Culturally Preconditioned

I must say that the first ever Final Selection show for Malaysian Idol was
quite a disappointment. There’s only a piano accompanying the contestants
(though I think it’s a better way to showcase their voices), there was no
visible audiences (which makes it look like a cheap rendition of Who Will Win),
the judges comments were utterly useless and just what the fuck is up
with the weird awkward silence after the contestant leaves the stage? The only
thing that they got right was the recap. Thank God for the recap.

Anyway, down to business. Originally, there were supposed to be 11 contestants,
but one had to drop out because Emma withdrew herself from the contest because
there was a death in her family. Condolences to her. Well.. here are my thoughts
on the 10 performances of the night.

Nikki (One Moment In Time - Whitney Houston)
Oh gawd… I could not think of a worst way to start this competition than to
start with a Whitney song. It’s not half as bad, though. Nikki has got a great
voice.. evident from her singing Mariah’s Emotions during her audition.
Unfortunately, tonight, she didn’t sound as good and she was clearly nervous on
stage. Can’t fault her for that since she’s the first to perform. IMO, she did
not pick the right song. Too bad. A 7.

Rizal (If You Don’t Know Me By Now - Simply Red)
The most ‘commercial’ contestant out of the bunch, but he said it so himself “People are gonna be thinking, what is a Mat Salleh doing here?”. Technically, he’s probably only half of that, but yeah, I’m not sure if people would feel that he would ‘represent’ us Malaysians in general. And I’ll bet my whole damn house that Kelantanese fella ain’t gonna vote for this ‘Pan Asian’ guy. ssts. What a loser (the Kelantanese, not Rizal). Singing wise, he’s alright, though I think the arrangement has been slowed down a notch (which almost made me nod off). A 7.

Putri (Kau Dan Aku - Ning Baizura)
Ooooh. One of my favourite Malay songs, ever! Too bad she killed it. I felt the
performance was really ordinary though. She didn’t even attempt to up it a
little. Replace her with the rude, over acting, stuck up JB girl, and I probably
wouldn’t even notice it. A measly 4.

Zamil (My Baby You - Marc Anthony)
I now officially dub this guy as Bobot Jr. I knew this guy would be good and he did not disappoint. What grabbed my attention was how he was playing with the camera, unlike the first 3 contestants. This guy’s a pro. Vocal wise, he was really good. He went through his low to high notes effortlessly, and seemed so relaxed throughout. I hope he makes it far. An 8.

Sri (Jawapan Kasih - Amy Mastura)
This girl reminds me a lot of BraMeRah. She has the looks but I think she overdid her body slitherings on stage. Bitch, please. Her vocal was flat flat flat.. and oh so sengau. I was cringing up my nose (is there such a term?) all the way through. Roslan must be out of his mind when he said she sang the song better than Amy. A lowly 4.

Sufiah (If I Ain’t Got You - Alicia Keys)
Biggest surprise of the night. She sang really really well! I don’t think we’ve heard much of her from the rounds of auditions, but man, this girl pulled this one off superbly. Hats off to you, my lady. She certainly has that R&B thing going on, but I’m not sure how she’ll tackle other music genres. An 8 and a half.

Fariz (god knows, who cares)

Urghh… caterpillar brow guy. He’ll have to fight it out with Alex Bell for the title of bushiest eyebrow man alive. And I actually called that one out weeks before Paul Moss’ comments about doing something with his eyebrows. I’m not gonna lie. I don’t like this guy. I don’t know, something about him.. probably his cockiness from the auditions. But he’s got a lisp, dammit. Is that not obvious to everyone out there? Vocal wise.. I don’t know if he’s improved or not. He sang an English song during his audition (which was horrendous), but he sang Malay songs quite well. Not sure if that’s what they call ‘improvement’ but whatever. The judges seem to like him. Whatever. He made a good song choice tonight, that’s all. Whatever. A 7. Whatever. By the way, doesn’t he remind you of this fella?

Vick (My Way - Frank Sinatra)
First of all, I do NOT like how the show has been pimping him from the beginning. From interviewing him at his house, to milking a pity party, to the drama over his lost voice. Second of all, I am frankly sick of this song. Ever since Dr M declared that this was his most favourite song, everybody’s suddenly getting into it. But when it comes down to his singing abilities, I have to be fair. Like him or not, this guy CAN sing. An 8 and a half.

Syima (Trouble With Love Is - Kelly Clarkson)
Pretty bold of her to sing a Kelly Clarkson song, but she did it anyway. I love this girl! She’s my favourite and I will be rooting for her all the way. It was fun when they teased her about forgetting the lyrics during the auditions. Well, she memorized all of it tonight. Her stage presence is great. And man, she’s got a great voice! And I can totally see her singing other song genres as well. My only gripe is that she wore a skirt. Not sure if that will bode well for the makciks and pakciks and kakak-kakaks out there. But I’m giving her a 9.

Dina (Bunga-bunga Cinta - Misha Omar)
Hah! Suka la tu si SC, lagu favourite dia. Dina reminds me of Boomquisha! (She certainly dresses like her) Anyway, I was looking forward to my home girl’s performance. She sang this quite well though she fumbled a bit in the beginning. Her voice has a LOT of soul.. and she has that rock n roll edge too. A weird combination. I KNOW! I think she could’ve chosen a better song. But we’ll see. An 8.

So there you go. My review for our first 10 Malaysian Idol contestants.

My choice and votes will be for these three

Syima, Zamil, Sufiah

Malaysia’s Choice would probably be :

Vick, Nikki, Fariz

The results will be out Sunday night. Can’t wait.

Izad - out.