Show
Me Love
By Cheryl Chia & Ronald
Wan · UrbanWire
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Black Eyed
Peas' 'Where is the Love?' aptly became the number 1 song on Perfect
10's chart for 2003. It was indeed, a year of zilch love, from George
W Bush's missiles in Iraq to Justin Timberlake's lashing at his ex,
Britney Spears.
At UrbanWire, we're glad to say good riddance to Sars, paedophilic
singers, perverted sportsmen, celebrity deaths and that darn Carlsberg
jingle. Let's bid adieu to 2003, the Year of Missing Weapons of Mass
Destruction and welcome 2004, the Year of $2 million Singapore Sweep
prize money.
We need more cheers in 2004, and what better than
to come up with a list of 20 fun and frivolous things to look forward
to! Kindly note that these 20 things are real events that will happen
in 2004 and not stuff that are bogus, like…Michael Jackson's face.
Oscar Wild
MTV Asia Awards
Sequels
S-League
Sex and the City
Norah Jones
Suddenly Rich
Howard Dean
All Jazzed Up
Euro 2004
Harry Potter
Singapore Idol
Olympics
Survivor All Stars
The OC
LOTR exhibition
Indochine
The Single Life
s.m.a.r.t.s
Sports School
Oscar Wild!
We see with our flaming red eye that at the 76th
Annual Academy Awards on Feb 29, the hobbits and elves will rule
them all. In fact, it's high time Peter Jackson takes home the elusive
Oscar statuette for his brilliant vision and direction in The
Lord of the Rings trilogy. Which means, the Academy owes him
3 trophies, not just 1. And if Jackson doesn't win, we assure you that
millions of displeased fans will unleash more evil than the dark lord
Sauron.
MTV Asia Awards
On Valentine's Day, a parade of international music artistes is set
to paint the town red at the MTV Asia
Awards. The Love Brigade includes Black Eyed Peas, Blue,
Simple Plan, Liberty
X, Stacie Orrico,
5566 and Gareth
Gates. Michelle Branch
will be 'Everywhere' as the host and we hope no love is lost if the
sound system screws up again at the Indoor Stadium.
Sequels
Our favourite heroes - A spider-man (Spider-man
2), a green cartoon ogre (Shrek
2) and a woman killer in yellow tracksuit (Kill
Bill: Vol. 2) - return to our silver screen, much to the delight
of fans. And we pray the sequels will not disappoint us this year, unlike
duds last year like the confused Neo and the rambling architect.
S-League
The local professional soccer league is looking to the land
of the rising sun to add more bite and excitement with the introduction
of a 2nd foreign club - Japanese club Albirex Niigata after Chinese
side Sinchi FC's debut
last season. The S-League has another new look after the exit of Jurong
FC, Sengkang Marine FC and Sembawang Rangers FC.
Sex
and the City
Take out your Hermes hanky and
have a good cry as the girls from 1 of the most favourite sitcoms in
television history call it a day. We say goodbye to Carrie, the sweet
yet narcissistic columnist; Samantha, the sex goddess; Miranda, the
mother hen and Charlotte, the dreamy Jewish girl. Although the series
isn't showing in Singapore (yet), it's already showing its last season
in the States. Sniff.
Norah Jones
The jazz songbird will release her sophomore album, Feels
Like Home, on Feb 9. All eyes will be on her after the phenomenal
success of her debut album Come Away With Me and who can forget
her clean sweep at the Grammys last year? No matter, we're pretty sure
Norah will do it her way, just like blue eyes Sinatra.
Suddenly Rich
After scoring a home
run regionally, Jack is about to offer another heart-lander movie
to please the aunties, uncles and kids playing under the void deck.
The movie's tentatively called Suddenly Rich and stars Star
Awards supporting actress winner Patricia Mok and Golden Horse Best
Newcomer Megan Zheng. When Jack starts selling shares to his company,
count me in for sudden riches too…
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Dean For America: The next American
President?
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Howard Dean
Everyone's asking who else is taking on the most powerful man in
the world (yes, we're talking about George W. Bush, not Bill Gates)
besides Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein in a spider hole. We say,
watch out for Democrat Howard
Dean, former Vermont governor who will most likely take on Junior
Bush in the coming presidential elections. An advice for Mr Dean: Be
careful of Florida.
All Jazzed Up
Aren't we all getting a little sick of the "bling bling",
"flava" and "freak" hip-hop lingo? We aren't saying
hip-hop is bad music, but it's been a pain to see its artistes recycling
their music to occupy the charts. Perhaps we should give more space
to lite-jazz singers like Michael
Buble, Norah Jones and even
Rod
Stewart in his sincere attempt to sing swinging old standards.
Euro 2004
More late nights for soccer fans as the European countries slug
it out in Portugal for the European Championship. From Thierry
Henry of France to David
Beckham of England, girls will have a great time watching the men
while the guys will enjoy watching the men play. See the difference?
Harry Potter
Muggles who happen to be Potter fans can have their third dose of wizardry
and adventure come June. In the third installment of the Harry Potter movies, we
see the same team of young actors Daniel
Radcliffe, Rupert
Grint and Emma
Watson reprising their roles as Harry, Ron and Hermione respectively.
Gary Oldman plays Sirius Black, and Michael Gambon replaces
the late Richard
Harris as Headmaster Albus Dumbledore. Be prepared for some more
fascinating visuals as Potter battles evil as usual, and faces enemies
like Lord Voldemort with undying bravery.
Singapore Idol
Since when has it been entertaining seeing wannabes croon and croak
on national television? After all, it does take guts to try imitating
Enrique when in reality; you’re much
closer to being Mr Tone-deaf. Blame it on the creators of American Idol for causing such an ‘idol-istic’
phenomenon worldwide. Over 7 countries, including the UK, Canada and
Australia have taken up the Idol format and boosted their own television
ratings sky high. It seems people just can’t get enough of watching
others sweat it out and stretch those vocal cords to face judges whose
sharp tongues promise a good whip - we mean to their egos of course.
Fancy having yet another new local singing sensation that will perhaps
outdo even those Talentime winners? Then you should be happy to know
that Singapore Idol is going to be on our local tv
soon. We’re the first in Asia to produce the famous idol-format show.
Are you proud or what? But we wonder more importantly, who’re going
to be the judges on our local version. Hopefully they get an acid-tongued
bloke like Simon
Cowell or it won’t be much fun watching, will it?
Olympics
The world’s most prestigious sporting event is finally back; and this
time in the country that started it all - Greece, Athens. Sports has
never looked better since 1896 when the first Olympics were held. Right
now, construction work for the Olympian roads and stadium are on-going
and will hopefully be ready by August. This year’s Olympics will be
held from Aug 13 to 29 followed by the Paralympics from Sep17 to 28.
Athens 2004 is sure to dazzle especially at the logistics involved in
ensuring everything goes smoothly. Their budget is nearly 2 billion
euros (S$4.3 billion). About 5.3 million ticketed spectators are expected
to crowd the stadiums to watch and cheer 10,500 athletes from around
the world. There are about 35 venues for athletes to compete in the
28 sports. Let the games begin!
Survivor All Stars
Survivor has practically made grit and sweat seem glamourous. After
all, look at the number of Survivor contestants who have made it big
even without bagging that coveted million. Look at Jerri Manthey,
she’s now a celebrity and has been on the pages of Playboy.
Soon, there will be a reunion for all past Survivors in a new challenge
- Survivor: All Stars that will unite the popular contestants
from the previous 7 Survivors and pit them against each other. Richard Hatch, Tina Wesson and Ethan Zohn will
be among the ‘come-back’ contestants. We can expect more cat-fights
and brawls coming our way. In the mean time, keep a look out for your
favourite Survivor and be thankful you can watch them bitch-slap in
the comfort of your own home.
The
OC
The OC is Ch 5’s latest imported television series,
which promises to be a hit. Yes, we know what you’re thinking - What’s
OC? No, it’s not ‘officer-in-charge’, in case you were wondering. OC
stands for Orange County. Yes, that’s in California. The plot surrounds
2 wealthy families; the Cohens and the Coopers. Ryan Atwood (Benjamin McKenzie), a wayward teen soon
discovers this new found lifestyle after being kicked out of his house
by his mum. He soon makes friends with his neighbours and slips comfortably
in this dazzling new way of life. The show’s creator Josh Schwartz has
received a Writers Guild of America, East and West nomination
for “Outstanding Achievement in Television – Episodic Drama”. Sounds
impressive eh? But we think that looking at these actors wink and pout
in their picturesque masks makes more than enough entertainment.
Indochine
Fans of IndoChine who said adieu to the Waterloo Street days last year
can perk up. Soon, to add to the new revamped glitzy image of Wisma
Atria, IndoChine will see itself having a spacious 16, 500 sq feet to
please its customers old and new. This alfresco restaurant cum bar is
known for its uniquely authentic Asian cuisine and good service. It’s
time they had a choice place to dine in the middle of Orchard Road.
LOTR exhibition
Diehard fans of The Lord of the Rings (LOTR) Trilogy
would be ecstatic to know that come Mar 13, the Singapore
Science Centre will be the only venue in the whole of Asia to play
host to the one and only LOTR exhibition. The Lord of the Rings Motion
Picture Trilogy - The Exhibition will give visitors a close-up look
at the costumes and the different artifacts and armoury used in the
movies. Don’t forget there will also be film footage and props. You
can also watch the extended versions of the first two installments of
the trilogy at the Science Centre 200-seater theatre. This is an experience
that shouldn’t be missed. Buy your tickets at SISTIC
Adult $21, Children, $13. Ends 4 June.
The Single Life
Why is everyone unhappy being Single? It’s almost as if you’ll be an
outcast and labelled as a dreadful and depressed individual if you don’t
have a companion. Apparently we all want some love and my oh my, love
is in the air in our local version of The
Bachelorette. 10 eligible bachelors will now have to fight
for the attention of a single lovely lass who then has to narrow down
her choices to only one. Duh. No bigamy here. This reality show will
hopefully allow Ms Single Girl to find her one and only. We wish her
luck, really.
s.m.a.r.t.s
Do your bit for charity by playing s.m.a.r.t.s (Space
Mission - A Reciprocal Treasure Search) the ultimate online game show
brought to you by us truly! Not only will you be doing some good, but
you will also be able to win some fantastic prizes from our sponsors.
Beneficiaries are the Straits Time Pocket Money Fund, Teen Challenge
and Children’s Charities Association. Players will have to answer 10
questions and whoever wins, will also be indirectly doing their part
for charity. For every game played, $1 will be donated by corporate
and individual sponsors to the charities. Do continue checking The
UrbanWire for more details.
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Sports School
With term having just started at our first local sports school, we hope
that this pioneer batch of sporting young talent will one day do our
nation proud by bringing home more medals from international competitions.
Currently badminton, bowling, football, netball, track and field, swimming,
table tennis and sailing are the only sports available for students’
choice. The school also has some of the best coaches who have won medals
in the past. They include former Singapore national badminton coach
Basri Yusuf. Yusuf has taught the likes of talented Ronald Susilo. He
has also represented Indonesia in the past. Hey, you think we could
perhaps win an Olympic medal in years to come? Let’s hope the dream
isn’t one big farce like Goal 2010.
