Culturally Preconditioned

So I was watching the show right, and then suddenly bak kata my friend, out of the blue moon, Marion announced that the voting is now over. I was like.. wtf? I didn’t realize voting was open all week long (not that sent in even a single one). I guess the show is trying to give AF a run for its money by opening the voting line all week, instead of like MI where it is open only for 2 days (and Rockstar just 4 hours). But whatever man… I can’t be surprised that Aliya, Mimi and Annie are all in the bottom 3. All are so forgettable. The only thing that was so mind numbingly annoying was the looping background music. If you missed it, watch out for it this week when they’re about to announce who’s leaving the show.

This week’s ‘challenge’ - Judges Choice and Press Conference Skills.

Suki ~ You Oughta Know (Alanis Morisette)

One of my least favourite Alanis tracks but Suki sung it well. So much better than Farah’s (or was it Nita’s) version from Malaysian Idol 2. Nevermind the fact that she didn’t deviate AT ALL from Alanis’ version, but it was still a great performance. Perhaps for the first time, I’m actually seeing what the huge fuss over Suki is all about. She’s still no Jac, though. 8.5 out of 10

Lokman ~ Generasiku (OAG)

He sounded really shaky in the beginning. That performance was terribly average. But that doesn’t deter the fact that I personally love the tone of his voice. He was flat out of breath by the end of his performance. I blame the judges’ choice. Ooh, and I just remembered how good Lokman sound singing English songs while watching the post-show diary. Biasalah, orang JB katakan. Muahahah 5.5 out og 10

Azfar ~ Manis (Zainal Abidin)

It was a good performance except for the fact that he keep reiterating his lenggoks and warblings every 15 seconds. That was super annoying in my opinion. If he had toned it down, it would’ve been so much better. 6 out of 10

Zai ~ I Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing (Aerosmith)

I was quite surprised to hear that the first half of the song sounded a bit Melayu-ish. I dunno. Her performance left me with many different thought, some good, but mostly bad. Just singing the higher notes doesn’t make a performance all that, but apparently not many people share my feelings on this as can be seen from the audience’s reactions to her performance.  6.5 out of 10.

Dayang ~ Survivor (Destiny’s Child)

Wow. I’m truly impressed. That was really good. Regardless the fact that she’s an established artist or not, but that was superb. She can be mistaken for the real Beyonce (if not for her height and her clothes). I’m not a fan of Dayang, nor have I ever been verklempt over any of her live performances, but that was HOT! Brilliant. Loved it. 10 out of 10.

Ameen ~ Hatiku Luka Lagi (Black Dog Bone)

There’s no point in me beating behind the bush. I just don’t like his voice. There’s just too many Anuar Zain’s floating around in the industry today. 4 out of 10.

Aliya ~ Tentang Dia (Melly Goestow)

I’m just impressed that she didn’t have a single pitching problem. So why was’t I exactly over the moon with her performance? Again, I think it goes back to the song choice. Sure it’s a new song, but it still sounds old, Syafinaz. 6 out of 10

Farah ~ Total Eclipse Of The Heart (Bonnie Tyler)

Ya Allah Ya Tuhanku Astaghfirullahalazimmmmm.. sapa la yg jadi penyanyi background tu. Gila sengau. Org sengau kalau dgr pun mesti tergelak agaknya. Anyway, that was a thousand fold better than last week. I guess the only problem that I have with Farah is no matter how good she sounds, it always seem like she’s struggling with the song. And she always tend to oversing the final note. Yuck. 7 out of 10.

Faizal ~ With A Little Help From My Friends (The Beatles)

Superb. Excellent voice control. Excellent stage presence. Awesome. There’s nothing more to say. 9 out of 10

Alif ~ Mama Tolong Percaya (Exist)

I loathe this song. That said, it was as weak as Lokman’s performace, but I prefer Lokman’s voice over his. 5 out of 10.