Culturally Preconditioned

Okay, so I’m not sure which was worse. Having to sit throught the first half of the show, or having to sit through the show with my racist housemate who breaks into his own terrible renditions after each song and gives his ‘expert’ commentaries. This is from a guy who pronounces Idol as ‘eee-dole’. Urgh.. it’s unbeliveable the shits I’ve to put up with some times. Anyway, on to the show!

Week #1 Theme : Pop Idol

Shaiful - Seribu Impian (KC)
I liked Shaiful from his performance in the second workshop. The short introduction clip had me worried (the Pretty Boy sing in the background was very tongue-in-cheek. I loved it). He’s been shown singing the same Yassin song all the way from his audition, to the theatre eliminations, to the workshop performance. I started to wonder if he’s a one-trick pony. Even though he chose another Malay song to sing, I thought this might be a good song choice for him… at first. Unfortunately, his performance was really bad. Paul seemed as though he was holding back tears, cause I know he had high hopes for Shaiful (as did I). And I didn’t like the fact that he blamed his performance because he was having health issues. He shouldn’t have done that. A 4.

Sufiah - Didn’t We Almost Have It All (Whitney)
Sufiah’s introduction clip was equally disturbing for me. She went on and on about how the JUDGES picked HER to advance. HER! Okay, so we get it. She’s a good singer and the judges acknowledge that. But she seems to be forgetting that the Malaysian viewers will be voting, and she should know by now, the mindset of these people. Humble, yes. Cocky, no. I know, I don’t agree, but the fact is, the in-yo-face attitude ain’t gonna work here, sweetie. Performance wise, I was really disappointed with her. What happened to the Sufiah I knew from the first workshop? I was expecting perfection from her tonight but she failed to impress me. And I was surprised she fumbled with some of her dictions as well. I hope she makes it to the next round and give us a better performance. As for this week, a 6.

Victor - If I Let You Go (Westlife)
Victor wowed me in his audition and theater elimination rounds. But I wasn’t at all impressed with Victor’s performance in the workshop. Did his performance tonight change my mind? That would be a big fat NO. I agree with Paul regarding the fact that this song suited him for his targeted audience. Vocal-wise, he was just ridiculous. His performance reminds me of Alexander’s performance in World Idol. Embarassing. What’s even more embarassing? My housemate breaking into the song right after the performance. I wish he would just keel over and pass out for the next couple of hours or so. My housemate, not Victor. I’d give his performance a 4.

Rydee - I’m Like A Bird (Nelly Furtado)
A short recap of Rydee’s journey into the Malaysian Idol finals. She was NOT originally chosen for the Final 30. She was NOT originally chosen for the Final 9. She was NOT originally chosen for the Wildcard show. They say three times a charm, but is it true? I like everything about Rydee. Her unique voice, her appearance, her fun attitude. I don’t agree with Paul because I think this was an excellent song choice for Rydee. UNfortunately, the deliverance was nasty. I don’t know what happened. Major disappointment for me. Hope she’ll make it through and make better improvements, but for tonight, I’m giving her a 5.

Fazly - This Love (Maroon 5)
A friend of mine in New York introduced me to this song way before Harder To Breath hit our Malaysian shores, and it quickly became a favourite of mine. I was ecstatic when Maroon 5 actually released this song as a single earlier this year, and it officially became my favourite song of 2004. Well, not anymore. Fazly totally killed it. Poor dictions, out of breath, forgotten the lyrics, weird writhing robot dance movements (that went out in the 1980s by the way). I was almost physically sick trying to endure the entire performance (I was surprised that Roslan echoed my exact same sentiments). Fazly’s introduction clip started off with an interesting quote: “Success begins with sufferings”. If that is the case, then should I expect a huge success soon? Cause God knows I have suffered enough from watching the bad bad bad performances so far. Another 4.

Andrew - Angels (Robbie Williams)
And then comes Andrew. And what an appropriate song. I wasn’t expecting much from him. His melancholic performance of a Robbie Williams song that I hate, is not a far departure from his previous performances. His voice is very pleasant to hear. If I may so, I’d say Andrew is the male version of Yin. They have beautiful soothing voices. However, Andrew looked kinda stiff on stage. If he eases up a bit, I’m pretty sure he’ll have a larger fan base soon. A 7 and a thank you for finally giving the viewers something decent to listen to for the night.

Jac - Keliru (Ruth Sahanaya)
Was Gee asking an honest question when she asked Jac why she picked a Malay song? She said because many people think she cannot sing Malay songs (Personally, I loved her Sinaran performance) Her answer was honest and I really hope it hits home with viewers who still think that Jac is a Fantasia-clone. Bravo Jac. I loved it. My guess is Jac takes home the Malaysian Idol title, and the competition is now a race to find who takes up the 2nd and 3rd place. You go, girl! An 8 and a half.

Zamil - Januari (Glenn Fredly)
Didn’t Fahmy sing this song a while back? Urghh.. 8tv/Fremantle must’ve not been working hard at increasing the titles in their available song list. Shame on you. But… whoa. I like like like Zamil’s rendition. He gave a strong performance. They were no visible and audible strains. This guy knows how to control his voice. I can’t wait to see him pick up a fast catchy number soon to see how versatile he is. But as for tonight, I am so very proud of him. Go Bobot Jr! A 7 and a half.

Dina - When You Believe (Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey)
You know when I said that he competition is now about finding who deserves second and third place? Well. I take it back. It seems like Jac does have some competition after all. Though she may not be as good as Jac, I was really impressed with Dina’s performance. Forget Paul’s comments about choosing songs sung by Whitney because you’re never gonna be good at it. It ain’t easy singing a Whitney song, but Dina pulled it off. Even if she did sound like she’s totally imitating Whitney (as per what Paul said), the fact is she pulled it off. And it was a really good performance. Homegirl makes me proud tonight. An 8 and a half.

Vick - Walking Away (Craig David)
I was nervous about the prospect of having another contestant killing yet another favourite song of mine. I am not a big fan of Vick’s. I don’t know. He rubs me the wrong way. But fortunately, he did the song justice. His vocals were good and his improvisations on the song was minimal and not over the top. It was a safe, feel good performance. A 7.

Nikki - Crazy In Love (Beyonce)
Okay, I’m ready to eat my words again. Nikki rocks. I used to think Nikki was highly overrated. But she has proved me wrong with her fun performance tonight. I am willing to overlook the rapping parts (which were kinda pathetic) because I was looking something different from her. And she delivered! Gone was the ice queen exterior, and we get to see a more fun and outgoing gal, and with a decent voice to boot. The song did not showcase her singing capabilities that well, but for the parts that she did (I WAS looking out for these parts) it was quite good. Well done Nikki. An 8.

Fahmy - Sonata Musim Salju (Hazami)
Another pretty boy. But this one’s probably got a scandal going on with the show’s host (I’m not saying which one. Haha). His performance tonight was just above average to me. It really was kinda meh. I think the highlight of his segment was when Aleya scolded the judges by saying “Don’t hurt the poor boy”. One thing that bothers me though, we still haven’t seen this guy singing an English song. He can’t even answer the judge’s question in English. Some things need to change if you want to stay in the competition, dude. A 6 and a half.

So that’s it. The first (proper) Malaysian Idol concert. It was below expectation, but I’m not terribly disappointed. Based on the performances tonight, I already know half of them don’t deserve to be in the Finals, but what are you gonna do eh? My top performances of the night belongs to Jac, followed by Dina and Nikki. The two worst performances probably belong to Victor and Shaiful. But you can never tell how the public is going to vote. Well, actually you could, so those two will probably be safe. I don’t even know if I’m going to vote this week. It will be fun to see how the votes will come in. That will set the course for the rest of the season.

Well, I’m totally spent. Izad - Out.