So I spoke at length with Emile about the kinds of things I could do for my intervention here in Manila that would compliment our project, and we came to the conclusion that a direct comparison of two open mic features would be best.
I originally wanted to do something related to Karaoke as it is a key feature in Manila's nightlife. If you want to relax after work-you go and sing. However, the main issue with that was that most karaoke bar's are booked by individual parties, so the audience would not be general. Therefore we decided that a direct comparison would be the way forward.
Following Emile's line of thought, I planned say the lyrics of two politically charged songs, this would be done to 1) Gage the reaction of the audience, as Im doing something out of the norm 2) View whether individuals who attend open mic nights do so for just the music oe the lyrical composition and meaning of the songs or both 3) to see if the venue affects the way individuals act and 4) to see if I am included in the nightlife scene. Finally there will be a comparison of both our nightlife features, to determine if there is any striking culturally differences between nightlife scenes in these 4 areas.
After a great deal of research to find an open mic venue, I found one at a bar which catered for a more general audience-unlike Emile's pub which featured mostly rock and roll.
I chose to stick with the one of the same songs Emile preformed which was "your'e beautiful" by James Blunt. This was done because we discussed that controlling the variables would lead to a more direct comparison between the reaction in London to Manila. Emile's recitation got a particularly interesting reaction and we wanted to see if it could be replicated in similar conditions.
For the second song, I originally wanted to do "light up ya lighter" by Michael Franti, which is a protest song about war. However, I was informed that it would be misconstrued as me being critical of President Duterte, which would have had a very bad reaction and it is actually against the law here in the Philippines to show an inclination toward one political candidate.
So my second choice was "Born a Girl" by the Manic Street Preachers. I chose this song as transgender issues have been at the forefront of nightlife politics in recent years in Manila. A club called "Valkyrie" closed down because they had refused entry to a transgender individual. The bouncers claimed they could not enter the club because "cross dressing" was against the dresscode of the club. There was a huge backlash, which prompted the club to close as there is a huge amount of effort to include transgender people in nightlife activities.
I also chose this song, because I felt that the lyrics especially "I wish I had been born a girl instead of what I am" would propel the individuals to listen to the words I was saying. I also chose to switch the order of the songs to start with something serious to see if that also had an impact.
My research displayed that the community of people who attend open mic nights are generally very encouraging and respectful so I predicted that me reading poetry would not be an issue and they would include me in this nightlife activity.
However, there was yet another point of contention as being a foreigner would I be accepted and included as a fellow entertainer in Manila's nightlife scene.
Results to follow,
Hope you are all well
Charlotte
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