Emancipation of Mimi has sold 6 million albums in US alone and 9 million across the world, making it the third best selling album of mariah’s 16-year long career. Bravo Mariah!
Mariah has achieved yet another record no other artiste has reached- 89 weeks on the billboard charts of no.1 hits. “we belong together” has become the 2nd song in history to cling on the 1st spot on billboard for a staggering 16 weeks!!that’s a third of a year!! the 1st was 18 weeks with a beatles’ number.
Here’s a very gd performance of “we belong together” that was rarely seen on media. even if you’re sick of this song, do trust me and watch this video clip.. i get chills watching it!! it’s the first time i’ve seen mariah evoke so much emotions in this mid-tempo ballad… and the instrumentals were amazing!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ut5yu9Qc1Es&search=we%20belong%20together
monday:
robin requested to have a last gathering at kbox before leaving for perth. unfortunately, it was last minute decision that it has to be cancelled ‘cos he needs to have dinner with his family. in a way it’s healthy for me cos i can save up some money. the reason being i can easily spend a substantial 150-200 bucks in just a weekend and with the continuous extravagant spending that pours over to monday and the week ahead, is inconsiderable. i will start to feel the pinch. so in the end, no programmes for monday; just me and my laptop in my nice cosy room (:
tuesday:
took off to submit my application at nus. went holland v’s coffee club express for dinner with guojie. i tell u e’rythin’.. the food there was superb! and so was the service! i’d give it an A. ask guojie and he agrees haha. the waitresses were approachable and friendly, the ambience was ok with B+, and it was freeezing!! Brrr!! we were both shivering towards the end of our meal lol. let’s see.. i had a slider lobster linguini, a plate of wedges with salsa sauce for 2 and a humongous muddy mud pie! guojie had the usual garlic prawn pasta and a bowl of strawberry romanoff with fruit toppings. yummie!!!
my linguini. gj enjoying his food.
wedges! my mud pie!! HUGEEEEEEE!!
see see.. it’s huge!!! a freezing gj.
wednesday:
took the morning off with daniel to send robin off at the airport. he departs for perth for his new study term commencing on monday. rob’s parents were kind enough to send me to camp from airport (: i’ll miss him hahaha.. hey rob take care of yrself, go easy on the hot dogs and western cuisines!! u’re gonna get realllllly fat. and take care of my columbia bag lol.
thursday:
back to camp as usual. encik took urgent leave on that day so pretty much slack in office and getting by the morning and afternoon sudokuing. one started the puzzle and thereafter another comes to compete, and another and another. a record-breaking 6 people competing to do sudoku lol & the winner- jiahao!! sudokuku. and yes abt the evil deed i premeditated isn’t exactly evil- i merely moved all of that pudgy pashmina pain-in-the-neck X’s songs in a newly hidden folder and changed the entire XP language from english to finnish. this shd teach u a lesson. i know it’s childish but i won’t go overboard by deleting your XP account or changing your logon password.
friday:
i love fridays and it was an absolutely peaceful one yesterday. goes without saying, mission was a success. i was in a happy mood munching in most of the morning, cindy’s gold ingot chocolates, gummy bears, chocolairs and cuttlefish and sir approved my half day off which means i could go home to catch some sleep. not until when i came back from lunch, my gold ingot chocolates from my black serving clay tray were found thrown all over the place!! IT’S NOT A MYSTERY who did it cos I know who exactly did it.
if you’re seeing this, good i’m gonna say it right in front of you.. i am fed up and sick and tired of your undesirable behaviour that i wish you would burn in hell. you better get your fucking mind straight and learn how to respect other people i tell you. your jokes ain’t funny at all and neither is your face pleasant to look at. and don’t even bother to apologise cos i will refuse to accept it. you stepped on my tail. you got me pissed, outraged and infuriated. and for the first time i’m opening a hatred list with you as the first candidate on the list. for some reason, i find you a nuisance, a dumbfuck, and a completely selfish bastard blabbering baloney all day long, that sometimes i just pity you for that kind of character you portray to others. i wish you good luck in people relations in future.
that aside, i went home and took a nice nap before guojie called to ask if i was free for dinner. it was the right time he called. i was so hungry the minute i woke up haha. on tuesday it was holland v, this time round it was jurong point haha. amongst all the eateries that jp has, i think billy bombers and swensens are good. so he believed in my taste buds and off to billy’s we went! i ordered a bowl of nachos with chicken meat topped with melted cheese and american chilli and a bowl of fries topped with velveeta aged cheese. guojie tucked into a plate of american beef meatloaf (the size of a bread slice) with potato salad and daily vegetables- colours are nice but taste mediocre, and the exotic sophia- a combi of orange juice, peach, raspberry and lemonade. overall B+!! it reminds me of hard rock cafe where they serve you in huge eye-popping generous American portions!! can u imagine i can’t even finish my nachos (see the word: appetiser, not main course) and the cheese-fries (side-dish).. lol. guojie too can’t finish his meatloaf he thought he could escape if he threw that off the 2nd level of jp lol. hahaha we both had a great time laughing and talking. and btw, billy plays good R and R music. rock man…!! after dinner, we window-shopped for awhile, entered into this shop that sells movie titles in vcd and dvd formats. gawd some of the movies are still showing in cinemas and they’re out in VCD format already!! after that guojie headed home and i was still contemplating whether or not to join anthony and gang for ktv lol. i’m sooO tempted to join them but sianz it’s in orchard haha. so i went over to friend’s house to play games till wee hours before taking cab home! =D
nachos with american chilli. cheese fries.
this fella’s having a good time yaaaahahahaha..
meatloaf. ahhhHM….
byebye.
A very beautiful song with an oriental element to it..
It can bring me to tears sometimes listening to it..
Sarah Brightman - Forbidden Colours
The wounds on your hands never seem to heal.
I thought all I needed was to believe..
Here am I, a lifetime away from you..
The blood of Christ or the beat of my heart.
My love wears forbidden colours.
My life believes.
Senseless years thunder by.
Millions are willing to give their lives for you.
Cos nothing lives on..
Learning to cope with feelings aroused in me,
My hands in the soil buried inside of myself..
My love wears forbidden colours.
My life believes in you once again.
I’ll go walking in circles while doubting the very ground beneath me,
Trying to show unquestioned faith in everything.
Here am I, a lifetime away from you..
The blood of Christ or a change of heart.
My love wears forbidden colours.
My life believes.
My love wears forbidden colours.
My life believes in you once again..
this guy in office- i shall call him X. i’m starting to get really pissed with X’s attitude and his act of selfishness. first, he doesn’t allow anyone to enter his cubicle and use his computer. second, when someone’s using his computer when he isn’t around, he tries to come up with a STUPID fucking irritating lie by saying “eh i need to do work la.. i need to use the com.” and what was he doing?! he was MSNing!! is that your so called work HUH?!! what an asshole. and if that wasn’t enough pissing off, he tries to BLAST nickelback on HIS computer (don’t get me wrong, i have nothing against the artiste, but i have my limits of listening to the same old track reapeating every minute, every hour, every day). fucking annoying. He doesn’t own the computer. He has no right to RESTRICT people to use the computer. This reminds me.. the last time, I needed to use his computer to print a docu and in order for me to log on, I needed his password. He didn’t wanna give me; instead gave me a stupid instruction like oh use the “user” account to log on.. WTF
early afternn, cindy was trying to find someone to help her contact the store encik for printer ink toner and being bad at words, she approached the person she could grab hold of- X. she wanted to borrow X’s cubicle office phone.. at that pt, his reply really pissed me off.. i was completely taken aback! he said “aiya, he won’t pick up the office fone la. call him also no use”. Like WTF?! was it so hard to sms or call the encik?? hello, there cindy was trying to make a bona fide request and it was that answer she received. if you’re lazy or SELFISH to lend her the phone, say it, you don’t have to fucking reply her in that manner. despite her sincere pesterings and yakking, he was, as usual, unwilling. only when cindy had to sorta “plead” with him to help her make the call, he gave in. what a selfish idiot.
and why would anyone wanna hide the off pass book in between the stack of papers in a brown paper tray? X did just that!! He is soOO selfish he wouldn’t let anyone find the book (kok wei was searching high and low for it) or rather, he wanna keep the book until fam comes back so he could get the signature. and in this regard, leicester was also pissed. X approached leicester for a favour of helping him get fam’s signature. Like WTF? go DO IT yourself, fucking jerkhead!!
and a month ago, i lent him my scholarship career book 2004 and today, he STILL hasn’t returned it to me. i have to get it myself.. i had already told him beforehand that i needed the book back quite urgently cos I neededto apply for scholarship in march. guess where he put it? he just chugged it in his 2nd drawer. I AM SO DAMN PISSED.
Sometimes I just don’t understand people. And I realised that most people I know, imo, who are the only child in the family tend to be very selfish.. I mean, why, why do people only care for themselves?
i seriously find X a pain. every syllable he says and every action he does is SO Fucking Annoying. This kind of person ought to be taught a lesson… and a painful one it will be.
Stay tuned to find out my evil deed.
Watched “Jarhead” with Stanley and Jeff on sunday. The show wasn’t exactly a warfilm; more like the chronicles of the marine forces. Some of the images the movie depicted were unforgettable- the desecration and photographing of Iraqi burned bodies, staff sergeant lecturing against the evidently common practice, the severe pummelling of a dead friend’s belligerent peers (remember the last part?), on the night of his funeral in his old hangout and the trysts of unfaithful wives (& girlfriends), which interests jeff the most out of it hah.
Some of the few observations I made during the movie screening:
a. Jeff chionged on the coke and left 5% of it for me and stanley -_x.
b. Stanley was playing with his tribal ring most of the time. *interesting* o.O
c. Jeff couldn’t stop laughing when the porn scenes came on.
ima wanna try to get my hands on the book.. (:
anyway here are some pics that I’ve taken over the weekend:
one of my favourite pictures: jeff doppelganger, me and stanley.
robin looking dazed and daniel acting gay.
an example of fashion faux pas. seriously, how can that attire match with a BLUE pair of sneakers?!
Gawd.. what are schools doing to students nowadays?!
lengthy message on shuying’s birthday card- 80% of it crap wuagaga..
terribly taken, rob, me, shuying, eyoven, dan
the spastic trio.
as intriguing as it can be, just visit this website heh..
http://kevan.org/johari?name=bigrichie
and abt the news that appeared on the papers abt the sex video from nanyang poly, read all abt it here:
expect no video download from the site you sick bastard………
bye!
Mini dialogue of me and fammy yesterday:
me: hello dr fam, can i take off tmr (which is today, tues) to go nus to submit my application?
fam: oh.. ok.. yar shd be fine. yar.
me: marcus gave a verbal approval already. so sign here pls *grins*
fam: (scribbles BIG BIG on my off pass)
me: erm sir would that be an official OFF or a free OFF? hahaha
fam: nooooooooooooooooooooo… no such thing as free. WAgaga hur hur hur..
me: why no?
fam: no lar.. this kind of thing.. wa lau hur hur how can?
me: orh ok lor.
fam: k…… what course u taking?
me: architecture
fam: WAH.. architecture.. eeh it’s more difficult than medicine (looks at me and smiles) u noe..
me: O.O
fam: haha ok.. gd luck!!
me: heh.. -_x.
so today i took a day off so I could get down to NUS to submit my application. It was all a last minute thing and the whole morning was me rushing to get my documents photocopied. Application closes at 2pm and i was worried they might close early for lunch. So dad willingly lends me his car to use and along AYE, it just came to my mind what mash said yesterday about living your dreams, choosing your career, bringing your passion into whatever you like to do.. i told him i applied for architecture. he replied go for it dude!! his words of encouragement have made me believe in myself for that moment that I shall stick by my decision to read architecture. it coincides with my interests and my personality. as dad said to me last week, reading architecture is not easy yes, but with your build of discipline and goal-achieving mindset, you shall not fall easily into failure trenches and into negative advices people give. stick to your intuition and i’m sure with your independent working style, sitting down for hours drawing, playing with AUTOCAD (a software used for designing models) should not be at all something you couldn’t / wouldn’t do. with that, i placed architecture as my 1st choice,
2nd: geography
3rd: computing
4th: chemical engineering
5th: business administration
waiting for my results in a month’s time.
wish me luck! =D
what a smashingly great weekend! it started off on saturday morning with me waking up at 9 am. i had initial plans of going golfing with uncle but am just too lazy to get my way to laguna country club which is located at expo. so i decided to log on to gunbound and play a few rounds of boomer trashing haha. thereafter i cabbed down to warren club for a short 1 hr swim and lunch by myself. kinda enjoyed the solo moments; hasn’t been quite some time since i had some “me” time. nearing 1pm i bussed to jurong pt to return my library books. upon arrival, i suddenly realised that the library has relocated its premises to the open field just next to jp. it’s to be named jurong west regional library or sth.. so the entire level 4 was cordoned off! and the worst thing was the bookdrop’s closed too.. then how? f la. have to carry my 2 hard cover books to jurong east.. so far.. damn it.
i came home at ard 2 and went out again 2 hrs later to orchard for shopping. bought a crumpler sling pouch for brother which costs me a whopping 69 bucks. plus 2 britishindia tops 49 and 59 bucks respectively and bought a birthday card for shuying. it was shuying’s 21st and the gift which i’m sharing with my other guy friends already costs us a bomb; so i just made do with a simple cheap card that costs me $3.90 from happy house at citylink haha ><.
6.30 i met rob and dan and we mrted and bussed to the chalet pt at downtown east. freakin’ far!! and i didn’t know they are charging a dollar for entrance fee. geez.. if 500 visitors go thru’ the gantry in an hour, they’d have earned 500 bucks in that hour. plus it was saturday; i’m sure their cash registers may have thousands!!
ate a lot. ’nuff said. will post pics up here soon. with bottles of booze, barcardi and vodka, whatever i did that night after 11pm no longer bore relation to reality lol. i was semi-conscious or abt there lol. almost gone~.. came home at 3 am with cab fare of $35!! and woke up this morning at 9 am, so looking forward to watch jarhead today with honey and jeff!! i haven’t watched a single movie in feb, so it’s understandable why i’m feeling happy today haha..
ok.. i’m so tired now.. gtg. ciao!
surprisingly, the minor screw ups during the conference presentations didn’t really affect me! now that’s goooood considering i’m somewhat a perfectionist who can’t stand even the slightest mistake or when something goes wrong. well not for today- all i could care was just get it over with and heck!! not that i don’t pay attention or worry if anything like irritating popups keep on appearing onscreen that may irritate some prissy guests, i just want the whole entire conference to end quickly! i’m beat! i’m shagged! i’m drained!! when one presenter, a foreign delegate needed to get his presentation shown only from his laptop, i was thinking oh man, do we have to do this? you know how troublesome it would be to get our laptop off the rostrum and get yours on it to fix up?? and then my immediate follow-up thought was visualising the entire scene of me, stan and james hastily coordinating who to do this, to do that at the rostrum with crabs and stars looking at you, and how confident i was to get the presenter’s desktop to be projected. in the end i did successfully, thank gawd!! it was so SO scary.. and the question was when was i going to flip out if something went wrong haha. phew! hey mr V, i’m sure u noe the “he who works hard shall be duly rewarded” phrase, so better do your fair calculation of offs soon lol.
am glad today’s conference ended early so i could get home to watch brokeback mountain! i had company on my way home. mr gary was going to his in-laws to have dinner at jurong east, so we chatted abt my singapore idol contest, master and his car on the train. what really got me feeling emotional was when he was telling me abt master’s new environment and job. after he was telling me all about it, i felt sad. it gave me a sudden urge to wanna give master a caring sms and to visit him in his new camp. master’s now an aeromedical storeman taking charge of some medical supplies and equipment and the way mr gary described his cubicle setting with walls around him, it could only get me to relate to- a cell. his cubicle was worse than anyone of ours in office; his position as a medical store supervisor has no medics under him. despite the store being air-conditioned, i doubt he could even take an hour inhaling ’store air’ and face equipment the whole day. i know i can’t. it’s just like a hyperactive child locked up in his room with few furniture and a TV set with only a few channels (like OA, we can’t surf the net only check mails). not surprising if i get claustrophobic or insane trying to play echos with the walls. one word for master- lonely =(
intial plans for tonight was to go out with jinyan and the 4B gang, but apparently last minute some of us couldn’t make it, so here i am at home basically slacking away. anyways i really do need to recharge. tmr’s gonna be a long day again! morning gotta go golf with uncle but.. maybe i won’t be since i’m intending to wake up later, then gotta go get a crumpler bag for brother, swim, return my library books, meet up with daniel and robin and head down to marine parade for my friend’s chalet in the evening. sunday - shopping again, with joanna and she lin (haven’t seen her for 2 years!) and maybe catch a movie with honey and friends! we were thinking jarhead a war film.
as usual i have some things to bitch about but are just minor stuffs that i can forgo talking it at this moment. some people in office are really really intolerable. if only i can get my hands on soap bars and put them in their bags lol. oopsie evil me ><
oh lastly, i made fammy watch swan lol.
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eiiiiiiiiiight!!
=P
wishing all my visitors a nice weekend 
This year’s Vday is robbed by mmc.
Last year’s Vday I was gazing stars with platoonmate lincoln in tekong during field camp -_-.
2 years consecutively my vday plans get ruined. concidental?
I have some things to bitch about today, but am currently moodless to rant. i shall let it rest.
I used to think Vdays are special and meaningful; not that they aren’t now, just that I don’t seem to treasure Vdays now as much as I did, where I had great moments of spending time with my loved one(s). I’ll prob treat today and future vdays like normal days. Oh but i’m happy to receive 4 vday smses today!! which is 1 more than last year lol.
my knee is giving me trouble again; it has been aching for almost 2 weeks since the day i knocked my knee against the bus seat. the past few days weren’t so bad but today the pain came on; i figured it was the shifting of furniture this afternoon that had exerted force on my caps. will see doc next week.
to end, i wish all couples and singles a happy valentine’s day! cheers!
love isn’t in the air.
loneliness is.
Me appearing on newpaper:
if anyone hasn’t noticed, i appeared on sunday times 12 feb page 6 of the main paper; heading ‘Idol Mania’, me in blue in the 3rd picture. if you knew who i am and that i was wearing blue, it would be so OBVIOUS it was me lol. i was standing right next to yuli!! i tell you.. everything.. i tell you.. she’s soO pretty. all the crew (esp. 2 of them; 1 with an awful unkempt chicky hair crap style) started filming her and taking photographs!! she mesmerised me with her beautiful doed, saucer eyes with her hazelnut-coloured contacts. her nose ring was also bling-tastic. petite she is yet confident she seems. the 2 crew (the guy was very handsome and i believe he acted in chinese dramas before) kept on taking shots of whatever she was doing- talking on the mobile, standing next to her bf, holding the SI file folder, fixing her shoes, pasting her sticker tag blah blah, right from 9 am when the whole mediacorp entourage came and the queue started all the way into the audition rooms at ard 2 plus pm. and remind you, i was NEXT TO HER in queue! chances of me not appearing in any media scene is completely ZERO. she reminded me of my friend’s gf, nora in terms of looks and voice. we did exchange conversations, quite short ones, giving each other a confidence boost, with her sweet uniquely husky voice. and in that article, you see the short-haired gal in black coat with white handbag standing behind her.. she’s UBER nOisy!! she was attempting to take on clarkson’s “a moment like this”, and with her bunch of friends all equally annoying (they’ve been singing nonstop to brit, mariah, kelly, etc etc since last night.. Fucking noisy!), how can it not be possible for the mediacorp crew to NOT film them? and again, they’re only a few feet behind me.. die die also have to appear on tv/papers lol. all said, i have absolute faith that this noisy chick is gonna get in. her rendition of “a moment like this” was very very good. she has a high range and powerful vocals, plus she has the x factor and sassy image. yuli on the other hand was always on the fone or creative player most of the time, appearing calm and relaxed while she’s being filmed. she was never camera shy and had never once shouted or screamed or be noisy like that bunch. she’s trying to conserve her voice. and so was I. (continued)
Hopefuls queue and gave pathetic responses to hosts’ calls:
we didn’t even respond to daniel or gurmit’s calls. we just merely looked at them, with quivering smiles when they joked. in fact, the hosts had to constantly ask us to be more enthu and wave at the camera but everyone’s not responding! lol. like this:
gurmit: hello SINGAPOOREEEEEEEEEE!!!
All: (a few squeals here and there)
gurmit: eh alamak.. why like tat one? be more enthu la guys! HELLO SINGAPOREEEEEEEE!!!!!!
contestants: slightly better; not enuff to get noise-induced deafness.
malay guy: (shouts) hungry LAA~
gurmit: Eh! you guys never eat anything ah? aiya good la, later eat too full later “somewhere over the rainBURP…”
me: LOL (for the first time)
(gurmit went ard with the mike and crew and interviews one gal)
gurmit: hey why u think the response of you guys so dead one ah?
gal: haha i guess they’re conserving the voice.
gurmit: oh i c. oh yea yea you shd you shd. conserving your voice so you BLOW THE JUDGES off, right SINGAPORE?!!!!!!
All: (a few squeals here and there)
gurmit: aiya ask also no pt.
me: LOL
daniel: hey bro, why not do this.. since they’re gonna conserve their voice, why not we use their hands.. to do the Singapore Idol Wave!! man. i’m sure these guys miss the o’l kallang days.
gurmit: HEY.. good idea.
and guess what:
after 4 pathetic waves.. they gave up LOL.
very simple reasons: if you’re there queueing up for hours and hours and the morning heat takes its toll on you, you get fatiqued, lethargic, sleepy, tired, hungry, and so wanna go to toilet but can’t leave the queue.. would you still be enthu.? ok maybe yes for the minors, the siao ting tongs, crazy bozos, those who wear demonic outfits looking kinky and shitty, not for the majority.
Me in the queue:
i was probably the 300th plus contestant queue, so i was entitled the survivor kit and the opportunity to perform on the same day (max 500 auditions on sat; the 501th and above hopefuls get to perform on another day). right after master’s farewell dinner i went to rush down at 10 pm to queue up. luckily they placed boards on the grass so at least it makes it easier for all of us to settle ourselves; but the boards were wet. but no complains, who the hell loves to sleep on the grass anyways? thank goodness i brought sleeping bag and newspapers.
so.. me and leilan sat there, listened to music, talked, people-watched and ate chocolates. he ate all, i had none for the sake of keeping my voice and not developing too much phlegm. my cousin and his friend (faizal, also my ex-sch mate) joined the queue at 12 am..
so we waited and waited and btw yuli was next to me, with 3 other guys of which one of them was my pri sch mate.
till at abt 2 plus am i KOed. my friend kept awake. he KOed at 5 am. at around 1 am, some guys not related to s.i. but still belonging to the chn 5 family did filming next to us (i was tucking into my sleeping bag then); they kicked my sleeping bag, stepped on my shoe, crossed over my bags, and made hell lots of noise. how me gonna sleep?!! cb. of all places to film such stupid lame cuts like those madTVs!! leilan looked at the entire filming process, and enjoyed every single moment of their laughter, acts and silly moves. the entire filming lasted till 4 plus am.
i woke up at 5.30 am with a terrible flu with so much mucus running. i sniffed the dry air and vocalised a few scales and shook my head. i was thinking how i am to sing in such a condition? bad environment for the throat. faizal came over to my area and he too, couldn’t sing on pitch and reach the high notes (the same exact notes mariah hits) and we both were pessimistic abt the entire auditioning thingy.
survior kit. let’s see what i’ve gotten haha:
a. 1 file folder
b. 1 SI poster
c. 1 pkt tissue paper with mark lee’s picture on it -_-
d. 1 dark pink s.i. shirt (XXXS i believe)
e. 1 lanyard
f. 1 bott good earth mineral water
g. 1 can of jiajia liang teh
h. 1 handphone strap
i. 1 pair of car sunblock window shades
j. 1 notebook
k. 5 magz (incl latest copy of 8 days)
l. 1 door hanger
m. 1 sticker
n. i poncho
o. 1 “lime” writing book
p. 1 ricola pack of sweets
q. 2 pkts of khong guan biscuits
On dress sense:
I won’t say i’m the best-dressed of the lot, but seriously i beg to differ daniel’s statement of “look at you guys! you guys are dressed in awesome clothes; better than last year’s contestants!”; some of the people i see ard me have fucking no taste in their clothes. so many faux pas. so many weird dress sense. like one i saw i was going “Oh like so you think a green tubetop with black flowery jacket and a frangipani in your hair sticking out looks gorgeous?!” lol. and another one.. the entire outfit mickey mouse.. handbag mickey mouse, jeans mickey mouse, shirt also mickey mouse. might as well name yourself mickey mouse… -_-.
but of cos, there were some who could easily snatch away the best-dressed awards. the guys - some of them had their hair styled fashionably with golden hair edges. some guys wore sunshades they thought they looked like taufik. some of them tried imitating M.I.B., some came in beach wear flip flops; but most were just normal, wearing a simple jacket, long sleeve clubbing collared tee, and shiny black boots to go with. when it was nearing my turn, i wore my springfield jacket. i wondered how most of them could withstand the heat.
gals - scantily dressed with many accessories. most wore a simple shirt / top / with jacket and cool jeans. i saw one who wore a classic daniel yam evening gown with bling blings and looks completely like mariah except for the hair colour. the same colour shades, face features, flawless skin, body figure - So Diva haha.. and as expected, she was filmed and interviewed.
Me auditioning:
All the hopefuls were kept at holding areas (the last one was at lvl 9 cineleisure) before they were brought to wait outside just outside the room. One by one went in, and me being so nervous, couldn’t sit still outside waiting- i have to adjust my jacket, make sure my hair’s in place and do a few vocal scales. they wished me good luck, i wished them back, i looked at yuli and she being ever so confident starts to show her nervousness!! one by one came out, and went over to the results room to receive the news.
results:
cousin out. his friend in. yuli out. and me.. i’m out.
oh well..
After thoughts & Experiences:
I went for the experience and fun of it of cos with a hope that I can pass the first stage. Then again if i had gotten thru’, it’s highly possible that i’ll get eliminated the next round- reason simbly because it’s just not easy. no matter how well you can sing, it’s all about image, appearance, confidence and biting the cold yes.. and finding an x factor. all these things i lack. I don’t deny that i’m a lil’ sad but I’ve gained a lot from the SI experience, considering how much support and love my parents, friends and campmates gave me. And i love the freebies, so many things lol. and more importantly, i’ve made new friends- Yuli and noodles who got thru’ to the next round. Congrats noodles!!
And leilan, thank you so very very much for accompanying me thru’ the night and having to wait with me till the end. I know how tiring it is for you cos you had so lil sleep.. you’ll always be one of my greatest pals ever!!! i loveEEe you! LOL. and to all of you out there, i’m really grateful for your wonderful support and best wishes.
after all, i did make my day happy by going for buffet with leilan. didn’t eat much though cos what i needed was SLEEP! not fooD! (clarissa: dun always assume i only eat like a pig! lol) yummie nihonji-sen foodie.
Wee~
ehm not done yet. MMC week coming right up. busy busy….
i tell you everything.. i tell you.. yeEe~ yeEe~ okok~
More CNY snapshots as promised (:
Oh and i attached master’s farewell dinner pics too!
cny d1: sweets of assorted colours. more sweets. cousin mich and grand-niece celestine.
festive goodies. me in cashmere jacket. brother n nephew xboxing.
dad, clarence, mich and celestine spaz. celestine spaz again. xboxing xmen.
nephews, niece and grandniece celestine. 2 sumos, 1 geisha n 1 innocent kid. cousins, uncles.
relatives glued to tv (andy lau’s drama haha). me spaz. a game of mahjong with 2 grandaunts at right.
cny d3: food!! elders lo hei-ing, lo hei all over the place.
beehive the latest hairstyle? cousin eric and elder aunt. lil’ kids and nephew meng (in red).
relatives. bro & mummy. mahjong again -_-.
cny d6 at BaliThai: oops! too late. archer statuette. pineapple rice- B grade.
mcdonalds’s sauces. guojie exploring his w660i cam. and again.
cny d7: lo hei again -_-. aunt, me and nephew danny. richie’s doppelganger: me & danny spaz.
big luohan.
cny d13 cum master’s farewell dinner at ricetable, int bldg: campmates ben, prad & tee guan. leicester and ah long. big papa bear and dxos.
jeff and me! anticlockwise: master, stan hon, ben. master and head!!
we love you master!! present includes n6080 & renoma wallet.
queueing up for s.i. at 1.30am cny d14-feb 11: lethargy takes control
s.i. reject not in the least disappointed: plate of edemame. gd fren leilan. enjoying my food!
bbq round pit: see the salmon cheesie dogs?
*yuki-yaki buffet @ $19.90 nett @ cine (incl. conveyor sushi, chicken/fish/tomyam soup, freeflow drinks and juices; add $2 for unlimited ice-cream of over 15 flavours with dipping chocolate sticks)
cny d14 @ seng poh rd’s por kee eating house. cousins adele (hair) & sharon. plate of lo hei, againzz!!
cousin ivan. uncle, aunt & SPASTIC cousin clarissa. getting rotund day by day.
sharon’s lambo gallardo. 1.5m x 1m painting. me and lambo.
me @ the dining table. me in front of built-in cargo lift. thirsty me.
14-seat dining table. mummy and relatives at living room. flower doodahs and painting.
dining table & lift. bridge. me on stagesteps making appearance.
top view of dining table. bridge leading to rooms. skippy in lift to B1.
movie room with 14 SIA 1st class leather seats. ivan playing pool at lvlB1. bar lounge with brother.
xavier and phyllis playing pool. “cousin grace, that’s not the way you use a cue stick lol”. swimming pool.
MARIAH CAREY WINS THREE GRAMMY AWARDS, INCLUDING BEST FEMALE R&B VOCAL PERFORMANCE AND BEST R&B SONG FOR “WE BELONG TOGETHER,” AND BEST CONTEMPORARY R&B ALBUM FOR THE EMANCIPATION OF MIMI
MARIAH’S RETURN TO GRAMMY WINNERS CIRCLE FOLLOWS SWEEPS AT AMERICAN MUSIC AWARDS, VIBE AWARDS, BILLBOARD MUSIC AWARDS, AND RADIO MUSIC AWARDS
(February 9, 2006 - New York, NY) Performer and songwriter Mariah Carey returns to the arms of Grammy, winning awards last night for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance and Best R&B Song for “We Belong Together,” and Best Contemporary R&B Album for The Emancipation Of Mimi.
“This is a momentous and well-deserved confirmation of Mariah’s artistry and devotion to her music,” said Antonio “L.A.” Reid, Chairman, Island Def Jam Music Group. Mariah’s appearance at the Grammy Awards worldwide broadcast was highlighted by a stirring live performance of “We Belong Together,” with full gospel church choir.
The Emancipation Of Mimi, named the biggest-selling album of 2005, generated an all-time career-high 8 Grammy nominations for Mariah. The album includes Mariah’s 16th and 17th #1 career singles, “We Belong Together” and “Don’t Forget About Us,” respectively - which tied one of the most enduring chart records in Billboard Hot 100 history, Elvis Presley’s 17 #1’s. Mariah is now positioned as the only active recording artist in the 47 years of the Hot 100 (which began in 1958) with the potential to match or surpass the Beatles’ all-time high 20 #1 hits.
The Grammy triumph caps an extraordinary season of awards for Mariah, which began in November with the 33rd annual American Music Awards, where was voted Favorite Soul/Rhythm & Blues Female Artist by the 20,000 record-buyers whose votes determine the winners. At the 3rd annual VIBE Awards (on UPN), Mariah led the pack for a single album with four wins generated by The Emancipation of Mimi: Artist Of The Year, Album Of The Year, R&B Voice Of The Year, and Best R&B Song for “We Belong Together.”
Three weeks later at the 2005 Billboard Music Awards, Mariah she was named Top R&B Singles Artist - Female, Top R&B/Hip-Hop Artist - Female, Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Artist - Female, and Top Overall Albums Artist - Female, with “We Belong Together” named the #1 Hot 100 Single Of the Year. Later in December, at the annual Radio Music Awards broadcast live on NBC from Las Vegas, Mariah was honored with the Legend Award and was named Artist of the Year/Urban and Rhythmic Radio, in addition to “We Belong Together” winning both Song of the Year/Main Stream Hit Radio and Song of the Year/Urban and Rhythmic Radio.
In its 43rd week on the Billboard 200 Albums chart, The Emancipation Of Mimi has sold more than 8 million copies worldwide, bringing Mariah’s career sales over 160 million units worldwide. ULTRA PLATINUM EDITION (which arrived in stores November 15th), the expanded new configuration of the album, recaps all 14 tracks on Mimi and adds four new tracks: “Don’t Forget About Us,” #1 most-added at Pop, Rhythm and Urban radio formats as it moves to the top of the charts; “So Lonely (One and Only Part 2),” Mariah’s collaboration with Twista (with a new extra verse written by Mariah); the remix of “We Belong Together” featuring Jadakiss and Styles P. (previously only available digitally online); and “Makin’ It Last All Night (What It Do),” featuring Jermaine Dupri.
ULTRA PLATINUM EDITION is also available as a special deluxe limited edition two-disc (CD + DVD) package. The exclusive DVD contains full-length video clips for “It’s Like That,” “We Belong Together,” “Shake It Off,” and “Get Your Number” (featuring Jermaine Dupri, making its U.S. debut here); a never-before-seen interview - “Mariah: In Her Own Words,” plus a link to access the brand new video for “Don’t Forget About Us.”
Grammy.com: Lifted up by a brass section, the 30-member strong Hezekiah Walker & Love Fellowship Choir and Pastor Clarence Keaton, Mariah Carey provided one of the evening’s most powerful performances. Her flowing blond tresses draping her white-cloaked frame, Carey sang “We Belong Together” and “Fly Like A Bird” like they were the most important moments of her life. Bringing that old-time religion to a 21st century venue, Carey raised the roof with her amazing vocal skills.
MTV News: Mariah Carey ended her decade-and-a-half Grammy drought by winning three awards during the night, for Best R&B Song, Contemporary Album and Female Vocal Performance. (…)
Of course, this being the Grammys, there were also some completely expected moments that delivered big time. Carey’s soulful medley of her hits “We Belong Together” and “Fly Like a Bird” packed a powerful vocal wallop, increased 30-fold by the addition of a full-blown gospel choir.
BET: Stevie Wonder and Alicia Keys presented the first televised award, which was the Best Female Vocal Performance, and though Mariah Carey lost to Kelly Clarkson in this category, she already had picked up three in the Best Female R&B Vocal, Best Contemporary R&B Vocal and Best R&B Song categories earlier in the night. But that didn’t stop her from stealing the show later on, as her performance was met by a standing ovation.
Entertainment Weekly: The Adulation of Mimi. In a taped intro, Mariah Carey spoke of the importance of faith in her life, underscored by the word Faith emblazoned across her chest in sparkles. Appearing on stage in a low-cut gown (Carey must have had faith in double-sided sticky tape), 2005’s comeback queen paid homage to her spiritual side by performing with Hezekiah Walker and the Love Fellowship Choir on a medley of her hits ‘’We Belong Together'’ and ‘’Fly Like a Bird.'’ Which is what her voice did, soaring into the rafters like only Carey’s can.
Also, the music critics of Entertainment Weekly did a chat during the Grammys, and here is what they said during Mariah’s performance:
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–Michele Romero: Mariah has faith. |
Barbara Walters praised Mariah on The View saying she “sang divinely,” mentioned that she won 3 awards before the show so you didn’t see her accept them, and ended with, “but wow could she sing!”
On Los Angeles’ Gospel Radio 102.3 KJLH morning show, “The Home Team” hosts commented on how great Mariah’s performance of “Fly Like A Bird” was at the Grammys. They were amazed at how high she could sing and how distinct and clear she sang “Jesus” in such a high note.
Talk show titan Tyra Banks couldn’t stop gushing about Mariah’s big year. “I love her album. I mean, hello! It was crazy– front to back.” (Extra TV)
Calling U2 “my boys,” Kanye West said he figured the group would win album of the year because of vote splitting between his and Mariah Carey’s albums. (Billboard)
“I think winning three is a huge achievement,” said British soul singer Joss Stone. “I think winning eight is a ridiculous thing. I can’t imagine winning half a Grammy let alone three. She went through a lot, and everybody knew it. She’s come back on top.” (The Associated Press)
After winning the night’s big award, album of the year, Bono told Carey, “You sing like an angel.”
Mary J. Blige gave Mariah a shout out again! In a pre-Grammy interview, TRL VJ Vanessa Minnilo asked her if she wanted to see anyone in particular win, and she said she wanted Mariah to clean up. She said Mariah is “my heart, my baby” and that when she was growing up, she and her girlfriends would sing Mariah songs. Mary said she knows Mariah and that she is a beautiful person. Mary also said she loved seeing Mariah come through and “be that good woman they can’t hold down.”
had sumptuous pineapple rice and thai ice kachang at bali thai yesterday with gj; i gave a B+ for the quality and service - a grade restaurants can only achieve with superior standards with my prissy judgement. bali thai isn’t another restaurant I’d say I wanna revisit, but at least it was a pleasant experience. I was impressed with the branch’s ambience and decor and of cos, the service; not many waitresses would usher you to your seat. literally. nydc’s waitresses just bring you to the table; they don’t move the chairs for you. overall great
after meal was abt 9.40pm, 20 mins to Daiso’s closing time. I wanted to get stationery; and was hoping that there’d still be a lot of shoppers and queues at the cashier so closing time could be extended. But it wasn’t the case when announcements were made thru’ the PA system with “closing in 10 mins”, “closing in 5 mins” and “closed now”. right at that pt of time, i was hurriedly making my selection of earthernware and plant stones (to decor my new cubicle) and guojie was looking at japanese doodahs, so claims he found fancy and wishes to come again; and store assistants were rushing around the sections loudhailing ”thank you for shopping!!”. not once, but repeatedly. irritating.. can’t they wait for the celebrity to finish choosing the stones? LOL.. so went to pay up before they down the shutters and off we went.. to MACDONALDS. =_=. again i couldn’t control my temptation and gave my tummy the best fries.
this morning i woke up with headache; am now still feeling malaise :s. my nose just wouldn’t stop running and you know, having flu is frustrating!! pieces and pieces of tissue get wasted, plus the fact that SI is next week, and with the bad condition I’m in, it’s hard to predict if I’ll recover by then. right now, I can feel dryness in my vocal apparatus and despite plentiful tumblers of water, the heat in my throat wouldn’t get away. Guess I was greedy during cny :s..
7 days left and still not no progress on my vocal training and song selection. oh gosh.. and i’m so not gonna register fammy’s words of “next week will be very busy” into my grey matter cos that means WORK! just hope my brain will blank out next week and open again on friday before the audition. when he was looking at his newly bought kenneth cole watch smiling silly, it could probably mean his grey matter’s starting the ordness infusions. and if james isn’t coming back next week he’s soO gonna be dead; i’m gonna strangle him lol. he can’t leave me with the shroom-haired doctor who’s gonna pile me up with MMC preparation work! i’ll collapse. with lack of sleep and rest. and so will my voice. AHH! ever since I got that cubicle, i feel privacy - but not yesterday. I stepped into the office in the early morning, thinking how nice it would be to go to my new cubicle and enjoy it on my first day! And well, black blowfish was there, warming up my seat. -_-. Well, I would very much like to take that small space as my own, but if that’s gonna be the nearest available net computer ard for my colleagues, I can’t be selfish, right?
Shit, I’ve been putting on pounds- let’s estimate 5 kg. That’s hell a lot. It reminds me of the rubbery slack of fat down at tan im’s store heh. Oh gawd.. must eat less this coming week so I can look better for my audition. >_<
Argh.. sick sick sick..
Stupid nose.
Oh oh I’ve also enumerated a list of tracks to consider for my audition. give comments please? ^_.^ ‘rigato.
1. against all odds (once)
2. open arms
3. you raise me up (twice suggested)
4. when you say you love me
5. a new day has come (twice suggested)
6. everything i do, i do it for you
7. hero by mc
8. any savage garden number
9. i think god can explain
10. any ronan keating number
11. a whole new world
12. bridge over troubled water
13. only heaven knows
14. any other song you think suits me and my voice; i welcome all suggestions
borrowed 2 books: geisha- a unique world of tradition, elegance and art & somebody’s baby by new york times bestselling author charlotte vale allen. wee~..
