3 judges, six teams, five minutes to impress. Welcome to “Britain’s Got Talent” – City Harvest style.
108 nubile teens from Chan Yah Lan’s zone strutted their stuff at Singapore Expo on 27 June 2009 for the youth extravaganza “I’ve Got Talent”. They put up rousing performances from dance acts to skits and even a Chinese instrumental showcase.
Team Neon kick-started the event with a heartfelt skit about a girl suffering from depression. In a radical twist of events, the lead character heard God calling out to her as she was on the verge of committing suicide. The audience were at the edge of their seats as demonic characters brandished razors and penknives to egg the protagonist to her doom.
Solo dance performer, Alexandra Teng, wowed the judges with her interpretation of Josh Groban’s anthem ‘You Raise Me Up’. Impressed by her unique choreography, the judging panel exclaimed that she was “born to dance” and urged her to continue taking her dance skills to another level.
Emersius and Jing Qun from the group EJ-max also put their training in Chinese orchestra to good use. Wielding a Chinese flute, dizi, and a pluck stringed instrument, zhong ruan, the two brought a fresh rendition to Jay Chou’s ‘Clear Sky’ and Guang Liang’s ‘Fairy Tale’.
Team Star Jumpzz put up a dance-mime-skit show and had the judges literally rolling onto the floor laughing. Combining slick shuffling footwork and jumpstyle dance moves with cheesy “Saturday Night Fever” grooves, they had spectators practically eating out of their hands by the end of the show.
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| PHOTOS: Calvin Phua |
The room’s biggest cheers were reserved for dancers from Random Melodies. In a fitting tribute to the late Michael Jackson, Wirul captivated the audience with dance moves from the King of Pop’s cult hit ‘Thriller’.
After each performance, participants would face the firing squad comprising of zone leaders, Valerie Teo, Seet Wenshan and Caroline Tham. But unlike Simon Cowell’s barbed remarks, the judges’ comments dripped with positivity and hope.
Eventually, the top prize went to the talented cast of Neon from cell group N439. Team member Tan Song Jie, 16, said, “The most memorable part of this was actually the rehearsals! All the time we spent together really bonded the cell group”.
To top it all off, every attendee was given a mirror with the words, “I got talent”. Event organizer, Tiffany Teng, explained the intention aptly, “A talented person doesn’t necessarily need to be in the limelight; being able to encourage is a talent as well. So don’t look at the stage performers and wonder if you’ve got talent, the person looking back at you in the mirror has it!”
