spirital musings, mundane rantings and far more baloney

THE IDOL EXPERIENCE

Singapore Idol is a talent competition. One which promises lavish fame and a baggage of feverish fans and followers. This could perhaps explain why this competition is so loud amongst our youth today - people whom would actually pay the cost (such as queueing up as early as Thursday evening) for a chance to stardom. My purpose for joining this competition may sound a little warped though, but not uncommon.
Ahem .. all I want simply is to appear on television so that I can better get to know this cute CGS chick who lives near my area! Okay, you know I'm kidding. But more than just the mere adrenaline rushing experiences, participating in this competition certainly acts as a benchmark which could well reveal how tall I stand in this race.

This is my idol experience.

Due to my working schedule the day before, I was only able to reach the Scape (located beside Cineleisure Long John's Silver) at about midnight.



Timonthy and Joshua were already queuing up. And they promised to reserve a spot for me to lay my ass for the night. I had to buy them mineral water in return. Heh.



The heat was rising as Tim led me to the yellow metal gates that were positioned zig-zagged to accomodate the queue of a whopping 500 participants. And surprisingly, the bulk of the contestants were Malays. Not that I'm racist or anything. But this is pretty uncommon for a general social setting. Of which, the throng consisted of the infamous Muds & Minas who appeared pretty hopeful - to me at least. Interestingly, we saw 2 lovely Malay parents near our area who accompanied their kids for the audition. It was a touching sight.



More people started strolling in as the night passed. We were thankful somewhat that we were amongst the 300th in the queue because we were entitled to receive a silly Singapore Idol goodie bag filled with magazines, JJ drink, rain covers, notebooks, candy, rain shelter and several advertising articles. Despite having received the free gifts, we still felt shitty because we were at least 10 rows away from the front. Tim remarked with a grin, "Even if we don't pass the audition, at least we have free gifts!" It was dumb but funny. Ha!



Having settled down in our cozy corner, I started playing my guitar. Joshua then unleashed his classical guitar and with Tim's natural talent, we trio created a din and attracted some attention from our fellow neighbours.



There were a handful others in the crowd who played their guitars too but no one else played as loud as I did! I was deliriously attention hungry and went all out to enjoy the night and the turning heads. Soon, Daniel Ong, co-host of Singapore Idol and the camera crew surfaced and began conducting interviews with the contestants. And of course, with Tim's amicable and outspoken personality, it wasn't long before the camera spotted us! After several lame and corny exchanges with Daniel Ong, we soon found ourselves before the camera singing More Than Words alongside with my guitar. We were all out grasping for attention. Technically, we were frenzied!



More people filled the rows at the backs in the next couple of hours. It was about 1.30 AM then and the queue grew at a constant pace.



Being that springy stud that I am, my hands started to dig into my bag and finally reached for the camera. Oh and we also made friends with 2 friendly Malays dudes who sat behind us.



Joshua and the dudes were taking a break while I shot all that was in the vicinity. And little did I expect to catch Tim in his unusual yet sensual pose. Heh.



Obviously, Tim tried to act sexy for my camera. But he failed miserably. I gave him a second chance to prove his worth.



And there we have it together with his sexy boxers! What a perfect shot for a gay porn prelude! Heh. I'm joking!



And then I thought I might as well shoot myself too! Ha! I suggested that we could take photos of our goodie bag and Tim immediately sprung into action!



This picture shows Tim posing with a newly wrapped pink Singapore Idol t-shirt we found in the goodie bag which we suspect was a female's outfit. Pink! Pink! Pink!



So to address our suspicion, we fitted it on!



Oh boy, was it tight and super body hugging! Felt like a sports bra sia!



Evidently, the crowd was still busting with activity at 3AM. We decided to catch some rest but halfway, we lingered for coffee at Rocky Masters Cafe. After that, we headed back and tried sleeping which never did happen. At about 6AM, we walked to the Cineleisure toilets to change into our new attire. We believed that those located at the first and second storey could be littered and filthy. So Tim's brilliant idea was to use those at the sixth storey. And yes - we were greeted with awe by what we saw.



This should be the holding area. At least to me, it appeared like one. What a sneak preview! Hoho! And how we joked about planting a bomb underneath the judges seat in case they refused our entry into the next round. Ha!

Judges: I'm sorry, but we don't think that you're good enough. we'll have to pass.
Kev: *withdrawing a remote control box with a red button* Look under your seat you fools! Don't make me press the buttttoon! *smirks*
Judges: OH NO! We'll let you in. Please don't turn us into minced meat! Oh please!
Kev: Presses the button and nothing happens. *Judges froze in action as Kev walks away*

And let's see how Tim metamorphoses. PS: No offence Tim.


Step 1: take out new attire


Step 2: Straighten it


Step 3: Fit it on!

And in a minute..


Tada! Really to impress the judges! Handsome sia!



Okay, lame jokes aside. After the dressing up, we settled our breakfast at Burger King. We also made a list of the forbidden food - coca cola, ice water, orange juice, hash brown, chocolates, ice milo, blah ...



And we munched on our burgers back at the queue while the rest of the dudes went to change and buy their breakfast.



It was about 6.30AM then and some people were still sleeping and snoring away. Some were rehearsing with the lyric on their hands while a handful were smoking by the side. Generally, everyone was getting ready for the audition at 8AM. It was about this moment when I realised that that my voice turned coarse. It recovered for a spilt second and gradually worsened. Even Tim's herbal tea did not help. But I thought of it as a temporary breakdown. Maybe it was just the nerves?



At 7.45AM, another crowd arrived - those who came from home. Unfortunately, they were trapped out of the queue due to the overwhelming masses that stayed throughout the night.
Na Ne Na Ne Poo Poo!



And yes, the crowd was booming and pretty awful. I hate masses.



In fact, it was so bad till it stretched its way to the front. There were at least a thousand people present at this time.



We had to pack our stuff to compact the queue for the newcomers. Damn. It was surely cumbersome.



And Tim and myself broke into frenzied mode once again! As we moved along, something caught our eye ...



an unwanted dumped mattress! This is crazy! Somebody actually brought a mattress?! Singaporeans are a creative lot man! Soon, our attentions were diverted to the voices of Gurmit Singh and Daniel Ong that resonated from the loud speakers. We were briefed about some audition matters and like a guinea pig, made to perform some publicity stunts for the camera. The morning crowd was almost at its peak this time as we anticipated the auditions.



Carrying our bags and guitars, we crawled along the queue dreadfully as we await more news for the gates to be opened. Shortly later, Daniel Ong and his crew hopped into the queue and conducted interviews with the idol-hopefuls. After an excruciatingly long period of waiting under the sun, we finally got to register our applications at 1.30PM. Due to the heat, sun and all the smoke, my voice was damaged further to the point whichby I had serious problem carrying a simple tune. Stationed at the first holding area, I was picked by one crew and a producer to perform with another girl for the camera. I also did a solo performance singing Time Of Your Life. It was a corny act, so please look out for me when they screen Singapore Idol on TV! Ha! Gradually, my voice became worse as I struggled to hit the notes of My Girl by the Temptations. I attempted a lower key to minimize the straining but to no avail. And my speech was barely audible. At one point, I almost wanted to give up. It was especially upsetting after I had came so far and out of the blue reached point zero. So I prayed.



Soon, we were led into another holding area located at the 6th storey of Cineleisure. As I repeatedly cleared my throat and struggled to fight the sore, I realised that my life wasn't totally within my control - at least, my voice wasn't. One moment, I could be vocally apt and beaming with confidence. But there I was, there and then, literally broken and helpless. I was perhaps too proud. Too afraid to face those whom might think differently of me should I fail the first round. Crestfallen, I humbly uttered another prayer. I knew I had to lay down my pride and hope for a miracle.

In the next 15 minutes, we were ushered to the final holding area. This was the most crucial time as we would be meeting the judges any moment. As everyone else frantically practised their own songs, I sat quietly and prayed for strength. I knew so clearly that I could never pull it off by myself at that sort of condition. What seemed like a child's play was transformed into a formidable task. When it was time for me to face the judges, I walked into the room undaunted. I was thankful for whatever the outcome might be. So I broke into my patented smiled and sang as best as I could. I was careful on the higher notes and exerted sufficient control to prevent my tone from breaking.

The audition room was dimly lit. In the centre, a lady beside the camera signalled for me to start. And to her right, a familiar looking face was gazing at me. I immediately recoginzed that the man was famous writer and arranger - Iskandar Ismail! Infact, a few months ago, we met at a christmas party with song composer Dr. Kenneth Lyen. And He noded to me slightly, halfway.

After the audition, we were ushered to the next station with the results. And yes, Tim and myself received the ticket to the next round! Thank God!



And the ticket says ..


click here to see an enlarged image.

It was all but a revelation and a hefty lesson learnt. That sometimes, we can never be too sure about ourselves. But we can be assured of a Father who lovingly protects us unconditionally.

posted by kevin @ 2:02 AM