Lair of Flying Green Song Rabbits

I served my last day as a volunteer at the 2008 Chinese New Talent Singing Championship finals, where they were going to choose the finalist who will go to Hong Kong to compete as Sydney's best. Who knew it was such a prestigious thing? o_o

It's surprising what a few people can do.

And of course, I took photos. It was a shame I didn't take one of the beautiful hostess Miss Rosemary from TVB, nor did I take many of the things I wanted because I didn't want to appear to be slacking off work.

This is the crepe I recommended my friend Nirvana to try; she's never had a crepe before! It had cheese and mushroom (both our absolute favourites!), chicken and a white, creamy sauce which she said tasted like pizza.



Mmm...

Fion with her overpriced chicken bits from Nando's. It really was a rip off :(



We were here eating (minus me, diet) because just minutes before, there was a huge argument between one of our producers and the boss of TVBA. They were yelling and swearing at each other in Cantonese, and the boss threatened to pull out and not sponsor the event.

The producer dared him to.

The TVBA boss was so pissed off, he told his subordinates to immediate pack up and leave, the event was cancelled. He walked down the aisles of the theatre and announced to all the contestants that today's show is cancelled and everyone should go home.

All this in front of heaps of staff and volunteers, and the contestants.

Oooh drama T_T

Nirvana and I were exchanging looks. We wouldn't want the event to be cancelled, and all this practicing and working for nothing!

In the end they talked it out while we went to eat. We were shooed out xD Rude to stay and watch the uppers fighting. It was all peachy in the end, but the producer disappeared off somewhere. It was his fault anyway; apparently he was being 'rude' to the TVBA boss and he didn't like his attitute. As Fion's friend Dawn said: "Egos were being bruised".

I was ordered back though because they needed me so I left Pitt St mall food court (did you know it's called Central Plaza or something and not actually Pitt St mall?) and yeah, back to work being backstage. I was stuck there for 6 hours being Group A's leader and "bo mo", which translate to something like guardian or agent. My job was to make sure my 5 contestants were ready to stand by when it was their turn to sing, and to make sure everything was on time with them. I'm one of those people who knock on the dressing room and scream "five minutes!!".

This was my dinner/lunch. Well not really, this would be the dinner I would have had if I wasn't on my diet -_-

Drinks and rice boxes on the house. That egg is mine lol. That lunch was actually Camryn's, the digital media designer for TVBA.



And what's next to the lunches...







Ehehehehe.



These were the trophies given to the top 5 finalists after their debut 1:30 song.

Now that I think about it, I should've secretly posed holding it.

This is backstage. All the contestants were out preparing for the opening dance (which I liked but mother didn't; yes she came to the show because I got her free tickets). You probably notice the slight fog.

That is due to excessive amount of hairspray =_________=



Yes it was pretty bad.

So bad in fact that the fire brigade stormed backstage through the carpark to ask where the fire was.

-______________________-?



A final pose. Shhh, the competition is starting in seconds!! It was already 5 minutes late at 7:35pm.

Yes that is contestant number 3's badge on me. As her bo mo I offered to hold onto it for her. Her costume consisted of a black lacy bustier, huge sunnies and black short shorts with boots.

o_O

Don't ask.

The opening dance, which I couldn't see properly because people were standing in my way.



That guy standing there is my supervisor, Francis. That lazy bum was up drinking all night and woke up this morning wondering how he got home and if he ran a red light T_T

They finished dancing, which was very entertaining and there were screams and a huge applause. The dance teacher was Caucasian! She was practising with them in the early afternoon.



I thought it was good *swells with pride*.

After the first dance, we were shooed and banned from going back outside to watch the show because it was too 'distracting' to keep going in and out. Bah, as if.

A group picture once the finalists were announced. Some of them are missing but here are most of them.


Top row: Some guy, Antoni, Sarah, 2 people I don't know xD, Jenny, Karman and Brighton.
Middle row: Two makeup artists, Jill?, my number 3.
Bottom: Kenny, Chris, Anson and guy with guitar.

I liked Kenny, he was really nice and funny.

And Chris aka "fei jai" was wearing a giant bear strapped to his back for his first song, and changed into a cape for his second (if he got in).

...some people were very creative in their costumes.

My favourite was Julie who wore a silky chiffon white dress and black bolero jacket with a clip on top hat for her first, and bondage pants with rocker accessories for her second. She got in top 5.

There were some backstage drama too. Sarah came back from her song and burst out crying because the sound techies screwed up her song and made it 2 keys lower, making her sound really really bad. Poor thing, but I never did like her because she was conceited and her mother was a bitch. She called the boss to complain about why her daughter didn't get into the finals, how she has a professional singing teacher who said she was really good and how she had a contact at TVBA. Sarah only got in because of her busybody mother -_-

She's a good singer with a capable soprano range, but personally, her voice isn't beautiful but rather too nasally.

And here is the finalist, Celia (my number 5).



Surprisingly, she was my least favourite of my 5 "jai leu". She seemed very cool, silent and didn't bond with the other contestants or were really friendly with them, unlike Chris who was friends with everyone.

But she deserved to win. Her voice was very clear, melodious and everything I stick both thumbs up for. She faultered a bit on the last demo (singing without music for a few seconds) and I thought she was going to lose, but she didn't!

Mother said I should be proud. As her bo mo, it's a sign that speaks volumes about my skill.

Pft, as if :)

I was bloody tired. I got home with mother at 12:30 and slept at 1 until 4:30 for work the next morning.

Pity me >: