In October, the Hong Kong Student Association held a series of vocal auditions, selecting the 12 most talented individuals as finalists to compete in a singing competition this Friday.
Sophomore animal sciences major Vivien Sin is a member of HKSA.
“The Hong Kong Student Association is a non-profit student organization that aims to provide a harmonious environment for Hong Kong students as well as to promote the Hong Kong culture in Washington State University. The organization holds multicultural events frequently, such as the upcoming singing contest,” Sin said.
Sin explained why they chose to organize a singing competition and how important this event is to HKSA.
“Music is an efficient and effective way of exchanging cultural diversities, therefore HKSA came up with the idea of holding a singing contest. This event provides a platform for people of various nationalities to show off their talents and to present their cultures through music at the same time. We have always desired to expand our organization to other parts of the WSU community. This singing contest gives us an excellent opportunity to do so,” Sin said.
Friday’s competition will consist of two parts. The first portion is six rounds of judged one-to-one singing. This will be immediately followed by eliminations and six contestants will continue on to the second round.
The second portion of the sing-off is point based. Each contestant will sing one up-tempo tune and one slower piece. In this portion of the competition, contestants will be able to showcase their cultures by singing their two selections in any language they choose, be it Mandarin, Cantonese, Thai, Korean or English.
In the end, points will be averaged and the highest scorer of the night will reign supreme.
The champion will receive a $100 prize along with a shining crystal trophy.
Along with a first place champion, 1st and 2nd runner up prizes will be awarded.
Senior fine arts major Jack Chen stepped up to the microphone in October because of his love for singing and having fun with his friends and is one of the 12 finalists.
“I want to thank HKSA for providing this opportunity. They have done a great job and have put a lot of effort into this whole competition,” Chen said.
Second year economics graduate student Xiaonan Liu is also competing because of her love for singing.
“My greatest strength is maybe my voice. I can use music to express my feelings,” Liu said.
Liu also had a few words for her competition.
“Let’s try out best to give the best performance,” Liu finished.
This final vocal show-down will take place Friday Nov. 4 at 5:30 p.m. in the CUB senior ballroom. Tickets can be purchased before the event, $6 for HKSA members and $8 for nonmembers, or at the door for $10.
Food from Panda Express along with refreshments will be provided. More information about the event can be found on the Facebook event page, “Singing Contest 2011- The Final Battle.”