Written by a contributor. Alfred Chin

Michelle Ayalde EP launch. Soju 201607  That’s what someone told me when we first heard Michelle sing at Soju, Sunway Pyramid last Friday. My initial reaction was disbelief cos I could only hear 1 word in 10 being sung. Conditions were not exactly ideal for the kind of ballads she was belting out, which included her new single, Hypnotic.

Michelle Kristel Ayalde (remember the name) is a singer for Worldwide Platinum Records and has been singing since the age of 4 in the Philippines, from whence she hails. I learn this, as I inspect the CD and accompanying literature the day after my (buddy, his word not mine) James from GoodGoodLife.org (shameless plug) invites me to my first album launch. She sounds better in the car than when I was listening from the upstairs lounge, even taking into account a small hangover, courtesy of Soju’s all you can drink launch.

This is only to be expected as Michelle is described in the accompanying literature as performing on a larger stage and in front of TV cameras all her life. I guess this is a good place to plug an upcoming 6 song Extended Play which is very confusingly entitled ‘hipNOTIC’ (and even contains the single ‘Hypnotic’. How ironic that the word should capture Worldwide Platinum’s imagination so. Thesaurus, it’s on your phone now. Spellcheck… (more irony from me)…

Caption: Michelle Ayalde answering a few questions for the press as she rushes from Soju KL to Soju Sunway to promote her new single ‘Hypnotic’

As I attempt to reconstruct the events of the night before, one thing made the experience stand out.

The Upstairs Lounge – Great view of the entire establishment. You can see all the pretty people dancing, getting drunk and sloppy, but they can’t see you cos of the spotlights. We could hold conversations in normal voices. (at least my two companions could, I was blazed and had to be told to keep it down at a club) <(^u^)>

This thing is, being able to converse with your companions in a civilized manner correlates negatively with being able to hear the music coming from below. I didn’t realize it at first cos the cover band…  did a great job of playing pop songs. Coupled with the audiences’ familiarity with pop lyrics and music (not to mention ever flowing booze) it was no wonder that Michelle came across kinda heard to hear. I expect she sounded great from the ground floor.

From the moment we arrived, quite late at night, maybe 11pm, the service was non-stop, always on, willing and almost excessive (this is a good thing). There were greeters and servers to show you to a well-appointed table, lead you to the rest room and lurk behind you to freshen your drink the moment you look remotely sober enough to make a run for it.

The food was deep fried buffet fare. Very acceptable considering the time of night; nothing deserving of a photo though.

Worldwide Platinum Records plan to develop Michelle Ayalde as a homegrown artist here in Malaysia and for her to set a high bar across the South East Asian entertainment industry. Good luck with that and keep in mind the sound quality of your live venues.

Thanks for the invite GGL and Soju

AC