Jointly reported by:
Tan Qi Xuan Jr3Z(1)
Goh Li Lian Sr1ScB
Michael Ng Sr3A
Lights, camera, talent! After making it past the initial submission period from the 15th of May till the 1st of June, 36 shortlisted acts had their performances played at the final of the 2021 Kuen Cheng Talent Show, held online on Saturday, 12th June from 2pm till 5pm over Zoom video platform.
The judges of this competition were Mr Sim Wei Yih, Mr Tan Wan Chen, and Mr Thong Wai Keen; three teachers at our school well versed in the field of talents. Mr Sim is a Music Teacher who is serving as the Teacher-advisor for the Music Composing Club; Mr Tan is the Teacher-advisor of the Drama Club; while Mr Thong is an avid hobbyist dancer.
After a brief opening, audience members were treated to a plethora of different performances, the majority of which involved singing, dancing, and performing musical instruments. Audience members quickly resonated with performances involving popular songs such as piano covers of “Kiss the Rain”, an a capella cover of “Say Something”, a Disney Medley, a dance cover of Blondie’s “Call Me”, or a guitar cover of “Never Gonna Give You Up”.
A good number of shortlisted participants included traditional elements in their performances, hence the audience was treated to culturally rich shows such as a guzheng song cover, belly dancing, Chinese martial arts, diabolo tricks, and traditional Chinese dances.
Some more alternative yet memorable performances in the roster included plays, voiceover covers of animated films, speed stacking, and magic tricks. Spectators reacted to all performances with great support and passion in the Zoom chatbox.
Entries involving multiple performers had to get creative with their video editing skills as the pandemic has prevented us from meeting up face to face. For instance, the opening performance, a mashup cover of “Rewrite The Stars” and “The Brightest Star in The Night Sky (夜空中最亮的星)”, went all out with the video editing by utilising green screen effects cleverly.
After all the performances were done, the audience was given some time to vote for their favourite performance via Google Forms.
After voting closed, the emcees held impromptu interviews with some of the participants as judges were given time to deliberate.
Participants were asked to share the preparation process for their performances. Since most of them worked in groups, they utilized each other’s talents in displaying cooperative performances that could leave lasting impressions. Such an instance was the first performance which consisted of singing and dancing. The group distributed roles according to their strengths so that all had a chance to shine.
Many participants also shared that their preparation process was a gratifying one, as they had the opportunity to further develop their video-editing and sound-mixing skills. It was also a golden chance to reminisce on the joys of performing during normal schooling times. Such can be said of the final group’s participants, who featured photos of students and school activities in their video. They explained that it was to show their greatest appreciation towards the school, in addition to displaying their love and affection for schooling life.
The judges were then asked to give comments on various performances. Mr Sim commended the remarkable video-editing skills of students, but said that there was certainly a lot of room for improvement in terms of the sound quality. Besides noting the importance of suitable performance attire, Mr Sim encouraged students to add more flow and dynamics into their music while also equipping themselves with stronger music arranging skills.
Next, Mr Tan voiced his opinions on various students’ performances. He commented on the magic tricks’ performance, emphasising the importance of suitable music to provide more suspense. He particularly liked the play of “Cinderella” with a pandemic twist, but also remarked that the volume of dialogues should have been adjusted for consistency and that the music should have been in sync with the screenplay.
Mr Thong then provided his takes on the performances. He stressed that facial expressions were mightily crucial in delivering a stellar performance, as it brings vigour and colour to it. He advised participants to be confident when performing, and said that getting into character was especially paramount in order to present depth and awe-inspiring drama to the performance.
Concluding the talent show was the announcement of the results, which was done shortly after all three teachers had given their comments. Below are the lists of the winning performances and their performers.
Excellence Award
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● “Chi Ling (赤伶) ” ukulele cover —— Chay Yu Xuan
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● “Super Mario Main Theme” piano cover —— Huang Jing Kang
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● Traditional Chinese dance —— Tee J-Xin
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● “Unbreakable Love (永不失联的爱)” song cover —— Low Ying Zi
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● “Cinderella (Pandemic Edition)” play —— Liew Zi Ken, Leong Jia Nee, Ye Ai Wei, Yap Yik Herng, Chong Poh Mun, Ng Da Zhou, Phang Jun Feng, Chow Hui Xin
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● “Lovely” lyrical solo dance —— Chua Zhuo Ern
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● “Bleeding Love x Titanium x Before You Go” mashup cover —— Seow Hui Yeng
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● “Thorn Among The Roses” philharmonic film soundtrack cover —— Poh Hui Yee, Wong Kay Rou, Ling Jo Ee, Chin Zien Xin, Tan Yin Hui
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● “Kazeno Sumu Machi (风居住的街道)” piano cover —— Sia Xin Yan
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● “A Thread of Friendship (丝丝情意)” original song —— Siow Le Yi, Tam Zhi Shan, Leong Jing Heng, Yap Lamm, Wong Yu Qing
High Distinction Award
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● “Rewrite the Stars x The Brightest Star in the Night Sky (夜空中最亮的星)” remix —— Yee Shen Miin, Khor Jia En, Tee Ming Hui, Chin Zien Xin, Chong Hui Nie, Lee Jia Ler
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● Classical belly dance —— Ng Sher Maine
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● “Disney Medley” saxophone cover —— Tham Jia Huey, Chong Shee Min, Leong Xin Qi, Cheong Hoe Hann, Ng Wing Re, Koh Zhy Cyiean
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● “Mafia in the Morning” dance cover —— Khong Sin Hui, Eng Zhi Qi, Ong Khai Zin
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● “Kiss The Rain” piano cover —— Wong Qiao Ling
Popularity Award
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● Thorn Among the Roses” philharmonic film soundtrack cover —— Poh Hui Yee, Wong Kay Rou, Ling Jo Ee, Chin Zien Xin and Tan Yin Hui
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