The Real Group in Hong Kong

Did you guys see The Real Group this past Tuesday? "The 2010 a cappella Real Premiere" was simply amazing!

My first 'exposure' to The Real Group was back when HKMM first started, when we tried to sing 'Chili Con Carne' (which didn't turn out very well, of course!). All I knew then was that they were one of the best vocal jazz groups out there. After this concert, I found that they do all sorts of music - from pop to contemporary to classical to even country music! (I also found out that a lot of Britney songs are of Swedish origin) Nowadays they write a lot of their own songs, which are performed by a cappella groups worldwide.

What's more, they're really nice people! Chatting with them over dinner was a very pleasant experience; you'd think they would be jaded after performing for 25 years and doing more than 3000 shows, but they're not!

Listening to 'The Real Album' after the concert was another great experience. They did many songs from this newest album during the Tuesday concert - my favorite are 'Bumble Bee' and 'Lay It In My Hands'. Did you know that they arrange two versions of each of their songs - one for CD recording, and one for live performance?

Go listen to 'Gota', the final song of their show in Hong Kong.


The final Festival performance is Rock Hard on April 22. This CASH-award-winning local production will also be the first show from Hong Kong to perform in the Shanghai Expo 2010 when it opens in May! (Only two tickets left...)

HKMM 演出成功!

呼，HKMM籌備接近4個月的演出終於都告一段落了！這幾天大家有在網上/街上/場館內看到我們的表演嗎;)？

等我總括一下呢半個月先。自從3月27日和王菀之及方大同那場演出後，除了vocal band3月28日在海洋公園有一場演出外，前天(4月9日)HKMM也再次和R.X一同演出，還有美國的Noteworthy及日本的V.I.P，相信當天有到場館睇騷的你一定對他們留下深刻印象啦:) 而昨天(4月10日)在文化中心的Piazza Show更加精采了，雖然天陰也有下雨，但觀眾卻意想不到的熱情呢！即使雨愈下愈大仍留低聽到最尾，台上的表演隊伍自然更賣力了，Noteworthy的女孩子們還邊唱邊跳，真的很厲害！

講返琴日個Piazza Show，其實今次HKMM的5位表演者正正是2個月前到北海道札幌雪祭表演的班底，不過當然經過這2個月之後歌曲的演繹方法會有不同，最開心的地方是大家更有默契了:)有趣的是，今次在台上唱到中途突然下起雨來，(我還記得那一首是Close to You 和Ninja呢)，冒著雨演出不自覺就回想起2月在札幌雪祭表演時，邊下雪邊唱歌旳感覺。當時同樣是唱Close to You，卻突然刮起風雪，不慎給了一整口的風雪差點嗆著，睇返片段，好回味冒著風雪在台上的那十多分鐘！話說回來，雖然昨天演出的片段未有，但2月的「雪中唱歌」片段將陸續放上網，大家記得密切留意!

HKMM 4月的shows雖然完了，但是今次A cappella Festival還有2項盛事，包括下星期二的The Real Group演出，當然還有Potenza有份演出的石堅無伴奏劇場，加油呀!

(和日本組合V.I.P合照)

Video: Hong Kong 2010 International a cappella Extravaganza

The largest-ever a cappella concert in Hong Kong was held in Queen Elizabeth Stadium on 27 March 2010, with an audience of almost three thousand. Performers included the USA's Eclipse, Sweden's Riltons Vanner, Singapore's MICappella, as well as Khalil Fong, Ivana Wong, R.X., and the Hong Kong Melody Makers.

If you missed the concert, don't worry! RTHK has the full concert video here (requires Windows Media Player):
http://teenpower1.rthk.org.hk/tptv/inside.php?id=288

Personally, I'm especially proud of what we did with Ivana's cantopop song 我來自火星 'I Come From Mars' (about 1 hr 54 mins into the video) - it's a very unique arrangement to a meaningful song. Thanks to our very own Ernest for arranging this amazing piece.

Next show: 2010 a cappella in Town, 9 April 2010! This show will feature young a cappella talent from the USA, Japan as well as HK. If you want tickets, get them quick - they're very nearly gone!