Monday March 30, 2009
Fuelled by passion
By SETO KIT YAN
This year’s Astro Classic Golden Melody Singing Competition contestants share tales that inspire.
IT IS the time of the year again for the most anticipated singing competition for seniors. Astro Classic Golden Melody Singing Competition 2009, an amateur singing competition for those aged 45 and above, provides a platform for senior citizens to demonstrate their talent.
Among one of Astro’s more popular programmes, Astro Classic Golden Melody earned the highest rating for an AEC local programme from 2006 till 2008, and won the Best Costume Award in Film Workers’ Association of Malaysia 2006 and 2007 and the Best Art Director Award in 2007.
Astro Classic Golden Melody Singing Competition 2009 hosts Lim Tiong Piow and Kwok Yen Yen. The theme for this year’s show is Charm of Classics with red and gold as the colour scheme, while the tagline Sing the Classics encourages the seniors to perform the classics with a fresh interpretation.
The contestants are encouraged to select classic Chinese songs from 1970 to 1989, in Mandarin or any Chinese dialect, such as Cantonese, Hokkien, Hakka or Teochew.
Walk-in auditions held on Feb 7 and 8 at Astro headquarters in Kuala Lumpur saw a turnout of 800 aspiring singers. After the two-day audition, 30 contestants of 15 males and 15 females were selected to compete.
The selection was done by a panel of judges comprising local entertainment personalities, namely Lawrence Cheah, Angel Lee Yan Ping, Li Jun Xiong, Liu Qing Ying and Ding Dong.
Back as hosts this year are the Summer Grace singing duo, Kwok Woon Woon and sister Yen Yen, as well as Lim Tiong Piow. “Although there are three hosts, you will see only two of us at any one time. We take turns to host different episodes,” said Lim.
The show features five rounds of competition with various themes, with new ones being the Teresa Teng round, the revival round and the challenge round.
“In the challenge episode, contestants from this season will find themselves up against those from earlier seasons. They will be ranked according to how well they do, and the bottom of the lot will risk being eliminated. So, the contestants are no longer just competing with each other, but also previous years’ participants,” explained Lim.
Contestants came from far and wide this year with the oldest female contestant being 61-year-old Chong Nyok Chin (stage name Zhang Zhen, contestant No.10) from Perak and the oldest male contestant being 60-year-old Loo Sio San @ Low Seow San (No.2) from Perlis.
Having hosted previous episodes of the show gave Lim an insight into the never-give-up attitude from seniors out to achieve their dream of performing on stage.
“There is one lady aged about 60 whom I’ve seen auditioning for previous years’ competition. This year she finally got selected to compete. She eventually got eliminated, but I could sense her sadness, I also felt that her sense of pride for having made it,” said Lim, referring to contestant No.2.
“It takes a lot of guts to go on stage to perform. Some of these contestants may be seasoned competitors, but there are others who are housewives who are definitely out of their comfort zone,” he said.
Also among those shortlisted to compete are two contestants who have especially inspiring stories to tell: Lee Fan Kim (male contestant No.4) and Mayna Tan Mee Noh (female contestant No.6).
Perak-born Lee, who now works in Klang, suffers from infantile paralysis (also known as poliomyelitis).
Though wheelchair-bound from a young age, the 47-year-old is no stranger to singing competitions. He has been participating in singing competitions since the 1980s and does not allow his condition to deter him from doing what he enjoys. Cheerful and soft-spoken, the man likes ballads as well as more upbeat songs and frequently has karaoke sessions with his friends.
“Personally, there is a lot of pressure during competition as my condition makes me different from other people. I’ve to concern myself with things other people take for granted,” Lee said.
Sarawakian Tan, 46, is a recovered cancer patient. She was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2001. Winning her battle against cancer has spurred Tan to further enrich her life by taking up other challenges.
Believing in living life to its fullest, the active woman also enjoys jetskiing, go-karting and golfing, among other sports. She cites her supportive and encouraging family as her main source of strength and inspiration.
“Ever since we first watched the competition on Astro, my husband has reminded me to be on standby (minimum age is 45). “My husband and children accompanied me as I flew in from Sarawak for the audition. I felt so lucky to have gotten through as it’s my first attempt at singing,” said Tan.
The Astro Classic Golden Melody Singing Competition 2009 airs on Astro AEC (Channel 301) every Saturday at 8.30pm. Repeats are on Sunday (1am and 7.30am), Monday (7.30am), Friday (1.30pm) and Saturday (7.30am). The final will be held on May 23 at the Arena of Stars, Genting Highlands.
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