ETP @ Hark Music

My final performance for ETP at Hark Music was finally over!

(Warning: This is a 1000 over words long post! :D)

Before I proceed to describe what happened that night, I really want to thank the supporters!
Jin: Thanks for being so supportive all these while! May the passion for music in you continue to burn! ;)

SH: Thanks for being so enthusiastic about coming down even though you hardly know the place and for sacrificing your early bedtime!

HF & YC: When wei was overseas, she took the trouble to come down to lend her support and even asked her partner along. This time round I felt extremely bad as they even got a BIG summon for parking in an alley because of the limited number of lots in the vicinity :((
Dan: Even though he changed his mind about gracing the event, he still dropped by to give me moral support. I was truly quite disappointed because I'd really wanted him to see me perform. However, I respect his wishes and the last thing I want to do is to force him to come in :)
wei: My lead singer who sang with his heart and soul despite all the phlegm and mucus running up and down the tubes ;)
Couldn't have done it without such a "tou2 ru4" singer!

All right, let's get down to the event proper.

Because of a closed door company function (AGM or something), the event which was supposed to commence at 7.30pm was pushed back by an hour. Wei and I arrived at 8pm and were hesitant about going in because the company event was still on at that time. A guy who was coming out told us to go ahead (wonder if he thought we were involved in the event).

Upon stepping in, Alex, from J3 (Superband) happened to walk past us. He glanced at us and had a faint smile on his face. As Jin had mentioned, he seemed to have some dealings with either the school or some of the teachers. Don't tell me he used to teach here?! Could he be a keyboard lao shi?

Also spotted Eddie (I think) cos I recognise him by his cap and black-framed glasses. Hmm, the spot he stood at is a place where I see smokers hanging out... :X

Anyway, as we appeared to be a little out of place, one of the vocal teacher came up to me and I told her we would like to practise for the ETP. Without hesitation, she led us up to level 2 where the classrooms are and asked Yvonne, the receptionist, to let us use one of the room, which happened to be my usual classroom. We were then left alone to practise.

Things went fine and each of us practised our songs twice. Wei tried to do a recording using his HP but it sounded weird. At about 15 min past 8, I received a message from SH and found out that not only had she arrived, Jin is also in the vicinity already. Wow! They were so early!

We wrapped up with our practice and went down to "chop" a place for our supporters. Groups of people were already seated and I guess they should be the performers with their own supporters. When Jin and SH arrived, I was sad to learn that Jin's down with a bad flu. I felt bad as she had to "blow her trumpet" several times during the whole performance and should have been resting at home...

Thereafter, the emcees (the same ones during my last performance) announced the start of the event. First up was a student graduating from Performing Stage 1 (Guitar). He appeared to be rather composed but his nervousness showed when he started playing. I can empathise with him because it can be really unnerving especially when he's the opening performer. Later, it turned out that his supporter happened to be SH's friend from BS! What a small world! Both of them then joined us at our table.

At first, we were wondering why HF had not arrived yet when she appeared suddenly from the back of the room which led to the toilet! As our table was rather packed, she and YC did not join us.

Next up was another guitar performance. Hey! I thought there was only supposed to be 8 keyboard performers? Gosh, it meant that my item would be starting even later! Anyway, Jay's songs seemed to be the most frequently played that night. Go Jielun!

Soon, our turn arrived. As I got ready behind the keyboard, the emcee started interviewing him. Prior to that, my teacher, Lewen, had told the host that it'll be a husband and wife collaboration. Hence, the emcees proceeded to ask him for his full name and addressed us as Mr and Mrs Lim. Hey, sounds like we are in school!

I barely spoke as I was trying my best to stay focused because once I get distracted, my playing goes haywire and the song would really turn out to be one of the 1000 reasons to be sad! Just in case you are wondering, the first song would be Jacky Cheung's Yi Qian Ge Shang Xin De Li You ;)

I started playing the introduction. I got into the mood and things had never gone as smoothly as this for I always fumble at different parts of the song while practising. It even got my teacher a little worried because I had never gotten it 100% right during practices. Wei sang very well despite recovering from a bad flu. I guess it helped that Jacky's his favourite singer too!
Then came the interlude, the final chorus and finally the ending. Applause! It was over! I felt a great sense of relieve as well as achievement! It's a pity I couldn't study the audience's reaction during my playing as it was really dark and I could only see people who were very near the stage. Anyway, I had never felt so happy before!!!

Oops, then it was the second song, Wan Fang's Xin Bu Liao Qing. All along, I have difficulty hitting low notes and this time round, the low E was really the lowest note I can sing. I had thought of raising the key but the high notes would have to compromised with my shrieks! LOL. Perhaps I was still rejoicing over the previous item for I fumbled several times but thankfully managed to go on without restarting :p

When it was finally all over, I left the stage (and forgot about my scores. Wei also forgot his lyrics!) and felt like jumping for joy! I was still trembling slightly from the adrenaline overdose hehe.

Thank you my dear friends for your support and making it such a memorable night for both wei and me!!!