Some time after my return from Europe, I felt a calling. I felt that The Vocal Consort is slowly losing its roots and its past, unless we start to do some proper archiving. Perhaps it's because we did so well in the competition this time round. The Vocal Consort's success did not spring overnight, that's for sure. The good people that pioneered the choir, the great people who stayed with the choir through thick and thin, and the wonderful people who believe in bringing Consort to greatness. Some of these people are no longer with us, but that doesn't mean their contributions should be forgotten and written off from history.
Hence, I consolidated all the photos I have taken since I joined Consort, and created my editorial debut with Windows Movie Maker. Looking back, I can't help but feel a great sense of pride for Consort. We have come a long way, and boy, do we hit HIGH! Enjoy the video, folks, and hope to see you at our 50th concert! :)
Saturday, December 02, 2006
Friday, December 01, 2006
Time to wrap up the year! (Part 1)
I know, I know... back-dated "updates" again, yada yada yada... Well, I personally dun think I can start posting in 2007 unless I tie up all the loose ends of 2006, so take that, you whiny whiners!
Tour de Europe! (12/6)
After our insane victory in the previous night, we left Czech and made the 3-hour bus journey back to Vienna, Austria. Vienna was, for lack of a better description, F**KING AWESOME! The sheer number of theaters alone is enough to make one gasp. On top of that, there are statues, monuments, gardens, palaces, cathedrals... the list goes on and on! I went to a local cafe, largely due to the recommendation of my dear, who's actually half a globe away. Oh the cakes... the cakes! Simply marvelous! Remember to check out the celebrity cakes they have!
We spent the night at Baden, a peaceful little town in Austria. We stayed at the Park Hotel, which was, well, next to a park, but what a park it was! The locals had erected a projector screen in the park. It was showing "Die Fledermaus", a German opera. The locals actually took chairs to the park and watch opera in the chilly night air! Even I got into the spirit and bought a pint of beer to ward off the cold. Me and a friend ventured deeper into the park and found a pavilion called Beethoventempel, which is actually a "temple" dedicated to Beethoven. The drawings on the ceiling is inspired by one of his works. I got a pretty good view of the whole town from up here. Simply breathtaking! (at least that's what I thought at the moment. Little did I know that I'd witness something even more magnificent...)
Click here to see Vienna and Baden!
Tour de Europe! (13/6)
Majority of the Vocal Consort flew back home on this day. Me on the other hand, chose to spent a few more days in Europe with some choir members. In fact, we took a train ride and headed straight for the home of Sound of Music -- Salzburg! We stayed at the Haydn Hotel. Arty! For the rest of the day, we toured the city and visited the enchanting Mirabell Gardens, people sunbathing on the banks of the Salzach River, the grand Cathedral, the formidable Hohensalzburg Fortress... Salzburg is truly a postcard come alive! Up on the fortress, I had a spectacular view of the whole city, and the Alps that span from one corner the eye to the other. Need I say more?
Let Salzburg enchant you!
Tour de Europe! (14/6)
It was a tough choice: the Sound of Music tour, or One Day in the Bavarian Alps? In the end, we all decided on the Alps tour. It was a sunny day: the sky was as blue as sapphire, the hills were as green as emerald, and the mountaintops were spotlessly white. Clouds hung lazily in the sky, leisurely shifting, drifting. I feel that the further we are away from the city and the closer we are to mother nature, the closer we are to God. We get to see Eagle's Nest, Hitler's mountain compound, from afar. Remember the prairie that Julie Andrews ran up and burst out singing, "The hills are alive... with the sound of music"? Saw that from afar too, just like the movie. Our bus made a stopover at Kings Lake and we circled the lake on foot. The lake is made up of the melted snow of the Alps, hence the lake water is crystal clear and bone-chillingly freezing. The last stop of the tour was at a little mountain town called Berchtesgaden. Quaint little town with delicious pastry, no less. :)
We had our dinner back in the old town of Salzburg. Behold... the flaming pizza!
Salzburg's ABC: Alps, Bavaria, Cool!
Tour de Europe! (15/6)
Kinda sad today, as it is my last day in Europe. I had to leave because I needed to bring my school kids to Nanjing, China. My conductor was so nice that he planned the itinerary such that I get to see another Europe city before I left for good: Munich, Germany! For your information, Germany (and the rest of Europe, apparently) was under the spell of World Cup fever. It just happened that there's actually a soccer match in Munich on this very day! Unfortunately, we were only there for the afternoon, plus the tickets would have cost a bomb (Euro bomb, mind you), hence, no World Cup match for us... But the atmosphere in Munich was high! The match was scheduled in the evening, but the fans were already pouring from all over the world since morning. You could almost feel the buzz in the air!
Munich was more than just another city in Europe. Just when I thought I've seen all that Europe had to offer, and nothing could impress me anymore, along came Munich! We visited 3 cathedrals in one short afternoon, and they're all different: one is pink, one has 2 round domes, and one is simply filled with intricate statues and carvings. Here in Munich, I could finally feel the summer of Europe. Time to have some ice cream!
After a couple of hours in Munich, me and a friend left the rest of the guys and made our way to the airport. The other people will leave for Switzerland shortly after us. I kinda envy them, but knowing that Switzerland is the most expensive country in the world to live in, I'm rather glad I didn't follow them.
After an arduous 7-8 hour flight, I'm finally back in Singapore. I'll definitely miss Europe, and I really really hope I can come back someday. At the moment, in less than 12 hours, I will leave for the extreme opposite of Europe: Nanjing, China!
But before I go, let's have one last look at Munich!
Tour de Europe! (12/6)
After our insane victory in the previous night, we left Czech and made the 3-hour bus journey back to Vienna, Austria. Vienna was, for lack of a better description, F**KING AWESOME! The sheer number of theaters alone is enough to make one gasp. On top of that, there are statues, monuments, gardens, palaces, cathedrals... the list goes on and on! I went to a local cafe, largely due to the recommendation of my dear, who's actually half a globe away. Oh the cakes... the cakes! Simply marvelous! Remember to check out the celebrity cakes they have!
We spent the night at Baden, a peaceful little town in Austria. We stayed at the Park Hotel, which was, well, next to a park, but what a park it was! The locals had erected a projector screen in the park. It was showing "Die Fledermaus", a German opera. The locals actually took chairs to the park and watch opera in the chilly night air! Even I got into the spirit and bought a pint of beer to ward off the cold. Me and a friend ventured deeper into the park and found a pavilion called Beethoventempel, which is actually a "temple" dedicated to Beethoven. The drawings on the ceiling is inspired by one of his works. I got a pretty good view of the whole town from up here. Simply breathtaking! (at least that's what I thought at the moment. Little did I know that I'd witness something even more magnificent...)
Click here to see Vienna and Baden!
Tour de Europe! (13/6)
Majority of the Vocal Consort flew back home on this day. Me on the other hand, chose to spent a few more days in Europe with some choir members. In fact, we took a train ride and headed straight for the home of Sound of Music -- Salzburg! We stayed at the Haydn Hotel. Arty! For the rest of the day, we toured the city and visited the enchanting Mirabell Gardens, people sunbathing on the banks of the Salzach River, the grand Cathedral, the formidable Hohensalzburg Fortress... Salzburg is truly a postcard come alive! Up on the fortress, I had a spectacular view of the whole city, and the Alps that span from one corner the eye to the other. Need I say more?
Let Salzburg enchant you!
Tour de Europe! (14/6)
It was a tough choice: the Sound of Music tour, or One Day in the Bavarian Alps? In the end, we all decided on the Alps tour. It was a sunny day: the sky was as blue as sapphire, the hills were as green as emerald, and the mountaintops were spotlessly white. Clouds hung lazily in the sky, leisurely shifting, drifting. I feel that the further we are away from the city and the closer we are to mother nature, the closer we are to God. We get to see Eagle's Nest, Hitler's mountain compound, from afar. Remember the prairie that Julie Andrews ran up and burst out singing, "The hills are alive... with the sound of music"? Saw that from afar too, just like the movie. Our bus made a stopover at Kings Lake and we circled the lake on foot. The lake is made up of the melted snow of the Alps, hence the lake water is crystal clear and bone-chillingly freezing. The last stop of the tour was at a little mountain town called Berchtesgaden. Quaint little town with delicious pastry, no less. :)
We had our dinner back in the old town of Salzburg. Behold... the flaming pizza!
Salzburg's ABC: Alps, Bavaria, Cool!
Tour de Europe! (15/6)
Kinda sad today, as it is my last day in Europe. I had to leave because I needed to bring my school kids to Nanjing, China. My conductor was so nice that he planned the itinerary such that I get to see another Europe city before I left for good: Munich, Germany! For your information, Germany (and the rest of Europe, apparently) was under the spell of World Cup fever. It just happened that there's actually a soccer match in Munich on this very day! Unfortunately, we were only there for the afternoon, plus the tickets would have cost a bomb (Euro bomb, mind you), hence, no World Cup match for us... But the atmosphere in Munich was high! The match was scheduled in the evening, but the fans were already pouring from all over the world since morning. You could almost feel the buzz in the air!
Munich was more than just another city in Europe. Just when I thought I've seen all that Europe had to offer, and nothing could impress me anymore, along came Munich! We visited 3 cathedrals in one short afternoon, and they're all different: one is pink, one has 2 round domes, and one is simply filled with intricate statues and carvings. Here in Munich, I could finally feel the summer of Europe. Time to have some ice cream!
After a couple of hours in Munich, me and a friend left the rest of the guys and made our way to the airport. The other people will leave for Switzerland shortly after us. I kinda envy them, but knowing that Switzerland is the most expensive country in the world to live in, I'm rather glad I didn't follow them.
After an arduous 7-8 hour flight, I'm finally back in Singapore. I'll definitely miss Europe, and I really really hope I can come back someday. At the moment, in less than 12 hours, I will leave for the extreme opposite of Europe: Nanjing, China!
But before I go, let's have one last look at Munich!
Monday, November 20, 2006
How I got booted out of Bachelorhood (Part 3)
So it was said, "When it rains, it pours." Sure enough, by Murphy's Law, Plan B didn't work out either. It's such an uphill task (pun intended) to propose properly. It's like the Lord of the Rings, meaning nothing can go right until the third part, which is exactly what I'm getting to right now.
Remember the hare with 3 holes? Well, Plan C was in motion even in the middle of Plan B's failure. Why? Cos with that little episode at the slope, my dear would be even less suspicious of my true intentions. She wouldn't even know what hit her until it hits her, HARD. It's a guaranteed WINNER! (Again! Really!)
We returned to her place together. There was nobody in the house, except the maid in the back room. So we went to her room. Once there, I asked her not to go into the toilet and change into her home clothes first. I asked her to switch on the aircon and closed the door. Environment is very crucial to a successful wedding proposal, don't you know?
Anyway, she was baffled by my requests, but thanks to Plan B, she still didn't suspect a thing. So we began to chat, and I purposedly say THE WORDS again. Worked like a charm. We hugged, and then she looked up (I am, er, TALLER) and said, "Marry me lah! Marry me lah!" Bingo! She walked right into my trap! Time for me to tighten the noose...
I let go of her.
I said, "Wait ah."
I took a step backward.
I kneel down (with a grunt, no less).
I took out the RING.
Her eyes widen with utter SHOCK and JOY (I swear her eyes were 3 times larger!).
She started to giggle and took a step back.
I reached out my right hand, asked her not to go. (Which is why it's so important to close the door before I propose)
I said, "Dear, will you marry me?"
She couldn't say a thing.
So she just nodded her head.
We hugged, kissed, then held hands and sat down together.
Then we took out our handphones to SMS the rest of the world about our engagement!
From that moment on, I was no longer alone, single, and available. I'm the exact opposite, and I'm loving every second of it! I got booted out of Bachelorhood!
WOOHOO!
Remember the hare with 3 holes? Well, Plan C was in motion even in the middle of Plan B's failure. Why? Cos with that little episode at the slope, my dear would be even less suspicious of my true intentions. She wouldn't even know what hit her until it hits her, HARD. It's a guaranteed WINNER! (Again! Really!)
We returned to her place together. There was nobody in the house, except the maid in the back room. So we went to her room. Once there, I asked her not to go into the toilet and change into her home clothes first. I asked her to switch on the aircon and closed the door. Environment is very crucial to a successful wedding proposal, don't you know?
Anyway, she was baffled by my requests, but thanks to Plan B, she still didn't suspect a thing. So we began to chat, and I purposedly say THE WORDS again. Worked like a charm. We hugged, and then she looked up (I am, er, TALLER) and said, "Marry me lah! Marry me lah!" Bingo! She walked right into my trap! Time for me to tighten the noose...
I let go of her.
I said, "Wait ah."
I took a step backward.
I kneel down (with a grunt, no less).
I took out the RING.
Her eyes widen with utter SHOCK and JOY (I swear her eyes were 3 times larger!).
She started to giggle and took a step back.
I reached out my right hand, asked her not to go. (Which is why it's so important to close the door before I propose)
I said, "Dear, will you marry me?"
She couldn't say a thing.
So she just nodded her head.
We hugged, kissed, then held hands and sat down together.
Then we took out our handphones to SMS the rest of the world about our engagement!
From that moment on, I was no longer alone, single, and available. I'm the exact opposite, and I'm loving every second of it! I got booted out of Bachelorhood!
WOOHOO!
Monday, November 06, 2006
How I got booted out of Bachelorhood (Part 2)
Hello all! In my last entry, the Hero (that's me) was struck by a series of unfortunate circumstances in his pursuit of the Maiden (that's my dear). Well, there's an old Chinese saying, "The cunning hare bore 3 holes." It means that a smart person always have more than 1 solution to a problem. Yours truly here, a.k.a. the Hero, happens to be quite hare-ry, if you know what I mean :P
So, Plan A was thwarted by GV, of all things. (DAMN YOU, GV!) Time to move on to Plan B. There's this thing between me and my dear, which is: whenever we speak of the future together, with the precise combination of some phrases, my dear will dare me by saying, "Marry me lah! Marry me lah!" That, my friends, shall be my trump card ;-)
After the movie, we took a bus back to her place. There's a curvy slope that leads to her block. The slope is normally quite deserted during the day, so my plan was to get her to dare me to marry her, then straight away kneel down and take out the ring and REALLY marry her. Imagine the surprise she would get! It's a guaranteed WINNER! (Again!)
We reached one curve and it's quiet all around, so I began to say the phrases. They're very effective, like a wizard's magic words. Sure enough, she stopped walking and dared me. Just as I was doing one last survey of the surroundings and getting ready to kneel down, I saw people coming from the front, the back, as well as cars going up and down the slope. I had no choice but to just give her a hug and a smooch on the cheek. Damn you idle travelers and cars! DAMN YOU! (Again!) Go find your own deserted slope elsewhere to walk up and down!
At this point it might appear to you, my dear readers, that I should change the post title to "How I got booted out of Bachelorhood SOME OTHER DAY", but I wouldn't live up to my name as the Hero if I quitted there and then, would I? Remember: the hare still got 1 hole left... (To be concluded...)
So, Plan A was thwarted by GV, of all things. (DAMN YOU, GV!) Time to move on to Plan B. There's this thing between me and my dear, which is: whenever we speak of the future together, with the precise combination of some phrases, my dear will dare me by saying, "Marry me lah! Marry me lah!" That, my friends, shall be my trump card ;-)
After the movie, we took a bus back to her place. There's a curvy slope that leads to her block. The slope is normally quite deserted during the day, so my plan was to get her to dare me to marry her, then straight away kneel down and take out the ring and REALLY marry her. Imagine the surprise she would get! It's a guaranteed WINNER! (Again!)
We reached one curve and it's quiet all around, so I began to say the phrases. They're very effective, like a wizard's magic words. Sure enough, she stopped walking and dared me. Just as I was doing one last survey of the surroundings and getting ready to kneel down, I saw people coming from the front, the back, as well as cars going up and down the slope. I had no choice but to just give her a hug and a smooch on the cheek. Damn you idle travelers and cars! DAMN YOU! (Again!) Go find your own deserted slope elsewhere to walk up and down!
At this point it might appear to you, my dear readers, that I should change the post title to "How I got booted out of Bachelorhood SOME OTHER DAY", but I wouldn't live up to my name as the Hero if I quitted there and then, would I? Remember: the hare still got 1 hole left... (To be concluded...)
Monday, October 23, 2006
How I got booted out of Bachelorhood (Part 1)
After all these posts about Europe, I figure maybe it's time for a little break away from the "ky's" and "strasse's". So, what's really going on these days in FBJ's life, instead of 4 months ago? Well for starters... I'M ENGAGED!
I went to Nanjing, China 12hrs after my plane landed in Changi Airport. 12 HOURS! One moment ago I was freezing cold, then I was reasonably warm, and then I was steaming hot! Talk about jet-lag and temperature-lag! Anyway, my adventures in Nanjing will be recounted in another post. I mean, you're still reading now coz you wanna know more about the engagement right? :-P
My dear returned to Singapore for good, 2 days before I returned from China. When I saw her at the airport, it was such a MOMENT. I mean, normally it's me who send her off to Oz and pick her up when she comes back for holidays. Now, she's not going back to Oz anymore, and she's picking me up this time round! :-D
In the next few weeks, we wasted no time to source for an engagement ring. We bought the ring, but that doesn't mean we're engaged (what???). You see, my dear wanted us to source for the ring together coz she dun trust my fashion sense. Well, I can't blame her for her suspicion, can I? ;) Anyway, I get to keep the ring cos I'm suppose to be the one who will propose to her... Now how should I propose while meeting her following requirements?
a) Cannot have a lot of audience
b) Cannot be around relatives
c) Cannot draw public's attention
d) Don't want flowers
3rd July was a school holiday, so I brought my dear to watch Superman Returns. Little did she know, I planned to propose to her on that day! :) Since everyone who're not a teacher or a student should be working on that day, I guess the cinema should be quite empty. My plan was: (1) wait for her to reach for the popcorn, then slip the ring on her finger. Or (2) empty the popcorn box, bore a hole at the bottom of the box, put my hand through the hole, then wait for her to reach for popcorn, and grab her hand and slip on the ring. OR (3) massage her hand during the show, then slip on the ring. It's a guaranteed winner!
However, a few factors got into the way of my otherwise brilliant plan. (Which, in hindsight, might have been a blessing in disguise) First of all, the cinema was not empty. FAR from it. There're people next to us, in front of us, behind us! Secondly, I was seated on her right side, my usual spot, which made it quite hard to grab her left hand. I mean, who'd take popcorn with their left hand when the popcorn is on their right? Thirdly, there's not enough space for me to kneel down! Damn you GV! DAMN YOU! Oops, that's a bit overreacting... especially since I got another backup plan even before I left the house... ;-P (To be continued...)
I went to Nanjing, China 12hrs after my plane landed in Changi Airport. 12 HOURS! One moment ago I was freezing cold, then I was reasonably warm, and then I was steaming hot! Talk about jet-lag and temperature-lag! Anyway, my adventures in Nanjing will be recounted in another post. I mean, you're still reading now coz you wanna know more about the engagement right? :-P
My dear returned to Singapore for good, 2 days before I returned from China. When I saw her at the airport, it was such a MOMENT. I mean, normally it's me who send her off to Oz and pick her up when she comes back for holidays. Now, she's not going back to Oz anymore, and she's picking me up this time round! :-D
In the next few weeks, we wasted no time to source for an engagement ring. We bought the ring, but that doesn't mean we're engaged (what???). You see, my dear wanted us to source for the ring together coz she dun trust my fashion sense. Well, I can't blame her for her suspicion, can I? ;) Anyway, I get to keep the ring cos I'm suppose to be the one who will propose to her... Now how should I propose while meeting her following requirements?
a) Cannot have a lot of audience
b) Cannot be around relatives
c) Cannot draw public's attention
d) Don't want flowers
3rd July was a school holiday, so I brought my dear to watch Superman Returns. Little did she know, I planned to propose to her on that day! :) Since everyone who're not a teacher or a student should be working on that day, I guess the cinema should be quite empty. My plan was: (1) wait for her to reach for the popcorn, then slip the ring on her finger. Or (2) empty the popcorn box, bore a hole at the bottom of the box, put my hand through the hole, then wait for her to reach for popcorn, and grab her hand and slip on the ring. OR (3) massage her hand during the show, then slip on the ring. It's a guaranteed winner!
However, a few factors got into the way of my otherwise brilliant plan. (Which, in hindsight, might have been a blessing in disguise) First of all, the cinema was not empty. FAR from it. There're people next to us, in front of us, behind us! Secondly, I was seated on her right side, my usual spot, which made it quite hard to grab her left hand. I mean, who'd take popcorn with their left hand when the popcorn is on their right? Thirdly, there's not enough space for me to kneel down! Damn you GV! DAMN YOU! Oops, that's a bit overreacting... especially since I got another backup plan even before I left the house... ;-P (To be continued...)
Monday, September 04, 2006
Tour de Europe! (11/6)
Before I start this entry, I'm very excited to announce that you can watch video from my blog! AGAIN! (That is, if you missed it a year ago) Just look for the pictures with the huge "PLAY" button in the middle. Click on the button, let the video load, and enjoy the show!
Ok, back to the story. It was D-day. All our practices, all the loss of sleep, all the arguments had finally lead to this day. Needless to say, appetite was absent in the dinning room. We did an early warm-up cos our conductor needed to bring another choir to their competition first. We changed into our ethnic costumes, and took the tram to the Palacky University for our first category: Folk Music. Oh, my solo, my solo...
As we were waiting in our holding room for our turn to sing, we thought it would be interesting to hear the other choirs sing first, so we sneaked into the competition hall through the back door and sat with the audience when the adjudicators took their tea break. Our conductor looked through the choir sequence and muttered to us, "If X choir went up now, we'd be in deep shit..." As he was saying this, the MC announced, "Our next choir is X choir. They'll be singing..." We stared at each other. Silence. Shock. Realization. Get out right now!
We hauled our asses out of the hall immediately through the back door. Our turn was immediately after X choir, so we should stand by at stage left. The problem is, there's no direct passage from the back door to stage left! The only way to get there is to go downstairs, walk across the compound, then go upstairs again to stage left. It's more than a 5-min walk, and X choir was already singing on stage! Imagine our panic! Then our conductor came to us, assuring us that we had gotten permission to enter from the back door. That calmed us down a bit, but it was almost surely a disaster!
It's show time, baby! It's my turn to sing the solo, and I felt strangely calm. It's as if all the load had been taken off my shoulders, even before I sang! Anyway, I did sing, and I could tell from my conductor and the audience's response that I actually managed to KICK ASS. Whoa!
After that, we quickly changed into our suits and gowns, then took the tram again to Reduta Dum theatre for our final trial: Open Mixed Superior. There're less than 10 choirs participating in this category, and the set piece was difficult as hell. When it's our turn to sing, we held nothing back. There's so much emotion coming from us that our 10 mins on stage seemed forever! Things were certainly looking good for us. The question is: how good can we get?
That answer would be answered very soon, as we were told to go to the town square for the results. When we got there, guess who's already rocking the stage? It's none other than The Beatles! Or at least, that's what they THINK they are. Anyway, the crowd just lapped it up and cheered madly.
At last, the moment of truth. Before we knew it, our conductor's other choir scored a Gold! And then, it's our turn. The results for Folk music category, which our rival choir also joined, was slowly announced. For those of us who kept count, there's only 2 choirs left - us and our rival! "... at 99 points, Gold medal for *dramatic pause*..."
I swear some of our hearts stopped beating at that moment.
... it turned out to be our rival! We cheered and hopped! The other choirs that saw us were confused as we're not the 99 point choir. But we're too happy cos we know we scored AT LEAST 99 points! But we totally didn't expect the otherwise...
"The winner at 100 points, The Vocal Consort, Singapoo!"
Oh MAN, am I overwhelmed! My solo and choreography actually bagged us the 100 points Gold! I screamed and screamed until I started sobbing, and then I screamed some more! Hugs and handshakes were aplenty... but hold on to your panties! There's still one more category to go!
Boy oh boy, was that a freaking long wait! Apparently our category, being the most prestigious of all, would be announced LAST. So we waited, and we waited, and then came the Whooper of shock. We scored... another 100 points! We're category winner again! And we're the only Singapore choir to have ever achieved 100 points in a Superior category! Euphoria! Ecstasy! Somebody please bring out the straight jackets, cos we're all going CRAZY!!!
With this kind of results, we were naturally a finalist for the Grand Finals, along with 6 other choirs. We sang our hearts out, and we won the 3rd position together with another choir! WOOHOO!
This day, I lived the best moments of my life thus far. Now there's reason to celebrate and get wild! In fact, the organizers actually gave us coupons to redeem drinks from the hotel bar (read: alcohol!). There's even a disco party in the ball room! It was, for the lack of a more bombastic word, AWESOME!
ps: Remember to check out the photos and videos!
Ok, back to the story. It was D-day. All our practices, all the loss of sleep, all the arguments had finally lead to this day. Needless to say, appetite was absent in the dinning room. We did an early warm-up cos our conductor needed to bring another choir to their competition first. We changed into our ethnic costumes, and took the tram to the Palacky University for our first category: Folk Music. Oh, my solo, my solo...
As we were waiting in our holding room for our turn to sing, we thought it would be interesting to hear the other choirs sing first, so we sneaked into the competition hall through the back door and sat with the audience when the adjudicators took their tea break. Our conductor looked through the choir sequence and muttered to us, "If X choir went up now, we'd be in deep shit..." As he was saying this, the MC announced, "Our next choir is X choir. They'll be singing..." We stared at each other. Silence. Shock. Realization. Get out right now!
We hauled our asses out of the hall immediately through the back door. Our turn was immediately after X choir, so we should stand by at stage left. The problem is, there's no direct passage from the back door to stage left! The only way to get there is to go downstairs, walk across the compound, then go upstairs again to stage left. It's more than a 5-min walk, and X choir was already singing on stage! Imagine our panic! Then our conductor came to us, assuring us that we had gotten permission to enter from the back door. That calmed us down a bit, but it was almost surely a disaster!
It's show time, baby! It's my turn to sing the solo, and I felt strangely calm. It's as if all the load had been taken off my shoulders, even before I sang! Anyway, I did sing, and I could tell from my conductor and the audience's response that I actually managed to KICK ASS. Whoa!
After that, we quickly changed into our suits and gowns, then took the tram again to Reduta Dum theatre for our final trial: Open Mixed Superior. There're less than 10 choirs participating in this category, and the set piece was difficult as hell. When it's our turn to sing, we held nothing back. There's so much emotion coming from us that our 10 mins on stage seemed forever! Things were certainly looking good for us. The question is: how good can we get?
That answer would be answered very soon, as we were told to go to the town square for the results. When we got there, guess who's already rocking the stage? It's none other than The Beatles! Or at least, that's what they THINK they are. Anyway, the crowd just lapped it up and cheered madly.
At last, the moment of truth. Before we knew it, our conductor's other choir scored a Gold! And then, it's our turn. The results for Folk music category, which our rival choir also joined, was slowly announced. For those of us who kept count, there's only 2 choirs left - us and our rival! "... at 99 points, Gold medal for *dramatic pause*..."
I swear some of our hearts stopped beating at that moment.
... it turned out to be our rival! We cheered and hopped! The other choirs that saw us were confused as we're not the 99 point choir. But we're too happy cos we know we scored AT LEAST 99 points! But we totally didn't expect the otherwise...
"The winner at 100 points, The Vocal Consort, Singapoo!"
Oh MAN, am I overwhelmed! My solo and choreography actually bagged us the 100 points Gold! I screamed and screamed until I started sobbing, and then I screamed some more! Hugs and handshakes were aplenty... but hold on to your panties! There's still one more category to go!
Boy oh boy, was that a freaking long wait! Apparently our category, being the most prestigious of all, would be announced LAST. So we waited, and we waited, and then came the Whooper of shock. We scored... another 100 points! We're category winner again! And we're the only Singapore choir to have ever achieved 100 points in a Superior category! Euphoria! Ecstasy! Somebody please bring out the straight jackets, cos we're all going CRAZY!!!
With this kind of results, we were naturally a finalist for the Grand Finals, along with 6 other choirs. We sang our hearts out, and we won the 3rd position together with another choir! WOOHOO!
This day, I lived the best moments of my life thus far. Now there's reason to celebrate and get wild! In fact, the organizers actually gave us coupons to redeem drinks from the hotel bar (read: alcohol!). There's even a disco party in the ball room! It was, for the lack of a more bombastic word, AWESOME!
ps: Remember to check out the photos and videos!
Sunday, July 30, 2006
Tour de Europe! (10/6)
The day started out wet, but I was able to take a shot at the amazing cloudburst on the horizon. In some weird way, the sight kinda described our situation then: gloomy, but with hope waiting to burst out. Ah I hope so...
We had practices and practices throughout the day, and we didn't get to see our conductor most of the time coz he was giving an online seminar on the choral scene in Singapore. We sounded better with each practice, but the pressure was mounting too. At some point in time, we simply used the scheduled practice time to rest. Some of us were starting to sound hoarse. Oh, the pressure, the pressure...
Not much photos on this day, so I just took a few shots of the scenery outside my window. Quite nice actually, but I'm afraid I can only enjoy it after the competition tomorrow...
We got a chance.
I really hope we'd win.
Then I slept.
No nightmares, please.
We had practices and practices throughout the day, and we didn't get to see our conductor most of the time coz he was giving an online seminar on the choral scene in Singapore. We sounded better with each practice, but the pressure was mounting too. At some point in time, we simply used the scheduled practice time to rest. Some of us were starting to sound hoarse. Oh, the pressure, the pressure...
Not much photos on this day, so I just took a few shots of the scenery outside my window. Quite nice actually, but I'm afraid I can only enjoy it after the competition tomorrow...
We got a chance.
I really hope we'd win.
Then I slept.
No nightmares, please.
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