HSU Idol: English Singing Contest 2023

To promote English learning through the appreciation of English songs, the English Language Centre (ELC) is holding the HSU Idol English Singing Contest next week. This year, we have selected 10 finalists in total: 

1. Lam Chun Sum, Sam (BA-CHI, Year 4)

2. Wong Yuen Ying, Joanna (PA, Year 1)

3. Tao Siwei, Sylvia (BJC, Year 1)

4. Chung Yui Lam, Chloe (BA-CCI, Year 3)

5. Mak Wing Chun, Leo (BA-CCI, Year 4)

6. Ng Ngai Fung, Brian (BJC, Year 3)

7. Au Teresa (HRM, Year 1)

8. Lee Mei Yan, Riley (BJC, Year 4)

9. Wong Kei Lap Zackery (CMCT, Year 4)

10. Shek Hoi Yee, Syreni; Lai Chun Ngai, Matthew; Tsai Kwan Ming, Marco (CMCT, Year 3)

You are cordially invited to enjoy the show live:

Date: 7 February 2023 (Tuesday) 

Time: 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. (Please arrive 10 minutes earlier)

Venue: 4/F, Block M, College Hall

Register HERE. First come first served!

Deadline of registration: by 5:00 p.m. 6 February (Monday). 

This year, we have invited Mr Peco Chui, a professional singer-songwriter who has written songs for many celebrities including Eason Chan, Alfred Hui, Kay Tse, and Sammi Cheng, as well as Ms Tracy Chan, a professional pop song singing coach, to be our adjudicators. It is also our honour to have invited Mr Peco Chui to give us a live piano performance at the intermission of the event.

To increase the immersive experience of the event, we will also add some media effects to the background of the stage. You can also cast your vote for the Audience Favourite Award at the end of the event. In addition, there will be a quiz during the show, and there will be a lucky draw later for those who have answered all the quiz questions correctly! 

By attending the show you can earn 1 iGPS unit or 2 ECA/CS hours. By being the student helpers, you will be awarded an EXTRA 1 iGPS unit or 2 ECA/CS hours. 

 Finalists will be awarded book vouchers as follows:

• Champion: $500  Eslite book voucher
• First Runner-up: $300  Eslite book voucher
• Second Runner-up: $200  Eslite book voucher
• Audience Favourite Award: $100  Eslite book voucher

Songs and Lyrics

  

Loving him is like driving a new Maserati down a dead-end street
Faster than the wind, passionate as sin, ending so suddenly
Loving him is like trying to change your mind
Once you’re already flying through the free fall

Like the colors in autumn, so bright, just before they lose it all

 

Losing him was blue, like I’d never known
Missing him was dark gray, all alone
Forgetting him was like trying to know
Somebody you never met

But loving him was red
Loving him was red

 

Touching him was like realizing all you ever wanted
Was right there in front of you
Memorizing him was as easy as knowing all the words
To your old favorite song

Fighting with him was like trying to solve a crossword
And realizing there’s no right answer
Regretting him was like wishing you never found out
That love could be that strong

 

Losing him was blue, like I’d never known
Missing him was dark gray, all alone
Forgetting him was like trying to know
Somebody you never met

But loving him was red
Oh, red
Burning red

 

Remembering him comes in flashbacks and echoes

Tell myself it’s time now gotta let go
But moving on from him is impossible
When I still see it all in my head

In burning red
Burning, it was red

 

Oh, losing him was blue, like I’d never known
Missing him was dark gray, all alone
Forgetting him was like trying to know
Somebody you never met

‘Cause loving him was red
Yeah, yeah, red
Burning red

 

And that’s why he’s spinning ’round in my head
Comes back to me, burning red

Yeah, yeah
His love was like driving a new Maserati down a dead end street

 

Glossary: 

• Maserati: An Italian luxury vehicle manufacturer.

• a dead-end street: a road that is closed at one end and does not lead anywhere.

• sin: the offence of breaking, or the breaking of, a religious or moral law.

• flashbacks: a sudden, clear memory of a past event or time, usually one that was bad.

• echoes: a sound that is heard after it has been reflected off a surface such as a wall or a cliff.

3. Better Man by Robbie Williams – MAK Wing Chun, Leo

Send someone to love me
I need to rest in arms
Keep me safe from harm
In pouring rain

 

Give me endless summer
Lord I fear the cold
Feel I’m getting old
Before my time

 

As my soul heals the shame
I will grow through this pain
Lord I’m doing all I can
To be a better man

 

Go easy on my conscious
‘Cause it’s not my fault
I know I’ve been taught
To take the blame

 

Rest assured my angels
Will catch my tears
Walk me out of here
I’m in pain

 

As my soul heals the shame
I will grow through this pain
Lord I’m doing all I can
To be a better man

 

Once you’ve found that lover
You’re homeward bound
Love is all around
Love is all around

 

I know some have fallen
On stony ground
But love is all around

 

Send someone to love me
I need to rest in arms
Keep me safe from harm
In pouring rain

 

Give me endless summer
Lord I fear the cold
Feel I’m getting old

Before my time

 

As my soul heals the shame
I will grow through this pain
Lord I’m doing all I can
To be a better man

 

Glossary:

• conscious: notice a particular thing or person exists.

• homeward bound: on the way to home 

 

4. Part of Your World (from The Little Mermaid) by Jodi Benson – LEE Mei Yan, Riley

 

Look at this stuff, isn’t it neat?

Wouldn’t you think my collection’s complete?

Wouldn’t you think I’m the girl, the girl who has everything?

 

Look at this trove, treasures untold

How many wonders can one cavern hold?

Looking around here you think

“Sure, she’s got everything”

I’ve got gadgets and gizmos a-plenty

I’ve got whozits and whatzits galore

You want thingamabobs? I’ve got twenty!

But who cares? No big deal, I want more

 

I wanna be where the people are

I wanna see, wanna see them dancing

Walking around on those – what do you call ’em? Oh – feet!

 

Flippin’ your fins, you don’t get too far

Legs are required for jumping, dancing

Strolling along down a – what’s that word again? Street

 

Up where they walk, up where they run

Up where they stay all day in the sun

Wanderin’ free – wish I could be

Part of that world

What would I give if I could live out of these waters?

What would I pay to spend a day warm on the sand?

Bet’cha on land they understand

Bet they don’t reprimand their daughters

Bright young women sick of swimmin’

Ready to stand

 

I’m ready to know what the people know

Ask ’em my questions and get some answers

What’s a fire and why does it – what’s the word? Burn?

 

When’s it my turn? Wouldn’t I love, love to explore that shore up above?

Out of the sea, wish I could be part of that world

When’s it my turn? Wouldn’t I love, love to explore that shore up above?

Glossary:

• trove: many valuable treasures that have not yet discovered by people. 

• gadgets and gizmos: cute and small stuffs 

• whozits and whatzits: ‘who is its’ (a person who you can’t remember the name) and ‘what is its’ (an object which you can’t recall it)

• glaore: great amount 

• thingamabob: the name of an object or person has been forgotten. 

• reprimand: disapprove to do something. 

7. Talking to the Moon by Bruno Mars – WONG Kei Lap, Zackery

 

I know you’re somewhere out there
Somewhere far away
I want you back, I want you back

 

My neighbors think I’m crazy
But they don’t understand
You’re all I had, you’re all I had

 

At night, when the stars light up my room
I sit by myself

 

Talking to the moon
Trying to get to you

 

In hopes you’re on the other side talking to me too
Or am I a fool who sits alone talking to the moon?
Oh-oh

 

I’m feeling like I’m famous, the talk of the town

They say I’ve gone mad
Yeah, I’ve gone mad
But they don’t know what I know
‘Cause when the sun goes down, someone’s talking back
Yeah, they’re talking back, oh

 

At night, when the stars light up my room
I sit by myself

 

Talking to the moon
Trying to get to you

 

In hopes you’re on the other side talking to me too
Or am I a fool who sits alone talking to the moon?

 

Ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah
Do you ever hear me calling?
(Ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah) oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh

 

‘Cause every night, I’m talking to the moon
Still trying to get to you

 

In hopes you’re on the other side talking to me too
Or am I a fool who sits alone talking to the moon?
Oh-oh

 

I know you’re somewhere out there
Somewhere far away

Glossary:

• the talk of the town: very famous
  

 

8. On My Own by Lea Salonga – CHUNG Yui Lam, Chloe

 

And now I’m all alone again

nowhere to turn, no one to go to

without a home without a friend

without a face to say hello to

And now the night is near

Now I can make believe he’s here

Sometimes I walk alone at night

When everybody else is sleeping

I think of him and then I’m happy

With the company I’m keeping

The city goes to bed

And I can live inside my head

On my own
Pretending he’s beside me
All alone, I walk with him till morning
Without him, I feel his arms around me
And when I lose my way I close my eyes
And he has found me

In the rain the pavement shines like silver
All the lights are misty in the river
In the darkness, the trees are full of starlight
And all I see is him and me forever and forever

And I know it’s only in my mind
That I’m talking to myself and not to him
And although I know that he is blind
Still I say, there’s a way for us

I love him
But when the night is over
He is gone
The river’s just a river
Without him
The world around me changes
The trees are bare and everywhere
The streets are full of strangers

I love him
But every day I’m learning
All my life
I’ve only been pretending
Without me
His world will go on turning
A world that’s full of happiness
That I have never known

I love him
I love him
I love him
But only on my own

 

Glossary:

• pavement: a path with a hard surface on one or both sides of a road

• misty: If the weather is misty, there is mist in the air that makes it difficult to see into the distance

• bare: without any clothes or not covered by anything

9. Grace Kelly by Mika – NG Ngai Fung, Brian

I wanna talk to you

The last time we talked, Mr. Smith, you reduced me to tears

I promise you it won’t happen again

Do I attract you? Do I repulse you with my queasy smile?

Am I too dirty, am I too flirty? Do I like what you like?
I could be wholesome, I could be loathsome, I guess I’m a little bit shy

Why don’t you like me, why don’t you like me, without making me try?

 

I tried to be like Grace Kelly, mmh
But all her looks were too sad, aah
So I tried a little Freddie, mmh
I’ve gone identity mad!

 

I could be brown, I could be blue, I could be violet sky
I could be hurtful, I could be purple, I could be anything you like
Gotta be green, gotta be mean, gotta be everything more
Why don’t you like me, why don’t you like me?
Why don’t you walk out the door?

 

Getting angry doesn’t solve anything

 

How can I help it, how can I help it? How can I help what you think?
Hello my baby, hello my baby, putting my life on my brink
Why don’t you like me, why don’t you like me? Why don’t you like yourself?
Should I bend over, should I look older, just to be put on your shelf?

 

I tried to be like Grace Kelly, mmh
But all her looks were too sad, aah
So I tried a little Freddie, mmh
I’ve gone identity mad!

 

I could be brown, I could be blue, I could be violet sky
I could be hurtful, I could be purple, I could be anything you like
Gotta be green, gotta be mean, gotta be everything more
Why don’t you like me, why don’t you like me?
Walk out the door!

 

Say what you want to satisfy yourself, hey
But you only want what everybody else says you should want
You want

 

I could be brown, I could be blue, I could be violet sky
I could be hurtful, I could be purple, I could be anything you like
Gotta be green, gotta be mean, gotta be everything more
Why don’t you like me, why don’t you like me?
Walk out the door!

 

I could be brown, I could be blue, I could be violet sky
I could be hurtful, I could be purple, I could be anything you like
Gotta be green, gotta be mean, gotta be everything more
Why don’t you like me, why don’t you like me?
Walk out the door!

 

Uuh, ah
Humphry, we’re leaving
Ca-ching!

 

Glossary:

• repulse: if something repulses you, it causes you to have a strong feeling of dislike, disapproval, or disgust.

• queasy: likely to vomit.

• wholesome: good for you, and likely to improve your life either physically, morally, or emotionally.

• loathsome: extremely unpleasant

• Grace Kelly: Grace Patricia Kelly was an American actress who, after starring in several significant films in the early to mid-1950s, became Princess of Monaco by marrying Prince Rainier III in April 1956.

• Freddie: Freddie Mercury was a British singer and songwriter, who achieved worldwide fame as the lead vocalist of the rock band Queen.

• violet: having a bluish-purple colour.

• on (my) brink: the point where a new or different situation is about to begin.

• bend over: to try very hard to do something.

• put (something) on the shelf: to delay something or put it on hiatus.

 

10. Always Remember Us This Way by Lady Gaga – SHEK Hoi Yee, Syreni; TSAI Kwan Ming, Marco; LAI Chun Ngai, Matthew

 

That Arizona sky burnin’ in your eyes
You look at me and, babe, I wanna catch on fire
It’s buried in my soul like California gold
You found the light in me that I couldn’t find

 

So when I’m all choked up
But I can’t find the words
Every time we say goodbye
Baby, it hurts
When the sun goes down
And the band won’t play
I’ll always remember us this way

 

Lovers in the night
Poets tryin’ to write
We don’t know how to rhyme
But, damn, we try
But all I really know
You’re where I wanna go
The part of me that’s you will never die

 

So when I’m all choked up
And I can’t find the words
Every time we say goodbye
Baby, it hurts
When the sun goes down
And the band won’t play
I’ll always remember us this way

 

Oh, yeah
I don’t wanna be just a memory, baby, yeah
Hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo
Hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo
Hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo

 

So when I’m all choked up
And I can’t find the words
Every time we say goodbye
Baby, it hurts
When the sun goes down
And the band won’t play
I’ll always remember us this way, way, yeah
When you look at me
And the whole world fades
I’ll always remember us this way

 

Glossary:

• choked up: almost unable to speak because of sadness and begin to cry.