HOLLYWOOD NIGHT

2009-05-17T23:14:00.000-07:00

Welcome to HOLLYWOOD NIGHT, an elaborate coverage of all the juicy bits that made up Addison Thomas Wong's 21st Birthday Jamboree. We've got video clips and photos of the birthday boy strutting his moves on stage, performances that drew buckets of tears, embarrassing moments that will haunt a number of people for years to come, and above all, memories that Addison will hold dear in his heart for the rest of his life.

Here's a full presentation of that glorious event on Sunday, 9th May 2009.

Click on the pictures to enter.

THE GUESTS LIST

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THE WONG FAMILY
Eddy Daddy Wong
Mommie Anne Wong
Adriel Wong
Grandma Wong
Uncle Eddie Su
Aunt Doris Su
Cousin Aaron Su
Cousin Abel Su
Cousin Brandon Wong
Cousin Lina Wong

THE NG FAMILY
Grandpa Ng
Grandma Ng
Uncle Eric Long
Aunt Maryann Long
Aunt Christina Ng
Uncle Steven Ng
Aunt Margaret Ng
Uncle Anthony Ng
Aunt Jenny Ng
Uncle Clement Ng
Cousin Benjamin Long
Cousin Benedict Long
Cousin Andrea Ng
Cousin Daphne Ng
Cousin Dominic Ng
Cousin Denise Ng
Cousin Jessica Ng
Cousin Melissa Ng

SPECIAL MENTIONS
Joel Nicholas Chua
Samuel Francis Jones, Jr.
Chai Yuan Sheng
Faizal Abdul Aziz
Victoria Lynn

CHURCH OF CHRIST THE KING
Aaron Michael Poon
Aloysius David Chia
Alvin Bartholomew Choo

Amanda Grace Leo
Amanda Lek
Amelia Lek
Andrea Joan Lek
Annabel Maxine Lee
Cassandra Lek
Colin Seet
Dorothy Tan
Elvin Ethan Ho
Emanuel Francis
Freda Seto
Gerard Lim
Hilary Isaac Hoe
Ignatius John Koh
Isabel Elizabeth Francis
Jacqueline Jeanine Teo
Jeanette Claire Tan
Jerome Jude Lim
Joann Natalie Chia
Joanna Christina Lee
Joel Jeremiah Er
Joyce Ng
Leonard Thomas Low
Lynette Marie Chen
Mark Tan
Matthew Ryan Heng
Melanie Edith Leong
Michelle Clarice Ho
Nicholas Gabriel Lim
Rachael Adeline Wong
Rachel Bernadette Er
Sean Chew
Theresa Maria Yoong
Vanessa Samantha Tan
Yvonne Judith Low

ST. PATRICK'S SCHOOL
Clarence Zhao
Dannel William George
Foo Jie Long
Jason Oh
Mdm Siti Norniza

MASS COMMUNICATION
NGEE ANN POLYTECHNIC
Adeline Yeo
Alyssa Tan
Aw Chengwei
Chang Qiaolin
Clarence Chen
Chng Jing Hui
Denise Tan
Felicia Goh
Jeremiah Su
Joachim Josemaria Lai
Jonathan Lee
Joyce Neo
Linus Chen
Nadia Samat
Pamela Woo
Stephanie Aw Yong

NATIONAL SERVICE
Goh Wei Xiang (Barney)
Kevin Koo
Daniel Goh
Nicholai Tan
Muhd Haziq
Neo Yong Kiat

THE BIRTHDAY BOY'S DIARY

2009-05-17T00:05:00.014-07:00

Here are two diary entries for your reading pleasure. The first is a recollection of the Hollywood Night Jamboree and the dramatic weeks leading up to it, while the second is a piece about the craziness that comes with turning twenty-one. Haha! ENJOY!

The Birthday Boy Looks Back
on Hollywood Night

Bippity Boppity Boo...
I'm Twenty-One!

.

The Birthday Boy Looks Back on Hollywood Night

2009-05-17T00:05:00.012-07:00

What a lark! What a thrill! Oh, what an absolute delight! Hollywood's smallest event of the year turned out to be a smashing, splashing Spectacular Spectacular!

HOLLYWOOD NIGHT IN-THE-MAKING...
Everything went as fabulously as I'd hoped. Thanks to Eddy Daddy and six amazing friends, the stage decor was marvellously put together and made for a lively, astonishing backdrop for photography. I was in awe at how identical the final product was from the photoshop draft I'd designed as a guide for them. Props to the wonderful decor team!

Credit also goes to them for the table decor looking so gorgeous, with the potpourri and door gifts adding a tinge of class to the setting. Colin too did a fantastic job bringing in the stage and audio & video system.

I could have held the jamboree in a hotel function hall, a country club or a private pub and spent thousands on the expensive packages that such venues usually come with. But my cost-free estate clubhouse emerged the best. Money was well-spent, instead, on creating the ideal Hollywood feel in the room.

I remember standing in the middle of the jamboree hall minutes before the event commenced and thinking to myself "gosh, this is perfect!".

THE DRAMA BEHIND THE HOLLYWOOD STAGE
The weeks leading to the jamboree day, however, were utterly stressful and emotionally intense, particularly on the day itself. Nine months of ridiculously excruciating planning and preparation had boiled down to that one evening and by the time that morning arrived, it was too surreal for my heart to sink it in.

There were points in time when I feared I'd be too paranoid during the evening to actually enjoy myself.

THE SPECTACULAR, SPECTACULAR SHOW!
But all that went away as guests streamed in and the excitement level in the room increased with each graceful toast that loved ones delivered. It was a beautiful, nostalgic walk down memory lane as friends and family took turns on stage to share about the good times that we've had together.

Tears came about as close companions dedicated song items on stage and wild laughter belted out from among the crowd as others decided to poke fun at the birthday boy with hilarious sabotage plans.

Then there was the dance tribute to Christina Aguilera that my friend, Alyssa, and I had worked on for weeks. Boy oh boy, reliving the joys of dancing on stage after 6 long years was such an exhilarating experience, and I'm so glad that I got to share it with a dearest Polytechnic mate.

THE "ADDISON'S ADDI-TUDE" VIDEO AND THE OSCAR
And of all the awesome, awesome presents that I received this year, two of them were extra special because they came from a whole bunch of people whom I love, love, love. so deeply. Unquestionably, they're the "Addison's Addi-tude" birthday video tribute and the Oscar.

I thought the Oscar was easily one of the most thoughtful gifts I'd ever received. It doesn't take a close friend to know how much the Oscars is part of my life and love for Hollywood. So thanks to all those who contributed to this lovely gift.

I thought Dannel did an extraordinary job putting the video together. Having had multiple first-hand experiences of producing such birthday videos, I can easily say he is on his way to becoming quite a skilled filmmaker. Haha!

The video was lovely - truly. What I found most interesting was listening to friends and family share about their fondest memory of the friendship that we share. Ever so often, we only have our perspective of what's special in our collection of friends-related memories. I loved how the video helped me take the perspective of the other parties and understand what was special to them.

There were, of course, some really hilarious parts, especially in the Christina Aguilera segment. But most of it was warm and moving. Thanks to everyone who took time to be part of this gift, which was very much a labour of love.

WHEN THE CURTAINS CLOSE
The days following the jamboree have been quite odd. I suddenly no longer have long to-do lists waiting for my attention. There's this great sense of nostalgia every time I pass by the clubhouse in my estate.

Addison Thomas Wong's "Hollywood Night" 21st Birthday Jamboree has become one of the greatest events in my life and I will always hold the memories that I have of it dear to my heart. Thanks to everyone who were there for taking time to be a part of this magnificent memory.

Bippity Boppity Boo... I'm Twenty-One!

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Growing older and wiser has always been a fascinating, significant and important deal to me, and I mean that in the most positive sense.

THAT'S WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT
This deal is hardly as related to the common and naive "I can't wait to grow up!" comments that we hear ever so frequently from youngsters, who feel they deserve more freedom than what their parents have entitled them, as it is to the thrill of growing into the individuals each of us will eventually become, to finding out who that person is and what the future holds for all of us.

Corrinne May, a soulful Singaporean singer/songwriter, wrote and sang so beautifully, "Every year we're getting closer to who we're going to be".

HEY, I'M JUST A KID!
But it's ironic how the beginning of adulthood can make you feel like a child, simply because there's so much in the adult world that you have to inhale all of a sudden that the culture shock makes you feel like an ignorant noob. It sort of makes you appreciate the past and how fulfilling it felt to have had bountiful experiences under your belt as a matured teenager among youths younger than you.

My life in its 21-year entirety has continually been about making the right decisions, ensuring that the people around me are well-loved, and developing myself into the gentleman that my father is - a person who matters, a person who's accomplished and a person who's worth remembering.

Finding love, gaining new talents and nurturing old ones, and discovering every aspect of my innermost self as the deep introvert that I've become over the years, were all also huge parts of my journey, together with ensuring that happiness and satisfaction were close comrades (which is terribly arduous to achieve what with the mountainous expectations I tend to have of myself).

ONE LOVE, ONE LIFE TO LIVE...
It's not easy to have lived a life with no remorse, and even more difficult to say that you're happy with your life with all it's complicated and dramatic elements. Yet, in spite of the countless complex pieces that make up my current life and all the convulsions that my past include, I'm very blessed to still be able to say that I'm extremely pleased with how life has turned out. At the same time, I'm proud of the individual that I've become thus far.

"Not everyone can say that about their lives and themselves" said a close friend of mine, Joel Nicholas Chua, when I shared this with him seven years ago. These words made me deeply appreciative of the positive state that I was in.

Today, that degree of gratitude has not wavered or decreased. In fact, there's so much more to be thankful for than there was seven years ago. With a family that I've fallen in love with and come to appreciate so much more in recent years than I did before, companions from different chapters of my journey who inject so much colour and meaning to life and who make me feel like the luckiest person to have known the great individuals that they are, and the educational experiences, talents and achievements that humble me, it feels like my life now isn't too far from complete.

TWENTY-ONE, HERE I COME!
Twenty-one may make me feel like an ignorant, naive child. Twenty-one may dawn upon me the realisation that there's still so much more to learn about life. Twenty-one may very well even introduce into my life dark realities that I've never experienced before. But whatever twenty-one and the years after that have to offer, I'm going to live them as fruitfully as I did my teenage and childhood years combined.

Here's to the next twenty-one years!

THE POSTERS

2009-05-17T00:05:00.010-07:00

THE DOOR GIFTS COLLECTION

2009-05-17T00:05:00.009-07:00

The following are online copies of the door gifts that were printed for the guests at Addison Thomas Wong's "Hollywood Night" 21st Birthday Jamboree.

Each guest had already one of the ten designs preselected for them prior to the day of the event. They were placed on the guests' respective assigned tables with a personal message written behind the card (as seen in the picture above). In accordance with the theme of Hollywood Night, each of these door gifts include a memorable line from one of the greatest films in Hollywood history and these lines were chosen because they are, in their own special ways, related to the jamboree itself.

Here are all ten door gift designs for you to keep!

THE PHOTOS

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Guests Arrival

Dinner & Decorations

The Hollywood Show

Meet The Oscar

THE VIDEOS

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ADDISON THOMAS WONG'S "ADDI-TUDE" PART 1 (click here)
ADDISON THOMAS WONG'S "ADDI-TUDE" PART 2 (click here)
(Directed and edited by Dannel William George)

This was a glorious labour of love. Big thanks to Dannel for the immense amount of effort he invested into seeing this through and also to every person who took time and effort to be featured in this library of love. I deeply appreciate the wonderful gift.

ADDISON THOMAS WONG'S "ADDI-TUDE": THE BLOOPERS
(Exclusive Never-Seen-Before Footage!)
Catch all the hilarious moments during the production of Addison's Addi-tude in this never-seen-before Bloopers Reel!

JAMBOREE OPENING VIDEO
As an opening to the jamboree's programme, I was asked to put together a video introducing my favourite part of Hollywood - with Hollywood Night being the theme of the event. Many of you would already know what that is, while others will find out in just a bit. Enjoy!

EDDY DADDY & MOMMIE ANNE'S TOASTS
Truth be told, it was a tad bit awkward hearing my parents give a toast to me, and even more so when I was invited to stand on stage with them as they delivered their sharing. But I can't deny that they said some really moving things. Here's to two people who made me who I am today. Thanks Eddy Daddy and Mommie Anne!

JOANN NATALIE CHIA'S TOAST
Miss Heart-of-Gold shares her extraordinary love in this warm sharing. Thanks dearie for those gracious and elegant words, for the thoughtful advice and for taking us back down memory lane through those wonderful years of this friendship.

JOYCE NEO & ALYSSA TAN'S TOAST
Here's a lovely poem with a beautiful, nostalgic message, written by a pair of sexily sassy sisters who added much class and style to the glamorous Hollywood feel of the night with their elegant recitation of this literary piece.

JOEL NICHOLAS CHUA'S SHARING
Here's a recount of one of the most momentous memories that Joel and I share in our 12 years of friendship. I'm glad that this particular memory has left such a great impression on him, because it's just as special to me. Thanks for sharing it, Joel!

JOEL JEREMIAH ER'S TOAST
This sharing and toast alone accounts for the greatness, the novelty and the significance of this brotherhood. Thanks, Joel, for being the irreplaceable you and for those kind and heartrending words. Love you, brother!

THE SABOTAGE PLAN
After all these years of escaping Lynette Chen's famous birthday sabotage plans, I guess it finally had to happen this time, even if it was a supposedly glamorous event. But I'm glad this segment gave the crowd something to laugh so hard about. Thanks to Lynette and Joyce Ng for planning it, and to Lynette for executing it.

HILARY HOE AND JOANN CHIA'S PERFORMANCE
Being moved to tears by a musical number is always an enchanting, emotional experience. And that's exactly the ride that Joann and Hilary's performance of one of my favourite songs of all time took me on. It was a choice that came as a huge surprise to me as I've never really shared much about my love for this song before and particularly about how significant and meaningful it is to me at this milestone of turning 21. Thus, the buckets of tears that drew out of me from the moment Jo sang the first line. Thanks so much, Hil & Jo!

LYNETTE CHEN & AMANDA LEK'S PERFORMANCE & TOAST
When two friends sum up the courage to perform something on stage in spite of the lack of preparation and practice time, it makes for a truly heartwarming gesture. The determination Lynette and Amanda had in expressing their love through this Christina Aguilera number - even if it meant risking being embarrassed - made for one such gesture. What a fine and fabulous testament to "it's the thought that counts". I thought it was absolutely "Beautiful" (pun intended!). Thank you, ladies!

ADDISON WONG & ALYSSA TAN'S DANCE TRIBUTE TO CHRISTINA AGUILERA
It's been six years since I last performed a dance on stage. And boy have I missed "shaking it" for a crowd. This dance number was, thus, a really special one for me, on top of the fact that I wanted to pay tribute to Christina Aguilera's 10 years in the music business. And what a thrill it was to share this experience with dearest Alyssa Tan! Thanks Ally for being such a sport with this project!

THE SURPRISE OSCAR PRESENTATION
This was undoubtedly the sweetest and most thoughtful gesture of the night. My deepest gratitude to everyone who contributed to this fabulous gift. I do apologise for the bad attempt at the Oscar speech, for forgetting to thank a bunch of really important people, and for stammering so much at the beginning. This just really took me by surprise and I was unprepared to give a speech. But that doesn't belittle the magnitude in which this gift means to me. It's really sweet and thoughtful. I'll treasure this Oscar. I promise.

THE PHOTOS: Meet The Oscar

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SPECIAL THANKS

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PROGRAMME PLANNER

Dannel William George

HOSTS/EMCEES
Joel Nicholas Chua
Joann Natalie Chia

LOGISTICS, AUDIO & VIDEO SYSTEM
Colin Seet
Joel Nicholas Chua

STAGE & TABLE DECORATIONS TEAM
Eddy Daddy Wong
Jerome Jude Lim
Jacqueline Jeanine Teo
Joel Jeremiah Er
Joyce Neo
Rachel Bernadette Er
Sean Chew
Peter Chai

PHOTOGRAPHERS
Sean Chew
Jacqueline Jeanine Teo

VIDEOGRAPHER
Jonathan Lee

DANCE PARTNER
Alyssa Tan

TOASTMASTERS
Eddy Daddy Wong
Mommie Anne Wong
Joyce Neo
Alyssa Tan
Amanda Lek
Lynette Marie Chen
Joel Jeremiah Er
Joann Natalie Chia
Joel Nicholas Chua
Dannel William George

PERFORMERS
Hilary Isaac Hoe
Joann Natalie Chia
Amanda Lek
Lynette Marie Chen

THE SABOTAGE PLAN
Lynette Marie Chen
Joyce Ng
Daphne Cassandra Ng
Benedict Kevin Long

GUEST BOOK IN-CHARGE
Sean Chew
Amanda Lek

VIDEO IN-CHARGE
Benedict Kevin Long

LIGHTS IN-CHARGE
Rachael Adeline Wong

CHAMPAGNE BOYS & GIRLS
Isabel Elizabeth Francis
Amanda Lek
Sean Chew
Joel Jeremiah Er

JAMBOREE VIDEO EDITOR
Jacqueline Jeanine Teo

DINNER PREPARATIONS
Mark Lim & Family
Mommie Anne Wong
Eddy Daddy Wong
Aunt Maryann Long

THE STRAWBERRY HIBISCUS CHEESECAKE
Uncle Clement Ng

ALL CONTRIBUTORS FOR THE OSCAR GIFT

ALL THE KIND SOULS WHO HELPED WITH THE CLEARING UP

ALL YOU WONDERFUL PEOPLE WHO TOOK TIME & EFFORT TO BE AT THE JAMBOREE!

THE PHOTOS: The Hollywood Show

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THE PHOTOS: Dinner & Decorations

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THE PHOTOS: Guests Arrival

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