A Message From David

From David With Love - A Shout Out to OMGers!
Straight From Taiwan, David Lin via Youtube :)

Looks like David misses us as much as we miss him, he's recorded a little video message for all the OMG crew. Check it out!

David is currently just waiting to get enlisted to do his national service in Taiwan. Want to know what he's up to, just follow him on Twitter @thecottonisland.

Thank you David for the message and thank you for following the blog. We miss you tons and will definitely have to check in with you if we ever get to Taiwan!

Keep watchin' the show wherever you can - by the way, I think you'd like new singer-boy Sean Harrison, he's cool :) 

xoxo, s.

OMG! Quickie : Collaborations List out!

Contender + Celebrity Collaborator = Winning Formula?

As you all know, the first theme for Elimination Rounds on OMG! is called Collaborations! Each of the Top 8 Contenders will be collaborating with a local artiste and I've got the list of who's working with whom. Check it out : 

CONTENDER     COLLABORATOR

Danny Koh                                                Bosco Francis

Desert Roses                                             Amit Gilboa

Luminiq Crew                                           Elaine Daly

Vertical Dancers                                       Melissa Faith Yeo

Jill-Marie Thomas                                   Sylvester Sim

David Lin                                                   Jack & Rai

Singapore Char Siew Baos!                     Eunice Olsen

Rhythm & Moves                                     Adele Wong

Haven't got a clue? Need some faces to names? Look out for more info on the collaborators this weekend. I'm off to do my research and grab pics so you'll be well-versed before Monday's recording - you guys are coming riiiight??? ;)

xoxo, s.

OMG at AMK Hub

"I'm part of the crew! Reallyyyyy..."

Producers, I need a crew pass man. Wait. That doesn't work. Cos a Channel 5 staffer next to me was also told to move away from the stage area- we were at the side, not blocking anyone's view, hiding beneath a large speaker. Even the official camera woman who was filming stuff for tv was told not to go near the stage too. Me and the camera woman looked at each other like, "huh?"

Oh well, you give some people a little power ....

Ok, so here are the vids I managed to get yesterday at the AMK roadshow. Before you watch what they actually did on stage, here are some backstage vids of the contenders just hangin' out and kinda rehearsing a little...

Now on to the actual performances onstage :

First up, the very flexible popper-locker C-Murda :) Btw, I hitched a ride with Charles to AMK, and found out that this guy, has a double degree in Finance AND Law. Phwoar - he was giving me property investment advice k! Respect ah!

Here's David singing Coldplay's "Yellow".

After a break where the cast of Silver Lining took the stage, it was Luminiq's turn to strut their stuff.

Jill-Marie was up next with "Nobody".

And after another break where the cast of Fighting Spiders came on stage, Singapore Char Siew Baos! and Desert Roses were up to close the roadshow.

Fail moments...

I haven't included the vid of Irene from Vertical Dancers doing her pole thing yet. For some reason, the vid's a little corrupted, so I'm trying to fix that. Aside from that, its a pity fire artiste Danny Koh wasn't able to join us on Sunday - he had work commitments.

Sorry to everyone for jerky bits here and there, they were due to interruptions caused by AMK Hub staff asking me to move. I tried to continue filming while moving back but its not easy mah.

Big sorry to Jill-Marie for the jerky vid and abrupt cut off while you were mid-sentence. Again, please go find big lady bouncer person at AMK Hub for that. Wait. Forget her, lets do another vid of you singing somewhere where there are no bouncers. :)

Well, thats was Sunday with the OMG crew. Its just 2 days away from OMG Day - don't forget to tune in on Wednesday at 8pm to see how the four challenged contenders will fair up against the four new Challengers - Robert, Erika, Akiko and Rhythm & Moves.

Plus, Judge B is back in the house ;) woot!! We've missed her...

xoxo, s.

ps. So tempted to rant about the whole bounder incident (cos I feel very wronged) but aiya, that would be petty right? So in all ohmness, .... moving on.

OMG DAY!

Happy OMG! Day Everyone!

Good morning peeps! Its Wednesday, henceforth to be known as OMG Day :) Episode 2 of One Moment Of Glory airs tonight on Channel 5, at 8pm. The Wednesday 8pm slot will be OMG's home for the rest of the season til mid November.

I'm off to MediaCorp right now to catch Judge Beatrice for a quick chat before she goes on Prime Time Morning, Channel News Asia to promote OMG.

Follow me on Twitter if you want a backstage view of Judge Bea, gettin' ready for the CNA interview.

Back to tonight's the show....

To refresh your memory, here are the 8 Contenders on the podium tonight....who's gonna get challenged? Will they be able to defend their spot on the podium or will they be going home tonight? Full Contender profiles available via the links on the left sidebar....

Here are some snaps backstage as the group of 8 Contenders psych each other up for the show. They band together and support each other against the unknown 'Challengers'. At this point they haven't seen them or have any idea who are coming out to challenge them. It was a real 'us' vs 'them' thing goin' on backstage as they get interviewed by the producers :)

Check out the 4 new Challengers by clicking on the links below....

Vertical Dancers

Zhai Jian

C-Murda

Syros

Tune in tonight, Channel 5 at 8pm, to see who the Challengers will choose for a one-on-one showdown, and who the Judges will put through to Ep3 immediately after each performance!

xoxo, s.

ps. OMG will be taping Eps 4, 5 and 6 this Sunday, Monday and Tuesday with new guest judge Tay Ping Hui. Wanna come *swoon*? Email omg@mediacorp.com.sg.

pps. Have you joined the OMG Facebook page yet? Go la!

::pics courtesy of Shawn P. and the Channel 5 Marketing team . Thanks a bunch! ::

OMG Contender : Jumping Jewels

Lou Lou Skip To My Lou!

Don't be fooled, this rope skipping isn't child's play. Its fast, furious and involves tons of tricks. When a friend first saw the Jumping Jewels, he asked, "Eh what do the garden gnomes do ah?". LOL. I was like, dude, you have no idea how much you're underestimating them! The Jumping Jewels are hardly garden gnomes (although they are very brightly colour-coordinated with beanies), they can hardly stand still. They have so much energy you could bottle it and sell it to geriatrics for a fortune!

Jumping Jewels are made up of Rachel, 17, Kim Ing, 18, Wong Jye, 25, and Kim Swee, 24. They auditioned for the show together at the open auditions at Jurong Point.

Why did you guys join OMG!?

Because its fun, and its a chance for us to hang out and push the limits of rope-skipping.

How do you know each other?

We know each other from various skipping tournaments and competitions. Our coaches hooked us all up too.

So how long have you been skipping together?

We've been together for almost 5 years. We competed at the 3rd Asian Skipping Championships.

OMG airs every Wednesday at 8pm, only on Channel 5!

Think you've got more talent than all of the contenders put together? Well we want to see it! Join the show now - email omg@mediacorp.com.sg now and you could walk away with the cool $50,000 cash!

OMG Contender : Jaiho

Slumdog $50,000-aire?

The movie doesn't have anything to do with the name of their troupe. Well not really. They admit to liking the movie, but chose the name 'Jaiho' because of its positive meaning, like Ganbatte in Japanese, which loosely translates to 'keep going!'

Jaiho is made up of seven members, sole male member Rock, Shaili, Hwee Kian, Stephanie, Faezah and Wendy.

(summerr's note : omg, I just realised my notes is missing one name - someone comment below pls if you know the poor girl I've accidentally left out! so sorry Jaiho!)

Why did you join OMG!?

We just wanna showcase our talent and show people what we can do.

How do you all know each other?

We're all members of a fitness club, and we're classmates of the dance class there. We've been dancing together for about a year now, but this is the first time we're like dancing seriously together, like for a competition.

How would you describe your dance style?

Its a combination of many styles - of Bhangra, Hip Hop, Fusion and Freestyle.

So Rock, you're the only guy here, where are you from?

Yes, I'm a choreographer and instructor at the fitness club. I am originally from Hyderabad, India, and I've worked in Bangkok for 3 years and Hong Kong for a year and now I'm here in Singapore.

So what's your strategy if you get challenged?

We actually have a lot of different styles, so if we get challenged, we'll introduce a different style of dance to the choreography.

OMG airs every Wednesday at 8pm only on Channel 5! (if you missed Episode 1, catch up on xinmsn.com now!)

Have you got a talent that can topple any of the 8 contenders on the podium? Come join the show, email omg@mediacorp.com.sg now and YOU could be the winner of $50,000 cash!

OMG Contender : Luminiq Crew

B-Boys In Da House!

They're like seven energiser bunnies hip-hopping it across the stage. What's cool is that its 7 guys coming together, with no professional dance background, but they pull together choreography that's themed - impressed Jeanette Aw k!

The crew is made up of Afiq, 19, Faiz, 18, Danial, 23, Spyro, 19, Hamster, 21, Azmi, 20 and Vicky, 22. They've been together for 4 years now and share the same passion for dance and b-boying.

Why did you join OMG!?

We joined OMG for fun, just to see how far we could go. We wanted to show Singapore our talent and to let them know that there's talent out there in the b-boying scene. Its also a great way for us to gain some exposure.

How'd you guys get together?

We just got to know each other from hanging out all over. We hang out at Republic Poly, at the Citylink underground, at Esplanade, and we dance. We all love to dance, so we started to hang out and then formed a group.

Who came up with the name of the group and why?

*everyone kinda looks at Azmi*

Why? Don't know, it just sounded right and everyone liked it so... yea.

Where did y'all learn to dance like this?

We're all self-taught. We watch videos and try and copy the moves and we learn from each other. We come up with all our own stuff.

So if you get challenged, what tricks have you guys got up your sleeves?

We have two secret weapons - Vicky and Faiz! They're power movers, so they have a lot of tricks, like spinning stuff, basically technically difficult stuff.

OMG airs every Wednesday at 8pm only on Channel 5!

Think you've got slicker moves? Got a talent you wanna share? Come on the show! Email producers at omg@mediacorp.com.sg now, and you could the one walking away with the sweet $50k cash!

OMG Contender : Desert Roses

Sexy Shimmying Sirens!

Not all belly dancers are from the middle east. In fact, these three shimmying ladies hail from mainland China. Sofia, Susan and Jessy are from Hebei, Hubei and Chongqing provinces in China respectively. They moved to Singapore a few years ago and got to know each other through belly dancing.

How long have you girls been belly dancing?

Susan : Over 2 years

Sophia : 1 year

Jessy : 2 years

Why did you join OMG!?

Because we love belly dancing and we want to show people how beautiful and fun it is. Also, we have never joined a tv show before. We have participated in competitions but not on tv, so this is very exciting. It is a great experience.

What will you do with the prize money if you win OMG!?

We want to go to Egypt together. We want to upgrade our belly dancing skills, so we will go to Egypt and train with the real belly dancing masters!

Your costumes are so beautiful (and very sexy!), where do you get them?

We have a friend who buys them for us. It is imported from Egypt!

How have you been preparing for OMG!?

We have been practicing from day to night every day for the last few weeks! We want to get it right so it will look just perfect!

What do you girls do outside of belly dancing?

Susan : I give belly dancing lessons at various CCs, Tampines North CC, Pasir Ris East CC and Redhill CC.

Sophia and Jessy both teach belly dancing part time at NUS.

How will you be upping the ante on your routines if you get challenged on Episode 2?

We have a lot more tricks. We will change the routine and add in more complicated isolations (this is the ability to move your top and bottom half independently of each other!).

OMG airs every Wednesday at 8pm only on Channel 5!

Think you have a talent that can trump theirs? Producers want YOU! Email omg@mediacorp.com.sg now and join the show - you could be the one walking away with the cool $50,000!

OMG Contender : David Lin

King David of Riga (that's the capital of Latvia)

Toldja one of the contestants lived in Latvia - meet 25-year old David Lin, he's lived and busked there. In fact, he's the singer-songwriter who's from all over the place, who's now come home to work in a funeral parlour - wth?

Featured heavily in the trailers leading up to the premiere, many already spotted David's boyish appeal. But can he deliver? The judges seem to think so and even before he left the stage, seemed to have put him through to Episode 2, demanding to hear an original composition the next time he comes on stage.

David is originally from Taiwan. He moved to Singapore when he was 12, with his parents and younger brother. After high school (at an international school here), he went to college in Dallas, Texas. After that, he moved to Paris for 2 years, and then Sweden and then Latvia, and then a quick stopover in London and back to Singapore. How's that for well-travelled?

You were in Dallas, why didn't you try out for American Idol?

I wasn't really confident about my singing back then. I was writing songs in high school, but it was a way of expressing myself. I'm an emotional person and in an international school, every year people would leave, it was difficult for me, so I wrote about it. When I got to college, I continued to write and do music.

So why'd you move to Paris?

*he smiles sheepishly at me*

I fell in love with a girl and followed her there, ....and then she dumped me....

But it was in Paris that I watched this Indie Irish movie called 'Once'. It was about a street musician. His girlfriend had just dumped him so he's busking on the streets and a girl asks him to try out music professionally. I realised then that I was always afraid to commit to music, because I guess I was afraid I'd fail. So I decided to just do it, to make music, and so in 2007, I went to Sweden to record an EP.

Sweden? Why Sweden?

A friend of mine had a recording studio there. That's what happens when you go to international school, you get friends all over the place!

So where's that EP?

I didn't release it. I started a myspace page and put it there. Last summer, I moved to Latvia and started busking there, I made so much $$$ and people started to ask me to perform at bars and events.

Wait, Latvia? Why Latvia? And who are these people asking you to perform? (this interview totally has taken a life of its own!)

Oh, my old room mate from college was from Latvia, and he asked me to go visit him, so I did. The people who asked me to perform were like local musicians, so I just joined in their gigs with them. They really liked me, they even crowned me 'King David' in Riga. (Again, Riga is the capital of Latvia.)

I was even invited to sing at a wedding, two weddings actually. I didn't even know them, they heard me sing and just asked me to sing at their wedding. I don't even speak Latvian/Russian!

So if things were goin' so good, why'd you leave Latvia?

My visa ran out. So I flew to London. And when I got there, I was denied entry, because I was on a one-way ticket. That was a stupid move. I got hauled into a room and they started interrogating me, 'what do you do?', 'how long do you plan to stay?', 'who will you be staying with?'. I was like, 'um, I'm a busker, and I'll be staying with friends...'

In the end they sent me back to Latvia. By then I had run out of money, and as I mentioned before, my visa had expired, so I had to call my parents to buy me a ticket back to Singapore. They're PRs here.

What were you heading to London for?

I had planned on going to London to record the full album. I had some friends there who had a studio, and I was trying to find musicians and put a band together. I had a great time out there for 5 years, and when I was forced to come back at the end of last year, I totally crashed and just didn't want to do anything.

What do you do for money now?

I've been playing at bars, but over here it doesn't earn much. By day I work at a funeral home. I'm a Funeral Director's Assistant. Basically I talk to the family, show them what we have and arrange for the funeral.

So why'd you join OMG!? (gosh, took us ages to get to this question!)

I really want to win the prize money so that I can record my own album. And of course it would be financial freedom. Plus the show would be good exposure for me.

So if you get challenged, what will you sing on Episode 2?

The judges said they want an original, so I'll be singing an original song titled "To The Woods". The story behind the song is this; in Latvia my friends and I went to the forest to pick mushrooms, and it was like, once you're in the forest, its just you and nature and your friends. Its a great place to be to enjoy each other's company. Its like you're in paradise with the people you care about and this song tries to bring everyone into that place.

OMG! airs every Wednesday, 8pm, only on Channel 5!

Think YOU've got talent that can blow us away? Producers want you! Email omg@mediacorp.com.sg today and YOU could be the one walking away with $50,000 at the end of the season!

OMG Contender : Danny Koh

The Firestarter

When I first heard there was gonna be a fire eater on the show, I thought, how exciting, then I thought, die la, we are in Basement 4, got big fire how? Lifts damn slow, staircases so narrow. I had fleeting images of myself crawling on all fours on the gross blue carpeting outside tv theatre. But once I met Danny Koh, the fire artiste, I knew no such thing could happen. This guy's a professional.

Danny, 30, has been a professional magician for over 9 years and a Fire Artiste for the past 6. He has his own company and does a wide variety of entertaining from being a street magician, to a kid's entertainer to corporate events. On Wednesday nights, he does intimate table to table magic at West Coast, and other times you can catch him performing a set at Haji Lane's Going Om (coincidentally, this is where David Lin performs too!).

What do you love about magic?

Its all about suspension of belief, just for a while, to be amazed. When people experience magic, they never forget it.

For me, the most impressionable tricks must involve the person. It must touch their heart, they have to relate to it. They shouldn't walk away from it puzzled, but more amazed because they couldn't figure it out, like, "that was impossible!".

What do you think of the show that reveals all the magician's tricks (Breaking The Magician's Code)?

Magic has become very available if new people want to learn, so I don't think it has really diminished its appeal. Its available everywhere on the internet, in videos, and in manuals.

Why did you join OMG!?

To be honest, I'm looking for an avenue to create a tv special, like a David Blaine or a Cyril type magic programme, but localise it. We don't have a local guy doing a show like this, so I think there's a niche I can fulfill.

summerr says : I think this is a great idea! Closest we've had to a local street magician was Mondo Magic on AXN and that was 1. not that great, and 2. not really local cos the magicians were from elsewhere, travelling around the world doing magic. So a local variety show with street magic would be pretty cool!

So if you're so into magic, why are you on the show as a fire artiste?

For OMG, I think magic has no chance. The energy from solos versus groups are quite unevenly matched. But when I feel that fire is getting too repetitious, magic will come in. Actually the show is pretty challenging, because we are given just 90 seconds, I have to rush through it. In fact, I broke down my routines to fit the timing.

The rolling fire on your arm bit looks painful! Do you get burned a lot?

Oh yea, I have been burned a lot everywhere, especially my arms. I get blisters in my mouth. But you get used to it after a while. Its a physical thing, so its mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter! <-- nice one!

How'd you learn/train to be a fire artist?

I'm self taught. I used to work with a magic production house, so I picked up magic there. With fire, I watched videos, and studied manuals, and developed my own style ...

summerr : wait, you READ about how to EAT fire?

Danny : yea, they have diagrams and pictures and tell you step by step what to do...

summerr : I must check Borders later for Fire Eating For Dummies. Kids (and adults too!) DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!

Any secret/hidden talents?

I'm actually really good with children. I'm also a ventriloquist! :)

*just found out from a friend that Danny was the magician at her little sister's birthday party last year! LOL! Small world! Oh and the kids REALLLLY loved him!*

OMG! airs every Wednesday, 8pm only on Channel 5! (missed Episode 1? Go catch up now on xinmsn.com!)

Think you've got a talent that can blow this guy outta the water? Producers WANT you! Email them at omg@mediacorp.com.sg NOW and join the show! YOU could be the one walking away with $50,000!