Hi-5 Surprise! Live Tour 2009

On Tuesday night, our whole family went to watch Hi-5 Surprise live performance at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. We were given complimentary tickets because one of papa's colleagues helped us to purchase $200 worth of Choice Vouchers in Sembawang Shopping Centre (SSC) just to get 4 complimentary Hi-5 live performance tickets. Apparently over last weekend, SSC was having a promotion - with every $100 spent, the shopper could redeem 2 Hi-5 tickets. Armed with 4 tickets, our whole family, including Aunty Nia went. Under the terms, children above 1 years old needed a ticket to enter. I wanted to let Aunty Nia to watch the performance because it was her (and Reuben's) first experience watching a live performance. However, at the entrance, the ushers did not check for Reuben's age and allowed all 5 us to enter with just 4 tickets. Yippee! :)

Our seats were at the balcony. Hence, we did not have a clear view. Phoebe kept telling me, "I cannot see, mommy. What is Lauren (her favourite) wearing? What's her costume?" What to do ? Free tickets, what do you expect? :p

The performance was so-so. The place was too big, there were many empty seats. I think the response was not good, hence they had to cancel 4 shows! The sound effect was not very clear, we could not hear what some of them were saying at some point in time. The plot was too boring - it was supposed to be a surprise party for Chats, but it's not surprising enough for us audience. There were lengthy talking, hence the children were bored. There should be more singing. Well, in the first place, I felt that the original group of Hi-5s had stronger vocal chords and their dance choreography was better. Too bad that they had to retire. I thought the last year's Barney show was much much better.

The Hi-5 merchandise was also over-priced and unattractive. A helium-filled foil balloon cost $10 (which we bought for Phoebe anyway) and the design of the T-shirts were too plain! We bought a Hi-5 cushion (which cost us $25) for Reuben just to be fair. Fairness is expensive :p

I was quite disappointed overall. The children were engaged on and off. Some of the songs were unfamiliar, so the children were restless. Well, the consolation part is that, at least I didn't have to spend money on the tickets :)