Culturally Preconditioned

Another star bites the dust. My homegirl Zarina got fucked but I’m gonna refrain from whining too much since I didn’t cast any votes for her this week. But dayumm… I felt so bad for her as much as I did when Rosma was booted in the first Akademi Fantasia. *sob* I’ll have to do a quick recap since I’ll probably have to come in for work tomorrow (a SUNfrickinDAY!).

Mas - Semakin Hari, Semakin Sayang
Mas is Mas. She’s so unique. Single mother and very Unique in her own way. She reminds me a lot of Fantasia Barrino. I don’t think she’ll be crowned the winner, even though she has lots of fans out there. Her vocals were much better this week, compared to her rendition of Cant Get You Out Of My Head last week. But that’s not really saying much.

Kaer - Epilog Cinta
I honestly don’t get what is with the public’s fascination with this guy. He is
such a Momma’s boy (and his Spock ears are really peculiar). He impressed me with his fluent Thai last week, but that’s as much as it goes. His voice is average to me.

Farah - Ya Maulai
She started off weak.. a bit warbly, if you asked me. But she really picked it up halfway through the same. It ain’t easy singing a traditional Malay song. I’m not a big fan of hers but she did a great performance tonight. But please stop it with the Prit Prit thingy. It’s annoying.

Bob - I Can See Clearly Now
His ‘mesra’ thingy is as annoying as Farah’s prit prit. QUIT IT! His performance was good and enjoyable. Though I wished he’d cover his hairy man cleavage. Yuck. I still see him as a badut, though.

Adam - Keroncong Untuk Ana
LOL.. he fumbled with ‘kechorong’. That was funny! But I’ve never taken a liking to Adam.. I mean, the guy fucking cried when the doctor took his blood sample. ssts. Anyway, he always looked uncomfortable during his interviews with Aznil. What’s up with that? His performance tonight was average.

Zarina - Penantian
Zarina. oh my Zarina.. how I wished you’d won this season just so that you can shove the trophy up Khai’s pompous ass. Zarina is possibly the second best female singer in the competition. She got robbed just as Rosma did last year. I agree that this was a bad song choice for her (her performance last week was so hauntingly good!). Really bad. But I don’t think that’s the main reason why she got kicked off. I don’t think she has many fans out there. She has never been in the Top 4. There must be a reason behind this. But whatever. I hope she makes it out there (though I’m no longer holding my breath for Rosma’s long overdue solo album).

Zarina singing the vampire inspired song Pulangkan with last year’s finalist, Sahri

Nurul - Ku Mohon
It’s hard to sing a Sheila Majid song without being compared to the Jazz Queen. That said, it was a pretty good effort on Nurul’s part. But let’s face it.. she has the worst voice out of the entire 12 people in the competition. If we’re not careful, she’s gonna pull a Liza and end up in the Top 5.

Zahid - Where Is The Love
Zahid my man! He reminds me so much of my cousin. I’ve always liked this guy since the first show. His popularity has soared like mad since last week. But I think he richly deserves it. He has a good voice and his stage presence is really good. Singing a rap song in a competition is hard to judge, but he was in his prime - with his sk8r boi looks and antics. Zahid is going to win this.

Linda - Panti Asuhan
Well if it’s not Zahid, Linda will win this. My favourite female contestant out of the bunch. She is so beautiful and oh so talented (her accoustic guitar playing while singing Leaving On A Jet Plane was nothing short of amafuckingzing). She delivered her song beautifully tonight.. but, did she forget some of her lyrics or was she just too caught up with her emotions? I’m gonna be biased and assume the later. Excellent job, Linda.

Group Ensemble - Memories
Wow. This was a first.. the group singing a number from a musical. Zarina opened the number with a bang! I was like, no shit! If she doesn’t make it with the pop scene, she better audition for theatres. She reminds me a lot of the girl who was Mary Magdalene in our univeristy’s performance of Jesus Christ Superstar. Bob was surprisingly good as well. I expected Linda to do a bit better, but I blame the teachers for giving her the crappy verses. Zahid.. man. You proved it man! You can sing rock and roll, pop, rap and even this! Wow. Just wow.

All in all.. a pretty good show, except of course for the ending (and the constant shots of Anding in the background). Aznil has again and again proved why he’s our Number One host. I love that kooky bastard! If theer was ever a World Idol for Hosts, he’s gonna bring the title home to Malaysia. Urghh.. and to think I almost had the chance to interview him for our magazine. Aznil, you rock, my brutha!