Culturally Preconditioned

Lokman ~ Menanti Sebuah Harapan (Padi)

I’m glad he’s still in this competition in spite of the trainwreck last week. I’m aslo galad he got this song. Very laidback, relaxed - which is so him. There weren’t much musical distractions within the arrangement and that allowed me to hear the clarity of his voice and pleasant tone. I love him. Overall, the performance was nothing out of the ordinary, save for the uniqueness of his tone which I am absolutely in love with. A 7.5 out of 10.

Alif ~ Unwell (Matchbox Twenty - it’s TWENTY, not 20.. get your facts right, 8tv)

Another pleasant performance from Alif. If he’s not careful, he’s going to turn into my ex-roommate* (not the current racist, homophobic one) who thinks he’s Rob Thomas incarnate (bitch please) if he keeps getting Thomas’s songs. It was pleasant but perhaps a little too laidback for an intense, angry song. And what the hell was up with him smiling. That bothered me a little. He could’ve done better, I think. 6 out of 10.

Zai ~ Incomplete (Backstreet Boys)

The musical arrangemnet was different and I kinda liked it. As for Zai’s performance, it was better than last week but not by much, really. I miss Dina. That is all. And Syafinaz really ripped her a new one, didn’t she. Man, what a bitch!!!!! (for what it’s worth, that’s actually a compliment. Me likey). 5 out of 10.

Faizal ~ L.O.V.E (Ashlee Simpson)

ROFLMAO. Ashlee Simpson. To be fair, I’ve never heard the original song. Ashlee Fucking Simpson, are you shitting me? I would sooo rather cut my left nut than listen to that bitch’s crap. It seemed like Fazial pretty much understood the challenge and he performed it well. I was more than ready to get tired of the whole rocker style persona, but he did great given that shit of a song that was given to him. Ashlee Simpson. Come on! Seriously wtf? 8 out of 10.

Dayang ~ Selamanya (Innuendo)

Aik.. “suara saya sengau sikit je”? Mengaku sendiri, tak apa. So then why wasn’t she doing anything to rectify that, cause she certainly did sound kinda sengau to me in parts (well it’s her fault for pointing that out to me). I dunno. To me, it was good, but just a typical Dayang performance. She needs to do something to really wow the audience if she wants to win this thing. Unfortunately, I don’t think she achieved that with tonight’s performance. A 7 out of 10.

Farah ~ Time After Time (Cyndi Lauper)

I would love to say she butchered one of my favourite songs ever from the 80s. But she didn’t. That was excellent. Nice arrangements and she really did manage to make this song her own this time without straying away too much from the original. Nice. Loved it. Maybe, partly it was because we saw part of her old girl next door persona again. [Xandir P. Wifflebottom] Brava, Farah. Brava. [/Xandir P. Wifflebottom] 8.5 out of 10

Azfar ~ Kamu (Nitrus)

OMG I can’t believe they picked a Nitrus song!!! Speak of the devil* (see above Alif post), I remember listening to this raw demo in my ex-housemates car stereo and him asking for my input a few months ago. LOL. I knew I shouldn’t have mentioned him in my post earlier. But really does bring back memories, so much so I feel compelled to have a few rounds of snooker with him tomorrow. As for Azfar, well I thought he was pretty decent. There was no over the top modulations which I came to expect from him, so that was good. 6.5 out of 10.

Suki ~ Pasangan Yang Tepat (Marshanda)

Wow, I’m very impressed that she can speak and sing in Malay very well. I’m not so familiar with the song, but it was pleasant enough. There was clarity in her voice which I liked, and I CANNOT AGREE WITH SYAFINAZ MORE! It was so much better that listening to some Malay singers singing in Malay but trying to sound so mat saleh with their words (you know what I mean). Diction bersepah tapi perasan omputeh.. camana tu? And I thought Paul was unnecessarily harsh on Suki. I would like to hear him speak in Malay sometimes. 2 sentences will do, for a start. Sheesh! Take a chill pill, dude. 7 out of 10.