The Converse Asian Crown took place on Saturday the 12th March, 2011 at *SCAPE skatepark. It signified Converse's come back into the local Singapore Skateboarding scene after 13 years of being inactive in the community. It's nice to see an event like the Asian Crown push the level of skateboarding here on our tiny island.
Converse's last skateboarding event took place in 1998, with professional skateboarders Kenny Anderson, Chany Jeanguenin, Felix Arguelles, and Atiba Jefferson flying down from the United States for a demo and signing.
Generally, the competition was befitting with some good skateboarders throwing down both big and technical tricks. One of the highlights had to have been VANS rider Farris Rahman sticking a McTwist. It was also nice to see some gaming consoles set up and airbrush tattooing going on.
Unfortunately, the event was severly tarnished by the live bands playing ska, hardcore and rock music. Now don't get us wrong we aren't complaining about the genre of music (to each his own right!) but the problems set in when the bands seemed to be out-staging the skateboarding. Instead of complementing the competition, they actually took over with their ear deafening volume. It was not only difficult to hear the MC announcing skaters names and tricks but it was almost impossible to talk to our buddies sitting next to us.
After speaking with many of the athletes and spectators just to make sure we weren't the only ones noticing this problem. We found they all had something to say.
One skater commented "..is this a skateboarding competition or a rock show". We understand the need to have loud music in order to create atmosphere and make the event a spectacle but the volume was excessive and ear-piercing. We witnessed many spectators and skateboarders attempting to block out the thundering sound with their headphones.
Another athlete who won't be named complained of a headache and actually vomited after his run was over claiming it was hard to focus, with the deafeningly loud music.
Moving on from the issue of volume, we thought it was disastrous that the bands were warming up and testing their equipment on full volume as athletes partook in their individual runs and jams. At times, there was no music playing during a run and at other times the band would start a song half way through an athletes run. Not only was this distracting for the athletes trying to concentrate on their tricks but we felt it put the spectators off watching the skateboarding.
Instead of a fusion of live music and action sports, it was like watching two events take place at the same time in the same location with both competing for the audiences attention. It appeared as though there was little to no communiation between the skatebaording side and music side of the event. The bands continued on even during the prize award ceremony making it difficult to hear the results.
At one point one of the bands made a reference to Japan and the recent earthquake disaster saying that this song was going out to the Japanese people. We thought this was a very heart-warming thing to say until the singer changed the topic to his thoughts on a particular Japanese adult entertainment actresses that must be suffering from the disaster. This was inappropriate and disrespectful! If these guys play at an action sports event ever again it will be too soon!
We hate to go on but as the voice of Singapore skateboarders we also received some feedback from athletes expressing their unhappiness about the Asian Crown (sponsored) category only having a cash prize for 1st place, but no cash prizes for 2nd or 3rd place.
Agreed, there can only be one crown for the King. But perhaps there could have been cash prizes for the runners up, especially considering this category paid a $20 registration fee (which often isn't covered by the the riders sponsors). There were cash prizes for the runners up in the Open and Beginner categories so a few sponsored riders were left wondering why the categories below them all got cash prizes but they did not. They did however, receive Converse vouchers.
Since we are on the subject of Converse Skateboarding we just found out that Rune Glifberg (Converse rider) was recently in Singapore. According to his twitter account he was in Singapore 2 weeks ago. If Converse really wanted to come back into the local scene with a bang we would have expected them to coordinate with Rune and get him at the event. Having a Converse professional skateboarder at the Asian Crown would have really taken the event to the "omg that was the best competition ever" level.
Pulling back from the failure of the live bands, the skateboarding was fantastic and it was great to see some regional athletes from Thailand, Indonesia, and China come down to compete. We are looking forward to seeing what Converse has planned next for Singapore.
Converse Asian Crown Results
Asian Crown
1st - Farris Rahman
2nd - Feroze Rahman
3rd - Hafizul Hisyam
Open / Intermediate
1st - Nazeer Hussin
2nd - Izuan Musa
3rd - Fred Erick
Beginner
1st - Felix Mcauliffe
2nd - Ben Ridley
3rd - Jeffery Linnear
Congratulations to all the skaters that made it to the podium and to the organizers for putting on such a big event.
Here are some videos quickly thrown together from the event. Please note, this is just a glimpse and many tricks and runs were not captured. The quality of the videos is also pathetic but it's better than nothing.
Filmed and edited by Dominic Cartmer
21 comments:
If we didn't mention it in the post. Great to see Converse getting back in the skate-game!
nice videos haha the music sucked. i hate rck music that is too hardcore. main problem was it too loud and canot hear the skateboarding.. shuld have done the bands after the skateing is over.
faris mctwist was really crazy he deserved to win. The music was too loud but the event was still really cool!!
LOL, how bout no more live bands? Just stick to like a dj. After that night, i learnt to appreciate keisha, and Britney spears. At least they know when to stfu. i can only imagine how good the event wouldve been if we didnt have to stand that horrible noise. The songs were crap, offensive, and im pretty sure i got swore at by 6 different people telling me im a pussy.. :/ Werent there kids and parents around?
Farris was amazing lol duh. And im really glad hisyam was finally getting some recognition he deserves, he is deffo, one of the nicest skaters around.
The people of converse were really nice too, i liked how they mingled with the audience, sat amongst us, and chatted with us, like they were one of us! That was some great pr work. Really showed that they cared. I wont be too harsh on the organizers, purely because i feel that, lol, they already know and feel the same way.
THanks converse! cant wait till next year.
congratulations to the winners.
I believe the competition itself was very entertaining, except for the "music".
Sad how the bands mistook this opportunity to claim the crowd. The people came to see skateboarding, not crap music. At the end of the noise they were making, singer called everyone motherfuckers pointing middle fingers. Very appropriate with 12 year old kids present in the audience. Next time, get a fucking DJ and turn the volume down.
At the end i went home to relax to some static from my television, which sounded like Beethoven after this shit.
i was there..honestly,The people of converse were really nice..but, i think the organizers for that event SUCKS!! The after party SUCKS!! The Skateboarding was BANGING Good!! Congrats to all the winners..
id like to reply your hateful comment, but i cant make out just what you are saying. go back, sit down, grab a dictionary, construct complete comprehensive sentences and then re-write your comment for better feedback.
Yours sincerely,
Webster
lol
Dear Lion city skateboarders,
You have a very nice website. We only stumbled onto it after deciding to search on the internet about the remarks regarding Japan's disaster and the profanities being used by the Converse bands. We are so furious.
We are outraged by the remark one band made about Japan. During a time of great unrest Japan needs people's support more than ever. To hear one of the bands make the recent disaster into a joke about pornography is so alarming.
I am surprised none of the local news papers picked up on this. I was completely shocked by the musicians words and utter disrespect towards the nation of JAPAN and its people.
I blame Converse for allowing such bands to perform live.
Furthermore, as other readers have commented the bands were swearing at the crowd. My family and I were not impressed. I felt embarrassed to be a parent and have my kids around me listening to such vulgarities. Disgusting.
We enjoyed watching the skateboarding but I was mortified by the bands words and about Japan. I would like to take this time to apologize to any Japanese at the event. And to the Japanese people in Singapore and around the world.
I am so furious and outraged at Converse I am considering writing an article to the papers about this incident. I already feel as Singaporeans we are not doing enough to support Japan, but this bites the biscuit.
C.S Tan
U know the name of the bands?
write to the papers? i think its a good idea.
Band names. I dont think its converses fault the bands suck. It was their first attempt...
Cesspit
Osairis
STOMPIN' Ground
Superman is Dead
I know there are four bands. I wont agree u to say they all suck bro.. All i need it the band name u guys said they mention somethings about japan n offensive words... Thks
dont know which bands were saying fuck you etc but the one made the comment about Japan but imo all the bands were too loud? dont htink that styles of music suited the skaters. and wow someone threw up ? guess not surprised haha, really loud than nightclubs and concert i been to before. kinda shame they spoil for everyone else
Well thks for your reply. I would like to say that if u notice all the about mention issues i believe somehow u will noted that particular band. I think some of tje bands are not at fault. Let just blame those who did. About sounds too loud i totally agree but we should blame the sound man the equipments they provide.as for music genre for skateboarders? If u been skateboarding for ages i dun think i should explain!u know it better. Another thing is c.s tan, mr tan u have all the points & should u intent to have it on paper. Pls include that particular band name,which use offensive words & criticizing.its not fair for other bands to share the same shit other did just because there are 'BAND'. I felt sorry for some of the band to be blame for nothing they did except try to entertain. Because of sound man,one band fault & our personal genre . They got all the shit
converse is at fault. they are the ones that put on the entire event and paid those bands money to perform.
rune glifberg was in singapore 2 weeks before the event!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! what!!!!
why didnt he do a demo or signing omg!!!!!! fuckkk!!
Converse never at fault. They trying thier best to give all the best to the local skateboarders. There always this small group of haters who always complains.that all.
Hey, guess what?! Too band guys, the band stole the show. They draw more crowd. Guess the performance was so much better than seeing some boring skating.except for those who are rrally good.
only comment that is important here-
"We enjoyed watching the skateboarding but I was mortified by the bands words and about Japan. I would like to take this time to apologize to any Japanese at the event. And to the Japanese people in Singapore and around the world.
"
Readers please be respectful. No excessive foul language.
Reading through the comments:
1. As one reader commented it may very well have just been the sound guy at fault, by having the volume set too high to hear the MC for skateboarding.
2. Perhaps we should not blame all the bands, if it was just one which was using foul language and made disrespectful remarks about Japan.
3. To Mr C.S Tan, should you wish to write into the papers or to Converse then that is your god given right. However, we are unable to give you information about the band/bands/ or band member that was using vulgarity or voiced remarks about Japan. At this stage it is still unclear who said what.
4. Readers, move on with your lives. Sometimes no one is at fault. Things just happen.
It was great to have a big skateboarding competition and we hope Converse has some more events planned. Again, well done to everyone involved!
Felix Mcauliffe didnt win Roy Milstein did
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