A welcome kind of deafness

I am that much deafer now after having attended the Singapore Formula 1 Grand Prix. Now back home, everything is so quiet outside the grandstand and away from the racetrack. Being someone who enjoys the volume turned up on everything from the TV to the car radio, I now find that the volume knobs on all these devices don’t seem to go high enough. Conversations of late have been punctuated with more cries of “eh?”, “huh?” and “pardon me?” because of this. What can I say? Aural stimulation seems more effective when the decibel levels are in the red.

This is the first thing you notice when the cars are roaring down the lane, easily doing 200-250kph. Obviously the cars are just so fast that they zoom by. What you are left with is a resonating, high-pitched scream, characteristic of a heavily tuned racing machine. You try to catch the cars on your camera as they zoom by, but many times they just leave a blur. The visual memories become more elusive, but I swear, you will never forget that sound.

The world’s only night race, the Singapore GP is very unique in that it integrates the feeling of attending a sporting event and a party at the same time. Some things sports and parties have in common are the crowds, the noise and the spirit. The hordes of people who go out, converse, cheer, and have a good time could be sporting fans, party goers, or both.

With this in mind, the sophomore effort of the World’s First and Only Night Race was successfully transformed into more than just a purely sporting event. With art show, lifestyle features, and parties all over the place, this year’s Singapore GP truly had something for everyone. So while Dad enjoyed the race, Mom could have been checking out the latest in avant-garde art, while the kids partied. Or they could have all done everything, together. Or not. Yeah, that’s better — no stereotyping.

And while all of this is happening, there will definitely still be background noise of some sort.

Squealing tires and roaring engines may be music to yours and my ears, but others may feel like it is too much. Luckily for them, this year was the launch of F1 Rocks, the series of concerts that peppered the entire F1 weekend. Held at Fort Canning Park over the weekend, the series featured Asian and international acts. Among them were A-Mei, Jacky Cheung, ZZ Top, No Doubt, N.E.R.D., The Black Eyed Peas, and Beyoncé. I got to catch the Black Eyed Peas and Beyoncé, and I am very glad that they played their tunes extra loud, too. Aside from that, they were really good shows. These guys, as I now well know, are real performers.

After the race itself, I was surprised to learn that The Backstreet Boys were still alive — they took the stage and performed a bunch of their songs at a stage near the grandstand where I was seated. Chaka Khan did a set, too, and that was considerably cooler. It was really interesting to note how the mood changed from sport/race to party/music so instantly.

Ah, racing and live music. A definite killer combination in my book. And twice the fun, too, even though Lewis Hamilton won first place. Next year, Jenson; next year.

* * *

Visit the Uniquely Singapore website at www.visitsingapore.com.

E-mail me at enricomiguelsubido@yahoo.com.