Singapore F-1 Weekend

Katy Perry and Motor Sports Racing are two very opposite experiences and yet Singapore manages to bring them together in one well run and organized event. 

On Sunday September 23rd, Megan and I attended the Singapore Grand Prix.  In total it's a three day event that Singapore spends months preparing for.  It's arguably the biggest event of the year.  The racing occurs on the city streets passing through the Civic Center; the track winds through the Padang (cricket fields), the Esplanade (open park area), by the Fullerton Hotel and near the Singapore flyer.  The track is very challenging for the drivers given that it is bumpy, it's a city course in a very warm climate and hosted at night.  Starting on Friday we were able to see and hear cars racing in qualifying from our apartment.  During the day, they raced Ferrari and rally cars.  The main event started around dusk and proceeded for almost two hours into the evening.   Under the lights the cars would cruise at speeds of up to 160 mph. 

A view of the track and the city at night.

During the race I was able to catchup with friends.  Two of my former Bain colleagues Valerio and Gavin are in Singapore and I hung out with them and met a few new friends Scott and Winnie.  Megan and I enjoyed beers and food with them in the grand stands and were able to walk around the track and check out different sections of the course (narrow turns, straight aways and multiple tight turns in a row).  The winner of the race was Sebastian Vettel who played the archetypal racing villian brilliantly.  His sktechy moves out of  a restart gave him all the lead he needed to win.  We were cheering for Fernando Alonso, the charismatic driver for the Ferrari Team.  He finished in third.  After the race there were fireworks and an awkward post-race interview.  That transitioned into a Katy Perry concert.

Hard to believe but I've never seen Katy Perry in concert before.  Seeing her in Asia would really up the ante.  Our half hearted attempts to get to the front of the concert were thwarted by the hoards of people for whom seeing Katy Perry was a Teenage Dream.  We showed up around 10:15, the concert was scheduled to commence at 10:30 and Katy graced us with her presence at 10:50.  The set for the concert was decently elaborate with themes and platforms and fireworks.  The music was Hot and Cold.  The fact that 90% of her songs were famous and have gotten air play made the concert interesting.  It was easy to jam along.  The crowd was quite into it with a number of people dancing like nobody was watching.  On the minus side, Katy did not really bring the thunder.  Her passion level was indifferent and for the majority of songs she was singing to a track (Millie Vanilie style).  Another negative was the preponderance of cameras.  At any given time a third of the crowd was taking pictures or filming.  Excessive cameras hinder any concert experience as they prevent one from losing themselves in the experience.  It's an interesting economic problem where self-interest creates a poor outcome for everyone.  A truly innovative entertainment company will find a solution to the camera-mania.

Katy Perry getting racy at F-1.

Katy gave some interesting anecdotes during the show; like how she wanted to make out with the drivers.  She then proceeded to get some crowd participation with a California guy taking his shirt off.  Her showmanship was decent although no where near the levels of the greats (e.g. David Lee Roth).  Overall I would give Katy Perry a B-, I saw her once and I liked it but I would not beat down any doors to see her again.