Everyone (Olympics song)
Encyclopedia
"Everyone" is the official theme song of the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics
held in Singapore
from 14 to 26 August 2010. The song was sung by five artistes, namely Sean Kingston
, Tabitha Nauser
, Jody Williams, Steve Appleton
, and Jessica Mauboy
, each representing one of the five continents of the world. It was written and produced by Singaporean producer and composer Ken Lim
.
The song premiered world-wide on 30 May 2010, with a total length of 3 minutes and 40 seconds, and it was complemented by a music video six seconds longer than the song. Traditionally, the modern Olympic Games has always featured theme song specifically for each games, typically sung by a singer of the host country. Everyone was the first ever theme song for the Youth Olympic Games
(YOG), in what the Singapore Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee
(SYOGOC) said would create "a global anthem for today's youth". Everyone was not the only song created for the games; the Singapore Sports Council
was involved in the production of cheer songs for Singaporeans.
Most of the Olympic Games in contemporary years have featured a song(s), many of which were branded the official theme song of the games. Typically, the songs would be sung by an artiste from the host country, centering upon a theme related to the Olympics or the spirit of the games. Many of these songs have gone on to do well in music charts, the most recent example before Everyone being that of I Believe
by Nikki Yanofsky
, which topped the Canadian Hot 100
list dated 27 February 2010.
The tradition of carrying a song alongside the games continued with the inaugural Youth Olympic Games, much as it was a departure from the senior Olympics. SYOGOC was quoted to be confident that the song and its music video "will hit the right notes". Additionally, Teo Ser Luck
, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Community Development, Youth and Sports
commented that through the song, "more people will take notice of Youth Olympic Games. We need that excitement and publicity, definitely, for Youth Olympic Games to be successful."
. An accompanying music video with choreographed cheer movements was also launched, featuring sports icons Ang Peng Siong
and C. Kunalan together with Singaporean athletes Tao Li
and twins Nicole and Tabitha Tay. The music video was frequently aired on local television during commercial breaks. As of October 2010, only one out of the three intended cheer songs have been released.
Reception to the first cheer song however ranged from neutral to negative, with netizens slamming them on various online forums and portals. A Facebook
group specifically created to denounce You Are The One Singapore was also created, which garnered more than 15,000 fans. Countering the tirade, some netizens commented on Singaporeans' tendency to "complain about every single thing but don't do anything about it". In addition, Singapore Sports Council
CEO
Oon Jin Teik challenged Singaporeans to come up with a YOG cheer of their own (which had to be accompanied by a YouTube
video). The local The New Paper
started a contest for readers to submit cheers, which eventually received five submissions, including one from former beauty queen Ris Low
.
. The three-minute and 46-second video showcased the five singers of the song performing in front of iconic Singapore backdrops such as the The Float@Marina Bay, the Singapore Flyer
and the Marina Barrage
. The video also showcased montages of young national athletes competing in various sports. A press release noted that it served to celebrate the Olympic values of Excellence, Friendship and Respect.
The song was sang by five different artistes each representing his or her continent:
2010 Summer Youth Olympics
The 2010 Summer Youth Olympics, officially known as the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games , were an international multi-sport event for youths that took place in the city-state of Singapore from 14 to 26 August 2010, in the XXIX Olympiad. They were the inaugural Summer Youth Olympics, a major...
held in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
from 14 to 26 August 2010. The song was sung by five artistes, namely Sean Kingston
Sean Kingston
Sean Kingston is a Jamaican-American singer. He pursued a music career and debuted in 2007 with the album Sean Kingston.-Early life:...
, Tabitha Nauser
Tabitha Nauser
Tabitha Nauser is a Singaporean Pop/R&B singer and artiste who was the second runner-up in the 2009 season of Singapore Idol . In 2010, she was selected to represent the continent of Asia to sing the Official Theme Song of the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games, Everyone...
, Jody Williams, Steve Appleton
Steve Appleton (musician)
Steve Appleton is a British singer, songwriter and record producer.At the age of fifteen, he began playing piano in a Soho restaurant performing his own material and covers from the likes of Elton John and Billy Joel...
, and Jessica Mauboy
Jessica Mauboy
Jessica Hilda Mauboy , is an Indigenous Australian R&B singer-songwriter and actress. In 2006, Mauboy was the runner-up on the fourth season of Australian Idol, she had auditioned for the talent show in Alice Springs to pursue a recording career...
, each representing one of the five continents of the world. It was written and produced by Singaporean producer and composer Ken Lim
Ken Lim
Ken Lim is an album producer, composer, publisher, artist manager and concert promoter from Singapore who came under the spotlight in 2004 as a chief judge of the Singapore Idol series...
.
The song premiered world-wide on 30 May 2010, with a total length of 3 minutes and 40 seconds, and it was complemented by a music video six seconds longer than the song. Traditionally, the modern Olympic Games has always featured theme song specifically for each games, typically sung by a singer of the host country. Everyone was the first ever theme song for the Youth Olympic Games
Youth Olympic Games
The Youth Olympic Games is an international multi-sport event first held in Singapore from August 14 to August 26, 2010. The games are held every four years in staggered summer and winter events consistent with the current Olympic Games format. The age limitation of the athletes is between 14 to 18...
(YOG), in what the Singapore Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee
Singapore Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee
The Singapore Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee is the organisation in charge of organising the inaugural 2010 Youth Olympic Games. A selection process to determine the members of the games' organising committee commenced soon after the bid result announcement...
(SYOGOC) said would create "a global anthem for today's youth". Everyone was not the only song created for the games; the Singapore Sports Council
Singapore Sports Council
The Singapore Sports Council is a statutory board under the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports of the Singapore Government...
was involved in the production of cheer songs for Singaporeans.
Background
I Believe (Nikki Yanofsky song)
"I Believe" is a song by Canadian jazz-pop singer Nikki Yanofsky. Written by Stephan Moccio and Alan Frew, it was used as CTV's official promotional song for their coverage of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, and instrumental cues based on the song were also used as CTV's main theme for its...
by Nikki Yanofsky
Nikki Yanofsky
Nicole "Nikki" Yanofsky is a Canadian jazz-pop singer from Hampstead, Quebec. She is involved in charitable causes, and released her first studio album on her own label, A440 Entertainment, and on Decca Records outside of Canada. Yanofsky sang Canada's national anthem at the opening ceremonies of...
, which topped the Canadian Hot 100
Canadian Hot 100
The Canadian Hot 100 is a music singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine which ranks songs in Canada. The chart debuted in the Billboard issue dated June 16, 2007 and was made available for the first time via their online services on June 7, 2007...
list dated 27 February 2010.
The tradition of carrying a song alongside the games continued with the inaugural Youth Olympic Games, much as it was a departure from the senior Olympics. SYOGOC was quoted to be confident that the song and its music video "will hit the right notes". Additionally, Teo Ser Luck
Teo Ser Luck
Teo Ser Luck is currently Minister of State for the Ministry of Trade and Industry , as well as the Mayor of North East Community Development Council...
, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Community Development, Youth and Sports
Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports
The Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports is a ministry of the Government of Singapore tasked with, from the government's point of view, building a "cohesive and resilient" society in Singapore.The MCYS often pursues vigorous social engineering campaigns of varying effectiveness and...
commented that through the song, "more people will take notice of Youth Olympic Games. We need that excitement and publicity, definitely, for Youth Olympic Games to be successful."
Cheer songs
Everyone was not the only song released for the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics. It was to be accompanied by a series of three cheer songs as announced by the Singapore Sports Council, unveiled under the common tag Cheer Singapore and targeted at Singaporeans. The first cheer song, You Are The One Singapore, was released in April 2010 and had been specially composed and performed by local artiste JJ LinJJ Lin
JJ Lin is a Singaporean Mandopop Singer-songwriter, Composer and Actor based in Taiwan. JJ Lin is managed by Ocean Butterflies. Lin won Best New Artist for his work on his debut album Music Voyager at the 15th Golden Melody Awards in 2004....
. An accompanying music video with choreographed cheer movements was also launched, featuring sports icons Ang Peng Siong
Ang Peng Siong
Ang Peng Siong is a swimmer from Singapore, who once held the world no.1 ranking in the 50 m freestyle.-Biography:Ang was taught to swim at the age of five by his father Ang Teck Bee, who competed in judo at the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo...
and C. Kunalan together with Singaporean athletes Tao Li
Tao Li
Tao Li is a China-born Singaporean competitive swimmer specializing in the backstroke and butterfly stroke.A Singapore Sports School student, Tao has represented Singapore at the Southeast Asian Games and Asian Games and holds several national records...
and twins Nicole and Tabitha Tay. The music video was frequently aired on local television during commercial breaks. As of October 2010, only one out of the three intended cheer songs have been released.
Reception to the first cheer song however ranged from neutral to negative, with netizens slamming them on various online forums and portals. A Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
group specifically created to denounce You Are The One Singapore was also created, which garnered more than 15,000 fans. Countering the tirade, some netizens commented on Singaporeans' tendency to "complain about every single thing but don't do anything about it". In addition, Singapore Sports Council
Singapore Sports Council
The Singapore Sports Council is a statutory board under the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports of the Singapore Government...
CEO
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
Oon Jin Teik challenged Singaporeans to come up with a YOG cheer of their own (which had to be accompanied by a YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
video). The local The New Paper
The New Paper
The New Paper is Singapore's second-highest circulating paid English-language newspaper, first launched on July 26, 1988, by Singapore Press Holdings . According to SPH, its average daily circulation for August 2010 was 101600....
started a contest for readers to submit cheers, which eventually received five submissions, including one from former beauty queen Ris Low
Ris Low
Ris Low was crowned Miss Singapore World 2009 on 31 July 2009. She stepped down on 29 September 2009 after her previous credit fraud case was revealed...
.
Music video
The song was released together with a music video, which was shot entirely in SingaporeSingapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
. The three-minute and 46-second video showcased the five singers of the song performing in front of iconic Singapore backdrops such as the The Float@Marina Bay, the Singapore Flyer
Singapore Flyer
The Singapore Flyer is a giant Ferris wheel located in Singapore, constructed in 2005–2008. Described by its operators as an observation wheel, it reaches 42 stories high, with a total height of , making it the tallest Ferris wheel in the world, taller than the Star of Nanchang and taller than...
and the Marina Barrage
Marina Barrage
The Marina Barrage is a dam in Singapore built across the mouth of the bay, between Marina East and Marina South. It was officially opened on 1 November 2008[1]...
. The video also showcased montages of young national athletes competing in various sports. A press release noted that it served to celebrate the Olympic values of Excellence, Friendship and Respect.
Composition
In addition, guitars and cellos were used to supplement the song in its composition.The song was sang by five different artistes each representing his or her continent:
- Africa -
Jody Williams, winner in 2007 season of South African IdolIdols (South Africa)Idols is a television show on the South African television network M-Net, based on the popular British show Pop Idol. The show is a contest to determine the best young singer in South Africa....
, a South African popPop musicPop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
/R&B singer. - America -
Sean KingstonSean KingstonSean Kingston is a Jamaican-American singer. He pursued a music career and debuted in 2007 with the album Sean Kingston.-Early life:...
, a U.S. rapper and reggae fusionReggae fusionReggae fusion is a fusion genre of reggae that mixes reggae or dancehall with other genres, such as pop, rock, hip hop, R&B, house, jazz & drum and bass....
singer. - Asia -
Tabitha NauserTabitha NauserTabitha Nauser is a Singaporean Pop/R&B singer and artiste who was the second runner-up in the 2009 season of Singapore Idol . In 2010, she was selected to represent the continent of Asia to sing the Official Theme Song of the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games, Everyone...
, 2nd runner-up in 2009 season of Singapore IdolSingapore IdolSingapore Idol is a television show on Channel 5 of MediaCorp TV. It is a competition among undiscovered singers in Singapore. Like others in the Idol series, it is modelled after Pop Idol. The current judges are singer/songwriter Dick Lee and record producers Florence Lian and Ken Lim. Previous...
. - Europe - Steve AppletonSteve Appleton (musician)Steve Appleton is a British singer, songwriter and record producer.At the age of fifteen, he began playing piano in a Soho restaurant performing his own material and covers from the likes of Elton John and Billy Joel...
, a BritishUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
singer, songwriterSongwriterA songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
and record producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
. - Oceania -
Jessica MauboyJessica MauboyJessica Hilda Mauboy , is an Indigenous Australian R&B singer-songwriter and actress. In 2006, Mauboy was the runner-up on the fourth season of Australian Idol, she had auditioned for the talent show in Alice Springs to pursue a recording career...
, runner-up in 2006 season of Australian IdolAustralian IdolAustralian Idol is a Logie Award-winning Australian singing competition, which began its first season on July 2003 and ended its run in November 2009. As part of the Idol franchise, Australian Idol originated from the reality program Pop Idol, which was created by British entertainment executive...
, an Australian R&B/pop singer-songwriter.
Performance
The five singers were involved in various previews of Everyone. All reunited in Singapore to performed the song live at the opening ceremony of the games on 14 August 2010, except for Sean Kingston. Rumours had it that Kingston was not in the country due to settlement fee issues. However, it was reported that the real issue was that of a passport mix-up.Credits and personnel
- Vocals: Jody Williams, Sean Kingston, Tabitha Nauser, Steve Appleton and Jessica Mauboy
- Executive producer: Ken Lim
- Music and lyrics: Ken Lim
- Music arrangementArrangementThe American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...
and guitars: Adam Lee - MixingAudio mixing (recorded music)In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
and recording: Derek Zuzarte (thewhitehyperoom) - MasteringAudio masteringMastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...
: Bob Ludwig (Gateway Mastering Studios U.S.A) - Additional guitars: Steve Appleton
- String sectionString sectionThe string section is the largest body of the standard orchestra and consists of bowed string instruments of the violin family.It normally comprises five sections: the first violins, the second violins, the violas, the cellos, and the double basses...
- 1st Violins: Kong Zhao Hui, Gu Wen Li, Sui JingJing, Chen Da Wei, Wei Zhe, Duan Yu Ling and Cindy Lee
- 2nd Violins: Zhang Zhen Shan, Yin Shu Zhan, Ling Yun Zhi, Xu Jue Yi, Zhou Yu Ping, William Tan Violas Shu Bing, Guan Qi, Liu Hao Yu, Jiang Han Song and Gu Bing Jie
- Cellos: Wang Yan, Zhao Yu Er and Guo Hao
Charts
"Everyone" was released as a CD single only in Singapore, and hence was only eligible for charting on Singaporean radio. The song reached a peak of #1 on the 987FM Top 20, a singles airplay chart in Singapore, on 13 August 2010. It remained on the top spot for two weeks in total.See also
- You and MeYou and Me (Olympic theme song)You and Me is the theme song for the 2008 Summer Olympics held in Beijing, People's Republic of China, which was performed in the opening ceremony of the Olympics by Liu Huan and Sarah Brightman...
, official theme song of the 2008 Summer Olympics2008 Summer OlympicsThe 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events... - I BelieveI Believe (Nikki Yanofsky song)"I Believe" is a song by Canadian jazz-pop singer Nikki Yanofsky. Written by Stephan Moccio and Alan Frew, it was used as CTV's official promotional song for their coverage of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, and instrumental cues based on the song were also used as CTV's main theme for its...
, a song used in the 2010 Winter Olympics2010 Winter OlympicsThe 2010 Winter Olympics, officially the XXI Olympic Winter Games or the 21st Winter Olympics, were a major international multi-sport event held from February 12–28, 2010, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with some events held in the suburbs of Richmond, West Vancouver and the University...
External links
- Theme Song at 2010 Summer Youth Olympics2010 Summer Youth OlympicsThe 2010 Summer Youth Olympics, officially known as the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games , were an international multi-sport event for youths that took place in the city-state of Singapore from 14 to 26 August 2010, in the XXIX Olympiad. They were the inaugural Summer Youth Olympics, a major...
official website