He's Back! :)

The wonders of YouTube, yet again.

David Archuleta did VERY WELL this week, thank goodness.

Here's a video of him singing The Long And Winding Road -- a piece I'm familiar with thanks to my stint in the RJC Chorale ( we did this as part of a medley for a concert eons ago ). Not the most challenging melody around, but David does a good job, and made Simon Cowell happy. :D

Watching David is very different from just listening to him. I plugged my headphones into the laptop, closed my eyes, and went "Whoa..." -- he sounds phenomenal and album-recording-ready!

I keep picturing him singing Celine Dion's My Heart Will Go On, for some strange reason. But I honestly think he will do this song the justice it deserves. Long shot that my wish for him to perform it will come true though.


One-Man Star Wars Trilogy

Here's Charles Ross' official website.

Caught the opening show at the DBS Arts Centre last night, and laughed my guts out for a whole hour. :D

As the self-explanatory title indicates, this is a one-man routine that acts out Episodes IV to VI in a non-stop, high-energy monologue.

It's hilarious, spot-on in terms of some ( not all, but that's ok ) impersonations, and I love how he ad-libbed here and there ( examples below ) and threw in a number of inside jokes which did not go unnoticed by the enthusiastic, almost-full-house audience.

He did all the major characters -- Luke Skywalker, Obiwan Kenobi, Darth Vader, Han Solo, Princess Leia, C3PO, R2D2, the evil Emperor, Chewbacca, Yoda, Jabba the Hutt, and I think a few Ewoks and other assorted aliens.

The best one has got to be Jabba, whose gigantic ( and disgusting ) mouth he demonstrated by using both arms crossed in the shape of a large rectangle in front of his face, occasionally moving a hand around to simulate tongue movements. Yuck! But also, hahahahahahaha! :)

He did a great Luke, Han, C3PO and Emperor -- voice, speech pattern, body language -- and even R2D2 came to life with Ross' competent whistling and squat-and-waddle actions.

The inside jokes? ( a rough quote )

1. As Luke / Mark Hamill: "That's my last line in Return Of The Jedi -- I'm never going to work in film again!"
( a jab at Hamill's sink into oblivion despite attaining iconic status as Skywalker )

2. As Obiwan: "I cut off ( Darth Vader's ) arm... and both his legs... and pushed him into a pool of boiling lava. It's on the DVD."
( none of this was in the original trilogy, of course; he's talking about the climactic scene in Revenge of the Sith )

3. As Obiwan: "I'm played by some Scottish guy ( in the prequels )..."
( appearing miffed that Ewan McGregor plays Anakin's mentor in Episodes ! - III )

4. As somebody ( I don't know who, sorry ): "Isn't it Natalie Portman?"
( this bit went by a little too quickly for me to remember it all -- someone asked who Luke's and Leia's mother is -- she's played by Portman in Episodes I-III )

5. As Luke: "What're we doing here?! In Singapore?!"
( he exclaims to R2D2 after crash landing on the Dega Ba system in The Empire Strikes Back )


That's all I can recall at the moment. Maybe I'll post more if they turn up in my head later on.

There was another super-funny part in the middle, when Ross does a scene with Luke kissing Leia goodbye ( after they've discovered they're siblings ). But he does a very exaggerated version of the smooch, and a kid in the audience actually went "YUCK!".

Ross hears this, stops talking, turns to us and says ( in a fatherly fashion ), "Let this be a lesson to you, children -- NEVER kiss your brother or sister like this!"


So in short, it was a thoroughly enjoyable evening, and Ross was gracious enough to chat with us from the stage for another 10 minutes ( after the end of the show ), talking about his tour and his home country, before giving us a sneak peek at his next creation, One-Man Lord Of The Rings.

He launched into a short dialogue as ( I think ) an Ent ( but my mom thinks it was Gandalf ), before bidding us goodnight. He hopes to return next year with the LOTR show, and if he does, I'm most definitely going!

You can check out some YouTube clips using "Charles Ross" or "One Man Star Wars". Have fun. :)