This year’s Singfest was a roaring success. I have never been to Singfest in the past but it’s pretty obvious this year’s kicked some serious ass. The line-up for Sunday was absolutely mindblowing and the tickets sold out days before the concert day. Apparently more 10,000 attended Sunday’s event, compared to last year’s combined total of 9,000. The organisers probably woke up and realised that inviting respected (but passe) singers like Cyndi Lauper will not give them any profits. Don’t get me wrong..I love Cyndi Lauper, but she will not be the one to bring in the money you know? Waiting for the gates to open.. The main stage for the big acts..the local bands performed on another stage called the Legend’s Stage..well..I wonder who they performed to………the air? Life is cruel. So this year’s line-up obviously catered to the young…in order of appearance:
- Stacie Orrico (Okay..)
- Jamie Scott and the Town (Not a lot of people know them and it’s quite a pity. Loved ‘Standing in the Rain’ and ‘When Will I See Your Face Again’.)
- One Republic (Clearly the teens’ favourite. ‘Stop and Stare’ was great.)
- Panic at the Disco (Totally oblivious to the fact that the speakers weren’t working and went on singing like some insane drug addicts.)
- Jason Mraz (HLIFHIDSHFDSFKDSKF#$(*#^$*#@$h#@$hlhf*#@^$*#@$*or#@)
- Rick Astley (I’m pretty sure the organisers invited him because of the Rick Roll’D phenomenon on YouTube. No matter..I love retro music and he was great! What a smooth talker. Favourites were ‘Together Forever’ and of course ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’. He actually did an acoustic version of ‘Never’ to tease the crowd but luckily he did the mambo version in the end. Other songs performed include ‘She Wants To Dance With Me’, ‘Take Me To Your Heart’, ‘When I Fall In Love’, ‘Hold Me In Your Arms’.)
- The Pussycat Dolls (I don’t know if it was because I’m tired or what..but they were probably one of the acts that disinterested me the most. I loved ‘Stickwitu’ though. It’s clear to all why Nicole Scherzinger is the girl getting all the attention..because the rest can’t sing for nuts.)
- Alicia Keys (’Superwoman’ was great! Okay..I don’t get this thing about encores. If it’s an unplanned encore and you sing whatever the crowd wants, than it’s okay. But if the artist already planned what she’s going to sing for the encore, then what’s the point of going backstage, make the crowd cheer, and then come back out again!? Just sing the damn song! Anyway as everybody predicted, she sang ‘No One’ after like 1.5 hour of snooze-inducing music. Greatttttt song to end the show. Actually Jason Mraz could’ve ended the show in my opinion. He got the best slot - the sun just went down before his performance and everybody was high and happy.)
Anyway I only went to Singfest because of ONE person, and that’s JASON MRAZ. Once I saw his name on the line-up I purchased the $200 ticket without any hesistation. It’s pretty obvious he has a humongous fanbase in Singapore. The forum threads in Singfest’s website are all about him, and his t-shirts were the only ones that sold out at the merchandises booth. He’s the only artist with fans holding signboards, and he’s the only artist to have EVERYBODY stand up and sing along with him. EVERYBODY LOVED HIM. He’s so giggly, cute, goofy..and he’s just so
INSANELY TALENTED. He doesn’t need no fancy stage set-up or dance moves..all he needs: his voice and his guitar (and of course Toca + the band). He was sooo good at interacting with the crowd and he made everybody happy so effortlessly. I was sooooo delighted at being finally able to see him live that I didn’t bother photographing/videoing. What everybody said is true - he’s golden live. He’s the one person I truly wanted an encore from..and I wasn’t the only one feeling that way. Songlist:
- The Remedy (I Won’t Worry)
- Make It Mine
- Butterfly
- Live High
- Only Human
- The Dynamo of Volition
- I’m Yours
The most interactive song had to be ‘Dynamo’ because of the little dance he invented for the chorus: Good Job Get ‘em up way high Gimme gimme that high five Good time Get ‘em way down low Gimme gimme that low dough Good God Bring ‘em back again Gimme gimme that high ten You’re the best definition of good intentions I was sorely disappointed that he didn’t sing ‘You and I Both’ and he actually sang a lot of tracks from his new album. The thing is, most people only go to such music festivals primarily for the artists they adore..so it’s always wise to sing crowd favourites so that even those that aren’t your fans will know what’s going on. The moment he sang ‘The Remedy (I Won’t Worry)’ and ‘I’m Yours’ the crowd just went insane, and I’m pretty sure not all 10,000 of them are Mraz fans, but everybody knew the words. The BEST thing was he mixed Oasis’s ‘Wonderwall’ with ‘The Remedy’ and it just sounded DAMN GOOD. And he did that verse TWICE with Toca singing back-up. Gahhhhh he’s sooooo awesome. The worst thing was Mraz didn’t even bother introducing his songs..so it’s pretty much a blur for people not familiar with his music. Singing unknown tracks just make people bored…and the best exampe of this is Alicia Keys..it’s really not a good idea to sing sloooooww, boring, unknown jazzy songs at midnight because everybody’s tired (the show started at 2pm) from the crazy Singapore weather. Listen to EVERYONE sing along to ‘I’m Yours’. There are so many people on YouTube fawning over Mraz and saying he’s hands down the best performer that day. I couldn’t agree more. Singfest was awesome, and if Jason Mraz comes again next year, I’ll be sure to attend. And god damn it, MAKE HIM THE HEADLINING ACT. GIVE HIM A BIGGER POSTER SPOT. So many people left after Mraz performed, and even more left during Alicia Keys’s slot. On a side note, Jason Mraz’s new album ‘We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things.’ is out and it’s mindblowingly awesome.
Buy it. Buy his first two albums too (’Waiting for My Rocket to Come’, ‘MR A-Z’). Buy his live selections too. Buy everything from him. Watch Mraz talk about his album on CNN. Clay Aiken’s new album, ‘On My Way Here’ is out too..errr hmmm sadly my craze over him seems to be dying down and this album isn’t helping.
