Culturally Preconditioned

I haven’t updated this blog since ages, cause I’ve been so busy at work, I have a magazine deadline in two days, and I’ve just spent the most stressful 30 days ever since May 20th 2006, but more on that later.

Just wanted to give a short update on One In A Million.. which is probably the only thing that I watch in real time on the television. The summer season sucks! There is NOTHING good on television. So, anyway, I was watching One In A Million tonight.. and what is up with all the fucking sob stories? Excuse me, was I tuning in to Melodi, or Akademi Fantasia? Sikit2 menangis, sikit2 meluahkan hati, sikit2 emo. Aiyooooooooooooooo. Shaddup shaddup shaddup!!! Actually nothing much to update la.. I was just pleased with myself for guessing the first singer was Farah from MI2.. it’s easy to distinguish her from the rest because of her vocals and more importantly her clear English diction. I hope she makes it to the Final 10. I gotta say, this bunch is better than the one we had from Malaysian Idol 2, I tell ya.

And while we’re on AF, can I just say how disgusting and sickening that show is becoming? Aaaa you guys ada gaduh2 ke tadi.. dia merajuk ke.. AIYOOOOOOOOOOOOO bile aku dgr, rasa macam nak bagi flying kick je sekor2. Putrid adolescent shit. I don’t mind the actual competition, but all those scripted drama shit.. aarghhhhhhh. Termasuklah tenaga2 pengajar diorg yg overdose mengalahkan Tyra Banks tatkala dia mengamuk naik hantu.

Enough about that. So about the past 30 days in hell? Well, I joined an online Survivor game over at ImmunityIdol.net .. and it made me realise that this truly IS a hard game. I know I’ve said I would be a great player, but I had NO idea it was gonna be this difficult. Playing an online Survivor game might sound ultra dorkish, but this was great fun! They recruited players from Fantasy Game Central and also from Survivor Sucks, and we all had to assume a Survivor character in the game, without revealing our true identities. The premise was superb, as we really were all ’strangers’, we weren’t able to contact each other outside the game.. basically other than the challenges, it’s the closest thing an online game can get to the actual Survivor game.

Jeff Probst (the host) will be writing out 2 episodes per week, culminating to the revealing of the winner (the game has ended but nobody knows who won). So if you’re interested, or bored to death with the shits that on the telly these days, give the recaps a try. I think the first episode will be coming up this Sunday, and I will post a link to it here.

I’d rather not say which character I played during the game. I could be the first person voted out, or I could just made the merge…. Anyway, look out for the episodes coming your way soon.

I remember last year when Aznil ended the Final AF concert by adking the audience “What would your weekend nights be without Akademi Fantasia”. I’m not surprised he used the exact same sentence again this time. You can literally feel the fever, and I’m sure many people will feel the empty gap in their Saturday nights to come. But as for me, as long as 8tv is still booking the midnight slot for Kyan, Jai, Carson, Thom and Ted, I still won’t be able to go out and catch the midnight shows in the cinemas. But yeah, it will be bloody surreal next week when I tune in to Astro Ria and not see the familiar faces of the AF kids.

Adam - Ooh La La and Haruskah
Seriously Adam, the bandangan thingy is just getting old, and I was rolling when Aznil casually took a shot at him by saying that old people probably use it to wipe their noses. As for his performance, it was nothing to write home about. He seemed happy that he got the KRU song, but again, it looked as if he enjoyed dancing more than he did singing. He started off the second song (which was written by Ajai) quite promising, but he quickly went back to Adam-mode. I was snickering silently to myself when he foolishly stood quietly while prompting the audience to join him in the chorus. It was a new song, for crying out loud. What was he thinking. I mean, seriously. I may sound harsh, but that’s the reality of it. He was the weakest of the bunch tonight.

Zahid - Biarkan Bulan Bicara and Milikku
Zahid started off weak for his first song, but he picked it up near towards the end. I was actually disappointed with his first performance. It was an average performance compared to his previous ones. The second song (written by Ruffedge) was a different performance altogether. He was in his element and it showed. He was doing the rapping, the singing and all the stuff at the same time. If that were sung by Ruffedge, that probably would’ve been done by several different people at the same time. But Zahid pulled it off all by himself, so he gets my respect for his efforts. Not the best from this Kg Baru kid, but that’ll do. I think he also coined a new cool term : “PENGAFUNDI” - people who voted. And the foghorns coming from the audience was just teriffic.

Linda - Aku Cinta Kamu and Only You
Linda only had a few days to prepare for her first song which was a new song written by Ajai and Nurul (the others had like 5 days to practise their new songs, but she had.. what.. two or three days?). Her first performance was just alright, in my opinion, but I thought her dialogue in the middle of the song was a rather nice touch. Her second song, which was sung in Spanish, was quite good, though nobody would’ve known if she stumbled on the song cause I’m assuming not that many viewers speak Spanish. She looked lovely in that hot red dress and red flower in her hair, just like a Spanish senorita (kinda reminds me of Madonna in the La Isla Bonita video). However, I noticed that the audience’s response to her was not that great.. it was lacklustre, actually. As much as I love Linda, I was secretly hoping she’s not going to win, because God knows, a lot of people have already been accusing her of some terrible shits because she was brought back into the show last week. Get a life, whiners. She was voted in by the viewers. Deal with it.

Bob - Gadis Sarawak and Cinta Seorang Teman
Bob’s introduction in the first song was pure sweetness. I was totally captivated for a few seconds. But he lost me somewhere in the middle of the song. And I think he forgot some of the lyrics but he covered it pretty well. However, his second song. Y.O.W.Z.A.!. I was absolutely, totally mesmerized and that’s not an exagerration. For the first time, I was finally able to fully appreciate Bob’s voice. It’s beautiful. No, exquisite, more like it. And I loved the song. Adnan Abu Hassan is a genius for composing that song for Bob. Easily the performance of the night. Hands down. Bob is not getting much credit as he deserved. But the ugly facts remain that most viewers still choose voice over talent. It’s a real shame. I’m not saying the others are not good. I’m just saying that they’re not the only ones that are good.

Farah - Tangisan Dalam Kerinduan and Sk8er Boi
As at the time of writing this, I have actually forgotten Farah’s first performance. All that I could remember was that vocally, it was better than Linda’s first performance, but some of the part using her lower register were barely audible. The short little segment of her finally meeting Johnny were unbelievably bittersweet. You could honestly tell from her expressions that she really was happy to finally see Johnny. It shows and I don’t believe there was an iota of fakeness. I love robot love affairs that ends happily. Anyway, her choice of singing Avril’s song was a very bold one, but it was really enjoyable. It was good and I loved it. Farah has actually supercede my expectations of her tonight.

Kaer - Sway and Kembali Bersama
Awww.. who wouldn’t want to bring this guy home to meet the parents? So clean cut, so sweet, so polite, so perfect. But I ain’t buying any of that. I hate to trash him cause I do believe that he’s a good kid, but his performance was so.. bleh, ya know? His first performance was a real awkward one. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Jazz singer throw themselves on a couch in the middle of a performance. No, not even female ones, and that bothered me to no end. (Dude, only Madonna managed to pull that off in the 1990 MTV Movie Awards show). And while we’re at it, Michael Buble is pronounced Boo-blay.. not Bubble. But I blame the teachers for not pointing that out to him. Sheesh! His second performance was good, but not good enough that I remembered to take notes about it. All I remembered was that he closed the song quite well.

Was anyone out there at all surprised to see Zahid crowned as a winner? I thought not. He’s a really versatile singer, with a nice personality to match. Overrated? I don’t think so. I knew Linda was going to give Zahid a run for his money and I’m glad she became the runner up. Another well deserved placing (despite her being brought back into the academy after being booted out). Could I ask for a better first and second place? The answer is no. I do, however, have major issues with Adam getting the thrid place, but what’s done is done, so congratulations to you too Adam. I have to give special mention to Farah. I think she’s one of the singers who have continually shown gradual improvements for the past few weeks (the rest have either been constantly good, constantly bad, or constantly forgettable). And she has hung on the second last place for an eternity, but yet she still survived till the Final concert based on her merits. Kudos, girl. As for Bob, don’t worry kid. You’re going to make your presence felt in the local music industry. I’m sure of it.

So that’s all for this year folks. Will there be a third edition of Akademi Fantasia next year? Well, Astro will be out of their minds if they decided not to have another installment of this hugely popular tv show in the country. I don’t think there has ever been a local show that is successful with this kind of magnitude. And I loved Aznil’s summary of “The Magic of Akademi Fantasia” because, let’s face it, the show IS magical. Congratulations Astro, Zahid, the entire AF2 students, the teachers and all who’s involved with the show. Thank you for a magical summer.

Do you think it was a coincidence that both Malaysian Idol and Akademi Fantasia had their wildcard results on the same night? Do you think it was a coincedence that Malaysian Idol too had its own surprise by allowing a third wildcard contestant to enter the Finals? Well, do ya punk? I thought not. I’m just surprised that the didn’t air both the result shows at the same time tonight.

The results for Akademi Fantasia were not unexpected. Votes were open for 22 hours. Linda started off strong, collecting 55% of the votes immediately after the announcement was made last night. With 30 minutes left into the show Linda’s percentage was down to 40+ and Zarina was hot behind her heels at 33%. But Linda didn’t need to worry. Even Zarina looked as though she knew that she won’t be the one who’s going to advance. I’m very happy that Linda made it through. Very very happy. Even if she doesn’t get in the Top 3 in the Finals, I know she will at least give us a memorable performance next week. Congratulations Linda!

As for the Malaysian Idol, originally, there were only going to be two contestants advancing to the Final Stage. The first was to be picked by the judges and the second was to be chosen by the voters. Sufiah was announced as the judges’ pick. I was quite surprised because her performance didn’t exactly blow me away from the last round. However, I’m glad she made it through because I liked her from the first round and she has got lots of potential.

When Sufiah was announced as the judges’ pick, I already knew Nikki was going to be the other one who will advance. I wasn’t quite happy with it but I’m not going to be all bitter about it. She can sing well, but seriously, her wildcard performance was absolutely abysmal. I hope she will prove me wrong in the Final rounds.

And probably the best moment of the night was when the judges announced the twist of allowing a third person to advance along with the other two. I was very very happy (not extremely - that would only happen if Syima was the one. Girl, you will be missed) that Rydee was the one picked. I really like Rydee. I’m gonna say that she will at least end up in the Final Four.

So, congratulations to Linda, Sufiah, Nikki and Rydee. Looking forward to your performances in the coming weeks.

Izad - Out

I am beginning to have lots of respect for the Akademi Fantasia producers. They are introducing lots of twists, turns and kezutans to add spice to the show. The twists, in my opinion, are almost Survivor-worthy. This was the penultimate show before the concert finale next week. Perhaps they are spicing things up because the Malaysian Idol final will be starting next week. But personally, I don’t think AF have to worry the slightest bit. On to the show!

Ensemble - Main Shahir To Nahin (Bobbi Soundtrack)
I am not a big fan of Bollywood. No, let me rephrase that, I am NOT a fan of Bollywood. But I was actually able to tolerate the group performance, the song itself was not bad (it’s been around since forever) and i am thankful they did not simultaneously break into frantic dance moves and start chasing each other across the stage, and hiding behind trees and stuff like that.

Zahid - Cik Mek Molek (M Daud Kilau)
Whoa.. Gypsy King. Can Zahid be more cheekier than he already is? But I think so far, he has managed to check his cheekiness within control and not come across as cocky and annoying. His performance was rather comical but very enjoyable. I’m not even going to comment on his vocal cabailities. He is da bomb. The special appearance by the original Raja Gelek was a nice surprise to him and the audience, and it was probably outshone by Misha’s appearance as one of the judges. Well done, Akademi Fantasia.

Farah - Mengapa (Nicky Astria)
From the ashes of Linda and Zarina, rises the Phoenix Farah. Personally I didn’t think this was her best performance. For most part, it seemed as if she was shouting the song instead of singing it. But it was very good nonetheless. She still could improve on her low register though.

Kaer - Fantasia (Hazami)
He was outstanding last week but this week, well it’s back to Square One. I mean, the cutesy momma’s boy routine can only get so far, ya know? I think his voice is so plainly ’sepesen’. Sorry. And I totally don’t see the connection between him and Craig David. Kudsia should apologize to Craig David for that remark.

Bob - Laguku Untukmu (Hasnol)
Bob continues to impress me with his performance this week. He has yet again proven to the audience that he is such a versatile singer. I totally admire that. But again, he does come across as incredibly cocky some times. But I hope that’s just me. Good job.

Adam - Bila Larut Malam (Saloma)
Again.. what is up with all the crying? God, I wish I could just bitchslap this guy senseless. First he cried when the doctor was about to get his blood sample. This week, he cried when he’s given an old sixties song to sing. Have some pride, man, you are on national fucking tv. Sheesh. *composes self* His performance was not half bad at all, so I didn’t see what all the fuss was about. I was not that excited to see this backup singer advance to the finals, but it could’ve been worse.

Mas and the love of her life

Mas - Aku Cinta Padamu (Sheila Majid)
I have a soft spot for Sheila Majid songs. Perhaps it’s because I was so extremely pissed at Roslan Aziz’s racists remarks a few weeks bad. But anyway, finally the teachers have found it in their hearts to give a song to Mas that she can actually sing. Although it wasn’t a terribly good performance overall, I did feel that she shone in certain parts of the song, which means… yes ladies and gentleman, Mas can actually sing. It was a good and rather a poignant performance, especially after seeing Fauziah Nawi’s and Misha Omar’s reactions to it.

Ensemble - The Greatest Love Of All (Whitney)
I didn’t think many people listend to Aznil when he said we should try to feel the song. “Learning to love yourself, it is the greatest love of all”.. hmm subtle hints to a Mas demise? Perhaps. The group performance was good. Farah took centrestage. Was the producers blatantly whoring her out to get more votes? Who knows. But she sounded good and didn’t hit any bad notes. Overall, it was a pleasant performance.

Aznil made a really big deal about how the audiences wanted Mas to leave and it wasn’t her fault that she’s still there. Okay okay we get it. Quit yapping already. It was kinda sad to finally see her leave. It was her turn to go. But not before Ramli MS announced that one of the 7 students voted out will get the chance to be in the Final Concert next week.. which means there will be 6 students instead of the usual 5 competing in the Final Round. Yay! So who will it be? Linda? Zarina? Mas? As of now, Linda is leading with 52% of the votes and Zarina at second place with 24%. Don’t be too confident, Linda lovers. Her tally was 53% less than half an hour ago, and we don’t want history to repeat itself now, would we? So get cracking and send in your votes. AFMASUK LINDA to 32999. If there is justice in this world, Linda would get the chance to sing the Spanish song she was supposed to sing in this concert, next week in the Finals. Viva La Linda!

One should always try not to write when angry. That’s why I thank my blessings for the Fab Five’s weekly antics for giving me the laughs that was very much needed after the AF concert, without which I probably would’ve started this blog entry with the more than appropriate phrase of “MUTHAFUCKA!. What the hell were you guys thinking?” This was one of the most enjoyable concerts and yet, it has the most tragic ending. Tragic.

Group Ensemble - Party Like This
This is the first time this season that they opened the concert with a group ensemble. NOt surprising since they now have a lot of extra time slots with only 7 remaining in the Academy. This was a bad bad group performance. It’s called Party Like This, and I was just sitting back and asking myself Where’s The Bloody Party? Everyone on stage were like mindless zombies and was there any choreography at all? A very appalling start. And everytime Mas shows up on screen, I just want to knock her off the stage. Can she at least be a little subtle about not wanting to be there? Sheesh.

Mas - Yayadan
Oh boy. At least she showed an extra iota of enthusiasm in this performance. She sounded quite decent because basically this is the kind of song that’s really suited for her. Finally, the teachers are giving her a break (or have they just given up on her and handed her a non challenging song?). I still don’t care much for her so-called ’star quality’. I feel bad for her almost as much as I did for John Stevens and Jasmine Trias, because their fanbase are struggling to keep them in the competition. I don’t see what the big attraction is all about though. Sorry.

Zahid - Semusim
I’m getting worried for Zahid. I hope they won’t go overboard with pimping him up. His vocal imitation of Awie, Saleem, Jamal Abdillah and Anuar Zain showcase impressed me (and probably a lot of other people too) but it can also backfire with his non-fans. We’ve already seen people complaining that Zahid is starting to look obnoxious on screen. Performance wise, though he he delivered the song nicely, (at one point he sounded like Bryan Abrams, the lead from Color Me Badd) I didn’t think it was all that spectacular. But I like it.

Farah - Bebas Berlari
I love this song. And I love how the groups interactions in the background. Such a feel good song. And Farah impressed me yet again this week. She’s really good! I didn’t think much of her in the beginning of the series, but now the prit prit thingy doesn’t annoy me as much. And that’s a good thing. Bravo Farah.

Adam - Kasih
I don’t know what the deal is with this guy. He’s better off being a backup dancer or something. Unimpressive. Next.

Linda singing Leaving On A Jet Plane while playing the accoustic guitar

Linda - Syurga Idaman
One can never get enough of songs from the 60s (I still love the 60s song that Nija sang last year). They are uber FUN! Linda looks stunning as usual. Her delivery was very nice but truth be told, I didn’t feel this was her best performance in the competition . Again, the attention is stolen away from her by the other side acts (last week it was by the two guitarists, this time her fellow dancers). Maybe the distractions are the cause for her downfall? Or maybe not.

Bob - Alhamdulillah
Like Linda’s performance, I think there were too many distractions in Bob’s Too Phat performance. The judges’ comments were a little over the top. I didn’t think Bob really shined on this one, though I’m starting to feel he’s getting a little TOO comfortable with his standings. Overconfidence is never a good thing, Bob. But it was an alright performance.

Kaer - Mentera Semerah Padi
I was ready to do something else, but thought I’d give Kaer another go this week (mainly cause I love this M Nasir track). So I finally get to see what all the rave is all about. I mean, for the first time, I was rather impressed by his performance (STFU Erma, you don’t know what you’re talking about). Kaer knew he needs to step it up to stay in the competition. And he did. Good for you, kid.

Group Ensemble - Joget Medley (Kenangan Manis, Mak Enon, Sindir Pesan)
This was an interesting medley, and I’m glad to see SOME choreography in this one, unlike the first ensemble. I foolishly thought that by having these ensemble performances, viewers were able to make immediate comparisons between the singers (obviously the weakest ones in the bunch were Mas and Adam), but I forgot that some people have their own weird reasons to keep the undeserved ones still in the competition.

Yes, of course I’m bloody bitter. Linda was the second last ranking when Nurul was evicted last week. And just before the concert started tonight, she was ranked the 1st! (I did my fair hare of voting for her this week). So it was indeed a surprise to see her topple down to the bottom within the span of one and a half hours. Damn Linda. I hate to see you go. You have one of the best potential out of everyone left in the competition. Stay strong and know that this is just a beginning for you. Now if Zahid gets the can next week, I probably won’t even bother watching the finale.

Finally Malaysians got it right for the first time. After a few weeks being saved by pity votes, Nurul finally leaves the Akademi tonight. As noted by the brilliantly funny host, it seems as though Nurul seemed more cheerful leaving the show than being on it. Perhaps that can be said by most of us viewers too.

Nurul - Lucky
It’s ironic that Nurul is not so lucky tonight. After a few weeks hanging on to the competition by a thread, she had to pack her bags this week. Nurul’s got a decent stage presence, but what good is a stage presence if she’s weak vocal-wise. It was a good attempt, but her voice is arguably the weakest among everyone left in the competition. The boa is just not enough to save you this time, sweetie.

Unlucky Nurul’s not so Lucky tonight

Bob - Salam Terakhir
Aznil never fails to crack me up. His comments about the title of this song (about it being his swan song) was funny and almost prophetic (my gut told me that Nurul and Farah were going to be saved again with pity votes, and making Bob the victim). Bob has a powerful voice, but to me, he’s just not charismatic enough. I do admire his confidence though.

Linda - Akan Ku Tunggu
My favourite female contestant failed to impress me this week. Maybe it’s because I keep on comparing her rock performance to Nija’s final performance last year (nothing beats that still). Or maybe she was just overshadowed by the two great guitarists, Man Kidal and Sham (Kamikaze). Overall, it was just alright. That said, I think she could’ve performed much much better.

Kaer - Bunga Pujaan
Other than his cute, innocent, boyish good looks, I still fail to see what is so special about Kaer. His performance tonight was so lacklustre and it’s been deteriorating week by week. One of the judge mentioned that it seemed his heart was no longer in this competition, and I’m inclined to agree. I feel bad for him. Well, not really.

Farah - Jangan Kau Mimpi
Man, I hate hate HATE this song. It’s a weird frickin song. However, I’m beginning to like Farah’s voice. She was clearly out of breath during the song, but overall, it was a good performance. And the little snippet of her crying at the Akademi? My friend told me that she cried not because she missed her family, but it was because she gained like 3 kilos for the past couple of weeks. I hope that’s not true, cause if that was the real reason, that is just a sick message she’s sending out to teenage girls, and viewers everywhere.

Zahid - Cinta Sakti
Man, just give Zahid the trophy already. I loved it when the crowd cheered him like mad as he entered the stage. I’m not even going to go on saying how brilliant he was. I would like to, however, comment on the little surprise the Akademi had given him. The surprise home visit by Misha Omar did not only glee him to no end, but it was also one of the most interesting surprises by far to be enjoyed by the viewers as well. Bravo AF! And Zahid, keep on rocking!

Mas - Tamparan Wanita
When she was singing the lines “aku tak selemah yang kau sangka”, I was going “Oh but yes you are. Yes you are”. Mas is yet again, the most popular student in the Akademi. The thing is, I’m not even sure if her popularity has anything to do with her vocal talents. For me, personally, her novelty is wearing off. She sounded like crap for her past few performances. I’m placing half the blame on the song selections, and half on her for showing zero improvemnt for the past few weeks.

Adam - Smooth Criminal
Imitation - good. Dancing - goood. Singing - baaaaaad. Again, I would like to blame his paltry performance on a very bad song selection (what were the teachers smoking?). All I could make out of his singing was… well, nothing really… except for “Are you okay? Are you Okay?”.. No, I’m NOT okay, Adam. The rest of the song was inaudible. In between his thin rasps and Bob’s surprise dancing moves, I didn’t even know where to focus my attention to. I finally settled on going to the bathroom to pee.

Group Ensemble - Dua Insan & Kita Insan Biasa
I was quite impressed by the group performance. Mas even surprised me with her lines. I was then convinced the teachers were trying to fuck her up by giving her some really really bad songs for her vocal range. Mas could sing, after all. Everyone else (with the exception of Nurul, and to a ceratin extent Adam) delivered the song quite well.

Tonight’s show wasn’t all that great. Thank God the Queer Guys managed to salvage whatever’s left of my Saturday night in. Well, only 2 more bootees till we arrive at the Finale - the Top Five. At this point, my guess is that Bob and Farah will take their walk of shame before the Finale arrives.

Another star bites the dust. My homegirl Zarina got fucked but I’m gonna refrain from whining too much since I didn’t cast any votes for her this week. But dayumm… I felt so bad for her as much as I did when Rosma was booted in the first Akademi Fantasia. *sob* I’ll have to do a quick recap since I’ll probably have to come in for work tomorrow (a SUNfrickinDAY!).

Mas - Semakin Hari, Semakin Sayang
Mas is Mas. She’s so unique. Single mother and very Unique in her own way. She reminds me a lot of Fantasia Barrino. I don’t think she’ll be crowned the winner, even though she has lots of fans out there. Her vocals were much better this week, compared to her rendition of Cant Get You Out Of My Head last week. But that’s not really saying much.

Kaer - Epilog Cinta
I honestly don’t get what is with the public’s fascination with this guy. He is
such a Momma’s boy (and his Spock ears are really peculiar). He impressed me with his fluent Thai last week, but that’s as much as it goes. His voice is average to me.

Farah - Ya Maulai
She started off weak.. a bit warbly, if you asked me. But she really picked it up halfway through the same. It ain’t easy singing a traditional Malay song. I’m not a big fan of hers but she did a great performance tonight. But please stop it with the Prit Prit thingy. It’s annoying.

Bob - I Can See Clearly Now
His ‘mesra’ thingy is as annoying as Farah’s prit prit. QUIT IT! His performance was good and enjoyable. Though I wished he’d cover his hairy man cleavage. Yuck. I still see him as a badut, though.

Adam - Keroncong Untuk Ana
LOL.. he fumbled with ‘kechorong’. That was funny! But I’ve never taken a liking to Adam.. I mean, the guy fucking cried when the doctor took his blood sample. ssts. Anyway, he always looked uncomfortable during his interviews with Aznil. What’s up with that? His performance tonight was average.

Zarina - Penantian
Zarina. oh my Zarina.. how I wished you’d won this season just so that you can shove the trophy up Khai’s pompous ass. Zarina is possibly the second best female singer in the competition. She got robbed just as Rosma did last year. I agree that this was a bad song choice for her (her performance last week was so hauntingly good!). Really bad. But I don’t think that’s the main reason why she got kicked off. I don’t think she has many fans out there. She has never been in the Top 4. There must be a reason behind this. But whatever. I hope she makes it out there (though I’m no longer holding my breath for Rosma’s long overdue solo album).

Zarina singing the vampire inspired song Pulangkan with last year’s finalist, Sahri

Nurul - Ku Mohon
It’s hard to sing a Sheila Majid song without being compared to the Jazz Queen. That said, it was a pretty good effort on Nurul’s part. But let’s face it.. she has the worst voice out of the entire 12 people in the competition. If we’re not careful, she’s gonna pull a Liza and end up in the Top 5.

Zahid - Where Is The Love
Zahid my man! He reminds me so much of my cousin. I’ve always liked this guy since the first show. His popularity has soared like mad since last week. But I think he richly deserves it. He has a good voice and his stage presence is really good. Singing a rap song in a competition is hard to judge, but he was in his prime - with his sk8r boi looks and antics. Zahid is going to win this.

Linda - Panti Asuhan
Well if it’s not Zahid, Linda will win this. My favourite female contestant out of the bunch. She is so beautiful and oh so talented (her accoustic guitar playing while singing Leaving On A Jet Plane was nothing short of amafuckingzing). She delivered her song beautifully tonight.. but, did she forget some of her lyrics or was she just too caught up with her emotions? I’m gonna be biased and assume the later. Excellent job, Linda.

Group Ensemble - Memories
Wow. This was a first.. the group singing a number from a musical. Zarina opened the number with a bang! I was like, no shit! If she doesn’t make it with the pop scene, she better audition for theatres. She reminds me a lot of the girl who was Mary Magdalene in our univeristy’s performance of Jesus Christ Superstar. Bob was surprisingly good as well. I expected Linda to do a bit better, but I blame the teachers for giving her the crappy verses. Zahid.. man. You proved it man! You can sing rock and roll, pop, rap and even this! Wow. Just wow.

All in all.. a pretty good show, except of course for the ending (and the constant shots of Anding in the background). Aznil has again and again proved why he’s our Number One host. I love that kooky bastard! If theer was ever a World Idol for Hosts, he’s gonna bring the title home to Malaysia. Urghh.. and to think I almost had the chance to interview him for our magazine. Aznil, you rock, my brutha!