Yesterday was a most unforgettable day.Woke up rather early in the morning (5am) to get to CHS with beiyang and chuen hwee. went off with the band for their syf central judging with high spirits. many old frens who were band alumni went too. cat high was the first up at 0845...set piece 'Sunrise' and choice piece 'Incantation and Dance'...
and they didnt do well at all. The result of all the hard work: Silver.
I must admit, the judging this year was rather strict, and there were 7 judges instead of the usual 5. many bands deproved, and very few gold awards were given out. st patrick's was the only band to get gold with honours for the last two days of judging...
After the morning session of judging, the hall was filled with much sorrow, both inside and outside. i was depressed by the number of lost and crying faces i saw...not jus cat high's band but many many others too...i'll never forget that scene.
many of us might say 'oh it's just results' and 'liddat also wanna cry arh' but if we view it from the band's perspective, if u put in so many hours of tireless effort expecting very much to get a gold or gold with honours, and u get neither...how wld u feel?
when i heard the band play at the Singapore Conference Hall, the sound was so shocking and disturbing...i would frankly describe the loud sections of Incantation and Dance as 'mud throwing sections'. my impression was that 'this band jus blast blast blast, got no soul' and i expect that the judges would feel the same way too. i was rather surprised when the mud throwing session ended and the alumni gave a huge rousing applause. well i heard that they have reflected on their errors and are now gonna work hard to improve and rise again...
i dunno why i have such different opinions from many of my alumni...but i'm looking at it from an unbiased musical perspective, unmarred by the fact that CHSSB was part of my life before. CHSSB never used to be like that...oh well. seven years of glory at syf is finally over. let's look at the records:
2001: Gold
2003: Gold
2005: Gold with Honours
2007: SILVER.
also for ms tan, our most wonderful conductress (i could never ask for a better one), this is her third setback in a row. 2005 WMC zilver (Kerkrade), 2006 pri sch band bronze, and now the silver from the sec skoo band. console her when you see her ppl...spoke to her for an hour today in the morning. had a heart to heart talk...all truths...no lies...
what i really hope is that the band will understand what has really gone wrong and reflect on it...a silver does not mean the end of the world. Friends, i ask of you, when u see a band member in your vincity, encourage him, not console him. they need to move on. Band members, fret not and know better than to subject yourselves to a label of degradation. you are better than that. :D
After Sunrise follows a Sunset. but another Sunrise follows a Sunset. This is the rule of Life.
