We went to Negri Sembilan with hopes of attaining a place among the top three. And we failed miserably. KL, I'm sorry.
So which teams exactly attained places among the top three ?
First place went to Penang - really, they deserved it. I knew they would because they had a jazz number - none of the other teams had ever done this. It was a really entertaining performance. They had movements - I put the blame on Pn See Tho because she was the one who said "we do not need movement". Yes, I quote you.
Second place went to [of all teams] Selangor - we were all astounded. They were OFF, and I MEAN OFF !!! They sang [of all the songs] Old McDonald Had A Farm [OMG] !!! Their lines did include "quackity quackity quack quack quack" ! I wonder what could have compelled the judges to put them in second place....... Mom laughed when I told her this, but yeah well...
Third place went to Sarawak. I believed they could have been in second place. Despite the harmony, their pronounciation was not so good. Still, they were a great sight to behold. Their outfits were good too, they wore the traditional Sarawakian costume, with those pink glittery hues and--- again, I put the blame on Pn See Tho for agreeing to put on those horrendous assymetrical blouses ! We could have looked better ! For those who were there, take a look at the team from Johor. Despite not getting anywhere, they changed the humble blue-and-white school uniform into a work of art, with those cyan shawls and flowers and extra embroidery. Appearance may only cost 10 marks but who knows if those 10 marks are the ones that put us down ?
The Merit Award and Best Conductor Award went to the team from Perak. We had hopes that KL would win either one of them, but the judges somehow favoured Perak. Our trainer, Joaan Foo, was somehow satisfied because she herself hails from Perak !
In your opinion, were there any other good teams ?
In my opinion, the other good teams were Kelantan, Johor and Sabah. But I believe Kelantan did not get a placing because they sang the wrong song at the wrong time - who'd sing "Jingle Bells" in August, of all the months ? Yes, you get the picture.
Sabah had a great team, good innovation and good voices. However, the conductor was rather robotic !! He had jagged moves and not much feel. That brought the team down from its place last year.
And about Johor... oh well.
If you were the judge, would you reshuffle the positions ? If so, which teams deserve places among the top three ?
Yes. I'd stay with their decision of Penang being champions. They really deserved it. The first runners-up shouldn't have been Selangor, they didn't deserve anything ! I'd have easily given it to Sabah or Sarawak. Or, if not, Kelantan. I'm a little lenient with the choice of songs. As for third place, I'd give it to - well... Sabah, Sarawak, Perak or Kelantan. My decisions aren't structured, but they fall beneath these states.
What have you found out based on your experience in the finals ?
I feel that we lacked class. I mean, of course - we are the youngest team in the nation - we're six months old. We've been formed only in January 2006. Other teams have been standing strong for at least three years. And then again, we lack exposure - I blame it all on our teachers in charge - they didn't even want to give us the time and space to see how others perform. I have no say in the choir because I'm also a student like the rest of us. Nevertheless, if I were to take charge of the choir, we'd have won by now. Darn it, I sound like Julius Caesar.
So which teams exactly attained places among the top three ?
First place went to Penang - really, they deserved it. I knew they would because they had a jazz number - none of the other teams had ever done this. It was a really entertaining performance. They had movements - I put the blame on Pn See Tho because she was the one who said "we do not need movement". Yes, I quote you.
Second place went to [of all teams] Selangor - we were all astounded. They were OFF, and I MEAN OFF !!! They sang [of all the songs] Old McDonald Had A Farm [OMG] !!! Their lines did include "quackity quackity quack quack quack" ! I wonder what could have compelled the judges to put them in second place....... Mom laughed when I told her this, but yeah well...
Third place went to Sarawak. I believed they could have been in second place. Despite the harmony, their pronounciation was not so good. Still, they were a great sight to behold. Their outfits were good too, they wore the traditional Sarawakian costume, with those pink glittery hues and--- again, I put the blame on Pn See Tho for agreeing to put on those horrendous assymetrical blouses ! We could have looked better ! For those who were there, take a look at the team from Johor. Despite not getting anywhere, they changed the humble blue-and-white school uniform into a work of art, with those cyan shawls and flowers and extra embroidery. Appearance may only cost 10 marks but who knows if those 10 marks are the ones that put us down ?
The Merit Award and Best Conductor Award went to the team from Perak. We had hopes that KL would win either one of them, but the judges somehow favoured Perak. Our trainer, Joaan Foo, was somehow satisfied because she herself hails from Perak !
In your opinion, were there any other good teams ?
In my opinion, the other good teams were Kelantan, Johor and Sabah. But I believe Kelantan did not get a placing because they sang the wrong song at the wrong time - who'd sing "Jingle Bells" in August, of all the months ? Yes, you get the picture.
Sabah had a great team, good innovation and good voices. However, the conductor was rather robotic !! He had jagged moves and not much feel. That brought the team down from its place last year.
And about Johor... oh well.
If you were the judge, would you reshuffle the positions ? If so, which teams deserve places among the top three ?
Yes. I'd stay with their decision of Penang being champions. They really deserved it. The first runners-up shouldn't have been Selangor, they didn't deserve anything ! I'd have easily given it to Sabah or Sarawak. Or, if not, Kelantan. I'm a little lenient with the choice of songs. As for third place, I'd give it to - well... Sabah, Sarawak, Perak or Kelantan. My decisions aren't structured, but they fall beneath these states.
What have you found out based on your experience in the finals ?
I feel that we lacked class. I mean, of course - we are the youngest team in the nation - we're six months old. We've been formed only in January 2006. Other teams have been standing strong for at least three years. And then again, we lack exposure - I blame it all on our teachers in charge - they didn't even want to give us the time and space to see how others perform. I have no say in the choir because I'm also a student like the rest of us. Nevertheless, if I were to take charge of the choir, we'd have won by now. Darn it, I sound like Julius Caesar.
I heard the champions are going to Vienna for the International Finals - hey, this is an honour to represent Malaysia ! Penang is given the honour and we're left as rejects again. Not sure how far this is true but well, if they're going, we're bust !
After four years of domination by East Malaysian teams [those from Sabah and Sarawak], we finally got a team from West Malaysia to win the competition once more.
I noticed that all those who won the awards - they were ALL Chinese schools !!! From Penang, it was Penang Chinese Girls' High School ; from Selangor, it was SMJK Kepong ; from Sarawak it was... well, I forgot the name but it was from Sibu. From Perak, it was SMJK Sam Tet.
Have you any plans for next year's showdown ?
I have already decided.
For our compulsory Malay patriotic song, it will be Sejahtera Malaysia.
For our English song, it will be another remix - Fly Me To The Moon + Return To Sender !!!
This time I really don't care. We are going to the International Finals, like it or not !!!!!!!!!!!! I already know what to do - give a trained ear a blow to the heart and he [or rather, she] will blow you down in return !
Briefly tell us how you felt.
I felt... in one word, cheated. Immediately after the finals, the chief judge listened to us and gave us a score of 8.5 out of 10. Right before the competition, we had an audience, and we were given a rating of 9 out of 10. This was almost perfect ! If people could dare say that we were better than that day, why didn't we get anything in the end despite our unwavering faith ? I wept in the middle of the competition, knowing that we would not make it.
However, I felt satisfied that Penang were the rightful champions. They were extremely good.
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