I have not been running much these days. I am just too exhausted from work most of the weekdays, I would rather get another hour of sleep during the weekend. The extra hour would translate to about 7am, alright 8am tops. I cannot sleep later than that. Not used to. By then, it’ll be a relaxing stroll to the bathroom and and normal routine. I need to get back in shape. That is the reason I have not signed up for any races in the near future. The last race was the PAR relay 2 weeks ago. Since then, I have run a maximum of 10km per week and have not been to the gym for strength and other trainings for about a month! Surprisingly my weight is still at 61kg. So, I am not so alarmed at the moment. Just want to get my stamina and tone back. I need a kickstart somewhere.
So much for that, back to meet the stars. In the 90’s there were quite a number of one hit wonders I have met. Two of them are, Donna Lewis and Jimmy Ray. What I can remember about Donna Lewis was she was blonde, British (born in Cardiff, Wales), very friendly and her talking voice was not the same as her singing voice (whispery thin). Some of my close friends also met her, Pueh Tian and Fenny Yeoh. We won the meet and greet session from a contest. Oh, did I mention that I was a contest freak during my school and university days (most of these meet and greet session just do not happen by chance, I worked hard for it...slogans and radio dial-ins).
I am still a contest “participant” now. Mostly dial-in to radio stations (if I do get through). There is no time for me (unlike some people I know) to even remotely think of a theme for a friend’s birthday party less come up with a winning slogan. Pueh Tian and Fenny were active participants in both press and radio contests as well. I still remember the times when we were always sitting by the landline phones (we were students and we did not have the luxury of owning cell phones like students nowadays...duh!) waiting for cues to call on the radio. It was so exciting and fun then. Now with work and family commitments, less time to do all these “fun” things. Once in a while when there is a lucrative contest whereby they offer cash I would try to enter.
Warner Music organized the Donna Lewis meet the fans session at a hotel function room where she graciously mingled and chatted with us. We took photos, autographs and all the opportunity anyone would when they meet a star. Well, she was a singing sensation then. She had a huge hit single “I Love You Always Forever” and that song stayed at number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart for nine weeks in 1996 and became one of the most played songs in the 1990s. However, she did not fare too well with her follow up singles, “Without Love”, “Fools Paradise” and “I Could Be The One”. The most recent news I heard she did released an album recently in April 2008 called “In The Pink”. There is a single from it called “Shout” but its nowhere to be seen in the US charts.
Then there was Jimmy Ray (the so-called Elvis, Buddy and Eddie Cochran influenced singer). He was also an Englishman. His hit “Are You Jimmy Ray?” hit number 13 on both sides of the Atlantic. Jinxed to be the only hit single? I guess so. His follow ups “Goin’ To Vegas” and “I Got Rolled” failed miserably in the charts. I met Jimmy (yup, we’re on the 1st name basis here :P) in (either Micasa or Sucasa. It’s been a while.) Apartments for lunch and a fabulous fashion show with other winners. I find him kinda pretentious and also too packaged like by the recording company. He was not his true self. Even though most of his songs has that Elvis feel and even he look like Elvis. Tall and gangly, he even spoke with a baritone like Elvis (very made up and fake) and pouted like nobody's business. I actually enjoyed the lunch and fashion show (I remembered seeing famous models Bernie Chan and Genevieve Sambhi strutting by with haute couture from a Malaysian designer).
So much for that, back to meet the stars. In the 90’s there were quite a number of one hit wonders I have met. Two of them are, Donna Lewis and Jimmy Ray. What I can remember about Donna Lewis was she was blonde, British (born in Cardiff, Wales), very friendly and her talking voice was not the same as her singing voice (whispery thin). Some of my close friends also met her, Pueh Tian and Fenny Yeoh. We won the meet and greet session from a contest. Oh, did I mention that I was a contest freak during my school and university days (most of these meet and greet session just do not happen by chance, I worked hard for it...slogans and radio dial-ins).
I am still a contest “participant” now. Mostly dial-in to radio stations (if I do get through). There is no time for me (unlike some people I know) to even remotely think of a theme for a friend’s birthday party less come up with a winning slogan. Pueh Tian and Fenny were active participants in both press and radio contests as well. I still remember the times when we were always sitting by the landline phones (we were students and we did not have the luxury of owning cell phones like students nowadays...duh!) waiting for cues to call on the radio. It was so exciting and fun then. Now with work and family commitments, less time to do all these “fun” things. Once in a while when there is a lucrative contest whereby they offer cash I would try to enter.
Warner Music organized the Donna Lewis meet the fans session at a hotel function room where she graciously mingled and chatted with us. We took photos, autographs and all the opportunity anyone would when they meet a star. Well, she was a singing sensation then. She had a huge hit single “I Love You Always Forever” and that song stayed at number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart for nine weeks in 1996 and became one of the most played songs in the 1990s. However, she did not fare too well with her follow up singles, “Without Love”, “Fools Paradise” and “I Could Be The One”. The most recent news I heard she did released an album recently in April 2008 called “In The Pink”. There is a single from it called “Shout” but its nowhere to be seen in the US charts.
Then there was Jimmy Ray (the so-called Elvis, Buddy and Eddie Cochran influenced singer). He was also an Englishman. His hit “Are You Jimmy Ray?” hit number 13 on both sides of the Atlantic. Jinxed to be the only hit single? I guess so. His follow ups “Goin’ To Vegas” and “I Got Rolled” failed miserably in the charts. I met Jimmy (yup, we’re on the 1st name basis here :P) in (either Micasa or Sucasa. It’s been a while.) Apartments for lunch and a fabulous fashion show with other winners. I find him kinda pretentious and also too packaged like by the recording company. He was not his true self. Even though most of his songs has that Elvis feel and even he look like Elvis. Tall and gangly, he even spoke with a baritone like Elvis (very made up and fake) and pouted like nobody's business. I actually enjoyed the lunch and fashion show (I remembered seeing famous models Bernie Chan and Genevieve Sambhi strutting by with haute couture from a Malaysian designer).
1 comment:
wonder whatever happened to jimmy "pouts alot" ray.
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