Culturally Preconditioned

The first spectacular opened up with a group performance of FAME! That was probably the best song choice of the evening, cause because that’s basically what they’re doing. To quote a line from RENT : “to no shame that we’re playing the Fame game”. Shameless. But surprisingly, the performance wasn’t a total disaster. Even Faizul’s part sounded good. All in all, the performance was, in my opinion, very well put together, and here’s hoping to see lots more of these.

(Pictures courtesy of Minaq_Jinggo, a bluehyppo forummer and part of the Res_Q FotoMedia team - a group of freelance photographers. Call 019-2161869 for further info)

And can I just say that I don’t like Cheryl. She has zero chemistry with Jien, her cheery bubbly persona is distinguishably fake, but the more annoying thing is that she tends to speak at bullet train speed. R-E-L-A-X. Why does she feel the need to talk to fast? It’s annoying. As annoying as Waheeda during the failed Red Carpet coverage of the recentr Malaysian Film Fest. I sure as hell hope Astro will come up with a “Mute-particular-character” button function soon. stfu stfu STFU!

Spectacular 1 - Top 11 - “Hits Songs”

Wow.. what an exciting theme. Not.

Atilia - You Had Me
Very nice performance from Atilia. I’m glad she chose a funky song to show that she can sing both slow and upbeat songs. Easily the best vocal of the night and what a way to start the show. 8.5 out of 10.

Ash - I Don’t Wanna Be
Well, he was definitely better this time than his workshop performance. His lisp wasn’t audible this time, so that’s good. I still think he’s not a great performer as I thought he would be, and I thought what Roslan said was a tad too harsh (and that’s coming from ME!). Gee’s comment about “don’t show your attitude” automatically made me raise her a flippa. 5.5 out of 10

Azam - Salsabilla
I really don’t care much for Yassin’s songs, but to be fair, Azam exceeded my expectations. He has great voice control, but I hope he loses that frozen burshed hairstyle soon cause it makes him look like a lesbian. 8 out of 10.

Trish - A Woman’s Worth
For once, I agree with Baldy. That was definitely a lazy song choice. The song didn’t do justice to her voice at all. If I didn’t see her previous performances, I would rate her as below average, but for now.. a 6 out of 10.

Adam - Mentera Semerah Padi
His voice is definitely only second best to Atilia and it would be awesome if we’re gonna have him and Atilia in the Finals. I loved his vocal. I just can’t believe Gee actually apologised to Abg Baldy because she disagreed with his statement. Bitch, please. And oh Lord, if I have to hear another ‘Jantan’ comment whenever Adam gets on stage, I don’t know what I’m gonna do. I dare them to say the same thing to Anuar Zain or Rem. 8 out of 10.

Farah - Cubalah Untuk Setia
I don’t know.. Farah seems a tad forgettable to me. I’m not familiar with the song that she sung, but I thought she didn’t sound too good. The only good thing about the performance was the heated arguments between Abg Baldy and Paul afterwards. 6.5 out of 10.

Ejay - We Belong Together
Taking on a Mariah song was a brave attempt but the judges had it spot on. Half of the time I couldn’t make out the lyrics. Sorry. 5 out of 10.

Faizull - Semangat
To tell you the truth, the rock novelty isgoing to start wearing off on me real fast. Though he pulled it off surprisingly well in during the Fame performance, the jury is still out on whether he can actually sing in other genres. 6.5 out of 10

Daniel - True
What the fuck is up with the pseudo whispering vocals? Some people actually find that attractive, endearing, and “lunak” ??? Come on, that was beyond crap. To brand him a ‘manufactured band boy material’ is an overstatement since I could barely even make out a single word he’s singing from that song. And this is not the first time either. FUCK! 2 out of 10.

Xerra - Karma
I’m not a Xerra fan, let me tell you that in advance. I’m not sorry that I’m not and I probably never will be. At best, she only sounded average, and I’m not even gonna to dignify the fact that her performance was overly littered with grunting noises like someone taking a dump - and this wasn’t even commented on by the judges. I gave her a 5 out of 10. But after the fucking accident sob story (”actually it hurts. IT HURTS!”), I automatically downgraded her to a 4 out of 10.

Nita - Left Outside Alone
I liked her performance. She had a few diction problems that she could work on. I thought she also looked ’scary’ in certain parts of her performance - which shows the double standard the judges are showing by only commenting on that during Atilia’s performance. But all in all it was a pretty good performance. A 7 out of 10.

It was an okay first spectacular. There were more good performances than not. My reviews will depend a whole lot on their song choices (let it be known that if anyone sings Bryan McKnight’s Everytime You Go Away, I will automatically give them a big fat zero.. fucking worst song of the century).

I’ve only sent my votes to Atilia and Adam. Probably the only two that will get my constant votes throughout the season. The bottom three this week should be : Daniel, Xerra and Ejay - with Daniel leaving (seriously, what the fuck was that?). But we all know he’s not going anywhere. If last year’s results were anything to base on, the judges’ pick (those without fan votes) might leave. However, Azam, I think, proved his worth. It’s hard, it’s hard. It could be Adam since he didn’t get through the first round. It’s hard, it’s hard! I can’t really say, but I’ve a gut feeling it will be either Ejay or Farah.

Wildcard Show

Fauzi 10874 (You Raise Me Up) - It wasn’t entirely horrible but his workshop performance was way much better. For future Idol hopefuls, do not, I repeat do NOT attempt songs by Josh Groban. Thank you in advance. 4/10

Azam 11387 (Kaulah Segalanya) - Boring boring boring. Zero appeal. Sorry. 5/10

Aesar 11853 (Cinta Di Akhir Garisan) - The judges were spot on with their remarks. It does seem like he’s auditioning for a musical. And he needs to fricken relax with his over the top expressions. Like I mentioned last week, he’s more suited for Audition than he is for Idol. 5/10

Kash 12289 (Walking Away) - I’ll walk away and let Whatevia do the talking

“…………………………”
No rating

Lisa 10560 - Roslan’s comments had me rolling. KOLOM KOLOM.. aiyo.. very da suggestive. Anyway, she’s okay.. but nothing really outstanding even though the judges liked her. *gag* 5/10

Adam 10293 (Januari) - They saved the best for last. His performance was as good as his first workshop. Hopefully he’ll make it through. And can I just say that I heart this song? 8/10

Overall the workshop was . My predictions.. Adam will get the viewers votes and Lisa will get the judges votes. Worst case scenario, Kash gets the viewer votes (in which case, Whatevia and I will be forced to go to each Idol performance and stand like that in front of the stage whenever he sings) and Adam goes through via votes from the judges. Adam HAS to go through. Seriously.

Workshop 3

Intan 11377 - I love her nice tone. Paul’s “You look fine from waist up but not waist down” was totally unnecessary, 7/10

Yasir 10251 - Did they showed his wrong audition clip, or did he really went to the audition in drag? Yowza! Lots of mumbling. His performance was way over the top. 4/10

Kash 12289 - This was one of the guys that I had in mind when I first commented how egoistic the contestants have become this season. I thought I’d give him the benefit of the doubt, but bitch please. That totally sucked. And I noticed he mentioned in his profile that he has the ‘humbleness’ to become the next Malaysian Idol. HAHAHAHA.. ohmigod.. does he even know what that word mean? Now kindly get the fuck off my tv. 1/10

Trish 12294 - I love the fact that she chose an upbeat and funky song. I thought she sounded a little like Mary J Blidge and I totally agree with Paul’s comment about her having a voice that matches her image. Very nice. 7.5/10

Aesar 11853 - Lots of grunting. His theatrics were just too much, it actually looked like he was acting out a monologue. Dude, Audition is on ntv7. 5/10

Farah 11120 - Very nice. 7/10

Farish 11752 - What the hell is with his ‘T’ pronounciation? That bugged the hell out of me. Urghh I really hate orang Melayu yang overpronounce their ‘T’s and ‘R’s. Kalau lagu English okay jugak, ni lagu Melayu pun nak mengada2 pronounce macam tu apa hal? Aiyo.. seriously, wtf? Seriously this is my biggest pet peeve ever. 2/10

Daniel 10896 - I don’t get it. He forgets his lyrics, his enunciations were non existent and he lisps. I don’t see the appeal at all. 3/10

Man, I am feeling incredibly bitchy after watching last night’s show because I just realised how bad the semi finalists that we have this year. The one that I really care for last night is Trish and hopefully she’ll get into the Finals. The other two top performances were from Intan and Farah, but chances are Daniel will weasel his way in. That’s okay. I’ll spare slitting my wrists in the unlikely event that Kash or Farish make it through. And the only people who are worthy of consideration for the wildcards are Fauzi, Adam and Suria. Man, this show is getting to be so pathetic.

Will someone do us a favour and throw an “Idiot’s Guide to Idioms and Phrases” to Roslan? If he says NOT HAPPENING just ONE more time, I swear I’m gonna have an aneurysm. Sheesh.. way to overuse a dumb phrase and bludgeon it to death. It’s not unlike Gee’s “Kak Gee setuju dengan komen Abg Roslan” broken record comments. Seriously, can’t they find better judges? Aiyooo.. they could learn something from the folks at Akademi Fantasia and get better judges, who’s not just there for the sake of being ‘another Simon’ or ‘another Paul’ or ‘another Randy’. And while I’m on that, we definitely do not need ‘another Ryan’ too. Jien’s childish giggling and in-jokes with Paul Moss is so passe. Give it a rest already.

Workshop 2

Ash 11759 (Kiss From A Rose - Seal) - I can’t believe this guy was one of my top picks to win this. He sounded great in the thetare eliminations but this performance was beyond bad. I’m sorry but, yeah, that was really bad. 4/10

Suria 12213 (Tiada Lagi) - Why were the judges being so harsh about her performance? I don’t get it. I thought she had no pitching problems and she sang the song quite good. I liked it. No originality? Please lah Roslan, if you don’t keep repeating your comments over and over again, then I’d probably be interested in what you have to say. 7.5/10

Dianne 12287 (Imagine - John Lennon) - Is she the overhyped Soleano contestant? Is that it? Not only did she chose a bad rendition of a classic, her voice didn’t exactly blew me away either. Sorry. 5/10

Jerome 11777 (This LOve - Maroon 5) - Now, I personally thought this song fits him on a certain level. His performance was ten times better than what’s that guy’s name from MI1 (the one with his ‘robotic’ movements?), but that’s not really saying much. I thought Jerome had a nice voice but he needed a better song choice to showcase that. Sorry man, I guess I’ll see you around in SS15 later. 6/10

Adam 10293 - Wow. I wasn’t really expecting anything good from this guy but it was a really strong performance. Granted that his opening act was rather cheesy, I thought he carried the song really really well. Definitely one of the bigger contenders in this competition so far. However, I thought Gee’s comments about ‘being more macho’ and stuff was uncalled for. Wither SAiful or Rem or even Annuar Zain? It’s up to the public to decide if the enjoy watching flamboyant effeminate men on stage or not. 8/10

Ejay 11457 (The Trouble With Love Is - Alicia Keyes) - I loved her jazzy and blue-sy voice, but Paul was right on her enunciations. Nevertheless it was a pretty good performance and she could definitely be better with more vocal training 7.5/10

Azam 11387 (Kenangan Lalu - Flybaits) - Between his avergae voice and stoic expressions, I’m just not feeling it. 6/10

Nita 10992 (Get Here - Oletta Adams) - I don’t think she’s anywhere exceptional as the judges are making her out to be. Her performance was indeed above average but exceptional? I don’t think so. It was just pleasant (even though I thought she was warbling at certain points in her performance). 7/10

Only THREE from this group will advance to the Finals. Who will it be? Based on last night’s performance, I would say the best three are Adam (definitely), Suria (despite the judges comments) and Ejay. But I’ve a gut feeling that Nita will somehow make it through. I won’t mind her as much (as long as Adam makes it in) since I’m guessing she will definitely be matched with the overrated Xerra (similar looks, genre and style) in the finals.

oh and a ps. I’m so bloody glad Atilia made it through the first round. Yay!