The second installment of KL’s Poetry Slam at Loft met with rousing audience participation – much of the fun from being in the audience is the direct feedback to the poets. If they bore you, you can start clicking your fingers. If they’re really terrible – start stamping your feet. At the end of each performance, judges hold their scores up and you can choose to cheer or boo the results too. Depending on the hecklers around you, it can be great fun – or very cruel. Democracy is not for the faint-hearted.

The first time KL had its own poetry slam, the crowd was reticent in providing feedback. Only the obviously unpopular performances got any clicks, and the carpetted floors in Loft literally silenced criticism. This time around, I expected the people to be more familiar with the process, and more honest with their opinions.

The audience was warmed up by the emcees Chris-Mooney Singh and Tshiung Han See, and a host of guest-performer poets including Reza Rosli (finalist in the 1st slam) and Priya K of Project Connect . Then George Wielgus, better known as Mighty Jah-J, stepped up to the mic.
 
Popular with the performance poetry audience, Migthy Jah-J was the winner of the first KL Poetry Slam – During his guest performance today, his third poem basically contained (and ended with) a message to the finger clickers in the crowd: “Fuck you”. I knew from then on that very few people would be clicking. Here was the lesson: What you did as an audience member this poetry slam could earn you retribution in the next, from the guy possibly holding the most attention at the slams.

I am not exaggerating the rousing audience participation though: The audience performed on cue, when prompted – be it finishing the lines, or punctuating the poetry with interjections at the right moments (awwww). As Jacob Sam-La Rose pointed out in his guest performance, “Ah, you’re a nice audience”.

The first poet up to the mic was Kathleen Choo. Frankly, her performance bombed in the first Slam. This time around, she was back with attitude, confidence and a new delivery style. The poem she performed was a response to what she observed from her previous slam: All the women didn’t make it through to the final round. Her cadence bordering on rapping, she ranted about white, male and dead poets – I couldn’t help but notice an irony. She was doing better, yes. She had also apparently injected some style-tips from Mighty Jah-J (white, male, alive) in her performance. Most poets performing in the KL Poetry Slam the second time around were much better. Some had taken to a more rap-friendly style, which I suspect was influenced by Mighty Jah-J.

Another observation: Most of the female participants dressed up according to the “Go Green” theme, either in a green dress, shoes, or even a bright green ribbon – Catalina Rembuyan wore red in support of what she views as a much better colour theme.

This, to me, spoke of a more readily observable stereotype of gender and fashion  than the identity of the finalists (incidentally, all finalists were female in this round) – the women seemed to pay more attention to what they wore. Or maybe women are more inclined to follow the rules – observing as they did the theme imposed/set by the organisers?

Elaine Foster eventually emerged the winner of the KL Poetry Slam – she was also one of the few whose poetry is best expressed and brought to life through performance. Some poets do suffer (and have, in the Crossway Slam, and 1st KL Poetry Slam) the effects of writing pieces that lose much of their weight and meaning when (inadequately) performed. I’d much rather read their chapbooks, than watch them perform.

An advantage Elaine had: She seemed the most comfortable and natural in front of the mic, delivering her words about her relationships to the audience, with some humour thrown in at lines like “Hang on, she is kissing you and you are thinking?” and “I blame you entirely for this fucking mess!” – I may not (and probably didn’t) get the words exactly right, but she definitely made an impression.

Eventually, the night was through, and the prizes given out. Elaine Foster was a clear winner in the final round, with Evanna Ramly taking second place. Sheena Baharudin didn’t get through to the finals in the 1st slam, but has shown much improvement in her performance, and placed third this time around.

Overall, a good night of entertainment, watching the guest performances, observing growth in the local poetry scene, listening to new poetry pieces. However, where the poets have learned to improve their performance, the audience could do better.

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Playlist of videos of some guest performances and 1st round of competition for the night here.
Reza Rosli’s video of Jacob’s performance here