Cultural Mosaic 1999 (Scarborough Campus U of T)
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March 7, 1999 (Post-Mosaic):
Seema Shorey, Cultural Commissioner and and Director for Cultural Mosaic, did an absolutely AMAZING job organizing the event! She also had an awesome crew too! Manisha, Reddy, Marcia (hope you're feeling better!), Sandeep, the sound man (I forgot his name!--oops!) and the rest of the crew--cheers and maximum respect to y'all! Awesome stuff Seema!!
Manisha
and Renny were halarious! They were the most confident, awesome Mc's I
had ever seen and heard on stage! I know that before any performance,
everyone would get nervous. Their jokes got funnier and funnier as they
took the podium time and time again. But I could not see that at all because
everyone was having so much fun! Manisha, I owe you one for hooking me
up with the event--you're the best!!
What I found really awesome was that Seema was also a performer in the
show too! Usually, organizers would just stand behind the scenes for such
events, but Seema definetly took a different approach. And man, She organized
the show and was also took part in it too! She really put on a great hindi
dance performance! The fact that she performed with all of us was the
awesome thing--she made us feel part of the Cultural Mosaic family! Seema,
you are amazing and an amazing sister to all of us!! big <<<
hugz >>> for u! Three cheers for Seema! =)
Donald Toress, Keith Javier and Neil Yapp (Paradigm) did an absolutely AWESOME performance! (yes, I know, the focus on my group gets bigger here--sorry about that!) We were singing my original song "young and good", with me playing and singing at the piano, of course. They really started bringing the momentum into the show--absoltuely amazing! (Wish I had brought a recorder or something!) Donald did an awesome job adding the 'funk' to the song; Neil did a great job expressing the soul of the music; Keith did an absolutely amazing job singing those high parts (especially those awesome add-ins!). Don, Neil, Keith, I owe you one--you're the best! And Alex Mozo, you'll always be with us in spirit brother! We missed your voice--hope we can get together for the next show! (By the way, if you guys are planning on retiring your voices--give them to me!! I wish I had awesome voices like yours!!)
Jennifer N. Uy was absolutely a showstopper! We performed my original song, entitled "Prayer". Oh Man, I am definetly hitting myself on the head with a frying pan, because I did not bring a recorder!!! Jennifer practically blew me away with her awesome, diva-calibre voice!! She breathed a new dimension into the song that it has always needed, and she pretty much was da bomb!! It started softly and I had my concerns because the piano wasn't miked. I played as loud as I could for the audience to hear it. Then as the song got into the later chorus, Jennifer practically powered her voice through the song--I was absolutely floored! It was pure momentum! Believe me, I caught goosebumps with the experience because she was POWERFUL!!! It was pure momentum galore--she sung it like there was no tomorrow! She has an absolutely kick-ass voice--no one can shut it down because it is happening like fire in a molten volcano!!! Omigawd Jennifer, you are AWESOME!!!!! Damn, she has a great voice and an awesome stage presence!!
Katherine Sabate was a great surprise! the last I had talked to her was almost 4 years ago; my cousin, Robert, has always mentioned to me that she had a great voice! I definetly heard her last night as I accompanied her on piano for The Canadian National Anthem! I was kinda nervous and my playing reflected that, because I had not played the National Anthem in public for almost 10 years! Katherine--good stuff!! (Did I mention that she's also pretty and cute? it's true!) Katherine, I just wanted to thank you and your parents for offering a ride home that night--you're the sweetest =)
I was absolutely floored by Sandeep Gupta's singing! Wowzers!! He was singing a duet in Indian and man, I thought it was a recording! You should've heard this guy sing and all! I've talked to him occasionally when it comes to computers, but I had no idea that he sang AWESOME!! Sandeep--you are da man!!!
Jason (Neil Yapp's friend) was an absolutely amazing supporter--he even got to be in the show too! (The fashion segment!) All this time I had been calling him Claude--sorry about that Jay!! It's all good around da way bro!
One group I had hoped for was for Graceless to perform this year; it would have been like good times again. They have an edge of passion that just strikes my soul everytime I hear them perform or when I help them record their work. Unfortunately, due to the snowstorm, Graceless was not able to perform at this year's Mosaic. However, they were in my heart, as well as in Jennifer's, Keith's, Donald's, Alex's and Neil's hearts. Graceless, we missed you!
The performances were outstanding! I was amazed that there was a hawiian group performing (ahem...the girls in the hula skirts were awesome! hee hee); there was this rock band who accompanied a performer playing indian percussion--something absolutely new and amazing! They were called 'Manu and the Kulture Shock" and man, let me tell you--this band is going to make some waves, so definetly look out for them--they, like Graceless, are inventing new genres! There was also a Mime show that was really cool, Breakdancers, and many more that escapes my mind (you guys know who you are! Power to you!)
All in all, it was them most successful Cultural Mosaic I have ever been too! Seema, you did a great job! If you have any other shows planned--I'm definetly there! If only it could last a little longer, because it was a great show!! All the performers--you were amazing!! Peace and power to you! Take care and I do hope we can all do this again--you were all awesome!!
-Rod =)