Let’s Challenge Semi Finals!!!
The atmosphere was none other than HIGH, HIGH AND HIGH in Hark Music Café Bar for the past 2 nights as it was the semi finals for our Let’s Challenge Competition – May 06!! It was divided into 2 days to accommodate the growing number of contestants, and each semi finals was divided into 3 segments:
Warm Up Segment:
Our thoughtful management decided to let the contestants have a warm up session for the contestants by having them sing to minus one music on stage. Of course, this warm up performance was never to be taken into account when deciding who should qualify for the grand finals.
Round 1of competition:
The real competition starts and contestants are judged based on how well they bring their song across with unplugged music (thanks to our guitarist Amos and pianist Yu Hong). The judges, for this round, had a bell to ring when they think they are satisfied with the contestants performance. And they were very kind indeed, to follow that with comments and tips for the contestants to take note and review and probably improve in the last round.
Round 2 of competition:
As per previous times, we initially wanted the contestants to “lucky draw” from 3 envelopes, each bearing a different style to sing in (namely R&B, ROCK and 清唱). However, we eventually decided to let the contestants do their second round in rock version as all were slow ballads in the first round (except for Jason’s initial Andy Hui’s rock version of 原来你什么都不要)!!
And before we give you the results, here are some of the highlights of the 2 nights:
We had a special guest on Wednesday. Project Superstar finalist Zi Hui was here to support her friend!! And Amos could not give up this chance to get her on stage to share with the contestants some valuable experience that she had. And being inspired by this superstar, contestants got the mood really high in the second round of the competition, where they were given a choice of slow or fast rock!! One of them, Joseph, even got the audience clapping along (by clapping his hands high in the air) when the drum beat comes on. The event ended with Jason’s twisted version of 眼泪 (he sang “Oh 睡觉…… ) to bid everyone good night.
On Thursday, the supporters were really cool and some “super fans” even brought neon sticks to wave in the air to support their “idol” Eileen!! All the other supporters were as great and we could tell that they had a good time cheering and singing along audibly with the contestants…. The results was a difficult one to decide on as the standards of the contestants were really close this time round…. Some who fared very well in the first round did not do as good in the second, while some who were not as captivating in round one did pretty well in the second….
Anyway, the results were still announced and the finalists for this Sunday’s Grand Finals are:
From Semi 1: Adrian, Jason and Stanley
From Semi 2: Angie, Tobias and Clarence
Yap, 5 gentlemen and a lady!!
The atmosphere will be getting REAL High this week...and you will see that more challenges will await them this SUN!
So for those who wants to catch a glimpse of all the happenings, book your seats early to avoid disappointment!!!
Reunion for our Hark friends
In tonight’s Ladies Night, we saw lots of Hark Friends, like weekend regulars, Wai Yong, Sze Jia and Mei, coming down to this joint to shake off those midweek blues with our Live Show!
Let’s Challenge Finalists and contestants Adrian Neo, She Jian Ming and Vynson Tan were here amongst many other familiar faces, and they sure had a fun time singing and cheering for one another while they took turns to step up onto the stage to belt out their favorite songs and even the latest songs (e.g. 曹格’s latest hit – 世界唯一的你).
There was also another group of friends who were here for a long awaited reunion gathering, and they were none other than Hark Music School’s graduated vocal students Libin, June and Cat. Great to see you girls again…
While the patrons took turns to sing on stage, we uncovered yet another hidden gem seated among the audience. Shu Fong’s rendition of 祝我生日快乐 and Baby 对不起 was done flawlessly. Her strong vocals captured the attention of everyone present, including our host for the night, Brenda. And of course, Brenda could never let this golden opportunity of getting Shu Fong to enter the weekly competition slip away. As such, she tactfully placed the registration form on Shu Fong’s table.
So, Shu Fong, if you are seeing this, we would really love to have you join our contest and be amongst one of our many Hark Friends. With your good vocals, we are sure that you will shine and become our “一级歌手”!!
3rd Qualifying Round for Let’s Challenge - May 06
It was the 3rd qualifying round for Let’s Challenge May 06 last night, and the contestants were fantastic, especially the ladies. Seems that female contestants are now having more showmanship and confidence on stage…. Good job.
So after a round of intense competition, the below qualifiers emerged from among the group of great performers:
Angie Lek – 约定
Emily Neo – 被爱的女人
Ya Shu – 我愿意
There was also a tie in the last qualifying position for this month’s semi’s between Clarence Lau (痴心绝对) and Eileen Chia (超快感), and to decide who should be given that one precious chance, the judges decided to get them to sing their own problematic areas to see if they can improve after the judges gave their valuable comments…. And so they tried; Clarence on his 真假音转换 parts of his song and Eileen on her high notes projection and handling parts.
The results? The judges still had a hard time as both of them did not really manage to salvage their weaknesses. They do, however, feel that they are good singers who chose the wrong songs for themselves in this competition. As such, they decided that both of them shall be given a shot in the semi finals.
So for the semi finals next week, you’ll be seeing the below contestants:
Wednesday, 24 May 06Adrian Neo
Jason Sim
Joseph Heng
Stanley Ong
Chap Tan
Keira Ang
Thursday, 25 May 06Tobias Low
She Jian Ming
Emily Neo
Angie Lek
Zhang Ya Shu
Eileen Chia
Clarence Lau
Be sure to catch the birth of another upcoming star Live in Hark Music Café Bar!!
And for those of you who missed the earlier round of competition, you may want to
catch footages of our April winners.
Oh yes, Hark Music Café Bar will also be launching a new concept to our music program line up in the next few weeks. Do keep a lookout for it!! It’ll definitely add more spice and variety to your singing pleasure!!
Singapore has so much talents!!
With the idol mania starting again in Singapore.... it seems that all the talents are out showing their best.... and that was pretty much evident throughout the weekend. 5 min singers are showing much more confidence and delivering very good songs on stage.....
Take friday for example. Angela went up on stage to croon the song "Fly Away" by FIR. Her voice has so much power it got everyone wanting to listen to her more!! Hence she went back up and sang a couple of songs more, namely 你最珍贵 (a duet) and 回家. For those of you who enjoyed her singing, she'll be back in June to join the Let's Challenge competition. So be sure to come and support her!!
Besides Angela, we uncovered yet another talent amongst our customers over the weekend. Jeremy was here on saturday. With his first song 流沙, he blew everyone away.... His singing was so good we thought he was better than some professionals.... but as per his usual self, Amos wanted to test Jeremy on his ability to sing (just to make sure that first song was not one that was rehearsed million times over). He posted Jeremy a multiple choice question: Which song is he most Unfamiliar with.... gave him a few choices, and he chose 痴心绝对. And my.... he did the song like it was his most familiar.... Amos then went on to get Jeremy to sing a non ballad (ROCK!!) 曹操 and the closing song for the night, "Kiss Goodbye". Great performance by Jeremy!! Well done!!
There was also another gentleman who came up on stage on Sunday to sing 我还能爱谁... and we thought that he had a good voice too..... so Hark Music is really a place for people who wants to fulfill your dreams (of live singing) and demonstrate your confidence on stage.
And that was what some of our patrons feel also.
Henry wrote, "very surprise that there are such places in Singapore. When i came the first time, i was really very amazed that there is a place that give youngsters a chance to test their "courage". Keep up the good work! Hope you discover another 'Stephanie Sun' 加油! "
Serene Chew also writes, "it was a place with great ambience and people. The program line up was fun and kept me craving for more instead of staring into blank space. It wasn't just a typical pub-like place where you just sit down with your friends, drink and listen to 'live' music. ^_^ This is probably a place for youngsters/ adults to fulfill their 'singing' dreams FREE, haha..."
So if you have a singing dream unfulfilled, or you simply want to find out what Henry/ Serene was talking about, come on down to Hark Music Cafe Bar!! Don't wait....
2nd Qualifier for Let's Challenge - May 06
It was the 2nd qualifiers for Let's Challenge - May 06 last night, and we added yet another twist to this round of competition (our management is really fresh with ideas ya? always coming up with new challenges to test the contestants). This time round, the contestants have to sing in 2 rounds using the same song... whats the catch? For the first round, they sang with minus one music (ie. karaoke). For the second round, they were required to sing unplugged to test their 临场表现.
And after a fierce round of competition, the qualifying contestants are:
1) Tobias Low - 我真的受伤了
2) She Jian Ming, the youngest contestant so far - I Believe
3) Chap Tan - 天天
4) Keira Ang - Piano
Congratualtions to the above people. Remember to catch them live in the semi finals (last wed/ thur of this month)!!
Besides the 4 of them, we would also like to give special credit to another contestant who sang 爱我别走. Though he failed to qualify, he gathered quite a number of encouraging comments (eg. Admirable courage, Way to go Boy! But i admire your determination!! 勇气可加 etc.) from the audience. He even got the loudest applause for the night when he requested to sing his song in ROCK version!! Great job man. Your vocals may not be the best last night, but your courage certainly connected with the audience!!
There is also another group of people that should be creditted, and that is the audience for the night!! They were all very sporting and spontaneous in their responses!!
When the results were announced, the applause and cheers almost brought the whole house down!! Winners even shaked hands with people from other tables... you guys really made it feel more like an award show... but hey!! Great spirit guys!! 友谊第一!!
Now for an announcement from the management:
Hark Music School is holding a number of short courses in the June holidays. You'll learn how to sing or play the instruments in just 4 weeks!! For more information, please see check out our
school website!! Early birds get 10% discounts... HURRY!!!
Congratulations to Kenji and Lynn!!
Yap, our music cafe bar was host to yet another couple's solemnization earlier today. Over 60 invited relatives and guests were present to witness their union in marriage. Congratulations to Kenji and Lynn.
This time round, what caught my personal attention were all those little gifts and details that were put up for decorations.... it added an air of romance to the garden of music. Take a look at the pictures below......
They also had their very own Emcee and karaoke competition!! And prizes were also given out to winners!! The guests must have enjoyed themselves thoroughly with such a special program...
<- Prizes for karaoke competition. CUTE!!!
So from Hark Music, here's wishing Kenji and Lynn a very blissful marriage!! Congratulations once again!!
The Blog Administrator is back!!
Yap, I’m back. Thanks Yu Hong, for filling in while I was away…
Taiwan and Hong Kong are great!! Besides the traffic that had me confused most of the time, I had lots of fun, shopping and eating in those 2 places… but nothing beats the feeling of being home…
OK, let’s get to business….
On Thursday, we had our first qualifying round for May 06, and we saw 3 repeat contestants from last month’s. This time’s competition is even stiffer, and only Joseph manage to get into the semi finals with his song 好想你. Victor and Justin (who failed to qualify this time), on the other hand, had very good spirit and says 友谊第一, 比赛第二. Getting into the semi’s is secondary, they were here for the experience and fun of it. And they got to know many great friends….. Great spirit guys!!
Along with Joseph, other semi finalists included the following people:
Adrian – who sang 黑色毛衣. This was his 4th attempt, and having improved in his singing techniques, he qualified this time round!!
Jason – he did David Tao’s number, 普通朋友. Try to guess who Jason is from the photo. Hint: He even dresses like the singer.
Stanley – Jacky Cheung’s sound alike, he sang 我真的受伤了.
Well done to the four of them!! For supporters who wish to vote for them or for those who wants to find out what’s the competition about, remember to catch them in Hark Café on the last Wednesday of May during the 1st round of semi finals!!
And for those who wants to come down and support your friends for
this week’s qualifying round, it’ll be held on Wednesday, 10th May 06 instead. Don’t miss the date :P
Now for Saturday’s performance:
It was the 1st time we have 2 “1 hr singers” (Sherry and Alvan) battling it out on stage for the audience’s votes…. and both of them were rather nervous as this was their first time having to face the weekend crowd….. but we must say they did rather well in this attempt….
The results: Alvan got the better of the votes, so be prepared to see him in next months slots.
We also had quite a number of inspired “5 min singers” who signed up for this week’s Let’s Challenge qualifying rounds. Catch these music enthusiasts this wed!!
How do First Timers feel about us?
Turns out that we had quite a lot of first-time patrons over the past weekend. And they were definitely impressed with Hark Music. Some snippets:
Lynn (29/04/06): Quite enjoy & very relax! The band quite good. 1st time here, but b4 that has been to other places. Ideas quite fresh. Keep it up
Li Ping (29/04/06): The atmosphere here very good but hope that the place can be bigger so that more people will get to know the place. Hmm, hope the opening hours can extend too! The band & singer really amaze me. Keep up the good work. P.S. today my 1st day here.
Catherine (29/04/06): Very cosy place to be in although it’s my first time here =) nice music (band) and (singer) very different from other place that I have been before. All the best!!! 5 star!!!
We definitely appreciate the comments and compliments we receive, it lets us know what we are doing right and makes us even more motivated to improve ourselves. So keep the comments coming in, and thank you!
And here is an important announcement:
Starting from May, there is a semi-final round for ‘Let’s Challenge’ competition.So for the first three weeks of the month, 4 contestants will advance every Thursday. That means a total of 12 contestants will reach the semi-finals.
The semi-finals will take place on the Wednesday and Thursday of the last week of the month. 6 contestants will compete on Wednesday (24/05) and the other 6 on Thursday (25/05), and three singers will be selected on each day to advance to the grand finals. The final 6 will compete in the grand finals, to be held on the last Sunday of the month (28/05).
This is to allow more people to have the chance to enter the competition, and at the same time, provide more air time for the grand finalists to perform on stage. The 3-staged structure also means that all of us can see our favourite singers perform more! So everybody, do take note of the changes!
