Monday, May 31, 2010

More nonsense from GISEYE

'Musings of a very busy man'


- GISEYE

GISEYE EXCLUSIVE Ex-GIS Breakthrough Artist Act Report

Ann Choong, sister of Ian Choong, both former students of GIS, is currently thrusting herself forward to break into the competitive ex-GIS music scene with her latest venture, the cryptically named ‘LilAnnieC’.

Smashing the past

GISEYE can report that precisely five months ago, in a bout of severe manic melancholy and smashing her previous project, the online faecal-name-inclined musings of ‘anniepoooooo.blogspot.com’, into the proverbial gutter, Ann Choong (known simply as ‘LilAnnieC’ to her close personal friends) bought a guitar, laptop and chair, and proceeded to sing songs written by other artists, record herself doing so, and upload them to popular video site, ‘youtube.com’.

While initially attempting to challenge the spoken word releases of Clement Chew’s famed GISEYE blogcasts, 'LilAnnieC' - the name being a clever play on the health supplement 'Vitamin C' - quickly found that her melodic drones were building a fan base somewhat in excess of that of Clements’.

Early days

Garnering an impressive 26 views in her first week, Ann Choong swiftly capitalised on the interest stirred in ex-GIS music and soon found herself tentatively treading the path to modest musical stardom formerly home to ex-GIS musical dignitaries Brian Tan, Leon Jala, Gregory Das, and Johan Abdul Rahman. Notwithstanding other ex-GIS eminents to have expressed an inclination towards music: Andy 'drums' Chan, Adzim 'either drums or guitar' Halim, Mohammad 'classical guitar' Aboljadayel, Jeon 'piano' Chae-Won, and the shortlived yet impactful vocal duo of Menzie 'Skeleton' Kee and Verun 'Chopra' Narula.

Indeed, Clement Chew, off the record, notes that Matthew Rust enjoys playing the guitar.

Inspired by such a bastion of ex-GIS musical talent, passing the critical 100 views mark over the next few months, Ann Choong faced a trilemma:

1. Thrust forward into the classically-inclined world admist eminents such as piano-dabbler Clement Chew and Malaysian Concert Violinist Jia Wii Hue.

2. Mount the pop ‘golden years’ pedestal formerly occupied by the now defunct soft rock cover band ‘Black Shirt Mondays’.

3. Venture into the uncertain world of singer-songwriter-dom currently home to such luminaries as ex-GIS U18 A team goal poacher ‘Ben Rynjah’.

In a revealing interview with GISEYE, Ann Choong humbly implied but did not confirm that she had chosen the latter route.

Response from fans

Response on the ground has been positive. Ex-GIS notable, Aarti Samtani, who co-starred (though did not sing) in a play during Sixth Form stated in a hard-hitting observation, ‘Ann genuinely surprised me with her talent and unique voice. I sincerely hope she puts herself out there more because there just isn't enough real talent in the music industry anymore.’

Chris Ho, who, along with being regularly chosen for a number of key leadership positions, personally setup the sound stage for a number of important assemblies throughout a glittering tenure at GIS, was unavailable for comment.

GIS luminary, spectacles wearer and author of 'The Narrow Road', Lee Weng Yew, commented, 'she sounds pretty good.'

The enigmatic Jeremy Goh, fellow spectacles wearer and veteran of the GIS lunch time football scene, enthused, 'she sounds amazing.'

Elsewhere, self-styled ‘Pro’, Henry Yen, lumped over a healthy chunk of constructive criticism: ‘She has a unique tone. Possibly due to lack of equipment, her voice is overly gentle. So improvement on equipment may cause improvement in singing.’ Off the record, Henry Yen informally retorted with yet more constructive commentary along the lines of, ‘she might consider an intro, like a 10sec intro.’

This cumulative praise has though not gone to the head of the level-headed Ann Choong. In an offhanded comment that will no doubt appeal to fans that prefer informal ‘street speak’, Ann Choong self-effacingly admitted that she is ‘still no where close to being a pro’ and announced that she ‘definitely need the groove in anything’.

Spanner in the works

The road to moderate musical stardom has not been easy for Ann Choong however. Damning criticism has been lashed out at the quality of her recording equipment. Further, several prominent ex-GIS music scene critics have noted that at key points in her recent releases she sounds like she is singing in a large room. In response, the University of the Arts London student ambiguously stated that she is, ‘generally shy when you don’t know me.’ Only by being pressed further did she admit that she is currently struggling with sound quality issues, curtly shouting, ‘no fancy mic, just the built in mic’.

A perhaps enraged Clement Chew, who reports indicate has taken Ann Choong's venture as a personal attack, is reportedly planning to release a flurry of self-composed piano movements to counter Ann Choong’s meteoric rise to fame. Malaysian Concert Violinist Jia Weii Hue is currently taking his exams and thus was unavailable for comment.

A bright future

Everyone else though has given their full backing to Ann Choong’s ambitions. Along with this, we here at GISEYE offer forth the totality of our support and burgeoning fan base for Ann Choong’s future endeavours.

In other news, Ann Choong recently won a competition by Warner Music Hong Kong.

LilAnnieC can be found at: http://www.youtube.com/LilAnnieC
Ben Rynjah can be found at: http://www.youtube.com/benrynjah

- GISEYE

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

New members on the scene

'My Life, My Encounters and My Experiences...'
Penned by: Hue Jia Weii
http://huejiaweii.blogspot.com/

CHRIS'S BLOG
Penned by: Chris HO
http://chrisho88.blogspot.com/

ladeedew
Penned by: the almost forgotten Faisal Hassan, GIS U15 B team goalkeeper
http://www.faisalhassan.blogspot.com/