Come Sunday, Kit Chan will hold the distinction of being the last singer ever to belt out a song in front of a crowd of thousands at the National Stadium.

That’s something definitely worth bragging about, considering that the venue has played host to the biggest names in pop music: Mariah Carey and Michael Jackson.

And aptly, Chan, 34, will be performing ‘Live Our Dreams’ at Field Of Dreams - A Tribute to the National Stadium, the stadium’s official closing ceremony on Saturday.

The song was commissioned back in 2005 by the Singapore Sports Council (SSC) for Team Singapore in preparation for the country’s participation in the 23rd Southeast Asian Games in Manila.

“It’s the most appropriate song,” she said in a phone interview yesterday prior to official rehearsals tonight. She then recited a lyric from the song written by David Tan and composer Thomas Sch‶nberg: “There’s no place I’d rather be.”

“This song is about the sportsmen and women of Singapore,” the regional superstar said, adding that she’ll be getting help when Team Singapore members - from anywhere between 30 and 100 - who will come on stage for the chorus part.

“It’s a very ‘We Are The World’ thing,” she said with a laugh. Chan admitted she has never actually performed the song live, as only a video was made for TV in 2005.

Field Of Dreams, which is organised by SSC, kicks off with a rocking set by the John Molina-led band Krueger, followed by a short friendly match between legendary footballers from Singapore and Malaysia, including Fandi Ahmad, Quah Kim Song, Samad Allapitchay and V Sundramoorthy.

Team Singapore athletes, led by ex-national sprinter C Kunalan, will take charge of a lighting ceremony before Singapore faces off against Australia in a match.

After this, father-and-son sports presenters Brian and Mark Richmond will host a tribute video presentation before Chan takes to the stage - as a symbolic caldron flame is doused.

It is a fitting moment for a singer whose career has, in some ways, been associated with the Grand Old Dame.

Chan has performed for two National Day Parades at the stadium. She first sang the theme song ‘Home’ in 1998.

In 2004, she did a reprieve during fellow Singapore singer J J Lin’s hip-hop rendition of the same song. This year, she is set to sing the theme song - but the festivities will be held at the 27,000-seater Marina Bay Floating Stadium, which is currently under construction.

“I’ve sung on stage at the National Stadium three to four times for various events, but the most significant would be in 1998. It was the first time (a) song for the National Day Parade (was sung) and everyone was ‘kancheong’ (Hokkien for “uptight”).

I wore a big burgundy gown and high heels, and walked down an incredibly steep flight of stairs,” Chan reminisced.

Singing at the home of the Kallang Roar has always been a unique experience.

“The stage is 360 degrees and there’s no other venue that will give you this kind of feeling,” she said, adding however that the place can be a nightmare for performers.

“The echoes will kill you, and you have to rely on ear monitors all the time!”

Like everyone else, she has her own memories of the place - and not all of them from the stage. Recalling the national sports meets she attended in her younger days, the country’s first National Youth Ambassador said: “I used to be a cheerleader at Raffles Girls’ School and we were notorious for being very loud!”

But in the end, practicality wins, she agreed. “As much as you love her, the National Stadium is kind of crumbling. You can never be too sentimental especially when it comes to stadiums that hold sports events that need state-of-the-art facilities. But it is good that we are able to end on a big bang.”

And a Big Bang it will be, courtesy of a fireworks display after Chan’s performance.

After which, the second part of the night’s festivities begin.

The pitch will then be transformed into a dance floor for LightsOut, a dance party with Zouk DJs B and Andrew Chow spinning hip-hop and a mishmash of retro music from the club’s iconic Mambo Jambo Wednesday nights. According to Zouk marketing manager Tracy Philips, around 6,000 people are expected to join in the fun.

Take it from Kit Chan: There’s no place you should rather be, indeed. -

Channel News Asia

SINGAPORE : Organisers of the National Day Parade say they are working with online auction sites like Yahoo and eBay to stop the sale of tickets online.

Tickets for the Preview and Parade shows were only given out on Saturday, but already some people have put up theirs for sale.

And this has ruffled some feathers.

It has been one long wait for William Soh, a successful applicant for the NDP tickets.

This is the first time the 66-year-old will be watching the National Day Parade, and he made sure he’s first to get the tickets, turning up at 7 in the morning, 3 hours before the collection counters opened.

Mr Soh said: “I come here, all the light was not open, very dark. I thought, oh, where, where.”

He is one of over a few hundred people who collected their tickets on Saturday.

Many, like Frank Lopez, another successful applicant, have been trying to get tickets for several years.

And it riles them that some successful applicants are making a quick buck by selling their tickets on the internet.

Mr Lopez said: “I’ve been trying for 7 years, yet people still sell tickets. Yesterday I went to internet just to get the location. And what I found out was: $450 per ticket, $250 per ticket, $350 per ticket.”

Colonel Teo Jing Siong, Chairman, Executive Committee, NDP 2007, said: “We are working with some of the internet companies and we will try to trace those tickets. This is not easy, if we can we will bar them from applying for NDP ticket in future.”

A check online found 4 tickets going for a total of $600 on Yahoo! Auctions, while a search on eBay had one ticket at $121.

“I won’t buy it because I will encourage those people who sell online,” said one Singaporean.

“If I can’t get a ticket, I will watch live on TV,” said another.

But where there’s demand there will be supply, and there seems to be no shortage of people willing to pay for a ticket.

One said: “I would buy it to watch the NDP! it’s once a year, and this year it’s at the Marina new place right, it’s not at Kallang anymore.”

He added that he was prepared to pay up to $100 for the ticket.

Each ticket comes with a serial number tagged to the applicant’s identity card number.

Organisers say anyone found to have bought a ticket will not be allowed to enter the parade grounds. - CNA/ch

Channel News Asia

SHANGHAI, China: Singapore’s MediaCorp Raintree Pictures has embarked on a groundbreaking movie venture that marks its first collaboration with Chinese filmmakers.

Joining Hollywood superstar Sharon Stone and Hong Kong movie queen Maggie Cheung on the red carpet of the 10th Shanghai International Film Festival was Singapore’s very own Qi Yuwu.

The actor is appearing in the upcoming movie “Painted Skin” with Chinese action star Donnie Yen.

The US$10 million project is the first movie collaboration between filmmakers in Singapore and China, and it will feature a pan-Asian star-studded cast, helmed by heavyweight director Andy Chin of the “Dragon Chronicles” fame and producer Wilson Yip who directed last year’s “Dragon Tiger Gate”.

Qi said: “As an actor from Singapore, I hope this will help others understand Singapore better and discover talents in Singapore. I think it will be great to show Singapore’s works to the world.”

Chan Pui Yin, Assistant Vice President, MediaCorp Raintree Pictures, said: “In the past, when our movies like “The Best Bet” and “I Not Stupid” were released in China, it was through a distribution channel. This is our first collaboration in co-production.”

Touted as an action-packed movie with dramatic digital special effects, “Painted Skin” tells the tale of a love-hate relationship between a vixen spirit and a group of humans.

It is expected to be one of 2008’s biggest highlights for the Chinese film industry.

The movie is based on the Chinese classics “Strange Tales of Liaozhai”, a collection of short stories filled with supernatural elements such as ghosts and spirits.

This is also the first time that Chinese film authorities have allowed a film with a supernatural theme to be made in China.

The lead actress for the movie has yet to be chosen and the public has been invited to send in their suggestions.

Among the actresses that are being considered are popular Chinese stars like Zhou Xun, Zhang Ziyi and Fan Bingbing.

- CNA/so

Channel News Asia