NDP 09 PLEDGES TO BE CLOSER TO THE HEART

One show, one seamless Singapore story.

Breaking away from previous years' format which separated the show and parade, this year's National Day Parade (NDP) integrates all segments into one story that is anchored on the National Pledge.

Comprising 10 chapters, each chapter will echo a line from the pledge.

"We want Singaporeans to reflect on the pledge at every chapter...to be emotionally connected to the pledge that we've grown so familiar with," said Colonel (COL) Desmond Tan, Chairman of NDP 09 Show Committee, at the media brief on 2 Jul.

Kicking off the show will be the mythical story of Sang Nila Utama during the discovery of Singapura, followed by a Total Defence Display enacting a hypothetical scenario of Singapore being under siege, before the marching-in of the celebratory parade.

Tales of early immigrants will be told through songs and dances, and a performance featuring martial dancers will pay tribute to Singaporeans who have shown tenacity in adversity, riding out trouble times as one united people.

The values that bind us, in building a society based on mutual respect and social consciousness, will be highlighted in a song by Kelvin Tan, winner of Singapore's Project Superstar in 2005. Next, a dance item will remind globe-trotting Singaporeans that there is a piece of Singapore that they carry with them wherever they are.

All these will culminate in a pledge moment during the finale, when the entire nation is encouraged to recite the pledge at the same time. NDP 09's theme song "What do you see", written and performed by local band Electrico, will also be sung in the finale.

This year's show is the theatrical masterpiece of Creative Director Ivan Heng, the founder and artistic director of theatre company W!LD RICE.

In wanting to create a show that is "closer to the heart", his creative team pulled apart the pledge to see how each segment could be expressed in song, dance, video and projections.

"The hardest work is now, pulling it together," he said.

In spite of this grandiose challenge with just weeks to go before the nation's 44th birthday, Mr Heng is confident that the show will "inspire, touch, entertain, and be meaningful".

The show will be hosted by television artistes Michelle Chong, Suhaimi Yusof, Gurmit Singh, Mark Lee and Vernetta Lopez.

Other new features of this year's show include white boats that will sail in from the Marina Bay and dock on the promenade, transporting giant puppets onto the seating gallery to interact with the audience.

To better engage the audience, the combined schools choir will go also mobile and there will be 24 performing podiums set amongst the audience in the seating gallery.

"This will bring the energy and life of the performers as close as possible to the audience," said COL Tan.

Also promising to charm the spectators is the use of enhanced night visual effects, with this year's celebrations starting an hour later at 6pm. Multimedia presentations combined with special lighting effects are all set to dazzle the crowd.