chinese karaoke

on wednesday our sch had the chinese karaoke competition
for the first time, i was involved
i had tried in sec1-3 already and finally this year, i came through

eventually, i gave a sterling retro performance and came 2nd

it's been very special for me and im missing it,
though it lasted only over 3 days
all the rehearsal, the searching for that elusive vcd,
shopping for retro wear and eventually performing
all stood out for me in my life

i remember being so unprepared for the auditions
chionging to library to search and print the lyrics
to a song i just learnt the night before
then i sang it one octave lower for safety
and thereafter worrying over the exam period

i was really happy when i found i qualified
and from there i began serious preparation

my song dated back to the 40s and was damn tough to find
but eventually i came to this shop with this super zai uncle
who remembered every single song in his shop
and pulled out that disk
the song was sung by many ppl and i told myself anyone would do
just as long as i could get to sing it
but when the uncle pulled out the disk it was the singer i wanted
it was perfect

the first rehearsal involved standing on stage to sing
ok that was obvious but i want to have things here clear
so when i read this again everything would be very vivid
anw
singing on the stage was very much easier for some reason
maybe its just me
but for once i could control my vibrato properly
but i was off-beat and needed plenty of practise

rehearsal two was rather similar
still off-beat, but not as serious

then i spent the rest of that day looking for all the retro stuff at bugis
i had from the start a very clear picture of what i wanted to look like
tight, flowered, long sleeved shirt,
gold rimmed, BIG sunglasses
and a pair of leather shoes to go with my black pants
each time i found them, they were perfect and i was really excited
as i pasted them onto my body, i had another vision
and it was also very good
i grabbed my tube of gel and flattened my hair, side parting

then came wednesday
i was scheduled as the last singer, after justin and fuiyi
that meant two things :
i was to come on when ppl were getting restless
i had to sing after the 2 ppl i thought were very good

backstage, i cut a figure of tranquil, confidence and calm
offering support and coolness to the more jumpy ones
but inside, i was an ant on a hot wok
i was very scared

then the event kick started
it was perfect
when they flashed my picture,
they stopped short of showing the song name
it contributed to my element of surprise and well, humour
it was all perfect

then one by one, ppl went out to sing
that did nothing much to me, until fuiyi stepped out
the past 2 days of rehearsal have been a nightmare for her
she was always so afraid and always so on the brink of crying
she couldnt remember her words, nor could she follow the music
even though we assured her that her voice was very nice to hear,
which was true cuz it really gave me this fuzzy wuzzy warm feeling,
she was still apprehensive, timid
but then she stepped out to the unknown
and from her voice it was obvious -
she was being very brave
although i admit i preferred her singing when she was scared,
she showed 100% courage, something the audience could not see
her performance brought again a smile to my face
and my vision began to blur
but maybe that was cuz i wasnt wearing my glasses
but what it did do was calm me down. my confidence grew.

it was my turn. and from walking out retro-styled
to hitting the right notes and the right vibratoes,
it was all so perfect
i was enjoying myself
it was as if i stepped onto the track to race -
i was in my element
and so i sang

in the end though, i lost to justin
some people said i should've won
but i'm not so sure
after all, i always felt justin would win
it was disappointing, but i somehow felt happy, joyful

the thing is,
initially, it was 100% justin
but as i walked off that stage to the cheers of the crowd
knowing that everything had been perfect
i smiled, and said to myself
"i have a chance"
and that was enough for me