Saturday, April 04, 2009.

Well. I guess I better post before my phone/tagboard gets flooded by THAT QUESTION EVERYONE IS DYING TO ASK.

Yesterday was the big day. THE BIG DAY.

Despite that being it, we, the niceniceniceNYCB, still woke up before the sun rise to play national anthem for the school. that shows how hardworking we are...

our section wandered around the school in the morning with nothing better do. we walked across the quadrangle so it would be nicely conspicious. then after mrs teo gave us funny looks we backed off and wandered to valentia's class so she could get scissors and masking tape(as well as good lucks from all her classmates). then walked to joy's class and told her to come after pccg. then walked back to check if popular was open. it wasn't open so went back to band room to do protocol. our section's new motto. protocol.

after that during recess we moved stuff down to the audi, making an awful lot of noise as we wanted as much attention as possible(XD mission accompolised!!!!!!!) then set up. audi prac-ed for 2 hours, but seemed really short! i was dying for more...i couldn't believe this is the last shot we get at practice.

then like in no time at all we reached the end of our last prac and we were told to go and have lunch and change into our uniform. then my dear lao gong accompanied me to get lunch. the rest of the band ate supposedly carbo-high noodles. then we changed into our really hot uniform and i just chionged intot he band room for the aircon. really veryveryvery hot!!!!!!!!! looooong sleeves are bad for the climate in singapore can. since we collided with lunch with the rest of the school more people were staring at us than ever.

then, it was time to board the buses already. not before i had to run back to band room to fix my hair though. then boarded the bus and i sat with charlotte the spider! i had to stabalise the glock and the bow so that it won't fall over. though the triangle stand fell over just as we almost reach SCH. luckily, no big damage was done. the top fell off but it only unscrewed. also another piece of luck, i managed to fix the thing back. luckily miss ng taugh me how.

then we arrived at SCH! the place was packed with other bands. we met up with miss ng and gave her our nice card, to show our gratitude! it is a very nice card with a cloth cut picture in front. it says, "greatest guru ever!". well she is! i never knew anyone so cool that she can fix a chime that fell out of the stand.

then suddenly seniors popped up! yay lorraine and janabel and patricia and hui juan and liang zhen were all there to show their undying support for us! and quite interesting because after us was dunmand high and sec. people were saying: "Thats Dunman High" (heads all towards Dunman High), and "Thats Dunman Sec" (heads towards Dunmand Sec).

then suddenly everyone started moving so i picked up the glock and we moved towards the tuning room. which is still exactly as i remember it way back. 3 years back in fact. well than we spent our last minute there cheering. yes, cheering. bet we are the only band that waste precioud time on cheering! but it boosts your morale by a lot you know people? thats why council exists....so i guess everyone was quite uplifted when it was finally time...

to step on stage! after waiting for some time backstage and watching zhong hua on tv, it was finally our turn to step into the spotlight. the hall wasn't as crowded as i dreaded it would be. not only that, besides our seniors in the crowd, the hall was light! like not concert style everything all darkdark except for the stage. i felt much more safer.

then ms chong watched for the signal and we started overture 2. for 2 bars before B and 3 bars into C i felt i played really well! accents and dynamics were great! then at H, the pickup was one of my best. so it was ok. only i feel the four semiquavers at the end not so good. then, i think my wonderful section really aced the percussion solo at the end. i bet the judges were blown away!

then Hymn. this was it. i was relaly really nervous. i could feel the tension as ms chong started...then i counted carefully and bowed really loud and nicely! yay! i didn't mess up my bow thing! then one interesting thing, i think the birds woke everyone who were falling asleep. they are very attention catching. chrip! then the 106 bar me and joy very together! perfect! then the last part where my chimes supposed to imitate church bells were good! at least i didnt miss half the notes. even though it was a different chime.

then...it was over. just like that. and i went into the lift and agrees with mian jun: we played our best ever.

all the trumpets were crying and everybody including ms chong teared. and all our seniors were sniffing. and i bet the audience were touched too.

but sometimes, life is just not fair and judges can be blind.

we got silver.

then the whole hall fell silent. nobody knew what to do or say. nobody started crying or anything because we were just too shocked. me, i was still blindly clapping. the realisation didn't sink in on me till much later. i still went on clapping, oblivious to the fact. all the time, my hands were like moving and clapping, the thought just raced through my mind: that the announcer said wrong. we couldn't possibly have gotten silver. silver?? no way! everybody said it was a confirmed gold, perhaps even the honours that we have been hoping for so long. everybody played their hearts out with no regrets. aren't the judges the most pro people in the band circle? how can they not pick up this??

then as we walked out of the hall, the dreadful realisation just washed over me like a wave. everyone just hugged and only then, the tears started to fall. really fast and thick. because i realised, for my only syf in secondary school, we achieved a silver. the same as what i got 3 years ago. the same. all the hours and sweat we put into, this. i just got more and more upset, and the amount of tears proportionate. i think it was wrong but i felt it must all being my fault, hitting one note wrong in overture and stuff like that. and hui juan tried to comfort me, by telling me to be strong for my juniors. and i knew she was right but i couldn't stop myself.

i asked myself, why couldn't the judges see no difference between a neighbourhood primary and a top school's band. everyone played their hearts out, and hours and hours we put into this.

then i realised what kay yun said was right. the tears come, the tears go. the difference is that everyone gained more love, more friendship, more happiness. we left SCH with no regrets to the performance we put up. and its not only us that siad we are good. look at the discussion from bandfusion. i counted, 8 pages. all wondering why the judges thought like that.


NYCB

Yup, you people had done very well! Seriously well! Anw, we
love the bird. Hope you people can put up a good show in the next
concert!

yeah. i was in the centre block, and i think the drums were too
loud, even though i think the impact was really good. i agree that if nygh had
played that in esplanade or sth, it'll be perfect. i
tihnk your band's sound is a little too loud for what the hall can take. anyway,
i really enjoyed your band alot! (and i still haven figured out why your band got a silver. sobs)

To NYGHS : you gals played really well ... i was
personally touched by your v. musical playing (got goosebumps while
listening) ... perharps SCH is too small to contain your band's nice big
warm tone but if you gals play the same piece in Esplanade, it'll be perfect ...
so stay positive ! i personally think you gals sounded better than some honours
band .... WAY to GO !

Yup drums(belong to percussion family) its very
loud even on the side block, wonder how loud will it be in the center block. You
girls should go for soundcheck before SYF. ^^

Well you girls improved alot compared to SYF 2007.. I did feel your music
but only 2 points is the Percussion is way too loud, OVERPOWERED the band. and
the band sound is too loud. Other than this 2 major mistakes, im sure ur band
can get GWH for sure! =)To all bands: Don't care about results, care about
whether you enjoyed performing up there on stage. Then yeah you are Platinum! =D

i was there for the entire day. i thought that nygh
did really good, maybe too loud at times, but they could at least manage a gold
(with honours).other schools, some did pretty well. i thought some
sounded better den those from the morning session, so im actually quite curious
as to why they didnt get gold.

May I ask you a question? What do you
think of results. Not flaming anyone but I feel that there should be at least
some golds awarded...

I'm surprised that Nanyang did
not get gold. :/

yeah. you should have been
there to feel the silence in the hall. it was like so intense. nobody moved. and
some were just in too much shock to start crying.

The whole hall
was filled with sadness. I could literally feel it
even though I am just an audience member.It was exceptionally quiet today. The
ushers had to "chase" us out of the hall; no one moved when we were told we can
exit the hall already.

i went. and im very shocked with the
results!i enjoyed nygh alot. good job guys!dun be
disheartened with the results as long as you did your best!

to bander:
hahas you all were awesome! (i'm from kranji lol) just a bit too overwhelming at
the climax parts..hahas

but seriously shoudlnt nygh
and dunman high get more than a silver???

I think Nanyang Girls was really good. I don't know why they got
silver. What about Dunman High? I didn't get to hear them. Did they deserve that
silver? I thought they would get gold but oh well. They could get back their
gold band status. But I think they did their best. Congrats to bands who got
GWH. Oh yeah, any comments about Dunman High's performance?
I thought they
played really well and didn't deserve that silver?

haha. awesome! thanks
for all the great comments. but i still think that NY should
have gotten so much more than a silver. they are good. really good.

I was shocked wif cedar gals n nyg..my frens n i HUH-ED vv
loudly.i expect a gold n gwh respectively.

I watched the entire
afternoon session...I'm really shocked that nygh didn't even manage to get a
gold. i was really expecting at the very least, a gold. their choice piece was
excellent, and the solos (especially the two flute solos - excellent!) were
really good. im really surprised that they only got silver. its a
you-have-to-be-there moment - the hall was really quiet and filled with nothing
but disbelief when it was announced that they got silver instead. a pity,
really. perhaps they were a little too loud at certain portions of the choice
piece and the set piece? that was the comment i overheard from people sitting
ard me. i do agree they were a little too loud and intense at certain portions,
but imho, they managed to handle the dynamics of the two songs pretty well.
maybe the loudness was a bit over the top, but there was evident volume control.
the quieter parts were done nicely, and the "sfpp---sffz" at the end of hymn to
the infinite sky was really well-executed.WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED!!??!and.. i
thought cedar girls' played rather well too. hmm.. but i dun really get
zhonghua's choice piece - i would have thought that they would have chose
something that showcases the band somewhat. the whole song felt a little flat to
me. but the fundamentals of the band are clearly there - the articulation and
the likes.yeah. erm. pls dun flame me. just my humble opinion. =)NYGH deserves
better! but nonetheless, i respect the judges' decision(s).

i'm
seriously really really shocked at today's PM results. like omg?what ARE the
judges looking out for? i have no clue anymore.

Does anyone know how did nanyang girls and dunman high get silver???Both
bands are of high standards and i expected at least a gold from them if not a
gold with honours..
our school had an exchange with nanyang and they were fantastic! But they should have done their best, and
if the judges gave them a silver, so be it. After all, the colour of the medal
does not mark the quality of the band.

Yea. Anything can happen. Look at
AMK. Look at RGS. That's life, unpredictable as always...
Yeah, I always
thought they would get at least a gold. Hmm, lets wait and hear what they say
._.
I'm shocked too... Wow. What happened huh? Yeah and I didn't hear them
play so I don't really know. But yup, I'm sure those are their best performances
that they have put up!
I'm really shocked. nanyang girls? What happened? ):

I'm kinda shocked too. But well. Anything can happen during SYF. Drama
rmb?

None of the bands in the PM sessions got a gold or anything above
that eh? Heh. Anyone heard their playing? O:

Wow!! Gd job to the schs
tat took part in syf todae! Somehow i still cant believe nan
yang got silver?

Today's results are a shocker for me,
seriously...But then again I wasn't there, so all i can say is, i'm sure
everyone did their best...=]

so there you are, copied word for word every comment that was made about us. the general public applauded us!!!! YAY! it shows we really touched their hearts with our music! i think that is really worth much more than a GWH to us. so, thankyou everyone for their support! somehow i'm still quite pleasantly surprised that people were wowed enough by us to publicly announce that we were good and should have been awarded much higher. but i am seriously touched by their comments. so really, really, thankyou. i'm linking bandfusion when i have the time.

tmr, we are announcing our result to the school. i'm going to cheer and clap like crazy. we are going to show everyone what NYCB is capable of. see you(judges) again, 2011! sign...by then i'll be competeing for HCJC....still. i'm sure NYCB can bounce back to greater heights next year! because....the passion lives on!

{ 7:36 PM }