Melbourne Jazz Festival - DIVA Night!

In conjunction with the annual Melbourne Jazz Festival, alongside our new found freedom after our tax exam, we decided to catch DIVA Night! Why? Just cause it is something we got to do when we are here? Ha, yeah the tickets were costly (A$59) by my Singaporean giam kana mentality but hey I'm only going to be here for only 2 years! Can't possibly just scrimp and save and not enjoy this experience fully right?



Tadah! The venue of the festival was at Crown. This is it! Posh huh? We got seats which were like 5m away from the stage! Very good view, great music, wonderful atmosphere! This is my first jazz concert, but I can truly say I did not regret any single cent I spent!



One of the divas for the night...An award winning singer/songwriter who began her professional singing career at the age of fourteen, Elana Stone has displayed her musical range across Australia for the past decade. Elana Stone was a finalist for Australian Jazz Vocal Album of the Year in the Australian Jazz Bell Awards 2006. At heart an improviser and a live performer, Elana has stepped outside the confines of jazz to create original music, highlighting her song-writing ability and progressive style. The Elana Stone Band has performed at festivals across Australia and Europe.

Personally, she is the young and chic version of a jazz diva. Her voice was husky when she hit the high notes, lyrics were lame at times, but the music and the band were great! They even took the effort to synchronise their songs with the background!

The only downside was that Elana, despite her sharp chin, had a round belly. But that's not all, she wore a black skin tight dress! And I was so distracted as I kept focusing my vision on her belly button, which was bulging out of her black dress like a puffer fish's mouth! Haha...

Now introducing the 2nd diva of the night.....


Janet Seidel, winner of the Australian Jazz Bell Award for Australian Jazz Vocal Album of the year in 2006, is undoubtedly one of Australia's most prominent vocalists. With a voice that is soft and sensuous, Seidel can soothingly sing a ballad and become erotic with a blues tune. She manages the task of sounding flirtatious, confident and even humorous, which gives her songs an extra depth. Janet Seidel has an outstanding international career and has been revered not only on her Jazz tours in Australia but also on tours internationally.

Ha, I always thought she is french. Cause I bought one of her cds back in Singapore and was charmed by her french accent in the songs she sang, oh so sexy! Became a convert almost instantaneously! She is equivalent to the classy and sophisticated version of a jazz diva. Crystal clear and laid back old school jazz. Nice. Though the only off thing was that she resembled my client, who looks like Miss Piggy wrinkled up. Haha.

During the interval, the old lady sitting beside me introduced herself for a chat and asked why we young girls were interested in jazz and if we were part of a band before. Then she started telling me about her adventures, going around Australia attending musicals and jazz concerts, travelling in her caravan with her hubby. All these reminded me of the times when Mr Low and I were up at Mt Gambier, having a similar conversation with an old lady at the sink hole. She too, had a caravan and would travel around Australia with a bunch of friends to chill.

That made me miss Mr Low. I thought to myself, how nice if he could've been here! But then again, if he was here, he might not have appreciated the music and in turn, would have affected my mood! Haha.

Yet another wonderful experience! I remembered at the end of the concert, where I was sitting there soaking in the atmosphere of it all, I took some time and pondered about the time I spent in Australia. And I started to count my blessings, the friends I made while here, the lessons I learnt, the new independence I found, the places I discovered, the experiences I had, and so many many more.

So...There's after all, something good coming out from it all, eh? Which reminds me of Moby song lyrics, 'Open to everything happy and sad, seeing the good when it's all going bad...'

Time to be positive! :)