The official solemnisation will be tonight. So for those who wants to catch updates, you can follow my instagram feed or my Snapchat stories and also behind the scenes on my Periscope. Download all these social media platforms and follow me live on @ranoadidas or you can also type in the hashtag #nowANforever2015

The winners of the band category, A-1, with the sponsors and judge last week

Bridgette Ang, winning the solo category

Wunderbar…. It’s an expression, meaning wonderful and the word is originated from Germany. This was the word that was introduced at UBD toastmasters meeting last Monday and last night I used it as well for Brunei Speakers Club meeting. Now today, I using Wunderbar to express how the performances were from the recent competition organised by the Trinity London College.

The event took place at Expression Music (Kiulap) and the competition was also sponsored by Royal Brunei Airlines where the winners will be flying to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, this September for the Regional Semi-finals of the Asean “Be Our Rock & Pop Soul” Music Competition.

I had the honour to witness 5 solo performers and only two will be chosen to represent Brunei. In the solo category, WCOPA 2014 medalist Bridgette Ang emerged as a winner, belting out an awesome rendition of Whitney Houston’s Greatest Love of All and the runner up solo performance went to Lim Ao who stole the show with his guitar performance on Iron Maiden’s Run to the Hills. They both received $500 and $250 cash prize and a trophy respectively.

I love both the bands though only two bands performed which means that regardless of the placing, both teams will also fly to Vietnam. So it’s only down to bragging rights to who was the better band. In the end, A-1, with some lady power, singing to our heart delights – “Crazy in love” by Beyoncê and they earned a first prize trophy and $1,000 cash prize. Second place went to band Waht? with their rendition of Bring me back to life by Evanensence. They went home with $500 and a trophy. Both will also fly to Ho Chi Minh City for the competition.

The prizes were presented by Azhani Abu Daniel, Head of Corporate Communications, Royal Brunei Airlines, and Lily Chiam, Music Director of Expression Music. The judges included Abdoh Damit, a Brunei jazz drummer and educator, James Boyle, a pianist and lecturer in Kuala Lumpur and U-Jin Lim, Regional Academic Consultant from Trinity College London.

The judges were full of praises for the performers and advised them to show more showmanship during their performance as this will help them to woo the audience. Only through showmanship that every single person will show their character which can be the deciding factor among the regional judges.

For your info, Trinity College London’s ground breaking Rock and Pop Music Syllabus has paved the way for young musicians to be able to perform popular music genres in local examinations where eligible contestant from six countries – Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and host country Vietnam – will compete in the regionals.

The contest’s four judges are Senior Vice-President of Trinity College, London, Asia Tyler Smith; CEO of record label BMBX Entertainment Kelly Chew; artist manager of Thai singer Tata Young – Myke Brown and Thanh Bui, a judge of Vietnam Idol 2015.

The winner of the music competition will receive prizes worth up to US$25,000 and other prizes from Trinity College and BMBX Entertainment. The final round will take place on September 7 at The Opera House in Ho Chi Minh.

I was totally impressed with the young performers last week. I hope that they will gain more exposure and experience to better themselves and up the game. Thank you, Lily, for the invitation. I truly enjoyed the occasion. Good luck to all the performers and it was such a Wunderbar experience.

The runner – Waht?

Lim Ao coming second in the solo category

Evan Chiam of Waht?

Lim Ao wooing the audience with his solo effort

A-1 were “Crazy in love” and earned the top prize

The audience last week

Eden Chiam with One Moment in Time

Lily Chiam thanking the sponsors and the judges and praised all those involved

Behind the scene

Stand a chance to win a Hyundai Accent Hatchback. How? Simple.. Just subscribe to a DST Prima Samsung Contract Plans. There are other prizes to be won as well – Samsung 65” Curve UHD TV or the Samsung 55” UHD TV.

The promotion is until the 31st August and you can choose either a Samsung Galaxy S6 or the S6 Edge. Do visit the three places – Samsung Experience Store (Gadong), Incomm at The Mall Branch or at Seria Branch.

Fourth Audi Cup, third title. FC Bayern München is a power throughout preseason tournament at the home Allianz Arena. In the final, the German record league champions beat Real Madrid 1:0 after Robert Lewandowski netted a late goal. In the third place playoff, English representative Tottenham Hotspur beat Italian traditional club AC Milan by 2:0.

Clubs from the top four European leagues in Germany, Spain, England and Italy went head-to-head for the first time in Audi Cup history. The high-caliber field fulfilled expectations: after four goal-laden and partly high quality fixtures, the winner’s trophy went as it did in 2009 and 2013 to FC Bayern München. “Thanks to FC Bayern München, Real Madrid, AC Milan and Tottenham Hotspur for a fantastic tournament. Congratulations to the deserved winner,” says Chairman of the Board of Management, AUDI AG Rupert Stadler. “The real winners are the fans, who were able to enjoy top-level European football on two days. The 70,000 seats in the Allianz Arena were sold-out on both match days.”

FC Bayern winning the Audi Cup 2015

After Bayern Trainer Pep Guardiola had initially rested several first team regulars in the 3:0 semi-final victory against Milan, he changed his line-up for the final against Real Madrid. This had an impact. Bayern dominated possession in the first half and created several good chances. Thomas Müller and Mario Götze had the best opportunities to open the scoring. Real Madrid started without its two goal scorers in the 2:0 semi-final victory against Milan, James Rodríguez and Gareth Bale. In the early stages of the second half (61st minute), substitute Robert Lewandowski missed the best chance of the game in front of an open goal. Then, just before the final whistle (88th minute) he directed a pinpoint cross from new signing Douglas Costa into the net to seal a well-deserved 1:0 win. In the third place playoff, Tottenham beat Milan 2:0 with goals from Nacer Chadli and Thomas Carroll.

The Audi Player Index was another tournament winner. The brand new evaluation and ranking procedure records almost every activity of each player, for example sprints, shots at goal, crosses, tackles and ball possession, and in this way objectively determines the respective ‘Man of the Match’ after every match. In the third place playoff, Tottenham’s defender Kieran Trippier received the trophy. In the final, the Audi Player Index identified Bayern’s David Alaba.

For FC Bayern München, preparations for the 2015/2016 season are now concluded. The official fixtures start already this coming weekend with the first round of the DFB trophy. Last year’s finalist faces Oberliga club FC Nöttingen on August 9. The day before, Tottenham Hotspur plays Manchester United away from home on the first day of the Premier League season. Real Madrid (at Sporting Gijon) and AC Milan (at AC Florence) start their respective league fixtures two weeks later.