Are You Singaporean?

Confirm? Double Confirm?
If you have no idea what I'm talking about, watch this trailer....



It is one of a set of trailers launched by Channel 5 to promote its brand new local gameshow called 'We Are Singaporean'. Hossan plays almost all the characters in the trailers - see the one below where he's the kopitiam towkay and worker. There's meant to be one more featuring parents gunning for spaces at a school during P1 registration.





If the show is as good as the trailers (and as funny), I think we may just have a hit on our hands.


Hossan Leong is the host of the show. And I say...ABOUT TIME LOR. Can't wait to see what he'll do on the show - will he unleash his trademark sarcasm and whip his slanty-eyed look at less-than-worthy contestants/celebrities/guests? I certainly hope so. I hear Kumar's on an upcoming ep - I want sparring...please :)


Anyway, the show is a gameshow where contestants have to answer questions about Singapore. I can only imagine the questions to be like, "Where is the best roti prata in the east?" or "Name Dick Lee first hit!" or "What is Taufik Batisah's middle name" <-- trick question - he doesn't have one.


SO, Are You Singaporean Enough To Be In The Audience?
Now that they've got the set ready, host selected and I believe contestants too, producers are ready to fill up the place with audience members. This show's actually gonna give audience members a chance to win moolah too! Check out the flyer below.

Next week's recording will feature OMG winner Jill-Marie Thomas and the talented Danny Koh. Fans of the two, quick- send email to singaporeans@mediacorp.com.sg and get your tickets to go down and support them!


By the way peeps, Ch5 has launched their own blog (about time right?), and the hardworking peeps from the promo team will be posting tons of juicy behind-the-scenes pics/stories/gossip that only THEY have access to, so its a great place to go kaypoh. Check it out here and then add it to your bookmark list!


xoxo, s.


ps. @WRSproducer  - I chope 2 tickets please! *see, I used "chope" - I am v Singaporean liao!

Happy OMG Day! ...well, sort of....

Remember ah - No Show  Tonight!
Just in case y'all thought there was a show tonight, there isn't. Cos our Top 5 are busy rehearsing like mad - the OMG! Grand Finals are exactly a week away. 


Sean, Jill-Marie, CJ Crew, IFLY and Luminiq Crew have been holed up in a large warehouse-like studio somewhere in the back lots of Caldecott Hill. The walkway to that empty (and very creepy) studio is so snakey, I always get lost going there. Its like, start at the makeup unit, go round the back,then left, right, past the benches, then left, up three steps, turn right, cross mini drain, take slope, turn left, then turn right round the green bin, then go down stairs,then left again, then up another slope, past the smoking area, some stairs, go through a door, then another door...and then...maybe...you're there.


Ok, maybe I exaggerated a bit. But only a bit. Tonight, I will video this walk and post it up.


Anyway, so yea, the Top 5 have been rehearsing their moves. Last Sunday, right after the roadshow, the dancers (or more like, non-singers) were all whisked back to Mediacorp for an all-night session with Zaki. Here are the pics from Sunday night's rehearsal....






While everyone was just hangin' around and waiting for Zaki to arrive, it became an impromptu Luminiq Crew workshop. IFLY and CJ Crew were both getting pointers from the Luminiq boys on how to do their tricks, and the boys were more than happy to share. (Feel free to check out my twitpics from that night here - sorry for the blurry pics, lighting wasn't very good there and if you see anything ghostly, please don't tell me!)

 I had one more pic of the IFLY girls trying to balance on one hand, but erm, I didn't realise my angle was so unglam, so I've decided to trash that pic.



The minute Zaki arrived, it was all business for everyone. Each group broke off to a corner to huddle and work out their moves. 





While IFLY worked on their routine, CJ Crew was off working on theirs too..



And in another corner, we had some familiar faces hangin' out at the Blog TV set. Rhythm 'N' Moves boys Fen, Derek and Liang Bin were back along with Danny Koh, cos they're all part of the big opening item that involves all the non-singers. I wanted to say 'dancer's segment' but Danny reminded me that he doesn't 'dance' :) Of course, Danny will be doing fire....







After a long night of waiting and rehearsing and waiting again, the night's almost over.



Tonight, its another round of full rehearsals for these guys PLUS the singers. And from here on in, its rehearsals/wardrobe/imaging/blocking/reviews/individual rehearsals every day til next Wednesday. I'll be heading over to that creepy studio tonight at 7pm, so follow my tweets/twitpics to get a sneak peek at what your OMGers are up to tonight.


xoxo, s.

Episode 11 : The Review

OMG! School's Out!
(and Danny and Jigri Yaar are out too!)


FD's away so we've got TWO guest judges tonight - 'Broadway Beng' Sebastian Tan and ex-Dancefloor judge George Chan. Both are theatre veterans and have definitely seen their fair share of good and bad performers. I loved that George actually worked out that $50,000 was equivalent to $550 per second for a 90-second performance. That sort of puts things in perspective. Sort of only, cos the longer you've been on the show, the less your per second cos is going to be! Still, quite a number to be motivated by. 


Looking back at the recap of last week's show, I felt like "Was it just last week that we lost the girls?" With PSC happening in between, it really felt like it was longer. The soundbite of Judge Irene saying, "Danny Koh, if you don't win, I don't know who should." was really ironic. 

Looking at the bottom 3, I would have thought Danny would be the one safe. No disrespect to Sean or Jigri Yaar, the former is new and the latter's performance last week wasn't up to par. Just based on the support Danny has had from Day 1 from both Judges and viewers, I think most of us assumed we would be safe. I'm sad to see Danny go, but I'm also glad Sean is staying cos I really want to see what else he can do with that voice!


On to the review...


Danny Koh
As if Danny's exit video wasn't bad enough, they had to cut to shot where Jill had tears in her eyes, and LMQ looking all glum, made me tear too. Danny's performance with the three girls called Sapphire, was fairly entertaining but nowhere near his usual stage bravado and persona. This routine seemed to cater more for the young ones than OMG. I would have preferred to watch a less 'dance-y' number and really concentrate on his 'close-up' magic using the girls. If he'd gotten through last night and performed this, I'd say he might have been in trouble the following week. 


Jigri Yaar Bhangra Academy

The three little girls that performed with Jigri Yaar were such sweethearts. Backstage they were playing with Sean's little girls and keeping them occupied during the long long waits. I have to say, I never expected to see Myra spin someone around, she's so little herself, so that was interesting to see. But then, aside from the fact that the 3 new 'members' are kids, the routine hasn't differed much from the first time we saw them. Its the spinning, the helicopter and the same dance steps to different music. Had they gotten through last night, I'm not sure how they would fair the following week either.
 


Contender #1 - Jill-Marie Thomas
Jill-Marie performed a mash-up of Kung Fu Fighting and Dynamite with her kids, some of whom are her cousins. The kids were mic-ed up and sang along too, but I couldn't really hear them, perhaps the mic levels were lower than Jill's or that Jill's got a rather loud voice.

What did the judges say?
Beatrice : Jill, I am a big fan of yours and I think that this item was so much fun and so cute. But its not your best performance vocally, and I really wasn't sure about the second song because it was messy to me.


Sebastian : You've got a good voice, I like your voice, just bad choice of songs. At this stage of the contest, you need to pick songs that really showcase your voice.


Irene : It doesn't mean that because you're very good at mishing-mashing songs that you should always mix songs, I think if you had just stuck to the first song, you would have gotten a perfect 10 from us. The kids are very adorable and you look like one of them, that's the part I liked best about this performance.


George : You really know how to work a crowd, very spirited performance, very energetic. The only thing is, I thought the item was a little bit static, you were standing mostly in just one place. 



summerr says : The costumes and the start looked quite promising, Jill after all is like one big kid, add in more kids, and it should work. But unfortunately for me, it didn't. I thought it started out alright, but as we've seen from the 'Sex On Fire' performance, Jill doesn't do well moving too while singing, her vocals get affected. The performance was fun and totally catered to the kids, but I think it did nothing to showcase Jill's voice or her as a performer. The second song looked rather messy too, not just visually, but vocally, the kids, if you could hear them, weren't really in-sync with Jill, so it all just looked really unrehearsed. I'm sure the kids all worked really hard, so good job on bein' so brave to perform (I would never have had the guts to get on a stage that big in front of that many people when I was a kid - still won't!)! Loved the Kanye sunglasses though!


Contender #2  : Luminiq Crew
Luminiq Crew brought in their youngest member Aziz, who's just 10, to join them in a role-reversal skit where Aziz is a teacher and the older Luminiq boys are his 'naughty' students.

 
What did the judges say?
B : One of your strengths is you know how to orchestrate yourselves, direct yourselves in these amazing situations. And you know how to put a story across very neatly and very very well. However, this little boy was unbelievable. I couldn't take my eyes off him - you've got to bring him back!


S : There's a saying 'never perform with kids', and in this case I think its true because he sorta outperformed you guys! That said, I think you guys are very cute, very clever ideas you have there, great breakdancing, good energy!


I : With Mr Aziz or without Mr Aziz, Luminiq I will see you in the finals. 


G : Good idea with the reversal of the roles right from the beginning. The little boy, he's giving you quite a few points on this one, his isolation, his head movements, his attitude, you are a star.

summerr says : 
If FD were here, he'd say "Luminiq Crew is back!". I totally loved this routine! Aziz did great, I wish I'd seen more of him. If he can do flips, I would have liked to see him do it. When the routine started I thought, aiya they gonna lipsync dialogue again? But hey, it worked. "Fatboy!" <-- funny.
I want to see more of Aziz now, I think he totally added value to the night's performance. Loved the 'puppet' segment of the routine - very in-sync! Good job boys on the choreo and the storyline. And I also liked their pseudo school boy costumes with the bow ties. Aiyo adorable.


Contender #3 : Singapore Char Siew Baos!
The Baos! did a mash-up of Justin Bieber's 'Baby' and Taylor Swift's 'Love Story'. With them were four adorable lil dancers and one pretty cool drummer chick, Allison.


What did the judges say?
B : I'm sorry this isn't one of your strongest performances. I feel that the number sort of didn't really come together and I really struggled to hear you.


S :  I think the drummer sort of stole the show. Watch your pitch, some pitchy moments. Overall, you have to choose the right song for this point in the contest.


I : I'm disappointed, because the last two weeks you got better and better, today you just went down. The song choice was no good, I couldn't hear a word you were saying and the music was louder than your singing Ruby. You really need to choose your songs correctly. 


G : I've got two problems. no1, the diction, I couldnt hear a single word you were singing, no 2, your stage presence, you cannot just rely on jumping around and acting cute, leave that to the kids, it'll work for them, not for you. So you gotta up your ante. 



summerr says : 
Unfortunately I have to also agree with judges on this one. Despite the currency of both the songs chosen (songs that are easily recogniseable are easier for people to accept right?) the whole thing was just a bit off. Actually 'Baby' wasn't too bad, but 'Love Story' was really where I struggled to hear Ruby. The music and all the choreography was overwhelming her vocals, sorry but it felt a bit school-talentime-ish for me. Allison did awesome though - good job to the kiddos. The little girl on right in black was also pretty awesome, sorry sweetie, didn't get your name, but you can gelek with the best of them! Baos! hope you'll do better next week k!


Contender #4 : Sean Harrison


Sean sings 'Crazy Little Thing Called Love' by Queen, and he's backed up by 5 adorable lil girls gelek-ing their hearts out in the background :) Oh, yes they are mic-ed up and are singing too, but you can't really hear them over Sean's voice and the guitar.


What did the judges say?
B : Sean, you've got the X Factor, you have that, and thats what really caught our attention when you came on last week. I want you to pick a song that reaaallly shows us your vocal chops.


S : You've got a good voice, I watched last week's show and I actually rpefereed that performance. So try to find that back. But I can see you as a future star, a future professional singing star. 



I : I agree with Sebastian totally, A boy who likes animals, has a bad boy look, and sounds so cute crooning. If you don't win the $50,000, you should get a 5mil contract from the record companies.


G : Sean, clean, good voice, but I think when you pick a song like that and you've got five girlfriends on stage, you should sing/act the song a little bit more. And I think what Beatrice and Sebastian meant about last week's performance is that you've got that gift, that ability to switch from head voice to falsetto, a really clean transition, bring that back a bit, cos that's your strength.


summerr says : 
I'm really liking George Chan. His comment was the most constructive. If I were Sean, that specificity about the head voice/falsetto transition is a great help, I'd pick more songs that showcase that. To be honest, I didn't really like this performance. I liked the song choice. In fact when I'd heard him rehearsing backstage, I thought whoa, he's gonna ace this one. But somehow on stage, I felt that there was not much connection with the girls and like George said, not enough 'sing-acting'. There's a lot that you can do with a song as upbeat as this one, the song itself lends a lot of personality to the singer. Job well done to the 5 little divas backing Sean up. They sang their lil hearts out and hello - the blue one on the right and the pink one on the left has serious gelek moves man! Good job girls!


Challenger : CJ Crew
The K-pop crew of 7 babes added in 6 lil kids and 2 teens. The youngest kid in there is Alex and she's just 4, and totally adorable. Their performance is a mash up of quite a few songs, which I can't list cos I'm not k-pop enough :P But I recognised Super Junior's 'Sorry' song :). 




What did the judges say?
B : You girls can take on Luminiq Crew. Here's your advantage, you look really good, K-pop choreo is really nice to watch as well. Here's how you can win - you need to orchestrate your performance so that there are highs and lows. Give it momemntum. Give me a 90-second piece of great choreography, don't mish-mash it too much. Then I can see you at the finals. 


S : You are really entertaining. More tips - sharper moves, more accents on your moves, and bring out more of the K-pop glam. Cos I think you girls look great, so next week, MORE!


I : You need to glam it up if you wanna beat Luminiq Crew. You need to have a story to tell us, each 90 seconds you are given. If you do that, you will get a chance to fight for the $50,000 with Luminiq Crew.


G : You really captured the essence of K-pop dancing. The big word is - you were very synchronised, it was very sharp. Be careful when you splice a lot of music together, sometimes the movement doesn't match the dynamics of the music.

summerr says :
I actually really like CJ Crew. I didn't like the entire performance though. The kids coming in and out at the end felt very 'add-on-last-minute' just to satisfy the criteria for the theme. They were really really cute and all (OMG SO CUTE ARRGH! Especially with the tails and animal headbands!) and they did some moves with their Cheh Chehs, but it looked a bit like an afterthought (even though I am sure it wasn't). The other thing that I found confusing was the inclusion of the two teens. The segment where the boy did 'butterfly' was totally unnecessary. And the young girl in black/white was really good, she shoulda dressed like the rest of CJ Crew and that would make 8! But all that said, I really enjoyed the parts where CJ Crew actually danced in synchrony. I agree with George - they were very synchronised and that was the best part. Followed very closely by the fact that they are eye-candy - they look good. I hope to see more flashy-drama make-up and costumes next week - girls have an advantage where hair & make-up are concerned - it can really vamp up a performance.
Oh, and did anyone notice that Diyana was rapping live at the start? I really liked that part and wish they'd brought it out a bit more. Based on the rapping, sounds like she's got a good voice. And it didn't quiver despite a lot of the dance moves, so I'm looking forward to one day hearing them sing/rap more. 
Good job to little ones for coming to the show and actually 'remembering' to the moves on cue!


JUDGES RANKING 
1. Sean Harrison
2. CJ Crew
3. Jill-Marie Thomas
4. Luminiq Crew
5. Singapore Char Siew Baos!

Based on the ranking, the ones in trouble are Luminiq and the Baos! I kinda disagree with the ranking. I would have ranked it : 
1. Luminiq Crew
2. CJ Crew
3. Sean Harrison, Jill-Marie Thomas & Singapore Char Siew Baos!


Sean's, Jill's and the Bao!'s performances were about the same to me. Good luck for next week guys, gotta bring your A game. 



Big Thumbs Up for the Lil Ones

Just wanna say that all the kids that came on the show deserve a big hug and pat on the back for their courage to perform and their tenacity at doing it. Everyone gave it a good go and they should all be proud of themselves. :) and if your Contender got less than positive remarks from your judges (or anyone, including me), it is NOT YOUR FAULT :)


The show overall ...
Maybe its the theme? I didn't really enjoy the singers performances as much. The two dance performances were pretty good. I guess you can do a lot more with physical choreography than vocal choreography for themes like this? I know its not easy working with kids, they don't always go left when you tell them left. 


Now that Danny's out, it looks like its singers vs dancers to the end. It could go either way at the finals, a sing-off or a dance-off. At this point in time, I wouldn't mind watching a Crew showdown - Luminiq vs CJ. I would so love to see how they can bring it to the next level. CJ already has the upper hand - they're part of a professional performing arts school. The Luminiq boys are street dancers. Street vs School. Nais.


Can't wait - next week's theme is FRIGHT NIGHT! Halloween's comin' a little early for OMG. Come on down to the studio, dress up in Halloween garb if you dare - promise I'll take pics of you and post them here :)


Two more will go home next week and we'll also meet a new Challenger. Who else have producers got up their sleeves. 

 xoxo, s.

Bye Bye Danny & Jigri Yaar :(

What the.....(Part 2)

Are you still shocked that Danny's out? The show's over and the voting lines are open but the thing that's on everyone's lips is that Danny's out - what the? 

Bottom three this week was really telling - Danny, Jigri Yaar and Sean Harrison. Both Danny and Sean were tops on the judges' ranking last week, so my theory is this, everyone scrambled to vote up the rest and Danny's and Sean's fans didn't vote as much or more likely, got outvoted by those who were scrambling....

It was really sad to see Danny Goh, especially since he's been here since Day One. Jill-Marie avoided him cos she knew she would cry. Luminiq Crew were all really glum. The smiliest person was actually Danny, who kept reassuring everyone that he was just fine.

















Kudos to producers for having the eliminated contestants perform with their kids anyway. Nice touch and I'm sure the kids all had fun. They certainly gave it their all. Check out the energy of the Jigri Yaar Bhangra kids.

Here's a quick exit interview I managed to get backstage with both Danny and Arwind from Jigri Yaar. 

Thanks for the great performances guys. In the words of Glee - "Don't stop...believin'...."


xoxo, s.


ps. Look out for my review some time tomorrow. I gotta go watch the show again. 


pps. Come on down to the roadshow this Saturday at Lot One @ 3pm. CJ Crew fans, it'll be a chance for you to get up close to them, its their first roadshow - come support!