Guinness Live : Mentoring the Next Generation of Local Music Talent

< Guinness Live >Mentoring the Next Generation of Local Music Talent

Singapore, 19 October 2011 � In support of the local live music scene, Guinness is staging a fresh music program – Guinness Live – which brings together industry veterans and young aspirants. Twelve amazing young performers under the mentorship of music veterans will battle it out through a series of 54 live shows held in three of Singapore’s hottest clubs – Dragonfly, Firefly and Shanghai Dolly.

‘Guinness Live’ will kick off on 1 November 2011 and run till 1 March 2012, every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday night at 10.00 pm at Shanghai Dolly, Dragonfly & Firefly respectively.  These 12 singers will be divided into three teams, with each team assigned their respective “home club” and mentor – William Scorpion from Shanghai Dolly, Jason Chung from Dragonfly and Fatt Zhai from Firefly.

The highlight of each show features a musical battle where a visiting mentor and the contestant under his tutelage visits a contesting club to challenge the resident team to a stage battle called a Player-Killer Shootout (PK Shootout). With the help of renowned composer and producer Eric Ng, 20 Chinese classics have been turned into special ‘Guinness Live’ remixes for the contestants to perform during the PK Shootout at the three clubs.

“Singapore has talented performers. ‘Guinness Live’gives young musicians unprecedented access to industry veterans who have worked with international artistes.  The four month long competition will help them hone their stage performance and learn the music business from experienced professionals.  This is the type of break every young singer needs to pursue a career in the music industry,” said Eric Ng, Producer & Founder, Funkie Monkies.

Deciding the fate of the 12 contestants will be the music fans.  Fans online can cast their votes on ‘Guinness Live’ Facebook Fan page.  Every week one lucky voter will win an exclusive ‘Guinness Live’ St James membership card.

The stakes are high for all twelve participants.  At the end of the program, only one team will rise from the lights and applause to emerge as winners.  After 54 weeks of gruelling grooming and close mentorship, the winners will be cutting a brand new single written and produced by Eric Ng and Xiao Han.  To help realize the aspirants’ dream, Guinness will be putting the winners up on stage on 17 March 2012 together with an international act.

“Guinness has always been committed to supporting live music and young musicians in Singapore, and Guinness Live!  will serve to be an innovative platform to give music lovers and local singers the unique experience and opportunity to realize their dreams. In collaboration with our partners St. James and the Funky Munkies, this contest is injecting new energy into the live music scene and will give everyone a chance to play an active role in honing the next generation of local stars,” said Wong A*Mei Wai, Head of Marketing, Asia Pacific Breweries Singapore.

With their skills polished from 54 weeks of live stage training, exposure to backend studio recording and the experience of performing with an International artiste, the winners will be offered an option of becoming a regular guest performer with William Scorpion on stage to perform for audiences that adore live music performances.

“We are very pleased that Guinness has chosen St James Holdings as its venue partner for the event,” said Dennis Foo, CEO & Executive Director, St James Holdings Limited. “For up and coming artistes, there is nothing better than performing in front of a live audience. St James has a strong customer base for our clubs which will help boost the careers of our local talents and allow them to grow their fan base,” Mr. Foo said.

The twelve participants range from 18 to 30 years of age with diverse music experience.  Amongst them we have a student, a former gym instructor, a lawyer, an online singer / songwriter and a wedding singer to name a few � all looking for that first big break.

More information about ‘Guinness Live’ events can be found at www.guinnesslive.sg

###
About Guinness®

Guinness® is the Number One premium darkbeer in the world and was founded in 1759 by Arthur Guinness in Dublin. Since then, this premium stout brewer has brought the Guinness® experience to 51 countries in which it is brewed, and 150 countries in which it is sold. 10 million glasses of Guinness® are enjoyed every single day around the world. Taking the Guinness® journey, one will find that one good pintleads to another.

APPENDIX – More About Guinness Live!

Event Duration : 1 November 2011 to 1 March 2012

Venues

Shanghai Dolly  –  every Tuesday, 10pm

Dragonfly         –  every Wednesday, 10pm

Firefly               –  every Thursday, 10pm

Scoring

The team with the highest number of votes win!  Votes can be cast on www.guinnesslive.sg. Each voter can cast their vote once a day.  Winning performances at the club each night will be awarded 100 bonus Facebook votes.  70% will be determined by the audience applause and 30% by guests at the 3 VIP tables which are open to public booking.

Eric Ng (HYR) 黄韵仁 � Music Director

 

Eric Ng began his musical journey in 1996 as a session guitarist and is now a highly sought after Songwriter/Producer/Music Arranger.  He has worked with many of the region’s biggest A-List artistes such as A*Mei, Sandy Lam, Emil Chau, Jaycee Chan, Jolin Tsai, Luo Zhi Xiang.

Some of his high profile works include 《纸飞机》，《无底洞》，《双栖动物》and 《人质》.

He founded Funkie Monkies Productions in 2000, eventually teaming up with Xiaohan and Jim Lim.

He played guitar on the World Tours of Sandy Lam and Emil Chau, performing in Taiwan, Japan, America, Canada and China.

In 2007, he was the pop music director for the inaugural Singapore Day held in New York City’s Central Park � an event that introduced Singapore culture overseas and attracted 6000 attendees.

In 2008, he collaborated with award winning Singaporean director, Royston Tan on the hit movie 《881》as the film’s music director.  The movie was a huge success, grossing over $3 million in Singapore, and the soundtrack, released by Funkie Monkies Productions, become the best selling original soundtrack in Singapore history.  The movie theme song 《一人一半》performed by 伍家辉 became a big hit, propelling his career as FM’s first recording artiste.

Over the years, Eric has actively tried to inspire, train and bring new blood into the industry. He has conducted seminars in Singapore, Malaysia and China.

In 2010, he worked with Guinness as lead mentor/consultant in the “Rise Together” movement, a campaign to boost the local music industry through a series of performance.  The movement was successful in bringing aspiring musicians together and providing them with the training and exposure they need to take their music to greater heights.

Xiaohan小寒  – Lyricist

Breaking into the industry in 1998, Xiaohan has established her reputation as a leading female lyricist in the Chinese Pop Music scene. Based in Singapore, her lyrics are sought after by many top-selling artistes.

Since 2000, Xiaohan has been a consistent nominee at the YES 933 Singapore Hit Awards and became the first female to be crowned the Best Local Lyricist in 2002 with 《纸飞机》. She went on to bag this prestigious award with other high profile works 《无底洞》(SHA 2004)，《雨天》  （SHA 2007）, 《达尔文》（SHA 2008) and  《抛物线》(SHA 2010). She is also a two-time Best Local Lyricist at the Singapore E awards organized by Singapore Press Holdings.

One of her career milestones was being the first Singaporean lyricist to be nominated in the 19th Golden Melody Award for Best Lyricist with《达尔文》in 2008.  Xiaohan has expanded her scope of work to include projects on a national level as well as musicals. She penned mandarin lyrics for the Singapore National Day theme songs 《晴空万里》 (performed by 蔡淳佳) and 《就在这里》 by 陈伟联 in 2008 and 2009 respectively, and the Speak Mandarin Campaigntheme songs in 2006 and 2007. Her works for musicals include 快� (2005), 老九 (2005) and 聊斋 (2010). In 2009, she gained TV exposure as one of the judges on Channel U’s ‘Campus Superstar’.

Besides writing lyrics, she is also a regular columnist to 《联合晚报》and 《女友》magazine. Her first book 《眼泪是胶囊》was released in mid December 2010 and was well received in her book promotion tours. Despite her busy schedule, Xiaohan is dedicated to teaching. She holds frequent seminars at secondary and tertiary institutions and is the main speaker for the popular 100.3 radio show 《词有词理》sponsored by the Ministry of Education of Singapore.

Her interesting way of teaching has made her lyrics writing course one of the most sought after lyrics courses in Singapore.  This course has produced students whose work is performed by prestigious Mandarin Pop artistes such as Stefanie Sun, Nicholas Chang and MiLuBing.

Team Firefly

FATT ZHAI, 潘岐�(�仔) : Mentor for Team Firefly

Age:46

Years of Stage Experience:Over 20 years

One thing we know about Fatt Zhai – he likes a competition.  As a young performer he entered plenty of them to show what he could do and to get his first big break.  So expect Fatt Zhai’s team to bring their A-game when they step up and lay down a challenge to their rivals

Affectionately known to his fans and peers as Fatt Zhai, Poon Ki Fatt  began his career in a prestigious regional singing competition* (第二届省港杯歌唱大�) hosted by Hong Kong’s reigning channel, TVB (香港����台�����台合).  Taking the title of Champion and also Best Performer, he went on to win the third prize in the Guangzhou finals. Since then, he has rocked the stage for over 20 years as the drummer and lead vocalist of his band Starway, the resident band at Firefly at St James Power Station.

Fatt Zhai knows how important Guinness Live is for his young protégés.  Having got his own big break in a competition, he is determined that his fantastic four will be at the top when the voting ends in March.

WillisLoye Hwee Hoong  黎辉丰 (Age 28)

Willis is a macho guy who knows how to be physical.  A former gym instructor, he’s right at home pumping iron or speeding down the sideline on a football field.  But Willis has a gift that makes him stand out from his sports loving mates – he’s blessed with a voice of an angel. A freelance performer, he knows what it takes to wow an audience and is right at home in front of a live band.   Willis is set to light up Guinness Live with his energy and talent

AlfredSim Chee Hao 沈志豪 (Age 30)

A hardworking professional, Alfred has been working as a wedding singer for the past four years and is a veteran of many singing competitions.   He’s got the talent, the voice and the stage presence � all he needs is someone to give him that one big break.  Now he is seeking a bigger stage to perform on.  With a powerful voice and rugged good looks, Alfred’s years of hard work and practice are set to pay dividends when he takes the stage at Guinness Live!

Yee Si Ling余思铃 (Age 26)

You’ve probably heard her sing or seen her on television and never realised it.   Si Ling has sung back-up vocals for some of the biggest artistes in the region, including Kit Chan.  She has been a back-up singer on television shows as well as working in the studio recording jingles and cover versions.  Si Ling is a talented professional but singing back-up for other people is not enough for her.  With Guinness Live Si Ling has the chance to show what she can do and establish herself as an artiste in her own right.  It’s time for Si Ling to move from the back of the stage to the front!

Yeo Chin Hao Howie杨振豪 (Age 29)

Howie is a contestant living a double life.  By day he dons his shirt and tie at one of Singapore’s leading law firms.  At night he puts on his rocker jacket and belts out his high energy music to appreciative audiences around Singapore.   A big fan of Guinness beer, Howie is currently studying for his Bar exams.  But music has always been Howie’s first love and now he wants to see how far he can go with it.  Howie’s got the stage presence and the vocals to go all the way in Guinness Live and as he likes to say, “Who knows where life leads you?”

Team DragonFly

Jason Chung, 曾永恒 : Mentor for Team Dragonfly

Age:39

Years of Stage Experience:Over 19 years

Everyone loves Karaoke.  Some of us think we are good at it but very few of us are.  But how many people can rightfully claim to be the best in Singapore?  Well, Jason Chung can! He was the winner of the 1993 Pioneer Karaoke Championships and represented Singapore in the regional competition in 1996 – 歌坛新秀争霸赛 in Hong Kong. Since then Jason has been wowing audiences with his powerful vocals for nearly twenty years, moving from Karaoke Champion to renown singer at mega-clubs in Singapore.

With a reputation as one of Singapore’s best male voices, Jason was the front man for the band Front Page, working the local music scene with them from 1992 to 1996. In 1997 he was invited to be the lead vocalist for the band Typhoon � and they have never looked back since.  Today, Jason and Typhoon perform to a growing army of fans as the resident band at Super Dragonfly at St. James Power Station.

Jason has earned the respect of his peers in the Mando-pop scene through his hard work and consistently strong performance.  It also earned him an invitation to perform his signature tunes at the prestigious Hong Kong Directors Gala in 2004.

Goh Yong Wei 吴勇威 (Age 19)

The ultimate dark horse!  Yong Wei still doesn’t know how he ended up as a finalist in Guinness Live  He was supposed to be covering the audition for his blog.  When Guinness Live’s music director Eric Ng heard him singing in the waiting room, he insisted he audition.  To everyone’s surprise � including Yong Wei’s – he blew the judges away.  One of the most “outspoken” bloggers in Singapore, Yong Wei is a completely unknown quantity who has never even thought of becoming a professional performer.  He has the voice, but can he deliver in front of a real audience?  Well, we are about to find out if this musical outsider is up to the challenge at Guinness Live

Phoebe Ong Bee Lian 王美莲 (Age 30)

Phoebe knows what it takes to make it as a live performer.  Five nights a week, she entertains the crowds at a local music café � earning her living as a professional musician.  But Phoebe knows she is ready for a bigger audience and is keen to show what she can do.  With a passion for music, Phoebe likes nothing better than belting out a big rock number for her audience, so look out for Phoebe the rocker chick when she takes the stage.

Kenny Khoo Yin Long 邱殷龙 (Age 23)

If anyone has a natural gift for performing, it’s Kenny.  He’s an artiste that has it all – looks, charm, talent and commitment.  But Kenny knows making it in the music business is all about hard work.  Since the age of 17, Kenny has been pursuing his dream of being a professional musician and is currently working with his acoustic band around Singapore’s pubs and clubs.  With Guinness Live Kenny is determined to prove he has the elusive ‘X-factor’ that will make him Singapore’s next musical superstar.

Ng Xu Cun Alvin黄煦存 (Age 26)

For every artiste, there is one defining moment that sets them on the path to being a performer.  For Alvin, that moment was five years ago when he met a guy that had worked on tour with some of the world’s biggest bands including Depeche Mode, Radiohead and U2.  Alvin put aside his study and his plan to be a banker to pursue his passion for music.  A talented singer songwriter, Alvin’s composition was selected from thousands of entries in the International Songwriting Competition as one of the Top 50 pop songs.  Alvin believes Guinness Live will set him on his way to becoming a successful crossover artiste appealing to both Asian and Western markets.

Team Shanghai Dolly
 

William Scorpion : Mentor for Team Shanghai Dolly

Age:Your guess is as good as mine

Years of Stage Experience:28 years

He’s the father of Singapore Mando-pop � but he started his career as a Canto-pop singer in the 80s.

William’s big break came when he made his debut on Singapore national television � just 5 months after he joined the music business. After that, his reputation as an entertainer soared – not just in Singapore but across the region.  A series of solo concerts in China and across Asia during his early career established him as an artiste of international quality.

Then in 1997, William decided to switch to Mando-pop. More success followed until today, when William stars as the resident singer and Executive Director at Singapore’s hottest entertainment venue – St James Power Station. On stage, he is a vibrant and passionate performer, commanding the support of his fans and the respect of his peers. Off stage, he is committed to nurturing the next generation of young performers.

In Guinness Live, William is seen as the mentor of mentors, where he will pass on his experience and expertise to young artistes hoping to follow in his footsteps.

AydanAng Wei Quan 洪伟铨 (Age 26)

Aydan is on a mission to change the world through art and music.  With his talent for singing and his love of design, Aydan is inspired to make life better for those around him in need.  His work with kids with cerebral palsy and autism has shown him that music can change lives, lift spirits and enrich the soul.  Aydan and his band play regularly at bars and cafes around Singapore.  He’s the quintessential front man � working the audience with a unique mix of emotion and classy vocals.   Having worked with Guinness before on the Live Unplugged roadshows in the heartland coffeeshops, Aydan is back to again blow the audience away with his live performances.

Khoo Lay Shan Jeremy(Age 26)

Jeremy has been building up his fan base – one hit at a time.  With a desire to perform and share his music, Jeremy started posting videos of his singing on YouTube for fun.  Then things started to happen.  What started as a couple of hits has now grown to number in the thousands.  With a growing audience enjoying what he is doing online, Jeremy was spotted by a talent agent who got him a regular gig performing live.  A classically trained pianist and music teacher, Jeremy is ready to take his music to another level with Guinness Live!

Cheng Kei Ying Benita郑琪颖 (Age 18)

The youngest contestant in the competition at 18, Benita’s life has always been about music.  At age two, she started singing � and she has never stopped!  Benita sings every day, everywhere she goes.  She started training her voice at the age of 10, began performing when she started secondary school and has sung for an audience of more than 3,000.  A success in campus competitions, Benita is finishing her junior college education, but is in no doubt that singing is her future.  Now she is set to graduate to the big time as a contestant in Guinness Live!

RegineHan Rui Jun 韩睿君 (Age 28)

Regine is one the most respected artistes in Asia’s independent music scene.  After winning her first competition at the tender age of seven, Regine started her singing training at 16.   Regine has been working with her own band for the last five years and has performed at the Taiwan Spring Scream Music Festival as well as Kuala Lumpur’s Indie Music Festival.  A versatile musician, Regine writes her own material and was one of the stars of the Guinness Live Unplugged last year, so she knows how tough the completion is going to be!