About 600 performers will take to the stage in the show segment of the National Day Parade (NDP) this Saturday at The Float @ Marina Bay.
This is down from over 3,000 performers in 2018, when the NDP was last performed at the floating platform - a scaling down necessitated by safe management measures amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
The show will integrate virtual performances of another nearly 600 participants from schools, community groups and institutes of higher learning.
The performers include singer-songwriter Benjamin Kheng and Sezairi Sezali, said the NDP 2021 Show Committee yesterday.
Award-winning film-maker Boo Junfeng reprises his role as creative director at this year's NDP, after directing the parade in 2018. For the first time, the parade will feature augmented reality and fully animated films.
The four-act show is designed for audiences watching from home on television, said the committee.
Through stories of Singaporeans from the past and present, the show will highlight the Singapore spirit and how these people remained resilient despite the challenges each generation faced.
Live performances at The Float and animated short films will be blended throughout the show, and woven with pre-recorded performances from Jewel Changi Airport, the National University of Singapore, Marina Barrage and Yio Chu Kang Stadium.
Three new songs will be performed, including the NDP 2021 theme song The Road Ahead by singers Linying, Sezairi, Shabir Tabare Alam and Shye-Anne Brown. Two original NDP songs, Breathing City by former Singapore Idol Sezairi and Spirits Anew by Aisyah Aziz, are also part of this year's line-up.
The show will be hosted by Joakim Gomez, Eswari Gunasagar, Fauzie Laily and Patricia Mok and divided into four acts highlighting the hopes and aspirations of Singaporeans, the challenges they face, their strength from within and their strength as a nation.
Performers on stage had to be fully vaccinated, undergo testing for in-person rehearsals and monitor their health closely. They were also divided into groups of up to 50 people and subdivided into smaller groups wherever possible, said the NDP 2021 Show Committee.
During phase two (heightened alert) between May and June, participants also had to find creative ways to rehearse together as all practice sessions went online.
Ms Amanda Ong Wan Yu, a volunteer with the Singapore Soka Association who helped choreograph a dance for 274 performers in Act Two, said this was a mammoth effort for the team. The performers, aged 17 to 60, had to learn the dance moves as well as coordinate dance formations via Zoom.
"We met in person for the first time to train together at The Float in July," said the 28-year-old team assistant at an e-commerce company. They have had fewer than seven physical rehearsals.
"I was very impressed by how well the volunteers could perform the formations since this was the first time we met in person," said Ms Ong. "By overcoming these challenges, they showed us that nothing is impossible."
Said Seng Kang Secondary School student Low Yi Jing, 15, who is featured in a virtual dance segment: "We had to learn our routines through video tutorials and Zoom sessions but met recently in June... in person to clean (up) our steps and meet the main choreographer."
The dancer, who was part of the NDP line-up last year but had her performance cancelled owing to the pandemic, added that while she was disappointed to not perform live, she was glad to have an opportunity to be part of the parade for the first time.
Teachers, hawkers, transport workers and cleaners will be among the spectators invited to watch this year's parade, said NDP 2021 executive committee chairman Tan Cheng Kwee last month.
On Saturday, areas around The Float @ Marina Bay will be closed to the public, including the Helix Bridge, Marina Barrage and Esplanade Park, as part of Covid-19 safe distancing measures.
There will be no public access from 11am to 11.59pm to prevent crowding.
This comes after large crowds were photographed gathering in these areas to watch the NDP rehearsals last month.
