SING, a singing competition held by the Monash Music Club to find the voice of the year started with a bang! The competition that resembled the animated movie’s major themes of amateur singers who want to pursue their passion had a healthy number of participants that filled up most of the audition slots that were held on the 23rd and 24th of March at LT 6009.

Altogether there were around 36 contestants for both days of auditions. These will be brought down to 12 for the semi-finals, with the judges rotating from the MMC in threes. Then, it will be cut down to 5 contestants to battle it out in the finals with a panel of local acts as judges.

The tentative venue for the semi-finals and finals is Auditorium 2, with the semi-finals being on the 13th of April at 6pm onwards, and the finals being on one of the days of week 9. It will be an open event and all are invited! The MMC will be keeping the student body updated from time to time.

On the first day, I (Jemima) went in late because I felt kind of awkward walking into a closed door auditions but after gathering up my confidence, I walked in and sat the back row after waving to the president and judge, Jazelia. As I entered there was a girl singing beautifully with all her heart, and after she ended her last song, it surprised me that she was a first timer into the singing and performing world. The judges that were there, a guy and Jazelia gave very constructive advices to her and encouraging her to keep practicing.

Initially the auditions were slow-paced as each contestant was given a slot of 15 minutes and some contestants were late. But soon it was on full swing with voices belting out different genres. Some with the classic Disney songs that hit home and to the strong voice of Linakshi singing opera.

The one person that stood out to us was Seth Ryan Chin, who sang Crazy by Andrew Garcia. It was so filled with emotions that *WE WERE BAWLING MY EYES OUT* and felt so drawn into the song. He sang Oceans, by Hillsong next. THAT SONG brought me to tears. Jemima being a person of faith definitely saw how much he loved that song. There was something different, like instead of just singing, he was talking to the Creator. He was being shy yet bold, and that’s what the competition was all about; coming out of your shell and to be who you want to be.

On the second day of the audition, we thought that Sarah Ann’s rendition of Amber Riley’s Colour Blind was a little shaky at first but however, she ended her second and last song, Don’t You Remember by Adele filled with love and emotion. She connected so well with the second song and brought us deeper into the song. The judges too adored her emotions portrayed throughout the song. Singing with emotion is one of the most valuable skills a singer can develop and we loved Sarah for that.

Jourdan Soon got us smitten with his very own songs and the judges were smitten with his lyrics. So now we totally understand that music is about more than just notes and words on a page and can be translated into flowing melodies. So much love for both of your songs, Jourdan!

James Bay’s When We Were On Fire soulfully sang by Noel Ko but he definitely hit the notes with his mashup of How Would You Feel and Thinking Out Loud. His performance brought us back to Sam Tsui and Casey Breves mashup of Thinking Out Loud and I’m Not The Only One for a little while. It was an enjoyable performance despite his lack of eye contact with the audience and even the judges had almost nothing to comment.

With such a familiar voice, we consider Kristal Chang Hui Yee as our very own younger version of Adele in the hood. She even sang “Someone Like You” by Adele. For a second, we thought that we were at Adele’s concert. Her laid back personality and really chill performance definitely caught our attention. She is an impressive singer just under the radar that can satisfy our Adele obsession.

Jonathan Lim, safe to say as another very talented participants caught us off our seats with his Broadway style performance of one of the numbers from The Phantom of the Opera. We had no idea that such a dramatic voice lives in this young man.

Little did we know that we had so many talented individuals among us. In general, singing auditions are a difficult art to master and we are so happy that our fellow students nailed it pretty well! In case you’re eager to join the next audition in Monash, here are some tips to help you unleash the Mariah Carey in you :

1) Be prepared!
2) Show up early and sing right away! Punctuality is the key here.
3) Dress appropriately in a smart/casual way. Be comfortable
4) Flaunt your confidence.
5) Most importantly, know your music and know your lyrics.

To the semi-finalists that will be named soon, we wish you best of luck! Rock the stage!

Words by Hemala Kanagarethinam Paul & Jemima Darma Raj

Photos by Christopher Oh, Jenny Wong, Lysandra Koon, & Sitwat Hashmi