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!

A reinvention of the original Oscar®-winning hit film, this 2009 film definitely has a lot to live up to, especially in the arena of the movie’s soundtrack, which won two Academy Awards and a BAFTA Award for its music, while receiving an equally impressive number of other Oscar®, BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations.

The movie soundtrack of the season is out in stores now, but I was lucky enough to get my hands on a copy, thanks to Universal Music.

Checking through the tracklist, I was glad to find that 2 of my favourite tracks from the original movie (Fame and Out Here On My Own) were included in this 2009 re-make, and that it contained a whole load of new songs, too!

What a great way to psyche myself up for the movie’s gala premiere this Thursday! I listened to the album with much anticipation, and I just have to say that it doesn’t disappoint at all!

Tracklist:

01. Welcome To P.A. – Raney Shockne
02. Fame - Naturi Naughton
03. Big Things – Anjulie
04. Ordinary People – Asher Book
05. This Is My Life – Hopsin, Ak’Sent, Tynisha Keli & Donte “Burger” Winston
06. Out Here On My Own - Naturi Naughton
07. Street Hustlin’ – Raney Shockne featuring Stella Moon
08. You’ll Find A Way (Switch & Sinden Remix) – Santigold
09. Can’t Hide From Love - Naturi Naughton & Collins Pennie
10. Black & Gold – Sam Sparro
11. Back To Back – Collins Pennie featuring Ashleigh Haney
12. I Put A Spell On You - Raney Shockne featuring Eddie Wakes
13. Get On The Floor - Naturi Naughton & Collins Pennie
14. Try – Asher Book
15. You Took Advantage Of Me - Megan Mullally
17. Too Many Women (Damon Elliott Remix) – Rachael Sage
18. Someone To Watch Over Me – Asher Book
19. You Made Me Love You - Raney Shockne featuring Oren Waters
20. Hold Your Dream - Naturi Naughton, Asher Book, Kay Panabaker

The 2009 movie soundtrack is really an awesome album that injects a variety of new flavours of today’s music and allows me to update some scenes from the 1980 movie in my mind, with partial re-writes of my own. *The Power of Imagination*

Well-balanced with ballads and in fast tracks, this album hints at a movie that will please a range of audiences. The beats on the fast tracks are mostly sexy hip-hop, and it pleases me, because that makes me want to dance!

It was difficult for me to pick out favourite tracks, but here a few choice picks (bar songs from the 1980 movie):

(Track #7) Street Hustlin’
(Track #8) You’ll Find A Way
(Track #11) Back to Back
(Track #14) Try
(Track #15) You Took Advantage of Me
(Track #18) Someone to Watch Over Me

Definitely an album that’s gonna be on my playlist for this entire week and maybe beyond!

Check www.getmusic.com.sg to find out more about the soundtrack.

Fame 2009 is a remake of the original musical & soundtrack made popular in the 80’s. The album features stunning tracks by the cast and other popular songs from the incredible film.

The movie opens worldwide on September 25, 2009.