Just to give you a glimpse of my task as an emcee

NOTE : You may be looking for the videos from the concert on 2009.02.22 - they're in the post below this one.

Half an hour before the concert yesterday afternoon, when I had just finished my recording, I was frantically trying to remember everything in the programme Ms Susan gave me. I wondered if they could hear my applause - I was, and I still am hard of hearing.

After a lot of hesitation, just minutes before the concert began, I asked Shing Yi and Louisa to tell me if my introduction was okay. And this was how it went :

"A very good afternoon and a warm welcome to you, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Annette (note : French pronounciation) and I will be your host for today. We, the students, are proud to present a potpourri of music, dance and laughter. To start, we have a piece to lift everyone's spirits up, titled Rock Around the Clock, performed by........"

And I did it in the same manner throughout. Every now and then, I threw in some trivia to excite the audience - and well, I did get some response at least. This was what I said when someone was about to perform the Star Wars theme on piano :

"Ladies and gentlemen, a recent report in the Star said that the one film which should never have anymore sequels... is Star Wars."

(Giggles from the audience)

"Without further ado, here's the Star Wars theme performed by..."

I really enjoyed myself back there. As much as I love singing, composing and playing music, I love being an emcee !

See, I first had a taste of what it's like to be an emcee when I was six years old. I was in kindergarten (to be precise, Q-dees). That morning, I had my Sports Day. Later in the day, I had my Junior Music Course graduation concert at Yamaha Music School, Kelana Jaya (dang, it had to be there too !). The parents and students had given me the majority vote for the role of emcee, and mom trained me really hard - she told me to articulate every word. And so I introduced my friends - we were about to perform an ensemble. But instead of extending my hand towards the entrance, where the students were supposed to come in, I extended my hand to the wrong side !

Dash it, that was my first try and I was only six...