Can Dick Lee Home in on a new hit?

SINGAPORE - He may have ditched the National Day Parade (NDP) theme song this year, but singer-songwriter Dick Lee will have to pen one to mark next year's golden jubilee celebrations.

Mr Lee, who has been appointed as the creative director for next year's NDP, told My Paper that the organisers have asked him to compose a theme song for Singapore's 50th birthday, which will be celebrated at the Padang.

The 57-year-old, who did the 2002 and 2010 shows, was also behind Saturday's NDP show.

Mr Lee, who wrote crowd favourites like Home and We Will Get There, said he is feeling the heat to find a new tune that can match, if not top, his previous hits.

"The expectations on me to produce an anthem as memorable as Home are quite daunting, but I've already started doing some research to get inspiration."

He added: "It is not just an NDP song but a song that reflects and celebrates Singapore's 50 years of independence."

Mr Lee said he will be roping in the same people who worked with him in this year's NDP. They include music director Sydney Tan and film-maker Boo Junfeng.

They have set the bar high. Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said in a Facebook post that "many people came up to me to say how they were moved by this year's show and, for some, it was their best NDP yet".

The Singapore Armed Forces' Guards Formation, led by Brigadier-General Melvyn Ong Su Kiat, will coordinate the show, which will likely feature a mobile column comprising main battle tanks, armoured personnel carriers and other vehicles.

The organisers have already started work, with some of them heading to Nanjing later this week for the Youth Olympic Games' opening ceremony to take notes.

With next year being a "landmark year", Mr Lee, who will also be providing the creative direction for the year-end SG50 countdown show at The Float@Marina Bay, said NDP will be "grand, epic, yet intimate".

jermync@sph.com.sg

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