My First Weekend Marathon
Attention: our original blog master is currently on leave – overseas on his second honeymoon (musicians are romantic people, aren’t they? =D) - so we have engaged one of our pianists – Yuhong – to continue updating this blog for all. Yuhong will document our snippets and highlights from the angle of a performer, providing an interesting twist to this exciting website!
Saturday was a special day. For we now have an electric guitarist in our ensemble.
He appears to be the perfect man for the job too. Our new member is everything we can ask for: an incredibly skilled musician (he’s a guitar instructor himself), a versatile performer (he’s comfortable in all genres we are involved in), an excellent soloist (the crowd was blown away by his solos during interludes), a humble and charismatic individual… and the sixth and latest ‘Alvin’ (as well as the second “Alvin Wong”) in Hark Music.
Phonebook issues aside (somebody please advise on how can I organize six ‘Alvin’s in my cell phone?), this is great news for the musicians here. We have been on the lookout for instrumentalists who can bring different feels and styles to our current lineup, and Alvin fits the bill. Looking at Saturday’s performance, Alvin’s electric guitar skills brings a definitive rock and explosive package to the band. Once we work out the glitches, this arrangement is going to be awesome.
The day earlier, Diya wowed the crowd too with her one-hour singing performance. That came as no surprise: we all knew that she was good. In fact, she was the champion in February’s “Let’s Challenge” competition. What was surprising though, was how good she was in connecting with the crowd. Halfway through her rendition of “Tong Hua”, Diya suddenly told the crowd that she was going to sing the second chorus with Jay Chou’s voice – and she went on to accomplish the feat with so much flair, the applause and cheers exploded non-stop. And just when we thought that was all, Diya topped herself with a never-heard-before rap section in the interlude of “Hei Se You Mo” to end her performance. Truly amazing.
The final votes came as a surprise though. Diya received a 79% approval rating from the floor, which was good, but the musicians all thought she would get a higher rating. Unfortunately among those who chose “NO”, none put down any comments, so what happened there remained a mystery. Nonetheless, we think Diya delivered an outstanding performance, and we definitely look forward to seeing you here again!
Let's Challenge Competition - Apr 06, GRAND FINALS!!!
It was the Grand Finals for Let's Challenge Competition - Apr 06 last night and is the event getter hotter or what?? It was full house and we even had to rearrange the seats a little to give everyone more maneuverability. We must apologise though... as it was a bit warm. Hey! but what do you expect out of a HOT event, right?
We had 11 finalists battling it out on stage, all vying to bring home the 7 prizes up for grabs. All of them sang well, and we could see that they put in lots of efforts... and they should, for this is no ordinary singing competition. It encompasses everything from singing, coordinating with the band, to hosting!! It even had a surprise segment, where the finalists are required to pick a wild card for them to do (a second round) either a Rock, R&B, or 清唱 version of their chosen song. After this second segment, the judges would like to say that rock songs are more easily expressed (Trudy's rock version of her song got everyone real high!!). R&B and 清唱 versions are on the other hand, not as easily handled. So to win this competition, you've really got to be very versatile!!
So, after an intense round of competition, the prized winners are:
Apr 06 Champion:He sang 男人不该让女人流泪 with a stable, matured and powerful voice. He is humble and works hard to improve himself. The judges think he'll make it big if he continues this way and learn more singing techniques!! He is..... Bryan Neo!! Congrats!!
Apr 06 1st Runner Up:He sang 安静 in his own style (the judges think it is a good try). He possesses a strong stage presence and has good and interesting hosting skills. He is...... Jeffery Xie!!
Apr 06 2nd Runner Up:She was the first finalist to start the show (Maybe that's why she was a bit nervous for the first song) with her version of 天天. She "wow"ed everyone with her true skills in the 2nd song. She is...... Sharon Lim!!
Other awards were taken home by the following powerhouse:
最具有星味奖, Most Star Appeal Award: Crystal Tan, 裙摆摇摇
最佳主持奖, Best Hosting Award: Trudy Ng, 我要快了
最佳音色奖, Best Vocal Tone Award: Jasmine Lee, 写一首歌 Apr 5th 1969
We also had an additional prize for the night.... the
Most Popular Contestant Award, which was to be voted by the audience. The audience though, were quite "cruel" tonight, for all but one of the finalists got negative points from the votes!! One of them (we shall not name the person) even got a record high of -92 votes!! (Come on people, we need to be more generous with our positive votes here...) And from there emerged our Most popular Contestant (the only one with positive votes), Alicia Li, who sang 白色婚礼!! Congrats Alicia!!
Congratulations to the above winners (actually we think all of them are winners, though not all are prized).
To the rest of the finalists (Victor, Tai Ann, Joseph and Justine), keep trying and improving, and come back again the next round ya? We should have the 永不言败 spirit!! Keep it up!!
And here's an announcement from Hark Management:
The school and Cafe will be closed on Labour Day (1st May 06, Monday) Business will resume as per normal from Tuesday (2nd May) onwards.
音乐武林决赛的前夕......
As the title suggests, it was the night before the Grand Finals for our "Let's Challenge" Competition for Apr 06, and some of the grand finalists were here for a final warm up before their bout tomorrow!! Not knowing who each other were, they sat separately at their own tables at first..... then someone got wind that they are actually going to compete aganst each other in the grand finals!! A fight broke out?? Nope, On the contrary!! Victor, Joseph, Bryan and Justine merged their tables together and became good friends!! The trio even went up to stage together (all except Justine) to bring everyone the song 浪花一朵朵 with harmonizing!! Talk about making friends through singing competitions!! That's the spirit guys!! Well Done!!
Besides the finalists, we also have another group of friends who came in support of Sherry, our 1 hr singer for the night. Sporting as they were, they went up to challenge the song 恋爱-ING!! For better visual effects, one of them even requested to have a second guitar for him so that he can "act" like he is playing like 五月天 (May Day)!! Cool!!
Gallen and company were also here to have a surprise celebration for their friend's 21st birthday!! Besides presenting to the birthday girl a surprise cake, Gallen also did a special performance for her!! Hope you had a great 21st birthday!!
Student's night on sundays
Reviewing our blog entries, it daunted on us again that we seldom spoke of sunday's students night. So here's an introduction of it:
Sunday nights are slots (6.30pm to around 8pm) for Hark Music Students (Vocal, Guitar, Pop Piano courses) to have a try at stage performance. They are all required to go through what we call ETP (End Term Performance) at the end of every term of their courses.
Won't that shy away those who are not willing to perform?
Well, Hark Music believes that performance exposure will drive them to a higher level of achievement, and it has indeed proven effective on most students!!
And that includes tonight's student performers!! Great job people!!
After 8pm, we'd have our one hour singers up on stage... to bring to you more great songs....
For last night, we had Meredith up on stage, bringing to everybody some good old songs that the radio stations seem to have forgotten about... hehe.... sure brings back some good old memories.....
After her was Philip, who simply brought the house down with his powerful voice!! *Whistles*...
Oh Yar! Kay Heng was here with his friends in celebration of his birthday too!! Though all of them were initially very shy to come on stage, two of his friends eventually (after much encouragement from Philip and his 2 Alvins...) brought to him the ever-so-famous "Happy Birthday" Song... Hope you had a great time here in Hark Music Cafe Bar, Kay Heng. From all of the crew in Hark, "Happy Birthday"!!
A picture speaks a thousand words...
We were going through the thoughts penned down by the cafe's patrons... and we came across some rather unique entries.... "picturized", "animated", whatever you call it..... very interesting... so we decided to share with everyone their creativity.
Here's something from Vincent and Pauline:
Nice pictures right?
Here are some other thoughts............
Wendy: "Escellent place for hanging out!! Love your guitar and keyboard players!! Love the rock too... very entertaining!!.... =)"
Kiko: "A very nice place for youngsters to practice & train their performing skills. Of course, for people with dreams too... 3 cheers for all who stand on stage. For the courage and passion in you, have dreams and follow through. Best wishes to all...."
Katrina and Haze also wrote, "Cool Hangout place. Great place for a laugh!!!...... 充满朝气的棒地方!!"
And from those who sang on stage/ have friends who sang:
Vonster Incorporated: "... So exciting & nervous, cos my friends submitted my name to sing on stage!! *faints* But...... definitely will come back to this place, provided i am not embarassed on stage"
Kylie: "My friend is going to sing today!! So exciting!! Like the atmosphere here. Never knew that Singapore got so many great singers! ^__^ GREAT PLACE!!"
Seems that everyone had a great time in Hark over the weekend, and we're glad you did....
Let’s Challenge Apr 06 – Last Qualifying Round
We had our last qualifying round of the Let’s Challenge competition (Apr 06) held last night and it was a show down between all the 10 contestants who were up on stage. Though some of them were first timers, all of them exhibitted a high standard of showmanship, and singing powers/ prowess!!
When the results are computed, it turned out that we have a tie again for this round of qualifiers (means we have 4 winners this time round)!! And the “stars” you’ll be catching next week are:
1) Alicia – a bubbly sweet girl who managed to influence the whole crowd to sway and clap along with her song “恋爱-ing”. She also managed the most cheers and loudest applause of the night!! Well done gal!!
2) Joseph – a star already among his friends, who brought in NEON sticks to bring up the mood as he sang 你那么爱她. Keep it up people…. Wonder what you’ll bring for the finals…. :P
3) Tai An – a natural entertainer who got the crowd laughing away… After his version of 曹操, he was affectionately named “大哥哥” by one of the voters. Seems like you’re really a 万人迷!!
4) Sharon – a finalist in February’s contest, managed to sign up during the last minutes of the registeration period and we’re glad she did!! For she was voted the most popular contestant of the night with her version of 普通朋友!!
With them joining the winners from previous weeks, we’d be expecting 11 finalists in next Thursday’s Grand Finals!! To test their abilities to adapt, we will also be planning a special segment…. Details? To be announced on the day itself!!
Hark Music is also pleased to announce that we will be having additional awards for this time’s grand finals:
Award 1: 最具有星味奖 (Most Star Appeal Award)
Award 2: 最佳主持奖 (Best Hosting Award)
Award 3: 最佳音色奖 (Best Vocal Tone Award)
Many awards up for grabs, people…. All the best in the upcoming Grand Finals!!
Testimonials from U, to US
Terence writes:
"One of the most innovative and community friendly environment by far. Thoughtful considerations in the conceptual idea"
- Yap, the cafe bar is smoke free with sales of alcoholic drinks..... very rarely found right?
Jasline also praises, "Interesting place where you get to hear a variety of songs, including the newest in town!! A good stage for anyone who like to experience singing on stage with unplugged music and also to listen to songs from selected singers. What's more, you get to comment on their performance as well. LOVE this place!!"
- Jasline must be talking about the voting system that we were publishing earlier.... come see what the system is about...
Selyn also suggests, "Want to be the next
SUPERSTAR in town? Here's a wonderful and perfect start for you. Simply start with being the 5 mins singer on stage, and you're on the way to all the competitions!! So what are you waiting for? Hurry, go out and choose a song to sing now!!"
- Yap, if you are good, we'd strongly encourage you to take part in our "Let's Challenge" competition every Thursday!!
The last piece is from someone by the name of
Turtle@indulged:
"Entertaining!! Interesting conversations on stage, brings up the mood for a lively weekend. Huge variety of great songs by the 1 hr singers and many different singers on the floor. Get to listen to 'woo hoo' singers from all parts of singapore. Relaxing evening at a environment with nice, beautiful atmosphere."
Thanks for all the praises and suggestions, folks.
And here's an improvement from us to u:
Check out the top dedication chart in our new website @
http://harkmusic.com
Music Marathon!!
What a Loooong weekend it was!! All of the café bar’s patrons were treated to spectacular shows put up by non other than Amos and Patrick (and of course our one hour singers!!) We must really salute them for playing almost 5 hours (8.30pm to 1.30am) non stop for all of the 3 days….. all for the patrons’ enjoyment.
Besides them, we also have our very experienced singers, Philip and Xinyun, up on stage for Friday and Saturday nights to entertain everyone with their vocal abilities!! Salutes to Philip too, for achieving the most well received song (彩虹天堂) for the night, and Xinyun, who sang flawlessly (though she has not been feeling well for the past few days)!!
Aye, but their gig was not to be as simple as that, for they still had to go through Amos’s signature “Tekan” sessions, as well as the newly introduced audience voting system. Yes, this is a daringly new embarkment by the café to allow feedback, comments and votes from the audience to the singers!! It’s also a realistic test for our budding singers who wants to be in the limelight!!
And the results…… both of them got more than 80% of votes that said “YES!! I want them to come back and perform!!” Great job to both of them!!
Oh Yes!! We also introduced another “new” into the café. If you’ve been up on stage, you’d most probably have seen the LCD screens that “wow”ed all the others who experienced it. Most of the people claim that its definitely more eye soothing and they can concentrate better in their singing!!
What’s next?? Moving characters??..... We’d need to think about it :P
Let’s Challenge Apr 06 – 2nd qualifying round
What a challenge it was tonight!! There were so much “fans” who came to support the challengers!! And they were all screaming and cheering!! Great Mood!!
I’m sure the contestants really felt like they were stars tonight!! And all of them did so well we had a tie this time round; we have 4 finalists from this round of qualifiers… and they are:
Bryan – 手放开
Crystal – 鸭子
Justine – 想你想得好孤寂
Trudy – 叶子
Congratualtions to the above finalists!! Be sure to come back on Mondays to get more tips from our instructors on how to improve further!! And all the best for the finals!!
It's practise time again!!
Yap, as usual, it was practise time again on monday night, and Philip (the instructor) sure got everyone hooked to him.....
Besides giving tips on improving their vocal skills, he also woo-ed them to take part in the "Let's Challenge" competition held every thursday. The result, lots of the 5 minutes stars registerred with our counter!!
And thats not all, lots of them wanted a piece of Philip as they crowded around him after the session to ask for advice on what songs to sing for the competition etc etc...
Way to go Philip!! I think if we have a Most popular instructor, he would most probably be crowned... hehe...
More feedback from Hark Music goers...
Today's 1 hr singers were Mandy and Meredith, and my.... did they bring in lots of supporters or what?? Great job people... hope your friends had a great time in Hark.... which is what a few of the patrons wrote:
Kai Ru says, "Before i came to Hark, i've already heard from a friend that its a great place to chill. And when i finally got here, i realised this place offers me something more than i expected - its like a little secret place tucked away in the city area!!........ 每次来听音乐，真的有一种很舒服很平静的感觉...... 觉得说 Hark 真的是个好地方!!"
Dave also writes, "learnt a lot the past month, regardless it's from the instructor or live band. Found my weakness and strength throughout my stay here. Will surely work towards realizing it."
I suppose Dave is talking about "Its practise time" on Mondays, where the singers get feedback from our instructors to help them improve their singing. We are glad that you have learnt from your experience here in Hark, Dave. And we hope that you'll realize what you set out to do. 加油!!
Its voting time...
We have just introduced a new voting system for Friday and Saturday nights, where the audience gets to decide if the 1 hour singers on stage for those nights get to come back to perform on the weeks to follow!!
Stressing the singers? NO! Of course not!! Think on the positive side... If they are good, the audience's response will definitely reinforce their confidence. They should in turn have a sense of pride, being able to be voted IN by the audience in Hark Music Cafe!!
If the results are not favorable, they can always take the feedback and improve further!! Either way, the earn something out of this experience, right??
The results for the past 2 nights?
All the singers were voted IN!! Hooray!! Well done people!!
And we also started the rock segment these 2 nights. Here's what some customers have to say:
Pearlyn commented, "Today, being my first time here at Hark Cafe, this place ROCKS!! Its a great hangout place where people whom likes music can gather together and listen to great music. Will definitely come back again =)".
Another first timer here, Mei Qi also mentions, "... think this is a great place for hangout (although i was forced to sing rock song... Will definitely recommend Hark to my friends... I had a great time!!"
Hui Jun also added, "there is no better way than to spend a friday night here at Hark Music Cafe Bar... Had a good and confortable time here..."
小兵兵 shares the same sentiments. He added, "... i'd rather come down to Hark Music Cafe Bar from 10pm to 2am and sing only one song, than to croon in karaoke sessions!!"
Way to go people, really thank you all for all the constructive feedbacks and encouraging comments!! It sure will drive us further to bring you better F&B, service and better songs!!
A twist to the Competition!!
Yesterday’s competition saw many contestants crooning ballad songs…. And that sort of inspired us to add a twist at the end of the competition. The 3 winners of yesterday’s “Let’s challenge” were asked to do the rock version of their chosen song when they came up on stage after their names were announced:
Jeffrey – 蒙娜丽莎的眼泪
Jasmine – 至少还有你
Victor – 我真的受伤了
The audience’s choice last night also included Wallace and Eric.
We must say they did a good job out of this last minute “requirement” to improvise on their songs, so good that it once again (like小兵兵) got all the audience’s eyes glued to the stage for more excitement!!
This new idea also sparked our management to announce that from now on, we’ll have a special rock segment on Fridays and Saturdays (at 11pm) to spice up everyone’s weekend!! Yeah!!
So come and experience having your own rock band in Hark Music Café Bar!!
For those who wants to see how such rock wannabes bring out the rock element in songs, come on down and give them your support!! It will definitely be a “high” experience for everyone!!
New Voices in the Air!!
Yup, for the past 2 nights, we have new voices in Hark Music Cafe Bar. Sharon Yee (Let's Challenge Competition Feb 06, 2nd runner up) and Alvan Lee (Let's Challenge Competition Feb 06, 1st runner up) were here on tuesday and wednesday for their maiden performances as a 1 hour singer in Hark Music Cafe Bar!!
Sharon was here with her group of friends, who after her session, all went up during the unplugged karaoke session to belt out songs like they do in KTVs..... and they got really excited in doing so. A few of them even signed up for the Let's Challenge Apr 06 competition!!
Family members, on the other hand, were here to see their Alvan become a 1 hr star!! They even stayed throughout the entire session (including the unplugged karaoke session), where Alvan also got to sing the last song of the night (如果你还爱我). Thanks for the support!!
And how did they fare? Though it was their first time handling a 1 hr show, both of them sang well and were engaging. Well Done people!! Keep the efforts up!!
Its Practice Time!!
After so many entries, it daunted on me that "hey, it seems that very little introduction was made to Monday nights". So here it goes:
The theme for all our monday nights has always been "Practice Time" and it encourages the audience to give centrestage a try and get valuable feedback or tips from our instructors, who will be there every monday, to mainly help them improve or refine their singing abilities.
Who are the instructors giving all those tips? We have a few of them, but Eddie and Philip (our school's vocal instructors) are the main persons who will be offering their advices.
Who are the people practicing? You, of course!! Whether you are here for fun, or to practise for "Let's Challenge" competition, our instructors are more than happy to help you refine your skills.
If you have been here on Mondays regularly, you should be able to recognize people like Jonathan (he looks a bit like Lee Hom!!), Forrest, Andy (he sings a bit like JJ Lin!!), Shi Ming, Claresse and many alike, whom, after getting tips from Eddie, or Philip, improved in their singing!!
Take tonight for example, Jonathan and Claresse were up on stage singing a duet (珊瑚海). After the first half of the song, our band stopped and commented that both of them are unknowingly competing to see who's louder (No offence.... ). So after some pointers from the instructor on board, they continued to croon the 2nd part of the song and....... YES! It turned out to be more coordinated and complete!! Way to go, Jonathan and Claresse!!
So if you are eager to improve your singing abilities, or simply want to see who this "Lee Hom look alike" is, or "JJ sing alike" is, come down to Hark Music Cafe Bar on Monday nights.
小兵兵 ROCKS!!
Tonight’s 5 minute stars mainly crooned ballads for the first half of the night, and it sort of inspired our band to try something new… and so they announced after the break, that they will be giving the songs to follow a twist in the presentation…. Even for ballads!!
So up came the first dedication slip. It bored the following words, “原来你什么都不要 – Rock Version”. The singer? It was none other than the ever so famous小兵兵!! He was really hilarious with his jokes, and it got everyone listening even before he started singing. But he only showed his real stuffs when he started singing. Like a star, he had tremendous showmanship (pointing to the audience etc…) when he was singing the song, and it simply rocked everyone. They were in complete silence and their eyes were hooked to the stage for more action!!
I guess that’s the difference you get to experience and enjoy when you sing unplugged compared to KTV sessions. The live feeling is simply exhilarating!!
And after that round of explosive performance, here’s some comments from our customers:
First timer, Ye Qiang wrote: “Great place, good live music. Nice ambience. Definitely a wonderful place to unwind and relax.”
Another customer, Kelvin Chen, was also a first timer in Hark Music Café Bar. He says he had initially wanted to go other places, but finally ended up here. “It was really a nice experience and definitely coming back for more!!”
Verlin was also here on Sunday, and she wrote, “Comfortable, Good Ambience, SHIOK!! Difinitely will come back”.
Well, thanks for all the encouragements!! Keep them coming!!
Oh! And here’s something from our management.
1) Hark Music will be having a brand new website!! Stay tuned to its launch!!
2) Next Week’s Let’s Challenge competition (Apr 06) will be brought forward to 12 Apr 06, Wednesday, instead due to Good Friday eve. So for those who wants to support your friends, seeya on Wednesday!!
Who’s the birthday boy?
As the title suggests, we have a birthday boy tonight, and as our service crew member, You Wei, brought the cake up to the stage, everyone was thinking, “who is the person we are celebrating for?” When the band finally stopped playing, they announced, “Happy Birthday, You Wei!!” Yes, the birthday boy was none other than our dear crew member, You Wei, himself!!
Hope you like the presents and well wishes, man. Happy Birthday!!
Apart from us, his friends was here to give him a surprise celebration too. Hope you guys had fun tonight…
