Archive for the ‘Fiona Xie’ Category
About A Girl Called Katy
SINGAPORE : What do you get when you combine the kookiness of Zooey Deschanel, the sensuality of Dita von Teese and the spunk of Courtney Love?
If you answered, “Fiona Xie”, go boil yourselves under a silly person.
We are - with all due respect to dear Fiona - actually talking about hot American singing sensation Katy Perry, who’s been making headlines this past year with her debut album, “One of the Boys”.
The album itself is a pretty poppy affair, but thanks to having song titles such as “I Kissed a Girl” and “Ur So Gay”, Perry found herself a target from various circles of society and, of course, the media. But as is so often the case, many of the gripers just took those phrases at face value and didn’t actually listen to what the songs were about.
Perry’s response? A shrug.
“The media has to sell papers and get hits on websites,” she said. “I understand that. It’s the nature of the beast. I knew exactly what I was getting into when I released a single called ‘I Kissed a Girl’. I was okay with whatever the media thought, because I knew I would have a chance to show people that there are different sides to me as well.”
That was what she was doing when TODAY caught up with Perry. She was en route to Barcelona, Spain, on her second European tour to promote the album, but took time out to get on the blower.
Channel News Asia
Don’t Forget Your Lyrics
SINGAPORE : Half a million dollars - that’s how much a forgotten lyric might cost you if you are a contestant on new Channel 5 game show, “Don’t Forget the Lyrics”.
Hosted by local celebrity, Gurmit Singh, contestants are required to sing out - karaoke style - the words to fill in the blanks in the song. And if you can keep singing it right for 10 songs, you’ll walk away with S$500,000!
Easy peasy you say? Well, not quite.
“These people who come along thinking they know the song and when the music stops, the lyrics go away, they get stumped!” Gurmit said.
“My theory is this, when people see blanks, dashes, their minds go blank as well.”
Each game consists of three tiers which are divided into nine levels. The difficulty of the challenge increases with each tier and the tiers dictate how many blank lyrics contestants have to remember and sing within a stipulated time.
Contestants have to get every exact lyric correct to pass the stage, and like “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire”, they can get help if they wish to.
Each contestant is entitled to three lifelines also known as “backups” that they can use when they are stuck at any point of the competition. But each backup can only be used once.
“Backup Singer” allows the contestant to bring a friend or family member on stage to help sing the missing lyrics.
If contestants opt for “Two Words”, they can choose any two words they have filled in to check if they are right.
The last, “3 Lines”, allows contestants to pick the correct answer from three multiple choice options.
“Every time you answer correctly, you keep going up (the different levels), higher and higher. But every time you lock in the words and they are wrong, any single word, any single punctuation is wrong, you go to either zero or S$10,000 threshold level,” Gurmit explained.
The game show also features celebrity contestants like MediaCorp actresses Fiona Xie and Jade Seah, characters from Channel 5 sitcoms such as Phua Chu Kang (Gurmit Singh), Sergeant Dollah (Suhaimi Yusof), Adrianna Wow and Barbarella Chanel (both played by Michelle Chong) and even “Singapore Idol” winners Taufik Batisah and Hady Mirza, as well as runner-up Jonathan Leong.
But the one to look out for is actress Andrea Fonseka who is “really good”. “She knows many songs, she’s like a walking encyclopedia,” said Gurmit.
“Don’t Forget the Lyrics” premiered last year in the United States, and Singapore is the 30th country in the world to showcase the popular game show. It premieres Thursday, 27 November, at 8pm on MediaCorp’s Channel 5.
- CNA/km
Channel News Asia
And The Stars Came Out…
SINGAPORE: Singapore stars came out to shine for a good cause on Sunday night at the President’s Star Charity show, and as several celebrities learned, doing good isn’t always easy.
Kym Ng and Fiona Xie performed a medley of golden Chinese oldies dressed in ornate qipaos and beehive hairdos as part of the night’s “Singapore Cabaret” theme.
“It’s very stressful singing live, and especially difficult remembering the steps,” Kym told TODAY.
Fiona agreed: “Singing was nerve-wracking because I had to step out of my comfort zone, and I’m actually very shy.” However, she did learn lessons from the under-privileged people she worked with on the show.
“You think you’re helping them, but really they’re helping us to see our petty problems in perspective. They have overcome so much,” said the actress.
Other highlights at the MediaCorp TV Theatre included Tay Ping Hui, Gurmit Singh and Daren Tan crooning a FrankSinatra medley; Taufik Batisah putting on the ritz with young tap dancers from JazzKids; a Bollywood number by Jas Arora and students from the Global Indian International School; a P Ramlee medley by Rahimah Rahim and Hady Mirza; and performances by ’60s singing legends Veronica Young and Anneke Gronloh.
President S R Nathan himself also got into the act with a Chinese calligraphy-writing performance to the strains of the T’ang Quartet. He wrote a Chinese phrase meaning “support the poor and help the needy”.
The aim of this year’s President’s Challenge is to raise S$8 million. As of 3pm on Monday, the President’s Star Charity had raised S$5.06 million through phone donations, lower than the S$5.4 million raised last year. But, as participant Gurmit Singh shared, “every little bit counts.”
The President’s Star Charity is part of the President’s Challenge, an annual series of activities to increase community awareness of the plight of the less fortunate, as well as to raise funds for social services. President Nathaninitiated the first President’s Challenge in 2000.
Donation hotlines are open till Oct 18, midnight. Call 1900 112 8821/8822/8823 to donate S$5, S$10 and S$100, respectively. -
Channel News Asia