Firstly, the emcee gave very lame speeches as well as trying too hard to be funny & misprouncing words quite a few times. He even seem so... disinterested. The public must be feeling that they're "ripped off" due to the "amateurish" performance of the performers as many left the show after the 1st half of the show.
The 1st group Juz B who won an a cappella competition in Taiwan lack the "funk" despite having an impressive self-written number "Funkified (Juz B)". Pretty slick moves & wardrobe . The really weak vocal percussion and the back ground voices & the lead...well... ain't that "funky" enough. Well, the only song that they managed well was "Qing Fei De Yi". Impressive for a group of Malay guys who can sing in Chinese in a diction clearer than most Chinese locally.
Next group, Lao Langs, Weak lead. Their 1st number "Mummer's Dance" proved to be sleep-inducing & the lyrics couldn't be heard. The intro melody of Java Jive (where they came up with the various brands of coffee in Singapore & split their members into 2 groups, the kopitiam group & the high class group) was decent . However, the monotous arrangment of the later part of the song lacked surprise. I wonder how they won the Budak soundalike contest the last round with their oh-so-lack-lustre vocals. Only their clothes is better than their performance.
Classical group Upbeat stated King Singers & Swingle singers to be their major influence. However, they fail miserably in their similiar rendition of King Singers' "Ob-la-di Ob-la-da". Unimpressive scatting. Oh, one more thing, they are overdressed for their choice of songs which makes me feel as though one is in a choral concert instead of an a cappella one. However, the vocals are the good side.
Jazz a cappella group Key Elements gave good rendition of jazz pieces by famous jazz artiste Gershwin, notably "S'wonderful'". A good group worth hearing. After all, they are made up of veteran groups such as In-A-Chord, Bcoz, Inpromptu etc.
The beatboxing group, BS All Stars had a beat boxer who is worthy enough to compete with our local percussionist star Peter Huang. The group was able get the audience (mostly the student set) to respond to them. A mean & impressive beat boxing with Black Eyed Peas "Don't Phunk With My Heart".
The amateurish Tone sang without gusto & it shows in their lacklustre singing especially in "Mama Mia". Even TAG whose lead who went off tune throughout their songs. Bored the socks off the audience.
The NUS graduate group, Verve Enharmonics was the 2nd group worth hearing. The frontman Joel (VE's tenor) definitely has stage presence & a wicked sense of humor unlike all the other groups. They sang Michael Buble's version of "Quando" with the air of class & jazzy feel so comfortable to be serenaded by the group. Good job, VE !!
Guest Malaysian group Wicked Pitches is the only group who has no vocal percussion but pure singing which is blinded by their really bright red wardrobe & acting cute as bunnies. Lacked variety in the 5 songs they sang which makes listening to them tiring. But at least they have a sense of humor.
The last act Tic Tac Tone was one act to reckon with after 5 years of harmony as a group and considered as one of the veteran groups. "Cha Shao Bao"was sung with an unusual & modern twist. But it's actually "Everlasting Love" that brings out the TTT's unique style of singing. It's a pity that their performance failed to end the show with a punch.
To conclude it all, Acafest 2005 proved to be very slow moving as there were too many amateur groups who just sang with stoic technicality, which unfortunately bored the socks off the audience. The loudest cheers from the secondary schools who obviously came to root for their friends in the amateur performing groups who sounded like a bad record playing with their slight off-tune pitching or a song sung without soul.
Yes, ACAfest ended without aplomb and any surprise unlike the now-defunct AKA series which i believe long time a cappella music fans would sorely miss. It's good to have those upcoming professional groups such as Upbeat, Key Elements & Verve Enharmonics but I just wish that the veteran groups such as Budak Pantai, Vocaluptuous, Akatones, In A Chord etc. would come back & create that magic.
Rating: 2 1/2 out of 5
The 1st group Juz B who won an a cappella competition in Taiwan lack the "funk" despite having an impressive self-written number "Funkified (Juz B)". Pretty slick moves & wardrobe . The really weak vocal percussion and the back ground voices & the lead...well... ain't that "funky" enough. Well, the only song that they managed well was "Qing Fei De Yi". Impressive for a group of Malay guys who can sing in Chinese in a diction clearer than most Chinese locally.
Next group, Lao Langs, Weak lead. Their 1st number "Mummer's Dance" proved to be sleep-inducing & the lyrics couldn't be heard. The intro melody of Java Jive (where they came up with the various brands of coffee in Singapore & split their members into 2 groups, the kopitiam group & the high class group) was decent . However, the monotous arrangment of the later part of the song lacked surprise. I wonder how they won the Budak soundalike contest the last round with their oh-so-lack-lustre vocals. Only their clothes is better than their performance.
Classical group Upbeat stated King Singers & Swingle singers to be their major influence. However, they fail miserably in their similiar rendition of King Singers' "Ob-la-di Ob-la-da". Unimpressive scatting. Oh, one more thing, they are overdressed for their choice of songs which makes me feel as though one is in a choral concert instead of an a cappella one. However, the vocals are the good side.
Jazz a cappella group Key Elements gave good rendition of jazz pieces by famous jazz artiste Gershwin, notably "S'wonderful'". A good group worth hearing. After all, they are made up of veteran groups such as In-A-Chord, Bcoz, Inpromptu etc.
The beatboxing group, BS All Stars had a beat boxer who is worthy enough to compete with our local percussionist star Peter Huang. The group was able get the audience (mostly the student set) to respond to them. A mean & impressive beat boxing with Black Eyed Peas "Don't Phunk With My Heart".
The amateurish Tone sang without gusto & it shows in their lacklustre singing especially in "Mama Mia". Even TAG whose lead who went off tune throughout their songs. Bored the socks off the audience.
The NUS graduate group, Verve Enharmonics was the 2nd group worth hearing. The frontman Joel (VE's tenor) definitely has stage presence & a wicked sense of humor unlike all the other groups. They sang Michael Buble's version of "Quando" with the air of class & jazzy feel so comfortable to be serenaded by the group. Good job, VE !!
Guest Malaysian group Wicked Pitches is the only group who has no vocal percussion but pure singing which is blinded by their really bright red wardrobe & acting cute as bunnies. Lacked variety in the 5 songs they sang which makes listening to them tiring. But at least they have a sense of humor.
The last act Tic Tac Tone was one act to reckon with after 5 years of harmony as a group and considered as one of the veteran groups. "Cha Shao Bao"was sung with an unusual & modern twist. But it's actually "Everlasting Love" that brings out the TTT's unique style of singing. It's a pity that their performance failed to end the show with a punch.
To conclude it all, Acafest 2005 proved to be very slow moving as there were too many amateur groups who just sang with stoic technicality, which unfortunately bored the socks off the audience. The loudest cheers from the secondary schools who obviously came to root for their friends in the amateur performing groups who sounded like a bad record playing with their slight off-tune pitching or a song sung without soul.
Yes, ACAfest ended without aplomb and any surprise unlike the now-defunct AKA series which i believe long time a cappella music fans would sorely miss. It's good to have those upcoming professional groups such as Upbeat, Key Elements & Verve Enharmonics but I just wish that the veteran groups such as Budak Pantai, Vocaluptuous, Akatones, In A Chord etc. would come back & create that magic.
Rating: 2 1/2 out of 5
Comments