these words i write to keep me from madness @ 12:04 a.m.

###

Wednesday, April 20, 2005

be still my heart.

[sneaked a peek: hushed excitement before it starts. No camera policy. And they were very strict on photo-taking, there were security going round telling off people who were taking pics with their phones and PDAs and whatnots.]

ok. Here’s the lowdown. Shall I go chronological? I think I shall. So. I was supposed to meet sharm at 6 at je right but I was late coz I was excited that my stomach gave me problems. So I had to dump the butterflies first. Haha. And yes, if you’re thinking meeting at 6 for an 8pm show is a tad too early, well *NNETTT!!* you’re wrong. ‘coz traffic was a bitch. Accidents at every major highway.

We were driving on the AYE goin to ECP and theres a sign that says “exit Keppel road, massive jam until Fort road”. Just. Great. And Fort Road was my exit. Even if I wanted to exit at Keppel, there was a massive jam already from the Keppel exit until the AYE. So we just had to go ahead. Massive jam massive jam la. My poor left feet battling the clutch. (I will so petition for an auto when we get a new car). We took half an hour to get from Keppel to Fort Road. By the time we were reaching Kallang theatre it was 7:30-ish. But I missed a turn and a u-turn to get to the Kallang theatre carpark so had to make one big round. But thank god, finally reached the old school carpark at around 7:45. PHEW.

Thank god also that Mervyn was patient enough to wait for us. Sms-ed him that we were stuck in a jam and he nicely said he’ll wait. So met him got our tix. V.I.P! *reow* Sharm had to leave her camera at the counter. They were damn strict about cameras. (damn). So we went in, our seats were not bad, near the aisle, quite a good view. The lights dimmed, supercalifragilistic screams. Denise of power98 was the mc. Talked a lot of uninteresting stuff about sponsors blah blah…oh and how taufik’s the first Singapore artist to hit double platinum and stuff. And how they’re selling Taufik stamps, buy em, all 20 of Taufik, “lick it and stick it wherever you want”. Somehow that amused the audience. As far as celebrity spottings. hmmm...mostly malay celebs. hani hadad, suhaimi, aide iskandar..babes conde? haha..jeremy ratnam...yea well i hear you. whatever..haha. ok so...

And then the show began…don’t wanna give away too much la, yall can watch when it airs. Haha. Ok fine. He started with “one last”. So it started all slow, and mellow and chill and all. Like sharm said, it’s like we were in jazz club without the wine and margharitas. And the jazz singer occasionally did the ‘usher moonwalk’ towards the mic stand before he starts to sing. I think I saw some people in the audience yawn during the first third of the show. Highlight was “me and mrs jones”. *melting lava* Then taufik left the stage and Denise did some games to “warm up” the audience. Yea good idea.

And then…taufik came out in cargos and a white shirt dancing to…I can’t remember..I think “September”..oooo nice. Except the dancers. Omigod. It’s like they were out to sabotage the show. Their costume was a sight for sore-eyes. It was a pain seeing taufik forcing himself to flirt with them. So painful, it was like taufik flirting with your grandmother. So not sexy. *cringe-wriggle* I was sitting beside a suria reporter. Not that she told me but I saw the suria mic in her bag and she was writing notes during the show. I wonder though, how she’s gonna give an objective review when her screams were louder than mine and sharm’s combined. Oh. And she was laughing along with sharm and I …and I’m sure it was about the dancers. So yea by now, it was the get-up-and-dance part of the show…cept the seating arrangements would make it awkward for one to get up and dance. So I just danced in my seat. Ok that sounded wrong. Don’t try to imagine ok. Then taufik said a half-hearted “ok thanx for coming” and him and the band left the stage, leaving us hanging. It was like “Wooo…are you ready to party? Yea? Ok bye.” So the audience were not sure if it was really the end or if we had to ask for an encore. We were just left in stupor. Haha. So here’s where the redundant mc proves she’s not redundant. She made the crowd chant for taufik. Or did we do the lucky draw at this point? I’m sorry, I can’t remember exactly. Haha. But who cares. Because next…..

Taufik came out with the same cargo and white shirt and………a HAT!!!! Woooo..so here’s where my hormones went into overdrive. Haha. Ok that sounded wrong too. So the suria reporter and me had a “who-could-scream-louder” contest, I think. And the highlights were all on this last part of the show. The hat. The newly remixed “Ain’t no sunshine”. A bonafide performance! Mark E hit the stage and it was a nice change of pace and mood to have some hip hop. *shake your body body move your body body* too bad it wasn’t an open air concert la. Then it finished after he did all his thanks and the, not blowing kisses but flinging ones. Yea he flung em with a vengeance. Then it’s overrrrrr. =(

Then sharm collected her camera. I met my cousin outside the theatre to pass him the vcd that sharm made of his performance. Then sharm and I headed for late dinner nearby and released our photo-taking urges after it’s been suppressed during the show. Wahahah. Ok that didn’t sound right either. So yea. On the way back, I missed a turn again. haha. And then suddenly I saw a flash from somewhere and it was taufik surrounded by paparazzi(?) getting on his superstar white van. Wahah. Cool.

So that’s all folks! It wasn’t really a rawkin blew-my-head-off showcase. It was chill and then upbeat and then party-but-not-really. But it was fun. I suppose it’s coz he did songs off his “blessings” album, so considering the songs, there wasn’t much party factor. It was a classy showcase (cept for the dancers). Thumbs up.

It’ll be fun to watch the showcase on tv.

Now wish me luck for my next paper.
Ciao.