Reported by : Julian Tay
Edited by : Victor Lee
It was less than a month ago when half of the KEVII Hall residents were dressed up as witches, unholy spirits bikers, members of the netherworld or just plain formal for Dinner and Dance 2012: FEAR. It was a night filled with excitement with games like the ‘No Laughing’ game, performance by a professional illusionist and tantalizing giveaways during the Lucky Draw segments. However, it was the pageant segment which stole the limelight that night with elaborate costumes and makeup, sexy yet terrifying dance performances and hilarious replies during the Q&A segment.
This article thus serves as a sequel to the Q&A segment that night by providing more insights into the experiences of some of our beloved pageant contestants. I managed to catch hold of the 2 couples from F and GH Block, Melissa Chee (MC) and Zachary Low (ZL) from F Block and Yasmin Yeow (YY) and Wesley Chan (WC) from GH Block for a brief interview and here are their responses.
What the King of F block looks like when he steams.
1. What was(were) the title(s) that you won in DnD?
MC: Miss Personality
ZL: Mr. Sexy. I also don’t know why.
YY: Miss Photogenic
WC: Mr Popular + the psycho-motor guy who couldn’t dance
2. How would you describe your experience being in the DnD pageantry over the past year?
MC: It has definitely been a fun and new experience, I mean it’s not every day that we have an occasion to wear pretty gowns, glam up and dance. Closer to D-date, things got really hectic but it was all worth it in the end. Looking back, the most important thing was about the connections formed between the contestants as well as our caregiver mummy Laine! :)
ZL: Tiring, punctuated with periods of late-night excitement and too much makeup.
YY: It was a totally, totally new experience and very unexpected. I have never done anything like this before but it was fun and definitely something that I will remember fondly of for the rest of my life.
WC: Yasmin your answer is so scripted.
Their love-hate relationship...are both parties playing hard-to-get?
3. What was the most memorable moment that you had during the course of your preparation?
MC: DAILY DANCE PRACTICES WITH THE GIRLS! What heartened me was how the other contestants actually came to my aid when I was lost after not learning Stacey’s section of the dance. Hee. Practicing with them every night before DnD was really fun. Actually even shopping with the girls for our dance costumes or going to Masquerade to pick out costumes for ourselves and our partners was memorable too! They are all really good memories!
ZL: Memorable implies something positive, so I’ll say… supper? Pizza and butter chicken are always cause for fond reminiscence.
YY: Probably the day before DND when most of us went for a dinner buffet and just talked and joked and talked some more J It was bittersweet because we were relieved that it was ending but at the same time, it was sad because it had been a great experience.
WC: The most memorable moment for me had to be during the filming of the games (the video that was shown during DnD), where we were eating and puking coffee at the same time. (this part wasn’t shown during the video), but it was a game where each of us had a cup (the cup from dining hall), and we drew lots for utensils of different sizes. The utensils would then be used to scoop coffee powder from A BUCKET OF COFFEE and we only had that small cup to fill with hot water. Most of us ended up shovelling undissolved coffee powder into our mouths, and the ‘Whatsapp’ group was busy till 5am. Life damn tough.
Behind that innocent facade is someone who ranks top 50 in the world for the WoW.
4. Which was your favourite pageant segment and why?
MC: Can I pick two segments? :D In chronological order, it would be the themed catwalk first because I really enjoyed the Alice character and my prop Bunny. Also, Zach was really in sync with the Mad Hatter image so it made the themed catwalk fun. After that it has to be the dance segment, we worked hard to improve our dance and when we danced it for the last time on stage it was when we really gave it our all. I felt happy yet strangely sad after we were done with it, but still insanely proud of all of us for doing our best that night.
ZL: The introduction to the themed catwalk… I got to prance around like a madman. Any excuse for doing silly things is a good excuse.
YY: Playing the games for the funny video that was shown during DND. That was the easiest part out of all the pageant segments (i.e. dance, photo shoots, catwalk, video, finding dresses) plus… the girls won! :D
WC: Yeahh the games were definitely the most fun. Not forgetting Yasmin manhandling most (all?) of the guys, there’s a short 1s moment in the silent library video where u see her turning around and delivering a textbook punch to my sternum.
5. Did it take a lot of sacrifice in terms of time, energy and so on to be a pageant in DnD?
MC: Close to the actual DnD, yes, in terms of finding costumes, practising for catwalk and dance. All of these were time consuming and tiring, especially when you find yourself up at 4am in the morning trying to rush assignments.
ZL: The DnD prep comes right after the IHG season ends… and happens in the week where every single assignment is due. You say leh? That said, other people probably sacrificed more.
YY: YES! They did not tell us that we would have this much to do during the pageant interview. It was especially challenging for someone who is not aesthetically inclined and is quite unglamorous. But it was a good experience and I learnt a lot! I still can’t sing though.
WC: Actually, I didn’t really think it took up that much time! Looking back, I am surprised we managed to learn the dance(s) and all the segments in such a short time—we only started rehearsals the week before the DnD. Yeah well, if u saw me dance then maybe that kind of makes sense…
6. What would you like to say to your supporters who cheered you on and voted for you that night?
MC: Thank you so much for your support, friends. I wouldn’t be here without you lovely people. In case you still believe that I am an internationally ranked StarCraft II player, sorry to disappoint but I am not. HOWEVER, do watch out for me, melchee92, coming soon heehee. :)
ZL: That I love them all and would like to give each of them a hug. They can hug me in the dining hall if they still want to redeem the post-celebratory hug. Also, a big shout out to my partner, melchee92, for putting up with me. It isn’t as easy as it sounds.
YY: Thank you so much for coming and supporting us!!! You guys were the ones who made the night unforgettable! I would like to say an even bigger thanks to the people who really believed in me from the start and encouraged me throughout this entire journey.
WC: Uh….Sorry?
7. How did you find the friendships that you have forged with the other pageant contestants?
MC: The fact that we became friends from being mere acquaintances or even strangers is really something to be thankful for. I think I am blessed to have met these people. The friendships that we have forged after late night practices are certainly meaningful and it would be really heartbreaking if we treated each other as strangers!
ZL: The friendships forged were friendly. Indeed.
YY: That was the best part of this whole experience. I would say that we all know one another a lot better now. The girls (including Mummy Elaine) grew especially close because we would have extra dance practices together and we bonded over many things. Wes and I even have a semi-truce! Haha. But seriously, Wes really helped me A LOT and he was very patient with me. I would not have been able to do this without him. Thanks so much, Wes J
WC: I think we started off really well from the first supper, where it all began? We had these games where suddenly everyone showed how spastic they could be. I think it helped that nobody really treated it like a competition; it was more like a team effort to put up a good show. And yes, Yasmin’s energy was contagious; I think our couple-antagonism kinda worked out huh J
8. Given the opportunity, would you go through it all over again?
MC: Would agree in a heartbeat if it were with the other contestants as well as mummy Laine, Shaam, Celes, Auggy, Stacey and anyone else who helped in the process of DnD. :)
ZL: You mad bro?
YY: Do you mean, “If I had to relive my life, would I still join KE pageant?” or “ Would I join another pageant if I was asked to?”. For the first question, I guess that I would still join KE pageant again. It is kind of tough to reject when you are sabotaged but looking back, I am glad that I was J For the second question, it would have to be a definite “no”. One pageant is more than enough. Wes and I were asked to join another pageant recently too but for me, I don’t want to spoil the good memories that I have of KE pageant. Pageant was truly one of the highlights of this academic year J
WC: If maybe we could swap partners…(: then yeah, definitely.
KE7 News 