was singing by herself by then. The judges were right as well to point out that the way she switched her notes could have improved even more and I also personally think that she had not found her true stage image between cuteness and maturity yet. Her scores were 6.5+8.0+6.0=20.5. I would have given her a 6.25.
F2 Agnes Low 卢慷倚 - 讨厌 by 芮恩
The song was quite a difficult one to perform but Agnes made a good attempt at it anyway. I was most impressed by the reach of her voice but her breath control was still unstable for fast tracks. I could also hear some of the endnotes being swallowed by the second stanza and Agnes' stage movement was rather stiff and un-creative other than the cap-throwing opening move. Her eyes were also not focused enough and she did not fully made use of it to captivate the audience at the final part of the song. Her scores were 6.0+7.0+6.5=19.5. I would have given her a 6.25.
F3 Teri Yeo 杨丽莹 - 心动 by 林晓培, Shino
I must admit I have serious expectations of this song because it happened to be one of my favourite songs during KTV and Teri did not sang well. Her endnotes and lownotes were weak and unstable and her pronunciation of the lyrics were worse than her previous performance. Her eyes were not focused, darting from place to place and her stage posture was stiff and lifeless. The judges were also correct to point out the poor position of her microphone even though I could still hear the sincerity of her singing, but sadly, not the sincerity of her stage presence. Her scores were 6.5+7.5+6.0=20.0. I would have given her a 5.50.
F4 Joanna Teo 张芮恩 - 不痛 by 张韶涵, Angela
A very brave attempt but Joanna to attempt what I would say as one of the most difficult songs in the market right now. Her reach of her voice was good and powerful and she sang with enough conviction in her voice even though her opening line was not audible and her eyes were a little dull and lifeless at the earlier parts of the song. Joanna's stage presence, however, was really lifeless and stiff and she did not make any use of her eyes n body to express herself better through the song. Just like Agnes, Joanna chosed to look away from the camera at the final part of the song and forfeited the chance to make a lasting impression with the performance. Her scores were 6.5+7.5+6.0=20.0. I would have given her a 6.25.
M1 He Guo Hao 许国豪 - 大城小爱 by 王力宏
Guohao's performance was quite nasal and he was really mincing his lyrics without actually singing the song. There was little groove and feel attached to the performance and his stage presence was way too stiff than necessary for the song. He could have moved more and posed a little more. Guohao sang off-key for a portion of the second part of the song and his frowning facial expression was not suited for the performance. I wished I could say nice things about his performance but I must be fair if I am to be credible to those following my series of posts for CSS 2. In short, Guohao did not do justice to Lee Hom's light-hearted song. His scores were 6.0+5.5+5.0=16.5. I would have given him a 4.50.
M2 Ngeow Zi Jie 饶梓杰 - 旋律 by 林宇中, Rynn
Xuan Lu was one of my song recommendations on my blog a couple of months back so I was having quite some expectations when Zijie chosed this song for his performance. Zijie did a reasonably well performance for vocal-wise but I penalized him badly for his stage presentation of the song. Firstly, his eyes were not focused and was darting but his falsetto was amongst the best tonight even though he did not reach the first falsetto portion (and he needed to use the bent-over technique to reach some parts of the song). I rather disliked the way he pushed his notes and his facial expression and body language were inappropriate for the feel of the song - too stiff and jarring. Zijie's lines were not soft enough so his chorus was not that distinctive but I liked his final falsetto because it was a good and memorable ending to his performance. His scores were 7.0+8.0+7.0=22.0. I would have given him a 6.75.
M3 Shawn Tok 卓轩正 - 星晴 by 周杰伦, Jay
Shawn opened up the song well with good stage movements but his flaws started as early as the first stanza. He could not really grasp the lownotes and those were shaky and sounded thin (I listened with earphones so I could hear the trembling behind the background music). Shawn's falsetto control was also quite strained and it was obvious from his facial expression as well, making the song less-hearted than it was originally meant to be. His gesticulation was almost done perfectly but I felt that the song was not felt correctly because he did not really seem to understand the lvel of light-heartedness portrayed by the song persona. His scores were 7.5+7.0+7.0=21.5. I would have given him a 6.50.
M4 Marcus Lee 李俊纬 - 其实还爱你 by 阿沁
Marcus's opening was quite weak and a bit too low and his vocals remained thin and thus not fully expressive, making his chorus not distinctive. His endnotes, as pointed out by the judges, were not properly stretched out and I would also comment on his left hand gesticulation, which could be improved. Marcus sang off-key for the "bu" in the later part of the song but I found that his overall performance was sincere and enjoyable enough even though he must learn to avoid smiling whenever he managed to hit the falsetto portions. He was also the only one who made good use of his eyes to lock the audience's attention at the final part of the song. His scores were 7.0+8.0+6.5=21.5. I would have given him a 6.50.
Huixian's breathing was obviously heavier than necessary for the performance. The way she stretched out her notes were also rather weak and a tad unstable and thus her control of her voice was not good enough - there were even two off-key words. Huixian also did not engage the audience once she reached the chorus and looked as if she was singing by herself by then. The judges were right as well to point out that the way she switched her notes could have improved even more and I also personally think that she had not found her true stage image between cuteness and maturity yet. Her scores were 6.5+8.0+6.0=20.5. I would have given her a 6.25.
F2 Agnes Low 卢慷倚 - 讨厌 by 芮恩
The song was quite a difficult one to perform but Agnes made a good attempt at it anyway. I was most impressed by the reach of her voice but her breath control was still unstable for fast tracks. I could also hear some of the endnotes being swallowed by the second stanza and Agnes' stage movement was rather stiff and un-creative other than the cap-throwing opening move. Her eyes were also not focused enough and she did not fully made use of it to captivate the audience at the final part of the song. Her scores were 6.0+7.0+6.5=19.5. I would have given her a 6.25.
F3 Teri Yeo 杨丽莹 - 心动 by 林晓培, Shino
I must admit I have serious expectations of this song because it happened to be one of my favourite songs during KTV and Teri did not sang well. Her endnotes and lownotes were weak and unstable and her pronunciation of the lyrics were worse than her previous performance. Her eyes were not focused, darting from place to place and her stage posture was stiff and lifeless. The judges were also correct to point out the poor position of her microphone even though I could still hear the sincerity of her singing, but sadly, not the sincerity of her stage presence. Her scores were 6.5+7.5+6.0=20.0. I would have given her a 5.50.
F4 Joanna Teo 张芮恩 - 不痛 by 张韶涵, Angela
A very brave attempt but Joanna to attempt what I would say as one of the most difficult songs in the market right now. Her reach of her voice was good and powerful and she sang with enough conviction in her voice even though her opening line was not audible and her eyes were a little dull and lifeless at the earlier parts of the song. Joanna's stage presence, however, was really lifeless and stiff and she did not make any use of her eyes n body to express herself better through the song. Just like Agnes, Joanna chosed to look away from the camera at the final part of the song and forfeited the chance to make a lasting impression with the performance. Her scores were 6.5+7.5+6.0=20.0. I would have given her a 6.25.
M1 He Guo Hao 许国豪 - 大城小爱 by 王力宏
Guohao's performance was quite nasal and he was really mincing his lyrics without actually singing the song. There was little groove and feel attached to the performance and his stage presence was way too stiff than necessary for the song. He could have moved more and posed a little more. Guohao sang off-key for a portion of the second part of the song and his frowning facial expression was not suited for the performance. I wished I could say nice things about his performance but I must be fair if I am to be credible to those following my series of posts for CSS 2. In short, Guohao did not do justice to Lee Hom's light-hearted song. His scores were 6.0+5.5+5.0=16.5. I would have given him a 4.50.
M2 Ngeow Zi Jie 饶梓杰 - 旋律 by 林宇中, Rynn
Xuan Lu was one of my song recommendations on my blog a couple of months back so I was having quite some expectations when Zijie chosed this song for his performance. Zijie did a reasonably well performance for vocal-wise but I penalized him badly for his stage presentation of the song. Firstly, his eyes were not focused and was darting but his falsetto was amongst the best tonight even though he did not reach the first falsetto portion (and he needed to use the bent-over technique to reach some parts of the song). I rather disliked the way he pushed his notes and his facial expression and body language were inappropriate for the feel of the song - too stiff and jarring. Zijie's lines were not soft enough so his chorus was not that distinctive but I liked his final falsetto because it was a good and memorable ending to his performance. His scores were 7.0+8.0+7.0=22.0. I would have given him a 6.75.
M3 Shawn Tok 卓轩正 - 星晴 by 周杰伦, Jay
Shawn opened up the song well with good stage movements but his flaws started as early as the first stanza. He could not really grasp the lownotes and those were shaky and sounded thin (I listened with earphones so I could hear the trembling behind the background music). Shawn's falsetto control was also quite strained and it was obvious from his facial expression as well, making the song less-hearted than it was originally meant to be. His gesticulation was almost done perfectly but I felt that the song was not felt correctly because he did not really seem to understand the lvel of light-heartedness portrayed by the song persona. His scores were 7.5+7.0+7.0=21.5. I would have given him a 6.50.
M4 Marcus Lee 李俊纬 - 其实还爱你 by 阿沁
Marcus's opening was quite weak and a bit too low and his vocals remained thin and thus not fully expressive, making his chorus not distinctive. His endnotes, as pointed out by the judges, were not properly stretched out and I would also comment on his left hand gesticulation, which could be improved. Marcus sang off-key for the "bu" in the later part of the song but I found that his overall performance was sincere and enjoyable enough even though he must learn to avoid smiling whenever he managed to hit the falsetto portions. He was also the only one who made good use of his eyes to lock the audience's attention at the final part of the song. His scores were 7.0+8.0+6.5=21.5. I would have given him a 6.50.
I received some private messages on how I grade the contestants and I must say it's not easy. For example, I must learn to see the performances not as copy renditions of the original singers but as unique performances from the individual contestants.
Why do I grade them? Because I enjoy listening to good singing & performances and if they can somehow benefit from my observations, I get to benefit as well because they represent the future music and entertainment scene in Singapore. I understand there may be pressure, anger, protests from supporters whenever a not-so-pretty review of their favourite contestants is made.
Am I harsh on them? Maybe. But I remembered how competitive the whole scene is and quality is not to be compromised, no matter how young and innocent the contestants are or how much blood and tears are shed in the process...Even if I don't have understanding from their supporters, I am sure the contestants who are reading this know why I am doing all these. Good luck to all of you contestants and never forget why you loved to sing and perform.
Beyond the fun, enjoyment and fame, there is discipline, hard work and determination - this is music.
My grading scheme:
Singing techniques subtotal: 5.0 (includes lyrics, pitching, falsetto, rapping, breath control, volume)
Song delivery subtotal: 2.5 (includes feel, groove, emoting, impact, reach)
Stage Presentation subtotal: 2.5 (includes attire, dance or movement, gesticulation, eye contact)
Grand Total: 10.0
Youth Eco Concert Organized By National Environment Agency
For those interested in watching our dear Teresa Tseng and the rest of the celebrities listed performing for this very meaningful concert, please feel free to attend and enjoy yourselves there.
Youth Eco Concert
Date : 30 Jun 2007 - 30 Jun 2007
Time : 1900 hours - 2100 hours
Venue : Skate Park (next to Somerset MRT)
Youth Eco Concert is Singapore's first live concert organised with our environment in mind.
Let your favourite stars, Hady Mirza and Jonathan Leong from Singapore Idol 2; Daren Tan and Tan Diya from Project Superstar share with you how a little effort can make a big difference.
Catch the internationally acclaimed Wicked Aura Batucada as they charm you with their samba-percussion pieces. Not forgetting our up and coming Campus Superstar 2 finalists as well as the winners of the previous season: Teresa Teng, Geraldine and Renfred. Young as they might be, they too have the ability to make a difference.
Through their performances, these artistes hope that each and everyone of us can do our bit to protect and sustain the environment.
Entry is free, simply bring a recyclable (e.g. cans, plastic bottles) or make a pledge at the entrance.
Choose to take public transport (MRT or bus) to the Skate Park - and take your first step to befriending our earth.
Organiser : The National Environment Agency
Tel: 67319371
Fax: 67319866
Email: Charmaine_SOH@nea.gov.sg
Website: www.nea.gov.sg
(Info source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/cna/cgi-bin/bizmoves/article.pl/events?id=4251)
Disclaimer: The above information is taken for the well-intentioned purpose of publicity for the abovementioned NEA event with no malicious intent of infringing on any copyright issues of the original website of Channel News Asia or undermining the authority of the National Environment Agency of Singapore. The objective is just to get more people there for the event because the owner of this blog also believes in protecting the environment and spreading the message across with such events.
Youth Eco Concert
Date : 30 Jun 2007 - 30 Jun 2007
Time : 1900 hours - 2100 hours
Venue : Skate Park (next to Somerset MRT)
Youth Eco Concert is Singapore's first live concert organised with our environment in mind.
Let your favourite stars, Hady Mirza and Jonathan Leong from Singapore Idol 2; Daren Tan and Tan Diya from Project Superstar share with you how a little effort can make a big difference.
Catch the internationally acclaimed Wicked Aura Batucada as they charm you with their samba-percussion pieces. Not forgetting our up and coming Campus Superstar 2 finalists as well as the winners of the previous season: Teresa Teng, Geraldine and Renfred. Young as they might be, they too have the ability to make a difference.
Through their performances, these artistes hope that each and everyone of us can do our bit to protect and sustain the environment.
Entry is free, simply bring a recyclable (e.g. cans, plastic bottles) or make a pledge at the entrance.
Choose to take public transport (MRT or bus) to the Skate Park - and take your first step to befriending our earth.
Organiser : The National Environment Agency
Tel: 67319371
Fax: 67319866
Email: Charmaine_SOH@nea.gov.sg
Website: www.nea.gov.sg
(Info source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/cna/cgi-bin/bizmoves/article.pl/events?id=4251)
Disclaimer: The above information is taken for the well-intentioned purpose of publicity for the abovementioned NEA event with no malicious intent of infringing on any copyright issues of the original website of Channel News Asia or undermining the authority of the National Environment Agency of Singapore. The objective is just to get more people there for the event because the owner of this blog also believes in protecting the environment and spreading the message across with such events.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Campus Superstars 2 Quarter Finals 2B Song List
F1 Seah Hui Xian 谢慧娴 - 好听 by 许茹芸, Valen
Audience familiarity with song: **1/2
Song & Performance difficulty: **1/2
This is a newly-released song by Valen and the song itself is written and sung in a very basic and simple manner, which is both a good thing and a bad thing, depending on how the performer focuses the performance. The bad thing is that the judges may not be generous with scores when it comes to song difficulty level. The good thing is that simple songs can showcase the performer's vocals because it is impossible to hide vocal flaws behind simple lyrics and tunes. So if the performer can project the good vocals into the hearts and ears of the audience, the performance will be impressive.
F2 Agnes Low 卢慷倚 - 讨厌 by 芮恩
Audience familiarity with song: ***
Song & Performance difficulty: ***
Audience familiarity with song: ****
Song & Performance difficulty: ****
This song is popularized by the success of the movie in which it was the theme song and it was sung during the height of the career of the original singer. Comparison with the original rendition will be inevitable so care must be taken to ensure that the emoting of the song is not too far-off or the performer may risk audience rejection of the performance. Shino employs strong emoting in her voice and uses the fleetingly sad and lost persona to portray the song. It will definitely not be easy to re-make this song if the feel is not captured properly.
F4 Joanna Teo 张芮恩 - 不痛 by 张韶涵, Angela
Audience familiarity with song: ****
Song & Performance difficulty: ****1/2
This is a really difficult song because it is not only high in notes, but it is quite a mouthful of lyrics too. Breath control and a high range voice is needed to make the performance stage-worthy. It's another vocal-dependent song and extra effort must be made to make the chorus distinctive enough because most perfomers would over-concentrate on holding the high notes and neglected the chorus differentiation. This song is actually very dangerous choice because there is a high chance that performers wil run off-beat in their haste to catch and pronunciate the fast-moving lyrics.
M1 He Guo Hao 许国豪 - 大城小爱 by 王力宏
Audience familiarity with song: *****
Song & Performance difficulty: ***
This song is rhythmically easy and catchy to perform. Light-hearted and requires just natural gesticulation with lots of sincerity. Similar to Valen's song in this quarter-final 2B, simple songs are easy to perform but not easy to score and thus they are highly-dependent on the vocal section. I would say this is another of the easier songs in this round of the competition. Hold the audience's attention on the performer and it should do the trick.
M2 Ngeow Zi Jie 饶梓杰 - 旋律 by 林宇中, Rynn
Audience familiarity with song: ***1/2
Song & Performance difficulty: ****1/2
This deceptively simple song is actually a labyrinth of falsetto and note-changing traps. The performer must have excellent control of such techniques or risk ruining the entire song. The lyrics are simple and catchy but the endnotes are dangerously difficult to hold. Feel of the song is actually light and soulful so facial expressions must not betray the difficulty in the vocal section lest the stage impression becomes awkward. This is easily the most difficult song amongst the male contestants in the quarter-finals 2B.
M3 Shawn Tok 卓轩正 - 星晴 by 周杰伦, Jay
Audience familiarity with song: *****
Song & Performance difficulty: ***
Obviously, this song is already deeply ingrained in the minds of many listeners and thus becomes extremely catchy and easy to lead the audience during the performance. However, the song is relatively easy compared to the other song selections in this round of the competition and it would thus be pivotal in clearing the song vocally but having that kind of audience interaction that would make the performance enjoyable. Personally, I think this song is already over-sung so a creative handling of the song would make it stand out. Otherwise, it would just be another R&B song depleted by over-exposure and over-singing.
M4 Marcus Lee 李俊纬 - 其实还爱你 by 阿沁
Audience familiarity with song: **
Song & Performance difficulty: ***
This is a ballad by one of the members of the popular group F.I.R. The song is a simple composition with a distinctive chorus portion for emoting opportunity. There are a few portions, which allow for the showcasing of some falsetto but overall, it's quite a bland song so gesticulation and eye contact with the audience would be necessary to add more entertainment value to the performance. I would say that it is the easiest song selection amongst the male contestants in this round of the competition.
Audience familiarity with song: **1/2
Song & Performance difficulty: **1/2
This is a newly-released song by Valen and the song itself is written and sung in a very basic and simple manner, which is both a good thing and a bad thing, depending on how the performer focuses the performance. The bad thing is that the judges may not be generous with scores when it comes to song difficulty level. The good thing is that simple songs can showcase the performer's vocals because it is impossible to hide vocal flaws behind simple lyrics and tunes. So if the performer can project the good vocals into the hearts and ears of the audience, the performance will be impressive.
F2 Agnes Low 卢慷倚 - 讨厌 by 芮恩
Audience familiarity with song: ***
Song & Performance difficulty: ***
This is a medium-paced track, which has room for some dancing if the performer choses to. The noteworthy thing is that the song's music is written by one of the CSS 2 judges Lin Qi Yu so the performer must have a good grasp of the song's rhythm and beat to impress the songwriter. This song's R & B feel allows for a good level of creativity to make an impressive performance if the performer is able to mix a moderate level of dancing, posing and interaction with the audience.
F3 Teri Yeo 杨丽莹 - 心动 by 林晓培, ShinoAudience familiarity with song: ****
Song & Performance difficulty: ****
This song is popularized by the success of the movie in which it was the theme song and it was sung during the height of the career of the original singer. Comparison with the original rendition will be inevitable so care must be taken to ensure that the emoting of the song is not too far-off or the performer may risk audience rejection of the performance. Shino employs strong emoting in her voice and uses the fleetingly sad and lost persona to portray the song. It will definitely not be easy to re-make this song if the feel is not captured properly.
F4 Joanna Teo 张芮恩 - 不痛 by 张韶涵, Angela
Audience familiarity with song: ****
Song & Performance difficulty: ****1/2
This is a really difficult song because it is not only high in notes, but it is quite a mouthful of lyrics too. Breath control and a high range voice is needed to make the performance stage-worthy. It's another vocal-dependent song and extra effort must be made to make the chorus distinctive enough because most perfomers would over-concentrate on holding the high notes and neglected the chorus differentiation. This song is actually very dangerous choice because there is a high chance that performers wil run off-beat in their haste to catch and pronunciate the fast-moving lyrics.
M1 He Guo Hao 许国豪 - 大城小爱 by 王力宏
Audience familiarity with song: *****
Song & Performance difficulty: ***
This song is rhythmically easy and catchy to perform. Light-hearted and requires just natural gesticulation with lots of sincerity. Similar to Valen's song in this quarter-final 2B, simple songs are easy to perform but not easy to score and thus they are highly-dependent on the vocal section. I would say this is another of the easier songs in this round of the competition. Hold the audience's attention on the performer and it should do the trick.
M2 Ngeow Zi Jie 饶梓杰 - 旋律 by 林宇中, Rynn
Audience familiarity with song: ***1/2
Song & Performance difficulty: ****1/2
This deceptively simple song is actually a labyrinth of falsetto and note-changing traps. The performer must have excellent control of such techniques or risk ruining the entire song. The lyrics are simple and catchy but the endnotes are dangerously difficult to hold. Feel of the song is actually light and soulful so facial expressions must not betray the difficulty in the vocal section lest the stage impression becomes awkward. This is easily the most difficult song amongst the male contestants in the quarter-finals 2B.
M3 Shawn Tok 卓轩正 - 星晴 by 周杰伦, Jay
Audience familiarity with song: *****
Song & Performance difficulty: ***
Obviously, this song is already deeply ingrained in the minds of many listeners and thus becomes extremely catchy and easy to lead the audience during the performance. However, the song is relatively easy compared to the other song selections in this round of the competition and it would thus be pivotal in clearing the song vocally but having that kind of audience interaction that would make the performance enjoyable. Personally, I think this song is already over-sung so a creative handling of the song would make it stand out. Otherwise, it would just be another R&B song depleted by over-exposure and over-singing.
M4 Marcus Lee 李俊纬 - 其实还爱你 by 阿沁
Audience familiarity with song: **
Song & Performance difficulty: ***
This is a ballad by one of the members of the popular group F.I.R. The song is a simple composition with a distinctive chorus portion for emoting opportunity. There are a few portions, which allow for the showcasing of some falsetto but overall, it's quite a bland song so gesticulation and eye contact with the audience would be necessary to add more entertainment value to the performance. I would say that it is the easiest song selection amongst the male contestants in this round of the competition.
Monday, June 18, 2007
Performance Reviews of Campus Superstar 2 QF 2A
Here's my personal performance reviews of the CSS 2 contestants who had just finished their Quarter-Finals 2A round. Feel free to give constructive feedback and think about how they could improve. Perhaps if you know them in real life, you can ask them to take a look at my comments on their performances tonight.
How do I grade them?
Singing techniques subtotal: 5.0 (includes lyrics, pitching, falsetto, rapping, breath control, volume)
Song delivery subtotal: 2.5 (includes feel, groove, emoting, impact, reach)
Stage Presentation subtotal: 2.5 (includes attire, dance or movement, gesticulation, eye contact)
Grand Total: 10.0
F1 林佳君 - Honey Honey 原唱者：孙燕姿
Jiajun played it safe again by choosing another happy and light-hearted song, and trying to make use of her comfortable stage presence and smile to give her the strong advantage. However, she was seriously exhausting the audience, or at least, my expectations of her because she looked as if she could not attempt other types of song (reinventing herself). She swallowed some endnotes at the earlier part of the song and lost a bit of control of her voice during the first chorus portion. Jimmy Ye was right to point out that Jiajun should attempt less bland and more challenging songs to impress the audience. Her scores were 6.0+6.5+5.5=18.0. I would have given her a 6.25.
F2 黄意凌 - 一眼万年 原唱者：S.H.E
Elaine was holding her microphone a little bit too close to her mouth and that amplified her already-heavy breathing and pauses whenever she sings. Her facial expression was quite rigid and the chorus of the song was not really distinctive. However, she was still sounding confident enough and her stage presence, though dwarfed by her lack of reach in her voice, managed to hold the audience's attention properly. The judges were lenient to her but I felt that her performance was rather bland and without much impact. Her scores were 7.0+8.5+7.5=23.0. I would have given her a 7.00.
F3 阮诗凯 - 原来爱情这么伤 原唱者：梁咏琪
Keely did not match my expectations of the song, which I am fairly familiar with. She closed her eyes way too often and thus lost many opportunities to communicate the emotions within the song to the audience using her eyes. She also swallowed some of the lyrics at the start of the second chorus and her forceful, husky voice was, like what the judges said, rather unsuitable to bring out the gentle, fleeting feel of the song, especially those at the endnotes. Her scores were 6.0+7.0+6.0=19.0. I would have given her a 6.25.
F4 许政宁 - 逆光 原唱者： 孙燕姿
Zhengning was looking at the floor too often during the first half of her performance but she managed to lead well into the chorus portion, which sort of saved her performance in an otherwise not very impressive vocal performance. She sang offkey for two parts of the song and her gesticulation with her left hand was bland and a little awkward. She has quite some room for improvement but I like her reinvented stage image. Her scores were 6.5+7.5+6.0=20.0. I would have given her a 6.50.
M1 温俊杰 - 背叛 原唱者： 曹格
Junjie sang with a really coarse voice for his performance and his chorus was not distinctive nor flavourful. He was seriously lacking in energy throughout his entire performance and seemed to make little effort to correct himself with the lack-lustre stage presence. He went off-beat at the later portions of the song and looked as if he was half-slouching. His scores were 5.5+6.5+5.5=17.5. I would have given him a 5.25.
M2 郑全威 - 非你莫属 原唱者： Tank
Javin surprised me with a confident rendition of the song. He lost the pronunciation of the first two words in his first line but he recovered quickly enough to give the song a decent feel and emoted appropriately at the key junctures of the song. I would only complain that his facial expression was a little too bitter when some of the lyrics did not really necessitate but I think he was one of the better singers in this entire round tonight. Relaxed, confident and unassuming. His scores were 7.5+8.0+6.5=22.0. I would have given him a 7.00.
M3 范平庚 - 枫 原唱者： 周杰伦
Benjamin swallowed the last two words of his first line and had quite a stiff stage presence. His chorus was again very limited and could not reach the audience at the appropriate impact level and his falsetto was still not very stable (seeing the strained look on his face). I would say that he did not really choose a suitable song too because his voice belonged to the crystalline-clear category and not very suitable for the darkly-emotive songs like this one. His scores were 7.0+8.0+6.5=21.5. I would have given him a 6.75.
M4 吴福宽 - 两只恋人 原唱者：曹格
Fukuan started off quite rigidly but managed to relax quickly and in agreement with the judges, he made a lot of improvements in his performance as well. He was much more relaxed and confident but I could still tell that there was still room for improvement because of his stiff shoulders, weak gesticulation and stiff eye contact with the cameras and audience. However, his smile was very sincere and was winning over both scores and probably votes. I personally have found little to complain about the vocal aspect of his performance too. His scores were 7.5+8.5+7.5=23.5. I would have given him a 7.50.
How do I grade them?
Singing techniques subtotal: 5.0 (includes lyrics, pitching, falsetto, rapping, breath control, volume)
Song delivery subtotal: 2.5 (includes feel, groove, emoting, impact, reach)
Stage Presentation subtotal: 2.5 (includes attire, dance or movement, gesticulation, eye contact)
Grand Total: 10.0
F1 林佳君 - Honey Honey 原唱者：孙燕姿
Jiajun played it safe again by choosing another happy and light-hearted song, and trying to make use of her comfortable stage presence and smile to give her the strong advantage. However, she was seriously exhausting the audience, or at least, my expectations of her because she looked as if she could not attempt other types of song (reinventing herself). She swallowed some endnotes at the earlier part of the song and lost a bit of control of her voice during the first chorus portion. Jimmy Ye was right to point out that Jiajun should attempt less bland and more challenging songs to impress the audience. Her scores were 6.0+6.5+5.5=18.0. I would have given her a 6.25.
F2 黄意凌 - 一眼万年 原唱者：S.H.E
Elaine was holding her microphone a little bit too close to her mouth and that amplified her already-heavy breathing and pauses whenever she sings. Her facial expression was quite rigid and the chorus of the song was not really distinctive. However, she was still sounding confident enough and her stage presence, though dwarfed by her lack of reach in her voice, managed to hold the audience's attention properly. The judges were lenient to her but I felt that her performance was rather bland and without much impact. Her scores were 7.0+8.5+7.5=23.0. I would have given her a 7.00.
F3 阮诗凯 - 原来爱情这么伤 原唱者：梁咏琪
Keely did not match my expectations of the song, which I am fairly familiar with. She closed her eyes way too often and thus lost many opportunities to communicate the emotions within the song to the audience using her eyes. She also swallowed some of the lyrics at the start of the second chorus and her forceful, husky voice was, like what the judges said, rather unsuitable to bring out the gentle, fleeting feel of the song, especially those at the endnotes. Her scores were 6.0+7.0+6.0=19.0. I would have given her a 6.25.
F4 许政宁 - 逆光 原唱者： 孙燕姿
Zhengning was looking at the floor too often during the first half of her performance but she managed to lead well into the chorus portion, which sort of saved her performance in an otherwise not very impressive vocal performance. She sang offkey for two parts of the song and her gesticulation with her left hand was bland and a little awkward. She has quite some room for improvement but I like her reinvented stage image. Her scores were 6.5+7.5+6.0=20.0. I would have given her a 6.50.
M1 温俊杰 - 背叛 原唱者： 曹格
Junjie sang with a really coarse voice for his performance and his chorus was not distinctive nor flavourful. He was seriously lacking in energy throughout his entire performance and seemed to make little effort to correct himself with the lack-lustre stage presence. He went off-beat at the later portions of the song and looked as if he was half-slouching. His scores were 5.5+6.5+5.5=17.5. I would have given him a 5.25.
M2 郑全威 - 非你莫属 原唱者： Tank
Javin surprised me with a confident rendition of the song. He lost the pronunciation of the first two words in his first line but he recovered quickly enough to give the song a decent feel and emoted appropriately at the key junctures of the song. I would only complain that his facial expression was a little too bitter when some of the lyrics did not really necessitate but I think he was one of the better singers in this entire round tonight. Relaxed, confident and unassuming. His scores were 7.5+8.0+6.5=22.0. I would have given him a 7.00.
M3 范平庚 - 枫 原唱者： 周杰伦
Benjamin swallowed the last two words of his first line and had quite a stiff stage presence. His chorus was again very limited and could not reach the audience at the appropriate impact level and his falsetto was still not very stable (seeing the strained look on his face). I would say that he did not really choose a suitable song too because his voice belonged to the crystalline-clear category and not very suitable for the darkly-emotive songs like this one. His scores were 7.0+8.0+6.5=21.5. I would have given him a 6.75.
M4 吴福宽 - 两只恋人 原唱者：曹格
Fukuan started off quite rigidly but managed to relax quickly and in agreement with the judges, he made a lot of improvements in his performance as well. He was much more relaxed and confident but I could still tell that there was still room for improvement because of his stiff shoulders, weak gesticulation and stiff eye contact with the cameras and audience. However, his smile was very sincere and was winning over both scores and probably votes. I personally have found little to complain about the vocal aspect of his performance too. His scores were 7.5+8.5+7.5=23.5. I would have given him a 7.50.
Teresa @ Sheng Siong Variety show, Slideshow and Performances video links
Teresa Tseng, Female Champion of Campus Superstar I and MediaCorp Artiste, attended The Sheng Siong Show on 17 Jun 2007 (Sunday). She was present as a judge for a competition held during the show and was also a guest performer, where she sung a duet with Renfred Ng, First Runner-Up of Campus Superstar I and MediaCorp Artiste.
Friendly, megawatt smile of Teresa as she responded to the cameras during her presence as a judge of a competition in the show.
Friendly, megawatt smile of Teresa as she responded to the cameras during her presence as a judge of a competition in the show.
A duet song "恋爱达人" with Renfred Ng. Polished by experience and exposure, both Teresa and Renfred were already used to the stage attention. Notice how natural and relaxed both of them were even in the middle of the performance.
Enjoying oneself onstage will bring that kind of comfortable feel and confidence. This is again brilliantly captured in this screenshot of Teresa.
(Source: blanket, 17 Jun 2007, idollic.com/teresa)
(Notice: The photo screenshots were being disseminated well-intentionally to share beautiful shots of the artiste and Campus Superstar Teresa Tseng. If MediaCorp Singapore wishes me to remove the photographs, kindly contact me at my MSN address above in an official email correspondence and I will remove the photo screenshots.)
Slideshow of Teresa Tseng
I have also done a simple slideshow of Teresa Tseng at the various public appearances and noteworthy events or programmes. The images are possible through a long list of sources so I would like to extend my thanks to all those who have contributed the photographs throughout 2005 to 2007 thus far. I hope all of you can enjoy the slideshow and continue to see the growing success of Teresa Tseng.
For those interested in watching Teresa perform in both the East Point Mall and Sheng Siong Show, please go to http://idollic.com/teresa/ to view both her performances.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
VIP: The Gathering, Teresa Tseng @ EastPoint Mall
VIP: The Gathering @ Vivo City on 7 July 2007 Saturday
After arranging and rearranging schedules here and there, I finally got to meet up with some of my VIP friends and got them to gather at Vivo City on Saturday (so that I don't have to run all over Singapore to meet up with them). It was fun enough and most importantly, I got to spend time with my friends so that we could catch up with one another's lives.
I first met up with Sushi Rabbit for lunch at around 12pm. We headed for Coffee Bean and ordered our favourite Caesar's salad and she had a caramel latte while I had my pure chocolate (I am a chocoholic). Lunch was peacefully taken as we watched the crowds moved along and we made our way to the various soft toys departments. Sushi Rabbit has a soft spot for those cuddly things and she would go around hugging soft toys that she has taken a fancy upon. We took a stroll on the wooden-floored viewing decks facing Sentosa and commented on how nice the flooring was. Window shopping with Sushi Rabbit took around two hours before the Changed Man arrived and Sushi Rabbit skipped off to meet another friend of hers in another place.
The Changed Man, The Married Soldier and his wife were the next group I met and we watched the 3.05pm movie on The Fantastic Four: Rise of The Silver Surfer. The movie was not as bad as the critics said. Although the plot was very basic and character development was minimal, the mid-air chases were exciting and adrenalin-pumping enough and the graphics were quite alright as well. The four of us then booked a table at Sushi Tei for dinner, courtesy of The Changed Man who found a new job and a pay-rise. We ate some dragon and phoenix rolls, sashimi, soup, beancurd, soft-shelled rolls and generally talked alot over the table.
The wife of The Married Soldier went shopping after dinner and we three guys eased back at StarBucks Coffee at HarbourFront to play a game of Munchkins - a card game where the objective was to reach level 10 before any other players. I was pretty close to winning but I was cursed and the game was eventually won by The Changed Man who "killed" his hireling to gain the final level. We parted at around 9pm because The Changed Man had a project to do and I had a morning lesson on Sunday.
The Married Soldier also finally passed me the camera phone that he intended to sell to me at dealer's price. I will be tinkering with the features and once I am used to the new phone, I hope I would be able to upload some photos to liven up this blog. In the meanwhile, I could only share some photos of the following event which I had to miss because I could not be at two places at the same time.
Teresa Tseng @ East Point Mall on 7 Jul 2007 @ Campus Superstars Roadshow
Teresa looked radiant and rejuvenated after her holidays in Taiwan. Glad she is back on the stage again for everyone. Confident, unassuming, and always doing her best - a true Superstar.
Still did not know what song she had sung on Saturday evening but judging from the photograph, Teresa seemed to be in great form and was enjoying her performance.
After arranging and rearranging schedules here and there, I finally got to meet up with some of my VIP friends and got them to gather at Vivo City on Saturday (so that I don't have to run all over Singapore to meet up with them). It was fun enough and most importantly, I got to spend time with my friends so that we could catch up with one another's lives.
I first met up with Sushi Rabbit for lunch at around 12pm. We headed for Coffee Bean and ordered our favourite Caesar's salad and she had a caramel latte while I had my pure chocolate (I am a chocoholic). Lunch was peacefully taken as we watched the crowds moved along and we made our way to the various soft toys departments. Sushi Rabbit has a soft spot for those cuddly things and she would go around hugging soft toys that she has taken a fancy upon. We took a stroll on the wooden-floored viewing decks facing Sentosa and commented on how nice the flooring was. Window shopping with Sushi Rabbit took around two hours before the Changed Man arrived and Sushi Rabbit skipped off to meet another friend of hers in another place.
The Changed Man, The Married Soldier and his wife were the next group I met and we watched the 3.05pm movie on The Fantastic Four: Rise of The Silver Surfer. The movie was not as bad as the critics said. Although the plot was very basic and character development was minimal, the mid-air chases were exciting and adrenalin-pumping enough and the graphics were quite alright as well. The four of us then booked a table at Sushi Tei for dinner, courtesy of The Changed Man who found a new job and a pay-rise. We ate some dragon and phoenix rolls, sashimi, soup, beancurd, soft-shelled rolls and generally talked alot over the table.
The wife of The Married Soldier went shopping after dinner and we three guys eased back at StarBucks Coffee at HarbourFront to play a game of Munchkins - a card game where the objective was to reach level 10 before any other players. I was pretty close to winning but I was cursed and the game was eventually won by The Changed Man who "killed" his hireling to gain the final level. We parted at around 9pm because The Changed Man had a project to do and I had a morning lesson on Sunday.
The Married Soldier also finally passed me the camera phone that he intended to sell to me at dealer's price. I will be tinkering with the features and once I am used to the new phone, I hope I would be able to upload some photos to liven up this blog. In the meanwhile, I could only share some photos of the following event which I had to miss because I could not be at two places at the same time.
Teresa Tseng @ East Point Mall on 7 Jul 2007 @ Campus Superstars Roadshow
Teresa looked radiant and rejuvenated after her holidays in Taiwan. Glad she is back on the stage again for everyone. Confident, unassuming, and always doing her best - a true Superstar.
Still did not know what song she had sung on Saturday evening but judging from the photograph, Teresa seemed to be in great form and was enjoying her performance.
A full length photo of Teresa in her stage attire. Looked in-line with the colour scheme of the backdrop and semi-casual. Like to think of her as a fashion designer's fitting model.
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Campus Superstars 2 Quarter Finals 2A Song List
My apologies to all those who have been reading my blog for the lack of updates these few days. Been extremely busy with work and going out with friends. I have been trying to continue the CSS 2 blog posts since Wednesday night but I could only piece together the following song list because there was no official updates from Channel U's website since then. Hope the following song list is accurate (kindly correct me if my information is incorrect) and enjoy mulling over the songs. Here we go...
Audience familiarity with song: **
Song & Performance Difficulty: **1/2
To nail a performance with this song, the performer must be able to sing the sense of relaxation and fun portrayed within the song persona. The tune is light-hearted but very hard to catch and it can be a little boring when the song stretches out, so gesticulation and interaction with the audience is important to make the song livelier than mere standing and singing.
Audience familiarity with song: ***
Song & Performance Difficulty: **1/2
Song & Performance Difficulty: **1/2
This song is harder to impress because listeners are used to listening to the original singers' three voices so performing this song as a duet will be quite a challenging. The lyrics are wordy and not easy to remember and the song is not really very impressive in the vocal section so securing the stage presence will be paramount to winning the performance. How to do so? Sing to the audience with sincerity.
Audience familiarity with song: ***
Song & Performance Difficulty: ***1/2
This song is probably one of the most difficult to sing amongst the female songs in the quarter-finals 2B because the emotions within the song are very subtle and emoting those will be not easy because the song is sung in a light and reflective tone. Most of the feel of the song hinges in the clear enunciation of the lyrics, good control of the voice and appropriate facial expressions will be important to bring out the flavour of the song. The fleetingly gentle endnotes will also be hard to grasp during a performance so the performer must be very careful when dealing with these too.
Audience familiarity with song: ***1/2
Song & Performance Difficulty: ***
This song is lyric-dependent in order to "paint" the song content in the minds of the audience. The tune of the song is quite simplistically constructed so there is little to do in the vocal section except in the chorus parts where emoting becomes important to drive the song home so appropriate gesticulation will be very useful. Simple dance moves can be possibly inserted in the chorus portion but the song still remains more of a lyrical presentation type than a dance visual type.
Audience familiarity with song: ***1/2
Song & Performance Difficulty: ***1/2
To perform this particular song onstage is quite difficult because the feel of the song is deeply-dependent on the song persona's emotions permeating in each line of the lyrics. Notice that every line is deliberately sung stretched with emotions and catching the balance without over-emoting the song will be very challenging because if the performer over-concentrated on the emoting part, he may lose the focus of bringing the song's lyrical contents to the audience.
M2 郑全威 - 非你莫属 原唱者： Tank
Audience familiarity with song: ****
Song & Performance Difficulty: **1/2
This song is popularized by the original singer and it will be almost impossible to avoid a compare and contrast by the audience so the best way to go about performing this song is to stay safe and sing the original version. No doubt that it will mean less performance creativity but it is better than risk ruining the highly-popular song. The most difficult part about this song is the chorus where emoting at the appropriate levels makes the song impressionable. Otherwise, it is amongst the easiest song selected in this round of the quarter-finals.
Audience familiarity with song: ****
Song & Performance Difficulty: ****
This song is actually very difficult to sing because it begins slow and energy-less but gradually fills in in the subsequent lines with all sorts of emotions from the song persona. The falsetto parts of this song is also one of the most difficult ones amongst the male contestant's songs to manage because the parts weave in seamlessly into the lyrics and the performer needs to hold the falsetto endnotes well in order to trail the song off beautiful. The lyrics are also quite a mouthful and varies alot in each line so this is definitely the most difficult song to perform in the entire quarter-finals 2A.
M4 吴福宽 - Song not known yet.
Audience familiarity with song: Un-rated
Song & Performance Difficulty: Un-rated
No comment on the song until I can somehow get Fu Kuan's song selection. As if time of typing, I still found no confirmation of his song in this round of the competition.
记得我以前上学时的音乐老师曾经说过：
“要把歌唱好，不只是要把歌词，旋律，和技巧融合在一起，呈现出来，还得有一份感动。若自己没有被歌曲感动到，就没办法唱出歌曲中的情感和味道。当你真被感动了，你才能与大家分享那份感动。”
Monday, June 11, 2007
Performance Reviews of Campus Superstar 2 QF 1B
The following are my personal analysis and performance reviews of the 10 CSS 2 contestants for the Quarter-Finals 1B. Feel free to give any constructive comments if you want to. Have fun reading and mulling over their performances. =)
张宇璇 亲爱的你怎么不在我身边 原唱者：江美琪
Yuxuan's eyes were really not focused and her stage posture was very stiff. She was really nervous onstage and her starting was weak. She actually sang quite well but her overall stage presence took out a lot of marks for your performance. Li Fei Hui was correct to point out that CSS 2 performances are both an audio and a visual experience so Yuxuan must learn to impress the audience better visually. Her scores were 7.5+6.5+6.0=20.0. I would have given her a 6.25.
谢慧娴 真的 原唱者：张韶涵
Huixian's voice was a little shaky at parts and her facial expression was not really fully-coordinated with the song lyrics. She also sang the word "kong"(1) off-key a couple of times but her gesticulation and overall performance was quite impressive, considering the fact that she picked the most difficult female song for this round. Her scores were 8.0+7.5+6.0=21.5. I would have given her a 7.0.
杨丽莹 过敏 原唱者：杨丞琳
Liying's performance starting was also weak and she swallowed some of the end lyrics. She was also another nervous performer tonight. She looked very anxious with her eyes darting all over the audience and her posture was obviously lacking in self-confidence. She had a good voice as well but she has a lot of room for improvement with her stage presence and stage confidence. Her scores were 8.5+7.5+6.0=22.0. I would have given her a 6.75.
林佳君 一个像夏天一个像秋天 原唱者：范玮琪
Jiajun could not reach some of her lower notes and she was actually off-key at certain parts of the song but she was intelligent enough to capitalize on her mega-watt smile and that was sufficient to make her performance flaws seem relatively smaller. It would be a challenge to her, however, to continue to pick happy songs because that would severely limit her capability to sing the more serious-sounding ones due to her initial stage image unless she could make a convincing transformation during those serious song performances. Her scores were 7.5+7.0+7.0=21.5. I would have given her a 6.75.
黄意凌 大手拉小手 原唱者：梁静茹
Yiling's performance was, in my opinion, actually the best for the females tonight. Why? Other than some lyrics' mispronunciation and a slightly heavier breathing behind her singing, her performance was natural and entertaining for the eyes. The song was not the most difficult song but the fast number showcased her calmess with fast songs and her ability to handle them with confidence. Her stage presence was natural as well. Her scores were 8.0+8.0+7.5=23.5. I would have given her a 7.5.
绕梓杰 只因为你 原唱者：张栋梁
Zijie's performance started off weakly and he was chopping up the lyrics at the first few lines of the song. He sang off-key at some parts of the song and I was hearing more singing from his nose/throat than his stomach, giving the song a coarse feel. The judges were criticising on his facial expression but I was more disappointed with his seemingly coarse performance. His scores were 7.5+6.5+6.0=20.0. I would have given him a 5.75.
范平庚 原来 原唱者：林俊杰
Benjamin's endnotes were cut short and he sounded a little out of breath. He was off the beat for the starting of his first chorus and his stage posture was a little unnatural and jarring for the supposedly smooth performance. The judges were correct to point out that Benjamin sounded a little too much like JJ and that is not a good thing because he would not be able to showcase his individual style in singing and run into the danger of becoming a parrot-singer. His scores were 8.0+8.0+7.0=23.0. I would have given him a 7.0.
唐伟盛 着迷 原唱者：潘玮柏
Wilson was keen on impressing with his dance moves but he was breathless when he danced a bit and his rhythm with the music was a little off. His "baby" was sung off-key and his gesticulation was not really coordinated with the song. His eyes also failed to electrify the audience and "mesmerize" them as he was too concerned with his stage movements. His scores were 7.0+6.0+5.5=18.5. I would have given him a 5.5.
许国豪 男佣 原唱者：吴克群
Guohao was also chopping his lyrics at the initial start of his performance and he lacked the coordination to match the rhythm of the song. Sadly, there was little decent dance moves and he chose to entertain with funny stage antics instead - nothing wrong with the entertainment value that he opted for but it lowered the my acceptance level for a potential Campus Superstar. This is still a singing competition. His scores were 8.0+7.5+6.0=21.5. I would have given him a 5.25.
郑全威 Love Story 原唱者：范逸臣
Javin over-emoted the earlier portions of his performance so much so that when the chorus came in, there was little distinctive difference to mark the chorus, which was supposedly the important section to make the cut for this particular song. His stage posture was shaking so much that I had problems focusing on his stage presence and his facial expression was a little unnatural to the cameras. Given his matured look, I was hoping that he could nail the song with a loud and sincere release of energy for the chorus of the song but his voice lacked the impact. His scores were 8.0+6.5+6.0=20.5. I would have given him a 5.5.
张宇璇 亲爱的你怎么不在我身边 原唱者：江美琪
Yuxuan's eyes were really not focused and her stage posture was very stiff. She was really nervous onstage and her starting was weak. She actually sang quite well but her overall stage presence took out a lot of marks for your performance. Li Fei Hui was correct to point out that CSS 2 performances are both an audio and a visual experience so Yuxuan must learn to impress the audience better visually. Her scores were 7.5+6.5+6.0=20.0. I would have given her a 6.25.
谢慧娴 真的 原唱者：张韶涵
Huixian's voice was a little shaky at parts and her facial expression was not really fully-coordinated with the song lyrics. She also sang the word "kong"(1) off-key a couple of times but her gesticulation and overall performance was quite impressive, considering the fact that she picked the most difficult female song for this round. Her scores were 8.0+7.5+6.0=21.5. I would have given her a 7.0.
杨丽莹 过敏 原唱者：杨丞琳
Liying's performance starting was also weak and she swallowed some of the end lyrics. She was also another nervous performer tonight. She looked very anxious with her eyes darting all over the audience and her posture was obviously lacking in self-confidence. She had a good voice as well but she has a lot of room for improvement with her stage presence and stage confidence. Her scores were 8.5+7.5+6.0=22.0. I would have given her a 6.75.
林佳君 一个像夏天一个像秋天 原唱者：范玮琪
Jiajun could not reach some of her lower notes and she was actually off-key at certain parts of the song but she was intelligent enough to capitalize on her mega-watt smile and that was sufficient to make her performance flaws seem relatively smaller. It would be a challenge to her, however, to continue to pick happy songs because that would severely limit her capability to sing the more serious-sounding ones due to her initial stage image unless she could make a convincing transformation during those serious song performances. Her scores were 7.5+7.0+7.0=21.5. I would have given her a 6.75.
黄意凌 大手拉小手 原唱者：梁静茹
Yiling's performance was, in my opinion, actually the best for the females tonight. Why? Other than some lyrics' mispronunciation and a slightly heavier breathing behind her singing, her performance was natural and entertaining for the eyes. The song was not the most difficult song but the fast number showcased her calmess with fast songs and her ability to handle them with confidence. Her stage presence was natural as well. Her scores were 8.0+8.0+7.5=23.5. I would have given her a 7.5.
绕梓杰 只因为你 原唱者：张栋梁
Zijie's performance started off weakly and he was chopping up the lyrics at the first few lines of the song. He sang off-key at some parts of the song and I was hearing more singing from his nose/throat than his stomach, giving the song a coarse feel. The judges were criticising on his facial expression but I was more disappointed with his seemingly coarse performance. His scores were 7.5+6.5+6.0=20.0. I would have given him a 5.75.
范平庚 原来 原唱者：林俊杰
Benjamin's endnotes were cut short and he sounded a little out of breath. He was off the beat for the starting of his first chorus and his stage posture was a little unnatural and jarring for the supposedly smooth performance. The judges were correct to point out that Benjamin sounded a little too much like JJ and that is not a good thing because he would not be able to showcase his individual style in singing and run into the danger of becoming a parrot-singer. His scores were 8.0+8.0+7.0=23.0. I would have given him a 7.0.
唐伟盛 着迷 原唱者：潘玮柏
Wilson was keen on impressing with his dance moves but he was breathless when he danced a bit and his rhythm with the music was a little off. His "baby" was sung off-key and his gesticulation was not really coordinated with the song. His eyes also failed to electrify the audience and "mesmerize" them as he was too concerned with his stage movements. His scores were 7.0+6.0+5.5=18.5. I would have given him a 5.5.
许国豪 男佣 原唱者：吴克群
Guohao was also chopping his lyrics at the initial start of his performance and he lacked the coordination to match the rhythm of the song. Sadly, there was little decent dance moves and he chose to entertain with funny stage antics instead - nothing wrong with the entertainment value that he opted for but it lowered the my acceptance level for a potential Campus Superstar. This is still a singing competition. His scores were 8.0+7.5+6.0=21.5. I would have given him a 5.25.
郑全威 Love Story 原唱者：范逸臣
Javin over-emoted the earlier portions of his performance so much so that when the chorus came in, there was little distinctive difference to mark the chorus, which was supposedly the important section to make the cut for this particular song. His stage posture was shaking so much that I had problems focusing on his stage presence and his facial expression was a little unnatural to the cameras. Given his matured look, I was hoping that he could nail the song with a loud and sincere release of energy for the chorus of the song but his voice lacked the impact. His scores were 8.0+6.5+6.0=20.5. I would have given him a 5.5.
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Updates, Modifications and Notices On My Blog
Updated Music Playlist:
I have removed some of the older songs on my blog's music playlist and added a number of newer songs for the listening pleasure of all those who took time to visit my blog. Some of the songs aren't necessarily new but at least IMHO, good songs worth listening to.
Teresa Tseng, the Overall Female Champion of Campus Superstar Season 1 will be making a special guest appearance at an event at East Point Mall near Simei MRT station on 16 June 2007 (Saturday) at around 1800hrs. For all those who have not seen Teresa's gracious Superstar aura onstage, please head down there and if we are lucky, get to hear her sing.
I have removed some of the older songs on my blog's music playlist and added a number of newer songs for the listening pleasure of all those who took time to visit my blog. Some of the songs aren't necessarily new but at least IMHO, good songs worth listening to.
18. 吴克群 - 男佣
31. 伍思凯 + 马玉芬 - 关于爱情 (One of the best timeless love duets)
33. 张信哲, Jeff - 太想爱你 (A classic masterfully sung by The Prince of Ballads)
36. 张韶涵 - 真的
37. 梦飞船 - 不值得 (Amazing harmonization of voices in this song)
Added New Blogs on Blogroll:
For those who are observant, I have added a number of new blogs for the curious visitors of my blog. The new additions are Huixian of CSS 2 and Shawn of CSS 2.
Answering To Comments About My Photographs:
Thanks but no. Moreover, without explicit permission from the people supporting me, it's not a good idea to drag their faces into this blog.
Whatever the case, I am hoping to attract readers with content and not with my face (which isn't much to look at anyway, haha). I am trying to secure a better camera phone and perhaps in the near future, readers can see how my photoshooting skills of food and scenery are.
Blog Posts In The Making:
a) Movie Review of Shrek 3
b) Visit To Chinatown & Hindu Temple
I am still busy with the upcoming Campus Superstar QF 1B post-performance analysis blog post so be patient okay? Will generate the abovementioned two posts as soon as I can.
Announcement To Supporters of Teresa Tseng:Teresa Tseng, the Overall Female Champion of Campus Superstar Season 1 will be making a special guest appearance at an event at East Point Mall near Simei MRT station on 16 June 2007 (Saturday) at around 1800hrs. For all those who have not seen Teresa's gracious Superstar aura onstage, please head down there and if we are lucky, get to hear her sing.
Friday, June 08, 2007
Campus Superstars 2 Quarter Finals 1B Song List
Alright, since I have done my song analysis for the first 10 contestants of CSS 2. It's fair that I continue with the remaining 10. One will never know how they may surprise us with new renditions of the songs but the following will be the kinds of things they'll need to pay attention to when they are performing those songs since they have committed themselves to the songs already. Feel free to right click on the song titles to hear what the original renditions are.
张宇璇 亲爱的你怎么不在我身边 原唱者：江美琪
Audience familiarity with song: ***1/2
Song & Performance difficulty: ***
This song is a challenging in its own way because it has a lot of lyrics to remember and emotional management of the song requires matured handling. Performer definitely needs to paint the images inside the song to allow the feel of the song to the audience. When the song progresses, it can become a bland song vocally as it slows down again so gesticulation is necessary to improve the visual effect of the performance.
谢慧娴 真的 原唱者：张韶涵
Audience familiarity with song: ****
Song & Performance difficulty: ***1/2
This song is a soulful ballad with very clear pronunciation of lyrics and will require the performer to have a good control over the high notes, particularly holding the endnotes in certain places. Performer must learn to control the build-up of the emotions leading all the way to the chorus. With less emphasis on gesticulation, placing the audio image of pessimism and resignation in the ears of the audience will be the key to a winning performance of this particular song.
杨丽莹 过敏 原唱者：杨丞琳
Audience familiarity with song: ****
Song & Performance difficulty: **1/2
Audience familiarity with song: ***1/2
Song & Performance difficulty: ***
This song is another jovial sounding song so adequate emotional preparation to get into the mood of the song before heading off to the stage is important to make the performance realistically friendly and enjoyable. Gesticulation and audience interaction will be pivotal in giving a stellar performance. Performer should let go and learn to enjoy the fun behind the lyrics before she can affect the audience in the same way as intended by the songwriter.
黄意凌 大手拉小手 原唱者：梁静茹
Audience familiarity with song: ****
Song & Performance difficulty: **1/2
This song is also full of lyrics, which means many pitfalls if the performer did not clock enough practice on memorising the lyrics. It's actually quite a slow and dry song with little variation and opportunity to showcase much talent so most of the focus should be on whether the performer can hold the low notes properly and make the full use of those few lines of chorus to impress the audience. Gesticulation will be quite important to vary the performance since distinctive vocal showcasing is limted by the song itself.
绕梓杰 只因为你 原唱者：张栋梁
Audience familiarity with song: ****
Song & Performance difficulty: ***
This song requires emoting that is happy and carefree and one of the major pitfalls is keeping pace with the song because it’s has quite a jovial beat and getting the audience to feel the song with the performer will be a challenge. It’s quite a popular song so audience familiarity will most definitely mean comparing and contrasting with the original singer. Given the specific rhythm of the song, it will be difficult to try and sing this song in a radically different manner without losing the flavour of the song.
范平庚 原来 原唱者：林俊杰
Audience familiarity with song: ****
Song & Performance difficulty: ****
The song has a lot of lyrics and fast-moving lines, which makes it one of the most difficult songs to perform for the QF 1B round. The performer must be very familiar with the song lyrics and have excellent breath control to recover from the quick-moving lines. The most difficult part, however, is for the performer to NOT over-concentrate on the fast lines but remain focused on singing and engaging the audience with the content of the song, which is not as colourful or soulful as the other songs.
唐伟盛 着迷 原唱者：潘玮柏
Audience familiarity with song: ***
Song & Performance difficulty: ****1/2
This is obviously a dance track and thus requires even more performance variety to impress the audience. Breath control, dance moves, audience interaction, gesticulation and poses are the usual staple for dance track performances and there is a lot of end-lines variation to juggle with so the performer must be prepared to eunciate accordingly. Most performers I have seen are overly-engrossed in their dance moves in this song and forgot to sing the song.
许国豪 男佣 原唱者：吴克群
Audience familiarity with song: ***
Song & Performance difficulty: ****1/2
This song calls for a certain level of resignation and yet playfulness of the song persona and the performer must learn to portray such levels accurately throughout the song. The rhythmic beats within the songs are numerous and practice is a definite if one does not want to miss those beats and since it's a dance track, dance moves will be expected from the performer. A couple lines of lyrics are also not easy to remember within the song as they are pronunciated fast and in unconventional language.
郑全威 Love Story 原唱者：范逸臣
Audience familiarity with song: ****
Song & Performance difficulty: ***1/2
This song is deceptively difficult because although the song's lyrics are easy and the tune is not difficult to remember but the emotional build-up at the chorus can make or break the performance. It's that kind of release of emotions of the song persona that differentiates the song and the endnotes will require a good measure of control in order to bring the performance to a respectable ending.
In case of complaints, I must make it clear here that the analysis is deliberately kept at a simple level because too many complex comments about their song choices (if they choose to adjust themselves because of what I said) can ruin their individual styles in singing, especially at this late stage of performance preparations. Good luck to all the remaining contestants and I hope to see a round of good performances on the coming Monday night then!
张宇璇 亲爱的你怎么不在我身边 原唱者：江美琪
Audience familiarity with song: ***1/2
Song & Performance difficulty: ***
This song is a challenging in its own way because it has a lot of lyrics to remember and emotional management of the song requires matured handling. Performer definitely needs to paint the images inside the song to allow the feel of the song to the audience. When the song progresses, it can become a bland song vocally as it slows down again so gesticulation is necessary to improve the visual effect of the performance.
谢慧娴 真的 原唱者：张韶涵
Audience familiarity with song: ****
Song & Performance difficulty: ***1/2
This song is a soulful ballad with very clear pronunciation of lyrics and will require the performer to have a good control over the high notes, particularly holding the endnotes in certain places. Performer must learn to control the build-up of the emotions leading all the way to the chorus. With less emphasis on gesticulation, placing the audio image of pessimism and resignation in the ears of the audience will be the key to a winning performance of this particular song.
杨丽莹 过敏 原唱者：杨丞琳
Audience familiarity with song: ****
Song & Performance difficulty: **1/2
This song is sung in a very gentle way with little variation. In short, it's quite a simple song, which is good because it is easy to perform and is bad because it will hard to impress. Things to note will be readiness of breath during the chorus portions where there are fewer opportunities to pause and rest. I suppose facial expression will be necessary instead of large gesticulation because of the gentleness of the song as the latter will make the performance jarring instead of comfortable listening.
林佳君 一个像夏天一个像秋天 原唱者：范玮琪
Audience familiarity with song: ***1/2
Song & Performance difficulty: ***
This song is another jovial sounding song so adequate emotional preparation to get into the mood of the song before heading off to the stage is important to make the performance realistically friendly and enjoyable. Gesticulation and audience interaction will be pivotal in giving a stellar performance. Performer should let go and learn to enjoy the fun behind the lyrics before she can affect the audience in the same way as intended by the songwriter.
黄意凌 大手拉小手 原唱者：梁静茹
Audience familiarity with song: ****
Song & Performance difficulty: **1/2
This song is also full of lyrics, which means many pitfalls if the performer did not clock enough practice on memorising the lyrics. It's actually quite a slow and dry song with little variation and opportunity to showcase much talent so most of the focus should be on whether the performer can hold the low notes properly and make the full use of those few lines of chorus to impress the audience. Gesticulation will be quite important to vary the performance since distinctive vocal showcasing is limted by the song itself.
绕梓杰 只因为你 原唱者：张栋梁
Audience familiarity with song: ****
Song & Performance difficulty: ***
This song requires emoting that is happy and carefree and one of the major pitfalls is keeping pace with the song because it’s has quite a jovial beat and getting the audience to feel the song with the performer will be a challenge. It’s quite a popular song so audience familiarity will most definitely mean comparing and contrasting with the original singer. Given the specific rhythm of the song, it will be difficult to try and sing this song in a radically different manner without losing the flavour of the song.
范平庚 原来 原唱者：林俊杰
Audience familiarity with song: ****
Song & Performance difficulty: ****
The song has a lot of lyrics and fast-moving lines, which makes it one of the most difficult songs to perform for the QF 1B round. The performer must be very familiar with the song lyrics and have excellent breath control to recover from the quick-moving lines. The most difficult part, however, is for the performer to NOT over-concentrate on the fast lines but remain focused on singing and engaging the audience with the content of the song, which is not as colourful or soulful as the other songs.
唐伟盛 着迷 原唱者：潘玮柏
Audience familiarity with song: ***
Song & Performance difficulty: ****1/2
This is obviously a dance track and thus requires even more performance variety to impress the audience. Breath control, dance moves, audience interaction, gesticulation and poses are the usual staple for dance track performances and there is a lot of end-lines variation to juggle with so the performer must be prepared to eunciate accordingly. Most performers I have seen are overly-engrossed in their dance moves in this song and forgot to sing the song.
许国豪 男佣 原唱者：吴克群
Audience familiarity with song: ***
Song & Performance difficulty: ****1/2
This song calls for a certain level of resignation and yet playfulness of the song persona and the performer must learn to portray such levels accurately throughout the song. The rhythmic beats within the songs are numerous and practice is a definite if one does not want to miss those beats and since it's a dance track, dance moves will be expected from the performer. A couple lines of lyrics are also not easy to remember within the song as they are pronunciated fast and in unconventional language.
郑全威 Love Story 原唱者：范逸臣
Audience familiarity with song: ****
Song & Performance difficulty: ***1/2
This song is deceptively difficult because although the song's lyrics are easy and the tune is not difficult to remember but the emotional build-up at the chorus can make or break the performance. It's that kind of release of emotions of the song persona that differentiates the song and the endnotes will require a good measure of control in order to bring the performance to a respectable ending.
In case of complaints, I must make it clear here that the analysis is deliberately kept at a simple level because too many complex comments about their song choices (if they choose to adjust themselves because of what I said) can ruin their individual styles in singing, especially at this late stage of performance preparations. Good luck to all the remaining contestants and I hope to see a round of good performances on the coming Monday night then!
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