A GETAI EXPERIENCE AT MACPHERSON

It’s this time of the year again – Ghost Festival (中元节) and Getai (歌台).

In one of my previous postings, I have written that I had very little exposure on Getai, and had only watched one or two very briefly in my neighbourhood, in the past.  The recent Getai Challenge (歌台星力量) programme on TV did somehow arouse my slight interest in Getai, and so I thought I should try to go catch one or two this Ghost Festival.

I know there are many Getais taking place island-wide during the Ghost Festival, but I wasn’t sure where to get all the relevant information to decide where to go to until I heard about the 4-night Getai by LEX(S) Entertainment and Productions (丽星娱乐制作) at 韭菜芭城隍庙中元会 (in Macpherson) on radio, on Wednesday (26 Aug) morning.  So, hubby and I found our way there that night.

Arriving there before 8pm (about an hour after the programme started), we could still spot quite many empty seats here and there although the attendance was high.  I noticed that those empty seats were choped (a Singlish word meaning reserved) with something like newspapers put on them.  It took us a while to finally manage to find two seats separated apart with a couple in between us.  I tried to negotiate with the wife to shift one seat to the right/left so that my hubby could sit together with me.  She refused, citing the reason that her view would be blocked by the person in front.  I knew that was a crap because the seat in front was empty!  On my left, there was an old lady sitting on two chairs!  I also tried to request her to let me have one seat but she said her friend was coming.   The truth was, I have overheard her telling someone that her friend was not coming anymore and the seat actually remained empty through out!  So that was one not-so-nice experience.  Why did these aunties behave so selfishly?

That night, the Getai was hosted by Hao Hao (皓皓) , Li Pei Fen (李佩芬)and Zheng Ying Ying (郑盈盈).  There were quite a number of singers, each sang about 2-3 songs, either in Cantonese, Hokkien or Mandarin.  Except Hao Hao and MediaCorp artist Chen Tian Wen (陈天文), we were not familiar with the rest of the singers and their singing.  Never mind about that though, since we were there to get an experience with a real outdoor Getai.

The three emcees for the night (left to right) : Hao Hao, Zheng Ying Ying and Li Pei Fen.  Emceeing aside, they also changed a few sets of costumes during the night. 

Performance by singers such as Fu Qing Ling (符庆铃)、Lin Shi Ling (林诗玲), Zhong Ping & Zhong Jin Ling (钟平 & 钟金玲) and Huang Hao Feng (黄浩峰)

Fu Qing Ling (符庆铃)

Lin Shi Ling (林诗玲)

Zhong Ping & Zhong Jin Ling (钟平 & 钟金玲)

Huang Hao Feng (黄浩峰)

I can’t comment much about the performances that night since I am not familiar with the singers.  I felt that the mood  only got a little better when Chen Tian Wen made his appearance with two songs, including “Unbelievable” that shot him to fame recently.

Chen Tian Wen in his Elvis Presley’s outfit

It finally reached the climax when Hao Hao took over the stage with 3 songs, including two renditions that he performed at the Getai Challenge.  Undoubtedly, he was the best that night.  He is definitely a Getai darling, and has won a very distinctive, loud applause for his performance.  We enjoyed his segment the best.

Throughout the night, I observed that the audience, made up of largely senior citizens, were very inconsiderate.  They talked a lot and that was very annoying.  So, that was another not-so-nice encounter for the night.   It made me wonder if these people were actually there to enjoy the Getai or to talk.  If they wanted to talk or to catch up with friends, surely there is a better place than at the Getai!

We left after Hao Hao’s performance.  At least, he made us feel that our time spent that night was not so wasted.

On the following night, we actually went back to the same Getai for its final night there.  Some Taiwanese Hokkien singers were performing.  I didn’t know that Taiwanese singers come to perform at our Getai too, until I read about it recently.  So, I was keen to see how different their performance was.  The whole place was overly packed with people, so packed that many were standing, shoulder to shoulder very tightly.  I later read on newspaper that some 7,000 people were there that night!  There were a lot of pushing and rough actions among the standing crowds, as people tried to make their way out or get further in to have a better view.  I felt like a roly-poly toy being pushed around!  Why couldn’t the people behave in a more civilised manner?  It would have been better if the Getai organiser had a crowd control system (there was none at all) like having helpers to usher the crowds, designate proper space for standing audience, provide clear walking paths with barricades and provide a separate area slightly further away from the audience for the hawkers who were selling drinks and food.

The second night was definitely one terribly uncomfortable experience for us and we left after just two songs.

GETAI CHALLENGE 歌台星力量 (Episode 5 : 29 June 2015)

Here are for the fans out there, photos and video which I managed to snap at the recording session of Getai Challenge on 22 May 2015.  Not many though, since they did not actually allow taking of photos and videos initially.

Getai Challenge (歌台星力量) TV programme is being telecast on MediaCorp’s Channel 8, at 8pm, every Monday.  The recording session (Episode 5) which I went to was telecast tonight.  There are going to be 13 episodes for this programme.

From left to right – Emcees : Wang Wei Liang (王伟良), Pornsak and contestants : Xie Wei Na (谢伟娜), Cheng Ze (承泽) & Xiu Ping (秀萍), Luo Yi Qi (罗翊绮) & Bao Bei Sisters (宝贝姐妹)

 

Contestants : Zhu Li Li (朱莉莉), 2Z Sisters (2Z 姐妹), Li Bao En (李宝恩) & Chen Jian Bin (陈建彬)

Contestants : Hao Hao (皓皓) and Huang Zhen Long (黄振隆). 

Seen on the screens were the judges for episode 5 (left to right) : Huang Lei (黄雷), Liu Ling Ling (刘玲玲), Irene Ang (洪爱玲) & Lin Qi Yu (林倛玉)

Chen Jian Bin & Li Bao En listening to comments from the judges after their performance.  Their unique costumes might have won them some additional points.  Chen emerged as the winner in this episode and maintained his number 1 position since episode 1.

Pornsak is definitely one good and talented emcee but I think the chemistry of emceeing would be very different and even better if Pornsak were to partner with Mark Lee (李国煌) instead.

While the judges were busy finalising the results for this round of challenge behind the stage, audience were treated with some entertainments by a few of the younger contestants.  Here’s what I have put together – their performances which were not shown on TV.

It was new to me that these Getai singers do have their pools of fans too, many of whom are middle-aged or senior citizens.  This goes to say how little I know about Getai.  Just like the fans of Mandopop or K-Pop singers, these Getai fans seem to follow their idols through their performances everywhere.  I learned about this when I briefly chatted with one of the fans while waiting to get into the theatre for the recording session.   In fact, she (a fan of Hao Hao) asked if I would like to join the group as a fan, and she offered me a T-shirt (with Hao Hao’s name printed on it) to wear into the theatre.  I politely declined.

If I remember correctly, Getai began to gain its increasing popularity after the movie 881 (by Royston Tan) in 2007.  There have also been annual Getai Awards in recent years, to honour popular Getai singers.  Surely these Getai singers deserved to be recognised and awarded too.  In my opinion, Getai is one important cultural aspect of Singapore and it needs to be preserved.  It is good to see that there are actually quite many young Getai singers.  They sure boost the vibrancy of Getai performances.  I don’t have any issues with Getai singers speaking/singing in dialects like Hokkien, Cantonese etc. on stage but I think it is time for them to do away with all the less refined jokes or raunchy contents, and raise the sophistication level of Getai performances.

If you are interested to find out more about Getai in Singapore, Singapore Infopedia offers a good read.

Entertaining Getai Challenge  (歌台星力量) But With Pains (my previous posting).

ENTERTAINING GETAI CHALLENGE (歌台星力量) BUT WITH PAINS

I went to MediaCorp last Friday (22 May) to watch the recording of a new Channel 8 variety show called Getai Challenge (歌台星力量).  Joining me was my hubby who happened to be off that day, and a friend.  As the programme organiser was giving out tickets for the recording, and prompted by the thought of visiting MediaCorp before it moves out of Caldecott Hill next year, I jumped at this opportunity.

The building where the reception and TV Theatre are.  TV Theatre was the venue where the recording was carried out.

Most Singaporeans are familiar with Getai (歌台) – live outdoor stage performances (mostly singing) which are common in Singapore and Malaysia and generally held during the Ghost Festival (lunar 7th month) and other Chinese festivals or temple events.  It is a unique culture in this part of Asia but I was not exposed much to it in my growing up years.  Neither my parents, aunties nor my late grandma went to such performances.  However, many years ago, I did go with my hubby to catch one or two Getai (that’s about all) in our neighbourhood. I would say the performances were entertaining, and the singers were not bad too although we were only there briefly.  Many of the performers spoke in Hokkien dialect.  This was not an issue even though I couldn’t understand some of it, but what I didn’t like were the dirty jokes they cracked.  This was partly the reason why I didn’t go again subsequently.

Back to the indoor recording of Getai Challenge in MediaCorp.  It was actually quite entertaining and interesting to see the flow of the programme etc. although the mood was completely different from that of a real Getai held outdoor.  This is understandable. The programme is going to be broadcasted on our national TV, so it has to be recorded in Mandarin and of course, dirty jokes are not allowed too. (For the benefit of foreigners reading this posting, Chinese dialects such as Hokkien, Cantonese etc. are not allowed on Singapore’s national TV stations.)

The entire recording took about 3 hours but we know it will be edited to an one-hour programme (or rather, about 45 minutes after deducting the commercial breaks) when it is aired.  So, it was kind of fun to watch the recording and then to see on TV later how it has been edited for broadcast.

The two hosts for Getai Challenge – Pornsak (newly crowned Best Variety Show Host at Star Awards 2015) and Wei Liang

The participants

Out of respect, I shall not share or reveal more details about the recording for now since this programme has not been aired yet.

However, the entertainment did not come without “pains” though.  In fact, it was quite frustrating and unpleasant waiting to get into the theatre.

The recording was supposed to start at 12 noon and audience were to be seated 15 minutes before recording, according to the information printed at the back of the tickets.  We arrived in a taxi past 11:30am, and not knowing where to alight, the taxi driver dropped us at TV Gate which turned out to be the entrance for staff only.  Fortunately, it was not a long walk over to the TV Theatre, as the weather of very hot then.  On arriving at the relatively small reception area (where the TV Theatre is located), it was already packed with people who were earlier than us.  Many of them were middle-aged people or senior citizens.  This was not unexpected.  You would imagine only people who are not working to be able to make it in such an odd timing, unless they took a day off but how many would do that? Seats at the reception area were limited. I made an attempt to speak with one of the receptionists in trying to gather more information but in vain.  She was friendly but all I found out was that the entrance into the TV Theatre is at the basement carpark.

Groups of people waiting at the basement carpark.  I later found out (from speaking to one of them) that they were fans of the different participants (singers).

Names of Getai singers pasted on the wall of the carpark pillars but can you guess what they meant?  I only found out later that they were meant for the different groups of fans to gather/queue but how do they expect a first-timer to know?

The basement carpark area was very warm.  Can you imagine the entrance to the theatre of a National TV station is through a basement carpark without a proper queuing area and air-conditioned?  There were many wall mounted fans but none was turned on until so much later when the staff were out past 12 noon to organise the various groups into the theatre.  We also had to watch out for the incoming/outgoing vehicles.

So, we were totally at the mercy of MediaCorp, not knowing when we could get into the theatre even it was way past 12 noon.  No one came to brief us or give any update.  One aunty among the fans group was lamenting that two nights ago, in a different recording session for the same programme, the recording didn’t start until close to 9pm, despite the actual start time of 7pm.  And the recording didn’t complete until past 12 midnight.  That’s how MediaCorp take their supporters’ time for granted!

To cut the long story short, it was already close to 1pm by the time it was our turn (as non-fans) to get in.  We were allowed into the theatre in groups, and priority was given to all the fans or special group such as students from Ngee Ann Polytechnic, so we were the last. 

At 1250pm, we were still waiting outside the theatre

There was more waiting after we were finally seated in the theatre at closed to 1pm!

It was almost 4:45pm by the time we stepped out of the theatre.  My stomach was growling badly.  What a day!  Food was not allowed in the theatre.  At the expected time to be seated in the theatre at 11:45am, we haven’t had our lunch and we naively thought that the recording would probably take about 2 hours since MediaCorp arranged the recording at such an odd timing, neither before nor after lunch.  It was such a bad experience without sufficient information and proper instructions from MediaCorp in advance.

Hearing from others who had attended the previous recordings, it seems that such poorly organised programme is the norm.  It is very disappointing that MediaCorp takes their audience for granted.  Even the tickets are free, that doesn’t give them the rights to waste the time of the audiences and cause unnecessary suffering. I doubt I will ever be interested in another experience like this in future, not even in the new location.  Once is enough.