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The first National Day Parade (NDP) on water set sail in grand style, framed against the city skyline.
It was the same scenic backdrop Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong used the evening before when he announced that the economy, revving on all engines, should grow between 7 and 8 per cent this year, a notch higher than earlier expected.
Singapore is changing, he said, and he wanted Singaporeans to see it too, which was why he opted to deliver the National Day message from the top floor of the National Library and not the Istana.
The NDP has changed too. Its regular homeground over the past 42 years has been the National Stadium, soon to be demolished.
So it's out with the soccer pitch and in with world's largest floating stage, anchored at Marina Bay, a venue that also fittingly links Singapore's past with its future.
Just 900m from the stage, Sir Stamford Raffles came ashore 188 years ago and started the transformation of a sleepy fishing village into one of the world's busiest ports.
Across the same bay today, another transformation is under way. The new downtown is taking shape, the cornerstone of what will make Singapore a Garden City by the Bay.
Ground zero for the festivities yesterday - a 120m by 83m patchwork of steel platforms designed and built to withstand the pounding of boots, dancing shoes, tyres and even explosive firework launchers.
Fronting the stage - a new 27,000-seat gallery. Among the early birds were private tutor Sherley William, 36, and her family of six.
A regular at every NDP since she was pregnant with her son Brandon, now aged five, she said of the new venue: 'It was beyond my expectations. The waterfront ambience and the old National Day songs, which made me cry, were awesome.'
The Williams were part of the sea of red that exploded to life as President S R Nathan gave parade commander Lieutenant Colonel (NS) See Tow Pak Onn permission to start the celebrations, at 6.50pm.
Drowning out the cheers for a second were F-16 fighter jets roaring past, afterburners flaring.
Not to be outdone by the Falcons, Apache attack helicopters made their own dramatic entry about half an hour later.
With the evening sky dimming with the setting sun, the tank-busters crossed Benjamin Sheares Bridge and went into their aerial aerobatics - synchronised steep climbs and sharp turns.
Aggression gave way to grace as the 18m long twin-seaters slowed to a hover in front of the hushed gallery. Turning in unison, they faced the crowds and with a dainty dip of the nose, it was exit, stage right.
Pulling off the crowd pleasers was no easy task, considering new flight plans had to be drawn up and modified each time construction work on The Sail condominium added another floor, changing the Shenton Way skyline.
Military might gave way to 50 minutes of song and dance symbolically portraying five elements - earth, fire, sea, sky and people.
One of the show's biggest gambles was a water screen, brought in from France barely a month earlier.
It paid off. Ethereal images of flickering flames and streams of bubbles projected on the fine mist were a stunning backdrop to the dancers on stage.
Viewing the water ballet in style from a 13th floor room of the Ritz-Carlton Millenia hotel was Mr Tom Cheong, 46, managing director of a telecommunication company, and his family.
'I didn't think it would be this close,' said his wife, Christine, 44. 'But too bad we can't hear anything.'
But the $750 they paid for a room booked six months in advance gave them the best seats in the house to see it all, especially the show's finale - the firework display.
The parade of many firsts, led by Colonel Teo Jing Siong, won praise from PM Lee. The organising team's creativity turned the adversity it faced, in finding a new venue to replace the National Stadium, into an opportunity.
They dared to be different and they dared to change, and the result was a show that created an emotional link with the people, he told reporters after the event.
'It was a better show, better place, better involvement of the audience all around the stage, and... very creative use of the opportunities of the place - the water, the stage, the bridge.
'They have created something which has surprised us. And that's what it means to be a city of possibilities - in this small place, one shining red star, and to make it always fresh, always something new, always something to look forward to, and for all of us in Singapore.'
