Thursday 25 July 2013

"THE FINAL 1" PRESS CON EXPERIENCE: AN INTERVIEW WITH THE INTERVIEWER

Last night on “The Final 1”, the contestants were shown facing various members of the media at a press conference, being interviewed by Rozz on her 987FM radio show, and attending a red carpet event. This writer was privileged to be invited to the press conference, and has deliberately kept the interviews in this article as raw as possible, so that you can see for yourself how they handled the interview questions.


SO WHAT WAS IT LIKE BEING THERE IN THE FLESH?

It was a hazy afternoon when I made my way down to ME@OUE to meet what was then the Top 11 contestants of “The Final 1” competition. I wasn’t really sure what to expect, seeing as in all likelihood, they were all new to this whole game of meeting the press and being interviewed. Just as they were probably wondering what questions they might have to deal with that day, I was wondering what kind of answers I might expect from this bunch.

The press conference began with Rozz from 987FM introducing everyone present to the Top 11 - Debbi, Farisha, Faith, Gail, Glen, Hashy, Jean, Louisa, Meryl, Shaun & Yuresh – and giving us a quick glimpse into each of the 11 personalities.

The Top 11 contestants from "The Final 1"
(Pic: Mediacorp Channel 5)

Next, members of the media took turns interviewing the contestants. I was paired with a writer from The New Paper, and we were given 15-20 minutes with each group of contestants. I had prepared a fixed list of questions for them, looking to see how each of them would answer the same set of questions.


WHO DID YOU INTERVIEW FIRST & WHAT DID THEY SAY?

Our first group included Shaun, Hashy, Louisa & Glen... they managed to answer 5 of the questions I had prepared.

Shaun, Hashy, Louisa & Glen in the hot seat!
(Pic: Mediacorp Channel 5)

Q: What is your most memorable experience so far, being in “The Final 1”?

Shaun: I guess for me, it’s getting into the Top 11, ‘cos I didn’t expect anything like that to happen. I was hoping to get into the remaining 2, and as they announced both Hashy and Yuresh, I was like “Oh OK, I’m going home to sleep, and I’m going back to work tomorrow”, and then the whole twist came, so I think that was probably the most memorable for me.

Hashy: The most memorable would be I thought that I was going to be sent home in the Top 20 round, but in the end, I managed to perform well for the Wild Card round, and that really was the most memorable, apart from the fact that when I was in the Top 40, I got picked by all 3 judges.

Louisa: Well, I guess the most memorable thing for me in this competition is getting to know all these people, and also like what Hashy said, being picked by the 3 judges in the Top 40 round. I think from then, I was feeling very blessed already.

Glen: I think my very existence in the Top 11 is quite a remarkable experience already, ‘cos you don’t expect things like this to happen to you. And like, with the amount of effort you put in, it’s just special lah! It’s how you actually dedicate that amount of time and effort for this kind of thing. It’s a learning experience.

Q: Apart from yourself, who do you think will be “The Final 1”, and why?

Louisa: I’m actually hoping, and I believe so, that Yuresh should be the final 1, because I think he’s very deserving. I’m not saying that you guys are not, but you know, because I’m always very touched when he sings, like we all are, because we can always feel his sincerity, and I think he’s an amazing musician. Although the other 10 are very deserving, that’s what I feel, and that’s why we’re all here in the first place. But I feel that Yuresh is the most deserving person. I’m really in love with his music.

Shaun: I think I would agree with Louisa as well. ‘Cos when Yuresh sings, he puts so much emotion into the song, that it just blows everyone away, and everybody is just glued to the screen.

Louisa: And it’s so effortless.

Shaun: And the thing is, we know him off-camera, and he lives music, you know. Everywhere, he’s with his guitar.

Hashy: Onstage & offstage he is like that.

Louisa: He’s a very humble nice guy.

Q: If you could go anywhere in the world to hone your craft and take it to the next level, where would you go, and why?

Glen: I guess I would go to the UK. I like the atmosphere there. It’s different from like being in Singapore. The hustle and bustle of the city is always going to be choking you somehow, like in a positive way and in a negative way also. It pushes you to do things, but it’s a bit too forced. But when you’re overseas, and you’re like somewhere else, you kinda like leave Singapore behind, and you start afresh. You can get a new mood altogether, a new vibe.

Louisa: I think I would go to Australia or the US, because I have a family in Australia which I’m very close to, and I was in the US for awhile for a competition, so I’m actually really close to these 2 countries. I feel that if you’re comfortable with something, you should go ahead with it, like if you believe in something. Singapore is cool, but honestly, you can’t really go far if you don’t really push yourself and go to the extreme, you know. And I’m actually very blessed to be in this competition and to use this as a platform to improve myself, and I’m sure the rest feel the same way.

Shaun: I think for me personally, it doesn’t quite matter which country it is, but I picture a cabin in the woods somewhere, and I would like to share it with a few very close musicians of mine, and just stay there for like 3 to 4 weeks, everyday just waking up to the sun, having a black coffee, and just spending the whole day writing music, exploring yourself, exploring whatever types of music you like, and just creating stuff. That’s always been my dream.

Q: If you went on tour overseas, and could only bring one item with you that reminds you of Singapore, what would that be?

Shaun: Tons of chicken rice? (he laughs) Probably chili padi lah.

Louisa: I would like to bring laksa.

Hashy: I’ll bring laksa too.

Shaun: It’s always about the food.

Louisa: Yeah, it’s always about the food. Singapore food is amazing! It’s like where can you find such…

Hashy: …diverse flavours.

Louisa: Yah!

Glen: I guess I would bring my guitar along. If you asked me to bring one item, I’ll bring my guitar along, because there are a lot of things you can do on a guitar to remind you of certain things. There are certain songs that mean certain things. So I guess I’d still bring my guitar.

Hashy: I’ll still bring my laksa.

Louisa: Yeah, I’ll still bring laksa. Other than our instruments, I think food is still very important.

Q: Who would you want to collaborate most in your music, and why?

Louisa: Can I say first? I’m very excited. I wanna collaborate with One Direction. I’m sorry, a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do! Because honestly speaking, not everyone likes their music, but I do. They’re awesome!

Shaun: For me, it would have to be Stephan Jenkins, singer-songwriter from Third Eye Blind. I’ve listened to his music, this one album, ever since I was in secondary school, and I see him as a poet, who puts poetry to music. The way he writes his lyrics and all that, it’s awesome, and I feel like it’s beautiful, and at the same time, he’s got such a beautiful way of putting sadness, loneliness, a lot of feelings into it, so I would really like to write a song with him, if ever there was a chance. Yup.

Hashy: I really love Feist. But if I had to collaborate with a singer, I would collaborate with Yuna, she’s Malaysian, and I think she’s quite close to Singapore for me to collaborate with.

Glen: I guess I really like Kodaline and I feel like I really wanna dig deep into their brain and find out how they actually do something like that, but I guess it wouldn’t really be realistic. My second best in line to work with would be Yuresh.
 
 
WHO DID YOU INTERVIEW NEXT & WHAT DID THEY SAY?

Our second group included Yuresh, Jean & Meryl… they managed to answer 3 of the questions I had prepared.

Yuresh, Jean & Meryl facing the media
(Pic: Mediacorp Channel 5)

Q: What is your most memorable experience so far, being in “The Final 1”?

Yuresh: For me, the most memorable experience up till now would be the first round in the Top 60, ‘cos that was the first time we actually really got to hear everybody sing, and being the typical Singaporean that I am, before I joined this competition, my image of a Singaporean vocalist wasn’t that high. You know, I feel bad about saying that now, but it’s because I wasn’t really exposed much to local talents, so being in the competition, in the Top 60 round, I was sitting there, watching everybody sing, and at least 55 out of the 60 were good enough in my books to be in the Top 40, so it was really eye-opening for me.

Jean: I think for me, the most memorable experience would be the Top 60 as well. I am somebody who is quite scared to get too close to people, because it’s a competition, and I am quite emotionally invested in people, so I would say that the most memorable right now for me would be the Top 11. Because we just had our boot camp, and I got to know each one much better, and I am quite emotionally attached now, so I’m quite scared. I don’t know how it’s going to happen the next few weeks, so I would say the moments that we spend. I think the most memorable moment would be the backstage. That’s the most memorable moment for me, because a lot of people don’t really know what’s going on backstage, right… but it’s very fun, it’s not so serious backstage, so I guess it’s that element that makes it much lighter than what you see in front of the TV. I think that’s when we de-stress. So that’s what the most memorable moment would be… the backstage, yeah.

Meryl: For me, the backstage moments are very very memorable, especially the boot camp. But the one thing that got my heart racing especially hard was the first time that we did a live show on TV, I think that was the Top 20 round, and I was the first contestant, I was the opening number, the first contestant to even sing live on national TV for this particular show, and I just remember it being extremely nerve-wrecking, ‘cos I didn’t know whether I would fall, because there’s no way that you could cut that out. Before that, I was in Singapore Idol, but I never made it to the round where you have to sing live, so this was my first official live show on TV, and I was just filled with so much nerves that when I was onstage, I was literally trembling. So yeah, that was very memorable, and when I finally went onstage and I finally did my thing and I got good comments from the judges, I felt very validated.

Q: Apart from yourself, who do you think will be “The Final 1”, and why?

Jean: In honesty, it’s very tough. I cannot put my finger down on just one person, because everyone deserves a spot right now. Everybody is just so good. Everybody has their strength. Everybody is so different! This competition is legit… man, the talent is craaazy! So I can’t really put a finger down, because every single one has their own strength that complements their style. There’s no two that’s similar in the Top 11, so I would say that yeah, I really don’t know, to be honest, I can’t put a finger down.

Q: Any favourites?

Jean: For me, it would be Yuresh. I’ve told him this before, when he sings, my heart flutters. Because I use my heart a lot as well. So when he sings, I feel it, like really feel it, so yeah.

Yuresh: I’m gonna cry already

Jean & Meryl: Awww!

Meryl: I really do think that all of us are really strong at what we’re good at, but I think it really boils down to how the audience perceives us. And if we’re talking about our favourites right now, I really do think that we’re sitting with the top favourite, Mr Yuresh here.

Yuresh: Do you really think I’m the top favourite?

Meryl: Because out of all of us, we all have our strengths, but when it comes to how the audience perceives us, if I am not wrong, Yuresh has not received a single bad comment from any single audience. Not on Twitter, not on Facebook…

Jean: Yes, yes, yes. Jean agrees, Jean agrees.

Yuresh: Well, it really warms my heart to hear all this, like really, because they are as much my friends as they are my competitors, and I do care for each and every one of them. Maybe I’ve not opened up too much about myself, but I’ve always been willing to listen to any problems, to like try to help here and there, because at the end of the day, as musicians, we’re heading in the direction where we should be heading in… in the local scene especially, we’re steering away from that very stereotypical old school mindset in terms of like singing songs and everything, and we’ve been building a lot more on our own personal branding and the way we want to see ourselves as musicians in the future. So for one thing, I’m very happy to see, me as a musician, comes across to, not only the audience, but my competitors and my friends as well, so it’s very nice to see. Yeah, and like they said, everybody in the competition deserves to be where they are, and there’s no one person that deserves to be the final one more than the other, but at the same time, if you ask me, for different reasons, like I feel the most hungry contestant in this competition is Meryl, ‘cos she knows what it is to be away from music, and that’s the one thing I couldn’t give up, I couldn’t give up being away from my music, because it was really too big a part of my life. And it caused me a lot of problems, like school, and you know like mindset, ‘cos like you’re very like troubled by the way like the world revolves around in Singapore, so like that’s the one thing I really admire with Meryl. She made the decision to go back to what was important to her, and that’s the one thing I would hope I never lose sight of, what’s important to me. As much as changing and getting all of these comments from people in the industry, at the end of the day, I always revert back to my own self and think like what’s really gonna help me, what direction I wanna go in, like that’s very nice to see. And people like Jean, there’s like this raw like typical diva-like power. It’s not so much like a diva, she doesn’t carry herself in that like very like diva-like mentality. She’s like the mother of the competition, she’s so sweet and like so motherly and everything, you know. Personally, my favourite in the competition so far would be a very close call between Farisha and Glen. Glen, because he’s my bro. We’re bandmates. We play in the same band and everything, so like if I’m not in this competition, I’d vote for him all the way. Farisha really took my breath away, like the first time I heard her sing, I was stunned, I was this close to tears, ‘cos she sang one of my favourite songs, “To Make You Feel My Love”.

Q: If you could go anywhere in the world to hone your craft and take it to the next level, where would you go, and why?

Meryl: For me, no question, it’s New York City. I’m a HUGE jazz person and New York is the capital of modern jazz in the world. I would love to go there and study with the masters, well there are so many great people there. Ornette Coleman is there. New York is the place that I would really love to go to learn from these masters before they pass on, so yeah, New York.

Jean: As for me, I would say the Philippines, because I grew up in Lucky Plaza. I am very surrounded with the Lucky Plaza atmosphere, because my Mum works there, so I kinda literally grew up there, and I’m surrounded with all the music and the whole Pinoy culture. And the thing is that, what I’m doing and what the Philippines, the craft that they’re honing, is very similar, you know, what the style I’m doing is very similar. But the only thing that I’m worried of is the competition there, because there’s so much good singers in the Philippines and it’s very hard to really break through the market. Another market I would consider would be maybe my father’s side, Myanmar. Because Myanmar is growing economically, it’s growing as a country, and it’s starting to break out of their little bubble. My Dad has asked me before, have you considered trying out the market there, and I’m not sure, but right now I would say the Philippines. Yeah.

Yuresh: Well, for me, as a musician, I’ve always been drawn to the British and Australian indie scenes, ‘cos like I feel it brings the most heartfelt music. I’m a singer-songwriter, so I spend a lot of time writing music, writing lyrics, and the things that I draw inspiration from is usually very much relevant to the environment, or the way the world is right now, or in terms of love (but not in that whole corny sense), and I really like the way the musicians are portrayed in that country, like the UK and the Australian scene especially, so those are the 2 that I would really want to break into, if I ever had a chance to.
 
 
WHO DID YOU INTERVIEW AFTER THAT & WHAT DID THEY SAY?

Our final group included Debbi, Farisha, Gail & Faith… and they also managed to only answer 3 of the questions I had prepared.

Debbi, Farisha, Gail & Faith chatting with the press
(Pic: Mediacorp Channel 5)

Q: What is your most memorable experience being in “The Final 1”?

Debbi: For me, I guess it would be the bootcamp, because it’s through this bootcamp that we actually really get to bond with each other a lot more, and get to know everyone, and how they sing and stuff like that, and have sung with each other. That’s what I feel would be most memorable in this entire competition.

Farisha: I think it was the bootcamp as well, because not only did we get to bond, but we got to grow. For me, personally, from the bootcamp and from the workshops during the bootcamp, I got to know myself as a person and as an artist, and who I want to be as an artist.

Gail: Yah, bootcamp. I really enjoyed myself during the past 4 days, because we really bonded. For me, joining this competition, I didn’t think I would make friends, and I’m so happy to get to know these people, because they’re great!

Faith: I guess it’s also the bootcamp, because we had a slumber party, and it was really fun. I only had 2 things that we really enjoyed, other than the learning process of like the workshops and all, we had this slumber party, just the girls, so we really got to know each other, and then we had “The Final 1 Got Talent”. It’s our re-enactment of our auditions. So ‘cos these auditions are closed, it’s not open like throughout, so we re-enacted it, and it was really funny, ‘cos our peers were the judges, and we had to sing the way we auditioned. So mine was like I came in shorts, so my re-enactment was like in shorts and everything. And it was like really funny, because we really got to see what we were doing during auditions lah, and I guess it was quite memorable. And hearing comments from your own peers, it’s beneficial.

Q: Apart from yourself, who do you think will be “The Final 1”, and why?

Debbi: I guess, for me, it would be either one of the guys, honestly speaking. Because in a way, guys have more advantage in this kind of competition, because like especially when the guy is good-looking, he can appeal more to ladies. Because if you realize in this kind of competitions, you don’t see guys going like, “oh my god, it’s a girl, I’m gonna vote for her!” You don’t’ see them doing this kind of thing. But when you see the girls looking up to the men in this competition, they’ll go like, “oh my god, Glen! Oh my god, Shaun!” you know, that kind of thing. So to me lah, if it was besides me, I would think it would be Glen, because he has a nice tone. He also has the looks and he can present himself well onstage.

Farisha: I think it will be a girl, ‘cos I mean, it’s always been guys, so why not change it, right? And I think my answer for that question would be Hashy, because I think she’s very popular, and she’s very active on social media as well, and she’s got that distinctive tone in her voice, and I believe that her genre of music will do well in the music industry, so that’s why I think that she might win.

Gail: I think Shaun has a good chance of being “The Final 1”. To me, he has the total package.

Faith: For me, I think it will be Yuresh, ‘cos even though he’s very quiet and reserved and everything, he actually takes music very seriously, and he knows what he wants. Not in terms of like he knows what he wants, but you just know that he’s very serious when it comes to giving comments. Like I mentioned, during the final 1 thing right, we had a re-enactment, he’s very serious, and he really talked through like how he feels about your performance, and he’s so sincere, you just don’t know what to say after he says something. Yah. It’s not just because he melts us and then he’s the final 1, as in he’s really really so serious that, like for us, most of us are just like, “Let’s have fun!”, but when it comes to practice, he knows what he wants.

Q: If you could go anywhere in the world to hone your craft, take it to the next level, where would you go?

Debbi: I would go to the US, States.

Farisha: US.

Gail: I would go to the Philippines and the US.

Faith: US… like party in the USA!

Having done the interviews, we could now relax a little and enjoy some canapés, while we waited to be interviewed ourselves. Yes, that’s right. The unique thing about this press conference was that at the end of the day, the tables would be turned, and the members of the press would be interviewed too. Basically, we were told that we would be asked our opinions of how the contestants handled their interviews with us.


WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS & COMMENTS ON HOW THE CONTESTANTS HANDLED THEIR INTERVIEWS WITH YOU?

Taking into consideration that this press conference was probably a first for the contestants, they actually handled it rather well, they kept it real, and on the whole, I was quite impressed with them. However, that being said, their inexperience and nerves did show through. Some of them were rambling on and on, and it took a long time to get their message across, if at all. The interviewer is given a limited amount of time to get the interview done. If you take forever to finally answer their questions, you will not get to complete the interview. At best, the interview that is published will not be as interesting a read as it could’ve been, and what you’ll end up with is an article that could have come out better, if you’d only had better ways of dealing with the questions you were asked and had answers that communicated more to the reader about yourself; who you are as an artist, who you are as a personality, and who you are as a person. At worst, there may be nothing worthwhile to publish, and your interview may be dropped altogether.

 
SO WHAT CAN ONE DO TO BECOME A MEDIA DARLING?

Where interviews are concerned, keep it simple and communicate, and get your message across to the interviewer effectively. Otherwise, we might switch off after awhile, when we realize that you don’t seem to know what you’re talking about, or that you’re not making much sense. Being clear is basic. Being entertaining would be the cream on top of the media cake. Now that’s a whole other skill altogether!

Also, remember to keep it real. Be yourself. Be honest. ‘Cos if you’re faking it, or giving “PR answers”, it will come through in your interview.

Media darlings make it fun and worthwhile for the media to connect with them. They answer the questions they are asked, and give the press what they need to get their jobs done properly.

As for interesting interviews, have you ever watched an interview on TV and found it very entertaining to watch? Perhaps the interviewee said something meaningful that totally made sense to you, or something that you could just relate to, or something so witty and funny that you’ll never forget it? Go study those interviews. What was so great about them? And how can you adapt what they did in their interviews to your own interviews with the press?

 
AMONG THE CONTESTANTS, WHO REALLY STOOD OUT FOR YOU & WHY?

I would say that out of the 11, my Top 4 picks for the title of “The Final 1” media darling would be Shaun, Louisa, Jean & Glen.

I felt that Shaun was very articulate, he speaks well, and he was able to communicate effectively, conveying clearly what he wanted to say. And it helps that he’s incredibly good-looking and has a somewhat charismatic presence, such that people are quite naturally drawn to him.

Louisa was bubbly, highly personable, cheerful, and very easy to talk to. Interviewing her, it felt more like I was chatting with my bestie. She has such a great smile, and she was just so adorable!

Jean’s warm and sincere personality put me at ease with her right away. It is clear that she is all heart and a real people’s person, and I can picture her really reaching out and having good camaraderie with all of her fans.

As for Glen, while he seemed somewhat reserved, I felt that his quiet manner actually helped build his unique persona, rather than take away from it. Glen has a gentlemanly charm and a depth that makes you want to spend more time with him, to see what treasures you might find.

 
AFTER WATCHING LAST NIGHT’S SHOW, HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT SHAUN WINNING THE ECLIPSE MEET THE PRESS CHALLENGE?

I think the right person won this challenge. He was one of my Top 4 picks, and I would’ve been happy with any of my Top 4 winning the media challenge, but I agree that he deserved to win, because he has pretty much been consistent in dealing well with the press throughout the competition, be it on radio, TV, print media, or social media.

 
OK, THAT BRINGS ME TO THE END OF THE INTERVIEW.

THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO CHAT WITH ME.