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Thousands expected at Celebrate 2017 at Suntec City

SINGAPORE — It’s the last day of the year, and there is no better way to celebrate the end of 2016 — and the start of 2017 — with a mega countdown street party on Saturday (Dec 31) at Suntec City.

SINGAPORE — It’s the last day of the year, and there is no better way to celebrate the end of 2016 — and the start of 2017 — with a mega countdown street party on Saturday (Dec 31) at Suntec City.

And you can be sure there would be tons partying right beside you. Organisers are expecting 4,000 revellers at Mediacorp Channel 5’s Celebrate 2017: Countdown With The Stars, which will feature seven hours of non-stop entertainment, including performances by homegrown stars and singer-songwriters, including Gentle Bones, Rebecca Lim, Felicia Chin, Jeffrey Xu, Elvin Ng and Romeo Tan, among others.

The party will see a host of first-time collaborations between Singapore musicians, including Taufik and DJ Rave Republic, Tay Kewei and The Facade, and Dru Chen and Joakim Gomez.

Speaking to TODAY, local rap star ShiGGa Shay also said he will be collaborating with veteran entertainer Najib Ali on a song, following which he will be counting down thee year with his friends in the industry.

“I am looking forward to re-connecting with a lot of old friends that I haven’t seen, like Rave Republic is performing, Gentle Bones and Taufik too,” said ShiGGa Shay, adding that he and the rest of hip hop collective the Grizzle Grind Crew will be holding an after-party after the countdown. “It’s like a whole gathering of Singapore musicians again.”

‘CIRCUS’ ENTERTAINMENT

One highlight of the night is a Lip Sync Battle, which will see two teams of celebrities, led by 987FM DJs Joakim Gomez and Gerald Koh, pit their lip syncing and dancing skills against each other. Team Joakim will perform BIGBANG’s Fantastic Baby, while Team Gerald will pretend to belt out Little Mix’s Shout Out To My Ex.

Gomez, who will also be hosting the countdown show with Koh, said he was very confident that his team, which comprises Hong Ling, Seraph Sun, Richie Koh, Kayly Loh and Nick Teo, would outperform the competition.

“I have seen Gerald dance. Some things in life, you just want to see once and be over and done with,” Gomez quipped. “But you know, Gerald’s team is up there as well. He’s got Sonia Chew, he’s got Jayley Woo, James Seah, Jeffrey Xu, and for me, I’ve always said this to Gerald, Sonia is his ace in the hole because Sonia is a very good lip syncher and a very expressive person. I feel Sonia can be the one leading the team between a close fight between our teams, but I think I will win in the end.”

Sadly, Koh, who is Gomez’s co-host on 987FM’s The Bro Code, agrees.

“Okay lah, let him win for this one. We will be the circus team providing the entertainment. Winning is not everything, but if we (could) get points for effort we would get the most points,” Koh said.

“If you ask me to sing, I can. But lip sync might be a bit of a challenge. On top of that, if you sprinkle in dance moves, I don’t know how to do it. But I am confident of the fact that on my team, I have got a few good dancers. Jayley and Jeffrey Xu are good dancers. James Seah and myself — we are trying lah.”

MINGLING WITH THE STARS

In addition, fans of local television will also be able to get up close and personal with their favourite Mediacorp stars. Chin, Lim, Ng, Tan, Carrie Wong, Paige Chua, Priscelia Chan and Chen Tian Wen will be standing by at special photo booths to snap selfies with partygoers.

Even though Chin claims she has not mastered the art of selfie-taking, she has her boyfriend, Xu, to consult before the big event.

“I would say Jeffrey is very good at taking selfies,” said Chin. “Every time there is a group photo opportunity, he is the one taking it because he can take it so well — the angle of everybody’s faces looks so much better. I am terrible. I am better at posing and being in the picture, not the one holding the camera,” Chin said, laughing.

While she and Xu will not be sharing the stage tonight, Chin is grateful to be able to be able to celebrate the start of the New Year with him at the same event.

“It will be nice, because he was a joyful addition to my life in 2016, so it is nice to celebrate the New Year at the same place as well, considering how we are artistes and we normally have different places to go to. It’ll be nice and significant.”

In addition to all the performances and entertainment, partygoers also stand a chance to win more than S$10,000 worth of prizes, 2.017 million Suntec Reward points for shopping and dining at Suntec City, and S$10,000 cash from Nissan and Subaru. All partygoers will also receive a Suntec City Countdown with the Stars discount booklet with offers worth over S$100.

“The televised Countdown which Mediacorp Channel 5 will broadcast this year is free. It isn’t always so,” said Debra Soon, head of the Family English Segment at Mediacorp. “Each year, we try to raise the bar and do things differently and offer our audiences something new to look forward to. With the new venue, and support from sponsors, we were able to offer the event to supporters for free, particularly since it is more than a concert, but an open street party around a central stage area.”

Celebrate 2017: Countdown with the Stars will be held on Saturday, Dec 31, from 7.30pm to 2am at Suntec City. Admission is free.

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