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Victor: It has been a tough experience
October 25, 2007, 3:14am
Bernice Hoh
Photos by Angie Ng
Soloist Victor Tang and group CatsineCradle came so close to being so much richer, and their own concert showcases just barely within their reach. Victor, who received much flak from the judges and audiences for his less-than-sterling vocals, confides that the road hasn't been that easy, in this post-results interview.
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“It has been a very tough experience…”
Victor Tang sure has suffered major criticisms and negative feedback throughout the competition. Widely known as (all thanks to Ken Lim) the “weakest vocalist” in the show, Victor has stood against Ken’s harsh remarks and criticisms week after week but still, his determination and perseverance was not enough to secure him the champion title.
See Victor talk about his post-results feelings
Surprisingly, Ken’s comments were not as cutting as previous weeks and he even displayed an ounce of diplomacy.
Victor’s first performance was Little Wonders by Rob Thomas, and though Dick Lee said that he’d chose the right song for himself, Ken Lim once again proceeded to blatantly show his dissatisfaction at Victor’s long-lived stay on the show and said that “the decision to whether or not you deserve to be living the dream right now just lies with the viewers”. More in his element was his second song, which the judges chose for him, When You Say Nothing At All by Ronan Keating, exactly the kind of song he sounds his best at. Apparently not good enough and didn’t go well with his first song selection, as both songs sounded similar. At this point, Ken quipped, “the way you receive sarcasm is very graceful… Given your talent to generate votes, you’ll make a better politician”.
Victor feels that everybody is entitled to their own opinions, and has his own defense as to Ken’s criticism of him being the weakest vocalist.
“It’s very hard to compare between any two persons’ vocal abilities, because it’s very different. I personally believe that a voice that is impressive may touch you, but a voice that can touch you will always be impressive.”
See Victor's response to the negative comments from judges
While his vocals may not blow you away, there’s no denying that his strength in the face of immense criticisms have been nothing short of rock solid.
Besides comments on his vocal abilities, some forumers’ have let off more hurtful and personal comments by citing strong financial support he has been getting from family and friends and also insinuating that Victor’s in the competition simply because he has the finances to vote for himself.
Perhaps for Victor, the only way to continue in the competition was to focus on the support he has been getting all along, for which he is very thankful.
See Victor talk about what kept him going through the competition
Victor said: “With regards to the immense negativity that was on the Net, I would say that whatever you see on stage, that’s the real me. I don’t hide anything. I guess in some ways, I’m sorry that we don’t see eye to eye and hopefully one day, we will.”
With the road to fame finally coming to an end for Victor, he sure isn’t too keen on joining anymore talent hunts anytime soon.
“It has been a very tough experience, and I’m just glad that I’ve been able to go through every single time, every single round.”
Cat, cat where are you?
The dark horse of the group category, CatsineCradle's lead vocalist Jeff has been praised for having the best vocals in the whole competition. The competition in the group category is more even as both groups are equally strong in their own element. It was By Def’s remarkable showmanship against the Cats’ magnetic and captivating vocals. The competition for the groups took on a new name tonight - that of “old school versus new school”. Ken told Cats pointedly after the second performance that all they had to do was to prove that “old school still rules”. They didn’t manage to do that.
The Cats wisely chose to sing Hotel California by The Eagles, a song that suits their style, with Jeff’s husky and captivating vocals that compliment the song perfectly. The judges’ choice for their second performance was You’re My Better Half by Keith Urban. Though the second song garnered better comments from the judges, it was not enough to win over the voting audience.
In the end, it was their fans who won the day. The Cats’ family and supporters were probably the wildest and noisiest ones in the audience, the most daring ones repeatedly interrupting the judges when they were speaking, and constantly chanting “We want Cats! We want Cats!”.
While the other contestants mingled freely at the post-show party, Cats were nowhere to be found.
By Definition gave us a clue where they might have hurried off to when we spoke to them. When asked about their rival, lead vocalist Ash said: “We haven’t had a chance to talk to them but we are going to meet with them later. A check with drummer Hardy revealed that they will be having a little gathering at Indochine, the club where Cats performs at.
There’s no place like home, we guess, when you’re feeling down.
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