Disney

Lately.. I watched this movie by Disney called High School Musical.

It was entertaining and I hope ya'll can try to catch it when you have the time.
The songs are fun and catchy too so it'll be fun to learn!

As you may all have noticed. I always stress that one must LISTEN when they want to learn. When you sing along with me when I'm demonstrating for example, you cannot hear what I'm trying to show you.

The first step to doing anything is to listen and understand.
Remember that.

Was watching Cinderella just now.. (the cartoon)
The songs are lovely but somehow Cinderella struck me as a bimbo..
If any of ya remember the part where her fairy godmother gave her a dress, while her fairy godmomma was talking, she was busy staring at her own reflection.
I mean.. Come on' show the lady some respect! She just granted you your wish! Geesh!

There was another part which I cannot quite recall now..
But yeah.. I Like Cinderella. I think she's quite chio! Haha..
And anywayl.. she IS the Princess after all.. So she has every right to be the way she is..
Beautiful and Worry-free.
Smilez

Love,
Celine Lao Shi

Thank You and Goodbye

Hello...

This is to inform all my dear students.. That Sunday will be my last day.. As KL says.. "Don't need to come in on monday.." Mon's my official though..

I will miss all of you and I want to thank you for being so kind and supportive towards me.

I am sad that I have to leave something I built with my own hands but the decision has been made.

I may or may not continue to do music.. We'll just have to wait and see.. *wink wink*

Ya'll can still call me or msg me.. But if it's about music.. best to talk to your laoshi about it. Cos it's not going to be very nice.

I don't regret leaving cos I felt that I've done enough to help Koks this period and I've set down a pretty good culture * which is priceless, TKL* and the memories (with the students) that I'm left with are fantastic.

Don't stop making music ya'll.

I'll miss ya.

I would like to say a big Thank you to all parents who have shown me so much support and who thought of me well enough to entrust their child's musical education to me. *bows*

A Big Thank You to all my students!

TKL you're on your own now. Have fun... *wink wink* *smiles*

Music.. The air that I breathe

This whole journey has been a wonderful experience for me. I would like to blog while I can! haha..

I hope that ya'll will go down and support Mattie, Ah Char and Joy tomorrow for their Teenage Icon heats.

Good Luck ya'll!! Have fun!!
That's my common advice to all of them.

We've got new hiphop classes starting and we welcome everyone who's interested.. to join us! We've got a really fantastic instructor and I promise you fun and laughter and slick moves !

I think everyone should learn an art when they're young. Be it singing, an instrument or dancing. It does not mean that you cannot pick up the skill when you're old. However, having youth on your side means having time.

When you pick up a skill.. Be it on your own accord of if you were coerced into doing so by your parents.. You may actually discover that you have a knack for it.
Something may come out of it and you may be the lucky one who gets to spend his/ her life singing and making music while others cling on tightly to their harboured dreams and struggle to make themselves stand out against the rest.

I have never known anyone to be a master or an expert in something that they didn't spend time nurturing themselves or training or developing themselves in. Time counts for everything.

Many of my teenage students probably realise by now that when they hit around 14 or 15.. they get caught up with school activities and their studies.. It then becomes doubly hard for them to convince their parents to support them in the pursue of learning any art.

Then when you get older, other priorities preside.

Parents might want to consider this and perhaps help equip their kids with a skill in the Arts that might prove to be useful or highly rewarding for them in the future.

They can be a singing instructor like me! I am happy when I help people.. and doing something so close to my heart.

Music is more than my life. It's the air that I breathe.

Northland Primary and AOM

Kok Leong and I conducted our last session with the Primary Ones of Northland Primary School and we are going to miss them so....









From left..
Back row: Richard, Me, Joseph, Eric, Justin, Richard and Kok Leong
From the right..
Front row: Joey, Kaizhen, Faith, Aaron, Phan, Sean and Suhen

There are more who didnt attend the last class such as Gabrielle, Ernest, Catherine and many more..

Hopefully we'll see them around as we're going back to teach the Primary Twos!!!


Yesterday.. I was watching Princess Diaries II and during the part where Julie Andrews sang.. it reminded me of the good ol' Sound of Music days. I feel that Julie Andrews is so iconic that nobody can take over her place. I don't know who else will be able to pull off the movements.. the feel of the songs and actions.. Barbra Streisand? I don't think so..

I think Music and Life.. It's all about opinions.

Thank you

Yesterday.. I was out with my chums. We were eating at a place at China town and as we were leaving the place.. I saw a poster of the recent Dumpling Festival still plastered on a wall. I dragged all of them over to squeal that my school did the performances then.

It was a really reflective day for me.. I haven met up with them for ages and I've missed them. They're like my pillars of strength and I feel bad cause I'm always so busy with the school that I hardly have time to meet up with them and yet they're always there.

We were yakking abt like.. Everything. Haha.. I didn't feel like an outcast but I didn't feel like I fit in. Simply because they are of such grounded personalities that it makes me feel slightly ashamed of my flighty, musical, temperamental personality. They're all conformed to the typical Singaporean jobs of 9-5 and 5 day working week. Yet here I am working 7 days a week and having all the flexibility in the world to pursue something so close to my heart.

Despite all that has happened.. I guess I have to thank Kok Leong for it. I wouldn't have settled for anything else I guess. I would not have been happy. Even though there are days when I have to wake up at 6am to do goodwill judging for schools. However, it was entertaining in its own way! Haha.. There are lots and lots of talent out there and I can only wish that we'll be lucky enough to chance upon them.

Sometimes when you're working and you're running your own business.. You get so caught up with everything that you don't get a chance to sit down and reflect on your life so far. Blessed with a supportive environment and family, I guess Kok Leong and I have been very lucky to have met so many peole who've helped us along the way.

So we thank ya.

PS. Anyway.. Stephanie Lin Xunxiu.. if you're reading this.. You've changed. Argh! haha... But I still love ya anyway babe!

Stuff..

Agnes just msned me to ask if I've watched the Disney movie - High School Musical..

Ya'll should catch it! I think the guy's kinda cute and girl's really pretty and they both can sing! And dance. I did watch a bit of the trailer and I thought the guy sounded a bit nasal.

So anyway.. I think we haven seen many of ya for a really long time and we really miss ya'll.

We know you're all busy with school and stuff.. But sing in your own time to relax alright?

And we watched Superman.. It's really gooood. Okie .. well I like it. It has all the lovey-dovey romantic stuff that I love about the man of steel plus brandon's really good-looking. I mean.. I've never really been a fan of Superman cos I think they had really bad casting apart from Christopher Reeves of course. But Yeah.. I think Mr. Routh did a good job on it. So go catch it if ya can.

By the way.. Amos Ang sent me a really coool vid of Alicia Keys and Stevie Wonder and Lenny Kravitz.. Think ya'll should watch it. It's pretty amazing. Haha..

And I'm out.

Alone in School

It's almost midnight and I'm still in School. Was a bit scared but Koks who was out for an alumni meeting is coming back to get me. Cos I'm alone and I'm scared. Sorry..

Anyway.. I'm preparing the Konglish for Clara to sing tomorrow.I'm so glad you chose such a beautiful song to learn. I don't think I can ever get sick of it. *Smilez*
The Korean song that I'll be teaching Clara is - I Think I by Byul from the Full House OST.

It's lovely and I'm going through the lyrics I prepared for her. Even though you can get Konglish easily online.. I always prefer to prepare them from scratch myself. I guess to me it facilitates my teaching better as I'm able to teach them a bit about the Korean language while they sing.

Anyway Koks is back! Yay! I'm going to eat dinner and then head home!

Latest Competition updates!

Good news!! Congratulations to Matthew, Charlene and Tiffany for getting through to the Finals of NP Idol!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Good job!

I heard Matt took a risk with his song choice but he managed to pull through anyway. Yay!!

I guess as I was telling Tiff.. she can now sing the song that she saved for the Finals. Good Luck ya'll!!!


And Matthew and Charlene and Joy P. (sounds so cool) are all through to the semis of Teenage Icon '06 and we wish them all the best!! Go have fun!

Support from Team AOM is greatly appreciated! Go watch their rounds and support them ya'll!

Work hard for your next round k you... erm... 4!!! Haha..

Here's Joy P and Ah Char during the heats of Teenage Icon. They both look fab. Make-up compliments of Bettina. Girl.. You should make a career out of this. They look so vampy and different! I mean.. no offense girls. But they're both very young and suddenly.. Woah! They're like Celebs!

Thank you

First up.. We've got our 2 cool dudes Ben and Jingkai doing a Wang Lee Hom song. They look really cool in the ensemble don't they? Hee..

Okie I realised the pics look kinda small so I've tried making them bigger



But.. I wonder if they look any bigger... Hm.. Anyway.. These pretty ladies are my ABBA ladies who did my medley. Gorgeous!





Here are the ladies once again with Jo and Amos Khoo doing our finale. It was.. cliche as it may seem but all ended well. I know everyone was really tired after everything.

I really want to thank ya'll for all the effort you've put in. For the shows, for us and for the school. As I"ve always said, the school is yours as it's mine. Kok Leong and I have been very touched by the warm and big hearts of our students. Sharing music and helping one another and loving and taking care of each other.

Hopefully the spirit of The Art of Music lives on and more will join our family. ^^

I would also like to express our deepest appreciation to parents of all our performers for being so supportive and we would like to assure you that your child is in good hands! If I may say so myself. We do our best!

Group Hug ya'll!

Gamsa hamni da *bows*

Kampong Ubi Family Life Carnival

Okie this is frustrating cos I don understand why the pic keeps appearing on top of all that I've typed. Here's a pic of the banner anyway!! :)

I know Kampong Ubi took place on the 24th of last month. However, I've been meaning to talk abit about it and most of all post pics of it for everyone to take a look.

Ubi started really early for us.. All of us were there at around 7-ish. Koks and I kinda felt bad cos Clara, Amos Ang and Charlene came to help us and they were there on the dot. So sweet and Amos didnt sleep as he watched the match the night before.

It was a first for us doing the booth and we had lotsa fun tying everything up and setting up the booth! I mean.. our banner looked Great!

I'm going to put up a pic but I must first see how I can upload (I think that's what it's called) the pic. As you can probably tell.. I'm not exactly a whiz with the comp.

Okie so the attempt to put up the pic at the right place kinda screwed up but I have many others to put so just bear with me and have fun looking at the pics!!

Here's Kok Leong accepting the plaque of Appreciation from the guest of honour Dr. Ong Seh Hong.. Go Go AOM!







Okie.. I guess you're supposed to drag it. Here's the Team mid afternoon warming up at the booth!

Here's my Favourite Jo Jo performing the 1st item of the day Lao2 shu3 ai4 da4 mi3.. With Bettina and Agnes che-ches!!! Yes they do super cute hand actions to accompany the song sung LIVE! And Jolene did great! She sang really loudly with fantastic pitching. My future Superstar! Hugz!


Here's a pic of sweet Charlene during her solo number a Mandarin classic Teresa Teng's number - Wo2 zhi3 zai4 hu4 ni3.

Here's our suave Amos-kia doing the Korean number "Oon Myung" from the Full House Soundtrack. He had a lot of rave reviews from the public who came up to me. I'm so proud of him. He's made my Korean Dreams come true. *Smilez*



Here's more of Ang! My sis said " Amos did well despite not sleeping" Heh Heh..

Okie I'm going to publish this first then continue in another post. Later!

My Korea and I

One day.. I fell in love with Korea...
That was way before "Hallyu".

That was on my first visit to the country and I loved it. I loved how the country's culture is so significant among the young and old. It made me appreciate my own culture more cos alot of us in Singapore are very much exposed to the Western culture and we don't seem to be that big on traditions anymore. To me.. that's sad. I think we should learn to be proud of who we are instead of succumbing to conformity.

When my mom was watching "Huan2 Zhu1 Ge2 Ge2" I made her buy me my long awaited "Autumn Story" which I pre-ordered to Singapore. Cos they don't sell any Korean dramas here and I thought Song Hye Gyo is really very pretty and that my daddy will probably think so too. Haha.. So anyway.. I offered to watch with them but they refused at first. However, since it was the 2nd or 3rd time they were repeating the Chinese drama.. they eventually told me to bring my discs up to watch with them. I thought the show was great but when I turned to my mom.. she was practically crying into her bowl of rice! (Yes.. my family eats rice with the Korean metal bowl and chopsticks at home. We're Asian!) And my dad chuckled and said.."Celine.. you'd better get her a bucket." Haha.. Now.. I think we own practically every single Korean drama that Singapore has!

Ya see.. There's just something about Korea.. everything is very infectious.

Thanks to my cousin, Gina.. it didn't take long before my relationship with Korean music blossomed. I love Korean Music! Who doesnt? With Korean Music comes beautiful compositions and intricate musical arrangements. Every song deeply and rightly portrays the dramas to pure perfection. My favourite Oppa -- Kang Ta Oppa composes beautiful beeee-a-u-tiful songs! They truly make magical music! The Korean music scene maybe commercial but it is vibrant and has many worthy music makers. Having been inspired, I sought to pursue a musical career for myself.

When I was learning singing, I've always wanted to master those difficult but beautiful Korean songs. I would need to know the techniques and stuff.. However, I could not. None of the schools that I went to could cater to my learning needs of a korean cirriculum. I couldn't fit in. I had to be a mando-pop singer before I could learn anything. I was advised to sing songs that were well within the capacity of the instructor. Not mine.

Now.. Having set up AOM with my fervent Korean-loving heart.. I have shared Korean music and singers with many of my students and I am so happy that many of them enjoy what they are learning. Amos Ang can play "Oon-Myung" from the Full House Soundtrack (How can anyone not love Bi Oppa after that??) like play everything from scratch! The beautiful intro and all and most importantly, he can sing it even though he cannot speak korean and does not understand.

MUSIC KNOWS NO BOUNDARIES. I agree. That is exactly what I mean. *smilez*

Hugz ya'll! My heart's oozing with lurve. Talking about Korea has got me all tingly.

Background music: Full House OST

Welcome to The Art of Music!!!

Hi everyone.. This will be the first of many postings Celine Lao Shi and I will be putting up at the website. So team AOM members, do put your comments in here cos we wanna know how you feel about the issues that we talk about.

First of all, I wanna thank Team AOM for their efforts in the recently concluded Dumpling Festival and the Kampong Ubi Family Carnival. You guys were great and I am really proud of all of you. Some of you really took the oppurtunity to show me what you can produce.

It is really satisfying to see everyone improving. I wanna raise Benedict as a specific example because I think he has shown tremendous progress since the first day I started teaching him. I can still remember the first time I taught him, he was a shy little boy refusing to even do a simple self-intro in front of his singing class. He made the whole class wait for him for almost 10mins (because I refused to continue the class to force him out of his shell) before he decided to step up. Oh boy, his 'mei lan' song one month ago brought the crowd to their feet and even impressed our artiste management team. Terrific.

The news of Meryl leaving Singapore Idol comes to a shock to everyone who knows her, and almost everybody here at The Art of Music. I know many of you are wondering why Meryl quit. I have spoken to her and I would say I respect her decision to do so. I shall not divluge her reasons but we all wish her well! Hope to see ya soon!

Last but not least, The World Cup is coming to an end. Hahaha.. that would mean no more staying awake to struggle through the games for me and Amos Ang. Better start preparing for exams!! And for those out there revising for your papers, all the best to you!!

Love,
Kok Leong