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.