Highlights from the high life

Well, moderately high life. Lets call it waist-high, shall we?

Last night I got to go the Singapore launch party for Channel V at Zouk. With a VIP pass no less, thanks to my friend Vacillus Pendulus. Of course that's not his real name. But last night he wanted his real name to be used but now he doesn't so... Vacillus it is. Anyway, armed (quite literally) with a green tape strapped around the wrist we hit the bar for 3 hours of free drinks, some amazing salmon canapes and others assorted snacks.

So what did I learn? Rivermaya is as good as ever. Ryan Star (of Supernova fame - sort of) is a genuinely powerful singer. He sounded a lot more like a rock singer last night than he ever did on TV. And he is big. Like, surprisingly large.

Most eye-opening of all was the pre-show pre-parations. We got to see them because we arrived really early on the scene. Here's a sampler:
1. Crowd scenes are fake! They kept people outside the club just so that they could force a long line to form so they could record footage of people standing in long lines.
2. Crowd scenes are really fake! They had a bunch of college kids shipped in to record scenes of wild cheering for the performances before the performers ever appeared.
3. Crowd scened are just totally fake! To make sure that the crowd response during the performances would look good, they coached the kids on how to wave their arms in sync with each other, what to yell, and so forth.

I did also learn a new respect for the MCs. It looks like a cushy job, but these boys really did work at it. They were rehearsing their lines over and over again before the show. They must have done the "....please give a warm Channel V welcome for ...." routine at least 20 times just in front of us, and each time they did it with the same unbridled enthusiasm as when they did it for real in front of the full audience. I would never be able to keep up that kind of energy. Respect.

So anyway, after the performances we took a short detour to MOS where I showed my friends around. Amazingly they had never been there before. So it was my turn to feel cool for no good reason. And then to Velvet for the after-party. What a phrase, 'after-party'. Redolent with insinuations of excessive uncontrolled hedonism. This one was rather tame and well-behaved, though. Probably because it was in a public area of the club. At least that's what I'd like to think so as not to shatter my image of what a real after-party is like.

In any case, we did not stay there long, maybe an hour or so. Then it was time for a late supper (sting-ray! Newton hawker center is sooooo back in business!) and then to bed. After the obligatory half-litre of water as insurance against hangover.

But here's the best part: I'm going out again tonight :-)
Cheers!