Myra Mak (Y4, Dragon) writes an account for her win in the competition:
The M.C. Is calling out the medals for the English song competition in Taiwan. I am not called out for the bronze. Nor for the silver. Will the gold be mine?!
It all began when I decided to enter the ‘Taiwan-Hong Kong-Shanghai Singing Competition’, the finals of which were to be held in Taiwan this past December. The preliminaries were held in Hong Kong in October. When the day for them arrived, I almost regretted having entered. As I tried to move my feet across the stage to the cross taped on the floor, my heart was pounding, as if it might burst through my ribs at any moment. As the judges, their hands reaching out to tap their bells, smiled at me, I bowed and then nodded tensely at the pianist sitting in the corner. A nervous wreck, I started with my Chinese song, pretending to be happy and joyful, as if nothing were bothering me. But waves of butterflies were crashing inside me. Finally it was over. I bowed again and, this time, more confidently, stumbled steadily back to my seat. A little later, more relaxed from my first performance, I walked onto the stage, ready to sing my English song, ‘Wouldn’t It Be Lovely’. This time it went better. At the end of the day, I was exhausted and relieved and excited: for both the English and Chinese song categories I was chosen, along with three others, to go to the finals, which were to be held in Taiwan.
I didn’t know how high my marks had been until one of the judges, who is the conductor of the Hong Kong Treble Choir, invited me to sing in public in December at the Peninsula Hotel along with the choir. This time, not as timid as in the competition, I readily hopped onto the stage and sang the same English song and ‘Jingle Bell Rock’. This time I was rocking from being happy. It was such a delightful experience (even though I was staring at a pole the whole time I was singing!)!
One day later I left for the finals in Taiwan. From the preliminary competition in October up to the finals, I wasn’t allowed to eat anything too oily or too crunchy or too sweet! I suffered greatly for the sake of a clear voice. And at Christmas as well! I also had to practise each song at least twice every day.
In Taiwan, when I walked on the stage, my heart was as light as a feather, pounding more softly than a ticking clock! Compared to the preliminaries, this felt like a holiday. I was having fun. So I sang, a microphone in front of me, one of the judges, Professor Tong, an avid fan of Facebook, taking pictures of me! “And the gold medal goes to . . .”