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Title: Hokkien Hits Vs Comedy Stars
Location: Suntec Int’l Convention & Exhibition Hall 603
Link out: Click here
Description: A concert featuring performances from 8 famous taiwanese artists like Shen Wen Cheng
Start Date: 2009-08-20
End Date: 2009-08-21

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In early 2008, Singtel announced that it had won the exclusive rights to broadcast the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup, starting 2009 till 2012. What a wonderful time for them to broadcast this news. To break the hearts of soccer fans that the 2008-2009 season would be Starhub’s swansong broadcasting both the Europeans matches and the Barclays Premier League.

To put the equation in words, from this season onwards, any avid fan who wants to follow his team closely in all the major competitions will have to sign up with both telecommunication companies.

Indeed a shockwave was felt amongst many when the reports came out. Impossible, ridiculous were the claims made.

When Starhub increased their pricing for the sports channels last year, it was already met with much disapproval. To rub salt to the wound, the amount Starhub charges now for its football channels haven’t dropped despite losing the broadcasting rights for the European matches. This meant that viewers were paying the same amount but had one less avenue of footballing choice to enjoy.

However, this wrangle for broadcasting rights didn’t seem to bother certain soccer fans. With the advancement in technology and frequent users of new media, some fans are taking it with a pinch of salt.

Their reactions were nonchalant. “I don’t have much thought because I either watch it from free streaming online or I go to a ‘kopitiam’ to watch the match,” quoted a Manchester United fan.

Others cited timing and money as the reasons why they were not taking up Singtel’s offer.

A polytechnic student commented, “Anyway my brother-in-law and I have both agreed that it is utterly worthless to spend more money to sign up for the Singtel scheme - we’ll just watch Champions League clips on the net a few hours later.”

True, because of the time difference, most Premier League matches kick-off before midnight, Singapore time. On the other hand, the Champions League matches all start in the wee hours of the morning.

Moreover, when the European matches end, it’s almost dawn. In our modern society, ‘techies’ will be able to watch it free online once they wake up, thereby not interfering with their much needed sleep.

Hence, I don’t foresee a problem for Starhub as soccer enthusiasts are unaffected and will still get their weekly dose of the Barclays Premier League.

But the question I ponder, “How will the response for Singtel’s Mio TV be?”

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After a long awaited 18 month delay, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, with an almost cult-like following released to much fanfare. Was it worth the wait? Did David Yates, the director make this right?

To sum this movie up into one word: cliff-hanger.

The sixth installment of the Harry Potter is definitely a teaser, a slow build-up to what would be the end of a glorious magical era.

Continuing from his film of the fifth book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, David Yates gives this movie similar subtle undertones, mostly dark and sinister ones.

The flow is hardly disjointed, yet the main problem would be that the rush to finish narrating book in under 2 hours was evident. Many details were overlooked or underplayed, not surprisingly as this was the main grouse of the past films.

Harry Potter, being the main protagonist of this show, develops a closer relationship with Albus Dumbledore.  This part of the show I feel did not develop as well as the book goes and felt like a rather forced relationship. Like “wham bam, we’re totally friends” kind of feeling. Still, the plot moves forward effortlessly to Hermione Granger and her love story with Ron Weasley.

That being said, love was all around in this movie. The tension between being Ron’s best friend and Ginny’s lover was on Potter’s mind. The effort to keep her emotions in check when faced with Ron’s new girlfriend was Hermione’s issue. Ron… well, for someone with the emotional range of a teaspoon, had not much to worry about.

More magic is seen within the halls of Hogwarts as we grow up together with the primary cast and Voldemort is back much more in the minds of everyone, especially Harry, who discovers a sinister connection with the Dark Lord himself.

The death of an eminent character was downplayed, in order to perhaps give more hope in light (ironically) of the dark times that are foreshadowed.

The ending of the movie was exactly as how I imagined it while reading the book. Mysterious note signed off by R.A.B. How’s that for a great hook? We, movie goers will just fall hook, line and sinker as we (im)patiently await for the last installment of the movie series which will be split into 2 for release in 2010 and 2011.

Lots of witty, British humour pepper this film and though, cheesy, it thrilled a Potter fan like me to no need. Needless to say, the chemistry between the stars made this much more believable, since this would mark their seven years of friendship.

I would give this movie, 3.5 owls out of 5. It’s brilliant but not mind-blowingly good.

How did you feel while watching this movie? Was it as good as the past movies?

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It was only a couple of years back when pundits believed that the Barclays Premier League was the strongest league in the world.

In the 2007-2008 season, there was an unprecedented four teams representing England in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United were the big boys on the European arena. Chelsea and Manchester United then went on to make history when they met in an inaugural all-English Champions League final at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium. This showed the growing dominance of the English game.

However, there were mixed fortunes on the international stage. Spain and England had always been considered as the perennial underachievers. However, Spain silenced their critics by winning Euro 2008, claiming their first major title in 44 years.

On the other hand, England failed to even qualify for Euro 2008. After the tournament, their future looked bright after the installation of new manager Fabio Capello. However, England still lost 2-0 to the European champions under his tutelage.

One year on, these four English clubs yet again completed a clean sweep in the Champions League quarter-finals. Manchester United went on to the Champions League final, hoping to be the first team in 19 years to defend the European Cup and the first ever club in the Champions League era. Unexpectedly, a Spanish storm swamped them.

Having already lifted the La Liga title and Copa del Rey (Spanish Cup), Barcelona had the chance to claim an unprecedented Spanish treble. The Spanish champions truly delivered, outclassing the English champions and won the final with aplomb.

The first Spanish club to do so, it gave the Catalans a unique treble having already won their domestic league and cup. It meant they repeated a feat Manchester United achieved in 1999, that of which Red Devils boss Sir Alex Ferguson had then claimed would never be matched.

In addition, the English clubs have not dominated the transfer market unlike in the past. It might be due to the weak worldwide economy or the high tax rates that have subdued the transfers of top class players into the English league.

Contrastingly, Spanish giants Real Madrid have gone on a spending spree to recruit the world’s best soccer talents. Their exorbitant purchases have almost reached the £200million mark - almost quarter of a billion Euros. Hence, with so many superstars there, everyone is eagerly anticipating to see how they fare.

However, timing is a major consideration in Singapore. The English matches kick-off at a local timing starting from 8pm to 2pm. It’s a very pleasant timing for soccer fans to relax on a Saturday night before going to bed.

The down side of Spanish football is that it starts after 2am local time. And I believe not many people are willing to stay up so late to watch a game where the boring commentaries complement with the tired souls after a long day. Besides, for years, Singaporeans have built a bond with the Barclays Premier League and fallen for its exciting commentaries that tantalise the atmosphere.

Hence, from my viewpoint, it will be a tough nut to crack for Spanish football to break the stronghold that English football has in Singapore. The Barclays Premier League will remain as the fans’ number one choice. Yes, many will be excited to find out how well the likes of Ronaldo and Kaka perform at Real Madrid this coming season, but I believe viewership for the Barclays Premier League will still prevail.

The rationale is because if such big money signings were a determining factor in shifting the balance of viewership, it would have happened long ago. As an ardent Barclays Premier League fan pointed out, “If it could change that easily, viewership would definitely have shifted when Zinedine Zidane and David Beckham moved to Real Madrid in the early 2000s, but no, it clearly has not happened.”

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