The Day After CHMA 2005

EXAMS ARE OVER!!!
WHEE!!!

Well, it's been a good week for me. Firstly, because I managed to complete all my exam papers. Secondly, the long awaited CHMA 2005's over. Honestly, the show was comparatively paler than last years, with the exception of the last-minute inclusion of Singapore's local rock-band, Ronin. They really brought the noise (cue ear-drums ringing)!!! Check them out at http://www.roninriot.com/.

Here's a quick recap of the show:

Competition

Solo Vocals
6 Contestants

Host Mark Tan announces that 4 out of 6 solo vocalists were doing chinese songs. First up, we had Neo Ren Jie. He did an ok (but slightly pitchy) performance of Li Sheng Jie's "Shou Fang Kai". Next, it was Neo Gen Rong. He gave an un-R&B version of Taufik's "I Dream". To be honest, I expected better of him. But he didn't fare too badly. After him, it was Richard Liman. He sang the Cantonese version of the Snow.Wolf.Lake. theme-song (orignally done by Jackie Cheung). It didn't sound very Cantonese to me though, cos of his unclear articulation.

Following his perfomance, we saw Matthew Fam, who brought us a drag-queenish version of Wet Wet Wet's "Love Is All Around". I must say, it was the most entertaining vocal performance of the night. The 2nd last performance was by Tan Zhi Yi, we gave a rather weak performance of Lee Hom's "Ai Cuo". I felt that his David Tao song was much better compared to last night's. The final vocalist, Tan Shi Yong, could easily compete with the "Careless Whisperer" of Singapore Idol fame. He practically whispered the whole song! I can't remember the title but it was some Chinese song. So that wrapped up the night's vocalists' performances.

My rating: 2/5

Comments:
Overall, the vocalists were rather unimpressive with the lack of power, practise and stage-presence. They could have done much better with the right song choices. It was the night's least outstanding performance group.

Instrumentalists
5 Contestants

Lin Si Hao took the stage first with his own composition on the piano, which sounded like a mix of Guang Liang's "Tong Hua" and some other mainstream pop tunes. Pretty interesting. Next, we heard from Steven Teo on the piano as well. Don't know the name of the piece he was playing but he played like it was a recording, which can only ba a good thing. The following 2 contestants both played on the electone. The first electonist (is it what they're called?), Andrew Ng did a spectacular job with his own conposition, which sounded very much like the tune you'll hear while playing Final Fantasy during the battle scenes. It sounded great, nonetheless.

During this, the air-conditioning broke down. Due to the increasing humidity and heat level, many of the audience uprooted from their seats and walked out of the hall. It was something that I find most distasteful about last night. It is incredibly rude to walk out of a performance, especially when the performer is trying his best to put up a good show. Anyways, the air-con did come back on and the performances proceeded as usual. The other electonist, Wong Fei Yang, did a marvelous job with his own masterpiece. It was incredible. The final performaer in the category was Dexter Tan of Ecnerret fame. He displayed his great skills on the drum-set and wowed pretty much all the audiences, including me.

My rating: 4/5

Comments
The instrumentalists gave enjoyable performances and would have definitely made the judges job really difficult. I enjoyed myself the most during this segment of last night's programme and in my opinion, it was the most outstanding performance category from last night.

Bands
4 Groups

First up, it was Isthmus. The band played an original composition titled" Empty Void". Their music was pretty good, but it was marred by weak vocals from their lead vocalist. Following them, we had Reef entertaining us with a song by Altar Bridge. It was an impressive display of loud drumming and border-line vocals. Following their performance, DeCon took the stage. I must say, they were the real rockers of the night. They were really good. Lastly, we had Ecnerret, the winners of last year's CHMA in the same category. They were good as well, but were overshadowed by the rousing performance of the band before them. So there we have it, the end of the night's competition.

My Rating: 3/5

Comments
This category fared relatively well, as the music played was good. However, the groups could improve more vocally. It wasn't the worst performance category, but it wasn't the best either.

Guest Items
The first guest item was done by Ronin. They brought the house down with 2 of their original compositions. I must say, even though I'm no hard rock or metal fan, I was impressed. They were very, very professional. The second guest item was done by the winners of last year's group vocal category, Bleached, consisting of 2 members, Justin Seng and Ang Wei Ye. They gave a great performance on a medley of raps from the famous white-rapper, Eminem. The audience went wild with the 2 of them taking stage. It was incredible. Afther them, I took stage as the former champion of last year's CHMA. It was good to be on that stage again.
The last item was done by the Catholic High (Primary) Modern Dance group. They were extremely adorable and talented. I had a great time watching them on stage.

Results
Winners of each category are:

Solo Vocals: Tan Zhi Yi
Instrumentalists: Wong Fei Yang
Bands: DeCon

Overall Champion: Wong Fei Yang

It was a great night and I enjoyed myself immensely.