An AUS-some escape

MELBOURNE, Australia — It was three days of tennis and clubbing and DJ-watching — three things that are like the PlayStation 3 to me. Totally unfamiliar.

I started partying in the decade of disco and swing a tennis racquet only in my dreams. My latest CD is by Josh Groban and before I flew to this city for Sony Ericsson’s Melbourne Music Escape, had no idea that these days, DJs like Bob Sinclar, TV Rock and The Potbeleez are as much a cult figure in the music scene as singers are. Gee, and I thought their job was to play CDs!

Sony Ericsson opened up this new, young world for me, which I tentatively explored with baby steps — (although I must confess one of my mid-life quirks was to vie for best rock star costume at the STAR Christmas party, which I won). Maybe I was ripe for the music of Bob Sinclar, TV Rock and The Potbeleez.

“Music,” said Chris Lee, vice president of marketing, Asia-Pacific of Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications, “makes such a difference in our lives you can feel the difference when it’s not there.”

Launched during the Aus-some escape were the W350i, which allows you to control music at your fingertips with Walkman on Top so you can navigate your music from simple keys on the phone’s front; the W760i, which has built-in twin speakers with stereo widening for sharing your favorite music; the Z5551, which lets you wave off interruptions, including incoming calls.

Sony Ericsson also announced the arrival of its high-performance Bluetooth Headset with a female touch, a woman’s must-have handbag accessory. It comes after extensive research by Sony Ericsson about what exactly the active modern woman wants — a headset that looks great, fits in your handbag and works well.

To familiarize ourselves with the phone, the Philippine team (composed of the Inquirer’s Anne Jambora, Sony Ericsson Philippines’ marketing manager Patrick Larraga and myself) was given A$500 to buy fashion items on Melbourne’s trendy Chapel Street that would remind us of the stylish Walkman phone (W350i). Suffice it to say our audience was impressed by our creativity — I heard someone ask if their ad agency had met us yet!

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The Melbourne Music Escape took place during the Australian Open — Maria Sharapova, after all, is Sony Ericsson’s brand manager.

Why Maria?

“Because she is a fighter and she never gives up till she gets to the top,” said E-Vonne Loh of Sony Ericsson.

During our trip, Maria beat new mom Lindsay Davenport and though we weren’t rewarded with an interview, she gave us autographed tennis balls.

Aside from the shopping (we got to split our loot after our shopping expedition) on Chapel Street, a row of old two-story building and factories (including a jam factory) converted into shops, boutiques and restaurants, the highlight of our music escape was the Night Tennis at the Docklands of Melbourne — the first-time ever that Night Tennis was held in the Asia-Pacific region (the first three times being in Miami, Madrid and Barcelona).

Sponsored by Sony Ericsson, Night Tennis was a red carpet event. It was surreal, almost like watching a heart-thumping computer game, with neon lights whizzing by — which were actually the tennis balls, the socks and wristbands of the players glowing in the dark as they raced towards the ball. There shone an eerie, edgy glow in the UV-lit covered tennis court, so that the person next to you looked like a stylish monster.

Wayne Arthurs and Pat Cash competed for the finals of the best-of-three-minutes match, with Arthurs emerging the winner.

After the game, Bob Sinclar, TV Rock and The Potbeleez took over the tennis court and the clubbing began and my culture shock receded.

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Funny, that it was in an Old World City with many centuries-old Victorian houses and buildings that I would become familiar with the sound, the look and the style of the future. Truly, AUS-some!

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