Nerve-Wrecking Experience (but worth it)

Slept until very late as usual and watched tv until evening time when i have to go back to school for my cca. Forgot to add that i have joined Chinese Society Ge1 You3 section, aka singing section last friday. Fuli and i have prepared Jie Kou with our group's guitarist Junyien and our group is the third to perform. I was really freaking nervous to perform in front of so many people but i was a bit excited at the same time. Liyuan and his friend came to take a look at the cca while my course mate Kian Shing also joined the cca.

The first two groups had a lot of people singing at the same time and it was hard for them to harmonise. Some songs they sang were not too hard as well (Peng You, Lao Shu Ai Da Mi, etc). After some nerve-wrecking moments, it was our group's turn and i was really very nervous. I don't have any stage experience before and i was my first time performing in front of so many people (actually only around 60 people).

We introduced ourselves and begin singing shortly. I think i started with a key too low? Also, i felt that my voice coming out from the microphone is a bit weird. I was thinking where should i look? I was tempted to look at the floor but i forced myself to look at the audience. I couldn't really hear my own voice with so many thoughts, the music and Fuli's voice along with mine. Thus, i was really worried and didn't think i did very well in the performance. It was definitely not the best from me as i didn't feel confident after singing. Nevertheless, the audience applauded loudly and i was relieved we had ended our performance. I was kind of dazed and in a state of blank after the performance as i felt that i could have done better and i was not used to the attention that was cast on us a few minutes ago.

My other group members who did not perform due to their preparation for an audition told us that we did great and i was wondering if they were telling the truth. We continued watching the performances from other groups and they were generally ok, except for some faults here and there. Each group had to write comments on a piece of paper for each performance and we had to choose a best group. Fuli and i left the task to our other group members and we sat back evaluating our performance and a few others. I couldn't really judge who is the best as a participant and it's quite hard to compare.

The president and music director gave comments after the show and they gave criticism to every group except my group and they said we sang well with emotion. It was a sign of relief and i guess i did not do as badly as i thought i did. Next up was the announcement of the best group and my group won with 4 votes to 1. I was actually quite surprised with the unanimity of the decision but i was glad of course. Actually i think we won because Fuli sang really well and i just did ok. We read the comments from other groups and quite a lot complimented Fuli's singing. Well, at least there is a comment which says the guys' voices "hao hao ting". Rather pleased but there is a comment saying my voice is too low. But well, at least we are better than other groups right? Haha..... It was a rather weird session for me as i was not used to singing in front of so many people and having comments given to us directly. Strange, but somehow rewarding and confidence boosting experience.

It was 9 pm and the Lantern Festival audition was about to start. I actually did not plan to audition for it but after the presentation, i felt that i should just go for it. Fuli had prepared 3 songs and he was the third to audition. I was considering what songs to choose from singers like Jay, Lin Jun Jie, Penny or Li Sheng Jie. After numerous song selections, i decided on Penny's Wang Qian Fei and JJ's Simply. I like these 2 songs quite a lot and know the songs' lyrics by heart. I was the last to audition and did not feel as nervous as the performance just now, coz there are only 2 judges hearing you sing. I felt that it went quite well as i tried to vary my voice from low to high and tried to vibrate the end notes with certain level of success. The judges gave quite a lot of comments saying that actually these 2 songs are not really suitable for my voice. They suggested that i should sing songs with more bass like Chen Xiao Dong's songs, etc. They also commented that my pitching was not entirely correct, adding that i tend to ignore the pitch within the lines for some words although i got the correct pitch on the whole. They also commented that i did not open my mouth wide enough. 1 of the judges was quite critical while the other seemed quite glad with my performance.

I'm not too sure what are my chances of getting into the Lantern Festival as i have no idea how many people they are choosing. Well, all is a learning experience and this is just the start. :)