“Beautiful Purpose” (Miss World SG 2013 Theme song) now available for sale on ITunes!

I’m happy to announce that “Beautiful Purpose” is now available for sale ITunes! Click here to bring you to store.

Miss World Singapore 2013

It’s such an honour to be involved with Miss World. I remember watching the pageant on TV when I was much younger… and yes, dreaming about being onstage. But of course, I knew that I would never have the guts to go for beauty contests. Plus, I’m certainly not as quick-thinking as these girls when it comes to Q&A (imagine few hundred pairs of eyes looking at you while you think and speak)…

It is just every girl’s childhood dream, I suppose. 🙂

So to see all these 15 contestants onstage tonight… I feel that they have truly come a long way.. Not only did they have the guts to challenge themselves by walking this journey, they put themselves out there… (to face onslaught of negativity from anonymous people). That is never easy. I’m afraid many people don’t realise the enormity of that before they comment negatively.

I’d known most of the contestants since early May, so it was a pleasant surprise when I was invited to be a judge for the finals. It was a journey for myself too. I started off by composing the theme song “Beautiful Purpose” (lyrics here):

I was so happy to perform it at the finals. I proudly dedicated it to all women (in the world!). ^_^

The slogan “Beauty With A Purpose” is the epitome of the ideals behind the pageant — a woman who is beautiful both inside and out creates more beauty and love in the world through active support of worthy causes.

While writing the song, I realised that the slogan has to be a part of the song, hence I named it “Beautiful Purpose” before writing it. I wanted to convey the idea that ladies throughout the world share some universal traits — we love to share our lives through conversations; we tend to worry for the people we love because we play very important roles in the society – as a daughter, perhaps a sister and/or a wife or a mother, but definitely a healer to our friends. When it comes to beauty pageants, most people’s first thoughts tend to revolve around physical appearances, but I hope to highlight the common traits and roles of women in the world through this song, and empower them to know that anyone can be beautiful and be at ease with themselves when they lead their lives with beautiful purposes.

ANYWAY! One of the most exciting things for me was…. I got to meet Mr. Subhas Anandan!

Contrary to my imagination, he’s actually very soft-spoken 🙂 You may wish to check out his book “The Best I Could“. He’s writing a sequel now, and I can’t wait!

The other one of the “most exciting things” was to got to know Miguel Antonio. He’s crazily talented. I was singing a lot when I was 12 years old, but he has already worked with David Foster, and is writing his original songs. How about that?!

For the finals, we did a duet “Just Give Me A Reason“. ,Though the idea came to us just 1 week before the performance day, we were both thrilled to perform together ^_^

I also have to thank 6five barcode for the sponsorship of this gorgeous orange jumpsuit! It’s my first time wearing something so daring, but somehow it brought out the confidence in me. Here’s Miss World 2012 SG Karisa Sukamto after she has passed on the Crown!

And the winner of Miss World Singapore 2013, is Ms Maria-Anna Weiling Zenieris!

I’m sure she’ll have a sleepless night 🙂

Now for the girls who didn’t win (well we can only have 1 winner!), I’d say that this is just a beginning. I think that if this journey has anything to teach, it would be – as long as you’ve the courage to take something on, there’s always something to gain. They may not manifest in the ways you wanted (like the title), but if you open your mind enough, think hard enough,  search hard enough, the truth is, you have already transformed.  The reality is, your journey has never stopped. In fact, it is continuing strongly after a bright spark.

And when in doubt, you can always opt for happiness. 🙂

Album Launch Concert, 18 May 2013 @Hood Bar & Cafe

It was a mad rush putting this concert together…. because I’m doing everything myself (pretty much 95%). How crazy is that? I was left with less than 2 weeks before I announce this album launch concert, and I was twiddling my fingers, wondering how many people would turn up (and having the horror of disappointing my musicians, the venue, my fans who do turn up..and a thousand other worries on my mind). BUT YOU WERE THERE PEOPLE, YOU WERE THERE!!!!!!

I was told that the queue extended to the other end of the mall. I was astonished! I thought, ‘Is this even happening?’

It was a cosy and intimate session for me, with James accompanying me on piano, and Fatt on foot drums & guitar… and Linhui on violin, Rit on flute and Danny on harmonica. I am SO LUCKY to have these awesome talents for support:

L-R: Fatt, Rit, Me, Linhui, James, Danny

Fatt goofing around with Linhui while onstage:

Check out Fatt’s cool socks & foot drums (this guy is disproportionately too talented):

I’m also honoured to have LollyTalk (100% Singaporean brand!) sponsor candies for the concert goers (they also sponsored those lovely candies in my music video “The Haha Song”!). I’m so thankful 🙂

And this, has got to be my favourite gift from a fan. She opens a patisserie shop (The Little Patisserie), and in a haste to get the pastry out in time, got the title of the album wrongly. She was visibly embarressed, but I thought that it was really hilarious!! We need more funny moments like this in life 🙂

Singapore Entertainment Awards 2013/ Spring Wave Singapore

I’m so excited to be invited to perform at the Singapore Entertainment Awards 2013! 5 years have passed after 《Lonely Afternoon》 EP bagged the “Best Independent Album” in 2008…. how time flies…and how much I’ve learnt and grown through this journey. I’m an indie artist again, and it feels really gratifying to be able to sing my original for this event!

Interestingly, the renowned event Spring Wave （春浪）is brought in to Singapore for the very first time, and is incorporated with the Singapore Entertainment Awards! It feels awesome to be performing on the same stage as my 女神 Cheer Chen, and my other indie King 張震嶽, and Olivia Ong, Joanna Wang, 蕭敬騰, 伍佰!

Above: L-R Me, Xazz, Dawn Wong

Above: Our segment comprises of myself, Xazz, Dawn Wong and Ming Bridges

Above: Dawn Wong and I doing sound check and rehearsal with the live band at The Meadows, Gardens by the Bay. The sound was awesome, really!

Above: Another segment by The Freshmen (Carrie & Diya), Kexin and Renhui

Tickets are available here. Are you ready for an exciting music festival tomorrow? 🙂

Sengkang Art Village (14 Apr 13)

Organised by People’s Association, this initiative brought arts closer to …. your home! 🙂
I’d really love to see more events happening at residential areas; arts will be so much more accessible to everyone.

Sharing my thoughts on being a singer-songwriter in Singapore.

Happy fan!

An old friend who turned up and took these photos for me! 🙂

L-R: Chi Sheng (emcee & pianist), Lorraine Tan, Bevlyn, Aaron Lim (pop vocals teacher)

Starhub’s ‘Happy Everywhere’ Movement (Part 2 @ Happy Bus)

Some years ago, I performed on a yacht for a wedding couple, so singing in a bus didn’t seem so daunting when it comes to balancing. But there was some logistic issues, which the crew did a fabulous job by flexing their creativity –> for eg. super cool way of strapping my ipad (of lyrics) to the bus railing:

We pulled up at the bus-stop near Ang Mo Kio’s MRT station, and had crew with placards informing everyone that a free ride to Battery Road was available. And people who really stepped into the bus were in for a surprise, ‘cos not only was the ride free, it came with ‘live’ music… by Justin & me!

Favourite moment –> when I sang ‘Umbrella’, people were really tickled and I was wondering why… until I realised that the crew were dancing under a huge green umbrella behind me!

I can’t wait for the commerical to be out!

Starhub’s “Happy Everywhere” Movement (Part 1 @ Tekka Market)

Lo and behold, I sang at Tekka Market this morning!

As part of Starhub’s “Happy Everywhere” movement (to spread happiness to pockets of people across the island), I was invited to do a surprise performance at Tekka Market for the stall holders! (It was really a happy morning until something marred the rest of the day for me; see below)

After performing onstage for a while, we all decided it to be a good idea for Sky and I to stroll round the market to get closer to and interact with the stall holders. Strolling is usually not my kind of thing, but under this premise, it seemed totally justified..It has been ages since I last did strolling (I still remember it to be at HDB’s headquarters, for Valentine’s Day), and feeling rusty, I was a bit nervous. But with only 15mins to spread happiness, things like nerves couldn’t really survive in my system once we start.

It was a really great event, and I got to meet Mr Brown and Mr Miyagi! There was a misunderstanding, and to be honest, I was down the whole day thinking about this while painting walls in my new house. It went like this.

After my 1st set of performance, I was resting, seated behind a huge Starhub poster. I was talking to Sky, and I saw Mr Brown walk past behind the poster. I exclaimed, that’s Mr Brown! (On hindsight, I was a bit embarrassed, because now that I recognise his cap, I realised that I was smiling really widely to that man with a cap behind the camera, without knowing who he was. He must have thought that I was nuts. Reason: I make it a point to smile nicely if you want to take photos of me while I sing, because otherwise they could turn out ..eeks!)

I quickly went to get my phone, head for his direction wanting to get a photo. He said okay, and I turned to the man on my right, and asked if he could take a photo of us. A lady near us exclaimed, “*gasp!*, you DON’T want to take photo with Mr Miyagi?!!!?”

I looked at the man whom I passed my camera to (squarely in the face this time), and …shit..that’s really Mr Miyagi! He was visibly embarrassed; I was stunned, and very very embarrassed. I was so stunned at the misunderstanding I walked into, that I couldn’t master a sound to defend myself.

I can’t recall what happened at all after the lady made the remark; somehow we all grouped together to take this photo below. It’s not everyday that I got the wrong man to assist me, and to make matters worse, have someone make a remark which embarrassed both of us.

The truth was, I really did not notice him. In the first place, I wasn’t aware that both of them were present when I performed. On hindsight, I recall 2 men in red and blue standing offstage. But… when I perform (I’m sure as with many performers), I don’t look at everyone in the face. I look far, sing, look at lyrics, then scan across people offstage if there’s time.

While I was painting the walls the whole afternoon, I kept wondering, what would have happened if she had instead said, “Oh, that’s Mr Miyagi you’re talking to” (with a smile). Potentially, I wouldn’t feel like words were put in my mouth (–> you DIDN’T want to take photo with him??!!). I was really hoping that she was saying that for laughs, but she was frowning and shaking her head. I don’t know who she was trying to embarrass, if it’s to embarrass only me…well things are not quite simple like that. How ironic that it happened at an event intended to spread happiness (and positivity).

It was a genuine mistake. Lesson learnt – no matter how excited or in a hurry you are, always look at the person in the face if you need a favour. For all you know, it could be Lee Kuan Yew.

Happy 2013!

Here’s a little something for you!

How’s that? I was so amused when I first see it 🙂

December was mainly a blur for me, because there were simply too many activities!

I kicked off Dec with Legoland! 5 days prior to Legoland, I went to Universal Studio Singapore for the 1st time…and I have to say that… USS wins hands down. But I was informed by the husband (the lego-lover) that Legoland is built for kids much younger than for USS (Hmm…i wonder how that reflects his mental age then). It was still enjoyable, but I wished that there were more places to sit around!

*****

Anyway, I really prefer USS :p
Here’s some photos I took from RWS:

The one which took my breath away….the faraway land….

The other one which took my breath away (in another sense)

And the one which gave me back my sanity – a swim!

Festive Hotel is soooo great I’d really love to be back again, just for a quick runaway.

******

On 9 Dec, I was invited by Anaki Records to conduct a songwriting workshop. The participants were totally cool, there was even 1 from London! I was more than happy to share my ideas and tips on songwriting. Granted there are many different genres of songs in the world, but I suppose I did my best to analyse what I know on jazz, pop, rock etc. There were also many interesting questions which bounced up, like “so what do you do when you run out of inspiration?”, “how do you come up with a melody for a set of lyrics?” etc. I’d really love to do another workshop sometime in the future soon!

******

I also was invited to do a series of performances at Rafflescity with Mei Sheum on piano and Melvin on bass. I love Christmas, and to be able to share the joy of it through songs is….simply awesome. As it was organised by Trafalgar, I performed some Spanish and French jazz classics to (hopefully) bring the listeners to Europe via music….and  of course Christmas songs were a must! I don’t usually do gigs at malls… but it really is very heartwarming to see children swaying/dancing/waving at us during the performance. And people taking photos or videos (with their trembling hands), trying to capture that very moment in time…

I regret not taking at least a photo of what I had seen, from the stage. My moment in time. 🙂

L-R: Melvin (on bass), me and Mei Sheum (on piano)

******

I was also invited by COMPASS to be the star judge + performer for the COMPASS Songwriting Year-end Showcase. I was pleasantly surprised that the level of songwriting among these participants was pretty high! Most of them sang the songs themselves, and some of them even arranged the songs on their own! I feel so encouraged that we have something brewing and I wished that we had concerted efforts like this when I first started out in music and was in search of a community!

L-R: Leon, Kevin Matthews, Don Richmond, me & Desmond (from Serendipshowbiz)

*****

And just a few days ago, I attended 黄城夜韵2.0, which is a stage play put together by HCJC alumni. The interesting fact is, I was in the LEP (Language Elective Programme) class and all my classmates took Higher Chinese (I did not cos I was the odd one out doing computer science, yes ME). I did not attend any of the plays under 黄城夜韵 back then (something I still regret till date, but you know with the hormones, teenagers don’t make much sense sometimes). So to be able to be a part of this play is….something I never would have imagined. Local composer Chi Sheng wrote the melody and Jia Hui did up the lyrics which fitted the play to a perfect T, and I…sang it 🙂

Here’s the song (on Facebook)! Truth is, I’m really proud of this song 😀

*****
Honestly I have been so busy that I didn’t even have time to think about new year resolutions. If I am still in time for one (or two) hmm, it would be to

1) do things that would make me genuinely happy, and

2) spend more time with my family and friends (and appreciate them even more than I already do).

So… what’s yours?

Let’s make 2013 another memorable year. Have a great one! 🙂

Gig & Fun Congestion

I realised that my last blog entry was 1 month ago! You will forgive me if you know what I was busy with for the past month (let’s see if you have the patience to get to the exciting part):

12th Global Chinese Music Awards at Singapore Indoor Stadium (02 Nov)

I was invited to attend the event by the good folks from Y.E.S.933, and it was an honour to see many talented singers. The one I most wanted to see and hear was 曲婉婷 – her voice is really unique. And I have to say, 罗志祥 & 楊丞琳’s chemistry totally stole the show for me.

L-R: JJ, Kit Chan,罗志祥, 楊丞琳, Twins, 丁当

The good companion seated next to me, Serene Koong!

And then I flew to Semarang, Indonesia for Wilson & Lenny’s wedding on 8 Nov. An exciting gig it was, because it was my first time working with Australian jazz singer James Flynn (who’s very good with Singlish btw), and a team of musicians from Jakarta. I went over a day earlier, and was struck by the hospitality of the hosts (i.e. instead of resting in hotel and random walking around, I was chaufeurred everywhere, and the meals were awesome!)

I was pleasantly surprised to know that Semarang refers to 三宝龙 ie 郑和. Yes of course, he’s everywhere, since he travelled almost everywhere back then!

Anyway I have digressed. Let me share with you how breath-taking the stage setup was for the wedding. I honestly believe it could be more elaborate than many musicals/theatrical shows (and there were at least 150 tables!):

And there is even a number of computers available for guests to self-register when they arrive. *gasp*

As the colour theme for the wedding was orange and blue, I wore an orange cheongsam (all thanks to the folks @ Cheongsam Shopp!), and James (right) wore a blue cheongsam (not shown in this pic). Benny (left) was the versatile emcee cum male singer for the evening!

I seldom spot this look, but I think I love it!

Then I came back to prepare for a very important event – my own wedding registry!

*gasp*

Yes i am officially a married woman! Now I can no longer tick ‘Single’ and ‘Miss’ on forms. I’m not complaining. 🙂

But the feast and 2 weekend-long celebration will be held next year where the good old folks from England will fly over. 🙂

I have to thank my girlfriends for taking me to a mani + pedi treat before my solemnisation. There is no hen night in our vocabulary. We’re the type who’d rather eat the hen… And I think we did.

Pictures of the solemnisation…let me keep it hush for a while more! :p

And then I had to quickly prepare for a performance with many other talented singers for HCJC’s alumni dinner cum auction on 23 Nov @ Chui Huay Lim Restaurant. I recognised some HCJC teachers, and honestly, this teacher was the most handsome ^_^. If you were/are from HCJC, you’d know Mr Seow! (I wasn’t taught by him ‘cos I dropped Econs, haha!)

And we had Mr Yam Ah Mee with us! I think he was very happy we were all so excited to see him ^_^

And ta-dah here’s everyone! We have (L-R from back row) Aaron, Lorraine, Jerome, Chi Sheng, Marvin, Mr Ng How Yue, Me, Tingxi, Tingxi’s sister, Ms Tin Pei Ling, Diya, Carrie. Btw, that picture was sold for $7000. And the bidder gave the picture back to Miss Tin 🙂

I’m gearing up for more performances… the next one (7 Dec @ Ngee Ann Polytechnic) will be “French Idol” organised by French Toast! And I’m looking forward to the string of performances I’ll be doing at Rafflescity… starting from 7th Dec. More details on my website soon!

Let’s countdown to a merry christmas…and the new year! ^_^

I miss my blog (+ updates)

So what’s up?

I’ve been so busy preparing for my new album and for performances that time just zoomed by … so fast! Can you believe that it’s now Aug?

Before I burn myself out, i decided to take a lil time out to blog, a cathartic activity I should try to do more often (except that it’s really now more convenient to do a Facebook shoutout or ‘Tweet Tweet‘).

So I’ve been busy producing my new album, which includes laying down a piano track for 1 of the songs, and recording vocals for all 10 songs. And editing tracks. And meeting up with album designer, printer. And meeting up with people to do my music videos (wooohooo!). And photoshoot with Tinydot Photography (Yu Hsin). And doing youtube videos for more people to join my tie-up with Pledgemusic (so that I CAN HAVE MONEY TO FUND THIS ALBUM!). If you haven’t check out the page, pls do, every dollar matters to indie artists like me 🙂

Actually it’s not just the funds. Seeing the names of people who pledge their support before they hear my album means the world to me. It’s called Morale.

And performances in between…

Xinyao 1980s – 2012 @ Hwa Chong Institution

《我們要一直這麼要好》 written by by 小寒 and I, and “Lonely Afternoon” and 《保溫》

Special guest performance by Mr Baey Yam Keng, Ms Tin Pei Ling, and Ms Lim Hai Yan.

At my alma mata. Actually this is the first time i step foot on it after graduation. So much have changed…but much more remains the same…like my CT bench right at the end near the canteen 🙂

Backstage with Aaron, Huisi and Jerome.

It was one of my dreams to do a performance on Xinyao songs （新謠）. I sang 《等著黑夜輕輕輕輕落下》，《早安老師》，《邂逅》，《你的倒影》，《溫柔的夜》..and many more which saw the earliest of my singing days as a young child. Love love love!

6th Freshmusic Awards @ Crazy World Cafe

I was there for their 1st award ceremony…I can’t believe that it’s now the 6th year. Many things have happened over the past 5 years for them and for me…I suppose the only thing in common among all is, we’re still doing what we believe in… 🙂

For those who missed the concert, ahh well… I performed 2 songs from my upcoming album hihi! What a joy to share them and receive great instantaneous feedback from the audience. yay!

Singapore’s National Day is coming very soon, so before i log off, here’s a recording I did with one of my favourite Singaporean (award-winning) instrumentalists, Chester Tan, on the song ‘Home’. I really love his playing. Hope you’d enjoy it too. (check out Chester’s new album ‘Piano Spa 6’ here)