Jonathan Knight

Those who know me well would be wondering why I am blogging about NKOTB member Jonathan Knight when I am so much an in between of a Jordan Knight and Donnie Wahlberg girl....

Well, the truth is, I'm a 'convert'. I'm still a Jordan and Donnie girl but after meeting the band twice this past June, I have to add Jonathan to that equation. And the other reason why I am writing this blog is because of an article I recently read in the local paper were they had interviewed Tiffany who was in Singapore for a performance. I've heard about this a while ago but reading it again in the papers really got me pissed...about how she outed Jonathan, that he was gay.

"Jonathan Knight publicly confirmed he was gay after Tiffany outed him on the tv show, Watch What Happens Live"

Personally I feel that she had no right to do that. If Jonathan wanted the world to know, he will tell the world when he was ready. I feel it's because of her that Jon was forced to do it sooner than he was ready to and that is just unfair! No human being should treat another like that. Gay? So what? I just don't understand why just because someone is a celebrity that they need to share every bit of personal detail of their life with the public?

I was actually quite excited to purchase a ticket to go see Tiffany as the first time I saw her in concert, I was only 11 years old. But I decided I wouldn't go. Because of the fact that I never did and never will support people who out people? Partly yes. But I had other personal reasons and commitments as well.

Although as per Daily Mail Reporter, dated 31 January 2011, on realising that Jonathan had not talked publicly about his sexual preferences Tiffany did apologise profusely on her Twitter feed. I still think whether one knows it or not, it's none of their business to bring up such a personal attack on anyone.

Jonathan being Jonathan (a total sweetheart) was quick to reassure her not to worry, adding that her comments had made him laugh. He said,'Tiff, please don't lose any sleep over it!' he responded. 'I know you weren't being mean and I found it to be funny!'

Well Jonathan is a very forgiving person and bless his heart.

Nevertheless, back to Jonathan...the elder brother of my boyfriend. Ha!

He was always the quiet and shy one. Not that he wasn't good looking or anything like that...I mean, he has the same blood as my boyfriend Jordan, you know? Well, I liked the outgoing, hot and sexy guy, the bad boy sort thus why I am a Jordan and Donnie girl. Makes sense right?

All these years it's always been Jordan Jordan Jordan or Donnie Donnie Donnie.... but I started to find Jon very pleasing and sweet once I got on Twitter. His tweets were always funny and he seemed like a down to earth person.

I was proven right when I met the boys (met Jon) in Jakarta and then in Manila this past June. Finally after more than 15 years!! Both times I did the Ultimate and had all the time with the boys alone without having to share their attention with any other fan! Jon was a sweetheart! Of course I was all over the two loves of my life but Jon never failed to amaze me with his attitude. So down to earth, so sweet and so attentive.

June 1 - met the boys for the first time in Jakarta. My dreams come true. Had the attention I've dreamed for all these years from Jordan and Donnie but surprisingly I spoke with Jon probably the most! He and I spoke about Koi fish and where I was from and such. He even asked for my Twitter handle and typed it in to his phone!

June 3 - met the boys again in Manila. This time it was even sweeter seeing that I got to spend more than 10 minutes with them! Time inside the room with them seemed like eternity and I wasn't going to complain. They recognized me from the Jakarta show which alone meant the world to me. My most favourite memory of Jon was the fact he pulled me towards him and asked to have a photo taken instead of the other way around! As he and I were getting in to position for a pose for the camera, Jordan ran towards us to get in the picture but Jon shoved him away and asked him to wait his turn. Wow! That is a memory that still remains fresh in my mind and one I will forever treasure. Jon seemed most talkative in Manila. He spoke up when their backstage hands didn't want the guys signing my mum's hat and my jacket. Jon said, "of course we can sign those!" and took the items from me and signed them and passed it to the rest.

Yes, I have fallen in love with another New Kid. I have fallen in love with Jonathan because of the real person that he is. I think I am not the only one who feels this way after meeting Jonathan Knight and I am certain many others could relate to this.

National Broadway Company

Today my mum and I attended a musical at the Esplanade called "National Broadway Company". It's a Musical conceived, written and directed by Ong Keng Sen who is the Artistic Director of TheatreWorks.

To be honest, I'm not the kind of person who likes to attend nor appreciate musicals but this one was different. It was different because my best friend was one of the performers and we went to show our support even through it was the closing performance. It started on the 12th of October. 

It was a good excuse to get out of the house. I really needed it with everything else that has been going on in my life. I needed the time away from work, stress and worries. So excited as we were, my mum and I both forgot our phones! We were in the taxi, quarter of the way of my journey when I realized I had my still charging on the desk. I needed my phone as I needed to contact my pals and their numbers were all on there! So we asked the taxi driver to turn around.  Wanted to use my mum's phone to call my husband to have him run my phone downstairs to pass it to me but realized she had forgotten hers too! Ha! Talk about how excited we were to be able to go out and distress!

Not that it really mattered whether we had our phones or not, there wasn't any service in the theatre and I've learned that the engineers and architects did this on purpose when building the theatre. Wow! I guess this will teach people a lesson...the people who likes to talk during movies and plays, the ones who don't switch their phones to vibration mode when supposed to.... those inconsiderate ones! 

Nonetheless, our seats were great! The Stall seats, fourth row. We could see everything!

The show started on time at 8pm and I loved how they made this musical a way to showcase our local talents and gave the people of Singapore, the public, a chance to vote for the new Artistic Director of National Broadway Company. Although we didn't get a chance to vote since we were at their last performance, we sure managed to witness the results. And who would have guessed who the winner would be? Dick Lee! Even he was surprised! Wonder why? Haha.

This was a story of the pioneering musical theatre in Singapore as it unfolds as they sing their hearts to the top.

This production featured characters inspired by some artists’ personal stories and recollections. Artists such as Dick Lee, Jacintha Abisheganaden, Koh Chieng Mun, Najip Ali, and Hossan Leong. It was performed by a cast of both young emerging talents as well as established artists.

I enjoyed it most because they featured songs from Singapore’s favourite musicals such as Beauty World and Fried Rice Paradise. It was very insightful,...it showed us that personal tragedy, individual strife, comic turns and artistic triumph are the stuff of dreams.

My BFF Leena Salim played the role of Gani Abdul Karim. She is a true star. She always shines when she is in the limelight. Watching her on that stage, I felt so proud. So proud of her and her accomplishments and so proud to be a part of her life. Seventeen years of friendship. Can't believe how it all started. I was only just a fan! (yes believe it or not...from the Under One Roof and Boom Boom Room days) It's just so hard to describe the feeling of what I feel for her when I see her up on that stage! Girlfriend, if you're reading this...thanks for coming in to my life when I needed a big sis the most and thanks for always being there for me. I am so proud of who you are and what you've accomplished in this lifetime.

Anyway, after the show, my BFF introduced us to Chua Enlai. My mum had met him before so this would be my first encounter with Chua Enlai a.k.a. Jacques Ooi a.k.a. B. B. See a.k.a. Pornsak Sukhumvit! Great first impression! He was a sweetheart.

And one last thing....How the hell does Dick Lee keep his youth? How come he hasn't aged? What's his secret? Is he the Peter Pan of Singapore? I am going to have to get my BFF to put me in touch with him so I can ask him! Haha.

Marketing Fail

For months there was a huge "hoorah" about the release of the first NKOTB book since they reunited - "Five Brothers and a Million Sisters".  I was obviously very excited seeing that ever since NKOTB started in the 80s, I've read every single book that even had their name in it! 

I pre-ordered the book via Amazon and a couple weeks later it was announced that there will be an e-book version. I was a little disappointed as I would have preferred to get the e-book instead. Nonetheless, I decided to wait for the e-book release before purchasing it.

So the countdown began and finally the day arrived. October 2, 2012 - the release of 'Five Brothers and a Million Sisters".  I get online to place my order for the e-book version and what happens? I'm unable to do so because I wasn't living in USA. I found that to be a little ridiculous but thank god for good friends. My best friend in USA bought it for me and sent the file over to me. That was when I was hit with a bigger disappointment... The file would not open on my iPad and even downloading the application did not work because I wasn't living in USA! Finally after a whole day of figuring it out, I managed to open it on my iPad (barely)...I noticed there were lots of missing pages in between.

That was when it started to get more frustrating. And I recalled other instances where fans living outside of the USA (mainly Asia) could not do what the USA fans could. Firstly, why do their website only have two links for purchasing merchandise? USA and United Kingdom? Why couldn't the Asian fans buy the concert tickets for the Australia shows? Why could we purchase the MP3 when NKOTBSB came out with the album via Amazon? And now this book?

I'm not blaming the guys. I know it has nothing to do with them at all but their marketing team. It just feels unfair and it gets frustrating. It's as if the Asian fans gets the leftovers and it seems our money isn't good enough? Seriously, what's the harm in selling it internationally? It's not like there are copyright issues or anything....we will be paying the same price for the same item for heavens sake! 

Fair enough there may be some issues regular people like myself may not know about or understand... So this is where a good marketing team would come in....and they will advertise the sale date and below that, they should put "sales outside of USA will be announced" ... Or something like that. Instead they give us false hope. 

That's just my two cents on that matter. I just have to give credit to the author and the team she has behind her. I've voiced out my issues and concerns and as much as they have tried to assist me with the technical stuff, I still wasn't able to open the e-book from my iPad or desktop. However, they have sent me a copy of the book for which I'm very appreciative of. Thank you.

So before I sign off, I would like for someone (anyone who knows) to explain to me about the international restriction on purchasing certain books or items online?