Greetings and salutations, fellow stargazers! This is May Seah, your Showbiz Sista, bringing you the music and lyrics to accompany the Beat. The New City Beat, that is. The popular variety show from the ‘90’s starring Bryan Wong, Kym Ng, Sharon Au, and Lina Ng has been brought back from the dead, and its new incarnation stars Bryan, Kym, and—surprise, surprise—Adrian Pang and Gurmit Singh.
The four play a motley crew of “A-Class Calefares”—the best extras in the business—hoping to make it big in the entertainment industry. Adrian plays a dude who thinks he looks good blinged up in hip hop gear; Gurmit plays an action specialist who has no speaking roles (yes, that’s how Gurmit gets away with being in a Chinese-language show); Bryan plays an effeminate Beng; and Kym plays mutton dressed as lamb.
“I’m a 40-something-year-old woman trying to act 16. I’m an extra hoping I can have a kissing scene with Elvin Ng or Nat Ho,” Kym said. “It’s exciting that Gurmit and Adrian are joining us, because they’re great actors. I’m looking forward to seeing the new ideas, the new chemistry.”
“There were rumours, they were unconfirmed for a long time, and now here I am!” said Adrian, who’s never seen the original City Beat and is pretty much wandering into this with his eyes shut. “I have no clue!” he told Showbiz Sista. “I’m just plunging into it fresh.” So, how confident is he? “Not at all! Not in Chinese! It’s quite dangerous. I don’t know what might come out of my mouth!”
Yes, it’s not a job for the faint of heart and the weak in Chinese, especially next to motormouths Bryan and Kym. “I wish they’d give me the strong silent type,” Adrian lamented. “Gurmit, the @#%^*$#, is getting away with being the action man. He doesn’t need to talk very much. Whereas I am supposed to be the leader of the gang. I’ll try and get away with as many hand gestures and as little talking as possible. But we shall see!”
How does he feel about his getup? “I have to admit I quite like my accessories, personally, but this is a bit garish even for me. I haven’t worn this kind of pants for a long, long time. MC Hammer pants. I don’t even know if the kids these days are even wearing these any more, with the advent of skinny jeans. Even hip hop culture, I think, has evolved into more of a streamlined look. You don’t see Kanye West wearing this any more!”
Bryan feels rather the same. “This is so shingz!” he exclaimed the moment he stepped out in costume, revealing an apparent obsession with Ris Low. “This character is a campy beng. Lots of tossing of the hair. Once upon a time I did go for watches that were white with loud faces, but not now—definitely not sleeveless tops like these,” he told Showbiz Sista. “Fortunately it’s not in an animal preens.”
How does he feel to be reprising his role in City Beat? “Weird! It’s just like making a trip back towards the puberty stage. When I heard this was coming back, my initial reaction was fear. I wasn’t that enthusiastic because it’s really weird to go back and do something you did 13 years ago. But then, the theme song started replaying in my head. This morning I was still a little stiff, feeling like an outsider looking in, but when I put on this yellow thing, somehow or other, I started to adopt this other personality. When the wig was up, I was, like, ‘All right! I’m ready! I’m just gonna boomz!’ I think I’ll have to start conjuring up some catchphrases. But I’m not going to use boomz and shingz because that would really shingz.”
He does have a handy turn of phrase, doesn’t he? Catch New City Beat starting Dec 25, Fridays at 8pm on MediaCorp TV Channel 8.
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