I saw the musical last night at the HKAPA Theatre and must say I thoroughly enjoyed myself! I had people telling me mostly that it was great except for Sharon who told me it was tacky and she thought she was watching a drag show.
But I really did like the musical - way more than Mamma Mia which I saw a few years ago at the Esplanade. The performers were pretty good but I think most importantly it was mostly coz Queen songs were just frankly awesome. I didn't even realise some of the songs I knew, were Queen songs. I shan't admit to which songs coz it's kinda embarrassing but I was whinging to G how I forgot to brush up on my Queen songs prior to the show and he was like 'Don't worry you will recognize the songs when they come on' and I did! I only didn't recognize about 2 - 3 songs in the entire musical but the classics like "We Will Rock You", 'We are The Champions", "Killer Queen", "I want to Break Free", "Radio Ga Ga" were all featured and above the singing, there were some funny lines and pop culture references that were some quite tongue-in-cheek, some just outrightly haha funny. And I didn't think my ticket was very expensive - about S$70 - for circle seats but I could see pretty well so it was overall a very fun experience despite it being on a Tuesday night (albeit slightly stoned and tired after a day at work)
It's a shame that it has finished its run in Singapore if not I urge you to go see it! Great fun - even for non-Queen fans!
Love this simple but brilliant song that remains classic and quite timeless after so many years. I picked up on the song after re-watching American Idol over the weekend (Star World marathon) and Jason Castro performed this (in his own unique way. I can't help it, I like this guy, he's got a certain unique style and vulnerability about him I can't quite place my finger on) so I went on Youtube to look for the original versions of some of the songs he did like the above, various rendition 'Over The Rainbow' (Jason Mraz's version is the best, so is Sarah McLachlan's. Kermit The Frog is good too hee), 'Hallelujah' (undoubtedly only Jeff Buckley's version despite it being about 7 minutes long)
BTW, my dad hates The Beatles he says it's the stupid hair heh. Come to think of it, how many people do you know HATE The Beatles? Virtually none right?! I KNOW! I think my dad mainly scoffed the mass hysteria they caused back in the 60s/70s PLUS.... the 'stupid hair'. Ha!
More often than not, it is an occupational hazard of mine to over analyze music. I recently bought the Marie Digby album coz I was quite impressed with her acoustic performance on (where else) Youtube and her impromptu performance on PrimeTime Morning on Channel NewsAsia (I watch it every morning, Steven Chia cracks me up and it is somewhat comforting to hear a somewhat Singaporean accent albeit not strong). G asked me how the album was, and my review was basically 'got a few nice songs, the bonus acoustic songs are quite good, but I think she's a one album artiste, I cannot imagine her trying to put out another album that'll work'. What is wrong with me?! Why can't I go "yah not bad, this song is nice, that song not so nice'. What 'one album artiste'! *Bish*
I analyze almost everything I listen to and more often than not, see it from a music company marketer's point of view. Sometimes I even go as far as say 'That artiste has too much budget so they just whack everything they can put on one song and it sounds over-produced' (Yes Madonna and Justin Timberlake - I'm talking about you). But hey, the mass enjoy that kind of overproduced shit - there's a reason why people are buying those 'songs' and passing them off as 'ringtones' hurhur.
Back to American Idol - I have people asking me 'why are you still watching that loser show?!' and I always answer 'I have a vested interest in it! My company signs the winner (and runner up and some of the finalists sometimes) and indeed throughout the season I will watch and try to visualize the kind of album, artiste direction, imagine how their album cover will look like, the kind of interviews they will give etc. I almost always have to market the album too. And from the beginning I have always told G, Taylor Hicks would make a terrible Idol (and his debut album underperformed and he has left the label)
At the end of the day, more often than not, a good song, to me, boils down to a simple yet catchy melody, heartfelt lyrics, and an earnest sincere voice. Hey you don't have to agree - 'alternative, post-modern' music may work for you, or overhyped pop music passed off as 'hiphop/alternative/dance/crap' could be your cuppa. I'm just saying.... coz this is my blog.
Recently the more I think about the work I do, the worse I feel about myself. I feel sometimes, that what I do is so.... insignificant. There are 100,000 dead/dying in Myanmar now. In Thailand, there are starving people, in Indonesia, India there is a significant population that makes basic minimum daily wages and here I am, trying to 'force' my local offices to sell more music.
Of course some may argue that what my company does is provide entertainment and it is not tangible/relevant to those who cannot afford this 'luxury' product in their lives. But I've been thinking grim thoughts - what with inflation and rising costs of living, I frankly don't blame the majority when they have to give up something in their lives - this is one of them. If you have S$20, I would also say - please stock up on cooking oil and rice.
I read an online Esquire Mag article that argued that it's not that people don't like and don't want to pay for music anymore, when the budget is tight, something's gotta give and when something can be shared for free, the basic human nature is 'yay freebie, TAKE'. I am of course not advocating piracy as this affects my current rice bowl but I find myself nodding in agreement with the article.
Especially with the increasing pressure from boss to 'break new acts', I ask myself "Why do I care about making SOMEONE else a superstar so they can be millionaires?" And above all, do I really want to make some kid think that it's really worth their pocket money/part time job money to part for a CD? I know I am quite beside the point but I grew this conscience recently. The industry is supposed to be 'fun' and about providing entertainment but sometimes when faced with this grim world, I feel disillusioned with my insignificant input to the world. There are more important things in the world than trying to sell 100,000 CDs in Asia. Fark that, can we make sure 100,000 more people in Asia don't stay hungry, get clean drinking water and a roof over their heads?
At the end of the day, do you know what this all means?
The days are flying past now that I am about 5 - 6 wekes away form moving back home. The preparations of the move started with the cancellation of yoga in March so my last day of yoga-ing will be next week. I have also gotten in touch with the broadband people to cancel my broadband TVand internet coz they need a month's notice. Next up - getting my moolah out of the MPF (CPF equivalent) account, cancelling my credit card, wait for the boxes to come in so I can start packing (I already asked my cleaning lady to fold away my winter stuff so that when the boxes come I just need to transfer - I bloody hate folding clothes!!!)
I worry about packing coz I can barely organize a coffee table let alone try to pack my stuff into boxes. And trust me, I have a lot of stuff. I really want to move my DVD hi-fi back coz the one in my SG room is wrecked (I think my elder sis wrecked it but let's not point fingers now tsk) I contemplated bringing back my TV set as well coz that was pretty expensive and I can't seem to sell it to anyone. The furniture is kinda crappy coz they are all from Ikea and have basically lasted longer than I expected. My bed springs are wonky, my coffee table is falling apart, and the futon on my sofa bed is kinda flat in one corner (the corner I sit all the time while skyping/MSNing/watching TV/blogging). The furniture in the best condition are the grossly underused dining table and dining chairs.
Oh shudder I don't even want to think about it. I shall just go watch TV now. Looking forward to the long weekend ahead - Monday is a public holiday! WOOHOO!
I saw the musical last night at the HKAPA Theatre and must say I thoroughly enjoyed myself! I had people telling me mostly that it was great except for Sharon who told me it was tacky and she thought she was watching a drag show.
