Ho ho holy ^&*(! Time for our "best of" list for 2010. Or what passes for that on this blog. The print version has already come out, but we didn't have space for all of them so here's the (more or less) complete version. Admittedly, the RAT's memory is rather bad, so if he missed out on something, holler! (It's rather strange referring to yourself in the third person) And if you have your own faves of 2010, go ahead and put it down! ***   BEST EXCUSE TO PARTY Because it’s 2010 and everyone was celebrating something --  from anniversaries (Toy Factory, Drama Box, W!ld Rice, TheatreWorks, Singapore Lyric Opera, Cake, The Substation, Art Singapore) to triumphs (theatre director Ong Keng Sen’s Fukuoka Prize, performance artist Amanda Heng’s Cultural Medallion and comic artist Sonny Liew’s Young Artist Award) to just being the new kid in town (Pangdemonium!, Collab Theatre, TheatreStrays).   WORST EXCUSE TO PARTY All that was, of course, dampened by the arts funding debacle, the underwhelming results following the Censorship Review Committee’s report and the saga involving the fate of theatre ushers after Victoria Theatre and Drama Centre came under The Esplanade’s management.   BEST WORK (WITH ANIMAL PARTICIPATION) You had exhibitions and performances featuring a horse, dogs, whales, a shark, a panther and, er, an entire Animal Farm. But Cai Guo Qiang’s Head On hits the “woof” (pardon the pun). The awe-inspiring installation of a huge of wolves in mid-flight was just one of three pieces in what’s also arguably the best exhibition this year.   BEST DÉJÀ VU MOMENT OF 2010 It’s a tie! Fried Rice Paradise, December Rains, Boeing Boeing, Descendants of the Eunuch Admiral, et cetera – the restagings went on and on. And on.   BEST FESTIVAL YOU (MAY) HAVE SEEN The second instalment of the biennial Singapore International Photography Festival was sprawled all over a number of venues and amazed us with the richness of its treasures.   BEST PLAY THIS YEAR The Necessary Stage’s gripping Model Citizens. It was so good we wanted to watch it again. We’re also leaning towards the Fringe Festival production Bilik Ahmad Berdaki as well – because creepy, perverted theatre is so rare nowadays.\   BEST FOLKS FOR THE JOB AWARD The Singaporean artist. Visual artist Matthew Ngui, poet Paul Tan and visual artist/theatre director Noor Effendy Ibrahim coming in as artistic directors of the Singapore Biennale, the Singapore Writers Festival and The Substation respectively. A big up for local artists taking charge, no?   THE BEST INSPIRATION OF THE ART WORLD AWARD Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew. Who knew the art scene would get so fired up with a host of exhibitions that revolved around what MM Lee stood for?   BEST ARTISTIC DELUSION Trooping to the Affordable Art Fair and buying stuff made us feel like art collectors. But the tongue-in-cheek art auctions and ballots at Evil Empire – which is arguably the most exciting art space this year - also made us feel like art collectors. At half the price!   WORST WAY TO EXPLAIN REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH TO A CHILD The Night Festival’s satellite dish installation performance Paraboles 2.0 had video projection of what seemed like scores of giant sperm-shaped things chasing after a hapless woman.   BEST WAY TO EXPLAIN SAFE SEX TO AN IDIOT Kumar’s guest spot at Crazy Christmas. ’Nuff said.   BEST NEWCOMER AWARD Judee Tan hit the jackpot with her Ris Low parody at last year’s Chestnuts – and she continued to amaze us with her flexible acting talents appearing in productions as varied as December Rains, this year’s Chestnuts and The Hossan Leong Show.    MOST LONG-WINDED, ROUNDABOUT ART EXHIBITION The MRT Circle Line’s series of artworks (tee hee!). But seriously, it had some gems - if you can find them (tee hee!).   WORST (OR BEST) WAY TO CURE INSOMNIA TheatreWorks’ Superintense marathon of art performances that began at 11am and ended way past midnight.   WORST CASE OF NAME-DROPPING This year’s Singapore Arts Festival featured some exciting works from the lesser known artists even as it bannered some international heavy hitters like Lin Hwai-Min, Cai Guo-Qiang, Sylvie Guillem, Alexander McQueen, Robert Lepage and Peter Brook, whose overrated, didactic fare 11 and 12 would have been a perfect Arts Fest production. A decade ago.   THE “PROOF THAT ART AND MONEY DON’T MIX” AWARD The defunct theatre company Zebra Crossing had a lot of things going for them. Money matters wasn’t one of these. The musical Victor/Victoria lost a huge amount of money and the company imploded.   BEST CAMEO Out of nowhere, Kevin Spacey dropped by to talk about The Bridge Project’s The Tempest. And he didn’t even act in it! Okay fine, he’s one of the executive producers - but that’s just so Hitchcockian.   BEST DEADPAN MOMENT The entire ____ Can Change. Was The Necessary Stage seriously endorsing the status quo and going all pro-family? Were they not? Apparently they were. But still … really?   BEST PERFORMANCE (BY A MUSICAL INSTRUMENT) Zai Kuning’s mangled-beyond-recognition piano first appeared in his performance in the Future of Imagination festival. He then used it in spell#7’s Epic Poem of Malaya. Finally, you see it in the Beyond LKY exhibition.   WORST PLACE TO SIT INSIDE A THEATRE The front row of The Substation Theatre during Collab Theatre’s Metamorphoses. The stage’s centerpiece was a pool. There was lots of splashing. Yup.   BEST USE OF A PROP The remote control toy cab in A Group of People’s A Cage Goes In Search Of A Bird. In one scene, Nelson Chia tries to hail it – and promptly gets on all fours to “talk” to the taxi driver.   BEST SHOW TO GRUNT AFTERWARDS (IF YOU’RE A GUY) UK contemporary dance choreographer Hofesh Schechter’s energetic twin-bill Uprising/in your rooms at the da:ns Festival was by far the coolest, most testosterone-driven piece we’ve seen this year. If you think watching dance isn’t a “manly” thing, then you haven’t seen Schechter. The Full Monty’s a close runner-up.   BEST WAY TO KISS AND MAKE UP The NAFA-LASALLE Fine Art Staff Show. Who says professional competitors can’t hold a joint group show? They even showed works at their “rival” schools. Group hug!