I admit I was slightly sceptical of UK duo Deepgroove (Lee Pattison and Grayson Shipley) before they even got on – I was ready to spend another hour liquoring up for the dancefloor, but I can safely say that these boys blew away my bitter old expectations. Lucky punters at Zouk on Friday (well, the ones who were still conscious and/or not being hauled out by security) will agree: they were sh*t-hot fantastic. There’s something sleekly saucy about a relatively new DJ outfit who can pull off overplayed house anthems (namely a banging remix of Miss Kittin single ‘Silver Screen Shower Scene’) without seeming like they need to win you over. Deepgroove aren’t just one-hit-househeads – they churned out a sickeningly good 4hr+ set without breaking a sweat, running the gamut from minimal tech to genre du jour fidget. Pattison and Shipley are seasoned remix masters – their re-edits have an inimitable edge over the wave of aspiring electro/fidget house DJs flooding out of Italy (think Clark Able and the ubiquitous Crookers). Earlier this year these guys put out a debut single ‘The Deacon’ on fidget-head Jesse Rose’s (the culprit behind the infectious ‘Itchy Dog’) very own label Madetoplay; we’re excited to see what happens next. Here’s hoping they head back here soon.

That’s a (chicken) wrap.

6 October 2008

Dear Media/Partners,

Termination of Ministry of Sound Singapore With effect from today, Monday, 6 October 2008, the Licence
Agreement dated 29 April 2005 entered into by LB Investments Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of LifeBrandz Limited, and the UK-based Brand owner Ministry of Sound International Limited has been terminated by LB Investments Ltd pursuant to the terms of the said Licence Agreement.

Following such termination, LB Investments Ltd has, as of this morning, instructed its solicitor to file a claim against Ministry of Sound International Limited in the High Court of Singapore.

The operation of the Ministry of Sound outlet located in The Cannery at Clarke Quay has also ceased with effect from today, Monday, 6 October 2008.

LifeBrandz Limited has future plans to redevelop the premises into an entertainment centre that will be different in concept from the Ministry of Sound outlet.

Future plans for the premises will be announced over the next few weeks.

Thank you

Best regards

Bernard Lim
Executive Vice President
LifeBrandz Limited

When my mate, ESPN senior producer and anchor Glenn Connley, remarked that for some people Formula 1 was more a spectator sport than a sport-sport, he was spot-on.

And what a show Singapore put on.

The first ever Formula 1 night race was not only the most exciting, nailbiting, tension-filled race of the year, but also a very effective – albeit expensive – PR exercise for the city-state. Think about it: if you’d never visited or known anything about Singapore before the Singapore GP Season, Sunday’s race would surely have enticed you to drop by the Lion City: the glittering lights, the skyscrapers, the Singapore Flyer, slivers of cars zooming past the beautiful Supreme Court, the Padang, the Esplanade. Wow. Hopefully this will finally put to rest the misconception that Singapore is part of China. It’s not.

For the past year there’s been a lot of talk about the F1: whether it would work, what it would bring to the country, its residents, whether we were indeed the Monaco of the East etc…you could go on forever. To me it was simple – it’s Tuesday and I’m still suffering from F1 fever. What does this mean? That I had a blast, and thus the F1 must be a good thing for the country.

The ‘festive’ mood was helped by the various F1-related parties. Thursday’s Red Bull event at Café Del Mar certainly did not disappoint. The music rocked, the vodka Red Bulls flowed, eye-catching bikini babes flounced about; even four drivers showed up – Red Bull Racing’s Mark Webber and David Coulthard, and Toro Rosso’s Sebastian Vettel and Sébastien Bourdais, eye candy and TV cameras in tow. Impressive. Oh yes, and there were fireworks too.

The next night it was off to the press suite. While it took over an hour to get there – thanks to a clueless cab driver and a lack of signage (note to the organisers: signs are cheap to erect) – all was forgiven, when I chanced upon a guide who escorted me all the way to the box. And I definitely forgot about my hour of woe when I caught Renault’s (and eventual champ) Fernando Alonso whipping round the first turn at full speed. There’s something about Formula 1 machinery and the sound of internal combustion engines at their peak that overwhelms you with this childish sense of excitement. It’s as if Christmas came early.

Next up, it was time to get wet at the the much-discusssed Chivas Live event. I’ve had any, many happy memories dancing to the sounds of featured artist Chicane, and was really looking forward to it. And looking down at the sea of deliriously happy faces in the ‘swimming pool’ I was not alone. In fact, I spied many familiar party-hardy faces of yesteryear dancing up a storm, oblivious to the fact that they were getting soaked. Maybe it was all the Chivas Green Tea they drank… Regardless, kudos to the Chivas folks for coming up with the most original and enjoyable party concept and venue seen this year. Finally.

I’d planned to catch Saturday’s action from the swish seats of Raffles Grandstand, but at the very last minute passed the tickets to an out-of-town colleague. Ah well, at least he enjoyed it. Correction: raved about it. Oh well, what did it matter? Ferrari’s Felipe Massa was at pole position, not Lewis Hamilton. The writing seemed to be on the wall…or was it?

Armed with Walkabout tickets, sensible footwear and earplugs, it was time to hit the track. Thanks to Friday’s hour-long recce with a map-savvy friend, we had plotted a little route of our very own: first, the Padang to watch the start on the big-screen TV. Then, the corner of Gate 4, smack-bang in front of the Supreme Court for the first few laps. Before a leisurely stroll along the Marina Square promenade area near Gate 7 to catch the drivers negotiating one of the tighter turns of the race, crossing over to the front of DXO to watch the cars whizz by in full audiovisual glory, before re-routing back to the Padang to watch the last few laps, and of course mishaps.

I was almost relieved to see the chequered flag wave Alonso through; this race was a comedy of errors. The safety car came out; far too many times, there were a number of rookie-like incidents. Ferrari’s Massa managed to zoom off with the petrol hose still attached, and later fellow team-mate Räikkönen crashed while running fifth with just three laps remaining. Talk about bad luck, especially for Ferrari.

Not so for Singapore. This is one race people are going to talk about for along, long time to come. And talk they will, until it’s time for the next Singapore GP.

Only 364 more days to go…

So what? Consider these fun facts:
1. Mark Burnett is the warhorse of reality television – his first and arguably most famous show, Survivor, is about to start its 18th season. Eighteenth! That’s older than the Esplanade, Jamie Lynn Spears, and nearly older than the McChicken sandwich (missed it by a year).
2. Chiselled men will be in town.
3. The host of the show is none other than Tony Danza – I mean, come on, that’s awesome. Isn’t the man who used to play a housekeeper on Who’s the Boss the obvious choice? Technically, he is – he’s also a former college wrestler, has been boxing since 1976 and got the part of Tony Banta in the TV show Taxi after being discovered during a gym workout.

The Contender airs in the US in December. Keep an eye out for said chiselled men during outdoor shoots in Esplanade Park, Boat Quay, the Botanic Gardens, at Changi Airport and West Coast Park. Laura Dannen

And so Biennale fever continues…

On Wednesday, a few of the TOS crew ventured out to Collectors Contemporary for
Confabulation…which was a breath of fresh air. It was liberating being able to enjoy pieces that didn’t look like blobular animals or children.

Note: [I’m not thinking Fernando Botero more like, Qi Yuwu’s ‘Beary Ambitious’ exhibition in June 2008 when he basically made the toy Be@rbrick look Asianised]

Take for instance the naked torso of the ‘man-made-from-yarn’, sticking out in the middle of the room unabashedly. Or the male mannequins wearing their masks and capes (designed by David Gremard Romero and inspired by ancient Roman poet Ovid, made relevant by Wonderwoman, Mexican pro wrestler Mil Máscaras and magician Houdini), looking haute and sexy…and don’t be shy, it’s just 3-D portraits of Queen Elizabeth II, who’s obviously having fun hanging by the wall with her doppelgangers.

Note: [It was if the queen was there herself]

And don’t get me started by the one-off site-specific light installation by artist Chris Levine, an engineer’s wet dream come true.

Note: [While having a cigarette outside, a friend of mine explained to me that the light installation is programmed to work like an optical trick. An ‘object’ appears and reappears when you’re not looking. This programmer does this through trail and error]

Said hello to Eunjong Park again, the petite Korean was her usual jovial self and jovial she should be with the apparent success of the exhibition. Had a chat with creative consultant Steve Lawler (kult.com.sg) and started talking about how Collectors sets itself apart from the other galleries in Singapore with the kind of art on show.

With artists like Levine, Romero, Jim Christensen, Kevin Bourgeois and Derek Boshier, gallery owners and collectors Dr Alvin Koh and Gary Sng feed our need for provocative, and at times, dark pieces.

Note: [I’ve noticed their art collection to be quite ‘homoerotic’, but otherwise beautiful. Sometimes I wonder whether you really are what you swallow]

On Monday, a few of the TOS crew ventured out to the ‘Central

Promontory Site’ (seriously the most unhelpful venue name ever - even though the invitation had a map on it) on Marina Boulevard for a talk by Japanese architect Shigeru Ban/Club 21’s Art of the T exhibition. We were under the impression the event would be housed in a marquee, but instead, we were greeted with an artful facade of containers (the industrial kind that movie mafia bosses keep dead bodies in) and what we later discovered were gigantic waterproof cardboard pillars. Initial verdict: cool.
Not gonna lie - we were there for the clothes, so we mainlined for the retail container after scoping out the contents of the other containers - mini art exhibits all paying homage to the mighty t-shirt. It was a neat little concept except for the lack of ventilation which left us soaked in sweat. After shoving our way through the other fashionistas, we successfully picked up a couple of Kulte tees and a Marc Jacobs shirt. The only sore spot was the number of past season t-shirts on sale…

While noses were stuck in labels and logos, Shigeru Ban was giving a highly insightful talk about sustainable architecture that we kind of wish we paid more attention to. Mr Ban - quite possibly one of the most environmentally friendly architects around - promotes the use of recyclable paper to provide fast, affordable housing to disaster victims, and has designed cardboard structures all over the world including the Musée d’art Moderne Georges Pompidou in France and a one-of-a-kind Japanese Pavilion for the 2000 Hannover World Expo in Germany.

We left with a better understanding of the cardboard-and-container structure, newfound respect for an amazing architect, and a respectable haul of designer threads. All in all, a successful night - we just wish there had been more t-shirts.

Now, Spike (first-name basis, oh snap!) is in town for two days as a speaker at the Global Brand Forum conference for ‘marketing mavericks’; Jimmy Wales, the creator of Wikipedia, was also here, along with Al Golin (not to be confused with Al Gore, which is what I heard when someone yelled in my ear over the music at supperclub).

In true Time Out fashion, I knew someone who knew someone who was organising Spike’s ’social calendar’ for his one night in town, and she said we could hang out at the party. How do you say no? So at the stroke of 11, Spike shows up, decked out in NY Yankees gear and probably thick in the throes of jet lag, and sits back on the bed. The following is more or less an exact transcription of our exchange:

[Scene: I walk nervously up to his bed and wave, take my shoes off and essentially crawl on the mattress towards this award-winning director. Awkward moment No 1.]

LD: Um, hi, I don’t want to bother you, but I’m Laura and I’m from New York.

SL: Where in New York?

LD: I was living in Prospect Heights.

SL: Brooklyn! [Pause.]

LD: Uh, yup. So what are you doing in Singapore?

SL: Here for a conference. [Silence]

LD: Cool. What do you think of Singapore so far?

SL: I like what I’ve seen. [Silence.]

LD: Is this your first time here?

SL: Yup. [Even more silence.]

LD: Uhh, cool.

After about two minutes of Yankees talk (’they’re not doing so well right now’), I figured I had worn out my welcome. We shook hands, smiled, I said thanks and resisted the urge to yell ‘I loved Boyz n the Hood!’ over my shoulder (note: he didn’t make Boyz n the Hood), and I leave him to sink back into the pillows that are basically the size of his entire torso.

Sadly, I had fallen into the trap of assuming a celebrity wanted to talk to me as much as I wanted to talk to him. But I also got to say I shared a bed with Spike Lee…and that’s not a bad story.

There’s no denying that it’s a great space, unlike anything Singapore has seen before I’d bet (apart from the bed bar which shut on Mohamed Sultan Road). It is a big place, really big (there’s another room away from the main one with another bar and a central square lounging bed), so my initial thought was ‘How the hell are they ever going to fill this place?’ However, after a few top-ups of champagne, the place began to fill with even more party-goers dressed in white and even more weirdly dressed staff (waiters wrapped in clingfilm – seriously).
I only stayed for a few hours, which apparently was before it got very full, but I had to leave when someone started doing a ‘spoken word performance’ to strange music and visuals of bombs and Hello Kitty on the wall, waaay too much for me. I find performance art excruciatingly painful to watch and don’t understand the obsession with having it at launch parties here – someone please explain.

All in all, the supperclub is a very ‘cool’ place although maybe a little too cool. I really do hope it is successful but worry that the novelty factor may wear off pretty soon. Oh yeah, a word of warning: the toilets are unisex so keep your wits about you, and when you flush – it’s like a tornado went off in the bowl so keep your distance to stay dry. Also it’s dark in there, really dark, so ladies, make sure you do your make-up before you go in ─ you can barely find the mirror let alone see your reflection.

The line up was most certainly impressive, and the perfomers did not fail to deliver. Pussy Cat dolls must’ve been dancing at 3000 beats per second; Panic at the Disco’s energetic performance saw teeny boppers in the front row splashed with the emo rocker sweat; Alicia Keys and her band ROCKED every second with flawless, groovalicious sounds; Jason Mraz shocked the crowd (or maybe just me?) with a distinctly bluesy sound - trumpet solo and all!
Even Rick Astley’s Never Gonna Give You Up was a riot - and probably brought the most people to their feet. Although his self-deprecating Austin Powers-esque jibes (”you know this song - you must have a karaoke machine at home, baby yeah!”) made me feel a tad bit sorry for him.

The venue was a good combination of central location, wide open space, a sloping green so even the shorties can see and requisite stately colonial building. (this is Singapore after all)

Harry’s as the caterer was another good choice. Who would have ever expected sushi and vegggie wraps at an outdoor concert? There was also chicken kebabs but the cues were so long I passed. And prices were surprisingly reasonable - $6 for a wrap and $2 for a bottle of Fiji water.

Some let downs which made Singfest only GOOD and not GREAT - the sound and the crowd control.

It was just plain not loud enough most of the time and at moments the sound cut out altogether - at the beginning of Panic at the Disco no one could hear a peep, although the band was professional to a tee and the show just went on tantrum-free. A bigger, more experienced band (fronted by anyone named axel) would’ve thrown a hissy fit and walked off the stage fo sho.

The crowd got restless with the long breaks between acts - up to half an hour sometimes! PCD got everyone wound up and should have been smack bang before Alicia Keys as an opening act. But the long break between the two sets meant the buzz was gone. Many people walked out during poor Alicia’s set - exhausted and lacking the energy after a long and very hot day of listening to music.

That said, alicia herself was flawless - not a single imperfect note came out of her mouth. Her finale of No One had what sounded like an entire eastern european nation singing “Uh-uh-uh-uh-OH!” in chorus.

Would I go again next year? Yes. But I’d hope this baby would be a little grown up by then.

Sabina Fernandez