Campus Superstars 3 Round 1 Part 1 of 2 Performance Commentaries

Reply to tags:

-: Thanks for your support. At least some readers see the points I was trying to make. Yes, Rachel did have the best stage charisma for that night but the higher the bar she sets for herself, the higher will be the expectations weighing on her.

pew: Well, it's hard to please everyone if my style of commentaries. I am still trying to balance technical details and scope. Maybe my ears can pick up some of the details better. My idea is trying to show the gaps and indirectly hinting at the portions for improvements without being too direct.

(::I am not a vocal doctor but from the Pre-Concert performance, Shawn's singing voice sounded more hoarse than broken as an adult voice. He himself even said he could not do any of his previous songs anymore which lead me to believe either his key dropped tremendously or he had strained his unbroken voice during CSS 2 period so much that it became hoarse now instead.

Atn: I thought the contestants were trying but maybe they might have underestimated the pressure of a live stage with rolling cameras and staring eyes. Perhaps the unfortunate loss of Adrian will probe the remaining eleven contestants to reassess that the live stage is both a fun and serious platform at the same time.

Shawn: I believe I have already explained my rationale for writing performance commentaries below in blue italics. Thank you for tagging your thoughts anyway.

Update: I have some blog readers still asking me why I am providing all these performance commentaries when it's "none of my business". Some called me "very mean" whilst others called me "crazy". Although I have stated my objectives in doing so in previous blog posts, let me put down my intentions again.

I have no wish to torment any contestants or their supporters - singing is supposed to be enjoyable and beneficial to many. The whole idea is to point out the loopholes and gaps in their performances so the contestants can better themselves every time they go onstage.

Am I qualified to do so? Maybe? It depends on whether you feel my commentaries are constructive, accurate and to the point or not. What business is it of mine to comment? Obviously, I am not one of the four judges sitting there but I firmly believe if they read this, they know my reasons and I hope those blog readers in doubt do too:

As with all members of the audience, I have the basic right to vote, appraise and comment on their performances because I put in time, effort and expectations to watch their performances on the public stage. I want to be rewarded with good performances and instead of passively waiting for things to happen, I want contribute so that those good performances may happen in front of my eyes. Some people choose to vote with their purses; some choose to shake their hands and hug them as encouragement; others choose to hold placards and cheer; I choose to write performance commentaries.

1) Adrian
- singing was quite closed because I keep feeling his mouth did not fully open and he did not fully project his voice as strongly as the song would require.
- “更好” was a little too low.
- forgotten most of his first verse lyrics but finally stabilized the song by the 2nd repetition.
- judges scores were 6.0+6.0+4.5+4.0= 20.5
- I would have given Adrian a 5.0 because although forgetting lyrics is a major mistake for live performances but I personally also want to forgive him because he is the first person onstage and that usually un-nerves many performers.

2) Rachel Chua
- “自在” was a little low.
- good stage presentation skills.
- “头发” was enunciated incorrectly.
- singing was broken off at “不很习惯”.
- good falsetto reach during chorus portions.
- judges scores were 6.5+7.5+8.0+7.5= 29.5
- I would have given Rachel Chua a 7.5 because there were still a number of mistakes obvious enough in her performance. My next question to Rachel would be - if you clear this round, can you better your performance with another song of such difficulty?

3) Rachel Lim
- “星”，“照”，“翅” were enunciated incorrectly.
- “笑容” seemed to be a little flat.
- I keep feeling that your buildup has more room for improvement.
- “Myself” was added when it was not in the lyrics.
- your final note could have started out lighter and ended in a fade.
- judges scores were 6.0+7.0+6.5+6.5= 26.0
- I would have given Rachel Lim a 6.0 because although you really tried to reach the song out for the audience, you looked really stiff and as what one of the judges said, I was unable to see a completely comfortable performance with a confident singer onstage.

4) Shelly
- I kept getting distracted by your body language because you move too much.
- the buildup was probably lost because you focused too much on stage movements.
- “爱情” seemed to be enunciated incorrectly.
- the song in general was flat when I was expecting some bounce in your singing.
- I believe you broke your voice in one of the ending lines.
- judges scores were 5.5+7.0+5.0+5.5= 23.0
- I would have given Shelly a 5.5 because even though your singing was not on par with your stage movements, you were really trying hard to entertain the audience and I saw your sincerity onstage.

5) Jarod
- did not finish enunciating "Believe"
- 哭腔 at the wrong verses when it was not necessary.
- “不”，“时候” X 2, “宁可”，“当作” was not properly enunciated.
- stage movements and gesticulations were wooden and unpolished.
- ending was not completed properly.
- judges scores were 6.5+9.5+8.5+7.0= 31.5
- I would have given Jarod a 7.0 because he was very brave to attempt a difficult song for his age and somehow managed to bring out some flavor in the song. Upon the explanation given by the CSS 3 host, I understood that Jarod had not been in control of his emotions before stepping onto the stage so for his ability to endure his crying especially in the first episode of the competition, I gave another 0.5 points. However, such leniency would be a luxury in the future stages of the competition.

6) Joselin
- did not seem to be in syn with the beat of the song, especially obvious in the opening line.
- the emphasis on “坠” was a little too strong.
- “值不值得” was dragged out when it was not necessary to do so.
- the song did not achieve the expected waves of buildup and resolution so it sounded flat.
- her facial expression was pretty deadpan for an attitudinal song. Perhaps she was affected by the backstage crying but I had expected her to brave it as little better than the others.
- judges scores were 6.0+6.5+6.5+6.5= 25.5
- I would have given Joselin a 6.5 because her performance suffered a major setback in not being able to keep in beat and it was lacking that kind of radiance seen in her previous Pre-Concert performance.

Jia you for all of the contestants! ^__^

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