ZOUKOUT 2009 SINGAPORE

” THE BEACON OF LOVE, GREAT MUSIC AND UNFORGETTABLE MEMORIES! “

After spending an entire afternoon in Sentosa, the final moment came when we headed over to ZoukOut to pick up our press kit. We walked and walked partly to give our dinner a bit of a workout and partly we were momentarily thrown off-course by an incredibly long queue. At first these folks were queuing for the party but no, as our guide Wilson observed. These turned out to be people waiting for the Songs of the Sea musical fountain :O I cannot recall when the last time anyone was this enthusiastic about musical fountains (I hadn’t noticed many kids either) but it’s quite insane to see this many people waiting just to buy tickets (or have they bought tickets but were waiting to get inside?) but I shudder to imagine the jam on the road getting to Sentosa for this show + ZoukOut (remember 26,000 visitors hit the beach just a year ago).

Introducing the most anticipated outdoor dance music festival of the year is back on the pristine palm tree-lined Siloso Beach, for the ninth year, bringing forth a spectacular voyage of rapturous music, dancing, art and lots of festivities.

“Over the years, ZoukOut has established itself as the region’s iconic outdoor dance party. Adding much vibrancy to Singapore’s nightlife offerings, ZoukOut has boosted Singapore’s standing as an aspiring events and entertainment capital of Asia. At ZoukOut 2008, close to 40 percent of the record 26,000-strong crowd who turned up for the dusk to dawn beach dance party were overseas visitors. With its new exciting lineup this year, ZoukOut 2009 will undoubtedly attract record numbers once again and help kick-start a high-adrenaline season of parties and celebrations leading into the New Year.” — Ms Ranita Sundramoorthy, Deputy Director of Entertainment, Sports & Arts, Singapore Tourism Board

Each one of us were fitted with a tamper-proof wrist band (gold/silver for media folks) and a press card and those other colourful lanyards were handed out by the ladies from Nokia 🙂

Bacardi Lime in one hand and things are off to a good start 🙂 There were moments I wished I was there to party and chit chat (if at all we could make a career out of doing just that) but had I done so and attempted to shoot the night off with just one hand on the trigger I think you’d have to be in “beer goggles” mode to appreciate the quality of pictures produced 🙂 I’m quite level headed most times when it comes to work commitment and responsibility (but that’s just first second cup of lime juice talking).

I had my finger on the shutter and had the other hand holding the cup when it accidentally clicked and shot these ZoukOut staffers on the side of the media camp. Turned out quite OK—some accidents are meant to be.

Orchard Road isn’t the only place that’s all lit up. There were moments when I was literally blinded by the excessive use of high intensity lights as the combination of lighting effects and carefully choreographed dance tracks to work us all into the right trance!

It all began with just 4 high spirited individuals dancing away and in no time the small platform got too packed but that didn’t stop people squeezing in for a good time. The entire stretch of Siloso Beach is packed with people in all manners of dressing, or lack thereof. It is a beach party after all and if anything I was overdressed and ended up with so much sand in my sneakers. I’ll be more prepared for ZoukOut 2010 if I’m lucky to get another invitation. 🙂

Speaking of which, Melo grabbed more than a handful of them (the glow sticks I mean) and handed me four sticks. Perhaps I should do something about them, like give them out or something. 42BELOW also produces Manuka Honey flavoured Vodka and check out this cracker from their website …

“The bees we use to make our Manuka honey flavoured vodka work 24 hours and we don’t pay them a cent. Hell, we even kill a few just for fun. Little bastards … These bees manufacture honey under any conditions, don’t really get paid and often die on the job. It’s just like the good old days of Australian mining before the unions came and wrecked everything”

↑ 42BELOW girls spinning glow sticks and below, a spinning glow stick froze against the strong back light leaving us with a nice silhouette of the performer. ↓

As official media by invitation of Singapore Tourism Board, Melo and I had the privilege to interview world number 1 DJ Armin van Buuren ahead of Channel [V]’s turn. Because of time limitation, Melo and I decided we would split the task and let me do what I do best (more pictures of Armin in the gallery) and the Q & A to him. What does it feel like to be inches away from this world number one? One word—privileged. Ok, two words—and, honoured 🙂

Melo : How does it feel being the #1?
Armin: It feels amazing that I can do what I love to do. Its always a passion. It makes you the happiest man in the world.

Melo : Whats your personal inspiration?
Armin : I love listening to other peoples music. I can listen to all types of music from ColdPlay to Kylie Minogue. Music makes us happy …  [check out Melo’s blog for full transcripts of the interview]

Shortly after the interview, Melo introduced me to gorgeous Channel [V] VJ, Megan Young,a Filipino-American born in Virginia, USA but is much “Pinoy na Pinoy” having spent most part of her growing-up years in Manila. Appearances on Pinoy Big Brother: Celebrity Edition (Season 2) and various TV dramas on ABS-CBN have made her a household name.

After we concluded the interview, it was time to leave the Rasa Sentosa Resort lobby to head back to Siloso Beach where by this time, the sandy stretch was now getting crowded and the night looked extremely promising to entertain.

↓ Petrol or diesel powered, as long they’re not in use, energy is conserved 🙂

Photo courtesy of ZoukOut

Photo courtesy of ZoukOut

Photo courtesy of ZoukOut

Photo courtesy of ZoukOut

Photo courtesy of ZoukOut

SO MUCH FOOD SO LITTLE TIME →
LIGHTS. CAROLS. ACTION! →