Inaugural Seniors Got Talent Competition By JT Chen

JT is a karaoke king, an expert in the field. He also writes well. So what you will read below is a combination of both his vocalizing and literary abilities merging as one. 

Thank you, JT for contributing to this blog. And congratulations on winning the competition.

The Bright Spot in My Life

Andrew Goh, 54, who sang Frank Sinatra’s My Way, was among the 10 solo contestants and one
group who vied for the top three spots in the finals of the Inaugural Seniors Got Talent Competition
at Hotel Royal yesterday. The contest was organised by the Singapore Association for Continuing
Education. Ms. Irene Wee, chairman of the competition organising committee, said,  "Our main driving force in undertaking this project is to help people – both the public at large and the seniors
themselves – to see our senior citizens as potential stars and not write them off as not worthy of our
attention or admiration. We think the five minutes or so in the spotlight will be a bright spot in their
lifetime, and for their supporters, the memory of sharing this experience and cheering them on will
be cherished long after the moment is over."

JT Chen sings He'll Have To Go, a Jim Reeves classic hit, during the competition.

The youthful expression and the snazzy outfit of Andrew captured the expectation and the adrenalin
that coursed through us in those five minutes mentioned by Ms. Irene Wee. We seized these
challenging five minutes of fame on that day on 29th December at the Hotel Royal stage. As I
awaited my turn, I witnessed what could be viewed to be an attack of nerves for some of us.
After what seemed to be a long time, I barely bounded onto the stage when the compere called out
my name, JT Chen (image below). I attempted a bit of humour in giving myself this moniker of Jurong Town Corporation to help anyone remember me better.

Then as the backing strain wafted onto the stage, I sang the first line ‘Put your sweet lips a little
closer to the 'phooone’ on cue, as I had done hundreds of times in my practice.

As I stretched on ‘phooone’ I looked in front of me and could hardly make out the audience blacked
out by the spotlight, leaving me to see the three judges quite clearly. As they nodded, my confidence
grew and I responded by marshaling some meaningful gestures in sympathy with the words which I
could begin hearing clearly myself singing. It was a balance between remembering the lyrics and
holding the notes the way they were taught. Thankfully, I remembered the last time singing ‘he’ll
have to go” and thanked the audience before walking woodenly off the stage.

The rest was history. The skit team was announced the 2nd runner-up. Alvin was the 1st runner up
with ‘You Raise Up’. To my surprise, well not totally, I was declared the winner. MY friends and
supporters believed that I had a good chance. Chiefly among them were Anthony Tan, Cecilia Tan, and Den Klass. I must thank my other supporters, Russel Tay, and fellow karaoke kakis for their
support as well. It was a bright spot in my life.

60s pop songs, sexy food, great friends and a peaceful entertaining culture among SGs.

I would like to end on Irene’s prophetic note about experiencing and cheering being cherished long
after the moment was over. Indeed, ten individuals remained in contact in a chat group. This chat
group was spawned after twelve individuals attended a voice training course conducted by Singing
Lodge and sponsored by SACE. The photo below showed most of the members. Two went on to
capture the two top placings at the 2018 SGT competition. That will be another story.

The youthful expression and the snazzy outfit of Andrew Goh captured the expectation and the adrenalin of most members in the audience.

The article, Images and YouTube Video: JT Chen.

Other KARAOKE articles that are fun to read:

https://singapore60smusic.blogspot.com/2018/01/mariah-carey-ken-lee-bobby-helms-sang-4.html

https://singapore60smusic.blogspot.com/2010/02/image-of-empty-karaoke-joint-family.html

https://singapore60smusic.blogspot.com/2019/01/billy-yap-sings-like-como-bennett-by.html

Mariah Carey, Ken Lee, Karaoke, Talentime, Gong Show

UP TO 5,000 VIEWS, 20 CHATS, COMMENTS

Ken Lee audition! Probably the funniest audition ever on Idols misheard and misunderstood lyrics of Mariah Carey's Without You leaves this contestant on Bulgarian Idol singing a completely different song!

From youtube video: Idols Global. Nearly 5 million views. Thank you.

Don't laugh because it's been happening here in Singapore too during Karaoke sessions and at our own Talentime in the 1960's. Here are the stories:

Singing in Singlish in Singapore

Karaoke 2017:

A friend explained what happened when she attended a karaoke session at a private club one evening. 

So hilarious. Some years back we were at a country club in the East at a Karaoke lounge after dinner. My cousin and I had just finished a duet where we sang, 'The Moon Represents My Heart' in Chinese.

A towkay (rich businessman) took the microphone and wanted to sing but didn't know how to work the amplifier system to select the song. So he asked me, "You find song?" in his best English.

"What's the name?" I asked.

"Ah Chen My Loti," he replied confidently. Literally, it means, 'Ah Chen Buys Bread'.

So I asked him, "What language?"

"English," he answered, getting impatient.

I told him I have never heard the song, so I signalled the captain for help.  They seemed to understand each other perfectly because the song was played and Mr Rich Businessman was belting out, 'Unchained Melody.'

It was his horrific adulteration of the lyrics. For crying out loud, he didn't stop. His announced his next number proudly, "Now I singing, 'Four Line'. 

It turned out to be Bobby Helms, 'Fraulein.'

Before American Idol There Was Talentime 1960's:

In the 60's Singapore had its share of singing competitions known as Talentime. During auditions, participants had to go up to the pianist and give the song title and sometimes the original singer's name, before facing the microphone.

This Chinese guy came on stage and wanted to sing, 'Boh Sway Chew' (literally means No Wash Hands). The pianist was flabbergasted and held his laughter.

"Never heard of this song. Who's the singer?" the pianist asked.

"Hay bee!" replied the singer. Hay bee (literal: pounded dry shelled-shrimp).

The pianist stood his ground, "HAY BEE? Who's Hay Bee?"

The pianist couldn't contain himself when someone shouted, "ELVIS! 'BLUE SUEDE SHOES'!"

We Will Rock You: This Indian lady's version of Queens' big hit. Cute! From Razzump Video.

Steven Lee used to host The Gong Show on the radio where those taking part in the Talentime would be eliminated by him depending.


The Gong Show  (Written by Horace Wee):

The precursor to the Talentime show was the Gong Show produced for radio by Steven Lee. Held at Victoria Theatre, participants would be knocked out by the gong depending on how good they were.

Some hardcore ones who had entered many times would get knocked out after they uttered their first note. You should see the incredulous looks and the protests. Sometimes the audience participated as well.

Gif: Google.

Read on Talentime Comments below.

Wing sings "Beat It" on NZ TV! Video by Martin Lee.

Irene Hoe Walked Into The 80's With Her Walkman

I had wanted to introduce stories about cassette tapes on this blog so when journalist *Ms Hoe sent this anecdote, I thought it could do just fine. Hope you like the song selection Irene. Thank you.

  UP TO 1,5OO VIEWS  

 25 CHATS, COMMENTS

"Just the sound of James Taylor's voice carries me back to campus days.

My brother Roger had let me have his old cassette player - I think it easily weighed two kilos - and I would play over and over again a cassette of James Taylor's first album that someone had copied for me.

It wasn't till 1980 or thereabouts that I spent the princely sum of $390 (yes I was THAT music mad) to acquire what was then called the **Sony Soundabout (as marketed in the USA and a few other places) and would later be renamed the Walkman (the original Japanese name) that I bought my first "original" music cassette. It was, of course, James Taylor's first album.

I sold the Soundabout to an "air hostess" (yup, that was what we called them then) on my way home from a trip and I had enough money only to make a telephone call and ask if someone could come and give me a ride home.

I was bereft of portable music till I had earned enough money to buy another. But this time, it was called a Walkman. And I still have it somewhere, though not the original headset. The sponge tended to disintegrate rather quickly.  As someone who works in an office sometimes and takes planes every so often, headphones are a must.

The quality of some of those old cassette tapes was really good. My Walkman still holds The Köln Concert by Keith Jarrett."

*Ms. Hoe was research officer in our Civil Service, leader / feature writer at New Nation, one of 7 editors who launched The New Paper and is copy editor for Digital Life.

** The original Walkman was marketed in Japan in 1979. From 1980, the Soundabout was sold in many other countries including the US, Freestyle in Sweden and the Stowaway in the UK.

Article inspired by:

James Taylor - A Big Part of my Story is Recovery from Addiction.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/rockandpopfeatures/11679104/James-Taylor-A-big-part-of-my-story-is-recovery-from-addiction.html

                      James Taylor - Carolina in My Mind - Video - Rusty Brewer

Images from Google: James Taylor. Keith Jarrett.

Video: You Tube.