Hi Teresa and faithful supporters of Teresa!

Just came back home, exhausted, because I shifted some appointments to make it down on time for the abovementioned performance. I arrived at Toa Payoh HUB Hub around 2.30pm, had Burger King for lunch and watched both Tong En and Fan Yichen's performances (the latter's voice was fascinating), as well as a number of budding contestants' performances onstage all the way till 4pm before Teresa started singing. Although my legs were aching, I walked away from the concert after watching all the CSS contestants' performances at 4.30pm, SMILING broadly. Here are the reasons why....

Teresa gave a FABULOUS performance today and I was glad I was there to watch it. For those faithful supporters who missed Teresa's finest performance to date, kindly allow me to fill you in. Teresa, I have something, as usual, to comment on, so bear with me in this report.

Teresa sang "It wasn't meant to be" and "Ni de wei siao",with a short dialogue session with two of the mcees. This is how I think Teresa fared today:

Song Selection        : 9.5 out of 10
Stage Attire          : 9.5 out of 10
Song Presentation     : 9.5 out of 10
Audience Interaction  : 9.0 out of 10
Mcee Interaction      : 8.5 out of 10

Teresa, if you have noticed, this (Advanced Total Entertainment Value formula) is slightly different and a lot more detailed from the Total Entertainment Value formula that I taught you before and I decided to give you the advanced breakdown now because I feel that you are now ready to progress to the next stage of Superstar career management. Let me now explain them to you:

1) Song selection: 9.5

Assuming you have the say in song selection, both songs are well chosen for the event, just like what you did at the PC Bunk performance because they are songs appropriate for the event as well as the audience composition I cannot give you the full 10.0 because I don't claim to know all the songs in the industry but both songs are as good as they get.


2) Stage attire: 9.5

You are dressed in black and biege top and skirt, which emits the kind of image that is most suitable for the event and acceptance level of the audience as well - a nice combination of sweetness, style and taste, fit for a Campus Superstar onstage. I cannot give the full 10.0 again because I am not completely conversant in all the latest stage fashion and fads but nobody seems to be complaining about how you dress today.

3) Song presentation: 9.5

After three 9.5 grades, I think some people may think I am biased towards you but I tried to be as objective as I can (the grading took me 3 hours to finalize). You did all that was possible in bringing out the best of both songs. I listened as intently as I could and found nothing negative to critique on. The applause was not as loud as I would expect, given your incredible song presentation, but I believed some of the audience were so positively stunned by your performance that they forgot to even applause - perhaps they were completely amazed by how well you had performed beyond their expectations. For those who are new supporters to Teresa and are reading this for the very first time, I'd say you have made a good choice for your Campus Superstar.

4) Audience Interaction: 9.0

You have done quite a good job in interacting with the audience from all different facings of the stage, remembering to flash your mega-watt smile, waving at the audience, getting the audience to clap along with you and generating a buzz which was previously unseen of. I can see that your "Da Jiang Zhi Feng" is slowly gaining form but you have to pay close attention to an important part of audience interaction:

Do not attempt to chide any audience (however politely) for "Leng Chang" because of two reasons. The first reason is because "Leng Chang" is incorrectly used. A better phrase would have been "Bu Kou Re Qing". So how does one stir up the audience, especially audience with a wide range of age groups? An example: "Da Jia Xing Ku Le, Zhan Le Ze Me Jiu. Wo Men Yi Qi Lai Huo Dong Huo Dong Yi Xia, Hao Bu Hao? Compliment the audience first, and they will be much more inclined to follow you to clapping along with the song. The second reason is because you may run into the danger of offending the audience as some of them are quite a few notches more senior than you are, so be very careful about that.

Mcee Interaction: 8.5

I have included this section because as I have mentioned in my previous report, mcee interaction is an invaluable opportunity for you to reveal your side as a celebrity rather than just a plain performing voice and figure onstage. Your interaction today with the two mcees is much better than the previous one at PC Bunk, interspersed with jokes and much audible response. I have, however, two gentle points to impart to you:

Firstly, try to answer questions about your future programme involvement clearer because those are windows of opportunity for you to publicise yourself to supporters and future supporters-to-be. By laughing or shrugging some of these questions off, you will lose these precious opportunities for publicity (which you will need to continue in the highly competitive music and entertainment circle). Secondly, try to avoid putting your arm across your waist to support your microphone-holding arm, because it may accidentally convey the wrong body language that you are bored with either the mcees' questions or the time you spent with the mcees onstage. I believe you have neither such thoughts and this could have been just a habit, but I hope you can try to put your free arm behind your back so you look more attentive and open during your mcee interaction.

Lastly, I wish to speak to you about fan management since you are slowly evolving into the next stage of being a Superstar. However, the details of fan management are confidential (trade secrets) so I do not wish to reveal them on the open message board here. I heard from the word on the street that some non-supporters of Teresa (from fanbases of other CSS and PSS contestants) are reading my posts rather consistently and picking up tips for their own development and as much as I loved to support the local music scene, my highest priority of aid goes to Teresa first (this form of selective help is of course biased). For fellow supporters of Teresa, I hope you understand the importance of confidentiality in this issue and rest assured that I would not abuse this channel of communication if granted it.

So, Teresa, can you email me directly if you have the time and the interest to know what sort of advice I have to offer to you and I will brief you in detail about fan management? If not, it is just as fine. As I have been receiving many Teresa clones from my email inbox, I would need you to identify yourself (if you choose to email me) by correctly describing my most prominent features (since you have already met me) and by correctly identifying my attire today at your performance (I presume you should know how I looked today because you seemed to be singing to me at a few points of your performance).

Once again, let me congratulate you on the best performance to date. You have once again earned the respect and admiration of both supporters and the public today. Remember: Every stage opportunity gives you the invaluable chance to gather more experience and polish your skills even further. Have a great holiday ahead.

Sean Ho
"Music clears the mind, fills the heart, moves the soul."