George Michael

George Michael

Controversial. Talented. True.




Here comes one for the ladies
For the ones who love me
To think I thought I could be some kind of family man
I told myself I was straight
But I shouldn’t have worried
‘Cos my Maker had a better plan for me

Chorus:
And I’m dancing with the freaks now
I'm havin’, I’m havin’ so much fun
What you sow is what you reap now
I’ll do my dance with everyone
I’ve been getting too much Sun
(Yes I’m dancin’ with the freaks now)
We’re havin’, we’re havin’ too much fun for them
Look who’s talking Guilty feet now…

Well let me tell you people
It’s an easier affair
Not living my life with other people on my mind
No, got nothing to hide from anyone
Yes, I’m walking on new air
Just living my life
Better believe I'm gonna get what’s mine
See I don’t have the time
For the haters

And all the time that I wasted
How careless of me
Too young and stupid to see
I put my life in their hands
(Gonna look for Cupid, man)
Oh, and I know that they want me to hate them
There’s no hurry
I’ll just have to be the bigger man

::Chorus::

Well let me tell you people
It’s an easier affair
Not livin’ my life with other people on my mind
No, got nothing to hide from anyone
‘Cos I’m walking on new air
Just living my life
Better believe I’m gonna get what’s mine
See I don’t have the time for the haters

Don’t let them tell you who you are is not enough
Don’t let them tell you that it’s wrong
Or that you won’t find love
Don’t let them use my life to put your future down
Don’t let them tell you that happiness can’t be found

For my life

Take it to the streets
There are stories you can keep
They’re just passing you by

Don’t let them tell you who you are is not enough
Don’t let them tell you that it’s wrong
Or that you won’t find love Don’t let them use my life to put your future down
Don’t let them tell you that happiness can’t be found

Nice eh? Can't wait for the CD to come out!

CONTROVERSY:
... is his thing. Something i absolutely admire him for.. His ability to put into music his opinions, thoughts and ideas - however provocative. Listen to his albums, you can just do an entire General Paper syllabus from his songs! From discrimination to politics and the works, George Michael has put it in your face, literally.

MUSIC:
The thing i marvel about him is that he is able to do it seamlessly, by employing both LYRICS (of which he actually sings most of it! Unlike other "musicians")and MELODY with today's popular style of electronic music. In other words, he merged the conventional form of music with the contemporary style of music. And yet, he is still able to capture fans like myself of whom is a firm believer of harmonies, melodies and lyrics!

There is no comparison of George Michael with the likes of 50 cent? 40 cent? ummm... snip dog? snoopy dog? and ummm.. what's their name.. oh yes.. Link In Park? No no.. Linkin' Park.. Yes? I mean, does anybody realise those people are NOT SINGING?

You want someone with an opinion of the world? Someone who is angry with it? Someone who knows how to display it without destroying a guitar (and destroy forests) or wears tonnes of gold EVERYWHERE? George Michael's your guy.
Provocative ideas put in true enjoyable music.

VIDEOS:
You should go to his website and take a look at all the videos. Especially "Shoot the dog" (below) and "Freeek '04" (below). Definitely provocative!

His videos are filled with special effects! Totally fun to watch! i.e. "Flawless (Go To the City)"

Quote lyrics from "Freeek '04": 'c'mon kids don't be scared, it's a tits and ass world you've gotta be prepared'!


STATS:
Birth name: Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou
Height: 5' 11" (1.80 m)

TRIVIA:
Was arrested in early 1998 at a public restroom in Beverly Hills for commiting a lewd act in front of an undercover police officer. He has since made a music video mocking the whole incident. The arresting police officer has since filed a civil suit againt George for defamation of character. It was dismissed.

Is of Greek-Cypriot heritage from his father, a restaurant owner, who emigrated to the U.K. from Cyprus, in the 1950s.

George Michael: "I still believe that music is one of the greatest gifts that God gave to man."

His controversial single "Shoot the Dog" (released 2002) had a video that ridiculed Tony Blair, Cherie Blair and George W. Bush.



Freeek '04

- Jho. Out to dinner. Study. Sleep.

T.O.N.E

"and the 1st runner up of the College category is..... a group that is made up of singers from 16 to 18.. TONE!"



Here's the video.. Can't believe I am showing this performance! Embarrass ah! (And you guys better tag on my board!)

We (TONE) won 2nd place at the National A Cappella Championships 2006! It was quite a success, though with mixed feelings.

I felt the same was as Jasmine did - bitter sweet. We (or at least I) did not think we could have gotten into Top3 much less top 2 in lieu of the 3 NUS groups that have participated in the College category.

When the consolation prizes were slowly being eliminated one after another, we started to get nervous. Finally, it was down to two groups, Resonance & TONE. There are only 1st and 2nd prize trophies, the rest are consolation prizes. So we knew that we weren't part of the consolation prizes. It was that period for me that I really really wanted us to be FIRST.

Frankly, I am very glad and happy [note choice of diction]. Not exactly satisfied with our performance in terms of pitching and stage presence- our voices were tired from all that rehearsals in the afternoon, pre-competition. The monitors were also pretty weak, as in, we can't really hear ourselves.

Point to note: Never rehearse extensively pre-performance, will tire voices.

Moreover, Ray, Jasmine and myself are preparing for major exams end of this year and Chin and Jun are also busy with exams prior to competition. Schedule was very tight.
P.S. Thanks Chintow & Jas for making shifts and sacrifices in terms of schedules!

BUT!! No excuse, a not so well done performance is just a not so well done performance. No excuses of tiredness/of no prior preparation. Must be professional. Not well prepared means not well prepared. That is the mentality I think most teams or people in life should adopt.

TONE has come a long long long way.. From the "kayu" performance style to a slightly improved flexibility and the "crash chords" pitching to the nicer blend. I'm truly excited by our major improvement, if not anything else. We have come a long long way... truly...

T.O.N.E

5 Voices. 3 age groups. 1 harmony.

Okkkkkk... I know.. Corny statement, but i can't think of anything else la.. Haha! Maybe you guys can help? Haha..

Watch out for our up-and-coming blog! And remember to come watch the performances! (listed in previous post)

-Jho. out. study. sleep.

05A21

Sudden urge to post stuff I have of 05A21 - My class in IJC

Here's an introductory video! It looks very 1980s with the sepia format. Play "Stupid Girls" by P!nk to go with this clip. Very suitable. I was bored. Ms Nathan is late. We (I) play.


BOOBIES

Don't you dare touch my boobies!


I will charm teachers with those honky tong tongs! Don't challenge my T(temporary)-cup!



This is such a gorgeous picture.. Seriously! It's like Innova is being engulfed by a dark aura, and yet mantains its shine and power. Wooo~~


I can't decipher the Da MsLim Code.

And finally... Jannnnneee!

She is disappointed by the fact that the class thinks her jokes can go to hell. But is secretly wishing for suicide.
"[You] have miles to go before [you] sleep", Jane.
Please don't "take the road less travelled by", cos' it will make "[a huge ugly] difference" on the pavement.

This is called boredom and refusal to study due to nervousness from the stress of the a cappella competition.

OMG! The egg in the microwave oven just exploded and my entire house power got tripped. LOL! So funny...
And my parents HAD to shout.. They just have to shout and make a huge fuss about such a trivial issue. Ya know.. Sometimes i ponder, is it because of the inability to hold on to their children that led them to start to be more talkative; trying to be more active in the family i.e. instead of the children constantly haunting them and being irritating by their side in the past, it is not reversed, with the parents haunting and irritating their children.
What the hell lor...

-Jho. (try to) Study. Sleep. College. Lecture @ NJC. REHEARSAL!

What the hell!

LOLOL! Taken from Green Chameleon, a resource blog from the company Straits Knowledge. Isn't he handsome? I can just slot him into any pringles ad! Haha..
People say, by staying gorgeous one is high mantainance. Who knew looking ugly can be so expensive as well? Haha!

NAC 06
OH MY GOODNESS! Competition is stiff man! So many good groups are competing! How is TONE going to triumph??? Stress ah!!

College
Did not go to school today, was studying a bit in the morning, but was not was not as efficient as i'd like it to be. It's okay! Tomorrow, school ends at 140pm. YAY! Study Study Study..

Diarrhorea
Oh my god.. Am watching desperate housewives now. Andrew (Bree's son) is such an asshole! No pun intended. Sometimes quite painful to watch. Desperate housewives is really getting too heartaching to watch. The kniving wives are just too much to handle.. seriously.. Haha


The YHA Ambleside Hostel we stayed at during our stay in Lake District, England. Gorgeous isn't it?

-Jho. Grey's Anatomy. Sleep College. Study

Recovery

A Cappella
Jun Kai is insulting Chin Tow on MSN.
Ray is (extremely) excited about the costumes.
Jasmine is not on MSN but apprehensive towards the costumes earlier.
I was busy typing the damm heritage fest script - Lit skills applied - YAY! I studied.
Tow's complained she is too short to fit into the vietnamese costume!

Singapore Heritage Fest @ Suntec Tropics Atrium Recap:
We wore the nice but dumb looking costumes.. ~below~ Haha.. Quite hilarious. The sound check was fantastic! But then the sound engineer screwed up during our first song! Kiam pa! Our morale fell.. And it tumbled all the way into our last song.. Which sucked big time! Hopefully the audience did not hear what we heard! Juicy was apparently one of the better songs though.






So.. as you can see.. or hopefully hear, TONE (5 member a cappella group which I belong to) is doing really well.. Slowly and steadily progressing. Singing technique and performance still need quite some work. But i think we're our greatest critique - especially Jasmine our secretary.

Funny thing is, we know we have faults, but nobody seems to be improving rapidly. Hmmm.. And irritating enough, no one in TONE dares/wants/tries/claims to pick on my mistakes in singing bass. Either 1. I'm too good. 2. They're too shy and think i'm too good. 3. I'm only singing bass and never anything else, they don't sing bass, they don't know bass, they shut up and let me stay in isolation.

We need to expand our horizons and seriously listen to more (good) music.

But hopefully, we're going somewhere with this. I think if we stay on longer, it will be wonderful by the time we all hit 21 and above! At least on my part, I really hope we can become the next Idea of North! 5 man band that can sound absolutely tight and clear!

noTe to Tone:
- Please listen to more sops, altos, tenors, baris, basses respectively. Idea of North (ION) is a good group to listen and copy. If all of us can sound like the ION singers i.e. can hold solos, can hold harmonies that sound like a solo line in itself yet blend, can have large ranges. Perfect!:D
- Listen to more English pop singers that are within your range

Gig Updates:

20th July at Esplanade Concourse – Competing in National A Cappella Championships 2006
24th July at Esplanade Concourse – Performance 7:30 & 8:30
28th July at St Magaret’s Sec – Vocalpoolloza: A Cappella Dance Party 7:30-9:30pm

Don't miss a single performance!

Chintow's contribution to TONE's (up-and-coming) blog:


College
Busy as usual. Stress ah.. To many things to study! Need to work doubly hard now. Prelims 1 results aren't even satisfactory much less spectacular. Don't even know where to begin. Am seriously starting to loose hope in my ability to enter Law.

My new policy: "Don't know where I'm heading. Just Study."

Really am interested to try to take up Anthropology / Sociology in FASS ^_^
Patrick says Anthropology is very high in demand right now.. Consultants that have training in that area are highly demanded! Maybe i should do it! Since i'm able, and like to work with people and analyse relationships. Evidence: I didn't study much for "The Guide" as much as my Shakespeare paper, but is able to write a good essay on the Universal quality of a typical Indian -culture based novel. Hmmm... Good to have alternatives!

Conclusion: Law OR Sociology/Anthro (for now!)

Music
Just bought Nelly Furtado's new CD - Loose [Wanted to buy Mariah carey, but thought mimi is worth less than Nelly Furtado] Haha!
Dionne Warwick
Idea of North - Mas que nada (I'm obsessed!)
Toni Braxton - He wasn't man enough for me
Laura Fygi - La la la la love song
Rag Fair - Love love couple furi furi de chuu
DHT - Listen to your heart
Neri Per Caso - La Raccolta


- Jho sleep. Study. Movie. Dinner.

Quote of the Month:
"if the water don't drink the horse, bring the water to it" -Ms Evelyn Nathan, Innova JC 2006