Hot Canadian Michael Bublé graces us with his stage presence and long-standing hits like "Home" and "The Way You Look Tonight."

Tickets are already running out for The Manhattan Transfer and New York Voices' double-billed concert.

Instrumental jazz band Pe'z gets set to heat up the stage, bringing with them an orgy of musical organs consisting of the keyboard, double bass, drums and saxophone.

If you like Pe'z, you might want to check out another acoustic jazz offering, this time featuring American trio The Bad Plus.

Witness ambient musician Christian Prommer showcase his prodigious skill in an intimate showcase.

Enjoy a little bit of everything? Tokyo Blue's album showcase will feature everything from jazz to progressive rock.

Not into wishy-washy lyrics and melody? Don't miss 65daysofstatic at The Festival as they play songs off their latest album We Were Exploding Anyway.

The set for award-winning Disney musical The Lion King is quite possibly, the most beautiful we've ever seen. See it for yourself as they open this month.

If you're one of those people popping to "Like a G6" and "Rocketeer" in the clubs, be sure to catch Far East Movement live at Wave House.

Eccentric pop duo MGMT offers an eclectic mix of sounds on a plate, accompanied by The Whitest Boy Alive.

Used drinking cans, bits of paper, and rusty metal sheets aren’t exactly things you’d want to put on display at home. But once they’ve been converted from their original state to works of wonder such as ceiling lamps made from aluminium sheets and chairs made from Coke bottles, they’re another story altogether. Why don’t you do good to the environment and avoid wastage by investing in one of these clever home decor pieces?

Made From: Newspapers
Recycled newspaper container and vase $99-250 from Egg3
Newspapers may be considered ephemeral to fickle society but to artists, they’re a continuous source of inspiration. Pop your next flower arrangement into this innovative vase made of recycled newspapers. Or pick up this chic container you can store your coasters in.

Made From: Aluminium Sheets
Circumference lamp $2,990 from Strangelets
Designer John Wischhusen, whose works revolve around his research on sustainable lighting, has twisted and turned old aluminum sheets into a trendy piece de resistance for the home. The Circumference Lamp is a pendant light with five individual light sources while the Clamp has 12 light sources. Both can be disassembled easily for future recycling.

Made From: Graphic Novels
Crisis on Infinite Chair $490 from Like That One
A chair is not just a chair, once in the crafty hands of master recycling duo Belle and Cheu. This one’s had some nifty decoupage work done using pages from the world’s best loved comics. Who doesn’t fancy sitting atop classic depictions of Superman, Wonder Woman and Flash Gordon?

Made From: Coke Bottles
Emeco 111 Navy Chair $350 from Space
If you think people who randomly collect drink bottles are weird, you obviously haven’t seen this radical piece of work—the remake of the iconic aluminum chair originally designed in 1944 for the US Navy. As solid and practically indestructible as the legendary classic, each plastic chair was made using at least 111 Coke bottles.

Made From: Recycled Teak
Bedside table $350 from Originals
It’s quite rare to come across unwanted pieces of quality wood such as teak here but in Indonesia, it’s a different ball game. Driven by the amount of waste (one man’s trash is another’s treasure, after all) churned out there, furniture designers like the ones at Originals have created pieces like this rustic bedside table made of recycled teak—restored and whitewashed to add character to your living space.

Egg3 #04-26 Mandarin Gallery, 333A Orchard Rd., 6887-5815, www.eggthree.com. See website for other locations. | Like That One #01-02 Skytech, 2 Bukit Batok St. 24, 6560-9168. | Space 2/F Millennia Walk, 9 Raffles Blvd., 6415-0000. | Strangelets 87 Amoy St., 6222-1456. | Originals #02-03 Sime Darby Centre, 896 Dunearn Rd., 6471-9918.

What influenced your decision to return to the role?
Emily of Emerald Hill was W!ld Rice’s very first production so it seemed a fitting finale to our 10th anniversary season of smash hits. Also, Glen Goei, a very fine director and one of my dearest friends, agreed to direct me in it.

It’s been awhile—has it been challenging returning to the role?
Stella Kon, the playwright, wrote to me to say that it must be like wearing an old kebaya; that one has to work to get into it but once it feels on, it feels very comfortable and familiar. I agree with her but have also come to appreciate a quote from Bette Davis who said, “Old age ain’t no place for sissies.”

Did you have to work closely with Margaret Chan, who has been playing the role the past few years?
No, although I did see her performance last year. This is a new creation.

Tell us a little bit about the creative concept of the show; particularly the wardrobe.
As far as costumes are concerned, everything’s designed by fashion maven Frederick Lee, who has created an entire wardrobe to reflect Emily’s global outlook. Emily had the means to wear the latest fashions of the day. As for her kebayas, they have always been custom-made and hand-embroidered for me.

What do you enjoy most about playing Emily?
Emily is a child bride, daughter in-law, wife, mother, grandmother, and matriarch.  I relish every single one of these roles. I also love being with an audience; hearing them, feeling them.

What was toughest about this role?
Making each and every performance new and true.

What can we look forward to from your performance?
There is a great deal of laughter and tears that come from an audience recognizing themselves and their relationships with their mother and grandmothers, as well as their sons and husbands.  Ultimately, Emily is a powerful experience because it is a play about what it means to love and be loved

Make a date with Emily of Emerald Hill on Mar 3-12, 3pm, 8pm at the Esplanade Theatre, 1 Esplanade Dr., 6828-8377. $29-99 from Sistic.

Who are you, really?
I’m a Japanese Ronin with a British accent building a music empire in Asia.

What are you really good at doing?
Being hated for my honesty, drinking too much sake and rapping about my life.

If you were not making music, what would you be doing?
Credit card scams and dope dealing, and writing a novel about it.

You’ve lived in England, Germany and Japan. Why’d you come to Singapore?
To start a new life. I had two credits after two years of university in Japan and there were some other things I needed to escape from and the opportunity came up. So I thought, “a place full of the sun, the beach plus lots of cultures and languages…Why not?”

Do you listen to Asian pop much?
Well, I don’t listen to K-pop. My best friend is Korean and he says the chicks are hot. I also hear they have the same noses. In terms of Singapore, well, the scene is small but is growing well. There’s a young dude, Shigga Shay, who I respect. He’s really young but he’s working his ass off. He’s dope. Dharni the beatboxer is dope. DJ Ko Flow is dope. And the whole Bedsty crew holds great parties that bring real hip hop into Singapore. I respect them because they know it’s about more than just music; it’s an entire movement.

What’s the sneakiest way you’ve ever tried to make your music stand out?
In Japan, I stuck my CD into the sleeves of Britney Spears albums at HMV. I wonder if anybody listened to my shit.

Any starstruck moments?
Just once when I was a little kid. I met Tiger Woods and was like, “Holy shit!” This was way before his sex scandal thing.

What are the perks of making music? Does it really help you get the girls?
I’ve never thought about the perks before but yeah, I’ve gotten free clothes and VIP treatment though I don’t really care about that stuff. I don’t use my music as a reason to pick up chicks either [laughs]. It’s just the satisfaction from making music that keeps me going. I listened to a song of mine I recorded eight years ago the other day and it was totally inspiring. Like it was an experience of a 17-year old me talking to me now and I learnt from it. That’s a perk to me.

You call yourself the Jay-Z of Asian hip hop. Why is that?
I don’t personally call myself that [laughs] but he’s a guy that has built a business empire on top of his music. He was strategic and Napoleon about it. And that’s what I’ll be doing.

Do you have your own Beyonce then?
Not right now and even if I did I’d probably do what Jay-Z did and be all secretive about it.
What are your lyrics mostly about?
My answer could be as long as a book but to simplify it, most of them are about escaping your troubles, moving on, struggling and winning. And doing it all in style. 

Learn more about this star in the making and listen to his original music on www.monkeykingflow.com.

You’re in the band with your brother Bryan, while Aaron and Bryce [Dessner] are also brothers. What’s that like?
It’s a lot like the United Nations. There’s a lot of disagreement, warring parties, peacemaking and sanctions but it’s mostly good fun. It’s nice to have a family bond and yeah, there’s definitely a lot of bromance.

You get compared quite a bit to Joy Division. How do you feel about that?
We certainly like Joy Division a lot but we’ve never really consciously modeled after their music. My brother’s a big fan of Stephen Morris.

What do you think draws listeners to your music?
Our lyrics are kind of open-ended, making our songs seem cryptic. They’re a bit open for interpretation and that allows people to create different meanings from them. The whole process is interactive. People find our songs intimate and personal as we talk about relationships, hard times, good times and all that other stuff. Our music is emotionally intense. I think our videos are also pretty fun to watch.

Your music has a dark, brooding feel to it. Do you think that might change if you guys lived someplace warm and sunny like Singapore?
We live in a gray place. You’re right; maybe we should go to a beach paradise. Maybe then we’ll write songs about surfing.

Will you be playing mostly songs from last year's High Violet when you come here?
Of course, we’ll definitely play songs from the latest album but we’ll try to play something from all the records, as well as some that have never been heard.

Most memorable places you guys have played in?
In the past year, we’ve played in a couple of large places we never expected to play in. The Radio City Music Hall is always an amazing place to play in because people are really crazy and always sing along. It’s inspiring to play there.

You must travel quite a bit. What are your favorite cities?
Paris is beautiful. Everyone says that because it’s true. We love Australia though we’ve only been there once. We mainly like places where there’s beautiful nature around us. It can get really tough traveling so we appreciate things like this.

Catch The National at the Mosaic Music Festival on Mar 15, 8pm, at the Esplanade Theatre, 1 Esplanade Dr., 6828-8377. $40-120 from Sistic.