"Everyone" is the official theme

song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...

of the

2010 Summer Youth Olympics The 2010 Summer Youth Olympics ( ta, 2010 கோடைக்கால இளையோர் ஒலிம்பிக் விளையாட்டுக்கள் ms, Sukan Olimpik Belia Musim Panas 2010), officially known as the I Summer ...

held in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

from 14 to 26 August 2010. The song was sung by five artistes, namely

Sean Kingston Kisean Paul Anderson (born February 3, 1990), better known by his stage name Sean Kingston, is an American-Jamaican singer and rapper. He is known for his hit songs " Beautiful Girls", "Fire Burning", " Take You There", and his collaboration wit ...

Tabitha Nauser Tabitha Nauser (born 23 February 1992) is a Singaporean singer. Nauser was born to a Swiss father and a Singaporean Indian mother. In 2009, Nauser placed third in the third edition of ''Singapore Idol''. In 2017, Nauser's song “Bulletproof” ...

Jody Williams Jody Williams (born October 9, 1950) is an American political activist known for her work in banning anti-personnel landmines, her defense of human rights (especially those of women), and her efforts to promote new understandings of security i ...

Stevie Appleton Stephen Appleton (born in Surrey, England) is a British singer, songwriter and producer. At the age of fifteen, Appleton began playing piano in a Soho restaurant improvising jazz and playing covers from the likes of Elton John and Billy Joe ...

and

Jessica Mauboy Jessica Hilda Mauboy (born 4 August 1989) is an Australian singer, songwriter and actress. Born and raised in Darwin, Northern Territory, she rose to fame in 2006 on the fourth season of ''Australian Idol'', where she was runner-up and subseq ...

, each representing one of the five continents of the world. It was written and produced by Singaporean producer and composer

Ken Lim Ken Lim (born 1964) is a Singaporean concept & campaign manager, concerts & event promoter, established artiste manager, composer, music producer & publisher. He is the executive director of Hype Records. Early life and career Ken Lim runs on ...

. The song premiered worldwide 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. "Everyone" was released as a CD single only in Singapore on 14 June 2010. 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 The Youth Olympic Games (YOG) is an international multi-sport event for athletes between 15 and 18 years old, organized by the International Olympic Committee. The games are held every four years in staggered summer and winter events consisten ...

(YOG), in what the

Singapore Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee The Singapore Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee (SYOGOC) 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 aft ...

(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 Sport Singapore (SportSG) is a statutory board under the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth of the Government of Singapore. It is the lead agency tasked with developing a holistic sports culture for the nation. History Sport Singapore was ...

was involved in the production of cheer songs for Singaporeans.

Background

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 Nicole Rachel "Nikki" Yanofsky (born February 8, 1994) is a Canadian jazz-pop singer from Montreal, Quebec. She sang the CTV Olympic broadcast theme song, " I Believe", which was also the theme song of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. She also p ...

, which topped the

Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. The Canadian Hot 100 was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007, and is currently the standard record chart in Canada; a n ...

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 (; Teochew pronunciation in Tâi-lô: ''Tionn Sir-la̍k''; born 8 June 1968) is a Singaporean former politician who served as Minister of State for Manpower between 2015 and 2017, Minister of State for Trade and Industry between ...

, 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."

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 Cheering involves the uttering or making of sounds and may be used to encourage, excite to action, indicate approval or welcome. The word cheer originally meant face, countenance, or expression, and came through Old French into Middle Engli ...

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 Lin Wayne Lin Junjie (; born 27 March 1981), better known by his stage name JJ Lin, is a Singaporean singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. Lin launched his musical career by releasing his debut album ''Music Voyager'' (2003). GIO, Taiwa1 ...

. An accompanying music video with choreographed cheer movements was also launched, featuring sports icons

Ang Peng Siong Ang Peng Siong (; born 27 October 1962 in Singapore) is a swimmer from Singapore, who once held World Number 1 ranking in the 50 m freestyle. As of 2012, he is Singapore's Swimming National Head Coach. Ang was ranked fifth in a list of ''Si ...

and C. Kunalan together with Singaporean athletes

Tao Li Tao Li (; born 10 January 1990) is a Chinese-born Singaporean competitive swimmer who specializes in the backstroke and butterfly. Tao has represented Singapore at the Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games), the Asian Games, World Championship, ...

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 is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

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,

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

Oon Jin Teik challenged Singaporeans to come up with a YOG cheer of their own (which had to be accompanied by a

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

video). The local ''

The New Paper ''The New Paper'' is a Singaporean newspaper in tabloid form. It was originally published as a "noon paper", but since 2016 has been published daily as a freesheet in the morning from 7 a.m. onwards. History First launched on 26 July 1988, ...

'' started a contest for readers to submit cheers, which eventually received five submissions, including one from former beauty queen

Ris Low Ris Low (Chinese: 刘依敏) was crowned Miss Singapore World 2009 on 31 July 2009. She stepped down on 29 September 2009 after a case of credit fraud was revealed.

Music video

The song was released together with a music video, which was shot entirely in

. The three-minute and 46-second video showcased the five singers of the song performing in front of iconic Singapore backdrops such as

The Float@Marina Bay The Float at Marina Bay, stylised as The Float@Marina Bay and also known as the Marina Bay Floating Platform, is a multi-purpose outdoor venue at the Downtown Core area of Marina Bay, Singapore. The venue consists of a steel platform in the Mar ...

, the

Singapore Flyer The Singapore Flyer; ta, சிங்கப்பூர் ராட்டினம் is an observation wheel at the Downtown Core district of Singapore. Officially opened on 15 April 2008, it has 28 air-conditioned capsules, each able to acco ...

and the

Marina Barrage Marina Barrage is a dam in southern Singapore built at the confluence of five rivers, across the Marina Channel between Marina East and Marina South. First conceptualised in 1987 by then prime minister Lee Kuan Yew to help achieve greater self-s ...

. 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 sung by five different artistes each representing his or her continent: * Africa -

, winner in 2007 season of South African Idol, a South African pop/ R&B singer. * America -

, a U.S.

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

and

reggae fusion Reggae fusion is a genre of reggae that mixes reggae and/or dancehall with other genres, such as pop, rock, hip hop, R&B, jazz, funk, soul, disco, electronic and latin. Origin Although artists have been mixing reggae with other genres from as ...

singer. * Asia -

, 2nd runner-up in 2009 season of

Singapore Idol ''Singapore Idol'' is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by MediaCorp Studios and FremantleMedia Operations BV. It began airing on MediaCorp Channel 5 on 9 August 2004, as an addition to the Idol franc ...

. * Europe -

, a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

singer,

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

and

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

. * Oceania -

, runner-up in 2006 season of

Australian Idol ''Australian Idol'' is an Australian singing competition, which began its first season in July 2003 and ended its initial run in November 2009. As part of the ''Idol'' franchise, Australian Idol originated from the reality program ''Pop Idol' ...

, an

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n R&B/pop singer-songwriter.

Performance

The five singers were involved in various previews of ''Everyone''. All reunited in Singapore to perform 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, Stevie Appleton and Jessica Mauboy * Executive producer: Ken Lim * Music and lyrics: Ken Lim * Music

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

and guitars: Adam Lee * Mixing and recording: Derek Zuzarte (thewhitehyperoom) * Mastering: Bob Ludwig (Gateway Mastering Studios U.S.A) * Additional guitars: Stevie Appleton * String section * 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.

References

* * * * * * * * * * *

External links

Theme Song
at

official website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Everyone (Olympics) 2010 songs 2010 Summer Youth Olympics Olympic theme songs Jessica Mauboy songs Sean Kingston songs Stevie Appleton songs