Here are the results:

Winner of Fame OST CD:

Justin Lee of justinlee.sg

Winner of Fame mystery prize:

Sharon Chow of Hougang Ave 4!

All winners will be contacted via email, and I will arrange for posting of prizes! Thanks to all who participated! Keep watching this blog for more giveaways!

Enjoy your prizes, and if you have not managed to watch the Fame movie, please do go and watch the movie at Cathay this weekend!

For more information on the soundtrack, please visit Universal Music.

After collecting the tickets, we headed into the cinema. I met StephieTan from Fashion Nation / Stephie Says and she was seated right beside me! Also met Jerrick some rows behind!

Before the movie began, we were treated to a dance performances to songs from the Fame soundtrack album, that strangely reminded me of National Day Parade dance performances. I know that’s slightly mean, especially since NDP dancers I’ve seen are definitely much more coordinated and synchronized than the dancers last night were.

The whole dance that seemed to me like a contrived attempt at being sexy, modern, and hip all at the same time. And it failed. All of them. To be fair, they probably had a week of rehearsal prior to the performance last night, but for a movie focused on performing arts and with dance as one of the stronger points of the movie, I just expected better. It felt like I had ended up spending a couple hours on www.wptcasino.com after expecting a big trip to Vegas.

It felt like I had ended up spending a couple hours on WPTcasino.com after expecting a big trip to Vegas.

After the dances ended, lights were dimmed, and we were transported into a world of flurry depicting performing arts hopefuls preparing for their audition day, to enter the New York City High School of Performing Arts.

Let me begin by saying that I really enjoyed the movie, and do highly recommend it to readers of this blog. However, there were bits and pieces of the movie that was unsatisfactory to me, and I will begin by highlighting those, and end with the bits that I enjoyed.

Of all the scenes, I probably loved the opening of the movie most, with short glimpses of students’ auditions – perhaps the one I loved most was that of Joy’s monologue for her theatre major. I had goosebumps listening to her for that one minute or less, so do look out for it! Fame starts on a high note – with success stories of aspiring artistes making the cut to entitle them their first step towards stardom.

Moving on, the movie got darker and darker, and I felt that there were a lot of stereotypes about artistes and performing arts, like how people have to suffer before they can truly be masters at their own art, etc. But one thing that struck me was what theatre teacher Alvin Dowd said to theatre/rap music student Malik, that essentially meant (I don’t remember the exact words): We need actors who can’t play angry people, but we don’t need angry actors. Do you know the difference?

The characters in the movie were all underdeveloped (perhaps due to time restrictions, but that’s quite a lame excuse for not developing a character, imo), and you don’t see how they’ve progressed or developed themselves in their art, except perhaps lead character classical pianist turned singer, Denise. Her development was rather dramatic, but it lent a positive note to the entire movie. I felt that there were too many focal points, too many characters, and too little depth to the characters.

The movie never reaches a climax, but is overall, a wonderfully entertaining movie that follows the typical literary plot of the quest, where the protagonist(s) set out on a search for something, and attains experiences that develop his character (except the characters don’t really develop much in this case), and after some inspiring incident, the protagonist finally arrives at what he was looking for, although it may not be what he intended initially.

I couldn’t find the key message in the movie. It was lost beneath all those disjointed scenes that seemed like random short stories, and they never really contributed to any overall story line. In fact, if you’re looking for either key message or storyline, you probably won’t find it in Fame.

Indeed, I found myself asking: What was the key message? Do not give up your dreams no matter what other people tell you? Or, you may not always be cut out to do the things you like to do? Always have a Plan B?

In the movie, we also see at least 2 students dropping out of the high school to pursue careers in the real working world of performing arts. However, I kind of sit on the fence with regard to that – while it’s awesome that they sent the message that educational qualifications are (in some cases) not as important as talent and passion, I don’t think the message will sit well with parents and educators.

This feel-good movie’s strongest point probably lies in the performances, but there was a huge imbalance. For example, I felt that dance, song and theatre were given more screentime than others (although in theatre, Jenny and Malik’s stories were tiresome and cheesy), perhaps for theatrical and dramatic effects, as they are easier to portray and better-received by audiences of this generation? The orchestra and classical music performers were rather underrated, only making a real appearance for about 30 seconds, at the graduation performance. I loved the artistic cinematography, the music, the dance choreography, and the glimpses of passion that you could see within the characters.

Do go and watch the movie at Cathay this weekend! It’s definitely one that you should watch on the big screen if you love dance, drama, and music!

And now! For the giveaway!

Who wants Fame goodies?

I have one Fame Original Soundtrack CD and one mystery Fame merchandise to give away to two lucky readers!

To win this CD, just answer these 3 simple questions:

1. In what year was the original Fame movie released?
2. How many songs does Asher Book sing in the Fame OST album?
3. Why do you think you deserve this CD? (most creative answer wins)

Contest Terms & Conditions:

All entries must be emailed to contact [at] daphnemaia [dot] sg before Saturday, 26 September 2009, 2359 hrs.

All participants must be residents of Singapore (with a local address for me to send the prizes to).

Winners will be announced on this blog, on Sunday, 27 September 2009. All winners will be notified by email. Good luck!

Photo courtesy: http://airworm23.blogspot.com

If you’re curious about what it is like to watch Singapore’s basketball pride in action, in a stadium full of enthusiastic fans, while enjoying cold beer courtesy of Brewerkz, here’s your chance to find out!

This week, I’m giving away TEN pairs of tickets to the upcoming game where the Singapore Slingers meet Barangay Ginebra Kings in what is set to be the most explosive game of the season!

We played against Ginebra last season, and boy, was it a physical match! And now, they’re back with a vengeance! It’s going to be interesting to see how our new Slingers team deals with their play, and hopefully, defeat Ginebra again!

But the Slingers need your support, your cheers, your applause! Tickets are already on sale now, but since we know nothing beats FREE tickets and FREE beer, the Slingers Management and Brewerkz Management have kindly agreed to sponsor this giveaway!

Date: Wednesday, 30 Sept 2009
Tip-off time: 2000 hrs
Venue: Singapore Indoor Stadium

To win one of the 10 pairs of tickets for the game and join me for the match, all you have to do is to post a comment on this blog entry, and complete the following sentence:

I want to watch the Slingers in action because: _____________. (You can write a sentence or an essay, I’ll read them all!)

Do leave your valid email address so I can contact you for ticketing details!

All 10 winners will be informed by Monday, 28 Sept 2009!

Wait! That’s not the end of it yet!

Anyone who blogs (you can even start up a new blog to participate in this), can stand to win a Dinner for 4 at Brewerkz!

All you have to do is to attend the game, either by winning tickets through this contest or buying them from SISTIC, and blog about the game! After you’re done with your blog entry, submit your link here. Best entry as selected by judging panel wins! All bloggers who participate will also be given 4 tickets (for yourself and to give away on your blog entry) for any chosen game on the Slingers’ game schedule after 7 October. So please blog about the tickets that you’re gonna give away too!

Terms and Conditions: You have to insert the logos of Singapore Slingers and Brewerkz in your entry, with hyperlinks to the Slingers and Brewerkz websites.

Closing date for submission of blog entries: 7 Oct 2009, 2359 hrs.

Judging panel will consist:

1. A representative from Singapore Slingers management
2. A representative from Brewerkz management
3. A representative from FLY Entertainment
4. A representative from Ping.sg management, the Community meta-blog for Singapore bloggers

Judges’ decisions are final. If you need any clarification, please use the comment form below, or email me at contact [at] daphnemaia [dot] sg!

First, hurry, comment below with the completed sentence and win one of the 10 pairs of free tickets!