OMG Challenger : IFLY prodigy @ *scape

My prayers have been answered!

Sort of. You know how I've been goin' on and on about wanting to see a Cheer Squad on the show. Well, meet IFLY prodigy @ *scape. They are a performing group with a background in cheer, gymnastics and dance. I didn't get a chance to take a good picture of them as they were rehearsing the other day. And silly me, should have grabbed one after they filmed their VT but didn't *kok*, so this group picture I got from their 'group page' on facebook will have to do. 

Here are some pics of the guys in action at the rehearsal they had at Mediacorp over the weekend. They met Zaki :) One of them called him 'Sir'. Zaki was so taken aback, apparently its the first time someone's called him 'Sir' - nice one Gary!

IFLY showing Zaki their moves ...

Human pyramid, luckily the ceiling is high enough!

IFLY prodigy is made up of 11 members - four girls and seven guys. The girls are tiny! Perfect to be flyers. They are Jessie, Nellie, Hui Shan and Yvonne. The guys are Alan, Hann Bin, Zhi Liang, Gary, Gerard and the two Vincents, Fok and Yeo. Gary and Gerard are the bases. (the guys at the bottom who carry all the girls up). Here are some pics I 'stole' from Nellie's facebook album (thanks Nellie - haven't really met you, Alan told me to do it!)

The only one from both pics is Zhi Liang

(Click on the pics to enlarge)

They were super busy on Sunday, so I managed to catch up with team leader Alan yesterday over the phone, here's the phoner  : 

What's IFLY prodigy @*scape all about?

We're not really just a cheerleading squad. In fact, I don't think we want to be stereotyped as the cheerleaders. Our background is in cheerleading, yes, but we also do gymnastics and dance. So our routine is a combination of techniques from all three disciplines.

Lights, camera, action! IFLY recording their introduction video....

How and why did you decide to join OMG!?

The whole team are actually athletes from all over. I'm actually their gymnastics coach. You see, the thing is, in the world of gymnastics and cheerleading, there is a lot of red tape. A lot of rules and regulations that you have to follow when you enter those competitions. For instance, in gymnastics, you can only land properly with your feet, not your hands. And in cheerleading, you can't fly from basket to basket (in layperson's terms : You can't throw a girl from one 'basket' to another 'basket'. A basket is a catch-hold made up of three boys). Some of the rules are of course for safety reasons. 

So I came up with this idea to join the show and asked the rest of the guys/girls whether they thought it was a good idea. Because on OMG! we'll get to fuse the styles and push the boundaries of our creativity, we can do what we really want to do and have fun at the same time. We can create something new, a new level of high impact performance.  (Btw, Alan was a National gymnast k, he's been doing gymnastics for the past 20 years!)

I hope people can see us as 'acrobatic entertainers' :) 

So no cheesy logo-ed cheerleading uniforms? Aiya!

No, haha, no cheesy uniforms. Once you are stereotyped, there's a limit to what you can do. 

What would you do if you won the $50,000?

Well the guys sometimes say, 'Eh Alan, your gym class is v expensive leh!', so maybe we'll put the money into the cost of the classes for the next few years? Just kidding. Of course we'll split the money equally amongst the eleven of us. We'll probably take some of it out to invest in training equipment and lessons for us to improve our skill. 

IFLY prodigy's performance will be themed after the movie Twilight. So expect 'werewolves' and 'vampires', and a lot of teeth-bearing and hissing. I wonder if they're gonna go get prop teeth. That would be awesome. 

Although the team has trained together for a year, this will be their very first time performing on a stage together. 

Not everyone in this pic will be performing tomorrow. Only 11 out of this group are on the show.

"We looked a bit messy on Sunday because at the last minute we lost one member, but no matter, we just reorganised ourselves. We were really grateful to have someone like Zaki come in to give us pointers on stage presence and our choreography, it was a really good session." - Alan

Good luck to this week's Challenger IFLY prodigy @*scape, we look forward to your Twilight routine!

Catch them tomorrow night on OMG!, live at 8pm on Channel 5. If you wanna come down for the show - email omg@mediacorp.com.sg now or come down to reception at 7pm (no guarantee there'll be tickets though).

ps. Am trying to locate a good pic of the group, will update this page once I get a really nice one of them all smiling :)

OMG! Bring It On!

Guess what next week's Challenger's talent is?
Normally I don't get info on the Challenger until the Monday before the show. But this time around, producers let slip that my prayers have been answered! Woot!


I've been sayin' I wished a cheerleading squad would join the show and lo and behold, I think I may have just gotten my wish. Apparently, we've got a cheer squad for next Wednesday *high kicks* and *all rights!* yay!

Screen grab from Bring It On, starring Kirsten Dunst

I haven't even seen what these people can do but I'm already excited. One of my favourite mindless movies to watch is the original Bring It On movie with Kirsten Dunst. Its pure fun. Ok, the Hayden Panettiere one wasn't too bad. And lately, I've been hooked on a new tv series about cheerleaders called Hellcats. Have you guys seen it? I follow it religiously on mio and I'm seriously hooked k - its a guilty pleasure for me, check it out if you get a chance, I think there's still the free preview. 

Hellcats, a new TV series airing in the US

There's just something about the hidden (and often unappreciated) athleticism of cheerleading that I love. On the surface its all these big bright smiles and tightly pulled back hair, flippy skirts and cheers you can't really hear, but in reality, you need to be fit, and willing to take risks - its a sport. OMG, just realised I'm a closet cheerleader-wannabe!  


K, nuff about cheerleading - I'm gonna get a chance to have a sneak peek at the Challengers tomorrow afternoon - I hope they'll blow my socks off and heat up the competition for the big $50k!


xoxo, s.

Happy OMG Day!

It's OMG Day Good morning!
Its a hazy day out today but that won't dampen the OMG spirit right? We're at Episode 11 tonight! 
Can you believe its already been eleven weeks since we first saw the likes of Luminiq Crew and Danny Koh? Yep guys, they've been on the show since Day One. Jill-Marie joined the show on Episode 3 and the Baos! on Episode 4. They're the only 4 left from the original Top 8 entering this phase of the competition. Jigri Yaar joined us two weeks ago on Ep 9 and of course Sean Harrison joined us last week.


Who do you think will be going home tonight? Did you vote for your favourites last week?
Just to refresh your memory, last week's Judges Ranking was :


1. Sean Harrison
2. Danny Koh
3. Jill-Marie Thomas
4. Singapore Char Siew Baos!
5. Luminiq Crew
6. Jigri Yaar


Based on this list, in danger here would be Luminiq Crew and Jigri Yaar. But as we've seen with previous weeks, your votes have changed the ranking quite drastically before. So its anyone's guess.


As I type this, CJ Crew are on Class 95 chatting with Vernetta, Glenn and Judge FD. Already Glenn has put Sam and Di, who are representing the 7-member crew this morning (studio too small to fit all 7), on the spot by asking them who they thought are their biggest competition and if they could choose, who would they pick to beat.


I think the girls' biggest competition would be the boys of Luminiq Crew, previously 7, now 6 of them. I would love to see a 'group number' ala PSC every week. I know it means extra work and extra choreo for everyone to memorise, but don't y'all think that would be awesome to watch? (Haha, Zaki would have a major headache though!)




The girls sound like real sweet young things, but I'm sure they're gonna BRING IT on stage - I'm hoping to see something FIERCE! You go girls!


Tune in to Channel 5 tonight at 8pm for One Moment of Glory! LIVE! Two (sob! sob!) are going home, and we'll have 5 acts fighting it out tonight.


xoxo, s.

Meet OMG Challenger : CJ Crew

We've got more girls on the show again!

We were down to just two girls on the show, Jill-Marie Thomas and sweetiepie Ruby from the Baos!, and all that testosterone was just overwhelming! Plus I'm sure mankind shed a tear when resident OMG! eye candies Desert Roses and Vertical Dancers left the show last week. But the OMG! Gods hath mercy for where they have removed five babes from us, they have no given us SEVEN in return.  These girls are a K-Pop dance group.


And just coz they're new to the show, doesn't mean they are exempt from the theme. They'll also be incorporating kids (apparently, very cute kids) into their performance for this week's 'School's Out!' theme like the rest of the Contenders. No special treatment for newbies k!


CJ Crew is made up of Sam, Jojo, Yu Zhen, Joanna, Jun, Evy and Diyana who raps. Yes the girls can sing too, but not for tomorrow night's performance. Its all about dance tomorrow and the girls will be showcasing original moves that they've choreographed and also some of Beast's moves from their music video 'Shock'. (Video reference right at the bottom for the uninitiated to the K-pop world).


I caught up with Sam, the leader of the crew, earlier this evening for a quick chat. Here's the phoner : 


So how do you girls know each other? 
We all got to know each other at the school. We're all part of the Celine Jessandra School of Performing Arts. (Click to go to the school's blog).


summerr says : 
I actually spoke to Celine last night and basically her school is a K-Pop dance and vocal school focused on teaching students how to move and groove like their favourite K-Pop stars.


What made you guys decide to join OMG!?
We thought it would be a good opportunity for us to gain some performing experience. Some of us are still quite new. Its also a good way to let the audience know a bit more about K-Pop! We also haven't performed on tv before, so it'll be good to experience all that too.


If you won the $50,000 what would you do with it?
First thought would be to pay off all the PUB bills! We train a lot in the school, so we use all the facilities like the aircond and the lights, so we'd like to contribute to that. But seriously if we do win, we'd probably use that money to go on dance training trips to Korea. A lot of dancers go to Japan, L.A. and Korea to join the dance classes there to gain experience and learn new steps etc. If we get to to Korea, we'll like join Haw's (the very famous instructor/choreographer who did the Beast video) class.


What do you think of our OMG! judges?
I think they're quite nice. Eventhough its obvious they may not have liked a certain performance, they still give very constructive criticisms, so that's very encouraging. We're quite nervous actually about what they're gonna say about us.


What about the Contenders, have you sized up the competition?
Well, we've watched the performances by Desert Roses, Vertical Dancers and Luminiq Crew especially.  Desert Roses and Vertical Dancers were not really in our genre anyway. As for Luminiq Crew, they have really great stage presence. Their facial expressions and everything is all there, they know how to entertain the crowd., so they'd be tough competition. 


Give us an idea of what you'll be performing tomorrow night?
Its a dance routine but it also has a story. We've incorporated the kids and they'll be doing a very cute dance routine. The music is a medley of about 4 Korean songs and our moves are a combination of some steps from Beast's 'Shock' music video and also our own choreography. 


Who are your favourite K-pop groups?
We like Dongbangshinki, Beast, Shinee, 2Ne1 and Afterschool.


Will you be showing off your singing skills if you get through?
Yes definitely, we will sing later on if we get a chance to. For K-pop its actually a combination of singing and dancing. For them, you have to be good at everything - you have to sing well, dance well and look good, otherwise you won't be accepted by the media industry there. The media there scrutinises them very closely.


summerr says : 
To be honest guys, I've no clue about K-Pop. The most I know is a girl group called 2Ne1 (which Sam mentions above) and its only because I saw their videos while shopping for a tv at Best Denki - they were looping their music video 'Fire' and whoa, they are pretty awesome - lots of attitude and power - worthy of a stint on So You Think You Can Dance. But the more I google, and the more I learn about the genre, the more intrigued I am about this 'world'. 


Can't wait to see the girls perform - I'm thinking high-powered performance. Ooh, and Sam mentioned something about dressing up like 'Schoolgirls' but not cutesy but 'power'-type! - EXCITED!


Catch CJ Crew tomorrow night on One Moment of Glory, 8pm, LIVE on Channel 5!
Tickets are available at the reception from about 7pm onwards, so if you wanna watch the show live at the TV Theatre, come on down tomorrow!


Sam and rapper Diyana will also be dropping by the Class 95 studio tomorrow morning for a chat with Vern, FD and Glenn. Tune in to Class95's Morning Express to catch them, from about 9am onwards!


ps. As promised, here's the video of Beast's song 'Shock'. The girls will be using some of Beast's moves in their choreography. 

Happy OMG Day!

Good morning peeps!
Its Wednesday i.e. OMG Day! Plenty to look forward to today!


1. Tonight's theme is Lights, Camera, Action!
Since each week's theme is open to interpretation, I'm guessing that tonight's gonna be about anything to do with tv and movies or acting. Judging by the direction of this week's video clips (the ones they show when they introduce each contender), it could also be about celebrities.


Our Contenders were asked to pick a celeb that they admired/idolised and they got to meet the celeb and film a short video clip with them. How lucky!


Luminiq Crew chose leggy gorgeous Jean Danker. If I were a guy, I think I'd want to meet her too - 'nuff said! Good choice boys, now wipe that drool off yer chins, the woman's 'spoken for'!



















Singapore Char Siew Baos! chose Edmund Chen. Check out this pic I 'stole' from Jason's FB page ;) I managed to ask Jason why they chose Edmund as their 'idol' and he said because "he's a shiny, happy person just like us!" :) Nais!





Jill-Marie Thomas chose Kumar. I heard that these two actually met last week at a joint in Holland V. I love Kumar, so wished I coulda been there to 'sit in' on their meeting!

Jigri Yaar chose Utt. Yum! This musta been Myra's choice! LOL! What could be their connection - perhaps we'll find out that Greg Uttsada Panichkul does Bhangra dance in his free time. :)















Danny Koh chose Ben Yeo - does Ben do magic? Or wait, even better, does Ben do fire?








Desert Roses chose Tay Ping Hui. The girls told me they loved Ping Hui because he was a real man's man, and very charming and handsome. Sigh, have to agree *swoon*! It was at his suggestion that the girls met up with him for a round of golf. Ok, maybe not a round, but he taught them how to play, sort of. Wish I had pics - apparently they met up last week.








 Vertical Dancers chose Patricia Mok. She looks really good in this pic. I think she's come a long way from playing those 'ugly' roles. OMG, d'you think she'll be shimmying up and down a pole with Irene and Miko?


I can't wait to see the vids!


2. Judge M. Lee

Tonight's guest judge is Mark Lee. Arguably one of Singapore's top entertainers, Mark has worked his way up an actor and comedian. A familiar face on both Channel 8 and 5, he is currently hosting Channel 8's version of 'Don't Forget The Lyrics' and he was the lead in Channel 5's Police & Thief,  in a role that was practically tailor-made for him. His 'Ah Beng with a heart' persona has won him many fans as has his knack for hilarious social commentary on being very Singaporean. Check out this hilarious vid he did, its his take on being an Ah Beng - sorry but you'll need to understand Hokkien/Mandarin for this one.

And for those of you who don't speak Chinese, and thought Mark couldn't spikk proper Inggrish, check this one out...

3. New Challenger in da house - meet Sean Harrison....

21-year old indie singer-songwriter Sean was encouraged to join the show by his good friend Paul Twohill (Singapore Idol 2 alum). Will he be destined to fill David Lin's 'cute-guy-with-a-guitar' stereotype or will he be able to carve out his own niche? Check out my interview with him here.






4. Two more will be going home tonight, to refresh your memory, here's last week's Judges' Ranking. 
1. Jill-Marie Thomas
2. Danny Koh
3. Jigri Yaar Bhangra Academy
4. Singapore Char Siew Baos!
5. The Vertical Dancers
6. Luminiq Crew
7. Desert Roses


Singapore voted from 9pm to 12midnight last Wednesday. Will the votes change the order of the list? Or did viewers agree with the judges, which included Debbie Gibson, making it the end of the road for our favourite b-boys and the lovely Roses? Either way, it's gonna be hard to say good bye. (BoyzIIMen references in previous sentence was not done on purpose, sorry for the cheese!)


Plenty goin' on tonight, so don't forget to tune in, 8pm, Channel 5 for OMG! LIVE!


xoxo, s.


ps. Producers are continuously looking for Challengers - to get in touch, simply email omg@mediacorp.com.sg. 


pps. Come join the live audience at TV Theatre for the weekly live shows, its a totally different experience I tell you - just come to Mediacorp reception at about 7pm to grab a ticket and make your way through.

OMG Ep 10 Challenger : Sean Harrison

Meet The New Guy ...

Kinda looks a little bit like Mark Salling (Puck) from Glee doncha think? Maybe its the shaved head and the lushes lashes? Sorry I digress, meet 21-year old Sean Harrison. He's a singer-songwriter of the indie persuasive and on the phone, he sounds a little bit like a cross between John Mayer and David Tan from Electrico. I heard a small sample of his singing on his MySpace page (check out his version of 'You & Me' and his original 'Girl In A Black Dress'), I dare say he has an interesting tone and style - jazzy like Jamie Cullum and laidback like John Mayer. 


Here's the phoner from earlier today ... 

So how long have you been performing? 
Professionally, for about a year. I mean like, playing in proper pubs. 


What do you mean in proper pubs? What kind of 'un'proper pubs were you at before?
Well, I've been playing music since I was 14.  I was always the bass guitarist.  I was kinda the background guy la. And whenever I wanted to step up, they would always say, eh no, we need another guitarist la, we need a bassist, so that would be me.


He volunteers this next piece of info randomly - he's real easy to talk to :
Most of my music is inspired by women. When I was 16, my first crush liked Michael Buble. So I pushed myself to sound like him. I bought a cheap guitar for $45 and went all out. I know its cliche and all, but I love the idea of singing a song for a girl. 


Where are you from Sean?
I'm totally Singaporean la. I eat Katong Laksa, I love belachan, I love durian. My dad is half Brit, half Chinese, and my mom is Eurasian Pakistani. (wow so exotic lor!)
I have an older sister and two step brothers who are half German and half Chinese. My parents split up ages ago but we are an annoyingly 'not-broken' family. We're a big team. My dad is the cool guy with the long hair and the earring. A few years back when I decided to 'quit' school (Sean was doing horticulture - that's code for landscaping artist and dropped out to pursue music), I thought I was being rebellious and was ready to 'get it' from my dad when I told him I wanted to pursue music. And all he said was, "yea sure, go ahead, want a beer?" No drama at all. 



So you decided to pursue music... 
At 19, I started busking. I was so attracted to the story of the struggling artiste, starting from the very bottom. You know, the story of the lone busker, who's like a vagabond, busking for no one sometimes, trying to make it in the world. Its such a beautiful story.  When I started to perform in pubs, I started out at the dingiest pubs I could find. People were like, hey why don't you try out at Timber, nope, not me.


So are you well-known now?
My gigs have been pretty niche. I guess you could say I'm still pretty 'undiscovered', but work's starting to pick up a little. 


So what made you join OMG!?
I guess you could say the hardship of busking is really starting to get to me. It really is very tough trying to make a name for yourself. It doesn't matter what you're singing, I've been at gigs where I'm singing to just three people in a pub. I just want an audience of more than three people. I just want to perform, really perform. I mean, it would be great to win the $50,000, but at this point I really just want to perform. 


My friend Paul (Twohill, of SI2 fame) was the one who encouraged me to audition for the show. I have been playing backup for Paul for a few years now, and he kept asking me to join - he would say, "eh $50,000 prize money you know!" And amongst friends, we all thought, that could be 'easy money'. But after watching the show, I'm thinking no way am I gonna be able to beat Danny and Jill-Marie. Honestly, I think they're really good. The dancers and pole dancers and all are great, but Danny has this ability to deliver totally unpredictable kinds of stuff. 


When I was busking, my mentor was this magician busker who taught me all the little tricks that buskers do to pull in the crowd, and to hold their attention. Danny has all of that and more. He's a serious magician, I've seen his lil card tricks and fire work. I actually still have a little bottle that he signed and gave me to me a long time ago. He's totally outdone everyone. (<--- Danny look! You have a fan!)


  


As for Jill-Marie, I'm really impressed with her. I think she can play the guitar really well, I saw her on Youtube and she has a great voice. Guitar-skills wise I think she can outdo me, but vocal-wise, maybe we could be on par. The only thing I have (to set me apart) would be that I have a different style. Where Jill is more wholesome, I'm more the rock-it-all-out type of guy. I love to push the boundaries and make it intense! I believe in making people feel what they're listening to. 



Say you do win the $50,000, what would you do with it?
I would set aside $1,000 to spend. I promised my four best friends I'd give them a $1,000 each. And the rest will go to my education. Its always been my dream to score music. I would love to just spend all day every day writing music whether its classical or contemporary or whatever, I just want to write music. When I walk around, I'm always thinking about my life's soundtrack.
(Scoring music is basically writing music for a film, think Hans Zimmer - still wondering who? Google it.)


What will you be performing on the show?
I'll be singing Five For Fighting's 'Superman'. (OMG I LOVE THAT SONG, video reference right at the bottom in case you don't know it -tsk!  It was on the Smallville soundtrack and the theme song for the premiere season). Previously I was in and out of little flings and so this year I decided I would try to make things work with people but it backfired. The song's about someone who's trying their best but still unable to deliver because everyone else's expectations of them are different. The song just spoke to me. And then when I met with producers, one of them actually suggested I try out this song and it was like the universe was speaking to me. The song's a classic.


Catch Sean Harrison (I wonder if he's related to George Harrison - as in, from the Beatles, I mean, his dad's half Brit - could be....) on Class 95's Morning Express tomorrow morning (OMG DAY!) around 9am! 


And don't forget to tune in to OMG! LIVE later at 8pm on Channel 5. Feel like watching the show live in studio? Come on down to Mediacorp Reception to pick up tickets at about 7pm and join the studio audience - live shows are always better in person of course!


One Moment of Glory! airs LIVE every Wednesday at 8pm only on Channel 5. 
Watch past episodes of OMG! at xinmsn.com/catchup.
Want more dirt on Sean? Find him at his Facebook fanpage and MySpace page.


ps. Want to be a Challenger on the show? Email omg@mediacorp.com.sg and tell producers what your fab talent is and you could be the one to beat them all!


pps. Here's the video of Five For Fighting's 'Superman'.

Lyrics here if you want to sing along ....
(also just coz I had it handy, this is actually one of my all-time fave songs) :

Superman by Five For Fighting
I can't stand to fly
I'm not that naive
I'm just down to find, the better part of me


I'm more than a bird
I'm more than a plane
More than some pretty face beside a train 
And its not easy to be me


I wish that I could cry
Fall upon my knees
Find a way to lie, bout a home i'll never see


It may sound absurd but don't be naive
Even heroes have the right to bleed
I may be disturbed
But won't you concede, even heroes have the right to dream
And its not easy to be me


Up, up and away, away from me
Well its alright, you can all sleep sound tonight
I'm not crazy for anything


I can't stand to fly
I'm not that naive
Men weren't meant to ride, with clouds between their knees


I'm only a man in a silly red sheet
Diggin' for kryptonite on this one way street
Only a man, in funny red sheet, 
Lookin' for special things inside of me
Inside of me, inside of me
Inside of me, inside of me


I'm only a man in a funny red sheet
I'm only a man lookin' for a dream
I'm only a man in a funny red sheet
Its not easy, ooh ooh ooh, its not easy, to be me