Sunday, July 29, 2007

Updates n Modifications To Blog 28 Jul 2007



觸摸 原唱者: 陈伟联

(放轻松,培养情绪)
(第二钢琴,准备入歌)

(B)(轻音) 聽說南方 從來不會~寂寞~
(B)(轻音) 聽說~(低音)在海邊~ (B)世界沒有頭~
(B)(中音到重音) 你着告訴我 (B)你和他 夢想的重重~~
(B)(重音) 我是你雨天的爐火 (B)擁抱你的溫柔~
(B)(中音到重音)好想你的~笑容~~ (B)對離開的~他~~
(B)(中音到重音) 你心中那~份美麗~怎么 (B)都不會再有~

(B)(重音)請記住我未來遙遠的風 (B)有一天你會~回~你~的~夢~~
(B)(重音到中音)幸福是看~得~透 而不是 (B)舍不得 他 的 所 有
(B)(重音)慢慢觸摸天暖暖的火 (B)我在這天黑也不會~走~~
(B)(重音到轻音)你的快樂除了他還有 (B)永遠守候~不要難過~~~~(轻拉音)

(B)(轻音)聽說冬天 也只首了~~~
(B)(轻音)聽說~(低音)在天空~~ (B)有迷人的星座~~
(B)(中音到重音)一起去探險吧 (B)也許你 會喜歡而感~~
(B)(重音)你沉默的時候 (B)我知道你的心~~還~很~痛~~
(B)(中音到重音)真想~~ (B)對你的他大~~~
(B)(中音到重音)你心中那份美~麗怎么 都不會再(重拉音)~~~~

(B)(重音)請記住我未來遙遠的風 有一天你會找回你~的~夢~~
(B)(重音)幸福是看~得~而不是 (B)舍 不 得 他 的 所 有
(B)(重音)慢慢觸摸天空暖暖的火 我在這天黑也不會~~
(B)(重音到中音)你的快樂除了他還有 (B)永遠守候 不 要 難 (中拉音)~~~~

(重拉音)~~~~~~~~

(B))(重音)請 記 住 我未來遙遠的風 (B)有一天你會回你 的 夢~~
(B))(重音)幸福 是看 得透 而不是 舍 不 得 他 的 所 有
(B))(重音)慢慢觸摸天空暖暖的火 (B)我在這天黑也不~走~~~~(放慢)
(B))(重音到中音)你的快樂除了他還有 永遠守候(放慢)~~~~ (小停顿)(B)不要 難過(轻拉音)~~~~

(B) = 呼吸
~ = 尾部拉音
Bold = 特别处理

New Addition To Blog Roll:

Elaine from CSS 2 (See Blog Roll on left hand sidebar)

New Songs Added On Main Music Playlist:

Song 13. 蔡淳佳, Joi - 风铃
Song 15. 梁咏琪, Gigi - 新鲜
Song 17. 张韶涵, Angela - 不痛
Song 21. 方大同 - 爱爱爱
Song 40. 林忆莲, Sandy - 诱惑的街
Song 45. 彭羚, Cass - 随爱而飞
Song 46. 李圣杰, Sam - 眼底星空

Hope everyone can enjoy listening to them!

(Video Source: YouTube, May 25 2007, babydoll15)

Saturday, July 28, 2007

Performance Reviews of Campus Superstar 2 SF 1A

Okay. Just finished watching the CSS 2 SF 1A replay on the television. There's lots to say so I'd better write now whilst the memory is still fresh and before I go shopping for my running shoes. And yes, the judges were correct to stay that since it was already the semi-finals, their grading would be also stricter because after all, they represent the competition's best and thus leniency should be reduced accordingly.

F1 卢慷倚:勾勾手 原唱者:郭美美

Agnes' starting for her song sounded strained as it was too low for her. The reach of her voice for this song was not adequate and her emoting was quite bland. She also swallowed some of her lyrics like 坚强. Perhaps Judge Lin was right to say that she was still a little young to feel the song at the appropriate level. Words or phrases such as 痛, 终, 虹, 追过, 海鸥 were either off-key, too low or feeble and thus rendering her performance less than stellar and enjoyable. Her scores were 6.5+7.0+6.0=19.5. I would have given her a 6.00.

F2 谢慧娴:风铃 原唱者:蔡淳佳

Huixian did quite a bad job eunciating the lyrics of her song. There were plenty of words or phrases that she either sang too low, swallowed or got the note inaccurate - 微, 过, 洒, 猜, 选择, 自然, 都是你. Judge Ye also made a good point that Huixian must learn to gather her endnotes properly so that those notes would not hang in the air. I personally felt that she sounded a little too choppy at the bridge portion. However, she made improvements in the way she breathed in and that "ge-tai" feel was also smoothed out so the attention span on her performance was better. Her scores were 6.5+7.5+6.0=20.0. I would have given her a 6.75.

F3 许政宁:一千年以后 原唱者:林俊杰

Zhengning's starting note on the word 跳 was too low. She had serious problems in trying to change notes and transit into them and there was no distinctive line between the chorus and the verses. Most of her notes were too low and were not controlled well and I felt that most of Zhengning's singing were still around her nasal area, which meant much less energy for her song. Overall, her performance sounded quite dull and lifeless. Her scores were 5.0+4.0+4.5=13.5. I would have given her a 4.25.

F4 阮诗凯:触摸 原唱者: 陈伟联

Keely's starting note "听" was also too low and she was struggling with the first few verses because she could not really reach the lownotes well such as the phrase "在这天". I would also complain about the way she kept closing her eyes and arching her head to one side, which looked sort of unpresentable when she could have moved further to interact with the audience. However, Keely's chorus did save her and she managed to emote quite well for those chorus portions. Judge Ye was correct to point out that Keely's variation of voicing platforms could have improved to add varying depths to the song. Her scores were 7.0+6.5+6.0=19.5. I would have given her a 6.50.

F5 张芮恩:爱无力 原唱者:潘嘉丽

Joanna was the only girl who managed to get her starting note correct and her performance was actually fairly stable as well. However, she did make a series of mistakes, which prevented a high score. Her 友, 该 were too low and she swallowed her phrase 对着. Joanna also could not fully enunciate 懂 properly and she could not enter the phrase 在那里 accurately enough. As what Judge Lin said, she could not bring out the helplessness within the song. I felt that Joanna should learn to interact with the audience more during the interval in her song and avoid smiling whilst performing a sad ballad. Her final stretchnote ended a beat too early and Judge Li was also right to say that Joanna's soft and hard notes were not distinctive enough. Her scores were 6.5+7.0+5.5=19.0. I would have given her a 6.25.

Okay. That is all. Hope all of these can reach the contestants and somehow help them along their journeys to become better in singing. I am still thinking of making a post on how to sing 触摸 so if I can find the time, I'll put it up for everyone to practise and think about.

Have a good weekend ahead! =)

Friday, July 27, 2007

Random Photos Collection 27 Jul 2007

Hmm...the cold breezy mornings these weeks are making me lethargic. Got a few random photos to share with you folks because I just want to add more variety to my blog besides talking about music, Teresa and the CSS 2 competition.

Introducing the Italian BMT sandwich from Subway. I like it because it's a good mix of vegetables and meat and it's convenient and healthier than the usual burgers. My favourite dressing for this sandwich - a simple dash of honey mustard. Too much of it will make the whole sandwich too sourish. Oh yes, the chocolate chip cookies from the set meal are delicious as desserts too.

Photograph taken at an undisclosed branch of Swensen's when I was having lunch with The Holy Bitch, another VIP friend of mine. The service standards between different branches vary tremendously but this was taken at a good branch. We had some seafood salad with prawns, sourdough burgers, and fish filet baked rice. It was a good lunch.


A (half-eaten) seafood platter for one at an undisclosed branch of Fish and Co. It was a farewell dinner treat to one of my VIP friends who is flying off again to the rest of the world. The platter itself was very filling and even I could not finish it but the food was delicious and the company was great. I like their service too - warm smiles, genuine attention to details at the table.


Ah...home-cooked food. One of those rare days that I actually get to eat Mum's cooking. My work schedule is usually packed and given the ancient age of Mum, she only cooks whenever she has the energy and I grab the opportunity to eat at her table whenever I can spare the time. It's simple fare but it's home-cooked. No questions asked - munch munch munch. Divine pleasure.



This was taken near Clarke Quay where I was supposed to meet a VIP friend for some drinks at one of those riverside pubs. It's actually a fireworks display where the cannons were mounted atop of the building itself. My camera skills were primitive but the display was quite nice. The magic of fireworks - everyone there just stood captivated by the exploding brilliant colours.

Okay, I've got to go exercise at the gym now before I get all fat and lazy as Garfield. Have a good weekend everyone and stay cheery and happy!

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Campus Superstars 2 Semi Finals 1B Song List

M1 绕梓杰 主题曲 原唱者:林宇中, Rynn

I am looking forward to see how Zijie can get this song across because the song is amongst the hardest to emote for all the male contestants' songs. The reason - it is very easy to just focus on the technicalities of this song and neglect the emoting of the song altogether. Zijie will have to know the story behind the song before he can convincingly sing the song. The light and heavy notes must be distinctive and one must be careful not to rush through the song especially when the lyrics bunched up together. Rynn has a way to link his lyrics in a flowing manner so it will be up to Zijie to see how he can also use the technique to bring out the uniqueness of the song itself. On the video clip from BB's blog, it was not possible to see his flaws because he was impersonating Jay more than giving a proper demo so we can only see his actual performance on Monday then.

M2 范平庚 Guardian Angel 原唱者:洪俊扬

The song have to sound light and soft and gradually build up to the gentle chorus. As there is little vocal showcase for this song as well, appropriate levels of gesticulation and audience interaction will be necessary to add the variety to the visual performance. From the video clip of Benjamin's sample singing on BB's blog, I noticed that Benjamin kept closing his eyes whilst he was singing, which is not a good thing because the eyes are supposed to convey the feelings of the song and closing them means forfeiting those opportunities. The other possibility for his eye-closing is that Benjamin may be a little out of breath (as seen on the video clip) so let's hope he is more prepared for Monday's performance.

M3 许国豪 大男人 小女孩 原唱者:林俊杰, JJ

Guohao probably picked the most difficult song amongst the male contestants, which can be viewed as either suicidal, because he is not known for his vocal skills, but it can also be viewed as refreshingly brave, compared to the safe selections by most of the other male contestants in this semifinal round. The variation of pace within the song is hard to grasp and the performer must sing the song in a light mood to bring out the "self-talk" feel of the song persona. This song is quite different from his known previous selections of happy, fun songs so it will limit his stage performance but perhaps he is out to showcase a more serious side of him onstage, which is not exactly a bad strategy. The video clip from BB's blog revealed Guohao rushing his song and getting off-key for a falsetto section, which he must work on before Monday's performance.

M4 卓轩正 满天星 原唱者:欧得洋, Ocean

Ah, finally a non-JJ Lin. This will be a litmus test for Shawn because the maturity level of the song is quite high and the quality of the performance will be highly dependent on whether Shawn can bring the feel of the song across to different age groups of the audience because the song is written to appeal and touch everyone, not a specific group of audience. Although there is very little to showcase within the song, its chorus is a very important portion of the song because of a secondary buildup within the chorus. The final line will also be pivotal as it will determine at the level of emoting the performer exit the song. From the video clip, Shawn must work on his facial expression as well because his facial expressions showed more pain and contentment and thus not in line with the song.

M5 李俊纬 知足 原唱者:五月天, MayDay

This is a very simple ballad, safe but unchallenging for Marcus. As far as I remembered, Marcus have been singing simple ballads for quite a major portion of the competition and I am hoping he can upgrade his song selection to showcase his improvements. Apparently, he is still sticking to ballads and playing safe. Maybe he is saving his fast tracks for the next performance but I am already growing a little bored of his song choices. Anyway, the things Marcus has to pay attention to this song is the measured pace of the song and avoid rushing through the song. Eunciation of lyrics must be clear because there isn't any space to hide such flaws if any and the chorus of the song is the only window of opportunity to distinguish the otherwise bland verses. The video clip from BB's blog has revealed that Marcus, at the time of the video, still have some problems buffing his lownotes, hence those notes sounded thin and shaky. Hope he can improve on them in time.


Jia you to all the contestants!

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

What exactly do people mean by emoting the song?

After watching the CSS 2 SF-1 results show last night, I noticed from the short clips of the performances by the female contestants that most of them are unable to emote their songs adequately to give the audience the feel of their songs. They were already doing what they could so I am not writing this to criticise them. I am writing this so that people who love singing and want to know what emoting is and improve their singing.

What exactly is emoting? It means singing the soul of the song. Sounds difficult? It is. Why so? Many aspiring singers are lacking the important stage of understanding what they are singing in the first place. To them, a song means remembering the lyrics and the tune, reciting the lyrics at the appropriate segments of the tune and viola, a song is sung! Indeed, a song is produced but it will never sound as good as a song whereby one actually understood what's the lyrics saying about and how the song persona (meaning the protagonist in the song) feels.

Have you ever taken a good look at the lyrics of your favourite songs to know what they are trying to portray? What is the state of mind of the song persona? What is the mood/mood changes of the song? What is the message behind the song itself? Can you relate any of your own experiences (if not others) to the situation of the song? If you have not done all of the above, perhaps it is time for you to relook at your songs again. Filling those gaps will most certainly improve the way you feel for the song and your listeners will sense the difference.

Below is a YouTube video from a talent show in Britain. I am not an expert in opera singing but look, listen and feel carefully at how the guy emotes his song. He truly believes what the song is saying (or at least whilst he is performing) and sings the song at the appropriate level of emotions and feel in order to reach out to the audience.




Impressive, right? That performance took almost everything out of the guy, Paul, but he held nothing back - from the emotional buildup all the way to the final climax of the song, he is immersed in the song's feel. The fellow knows the song's meaning and transmits it over to the audience through his singing, touching even Simon Cowell himslf. Of course, most singing don't really need such levels of immersion but one will need to know how to immerse oneself in the first place.

Now, let's pick something Mandarin for the second example. I chosed a song recently sung by Teresa during the MOE SYF event at Ngee Ann City. The song is not exactly new but it is short enough to exemplify what I meant. If the link at the title below is not working, you can also listen to the song at my main playlist at song number 45.

随爱而飞 by: 彭羚

深夜里 冷冷的空气 包围着情绪
窗外的夜景 迷乱美丽 想起过去 想起自己

风不停 发丝理不清 象我的心
女人的世界该有人安慰 倾听所有快乐和伤悲

让我随着爱而飞 让我为了爱沉醉
我无法再阻挡寂寞的滋味 我好想在温暖的怀中安歇
让我随着爱而飞 让我为了爱沉醉
就算流泪就算心碎 我也不会后悔 不会后悔

Can you hear the distinctive mood change from the chorus onwards? A key thing to reaching that kind of mood lies in the emotional buildup from the second line of the second verse from the desire to love all the way climaxing to the final determination of never retreating from love again. Listen, understand, relate to the song, be genuinely touched by it, and then finally sing the song.

(Video source: YouTube, June 10, 2007, wolffmann55)

Sunday, July 22, 2007

K-boxing Session n Prata Supper at NUS Fong Seng

After attending and meeting Teresa and her family members at Bishan Junction 8 on last Saturday, I went window-shopping with some of the supporters of Teresa before going to meet The Changed Man and The Married Soldier for K-boxing.

The Changed Man arrived first and we had our dinner at KFC. Nursing a scalded tongue (the coffee at Haagen Daz was a bit too hot for me) and a coin-sized mouth ulcer (because I bit myself whilst munching popcorn during the Die Hard 4.0 movie), I had to eat a very very slow dinner before heading into the K-box.

K-boxing on Saturday nights is an expensive affair because of the rates but given the crazy schedules of the three of us, it's already a boon at we can even meet together once in a blue moon. Since The Married Soldier had not arrived, the two of us helped ourselves to the songs inside. Below are the songs picked for yesterday's K-boxing...

爱爱爱 原唱者:方大同
不痛 原唱者: 张韶涵, Angela
旋律 原唱者: 林宇中, Rynn
丝路 原唱者:梁静茹
原唱者:梁静茹
爱, 无力 原唱者:潘嘉丽
一首简单的歌 原唱者:王力宏
记得 原唱者:张惠妹
我要快乐 原唱者:张惠妹
天天 原唱者:陶喆
流沙 原唱者:陶喆
原来爱情这么伤 原唱者:梁咏琪
给自己的情歌 原唱者:梁咏琪
触摸 原唱者:陈伟联
我只是想要 原唱者:陈伟联
远走高飞 原唱者:李圣杰
眼底星空 原唱者:李圣杰

After K-boxing, it was already around 9pm so all three of us went to this place called Fong Seng near NUS for roti prata supper because it was said that the place was famous for it. I ordered a cheese prata and teh-tarik and supper was delicious. It was really crowded at night as the NUS students poured in by the dozens from the nearby campus, adding to the crowd of public already sitting there. Supper talk was a bit boring for me though because The Changed Man and The Married Soldier started talking about career changes and leadership and I was not really interested in the topic. When it was around 11.30pm, we left the place as both The Changed Man and myself have to work on the following day.

The Changed Man is a very ambitious person who wants to earn loads and loads of money as some director. The Married Soldier is going to resign from the army and go into some marketing work. Me? I just want to live my life contentedly and happily. The rat race? Not interested because ultimately, at our final hour, we will bring nothing with us but memories of whether we manage to live our lives. For me, it's not the quantity of material artefacts, it's the quality of life. It's sort of like an extension or variant from the below quote from the movie "Patch Adams"

"You treat a disease - you win or you lose. You treat a human being -
you'll win, no matter what the outcome is."

Report on Teresa's performance on 21 July 2007 at SYF @ Heartlands @ Bishan Junction 8

I chosed this photograph not because it was picture perfect as her wist of hair was in the way, but because it gave Teresa a warmer touch of humanity. She is not perfect but she is beautiful in striving to be as best as she can. What more can we ask of her?

Another stage photograph of Teresa in the middle of her countless performance over the last two years. I will be adding this to the slideshow on my blog as soon as I get some sleep.


Radiance of a star.

The Background Setting:

I went to attend the abovementioned event for one single purpose - to show my support for Teresa, whom I truly believe is worthy of being THE Campus Superstar. After finishing and publishing my blog post on the performance reviews of the CSS 2 revival round, I reached Bishan Junction 8 around 2.30pm and was watching the rehearsal of the event by the various schools, including some interesting dance and percussion groups. At around 3pm, the rehearsal came to an end and I was answered by one of the nice and polite first-aiders present there that the event would officially start around 4pm. So I decided to take a short walk inside the shopping mall before the start, lo and behold, I saw Teresa and her family eating ice-cream inside Haagen Daz near the entrance back into the mall!


At The Table With Teresa and Family:

Since I know Mdm Tseng and Teresa already, it would not be nice not to wave my greetings to them and to my surprise, Mdm Tseng waved me over into the ice-cream parlour the moment she saw me. Needless to say, it was quite a pleasant surprise further that she asked me to sit down with Teresa and the rest of her family and friends at the same table when I approached their table. I was honoured by the fact that I have earned enough trust and respect from all of them to be invited to sit down at the very same table and I was just as delighted that Mdm Tseng was showing me all these in a public setting, in full view of everyone else in the parlour and those walking by.

With Mdm Tseng, Teresa, Haowei (Teresa's brother), Thomas (Teresa's family friend) at the table, the feeling was indeed strange. What is my relationship with Teresa and her family? Even till now, I can't put a finger on it - Supporter? Singing Enthusiast? Mentor? Friend? Maybe it's a mix of everything. I don't know. I suppose as long as Teresa understands my presence in her life can confer constructive benefits to her, I don't want to care about such titles of relationships anyway. As far as I am concerned, it's an expression of trust, respect and faith that binds me and since it is extended by Mdm Tseng through her gesture, it would be just as right to continue the reciprocation. I must say that I was so bowled over by Mdm Tseng's kind gesture that I totally forgot to formally introduce myself to Thomas and Haowei right at the start before sitting down so I'll extend my public apologies here to both of them for my gap in ettiquette at that point.

Teresa beamed at me and waved her greetings before quietly resuming eating her chocolate ice-cream sundae which she shared with her brother whilst Mdm Tseng and Thomas were talking to me for the earlier part of the coffee talk.

Fanclub Activities:

Thomas then went on and off throughout the one-hour table talk over coffee to brief me on the future events and public appearances for Teresa in the coming months and I quickly took mental notes of those details, which I will relay to the rest of the faithful supporters of Teresa on the idollic.com/teresa forum as soon as I worded my post. So for all supporters, new and old, of Teresa, please stay tuned to the mentioned forum as I will relay the updates on Teresa's activities as well as a major request by Teresa to the fanclub members regarding photographs.

The Reason Behind Teresa's Upbringing:

Initially, since the rise of Teresa as a contestant and her eventual crowning as the Female Champion of Campus Superstar Season One, there has been constant flaming and doubt that the supposed refined character of Teresa was just "faked". Today, I was absolutely convinced that I truly know the reason behind Teresa's modest and unassuming character - the quality of her upbringing by Mdm Tseng.

Mdm Tseng was conversing me about how grateful she was to all the people who have been supporting and "doting" on Teresa ever since her rise to Superstardom and she was jokingly telling me that she would poke fun at Teresa that the latter would not need a mother's doting anymore since there are so many people willing to "dote" on Teresa in her stead. I smiled and replied politely (and honestly) that no amount of love from other people can replace a mother's love for her children.

Mdm Tseng explained that it was then all the more important that she kept reminding Teresa that the latter must learn to appreciate all the good that has happened to her thus far and be ever more humble and modest about her achievements (in short, not to take things and people for granted). Mdm Tseng's sincere expression of her values of upbringing on Teresa to me was genuine and I really respect the lady's determination to make sure Teresa's character development remains upright, in face of such success, fame and achievements. All the while when that was going on, Teresa remained quiet and never interrupted her mother's nor Thomas' conversations with me. I eyeballed Teresa, who was still carefully eating the sundae and even rationed her intake and gave the bulk of it to her brother (good manners and good thinking for Teresa - too much cold food before a performance will numb the voicebox).

Michelle, another faithful supporter of Teresa, rang me up on my phone and soon after, she was sitting with the rest of us at the same table, listening into the rest of the coffee conversations. I bet she was just as delighted to be given a chance to have such proximity contact with the Campus Superstar she so admired and respected.

My Conversation With Teresa:

The coffee talk would seemed incomplete without talking to the girl herself and I waited patiently until she had finished her sundae while looking at what her brother was doing under the table all the while - he was playing some sort of football game on a PSP console - just like any quiet school-going boys like to do I suppose. Since most of the talking had been done by Mdm Tseng and Thomas, I just informed Teresa that two of her recent online troubles (which I would not be bothered to dig up again here) have been peacefully resolved and she looked pretty delighted with the news. I supposed I was glad to be of help to Teresa somehow in those two matters. She became quite animated as she started talking about how the two matters came about when Thomas added that one of the perpetrators were actually her schoolmate but both Mdm Tseng and Teresa were understanding enough not to pursue the two matters because there weren't any malice or damage intented or done. Mdm Tseng then poured some herbal tea of sorts for Teresa to drink to cleanse away the ice-cream in preparation for Teresa's performance at 4pm and Teresa took the drink and redid some of her make-up to ready herself.

As rumoured to be, Teresa is actually a very soft-spoken girl who pays careful attention when spoken too and has plenty of patience and manners when she is not being spoken to. I can deduce that Teresa either is too shy to converse more openly with me (especially when there is so many people around - many passers-by stopped for a second look at Teresa when they recognized her from outside the glass windows) or she is still puzzled about in which capacity she should be speaking to me since we got to know each other all the way since the semi-finals of Campus Superstars Season One. Perhaps when there are more opportunities to sit down and talk leisurely, both of us can finally speak more freely (over ice-cream) than ever before.

Campus Superstar 2:

Oh yes, Mdm Tseng popped an interesting question about Campus Superstar Season 2 while Teresa was quietly sipping her herbal tea. She asked me for my take and prediction on the two winners for this coming season. I gave my personal analysis of whom I considered to be two strongest and high potential contestants and both Mdm Tseng and Teresa listened intently at what I have commented on (No, I will never reveal the two names here because that portion is strictly in confidence to all those present at that table only). Then I watched approvingly at Teresa mentally rehearsing her song at the other end of the table as the time for her performance neared.

I made my introduction to both Thomas and Haowei and made some small talk to the latter about where he is currently studying at (a school which I will not disclose without his permission) and how his student life is at the moment. Another two family friends (whose names I could not catch in time) appeared and Teresa and Mdm Tseng took their leave to meet the event organizers for the final briefing before the event's official start.

After five minutes, I rejoined the other supporters, blanket and JR, with Michelle at the open foyer of Bishan Junction 8, which is just next to the ice-cream parlour and hence the generation of the beautiful photographs at the start of this blog post. My personal thanks to Michelle, blanket and JR for taking the time to make it to the event today. A pity quite a number of supporters had other prior appointments which they could not absent themselves from or the gathering would have been even more fun since opportunities for proximity contact with Teresa were abundant today.

Three minutes before Teresa's performance, Teresa came up to both Michelle and myself and politely informed us that she was about to start and five minutes after Teresa got her certificate of participation onstage from the Guest-Of-Honour of the event, Teresa also stayed back to take photographs with a few of the supporters there and of course, posed for two of the exclusive fanclub photos above. We waved our goodbyes and Teresa went off to the foodcourt with her family members at around 4.15pm.

(Image source: blanket_ma from idollic.com/teresa)

Saturday, July 21, 2007

Performance Reviews of Campus Superstar 2 Revival Round (Belated)

Ok. I finally watched the replay of the revival round and because it is the revival round, I will add my grading format onto this performance review for the benefit of all those who wish to know (my opinion of) what went right and went wrong for the respective contestants' performances.

F1 赖嘉琪 超快感 原唱者:孙燕姿

I have always liked Jiaqi's beautiful reach of her voice but she was not really opening her mouth properly to enunciate her lyric in this performance. Her "Ah" ws slurred and her endnotes and the way she stretched her notes were unstable. She also mis-pronunciated "Tui", "Zui" and "Sui Bian". But her natural-ness onstage was a boon and she seemed to be the only female contestant who was truly enjoying herself onstage.

Singing techniques subtotal: 2.75/5.0

Song delivery subtotal: 1.70/2.5

Stage Presentation subtotal: 2.00/2.5
My personal grading for Jiaqi: 6.50/10

F2 杨丽莹 左边 原唱者:杨丞林

I wish Teri had read my blog because she would have understood that her eyes were still way too fidgety during all her performances. She actually has very beautiful eyes but she wasted the opportunities to use them on the cameras and audience properly. The way she held onto her microphone was also incorrect and it was quite a distraction to see her keep changing hands for it too. Teri could not really reach the lownotes and her pronunciation of "Ke Bei", "Dan Shi" and "Tian Dong" was inaccurate. Her chorus could not flow smoothly and her stage posture was stiff and un-creative.

Singing techniques subtotal: 2.60/5.0
Song delivery subtotal: 1.60/2.5
Stage Presentation subtotal: 1.80/2.5
My personal grading for Teri: 6.00/10

F3 张宇璇 那年夏天宁静的海 原唱者:王心凌

Amy did much better interacting with the cameras but her shaky notes were very obvious. She swallowed some of her endnotes and her gesticulation of her free hand was uncreative. The performance sounded rather flat and I noticed she was grasping near the end of the song, which led me to believe she needed more work on her stamina or breath control.

Singing techniques subtotal: 2.45/5.0
Song delivery subtotal: 1.65/2.5
Stage Presentation subtotal: 1.65/2.5
My personal grading for Amy: 5.75/10

F4 林佳君 有一天我会 原唱者:蔡淳佳

Jiajun did not fulfil my expectations of her performance because she made too many mistakes in the performance, which added up to be jarring enough for me not to enjoy the supposedly smooth song. Jiajun's lownotes were weak and she ended some verses too early. She was rushing her song and there were a couple of occasions she went offkey, such as "Hui", and her volume control of her voice needed some improvement too.

Singing techniques subtotal: 2.30/5.0
Song delivery subtotal: 1.60/2.5
Stage Presentation subtotal: 1.60/2.5
My personal grading for Jiajun: 5.50/10

F5 谢慧娴 C大调 原唱者:张韶涵

Surprisingly. Huixian did relatively well compared to the rest of the female contestants even though I was astounded by her choice of another Angela Chang's song. Why? Looking beyond her "cute" voice range, Huixian's stage movement and gesticulation were amongst the best during revival round plus the fact that the song was a fast track song with quite some level of difficult to match up to. But her performance definitely has room for improvement. Her reach of voice was not good enough and her eunciation of "Zui" and "Yao Yan" were shaky. Her facial expression was not really soft enough for the happy sounding song.

Singing techniques subtotal: 3.10/5.0
Song delivery subtotal: 1.80/2.5
Stage Presentation subtotal: 2.10/2.5
My personal grading for Huixian: 7.00/10

F6 黄意凌 好眼泪坏眼泪 原唱者:徐若瑄

Elaine's lownotes were very dull and her "De Yi Hou" was shaky. A few of her endnotes and a portion of her last strechnote were off-key but the worst part was that Elaine's performance was very flat and bland, as if like what Fang Zhonghua would have said, the "energy level" given off was so weak and unimpressive. Whatever happened to Elaine's aura remained a mystery to me but compared to Huixian's energetic performance (and even Jiaqi's), I could now really see why Elaine looked as if she was deproving each subsequent round. A real pity since she was one of those who had performed consistently well so far until this critical stage of the competition.

Singing techniques subtotal: 2.95/5.0
Song delivery subtotal: 1.65/2.5
Stage Presentation subtotal: 1.95/2.5
My personal grading for Elaine: 6.55/10

M1 唐伟盛 当你孤单你会想起谁?原唱者:张栋梁

Wilson was rushing his song and his lownotes were weak and flat-sounding. His enunciation of "Feng Cui" and "Xu Yao" were incorrect and I found that his song sounded a little too choppy, as if he was using too much force in-between the song. Some of his lyrics ended a little too early and thus losing the melodious feel of this ballad. Like Xubin, I think Wilson was more like chewing his song rather than singing it.

Singing techniques subtotal: 2.20/5.0
Song delivery subtotal: 1.15/2.5
Stage Presentation subtotal: 1.15/2.5
My personal grading for Wilson: 4.50/10

M2 温俊杰 忘记 原唱者:林俊杰

Junjie's "Gan Jue" was too low and he swallowed a part of his "Zhe Me Le" and he could not reach his "Dang". His performance also sounded a little too bland and flat while his gesticulation was too forceful which was not coordinated with the lyrics. Junjie's "Si Xu" could not be reached and his "Na Duan" was sung off-key. How shall I say it? It's a bad performance and a bad night for Junjue combined.

Singing techniques subtotal: 2.20/5.0

Song delivery subtotal: 1.20/2.5

Stage Presentation subtotal: 1.15/2.5
My personal grading for Junjie: 4.55/10

M3 吴福宽 爱爱爱 原唱者:方大同

I really wondered why Fukuan chosed to sit down because he should have made use of the song to gesticulate more and move more around the stage. Fukuan also rushed his song a little bit and he closed his eyes more frequently than necessary. His stage posture definitely limits his ability to impress visually and even though he managed to stand up near the end of the performance, the moment to impress had gone by. Vocal-wise, he was amongst the best for the male contestants - no doubt about it.

Singing techniques subtotal: 3.25/5.0
Song delivery subtotal: 2.20/2.5
Stage Presentation subtotal: 1.55/2.5
My personal grading for Fukuan: 7.00/10

M4 徐彬 简单爱 原唱者:周杰伦

Xubin did not really sing his song but rather mouth it in a more flowing manner. Although he improved by looking much more relaxed onstage, his singing was still stagnating at a below average standard for a CSS 2 contestant. Mis-pronunciated words include "Ri Luo", "Shou", "Kao" and he also missed the entry point after one of the chorus. No offense to Xubin or his supporters, but he definitely needs to brush up on his singing if he is to appear on the public stage again.

Singing techniques subtotal: 2.00/5.0
Song delivery subtotal: 1.00/2.5
Stage Presentation subtotal: 1.00/2.5
My personal grading for Xubin: 4.00/10

M5 郑全威 给我你的爱 原唱者:TANK

I like the way Javin handled his song opening and his attempts at falsetto but that was the revival round and thus everything was much stricter. A pity that his good points were still not enough to cover his flaws in his singing. Javin's reach for his highnotes was still unstable and he did not fully stretch out the necessary notes, mis-pronunciating "Wo" along the way. Although his falsetto attempts were valiant, he did sang off-key for "Mie" and "Ai" but like Jiaqi, I could tell that Javin also enjoyed his moment onstage.

Singing techniques subtotal: 2.70/5.0
Song delivery subtotal: 1.80/2.5
Stage Presentation subtotal: 2.00/2.5
My personal grading for Javin: 6.50/10

M6 卓轩正 木乃伊 原唱者:林俊杰

What can I say? Shawn was so well-trained to sing JJ Lin's song and he did an excellent job in it. Good control of voice, rhythm and audience interaction. However, it is not exactly a flawless performance because his opening word "Ni" was muffled out by the background music and there was a verse after the first chorus where he was too forceful than necessary in enunciating the lyrics. I would also complain about how strained his facial expression was immediately after the performance because it was captured on the cameras and that expression somehow revealed that Shawn was more strained than really enjoying his performance. Will I see a Shawn beyond the shadow of JJ Lin?

Singing techniques subtotal: 3.70/5.0
Song delivery subtotal: 2.20/2.5
Stage Presentation subtotal: 2.10/2.5
My personal grading for Shawn: 8.00/10

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

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Campus Superstars 2 Semi Finals 1 Song List

F1 卢慷倚:勾勾手 原唱者:郭美美

This song is a simple ballad with a lot of lyrical content, which means that the performer will have to be able to "paint" the contents of the song into the minds of the listeners. The clear highnotes of the song are a main feature of the chorus. There is only one complaint with this song - the song tends to get a tad boring when it repeats itself and there seems very little within the song to wow the audience to win votes so I will be looking forward to see how Agnes covers the blandness within the song with stage movements, gesticulation or audience interaction.

F2 谢慧娴:风铃 原唱者:蔡淳佳

I think Huixian picked a suitable song for her semi-finals 1 round because firstly, this is not an Angela Chang's song and secondly, it's a more matured ballad, which will be a freshing difference from her usual "cute" stage image. Lyrically, the song is not difficult to manage but there are certain pauses, highnotes and lownotes which can be opportunities for the performer to utilize to showcase her singing capabilities. As with most Joi Chua's songs, clarity of notes, as well as stability of endnotes will be important if one is to excel in this beautiful ballad and I will be looking forward to see how Huixian suppress her high voice range to give the song a matured feel.

F3 许政宁:一千年以后 原唱者:林俊杰

If I remembered correctly, this should be the second time Zhengning picked a song from a male singer and I am very curious as to why she picked an even more difficult song this time round. Perhaps she has made big leaps in her singing capabilities and I'll be looking forward to see how she can impress me with her vocals more than her stage movements. The song is sung with a special technique that "sticks" the lyrics together and the endnotes will be challenging to grasp because the song flows fairly quickly from verse to verse. The song's buildup to the chorus is also very subtle and as with all JJ Lin's songs, removing the original singer's shadow in the song will be another challenge especially since the song was written especially for JJ Lin's vocal range.

F4 阮诗凯:触摸 原唱者: 陈伟联

I am very surprised that Keely picked this song (not that fact that it is sung by one of the best male Superstar singers in Singapore). Without a doubt, this is a very difficult song to sing not just because the performer needs excellent control in breath, but also the fact that the variation of emotions within the song makes it very challenging to emote convincingly. The buildup to the chorus must be managed well and the performer must ration her breathing properly because certain parts of the songs have little transition time and hence must avoid running out of breath. I will be looking forward to see how Keely can bring an impressive song across to the song.

F5 张芮恩:爱无力 原唱者:潘嘉丽

Hmm...One song by Weilian and one song by Kelly. Maybe Joanna deliberated her song choice with Keely. Whatever the case, the ballad by Kelly is easier to manage in terms technical skills but harder to emote than Weilian's song because the lyrics in this song has much more subtlety and thus become harder to express, especially the chorus where the song persona loses herself into the search to recover memories of her love. Given my familiarity with this song as it is a favourite song of one of my VIP friends, The Directionless Girl (who manages to nail the song), I will be looking forward to see how Joanna can match what I have heard so far.



Reply To Tags:

<BB>: You can watch it on MOBTV...not v expensive, dear.
Sean Ho: I am a poor farmer's son. Where got money to buy MOBTV? Haha...

<Gaara/Sean>: u watched harry potter yet??i watched it...is nice 4 me personally...
Sean Ho: Haven't watched it yet. Most likely will be next Monday when movie tickets are the cheapest. =P

<conman>: hi sean, dont watch MOBTV, i think u and i ganna conned before liao
Sean Ho: Conned? I don't know. It's just that I am trying to control my expenses here. Life is tough after 7% GST you know.

<LJ>: hhihi backk againn ! you took so much effort to make this blog. jiayouu!
Sean Ho: Thanks for your compliments on my blog. Nice chatting with you. =)

<jo-josh's sis>: HEY you better remember ok! next wed!! you have one week to prepare bwahahahaha(: i wont forget(:
Sean Ho: I won't. I probably pick one song from the playlist above for it ba. =P

<BB>: Hey Sean, I wasn't mean. Just that sometimes, you have to be more frank because kids these days are just too 'big head' and not even remotely aware they are way below Teresa's commitment. Elaine obviously gave up on that stage. Teresa never once gave up.
Sean Ho: I haven't watched the revival round so I don't dare to comment on their performances yet. Big Head? I suppose youths have their own ways of asserting themselves so I won't want to compare the CSS 2 contestants with Teresa about commitment. But the bottomline remains: Respect the audience, the stage and oneself. =)

<BB>: I posted the SF songlist on the blog. Huixian is singing 风铃 By 蔡淳佳
Sean Ho: Yep. Thanks. I got the songlist already and have prepared the above blog post as my usual procedure for this blog series on CSS 2.

<curious>: hey sean im jus curious if you've any musical background or u're a singer or something like that...coz ur comments look professional =D
Sean Ho: I do accumulate some music and singing experience and exposure here and there but I am not any singer from any recording labels in the industry. Thanks for your compliments on my comments anyway. Hope to see you around the tagboard! =)

<conman/BB>: I agree. Sad to say, none of css2 female contestants can match teresa.
Sean Ho: Honestly speaking, they are still not up to Teresa's standards and skills in singing. Perhaps they will improve in the future and give us better performances. I am looking forward to the next CSS 2 round!

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Song Recommendation: 风铃 By 蔡淳佳



风铃 By 蔡淳佳

微笑醒了~
微风吹了~
阳光 洒满 白色 窗口~

闭上 眼睛
会听见一
你猜 心跳唱~

想起你了~
想起花开了~
单纯的快乐不 必 选 择~

未来 如何
现在不急着预测
自然 而然 就 了~

----------------------
牵手走过~
每一 段
都有画面
值得去感~~~~

----------------------
(1st Chorus)
我 的 梦里有一 串 风 铃
有你走过的 风 景
当风 吹起 听见 熟 悉 声音
每阵 柔~~~~都是你~~~~
----------------------

想起你 了~
想起 花开了~
单纯的快乐不 必 选 择~

未来 如何
现在不急着预 测
自然 而然 就 够 了~

----------------------
也会有风有雨
我的手你会 抓紧~
一起看 雨过天晴~~~~

----------------------
(2nd Chorus)
我 的 梦里有一 串 风 铃~
有你走过的 风 景~
当风 吹起 听见 熟悉 声音
每阵 柔~~~都是你~~~~
----------------------

(Last Chorus)
我 的 梦里有一 串 风 铃~
有你走过的 风~~景
当风 吹起 听见 熟 悉 声音
每阵 ~~~~都是你~~~~


(Video source: YouTube, January 20, 2007, milkboyz93)

Movie Review: Die Hard 4.0





With no available YouTube videos on the CSS 2 revival round performance (I missed it due to work commitments), my performance reviews of the contestants may have to wait till this coming Saturday, after I have watched the replay on television. Meanwhile, I suppose the blogging continues so here I am with some other blog posts to entertain those who have been reading my blogging ever since it started last year.

Movie Review: Die Hard 4.0

I like action movies. I like action movies by Bruce Willis because he represents the reluctant policeman who struggles with his personal life and family relationships but has to be a hero because of circumstances way beyond his imagination but he takes all the obstacles with a dry, wry humour and gets over all of them in whatever creative ways he can.

Die Hard 4.0 is one such movie. As senior detective John McClane was about to go home after a quarrel with his estranged daughter, he was given a midnight assignment to bring in a young hacker, Matt Farrell (Justin Long), because there was a security breach in the computer systems of some government institutions. Before McClane realized the magnitude of the problem, he and the young hacker were being chased by assassins from the master villain behind the hacking breach. From there onwards, it was a wild cat-and-mouse chase as John McClane tried to locate the criminals after they kidnapped his daughter in a bid to negotiate McClane away from interfering from the "Fire House Sale" hacker raid on the entire USA.

The plot is simple but stunningly scary because so many of us are overly-dependent on electronics and computers to get our everyday lives running and the hackers in the movie made use of this very fact to cripple an entire country, driving panic and chaos into everybody. As usual, John McClane overcame the tremendous odds (he was no good with computer stuff) with wit, brute force and sheer luck, and of course, help from Matt Farrell (a fun-seeking hacker who finally realized that one of his programmes was used to create the chaos) whom he had rescued countless times from the assassins. The action scenes were undeniably good though quite impossible to imagine to be able to survive unless one has the incredulous luck of John McClane. I supppose heroes do have heroes' luck.

Does the world need to relook at our over-dependence on electronics and computers? Yes, before some hackers as brilliant as those in the movies decide to try their version of online apolycapse on us. Oh well, I know too little about computers to prevent that anyway. I'll leave that to the pros instead. In any case, it was a nice movie as I munched away my popcorn in the threatre.

Read My Mind By The Killers Music Video



The Holy Bitch, one of my VIP friends, once showed me this very nice music video and I am putting this up to tell her to take care of herself, wherever she is in the world right now. I was very impressed by how the singer emotes the song and handles his endnotes. They were very smooth and comfortable to the ears and the lyrics were very beautifully done. I am not really a fan of English songs but this is one of the best I have heard so far. I hope everyone can enjoy it too. Have a good week ahead.

(Image source: http://sg.movies.yahoo.com/Die+Hard+4/movie/13883/)
(Video source: YouTube February 08 2007 TheBoss012)

Saturday, July 14, 2007

Teresa at MOE SYF @ Ngee Ann City Civic Plaza 14 July 2007

I like her stage attire today. White, clean and comfortable, especially in the hot afternoon. Look carefully to see an exquisite silver teddy bear chain from her neck.

It's hard to tell but the girl's actually nursing a bad flu and cough, yet she is determined to give her best at the event anyway, no matter how she sounds.

I really like this shot of Teresa with her shoulder arched back and the background water fountain bursting into the air. My thanks to the fanclub photographer, blanket.


It was quite a tiring event for my poor legs because I was made to stand for nearly 2 hours. I had to rush there because I was bringing my parents to do some banking in the morning and there was already a lot of waiting then. Thankfully, I was rewarded with a series of not-bad performances by the various schools, a decent performance of two songs by Teresa and best of all, another face-to-face conversation with the girl and Mdm Tseng at the end of the concert.

From the exclusive fanclub photographs above, Teresa wore a plain but very comfortable-looking white dress atop of a simple white top and accessorized with an exquisite teddy bear silver chain from her neck. I think it was quite an appropriate stage attire for a piping hot afternoon on a weekend Saturday. What caught my attention was also the fact that she was the ONLY Campus Superstar for the event and the ONLY soloist song performer whilst the entire concert was full of cheerleading, dances, and band performances.

Teresa sang two songs for the event between 3.40pm and 3.50pm. I could not really recognize the first English song, and my best guess was that it must be related to some SYF theme song, judging from the youthful songwriting tune inside the first song. I could also barely recognize her second song 随爱而飞 because it was actually from a senior singer a couple singer-generations ago, 彭羚 (Phang, Ling Cass). The response from the audience was quite good amidst the occasional peals of screams and cheering from the performing schools.

Nursing her bout of flu and cough for nearly three days, it was pretty obvious that Teresa did not manage to reach her fullest capability during the two song performances. There were indeed some parts that sounded pretty strained and the buildup to a couple of the song high endnotes were also unsteady. I was really worried that Teresa might lose control of her highnotes because flu usually messes up one's perception of notes due to nasal blockages. Strictly speaking, I would have only given Teresa's performances this afternoon a mere 6 out of 10 because of her strong nasal voice but I was happy to see her there to give her utmost to the hundreds there (she was seen coughing quite painfully after her performances at the front row of the audience seats). It was after all a major event and I still see a good measure of professionalism and discretionary control by Teresa to complete her performances. She then continued to live up to her image as a Campus Superstar by paying her absolute attention to ALL the subsequent performances by the various schools. She went onstage another time to receive some sort of participation certificate from the Director of Education I think and she sat there with full concentration all the way until the concert ended around 5.15pm.

After the concert, I finally found the opportunity to walk up to Teresa and waved at her, much to her surprise. I sat down besides her and enquired about how she was coping with her flu and all before her principal decided to take her leave. All of us then walked to the side of the audience area and Mdm Tseng thanked the supporters who were present there for our continual support for her daughter. Teresa was visibly beamed upon seeing the handful of supporters standing there and I proceeded to answer Mdm Tseng that there were actually more supporters (such as blanket) but they had to make their way off earlier. I also explained to Teresa that some of the supporters (like Samantha) had to study for their final year examinations and others (like Michelle) were sick and thus reluctantly absent for the events. Teresa nodded her understanding and Mdm Tseng said she was already grateful that the few of us had turned up anyway.

An event organizer by the name of Lawrence popped in and started asking questions about Teresa's next SYF performance and leaving them to discuss work-related issues, I went on to enquire from Mdm Tseng about Teresa's next upcoming public appearance and she replied that it will be on the coming Saturday 21 July 2007 at Bishan Junction 8 around 3.30pm. By this time, Teresa had finished her discussion with Lawrence and everyone went about their ways. On our parting goodbyes, I reminded the girl to take care of her health and left Ngee Ann Civic Plaza with JR, another faithful supporter from her fanclub.

随爱而飞 by: 彭羚

深夜里 冷冷的空气 包围着情绪
窗外的夜景 迷乱美丽 想起过去 想起自己

风不停 发丝理不清 象我的心
女人的世界该有人安慰 倾听所有快乐和伤悲

让我随着爱而飞 让我为了爱沉醉
我无法再阻挡寂寞的滋味 我好想在温暖的怀中安歇
让我随着爱而飞 让我为了爱沉醉
就算流泪就算心碎 我也不会后悔 不会后悔

(Image source: blanket_ma of TFC and idollic.com/teresa)

Campus Superstars 2 Quarter Finals Revivals Rd Song List

My apologies for the delay because I have been neck-deep in work, meeting up with a VIP friend before she flies off again to another part of the world and I am trying to make time to attend the MOE SYF Event at Ngee Ann City later today at around 3pm.

I am trying to do the following blog post in-between whatever free time I have, so for those who have been following my blog series on the CSS 2 Song List Commentaries, it will be published in stages whenever I finish parts of it. Do check back in here on the blog as I continue to fill in the rest of the song commentaries. So here we go without further ado.

F1 赖嘉琪 超快感 原唱者:孙燕姿

Jiaqi picked one of the difficult fast-track song by Stephanie Sun, which is both challenging but possibly very impressive if she managed to grasp the essence behind the song. As far as I recalled, Jiaqi actually did very well for her song "Ben Lai" in the QF1A with her lush voice and frankly speaking, I will be looking forward to hear how she will tackle "Chao Kuai Gan". The prime difficulties of the song lie not just about the speed of the song, but also the micro-management of the falsetto notes with minimal buildup to them. The song must be sung with an attitude of determination and confidence and Jiaqi will have to shed her previous ballad image in order to score with both the audience and the judges.

F2 杨丽莹 左边 原唱者:杨丞林

Teri picked a slower ballad with inherent emphasis of lownotes and a more distinctive chorus which she will have to emote carefully in order to give the appropriate feel to the song. I hope Teri has improved her enunciation of lyrics since her last performance onstage because the faster-moving chorus will give very little room for mistakes. There is not much impressive vocal showcase available for this song so the performer will have to depend highly on emoting and gesticulation to try and score for the performance. A good buildup will also be necessary to reach such a state of emotions.

F3 张宇璇 那年夏天宁静的海 原唱者:王心凌

Amy chosed a rather difficult song to attempt to impress during the revival round and I applaud her courage. Of course, she will need to be successful to earn her accolades. The song has a good measure of note variation and requires clear enunciation to emote the feeling of the song persona. The lower endnotes must be controlled properly in order to transit to the next verse. There is ample opportunities to showcase vocal capabilities within the song and I will be looking forward to see if Amy can achieve a breakthrough for her revival performance and surprise everyone with what I believed to be one of the best song selections for this round of the competition.


F4 林佳君 有一天我会 原唱者:蔡淳佳

This is quite a difficult song to perform because it has very little lyrical and note variation within the song. I suppose the original songwriter wanted the song to highlight the vocal capabilities of the performer instead because the success of the performance hinge heavily on the clarity and reach of the notes, especially the lownotes and the endnotes. Jiajun will have to also perform the song with a level of maturity and carefree-ness in order to match the persona portrayed inside the song so her usual all-smiles stage image may not be that suitable for this particular song. I will be looking forward to see how Jiajun shed her usual happy-smiling stage image to attemp this matured ballad on anticipation of love.

F5 谢慧娴 C大调 原唱者:张韶涵

I am quite puzzled by Huixian's selection because I thought she would have already heard about the negative comments that she is over-picking Angela Zhang's songs, thus committing the same mistake as Shawn with his JJ Lin's songs. Then again, maybe all their song choices were already pre-determined by MediaCorp and there is nothing these contestants can do. Whatever the case, should Huixian manage to win the revival round, she must learn to pick more songs from other genres and showcase her abilities instead of burying them with songs that are unable to give a sense of freshness to the audience and judges. As with Shawn's familiarity with JJ Lin's song, I presumed Huixian is just as familiar with Angela Zhang's, so I will not dive into the details for the two of them.

F6 黄意凌 好眼泪坏眼泪 原唱者:徐若瑄


Elaine plays a safe card to her revival round performance with the choice of a gentle ballad. The song is very manageable within her vocal capabilities and it will thus depend on how well Elaine can emote this song and bring out the contents of the lyrics. There is also little available opportunities within the song for the performer to interact with the audience. I personally think that this song lacks the necessary impact to impress the swing-voters who will be looking for a stunning performance during the highly-anticipated revival round.

M1 唐伟盛 当你孤单你会想起谁?原唱者:张栋梁

Wilson picked a ballad that was written quite a while ago and I am quite surprised by his selection because he seems to want to remove that rumoured Renfred-wannabe stage image and attempt to move the audience with the newer version of the ballad. This song is not difficult to sing in the vocal department but hard to move the audience if the performer does not know how to interact with the audience and get them to sway to the rhythm of the song. A light singing voice will be needed with a clear distinction to the chorus in order to nail the performance.

M2 温俊杰 忘记 原唱者:林俊杰

I have nothing against JJ Lin himself, his songs or people wanting to sing his songs but I feel that Junjie should have picked another song from another singer to try and showcase to the judges, and audience that he is capable to standing on his own style. Moreover, with Shawn picking the same singer's song, it looks (looks only) like he is trailing in the shadow of Shawn's selections. Oh well, anyway, "Wang Ji" should be performed with a clear emphasis of the two endnotes on each of the verse lines. Junjie should also control the variation of emotions within the chorus carefully because that would be the main feature of the song and pay attention to his enunciation for the lownotes in the song as well.

M3 吴福宽 爱爱爱 原唱者:方大同

Fukuan selected a very recently-penned song sung by a new upcoming singer and I probably can guess that he is trying to make the song his own since audience familiarity with the song is still not deep. But the new song is quite difficult to emote because of its R&B beat and pauses and the performer will have to learn to juggle between keeping to the beat and pauses, and emoting the song simultaneously. The song's falsetto are very subtle and the notes have very smooth, quick transition points and thus making it easily one of the most difficult songs in the revival round. I will be highly anticipating Fukuan's rendition of this very interesting song at this critical stage of the competition and hope he can do justice to this song during his performance.

M4 徐彬 简单爱 原唱者:周杰伦


Xu Bin picked one of the most rhythmic songs by Jay Chou and obviously keeping the beat without rushing the lyrics will be a key thing to note if he is to be successful in performing the song. I will be hoping he can actually impress with a little dance here and there to give the performance a visual dimension rather than standing there rigidly in his last performance during QF 1A. A light-hearted voice and feel will be necessary to bring out the appropriate emotions within the song and since the song is R&B in nature, a performer with a visible attitude to the theme within the song will be even better.

M5 郑全威 给我你的爱 原唱者:TANK


This is quite a bland ballad even though it has a high degree of familiarity with the audience. I am seriously wondering what Javin is going to do on Monday night to make the song truly his and without boring the audience since there is very little room available to showcase any extraordinary vocal capabilities or even distinguish any vocal improvement that Javin might have made. Although the song may have some difficult falsetto and a noteworthy stretchnote in the middle of the song, there is little else to truly move the audience to a climax during the revival round. Whatever the case, I still hope Javin can do his best and at least get a respectable judges' segment for his performance.

M6 卓轩正 木乃伊 原唱者:林俊杰

I know I will be showered with flak for saying what I am about to say but this is my blog and these are my true opinions (which I am not afraid to say out). My first reaction is Shawn's song choice is - Another JJ Lin's song? I am very disappointed. I don't know what he is thinking and whether the song choice is actually his or MediaCorp's but no matter how well Shawn sings JJ Lin's songs, I am seriously beginning to think that he is becoming a parrot singer and his versatility in performance genres is only so little. Maybe he is trying to play safe but I personally (no offense to Shawn or his supporters) believe I can only give him that little credit because he has not proven his versatility, his adaptability and his courage to challenge different songs, genre or singer styles. Good luck to Shawn anyway.