What: Alicia Keys “Set The World on Fire” Tour
When: 8pm, 22 November, 2013
Where: CotaiArena, Venetian
How Much: HKD/MOP$1,580, 980, 480. Tickets on sale: 10am, 4 October, 2013 from www.CotaiTicketing.com, or by phone at +853 2882 8818 (Macao) / +852 6333 6660 (HK) / 4001 206 618 (China)
The undercard to the main event between Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao (54-5-2, 38 KOs) and Brandon “Bam Bam” Rios (31-1-1, 22 KOs), features four fights starring Chinese boxers. Flyweight Zou Shiming (2-0), the headliner of April’s Fists of Gold and July’s Fists of Gold II, will be looking for his third win as a pro, and undefeated Hong Kong super flyweight Rex “The Wonder Kid” Tso (10-0-0, 6KOs) makes his return to the Cotai Arena, attempting to extend his perfect pro record. Undefeated Chinese boxer Ik Yang (Yang Lianhui) (12-0, 8 KOs) will make his Macao debut; the 28-year-old lightweight from Dalian is currently training in the U.S. with Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach, and enters the fight with an impressive string of victories in South Korea, China and the United States. Finally, Macao’s 23-year-old light middleweight Ng Kuok Kun (1-0) will be chasing his second pro win, after having won his debut in May in Hong Kong. Coming off of an amateur career, Ng began boxing when he was 13, and won Macau Boxing Association competitions in 2006 and 2012.
Hong Kong’s efforts to qualify for the 2015 Asian Cup continue with two home games against the United Arab Emirates and Uzbekistan in October and November. Ticket details from www.hkfa.com
What: Asian Cup 2015 Qualifiers – Hong Kong vs UAE
When: 8pm, 15 October, 2013
Where: Hong Kong Stadium
What: Asian Cup 2015 Qualifiers – Hong Kong vs Uzbekistan
When: 8pm, 19 November, 2013
Where: Hong Kong Stadium
How much: $100 for adults and $30 for students and senior citizens.
For more details about the matches and tickets, www.hkfa.com.
What: Hong Kong Rugby Football Union 60th Anniversary Celebration
When: 3pm, 28 September, 2013
Where: Kings Park Sports Ground, Kowloon
How Much: Free entry
The Australian Association of Hong Kong host’s its 7th annual Charity Tennis Doubles Competition at the Chinese Recreation Club on Tuesday 26th November, 2013.
A cross between the Australian Open and Carnival, the event is a fundraiser for the Australian Association’s selected local charity The Society for the Relief of Disabled Children at the Duchess of Kent Children’s Hospital, Sandy Bay and consists of a doubles competition for the seriously-minded player, as well as a competition for “best-dressed” for those who prefer tennis to be a bit ‘whacky’ rather than just whacking a ball!
What: Australian Association Charity Tennis Doubles Competition
When: 26 November 2013
Where: Chinese Recreation Club
Registration: [email protected]
Website: www.ozhongkong.com
An admission – I have no Rihanna tracks in my iTunes library, so beyond knowing she had a penchant for arriving late on stage I had no real expectations heading to her concert in Macau. And afterwards, well I have to admit to being confused as to why she’s so popular… The overseas media hype for the Diamonds tour reached the front pages and beyond the complaints of arrogance about arriving on stage so late (as she did here) spoke of mega production values, dynamic costume changes… – the Venetian and local fans paid good money for the ‘Rihanna experience’ so why do so many artists still think it’s ok to come to Asia and short-change their fans. 
The 80 minute mostly lip-synced concert was continually broken up as the diva disappeared for what obviously a costume change in places she values more – but here it meant she spent almost 25% of the show off-stage. If you’re going to do a stripped-down show, then at least make the effort to create a ‘proper show’ rather than run the same show but forget the clothing changes etc. Oddly enough Rihanna, courtesy of the global media which panders to your ego and made you very rich – your fans around the world are fully aware of what the full ‘Rihanna Diamonds Tour experience’ is… and the CotaiArena has the facilities so that can’t be used as an excuse.
With her ladyship lacking any sort of stage presence and slipping off stage after almost every song, the first hour of concert was bitty and dire, sitting stage right the mix was so bass heavy that Rihanna’s supposedly strong voice was completely lost in the mix. Sadly not one song had me going, ooh that’s good, need to go buy the album. The energy levels picked up around the hour point when a medley of hits/songs the fans knew had the CotaiArena rocking and oddly rather than leaving the audience on a high the encore was a semi-ballad, where yet again from my seat her vocals were less than impressive.
One fan bemused me though, he’d spent lots of money on his ticket then stuck his ipad infront of his face for most of the concert as he used the not very good ipad camera to record the show and watched the show on his ipad screen.
It’s great for music lovers that the Venetian as part of its ‘integrated resort’ commitment is bringing such events to Macau, but they should insist – for the premium they’re obviously paying to do so – that artists bring their full show rather than some bastardized version of it.
In truth it wasn’t much of an ‘experience’ from a supposed global superstar, nor I think was it one that satisfied many of her wildly expectant fans. The bus queues outside after the show weren’t buzzing with sounds of happy fans discussing their favourite parts of the show, more the practicalities of reaching the border/ferry before it closed. Many artists complain of Asia’s attitude to music piracy, but when artists screw their fans at live shows as Rihanna did, pot kettle black/hypocrisy comes to mind.
Thank you to the Venetian Macau who provided bc’s ticket free of charge.
Here’s the press release in full, with the amount of corporate sponsorship $ swilling around the SAR and the high profile of the event. The late cancellation and reason hint that the press release is perhaps not the complete story. The Sixes have grown to become a fun high profile event, lets hope it returns in 2014.
PRESS RELEASE: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Hong Kong Cricket Sixes cancelled for 2013
[Hong Kong, September 11, 2013]: The Hong Kong Cricket Association
(HKCA) today announced “with great regret” the cancellation of the
Hong Kong Cricket Sixes for 2013.
While the HKCA had examined various options to possibly scale back the
tournament in 2013, it was decided that the established history and
tradition of the Sixes remained the paramount concern.
HKCA remains committed to hosting the Cricket Sixes on an annual basis
and are hopeful that the event can return to the local and
international sporting calendar in 2014.
The Association cited a variety of reasons for the decision not to
proceed with the event this October, but the primary concern was the
difficulty in securing sufficient government funding and private
sector backing in the difficult economic climate.
HKCA Executive Committee released their comment on the announcement saying:
We apologise to the many local cricket fans and our many long-serving
corporate supporters for whom this weekend has been a highlight of the
local calendar for many years, but it was decided by the Executive
Committee that it would be better to cancel rather than leave the
association open to a potentially significant financial loss.
The rejection of the HKCA’s request for Hong Kong SAR Government
funding through the Mega Events Fund was a significant blow to the
Association’s plans to mount the tournament and made finding a
corporate underwriter for the tournament a significantly more
expensive proposition in 2013 with the resulting shortened timeframe
to find a title sponsor further exacerbating matters.
HKCA understands the need to approach government, corporates and the
international cricket boards as early as possible and so will very
shortly start work on the 2014 event and will make every effort to
return the Sixes to its rightful place in the International Calendar
next year.
With Hong Kong being the 20th ranked team in world cricket and
considering the Sixes’ unique history and role as the showcase event
for cricket in China and north Asia, we are still struggling to
understand why we were rejected. But we remain thankful for the strong
support we have received in years past from Government bodies like the
Major Sports Executive Committee, LCSD, Home Affairs Bureau and the
Hong Kong Police.
We will make a further approach to the Mega Events Fund for next year
as we believe that the potential of the Cricket Sixes to enhance Hong
Kong’s position as a premier international sporting and tourism
destination remains as strong as ever.
The Association will stay in close contact with the many existing
corporate partners as well as the numerous companies who expressed
interest in supporting the tournament this year to manage their
expectations and rekindle their excitement for a bigger and better
tournament in 2014.
About the Hong Kong Cricket Sixes
Organized by the Hong Kong Cricket Association since 1992, the Hong
Kong Cricket Sixes is the only international cricket event held in
Hong Kong and is fully sanctioned by the world’s governing body for
cricket, the International Cricket Council.
The tournament has been broadcast live since 2008 and in 2012 reached
over 127 million households on the Indian subcontinent, across
Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Australia and South Africa, as well
as being packaged for distribution in North America, the United
Kingdom, Europe and China.
ENDS
Noughts and Exes teamed up with musicians from around Hong Kong for a flashmob performance of their song ‘Hearts’.
