Culturally Preconditioned

For some of you wondering out there, no, I have not totally given up hope on on Malaysian Idol yet. “Totally” and “yet” being the keywords there. I didn’t make any commentaries on the past two Malaysian Idol shows because :

Last week :
- Survivor Vanuatu premiered on Friday night
- I went for a friend’s birthday celebration at Saisaki’s (freshest.salmon.ever) on Sunday
This week :
- Survivor still hasn’t moved to the 11:10 pm time slot on Friday because The Amazing Race was still on
- There’s no actual good reason to wake up on a Sunday morning (11:30 is still considered A.M.)

Anyway, even though I didn’t watch the actual shows on tv (you can download the clips at www.kreees.com), I still sent in my votes for Jac and Dina cause those are the two that I want to see in the Finale (which I might also forego since Carnivale will be premiering on HBO next month).

There’s not much to say really. Andrew is finally out of the competition this week. I felt that the show has been a bit lackluster for the past few weeks. I’m not blaming the contestants because they are definitely giving us their best week in week out. I was put off for a bit because it’s depressing to see what some of the viewers deem as ‘the best performances’ and blindly sending votes to see their favourites stay in the competition despite knowing the fact that they’re not really ‘the best’. Thankfully, that stopped this week.

Well, if all goes according to plan, it will be Vick’s turn next week. Vick is a decent singer, but I just feel his performance hasn’t been as consistent as Jac’s or Dina’s. As at the time of writing this, 65% of me wants to see Jac win the title, and 35% of me wants to see Dina be crowned the first Malaysian Idol. They both have their own uniqueness and strengths (and for the millionth time, vocal wise, Jac is NOT the same as Fantasia, seriously) which will make Malaysia proud in the World Idol.

Okay, now I have to get back to Episode Three on Angels in America.

Izad - Out

I know Toyota is no longer sponsoring the show, but that’s not an excuse for ntv7 to start butchering the show. Last week, they edited out this week’s preview. This week, the edited out last weeek’s recap, as well as next week’s preview. But I really shouldn’t be complaining since we still get to see the show less than 14 hours after it is shown in the United States.

Just like Thailand, the editors changed the opening sequence to a new one after the contestants were divided into their respective tribes (In Thailand’s first opening sequence, the women were grouped together, and the men grouped together. In it’s second - and subsequent - opening sequences, they were grouped together according to their tribes Sook Jai and Chuay Gahn). Vanuatu’s were reversed. They started with alternate castaways last week, and this week, they were grouped according to the proper Yassur and Lopevi tribes. However, I am still surprised the caption for “One Survivor” is still missing from the opening sequence.

All in all, it was a very interesting episode. I have to say that the reward challenge were clearly in favour of the petite women, that the big guys. But the guys got their revenge by winning the immunity challenge (and the flint that they direly needed). Heading into the Tribal Council, we finally get to see more group dynamics from the Yassur tribe. I am not liking the fact that the tribe is clearly divided into the young and the elders. I initially thought it was a misdirection, but it was talked about in the open at Tribal Council. I hope it won’t stay that way, cause Pagonging sucks.

Episode 2 : Castaways Impressions

Yassur Tribe
Ami - Ami had a few more confessionals this episode. She explained that the group was divided between the younger vs the older. She tend to gravitate towards the older. The keyword she used was “gravitate” and not “belong”. I interpret that as her not totally being on the outs with the young one, which is a very good thing. I seriously want to see Ami go far.

Dolly - Bye bye Miss Shepherdess. Well, my gut was right. Dolly was voted out on a 5-4 vote. But I was dead wrong on WHY she got voted out. I thought she would get the Tanya/Jessie boot (a mercy boot) after the previews last week showed her crying over the maggots in the plaintains. I was pleasantly surprised to see her scheming in the background, but she made one fatal mistake. And that was by taking a cue from Christy and saying “I am the swing vote” at Tribal Council. That pretty much shows that you are wavering on your alliance(s) and will nail the coffin if anyone has any doubt whether they should vote you out or not. Dolly. She’s not the typical sickly sweet girl that I thought she would be (thank God). Her scheming backfired. What a shame.

Eliza - I still can’t stand Eliza but I have to give props to her for actually playing the game. In all fairness, I think what she did was totally in her best interest. If they were to merge with the guys somewhere along the road, her chances of scoring some points with he guys would be much greater if she teamed up with the elders (less competition) than her counterparts. The drawback to that is, if the guys don’t buy it, she’s fucked cause she knows she is the fifth wheel in the women’s alliance. But yeah, kudos to her for playing the game. But that still doesn’t mean I like her.

Julie - *sigh* Julie, Julie, Julie. The only thing that stood out from her in the episode was her voting confessional where she said “Leann, I’m voting for you cause Dolly is running the show”. Well, it figures. Dolly was the Shepherdess, and you are the sheep. It’s interesting though, cause I could’ve sworn that Julie was the one who suggested that they vote off Leann, and not Dolly.

Leann - Not much out of her this episode, besides the fact that the younger girls targeted her this week. Perhaps the younger girls didn’t get to know much of her because she’d been quiet back at camp. Doesn’t matter. With the looks of it, she’ll probably be safe for the next couple of episodes.

Lisa - Boob job much? The cameramen are quite fixated on her assets, aren’t they? Anyway, Lisa didn’t have a single confessional this episode (her assets probably speak for themselves). I get zero register on her. I better hear some of that southern drawl next week.

Mia - Okay, THIS is the reason why I try not to choose favourites. They always get screwed and then I would get upset. Mia was clearly upset at the outcome of the Tribal Council, and things ain’t gonna be pretty. Well I hope she won’t go down fighting, and if she does get taken down by the elders, I expect there to be an explosive council.

Scout - Scout is alright for a woman her age. She seems to be well liked by everyone on her tribe but she really sucks ass at the Immunity Challenge. Better luck next time.

Twila - Nope. There’s just something about her that I don’t quite like. I don’t know but I get a feeling that she will always come across as a bitter old hag to me. She won’t be happy until she eliminates all the pretty young girls, and take my word on this, once the merge happens, she won’t rest on her laurels until she eliminates all the guys. It’s a strong woman feminazi power trip kinda thing. Mark my words. HOWEVER, it was interesting that Dolly mentioned that the young girls were gonna ‘keep’ her because of her work ethics. This means, all the bitchings from her were purely in her confessionals, and not openly to the other tribe members. If she can keep it that way, she might just end up in the Final Four.

Lopevi Tribe
Brady - Not a single confessional out of him this time around. Calm before the storm? Who knows. One thing I do know is that he’s really good on balance beams. He was the first one to get off the beam last week, and he was the first again to do it this week.

Chad - Chad’s got a few confessionals on the sacred rock thingamagic back at camp. Some stuff about respecting the rock, the culture et cetera. He’s keeping it really low and seems way too likeable so far. Despite the prosthetic leg, he seemed to have been able to control his balance on the beam pretty well. Nice going!

Chris - There was not much out of Chris this episode except for his comments about needing fire desperately to keep things going at camp.

John K - John who? After the slightly pseudo homoerotic body hugging with the other John on the balance beam, I think this guy has disappeared in oblivion.

John P - Uh oh.. I get major Matthew von Ertfelda hinkies from him. His short confrontation with Travis was neglible. Will he be this season’s underdog? I don’t think so.

Lea - Lea raised beyond my expectations yet again. Who’da thunk? He’s put his drill sergeant expertise to some really good use! Not only did his shouting drown out Scout’s voice in the Immunity Challenge, he (unlike Scout) called out his team members by their names, which showed that he’s a real team player. He was also given a really positive edit from the Rory’s outburst. I am starting to like this guy.

Rory - Brutha just cant shut it. Not even for the first few EPISODES. *sigh* Rory proved to be an idiot. Point One was when he childishly whined and pouted for losing the Reward Challenge (AND getting real upset by the women celebrating - how I wish Shii Ann had danced her victory dance complete with finger pointing in front of him). Point Two was when he was making some noise and distracting Lea’s instruction during the Immunity Challenge. I am officially taking this guy off my MediaWhore league.

Travis - Bubba had a spike in face time this week. His conversation with John P was, as I’ve said, probably neglible but he did have an interesting quote in there. “There are 17 threats and only one will win”.

Predictions : Brain/Heart/Gut

Since ntv7 has once again brutally left out next week’s preview, you might be in for a surprise. I’m not going to consider this as a spoiler since it was shown in the actual previews but there will be two tribal councils next week. Both tribes will go to Tribal Council, and both tribes will have to vote out one of their members each.

Brain : For the guys, it has to be Rory. There have been too many scenes showing how he is on the outside looking in. Even next week’s previews suggested that (another Rory vs Lea scene). As for the girls, it has to be one of the young ones. Based on current editing, it might be Mia, because compared to Julie and Lisa, Mia’s got the most face time so far. And next week’s preview are also showing that she’s having a meltdown with Twila.

Heart : Rory (I’ve had about enough of Mr Negativity here) and Twila (how DARE she go off on my Mia? I mean, HOW DARE SHE! I’ll kick her scrawny ass)

Gut : John P and Mia.

Stickies for the Second Episode :

* There were lots of shots of bats in the episode. There was a particular scene right before the women talking about their votes. The bats could’ve been an indicator that some of them were going to be blindsided.

* Rory : “There’s magic on Vanuatu” (if there really IS magic on Vanuatu, he will be saved again next week, despite what editing has shown us)

* Twila and Lisa holding out the machete to kill the chicken. The chicken got away because they couldn’t go in for the kill.

* Chad talking about how important the spirit stone was and how they should respect it. Rewind back to Episode 1. Jeff Probst mentioned that the people of Vanuatu take their spirituality very seriously.

* Lopevi puts up the spirit stone. And the rain pours down once again.

* Rewind back to Episode 1. The only reason they kept John P was because “he’s the only one who’s really working for the fire”. The men now have fire, and he’s therefore, dispensable.

* Scout’s name never came up in the discussions of a possible boot option, despite the fact that she made them lost IC#2 (and almost made them lose IC#1). Scout sits in a very comfortable place in her tribe.

* IC#1 involved a balancing challenge in which the women won. RC#2 involved yet another balancing challenge which favoured the women. Rewind back to Episode 1. Chris : “You Outwit, Outplay and Outlast them. You don’t outbalance them”. If I was a betting man, I’d say a male is going to win Survivor Vanuatu. (On that note, a few other stickies : The tribes are now balanced with 8 males, 8 females. Next week, they will be balanced again with a member voted out of each tribe. Balance. It’s a recurring theme.)

The Amazing Race 5 has just ended yesterday, but there’s no waiting for the next batch (well, maybe just a couple more weeks.. it will start showing in the US at the end of October, and AXN Asia has started showing the previews).. but here they are. It’s time to pick your favourites again.

(Thanks to Colby for the pics and team descriptions - will host the pics on my server later tonight)

Team 1: Jonathan Baker and Victoria Fuller
This married couples calls themselves Team Hollywood. Baker, 42, is “an entrepreneur� who dyed his hair blue for the race; Fuller, 31, is an ex-Playmate. Baker says he�ll be the race�s best schemer: �I can do the Jedi mind trick.�

Team 2: Lori Chestnut Harvey and Bolo Dar�tainian
Pro wrestlers from Molino, Florida, they expect to be known as �the tough freaky people,� says Harvey, 32. Adds Dar�Tainian, 38, �Being pro wrestlers, our job is to piss people off.�

Team 3: Rebecca Cardon and Adam Malis
�The Weird Ex-Dating Couple�, as they call themselves, are spinning teachers from Los Angeles. �We argue well,� says Cardon, 29. �We have argument calluses.� And their weakness: �I�m not the bravest,� says Malis, 27.

Team 4: Kris Perkins & Jon Buehler
Long-distance daters, she�s a UCLA student and he�s a bar owner in Scottsdale, Arizona. �We don�t like negativity,� says
Buehler, 20. Adds Perkins, 30, �We�re willing to help others, but not if it�s a detriment to our winning.�

Team 5: Freddy Holliday and Kendra Bentley
If Holliday has to eat �something funky�, says Bentley, 25, these soon-to-marry Miami models could be in trouble. �Than can ruin me for a day,� says Holliday, 35.

Team 6: Lena and Kristy Jensen
�We are like fire and ice,� says Kristy, 26, a devout Mormon mother-model-student, of her team. However, Lena, 23, her carefree sister and a former striptease aerobics instructor, adds that �we�ve come to accept each other.�

Team 7: Aaron Crumbaugh and Hayden Kristiandon
Dating LA models, these two love drama. �Boy, do we butt heads!� says Crumbaugh, 25. �I come from a family of lawyers, so I�m argumentative, � admits Kristianson, 25.

Team 8: Hera and Gustavus Mcleod
She�s a special education teacher; he�s an ex-CIA operative and �adventure pilot� � and her dad. �The Silent Assassins,� as Gustavus, 29, calls his team, may not win friends, but, says Hera, 23, �I plan on manipulating people.�

Team 9: Maria Sampogna and Meredith Tufaro
Both 26 and best friends from Queens, Tufaro says, �We�re naturally laughing people. It�ll be like �Who gave them the gas?�� Adds Samgona, �Our strategy is to kill �em with kindness.�

Team 10: Donald and Mary Jean St. Claire
Married for 23 years, the oldest couple in the race have dubbed themselves �Team Medicare.� Says Donald, 69, �Mar Jean [65] and I have some creaky joints.�

Team 11: Avi Schneier and Joe Rashbaum
Both 32, hight school techer Schneier studies Eastern philosophy while ad exec Rashbaum keeps kosher (even in the race). High scholl buddies from Brooklyn, they�ll be �the Every Jew,� Schneier jokes.

W00t! What a race. WHAT A RACE! Congrats to Jerry Bruckheimer for winning the second consecutive Emmy for Best Reality Show. And also thank you for giving us the most deserved and most satisfying win two years in a row. Congratulations to Team Chimp for winning the race.

First of all, a short recap. The episode started off with the Final Four teams : Team Moms, Team Chimp (Kim who? I could swear she only appeared in the show 30 minutes before the ending), Team Satan (self explanatory) and Team Models(ditto - I would refer them as Team Jesus but many probably won’t get that this is just a reference to these two contestants, and not to Christians in general, so I don’t wanna ruffle any feathers).

After leaving the Coconut Palace, teams had to take a charter flight to Palawan (which was rumoured to be the location for a future installment of Survivor). The arhipelago is so wonderfully beautiful and the high limestone cliffs reminded me of Phi Phi Island (where they filmed Alex Garland’s The Beach - for those who haven’t read the book, go read it and skip the horrendous movie adaptation).

Finding the country flag reminded me of the Malaysian leg in Amazing Race 3, where our Jalur Gemilang was the clue, and racers had to find out which country it belonged to (Flo and Zach surprisingly nailed it). I guess you can’t blame them for not knowing the Phillipines flag? Most of us probably could cause it’s an ASEAN country (there’s no real excuse if you couldn’t). And the Male Satan actually had a very interesting quote ever : “Too bad I’m an ignorant American”. Ya think? He’s stating the obvious but it’s nice to hear it coming out from his mouth.

The Chimps was totally in their game mode, and I don’t blame them for tricking the Models with the ‘false’ clue. You can only get so far in this game by playing follow the leader, so I think they did what they had to do. They then had to dive into the waters and find clues hidden in beautiful large clams. It was at this time that I started to get really annoyed with the Female Model. She was all crying ‘Help me .. help me…’ and when the Male Chimp went to help her, she shooed him away. wtf? Hmm anyway, they then had to climb up a really high limestone cliff to get their clue. And what is up with them not knowing what “Vertigo” means? First ’scarab’, now ‘vertigo’? I thought English was their mother tongue? Sheesh. Very de memalukan.

Team Models managed to overtake Team Chimp at the Roadblock and finished number one and number two respectively for this leg of the race. Team Moms were the third to arrive at the roadblock, but the physically demanding task was clearly an advantage for Team Satan, who were far more younger and athletic than them. At this point, we also get to hear some words of wisdom from the Female Satan : “It’s all about karma. What goes around comes around”. LOL. She was of course referring to Team Chimp getting what they deserve for yielding them. But did she forget that she was the one who tried to ‘yield’ Mirna and Charla at the airport doorway several weeks ago? And her nosedive at the Calgary airport was just exactly the karma that she was talking about. Remember Dennis? At the pier? On day one? Male Satan tripped Dennis, and that nosedive was payback, bitch.

Team Moms were screwed when Team Satan got into their kayak (oh how I long for the days when I used to go kayaking and swallowing the muddy water of the Muar River) heading to the next pitstop. I was actually moved when Team Moms got eliminated (I have a heart, who knew?). I think they are the team that has achieved the most out of this race. And if you put all the Females in the Top 4 teams altogether, Linda and Karen deserves the award for Best Female Racers. Female Chimp, Female Satan and Female Model had almost zilch share of the work throughout this race. I know I’m going to sound like a male chauvinistic pig, but it’s true. Their efforts were nothing compared to Linda’s and Karen’s cause they always have their male counterparts to rely on. That’s why I have the utmost respect for Team Cousins, Team Twins and especially Team Moms for finishing where they finished in their leg of the race. As long as Amazing Race have these kinds of very physically demanding PITSTOP, there probably won’t ever be an All Female winning team. So a very big kudos to Team Moms. You have certainly make Moms the world over very proud.

Anyway, back on track. The Final three teams then had to fly out from Manila to Calgary, Canada. Upon reaching the Continental Divide (and after constant whines by the Female Model and Female Satan), they then had to move to the Canada Olympic Park, where there was a detour of doing a luge or biking down a slalom course. Again, is it just me, or is the Female Model extra annoying this episode. Honest to God, she reminds me a lot of Flo (of Flo and Zach) that I was starting to worry that they might win the race. First of all, she yells at the Male Model.. “You make the decision!”. Then she cries like a baby, complaining that her bike is too tall/brakes not working/i’m too sexy for mountain bikes. After they retraced their track and performed the luge, she had to go all prissy again and bitterly whine “I wanted to do the luge” and poor Male Model had to go “yeah yeah it’s all my fault again bla bla”, which was very Zach-like.

Anyway, all the teams managed to finish their courses and it was then a race to the final destination city - Dallas, Texas. Team Satan and Team Models booked the earlier flight but somewhere along the way, it seemed that the Female Chimp (who finally did something that directly contributes to the outcome of their race) discovered that that flight was delayed, so they got the next best flight, edging them to the front of the two teams.

Lots of airport and flight booking chaos ensued (Teams Satan and Team Models said they just wanted to “leave their bags”? Hello? You think people would be extra cautious and extra aware of the post 9/11 security measures, but you’d be wrong. Ignorant is the perfect word, Male Satan), but everyone reached Dallas within a few minutes of each other. The final maze challenge was very interesting, but if there’s one thing that I can’t do, it’s giant mazes like that. I think I would just freak out.. I’m claustrophobic like that. But anyway, once Team Chimp unlocked their final clue, it was all over (I didn’t buy the stuck-in-traffic drama).

Team Chimp wins Amazing Race 5, with Team Satan in second place. It was a sweet sweet moment. It was even sweeter when the Male Chimp yelled out “Come on, twins!” and giving their ex-nemesis a hug after the win (you can also see that the Twins were visibly happy that Team Chimp won the race).

All in all, it was a really great season. Interesting characters, evil villains, likeable winners, exotic locations, outrageous challenges.. is there any other thing that you can ask for more? Well, maybe just one thing. Amazing Race 6. Bring it on! October just can’t come too soon. See you in a couple of weeks, Mr Keogan.

I’m not very good at recaps, so if you’re looking for one, might I suggest the offical Survivor Vanuatu website from CBS. So, what I will be commenting here? Perhaps a very brief recap, my weekly impressions on the individual castaways, predictions and stickies from the show.

Survivor 101: Enjoying and ‘Spoiling’ The Show

Stickies, as I have probably mentioned in my previous posts, are quotes, actions or imageries that ’sticks out’ from the show. In other words, things that make you go HMMMMM. This could either be a sort of foreshadowing (an indication or a clue that certain things will happen later on in the game) OR a red herring (a false foreshadowing, or something that distracts the viewers from the actual storyline).

WHY has Survivor become a cultural phenomenon? It’s a show where strangers get together and vote each other off until there’s one left. What’s the big deal? That’s where Mark Burnett comes into play. Mark Burnett is not only a great producer. He is a genius and a master storyteller. He presents this reality show as though it is a soap drama (with a million dollar prize).

The production have camera crews covering these contestants 24/7 and have thousands of footage. What we see in one hour on the television, is what the producers WANTS us to see from three days. Selective editing is the key word. That’s why some of us believe that what is shown on the show was put there for a reason. Either giving us clues as to who the winner is, or giving us false assumptions and leading us away from the winner. Hence, the red herrings and sticky wickets.

Watching the show might be fun. But that’s only part of it. Half of it is when you really get into the show and trying to figure out these ‘clues’ and seeing Mark Burnett’s grand story. Through these kinds of ’study and analysis’ (if you will), previous winners like Tina, Ethan, Brian and Sandra have been successfully figured out halfway through the show*. It is not considered spoiling per se (like Chill One giving us the All Stars Final 7 before the show even started - that fuckin asshole) because you get so much satisfaction unravelling these clues yourselves (which were given by the producers) and seeing it come to fruition in the Finale. (*we may still have our previous analysis on these four seasons somewhere)

So that’s Survivor 101 for ya. Ha! People have called me a Survivor fanatic, and I don’t blame them. Heck I got 15 buffs to prove it. (which is kinda sad.grim.pathetic. but I don’t care). But just for the record, I’m going to say this again. I do not care much for Rupert.

Episode 1 : Castaways Impressions

Ami - There weren’t much of Ami to see, although she did have a few confessionals. she is seen working with both the old farts and relaxing with the bow heads. She may be in this for the long haul.

Brady - Token eye candy and alpha male as we’ve all suspected. His performance of getting the rock off the pole surely scored him some points with his tribe. Looks as if he’s in his FBI mode during his confessionals (though not a really good one)

Brook - I don’t really get why Brook was voted out. Because he’s cocky? Huh. I’m stumped. He’s not even that athletic. Seemed like a Cesternino wannabe with his ‘checking out the tails’ comments during Tribal Council. But, yeah, he seemed like a good first boot.

Chad - Seems like a quiet nice guy. No conflicts whatsoever. I find it very interesting that Jeff did not brought up the issue about his prosthetic leg during the immunity challenge AND at tribal council. VERY surprised. My favourite among the guys right now (and not just because of sympathy).

Chris - This guy really screwed up BIG TIME at the challenge, causing his team to lose. HOWEVER, I really MUST give props to him. Why? Well, he clearly fucked up, and yet, he managed to steer the focus away from himself to someone else. Simply amazing. And from his confessionals, he really does know what he’s doing. In terms of gameplay and strategy, I think he’s one of the better players out there. (but I hope he’ll go on Queer Eye after this. Long hair on men are as hideous as mullets)

Dolly - I thought Dolly would be the most annoying sorority chick out there. I was wrong. I kinda liked the fact that Dolly was not bothered watching the pig get slaughtered. After all, she IS a shepherdess. (Okay, I just sprayed some Coke on my keyboard)

Eliza - Do you know Eliza Dolittle? Doesn’t matter. Now, you know Eliza Do Little. In fact, it’s Eliza Do Very Little except yakkity yakitty yak. This little cheer leading chihuahua needs to go soon. There were too many confessionals of her going like bla bla like forever on and on and like there’s no like tomorrow. Urghh I am so going to OD on this whole bimbotalk.

John K - Hmm.. here’s a surprise. Our model boy was actually quite tolerable this episode. I was so hoping we won’t get a Ryan redux and thankfully we didn’t. Maybe that’s because we’ve only heard one sentence out of him.

John P - BLa bla fucking bla. Eliza.. meet your match. I didn’t like him from his pre show interview (”Some people call me Superman”.. i mean, what the fuck?) and I don’t like him now. That’s okay. His days are numbered.

Julie - *sigh* I was hoping we’d get to see more of Julie, but I think she only had one (unmemorable) confessional. I hope Mark Burnett has a big story in stored for her down the line. (Please please please don’t be another Darrah)

Lea - Wow! I thought I was going to dislike him after his drill sergeant routine in the pre show interviews. He actually seemed likeable in the show. He’s playing the game carefully and will easily make it past the merge

Leann - I like Leann. She’s working hard with the old farts and doesn’t even seem to whine or bitch about the younger girls. She’s quickly becoming a favourite.

Lisa - Boob job much? It was quite amusing to see her blend in with the bow heads rather than the old farts (cause she’s not really that young). Other than her association with the LAMIHAPs (Look-At-Me-I’m-Hot-And-Pretty), I can’t really tell much about her from the episode (but I sure do love the Southern accent, yassuh)

Mia - Mia was JUST like what I thought she would be. She has a lot of meaningful confessionals (compared to Eliza’s yapping), but will she make it far? I don’t know. I see similarities between her and Shii Ann. They both make good narrators and storytellers, but that might not reflect how far they will go into the game.

Rory - Brutha just cant shut it. Not even for the first few hours. *sigh* I am hoping the little power trip was a separate incident, but previews from next week (WHICH ntv7 BRUTALLY LEFT OUT, BY THE WAY) shows him in yet another spat with a tribesmate. I hope that’s a misdirection, cause I want to like him.

Scout - Thank God she’s not another Jan. Scout seems like a nice lady. Hardworking, pleasant, humble. I like her. Maybe because she has Eliza on top of her list too. Ha!

Travis - Didn’t get much out of Travis from this episode. Seems like Tom’s distant cousin, with slightly better enunciation (just slightly, mind you), but if he breaks out into a chicken dance, I’ll quit.

Twila - Nope. There’s just something about her that I don’t quite like. Before even reaching the Vanuatu shores, she’s already sporting the Lil-like scowl. And she has the right to be upset and angry about the work situations in camp, but this is where I disagree. BIG TIME. Survivor is NOT about just surviving nature. It’s also about surviving each other. It’s about ADAPTING to both the surroundings AND your tribesmate. This was one of the reasons why I was not at all surprised when Hunter got the boot in Marquesas. If you disagree with your tribesmates, even if they’re in the wrong, do so in the right way. Be more political. Not openly whine and bitch about it. Especially not when you’re in the minority. (Stupid Hunter. Who’s the knucklehead now?). But is Twila in the minority or majority? Maybe we’ll know more next week. That said, I don’t like her approach in the game. You may survive the wilderness, but don’t forget you have to survive your tribesmates too.

Predictions : Brain/Heart/Gut

This is how it works. Brain indicates who I THINK will go based on assumptions and analysis of the previous episode. Heart indicates who I WANT to go. Gut indicates, despite the logical reasonings and personal impressions, this is who my INSTINCTS tell me will leave.

Brain : If the guys go to Tribal Council, John Paylock might leave (if the others have learned how to make fire by then). If it’s the girls, Twila.

Heart : John Paylock/Eliza (it’s a tie)

Gut : The Shepherdess (there goes the Coke again, dammit)

Stickies for the First Episode :

* Ami: �I�m not used to getting put second behind a man.� (will this indicate her losing out to a man?)

* Mia on the ritual �We got a bum deal… we�re out for blood now.� (the women got their ‘blood’ for winning the IC. will they kick the guys asses all the way?)

* Rory during the ritual : “No one jabbed a spear at me, Black man not unwelcomed”

* Dolly: “(the pig slaughter) doesn’t bother me, that is what I do with sheep”

* It started to rain as soon as the men got their rock. Could be a bad omen.

* Chris: “Perfect. I can outsmart men better than women. Men I can manipulate” (he sure did. it was a miraculous turn of events for him at the TC. That might not be the case when they merge with the women)

* Eliza: “I didn’t want to be too pushy and be odd person out” (Ha!)

* Brady: “Great, the guy with the mechanincal leg will win for sure, he is nice too, gonna win for sure. We’re screwed” (Will chad win? who knows.. but me thinks Brady IS screwed)

* Brady: “Rory is on his own sheet of music right now. He’s not with the group effort right now” (Ironically, Brady was the odd one out, casting the rogue vote)

* Travis: �You never underestimate a woman.�

* Lisa: �apparently they honor pigs, they are better than women�

* Chris: �In this game, you outwit, outplay and outlast them. You don�t out balance �em.�

* two shots of spiders before lea and leann

That’s all for tonight. I will make a mid-week update some time next week.

How much do you love the episode tonight. The Yield was used for the first time, and it was used on the right couple. Yay! But then again, how much do you hate tonight’s episode for being a non-elimination episode? *sigh* well, I guess you just can’t win em all.

This album was so fucking underrated

The leg tonight moved from Middle Earth to Manila. And once again, hats off to the spoilers for correctly identifying the location months ago (from Russia to Tanzania to New Zealand to Manila). Nothing like a reality television show to bring the people from all across the globe together.

The episode starts with a walk on a high beam challenge, followed by the usual rush at the airport. Everyone trying to get the earliest flights to Manila. Colon and Christie missed their flight during their stop over in Sinapore, and had to take a detour to Hong Kong with all the remaining teams. By the way, I am never setting foot in Sinapore ever again. Colon and Christie were there. No, not even for the American Idol concert next month.

Anyway, I have to eat my words. Apparently YIELD was used after all. I mean, it makes sense to use Yield towards the end of the race, no? I am so glad that Chip/Kim, Brandon/Nicole and the Moms ALL agreed to yield Colon and Christie. Even though they all arrived at the YIELD post at the same time, Chip had to do the dirty work. Poor Chip had to endure PsychoColon’s dirty stare throughout the entire Jeepney decorating challenge (which the Moms amazingly finished first).

It was then followed by a Detour of plowing the field using an ox, or trying to herd a thousand ducks into a pen. Anyone in their right mind would do the plowing challenge. I stand by what I said before. Colon and Christie? They’re the perfect pairing. They deserve each other. ‘Nuff said.

It was then a mad dash to the Coconut Palace (someone told me the girl with Phil at the Pitstop was the daughter of the Phillipines President). Chip and Kim managed to swoop into first place. And the Moms maintaining their second place. Brandon and Nicole ended up third, and Colon and Christie ended up last. Unfortunately for us viewers, it was a non-elimination round. I’m intrigued to see how will they cope getting around with no money next round. I guess, it’s time for them to get off their high asses.. i mean, horses.

If you tilt your head just a little bit, you’d think that was a picture from www.colinlovesbestiality.com

It was one of the better episodes. I am starting to think Jerry Bruckheimer is taking pointers from Mark Burnett, in terms of story telling. The concept of foreshadowing and paybacks is just too much to be passed off as a coincidence. Colon and Christie were so cocky during the first half of the episode (how they are so far ahead and what a great team they were), only got shot down later and ended up in last place. That’s payback for ya. The religious imagery and undertones in this episode too is getting more visible. Chip’s comments on the Moms could either be some sort of foreshadowing or a red herring : “If the moms can do that (the beam challenge), they are going to win this”. Well, they did the challenge. So will they win (which will be foreshadowing)? or wont they (just a red herring)?

Foreshadowing? Or plain old herring? Oooh you can just tell I’m already in Survivor mode. HA! Red herrings, sticky wickets, foreshadowing, prophecies and paybacks. Oh boy, can’t Friday night get here any quicker? By the way.. the two shows (Malaysian Idol and Survivor) will be overlapping on Friday night. How I WISH WISH WISH we had TiVo. Anyone got an extra DVD/HDD Recorder they wanna give away?

Don’t miss the two hour finale of Amazing Race 5 next Wednesday. I have my money on Chip and Kim winning the race. Or the Moms. Amazing Race 6 is scheduled to start at the end of October.

Sometimes I really pity the poor bastard. No, I’m not talking about Roslan Aziz (this time). I am, of course, referring to my housemate - my token live entertainment on Sunday nights in front of the television. Okay, “entertainment” might be stretching it a bit, but he certainly does amuse me sometimes. Take for example his constant ramblings on Phat Fabes’ FCUK shirt. For crying out loud, granted that it might be a play on the word FUCK, FCUK actually stands for French Connection United Kingdom, and I just wished I would’ve slapped himself silly, but what fun would that be, eh? Has he not seen me wear my “fcuk fear” black v-neck t-shirt ever? Mmm.. probably not, cause the last time I wore it was during the Travis/Coldplay concert in Singapore. And probably because I have so outgrown the shirt. Literally. HafuckinHa.

And as the contestants were placed into two different groups (I was so waiting when this would happen), Mr Know-It-All just had to light up his cigarette and non-chalantly (and no less confidently) announced that any fools would know that Group A (Jac/Nikki/Saiful) would be safe and Group B (Vick/Andrew/Dina) would be the bottom three. I was secretly wishing that it would be the other way round just to spite his cocky know-it-all self. And, whooops, I accidentally got my wish.

Apparently, Jac, Nikki and Saiful were in the bottom three. And based on the look on Jien’s and Aleya’s face (and how they conducted themselves), I can’t truthfully say it was a surprise. I knew Vick, Andrew and Dina have a very big fan base. Saiful was the first one to be announced that he would be safe. Here we go again. You can expect many many many disgruntled viewers crying out foul saying that Saiful should go, he should leave, he doesnt deserve to be there, blafuckingbla. I have never voted for Saiful in this competition, but what can you do? Whining ain’t gonna make things different. All that you CAN do is by sending in your votes to make sure your favourites stay in the competition. Please la.. no talk is better than all talk, mmmkay? So quit complaining. It’s not like it’s Saiful’s fault that he’s there.

It was then down to Jac and Nikki. I was ready to throw in the towel (yeah, I keep saying that week in week out) if Jac would be the one to go. Fortunately, it wasn’t her time to go. Unfortunately, that meant Nikki would be leaving the competition. It’s a shame. Was I sad to see her go? Well, part of me did. Some of her performances really impressed me. But as she herself has said, she really has a lot of room for improvement. I like her honesty and openness to admit her weaknesses. With that kind of attitude, and some more practise, do you have any doubt that this girl will make it far? No? I didn’t think so. I wish Nikki all the best of luck, and her farewell performance was much better compared to the one of Friday - a sign to show that she does indeed take the constructive criticism seriously. Bravo, Nikki.

This just in : several friends of mine just told me they did not get any confirmation SMS when they tried to vote for Nikki today. At first I thought it was just one of them, but I figured something fishy is definitely going on when I get more and more complains from my other friends. (Sorry but I only sent votes in for Jac and Dina this week, so I can’t vouch this for myself). Were their votes for Nikki blocked by certain parties? Hmmm.. will the conspiracies never end? God knows we have this same kind of … emm.. ‘problem’ (if you want to call it that).. when Nurul was voted out in Akademi Fantasia. Hmm.. 8tv and Fremantle’s got a whole lot of explaining to do to the upset fans out there.

Anyway, next week. OH BOY!!! They will either totally murder the whole thing, or they will make it a very memorable night. I think it will be the kiss of death for Andrew. Vick might fare well, along with Jac and Dina. Saiful will probably shine. It’s a shame Zamil has left us last week. He would so kick the other contestants’ asses for next week’s theme : Songs by the Legendary Tan Sri P. Ramlee. Can’t wait.

Izad - Out

Okay, now I finally get why there’s no group performance. Just looking at their short short dance routine at the beginning of the show was enough to make me cringe. Just imagine what the group would be like dancing AND singing together. Yes, I finally see the reason for the lack of a group performance.

This week’s theme was Rhythm and Blues which sounded promising. After all, I would say that probably 75% of the audition process involved the genre one way or another. Ahmad Izham as the guest judge was a very welcome change. Paul’s short rant about Jien calling him ‘unprofessional’ was funny. It’s a known fact that Paul visits the message boards where people (or shall I say, kids) were calling him names (’unprofessional’ being one of the more famous ones). That short stint just proves that he’s a good sport and is able to laugh at himself. Onto the show!

Jac - Lady Marmalade (Patti LaBelle)
Jac sold me when she came on stage with the pink feather boa. I admit that that’s one of my weaknesses. Riiiiight. Jac’s performance was good. But, I don’t know, ever since her performance last week, I just can’t get it out of my head that she remind me of any other band singers singing in pubs and clubs. It’s a compliment, but I also keep asking myself, HOW is she different from those people? I still haven’t found the answer yet. It wasn’t her best but it was certainly an enjoyable performance. An 8.

Vick - You Don’t Miss Your Water (Craid David)
Well, someone slap me and call me a monkey’s uncle, but Vick surpassed my expectations with his performance. After he wrecked my favourite Craig David song, Walking Away, a few weeks ago, his performance tonight was really really good. There were no theatrics and he didn’t overdo his vocals. It was just nice. Very very nice. I liked it a lot. An 8.

Saiful - Tekad (Hazami)
Saiful is smart. I’m sure by now the audience knows that he probably can’t sing English songs very good, so why bother showing off his weakness. To be fair, Saiful’s got a nice voice. Granted that he can’t really pull the high notes, I did not for a single second think he fucked up this song. This song is not easy but it was well delivered. Again, how I wished Saiful had gone into Akademi Fantasia instead. He would’ve fared very very well there, but whatever it is, I’m pretty sure he’ll become one of the more famous Malaysian Idol contestant after all this is over. His performance, a 6 and a half. And can I just add a trivia fact here : The one single most over used word in the history of Malaysian Idol - “terkucil”. Can someone throw these monkeys a thesaurus for a change?

Nikki - Emotions (Bee Gees)
Nikki started off a bit funky but she carried the song well midway through the song till the end. Ahmad Izham knows what he’s talking about. Nikki’s got a great voice but she should learn how and when to use her ‘Nikki-ness’ into these songs. Personally, I thought she overdid her modulations in certain parts, but it’s not half bad. The girl can hit her high octaves, but I hope she’ll deliver a more solid performance in the weeks to come. A 7.

Andrew - I Wanna Know (Joe)
Damn, this song brings back good memories. But probably not any more. Not after last night’s show. Andrew’s got a really pleasant mellow voice. But it’s been.. how many weeks now? But still.. his stage presence : zero. It is definitely his number one weakness. He’s got the looks that makes all the girls go ga-ga over him and he’s got a decent voice. If only he’s able to work up enough confidence to shine on stage, he would so be golden. But in the mean time, he just doesn’t. A 5. (On listening to the recap, he somehow reminds me of the Roman brothers, which is definitely not a good thing)

Dina - Hit ‘Em Up Style (Blu Cantrell)
Whoa. Homegirl brings down the house yeah yeah yeah! For the first time in the competition, I felt that I would be pleased if Dina was crowned the Idol and not Jac. Before this I was content if Dina ended up in the Final Two. But, in my mind, there is no doubt, that Dina is slowly becoming a serious contender for Jac. It was a strong performance. At first I thought she was dangerously imitating Blu Cantrell to every single note, but fortunately, there were some touch of Dina scattered towards the end of the song. Bravo Dina. I am so proud of you. Easily the performance of the night. A 9.

So that’s it folks. Again, I thought Vick was good and was ready to let him share the “Performance of the Week” with Jac, but Dina swept the rug beneath their feet. Do I think Vick, Jac and Dina will be in the Top 3 on Sunday night? They might, but don’t count on it. Strange things have happened in this show, which I’m sure you’re all pretty aware of. Speaking of strange, the Malaysian Airlines ad reminds me that Carnivale will be showing on HBO next month. Yay! We’re finally getting all the good shows next month. The Apprentice, Carnivale, Survivor.. and of course, the Malaysian Idol finale.

Izad - Out

What an exciting episode! Uber cool destination, excellent challenges, Colin apologizing! LOL right, I didn’t think any of us missed the sarcasm, Colin. And of course, there was the question of To Yield or Not To Yield.

I’m going to keep this brief. The teams left Calcutta and headed for New Zealand. There was a tonne of footage from the airport which were confusing and unnecessary, IMO. At this point I was on the edge of my seat to see :

a) whether Colin would make a stop over in Kuala Lumpur (which he thankfully did not, although I think he may have used some of our airspace. Ick), and
b) whether the spoilers have nailed it (the NZ spoiler which I will post at the end of this entry).

They got to New Zealand, they made fun of the Yield feature and they had these awesome challenges! The New Zealand sledging looks like a cross between whitewater rafting and surfing. It certainly looks difficult (but fun!) so kudos to teams who did that challenge (especially the Moms).

The other detour led them to Hell’s Gate. How appropriate. There, they had to retrieve some clues hidden beneath the large pool of hot mud. It wasn’t exactly as fun as the volcanic mud that the Pagongs and Tagi had fun with on Pulau Tiga, and it was pretty much the same as the challenge from last season’s Amazing Race (where they had to find clues hidden in high piles of cowpile). Somehow, if that happened I think Brandon and Nicole would probably chicken out. I thought begging for money in India would humble them somewhat, but I didn’t think that happened.

Identical twins.. covered in mud.. somewhere out there, you just know a perverted old man is busting his nuts

The final challenge before the pitstop was the best (and most fun) I’ve seen so far. They arrived in a hilly location (I was half expecting to see Tinky Winky, Lala, Dipsy and Pop out from some hole in the ground) and had to get into a giant plastic ball and roll down to the hill to the pitstop like a tiny hamster. And it looked bloody fun, dammit. The parts where they slipped out from the ball made me think of giant ugly babies being pushed out from a gigantic plastic vagina. Not that I’ve actually seen the real thing. And I know babies come out head first. I’m just saying. Forget it. Okay, I’m done.

*makes mental challenge to go for this Zorb thingy if I ever reach New Zealand*

Colin and Christie finished first (again!), and the Moms finished second (WOOHOO!!). Brandon and Nicole finished third followed by Chip and Kim. The twins came in last, and unfortunately this is a non-elimination round, so they were eliminated. I like the twins. However, I don’t think they are excellent racers, but they’ve been very lucky in the game. Unfortunately luck can only get them so far. Sorry to see you go, girls.

NOW, it’s time for a special shout out to the Spoiler of The Year. No, not you Chill One. You SUCK. There are certain ethics to spoiling a reality tv show, and despite the fact that you have a book out and everything, you know squat about it. Anyway, I would like to congratulate Constipated Flandangle who’s provided us Sucksters with the most interesting (and accurate) spoiler information of the season.

This was posted before the first episode started and there have been many debates on how legit this spoiler info was. Well based on tonight’s episode, you can probably answer that yourself. BRAVO CF!

“constipated flandangle
MESS member
(2/20/04 9:34 pm)
Reply
ezSupporter

Edited by: constipated flandangle at: 8/12/04 4:37 am”

First of all, I love the short Malaysian Idle segments by Phat Fabes and Rina. They’re funny! And Rina rocks my socks off!! I love that girl. I just about almost shat myself when Rina asked the audience “Are you guys MENTAL??”. LOL. That reminded me of my encounter with this one particular mental fan in the audience two weeks ago.

Secondly, I know it’s hard to get people to drag themselves to Sri Pentas 2 on a Sunday night, but they got to shift the focus away from the empty seats in the studio. It looks bad. I think it would be nice if they had a short group performance for the results show. At least the audience will get something out of it. The hassle for driving all the way to Shah Alam at least an hour before the show starts is just not worth it.

As for me, well, I get more entertainment watching the show from home with my housemate. Yeah, I didn’t think it was possible either. During the short Guy Sebastian promo, my housemate asked me if he was an Australian aborigine (because of the hairdo). You’d think he was jesting, but trust me, he wasn’t. Aiyo.. I don’t know whether I should feel bad for him or what, but I just chortled and pretended I didn’t hear him.

Separated at birth? Mmmm.. I don’t think so. Possibly the worst comparison in the history of mankind.

Anyway, nothing controversial in the results show tonight. The judges were rather subdued as they kept it short and simple. By the way, do you think if we skipped the judges comments, we can squeeze in a group performance? Hmm definitely something to think about, Fremantle. The judges made an almost unanimous predictions on who would be in the bottom three : Zamil, Andrew and Saiful. And they nailed it.

Was I surprised to see them in the bottom three. Not really. I would be very upset if one of the girls ended up in the bottom three. However, contrary to popular opinion, I think Saiful was one of the better performances that night, but that’s just my opinion. Andrew’s performance, like I said, was bad. But I really do feel bad for him. You can actually see him tried his best, but rock just wasn’t his thing. I’m gonna say it again. As much as I love rock, the rock theme for Malaysian Idol was an ill conceived idea.

Zamil. Man. I’m going to just admit it right here, right now. I voted for Zamil this week. And I have been voting for him every week since the Final 33. He’s what you can call my Malaysian Idol guilty pleasure. I have absolutely no regrets that I ‘wasted’ my votes on him. He’s probably got the best voice among the male contestants but it just wasn’t versatile enough. It’s a real shame. Again, I blame rock. Or rather, I blame whoever that suggested the rock theme. Was I sad to see him leave? Of course. It’s a real shame that he’s going to miss out on the Rhythm & Blues theme next week. But that’s life. He made a graceful exit, and I’m proud to have helped him in his journey in the Idol competition. Zamil, keep your chin up. Better things will come your way soon. Dude, you will be missed.

And honestly speaking, I’m kind of glad he’s gone this week, because if everything goes according to plan, I don’t even have to tune in to 8tv next Friday night *cough*SURVIVOR VANUATU!!*cough*

But I’m pretty sure I’m going to anyway.

Izad - Out