Astro Talent Quest 2009 Singing Competition

Saturday 25th July 2009

I’ve never been a fan of Astro Talent Quest (ATQ) competition until this very Saturday. I was invited to participate witnessing live of the competition. So, there we go, with a bunch of friends to Bukit Jalil Indoor Stadium to witness live for the very 1st time on the competition. It is a well-known national singing competition. Out of the 5 finalists, I actually knew 2 of them personally, Ryan and Ah Fai. I recognized Ryan some time ago when he appeared in the commercial as I was watching Astro. I couldn’t recognized Ah Fai at all until the very minute when his full Chinese name had been called out after the competition has started! With his giant poster hanging outside the entrance; I still had no idea who he was until that very moment! LOL. Talk about keeping track with friends around me, ‘Bad Friend Award of the Year’!

It was a blessing that I actually had the privilege to witness the grand competition live together with other thousands of audience. I was amazed by the courage and talent possessed by the 5 finalists. Let’s imagine this:

i) You were waiting alone at the back stage for your turn to show off practically everything you have to win people’s heart and attention in the stadium; all you could pray and think of is that everything will go smoothly and you won’t embarrassed yourself on the stage (trying your best not to mess up with the lyrics, dance steps, breath control, notes hitting, body language, facial expression, and be as natural as you could at the same time) accompanied by the back up dancers, singers and musicians;

ii) hitting up by the neon spotlights that make you couldn’t see a thing under the stage clearly although your eyes were wide opened (this could lead you to the fear of uncertainties)

iii) all your movement and skills were observed by the 7 judges whom will determine your championship, (either they like you or they don’t like you, how about that?)

iv) paranoid with all the negative comments and criticism that might be made by the judges and the low response from the audience (this could bring down your self-confidence at the very moment)

I was caught by one of my friends while I was day-dreaming (as usual when I was in deep thoughts). There are a lot of things running through my mind during that time. I actually imagined myself being one of the finalists, performing on the stage. Just thinking about that, it’s enough to make my whole body shivers. I do not think that I have enough courage (for now) to even step on the stage. At the same time, I was trying my best to concentrate in the whole competition and trying to absorb more tips on how a real competition has been conducted all this while.

One of my friends made a comment right after the show. She said it very directly and truthful. “This is not just a mere singing competition; this is a war between your own self-confidence level and others!”

This is how I conclude this whole experience:

If you are standing on the stage, you’re not a singer, actor, or artist. You are a PERFORMER. Someone who performs and ejaculates every talent (Singing, acting, dancing, preaching, public speaking etc) he/she has into the audience mind and makes an impact in their lives!

Do you have what it takes to become a PERFORMER?


p/s: I’ve been keeping