Homegrown talents collaborate for World Expo 2010

Come 1st of May, the Singapore Pavilion will be opening its doors in Shanghai for the World Expo 2010.

This time, the entire project focuses mainly on music, using a chain of musically related elements and themes to weave the entire theme together for the Singapore Pavilion.

The planning stages started as early as three years ago and feature a creative team that extends from food, music, design and other elements.

“The preparations for the World Expo started three years ago and we are all very excited about the upcoming opening. The pavilion is going through its final finishing touches now and we are looking forward to featuring some of Singapore’s brightest creative talents in presenting our Urban Symphony,” said Mr Ken Low, Assistant Chief Executive of the Marketing Group, Singapore Tourism Board.

Mr Low also emphasized how Singapore is syncing its Pavilion theme with the overall theme of the World Expo 2010.

“In tune with the World Expo’s theme of ‘Better City, Better Life’, we will be featuring Singapore’s efforts to harmonise city living, nature conservation and the soul of the residents,” said Mr Low.

The theme was inspired by music, which was universal, and the pavilion which was designed by award winning architect Mr Tan Kay Ngee was also designed to look like a music box and has even been nicknamed by locals as “Singapore’s music box”.

“We know Singapore to others has the image of it being efficient, clean and green, but we want to bring the culture aspect of Singapore over there as we also have very good singers, playwrights, writers,” said Mr Tan Kay Ngee, Lead architect of Singapore Pavilion.

One may be shocked to know the entire pavilion is not air-conditioned except for a theatre on the second storey but Mr Tan had incorporated wind direction movements and other natural elements to ensure the pavilion is well ventilated and hot air is “sucked out” via other vents specially designed for the ventilation. The ramps leading up to the second storey is also likened to the Guggenheim Museum.

To further emphasise and publicise the message of ‘Better City, Better Life’ using musical elements, local singer-songwriter JJ Lin composed the theme song “Every Touching Moment” and it is sung by Tanya Chua, A-do, Stephanie Sun and himself. The music video also showcases the four starlets in a different role, primarily sculpted to focus on city dwellers and how they should live in the moment and appreciate things and people around them.

In the music video, Stephanie Sun plays a botanist, A-Do plays an urban planner, Tanya Chua plays a singer and JJ Lin is a National Geographic photographer who has just returned to Singapore. Each of their roles feature elements of Singapore that the music video hopes to establish to its guests at the Singapore Pavilion.

The song has already debut over the local mandarin radio airwaves and the music video will debut on 19 April.

The single will be sold as a coffee table book featuring the four artistes, and the fresh idea that sets this single apart from other solo albums was conceptualised by Mr Colin Goh, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Ocean Butterflies.

“Usually when we have a single, we release an EP. But because fewer people actually buy albums off the racks nowadays, we decided to package the album into a coffee table book featuring the four singers.”

The Pavilion is set to open for six months from its opening date and will definitely create a colourful, multi-dimensional experience for its guests.