We bet you already knew MiLu Bing is the SuperBand and SOUL trumped Lucify by a mere 1% so here’s an insider’s look into the highs and lows of the SuperBand Grand Final, all behind the cameras!
Text by Kwok Kar Peng
Photography by Angie Ng, Dion Tang, Kwok Kar Peng
 | Exclusive video interviews with the Top 4! (Click to view!) SuperBand Grand Final Photo Gallery! (Click to view!) There are times when I lament the invention of certain creations, for example atomic bombs and the automatic toilet flusher that never fails to spray my smooth behind in the midst of my release. Last night, I added another item to the list: whistles. That plastic little thingy that lets off a smooth ‘whooeee’ are a boon to referees and teachers hoping to bring little rascals to attention but a bane to this reporter who had to endure three hours of ‘WHOOEEE-ing’ during last Saturday night’s SuperBand Grand Final at Singapore Expo Hall 7. Still, given a choice, I’ll live through it all over again ‘coz there’s just no better way to experience a concert than getting it ‘live’ at the source! Hey, how else would I be able to give you this recap of what happened ‘live’ and behind the scenes at this music event of the year? |
Backstage Happenings - pre-show Prior to the start of the show at 8pm, the four bands met with guest-of-honour Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports, and Second Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts, backstage. We’re not sure why, but Ishi of SOUL looked particularly chuffed to meet the Minister! We asked MiLu Bing if they were nervous. Weiqi and Nic appeared too stunned to answer but Sam cheerfully replied, “No leh, we are very happy!” Vics of Lucify waved at us and pointing to his plum-coloured lips, said, “I’ve got lipstick on, so I can’t talk…” Minutes before the bands revved up to stage in retro Vespas, Nic and Weiqi were still looking very edgy while happy-go-lucky Sam chatted happily with a crew member. Then, the clock struck 8 and the boys are off on their winning night!
Everyone loves freebies!
Never mind that this wasn’t the Oscars and nobody trotted home with expensive jewellery or free holidays, but thanks to SuperBand’s kind sponsors, everyone in the ‘live’ audience received cylum sticks, a My Lovely Sam-Soon/My Sassy Princess folder, a travel-sized mirror cum tissue-holder, a mini handphone screen wiper and a box of hair colour dye. Not to mention the free coffee going its rounds outside the hall!
 | Stamp your name upon my heart The smart boys from MiLu Bing went one step further to ensure their fans and supporters won’t forget them: they branded their name on their hearts! Oh okay, so the process didn’t involve a scorching branding fork but the fans were shrieking and howling the entire night anyway (my left ear bears testimony to that). Keyboardist Weiqi designed a logo bearing the initials of their band name and the three boys personally stamped the design onto their supporters’ pink shirts. On the left side of the chest, where the heart is, no less. |
  | The SOUL Survival Kit More freebies, but this time SOUL-ly for supporters of the all singin’ & dancin’ boyband! Nine friends of the group forked out approximately $500 to prepare 250 SOUL Survivor Kits for supporters, each comprising of a white cap, a cylum stick and a pair of white balloon clappers. Generous! “We tried paint-spraying the band name on the clappers too but the effect wasn’t what we expected, so we gave up,” one of them sighed. |
| Taiwan Ah Lians revive the undead! After the Top 2 bands were announced, supporters of Lucify and J3 were all but ready to pack their bags and head home. They stopped waving and slumped against the railings, their faces zombie-like. Even some MiLu Bing fans have lost their lustre, after all, given that they have been in the hall since 6pm. Glamours and Milk came and went. Yawn. Special guest Zhang Zhenyue and his band Free9 launched into their song medley and double yawn. Then Zhang Zhenyue and MC Hotdog did that Tai Mei (the Taiwanese version of our Ah Lians) song and within seconds, everyone was up and crooning along! Yes, Wo Ai Tai Mei too! |  |
| Heck, were those really necessary?! “After MiLu Bing was crowned winner, did they cry?” I hear you ask. Really, that’s what I want to know too, but no thanks to the ridiculous amount of white fluff being blown onto the stage while the threesome were performing their encore song, all anyone could see were spots of blue amidst a snow blizzard! Weiqi apparently had to sweep away heaps of it off his keyboard during his performance! Worse still, deranged fans attempted to hurl cylum sticks onto the stage, but given the wide distance, the abuse rained on the poor photographers and reporters instead! |  |
 | Backstage happenings – post-show While MiLu Bing were hastily ushered from stage to changing room and then to the makeshift area for the press conference, first runner-up SOUL were tireless hugging fellow contestants and crew, posing for snapshots and granting us a video interview. Was it euphoria over the end of the competition, or adrenaline pumping from their dance exertions, I’m not sure, but the five guys were the only ones who had any energy left in them! J3, Lucify and even MiLu Bing were so exhausted from their hellish trainings leading to the Grand Final that all they wanted was to go home and zone out. |
 | Other SuperBand news in brief - MiLu Bing won a one-year contract with Warner Music and will apparently release their debut album at the end of the year! - Warner Music is so impressed with Lucify that they are considering signing the J-rock band! - Percentage of SMS/Telepoll results in the first eliminating round: MiLu Bing – 33%; SOUL – 25%; Lucify – 24%; J3 – 18%. - Percentage of SMS/Telepoll results in the final eliminating round: MiLu Bing – 65%; SOUL – 35%. - When told of their 1% loss, Misaki of Lucify jokingly replied, “If I knew of this on stage, I would have lost my cool!” - Eelyn Kok, one of the MediaCorp artistes at the Grand Final, reportedly voted more than 200 times for MiLu Bing! |
Catch the repeat telecast of SuperBand Grand Final this Saturday August 12 at 9.30am!
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