NUS UCC concert in Singapore, 12th Feb. 2006

We got to the UCC concert hall for our sound check and final
run-through at 1.30 p.m Keong, Eugene and the rest of the tech crew had already set
up the microphones, the chairs and the staging and Roy was working
on the lighting of the stage.

Fortunately, we had the time to run through almost all the
songs on our set-list during the sound check and we were done by
5 p.m.

I took a bite of my dinner - the hot dinner. It was
there staring me in the face, but I couldn't eat more
than 3 spoonfuls or so. ah...the many facets of being
a singer....piano players don't have to consider what they
eat or what time they eat. But singers....well, eat too much
and you can't sing properly...
So, I had to abandon most of my dinner.
Ernest, the make-up artist was there, setting up all his tools
and make-up on the table and we soon got started with the make-up.

By the time make-up and hair were done, it was around 7 p.m and
I quickly got ready and headed out of the dressing room.
The rest of the band and the string players were already ready.

We got together for a group prayer and Kenn led the prayer.
He always leads such wonderful prayers and he has led almost every
before-show prayer we have had for the last 3 shows.
Very heartfelt, spirit-filled,
humble prayers. And with a touch of Singlish. He loves
going "Lord, lah.." *grin*

Then the band went on stage and so did the string players.
Finally at 7.40 p.m, I walked out on stage and I was so happy
to hear the applause from the 1,700 strong audience. It was really heartwarming
The concert went well and I had an amazing time.
















It was also nice to see the pattern of stars on the ceiling during "Same Side of the Moon". That was a nice touch by the lighting designer, Roy
It was also lovely looking out to the faces in the audience and recognising a familiar face sprinkled here and there in the dim light. And it was wonderful
to sense that the audience was really intently listening throughout

The band and the string players did great and I was honoured to
have them there on stage with me.:) Kavin was awesome too. He was the
glue that held all the elements in place; scoring the strings, conducting
the band and the string players, calming my nerves, triggering the tracks...
truly the hero of the concert.




I was also delighted to have my grandparents, my parents and my parents-in-law (who had specially taken the 6 hour ride on the morning train from Seremban, Malaysia to be there) in the audience. Christine Khor mentioned that when I was thanking them
from the stage, they were waving their arms excitedly in the air! Pity I couldn't see it at that time because the hall was too dark.

After the concert, I was whisked away to the after-party
upstairs where I met with Professor Shih, the president
of NUS and his lovely wife. Also said hi to Tanya and my mum
and dad before being whisked away again to begin signing autographs - the line, snaked around the staircase and back to the end of the foyer.
It was a long line. And I think I was running on adrenaline. It was lovely
to meet each and every fan. And they were so sweet with their requests for autographs.


I tried to find out more about each of them. A lot of them had camera phones.
Some were still in J.C, secondary school,then there were Raymond and Phebe who gave me their wedding photo, the hours just flew by and before I knew it, we were at the end of the line and it was 12.10 a.m
Wow...I had been signing autographs for the past almost 3 hours. The funny thing was that it didn't feel like 3 hours. Must have been the adrenaline. Couldn't have been my dinner, since I didn't have any!

After the last fan in the queue had gotten her autograph, the UCC front-of-house ushers came by. They were so cute and very patient. They had been the ones who helped to usher all the people to their seats in the concert hall and had waited patiently till now to get their autographs and I was thankful that they had come by to say 'hi' :)

After that, we went back to the dressing room, changed out and headed back to the hotel.
I didn't realise how hungry I was till we reached our hotel room. Thank goodness that
the UCC folks had helped to pack some food for us from the after-party. I tucked into the packed boxes of food. A perfect way to end a perfect day.

Letting Oscar Peel - Los Angeles, Make-up and Red Carpets

March 7th 2006

L.A is a tough town on aspiring singers/actors looking to glamourous dreams of walking the red carpet ala the Academy Awards.
L.A is almost proud of its superficiality and touts it like a badge of honour.

I watched a bit of the Academy Awards on television and was a little taken aback by all the posing happening on the red carpet, all the twirling, the rumours of romance whispered to reporters... it is a seemingly contrived world. It was interesting to watch music artist Ludacris boasting about his style and as he was being interviewed by the reporter, he made sure to point out
the size of the diamonds on his earslobes.

Stars are cajoled, placated, wooed and fawned over by the media and by the public until the next new thing comes along.
The media is like a spoilt little child whose attention is fast-changing.
Every few seconds, it has to be enticed with the latest news, the newest dresses,
the latest gossip hung like fish bait from various publicists.
It's like a crust of make-up, carefully applied foundation and lip colour, that gets washed away with the rain.
Even the weather in Los Angeles, virtually unchanging, light blue
perfect skies ala a staged studio set... Even the weather acquiesces in the ploy.

Perhaps that's why I love seeing clouds in this often cloud-less sky.
I like the reminder that nature is still present, that reality is still out there.
I love it when it rains. That's when the whole city gets a little more introspective, and I'd like to think...that's when all the make-up and artifice is
washed away and we can start anew.

I heard something on an NPR radio programme the other day. A mature actress, ex-Oscar winner was recounting how horrified she was when her Oscar first started peeling off its gold layers. She got him re-dipped in gold.

But now, she just lets the gold peel away, feeling more of a kinship in the process, whereby the superficial glitz and glamour is peeled back to reveal the real within.

She talked about how fame wasn't about her, it was about 'them'.
It was about how the public perceives you. You don't change.
The public vision changes and that is the frightening thing. If you go along with the public perception and don't recognise or acknowledge the truth ie. that the public image has been crafted and contrived with a marked artificiality, you are likely to be swept away; just like the way a movie set is stripped away once the movie is done and all the parts become amusement park attractions or some question in a trivial pursuit boardgame.

Oscars statues on Ebay anyone?