July 24th, 2008 pkuan
Yesterday was the dress rehearsal for Cirque du Soleil’s first Macau show.
Selected media and friends were treated to a sneak preview of the 1 1/2 hour performance at the Venetian Macao, in a custom built stage.
Now, we don’t want to give too much away, but you can expect thrilling feats of strength, agility and grace.
During some of the high wire performances, my heart was in my mouth. Another friend remarked that she was too terrified that the performer would fall to applause.
Kudos to the set designers who did a fantastic job with the setting, which transformed from a cityscape with high rise buildings in one scene, to a north pole setting complete with icebergs and even the most realistic adorable polar bear I’ve ever seen!
The unofficial after-party was at Bellini Lounge at the Venetian, where the cast and crew packed the dance floor.
The show will be launched to the public from this Saturday (July 26).
Here’s to many more sucessful shows and full houses.
Cirque - Welcome To Macau!
Book your circque tickets here
July 24th, 2008 pkuan
Last Saturday and Sunday, Macau was treated to two performances of “Eason Chan’s Moving on Stage 10”.
13 years in the music business hasn’t dulled his spark. The performer still writes his own songs, and has no problem charming his audience.
It didn’t matter that the concert at the Cotai Arena of The Venetian Macao started nearly an hour late, Eason’s affable personality and down-to-earth nature makes it impossible for any fan to get annoyed. Although it took a while for the crowd to warm up to Eason, he soon had them laughing and singing along to his songs.
Talking and interacting throughout the concert, the family-man, whose wife and family were in the crowd, joked that he’d rather talk than sing to his audience. That didn’t stop him from serenading the crowd with over 25 of his hits, mostly from his past albums.
He also treated the audience to a parody of other famous Cantopo stars, mimicking the dancing and singing styles of Andy Lau, Leon Lai, Aaron Kwok and Jackie Chueng to name just a few.
His dancing and funny faces had the crowd on their feet and in stitches.
At the end of his concert, he treated his fans to not 1 or 2, but 3 encores.
July 9th, 2008 inmacau
You heard right!
Every Friday, starting July 11 until the end of August, ladies get FREE champagne from 8pm until late.
Guys don’t miss out, cos they’ll get 50% discount on selected bottles of spirits at the Bellini Lounge, on the casino floor of the Venetian Macau. 
Sign up for a free membership of the Macau.com Insider Club and you can download a coupon from this Friday on Macau.com to present at the Bellini Lounge for your Free Champagne (ladies) and half price bottles (men).
Other than flutes of bubbly, champagne cocktails will also be free. Chose from delicious choices including Mimosa (champagne + orange juice), Kir Royal (champagne + Creme de Casis), Champagne Cocktail (champagne + cognac + sugar cubes).
There will be live entertainment and retro music until late!
June 25th, 2008 inmacau
There’s a new DJ at the the Venetian Macao’s Bellini Lounge, DJ Kamikaze
Catch DJ Kamikaze at the Bellini Lounge at The Venetian Macao, from 10pm most nights until late.
Read on to find out how he got his name, and why you should check him out behind the turntables, but steer clear if you ever see him behind a scooter.
Stefan Hensel, 28 aka DJ Kamikaze
How did you get your DJ Name?
DJ Kamikaze: In Germany the word for cat is “Katze,” I was 16 and had a scooter and accidentally
hit a cat, which caused a bad accident. So my friends started to call me “Kami-Katze,”
because I was driving like a kamikaze.
How and when did you start DJ-ing?
DJ Kamikaze: I started buying records when I was maybe 14 or even a bit earlier.
One Saturday a few years later when I was around 17, I think, a friend dragged me to replace a DJ who called in sick for the night. The club owner straight away booked me for the whole summer….
What made you leave Germany and where else have you worked?
DJ Kamikaze: I left Germany because of a nice girl, but travel back at least 3-5 times a year.
I have played all over the world, actually. Apart from Germany, of course, and the rest of Europe, I hold a regular DJ residency in Moscow. I also created my own DJ party events called “Just Bananas” in Shanghai and I get booked all over Asia and parts of the United States and Australia as well. Expect for Africa and South-America, I guess I played all over the world.
What’s your first impression of Macau?
DJ Kamikaze: I like it. Compared to Shanghai it’s small but much friendlier and more relaxed. The Food is very good and I love to wake up and have a dive in the pool.
Have you played in a casino before?
DJ Kamikaze: Actually yes, I’m from Germany’s most famous Casino-Town, Baden-Baden and was once invited to play there for a corporate event.
Describe your DJ-ing style?
DJ Kamikaze: I grew up listening to all kinds of music; Rock, Pop, Techno, Grunge, also Reggae and Classical Music. Now I try to mix and blend all the music-knowledge in the HipHop-DJ mxing style and drop in unexpected songs or songs you haven’t heard for a long time. Just playing the hits is too easy.
What are your musical influences?
DJ Kamikaze: My sister, she bought a lot of CD’s when I was younger. But of course nowadays other DJs, my girlfriend, just people around me showing me stuff on their iPod.
What are your proudest musical achievements?
DJ Kamikaze: Hmm, back in I won Germany the JUICE Magazine Mixtape award 3 times in a row
(http://www.juicemagazine.com).
I was also the first one to do a Mash-Up* CD back in 2000 when no one did that kind of style.
For me it’s more the small things. Like when I play at an empty club and after I finish the place is pumping. As I said, it’s more the small things….
* (“Mash-up” defintition from Wikepedia: A mash-up is a song created out of pieces of two or more songs, usually by overlaying the vocal track of one song seamlessly over the music track of another…Mash-ups are incredible fun and a fascinating way to reexperience some of your favorite tunes.)
May 29th, 2008 inmacau
Get your Cirque du Soleil Macau tickets HERE
Her name is ZAIA.
And she is the star of the US150 million Cirque du Soleil Macau production which will be a permanent addition to Macau’s entertainment scene from August, it was announced at the official press conference today.
The press conference for Cirque’s first permanent show in Asia was held in an 1,800-seater custom-built theatre in The Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel, which is now the permanent home of Cirque Macau. After the official launch in August, there will be 2 performances a day, 6 times a week.
The Gala premiere on August 28, will not only celebrate the official launch of Cirque Macau, but is even more likely to be a star-studded affair because it coincides with the 1st anniversary of The Venetian itself. But while the stars have to wait until August 28 to see any part of the show, we were one of the the lucky few who got to attend today’s press conference were treated to a sneak preview of ZAIA.
ZAIA is the name of the young female heroine who journeys into space. The director Gilles Maheu got his inspiration from a postcard, which had a drawing depicting a young girl in an astronaut outfit sitting down on the moon.
So ZAIA is about “a young girl who journeys into space on a strange, yet familiar voyage of self-discovery. As she travels, she encounters the beauty of humanity and eventually brings it back with her to share with the inhabitants of earth”.
It doesn’t matter if the synopsis sounds rather airy fairy and fluffy. You don’t go to the circus for a complex storyline and character development (watching a movie costs a lot less and is more likely to do the job). Cirque has attracted a crowd of 80 million spectators worldwide because it combines jaw dropping acrobatics, amazing feats of strength, grace and beauty, stunning choreography and beautiful sets and special effects.
If what we got to see in the preview is an indication of what to expect in terms of the quality of the show – ZAIA certainly delivers the goods.
Cityscapes is the name of the first segment and will be the opening of ZAIA. Talk about starting things off with a bang. From an empty stage, skyscrapers, literally, rise out of the ground. It did remind me a little of Wynn Macau’s Rotunda golden tree, which rises out of the ground every half hour or so.
Cirque’s stage is actually 80 foot high, which is why props hidden underneath can suddenly rise out of the ground.
So from this –
- to this in a matter of minutes.
You have your strong men, break dancers, clowns, dancers, skateboarders, tap dancers – just your typical city crowd really, who all happen to be wearing outlandish costumes and make-up and all have fantastic bodies.
In typical whimsical Cirque style, there were cyclists suspended from the ceiling, pedaling away – upside down.
A huge sphere suspended from the ceiling drifted out from the back, and hanging from it by a piece of silk - a female performer, dancing through the air.
Just your average day - hanging around
A huge sphere suspended from the ceiling drifted out from the back, and hanging from it by a piece of silk - a female performer, dancing through the air.
The second act which we got to preview was of a male and female performer doing some amazing acrobatic work while being swung around and up and down by pieces of stretcy rope from the ceiling.
Though the performers were petite and lithe, they twirled and spun through the air as effortlessly as petals blowing in the wind.
How any guy could look graceful skimming through the air like superman, suspended 20 feet in the air by rope wrapped round his arms clenched by his side is beyond me. How he does it with a woman riding him like a surf board, is just mind blowing.
I only knew he was human because I saw him panting a little at the end of the act.
The backdrop, which has 3,000 fiber optic lights was created apparently, to accurately depict the night sky, and all its stars. I wouldn’t be able to point out Mars, Venus or any constelations, and I definitely wouldn’t be able to tell you if they were in the right place. But I do know it makes a pretty amazing background, especially when you have confetti streaming down.
Kudos to the 65 technical crew and 75 artists who must have worked and trained overtime to get ready for the event.
Preview performances begin on July 26.
Tickets are on sale from tomorrow for shows from July 26 to Oct 5.
Click HERE to get yours and stand to win VIP passes.
