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MAYA O. CALICA
LAST JUNE,
onlookers and tourists
were treated to a surprise dance
number in front of Ho Chi Minh
City’s most-photographed building.
Shortly before Caravelle Hotel
employees and trainers broke out
their scrubbers and waste bags to
clean the Opera House on World
Environment Day, an impromptu
dance troupe busted a few moves
on the apron of the 1900s-built
structure that was a huge part of the
colonial French social scene, and
later, the legislative seat of South
Vietnam. Staff, department heads
and top management from the hotel
shimmied to the Black Eyed Peas’
“The Time (Dirty Bit)” and Thao
Trang’s “Feel the Life” during the
four-minute routine, before cleaning
up the Opera House surrounds and
front yard.
www.caravellehotel.
com
Luxury hotels in Manila and Ho Chi Minh City up
the ante with song and dance attractions
The Peninsula Manila hits
the right notes
A luxury five-star hotel seems an unlikely
setting for a talent search, but in live-music-
loving Manila, The Peninsula Manila’s Sing@
Ning Ultimate Voice competition seems a long
time coming. In August, the hotel launched
the singing contest, inviting college students
with promising vocal prowess to sign up by
sending in videos through YouTube. Starting
September 18, those who have made the cut
will participate in a series of live elimination rounds at Salon de Ning, the hotel’s uber-glitzy music
lounge that’s decked out in 1930s Art Deco glamorama. The top three finalists will then battle
it out for the grand prize — a scholarship to Spotlights Artists Center and John Robert Powers,
a weekend stay at The Peninsula Manila, plus PHP100,000 in cash — on November 6. It’s all
part of the hotel’s long-standing tradition of supporting local artistry: in 2006, the hotel held a
digital photography contest with the theme “Timeless Filipino” (incidentally, regular
Smile
cover
photographer Jorem Catilo, along with wife Sheila, bagged the top prize). This time, says hotel
GM Sonja Vodusek, the competition is about “supporting young, amateur Filipino singers with
distinct abilities and styles and who have a passion for their craft.”
www.peninsula.com/singatning
Performance
levels
Amateur Filipino singers
will take centerstage at The
Peninsula Manila’s
Sing@Ning competition
Flash mob at
Saigon’s Historic
Opera House