Culturally Preconditioned

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!

So Malaysian Idol 2 is back… but like AF3, I just don’t feel the heat. In fact, I am actually more surprised there hasn’t been any coverage in the papers promoting the new season of Idol lately. Anyway, I shied away from watching the earlier audition shows (only caught the first one) cause personally I think they’re not that important. I mean, most of the time they’re gonna show

(1) talentless media whores who’s can’t sing for shit but try to get on tv and get their 5 minutes of fame, and
(2) they’re gonna focus on certain contestants and whore them out on tv, giving us their sob stories and interviews that want the viewers to root for them regardless of their talent… thanks but no thanks. (It’s interesting that all the Top 3 from last year was given ‘exclusive’ interviews and backstories way back from the audition stages, no?).

Anyway, I caught the two hour theatre eliminations last week, and was just totally blown away. Oh no.. not blown away by the talents.. blown away buy how much egoistic most of the contestants have become compared to last year. And can I just say on record that I am so damn glad the final girl who cries at everything, and I mean EVERY fucking thing, was dropped from the competition. Anyway, spotted several good singers.. no one outstanding as yet. But then again, I wasn’t completely blown away by Sufiah until her workshop performance last year, so I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt. The only contestant with potential Idol material I’ve seen as of now is Ash.. but we’ll see.

Workshop 1

Norsila 10221 (Kaulah Segalanya - Ruth Sahanaya) - I remembered this girl from the only audition episode that I watched. I loved her sultry vampish quality back then. Her workshop performance, however, was simply a fucking disaster. 3/10

Shone 11266 (These Are The Moments - Edwin McCain) - First time seeing this guy perform. It was good, the song fits him, but he could’ve done better. An average 5/10

Faizull 11451 (Penunggu - Sweet Charity) - I immediately liked this guy from the theater eliminations because we could see how much he struggled through the English song.. that was terrible but he didn’t give up. As for his song for the workshop, I thought his performance was brilliant… as a rocker. I enjoyed it. I don’t know what the fuck Roslan was talking about pitching. I thought he sounded good, but then again, I’m not the record producer. Anyway, I liked his performance very much but honestly, I will have problems voting for him to be the next Idol because his talent is limited only to Malay rock songs. 8/10

Atilia 11249 (Natural Woman - Aretha Franklin) - Wow! I love her. Awesome awesome awesome. I sincerely hope she will not have the same fate as Yin last year who fell from grace because of her looks. She’s not that bad looking, come on. I thought the judges comments were pretty harsh (considering how many other contestants have REALLY FUCKING BAD TEETH).. I thought the comments on her looks were biased. But funny though, she DID look like she aged 10 years older than her clip from the audition. Nevertheless, I will be voting for Atilia. Very nice. 8/10

Fauzi 10874 (Angel - Jon Secada) - Everything about this guy reminds me of Ruben Studdard. His voice is quite good. Not bad, not bad at all. 7/10

Lisa 10560 (Ku Tak Sanggup - Kris Dayanti) - I also remember this girl from the early auditions. Her performance is just too average for me. 5.5/10

Faizal 10688 (Relaku Pujuk - Spider) - I don’t care what the judges say, but I thought this guy’s voice was good. He had no pitching problems whatsoever.. but it could be due to the fact that this song doesn’t require that much of a range. Anyway, I liked his performance. 6.5/10

Xerra 11171 (Cahaya - Kris Dayanti) - This girl’s got a LOT of exposure during the theater eliminations. I liked her, she seemed to have got a nice voice, pleasant personality and unique hair. Haha.. but her performance was just aweful. What a letdown. 5/10

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 Atilia, Faizull and Fauzi. But knowing the lemmings that the viewers are, I’m gonna take a guess and say that Xerra will definitely make it through (and possibly Lisa or Shone too) and poor Atilia will bite the dust. I will send my votes to Atilia’s way this week.

Don’t forget to watch the live telecast of Live 8 everyone! (Astro Channel 88 starting from 9 pm Saturday and rerun on Sunday noon. Also you can hear it live on www.Mix.fm)

It was one of those rare occassions that lived up to its hype on our local scene, the Malaysian Idol Grand Final results show was certainly one of the most satisfying event on television this year so far.

The pre-show was kicked off by a solo performance by none other than my girl, Shima!I was very happy to see her on stage. It’s quite an honour for her to be the only non-Finalist (good ones, that is) to be invited for a performance that night. Her rendition of Alicia Keyes ‘Fallin’ was good but I still loved her ‘Careless Whisper’ from the workshops. I was hoping they’d bring Yin back but that was not the case.

The other non-finalists to make it onto the show was Lee Kar Wei (the poor girl who messed up the theatres rounds - I was really hoping she wouldn’t forget her lyrics this time and thankfully she didn’t. Her performance was just alright for me though) and Julian (the guy with the quivering cheeks whose performance didn’t show much improvements).

They also did an excellent recap of te show, from the auditions to theatre eliminations to the workshops and on to the spectaculars. We were treated with recaps of some of the colourful characters from the show like Thalia (who told the judges to go ‘down there’), Firdaus (the over dramatic Kelantanese guy who I think really hates girls with flowers in their hair) and the weird JB girl (who is probably the only person in the show who’s more rude than Roslan himself). Oooh which brings me to Fantasia dissing our judges.

Fantasia dissing Roslan : “Hey Roslan, stop shoving pencils up your nose and start judging!”. That was absolutely hilarious. But in all fairness, I really thought Roslan was quite funny with his selamba, couldn’t careless, bored shitless facial expressions during the horrendous auditions with the pencils up his facial crevices. It was also funny when Fantasia dissed Gee by sarcastically saying : “Hey Kak Gee, it’s not ALL about pitching, okay?” Too fucking funny.

And then there was of course the performances by the 10 finalists. Sufiah and Fazly sounded surprisingly good together. But then out came Rydee with Prince’s Purple Rain. WOW! That’s what I’m saying, y’all. This is the kind of song that they really should’ve sand during the 80s week. Rydee’s performance was so fucking awesome. But what was up with the hair? If I didn’t know any better, I would’ve thought she’s auditioning for Cats. No offense, Rydee.

The performances by Victor and Fahmy was pleasant, though I think they were really trying to imitate Innuendo a tad too much. Zamil came on to sing his best song ‘My Baby You’ - I’m still waiting to hear him sing a fast number. Hee. Much to the delight of many viewers, Nikki came on stage singing ‘Emotions’. She didn’t quite pull it off as well as she did in her audition, but nonetheless it was a damn good performance.

Saiful also sung his personal best song, Yassin’s Mimpi Laila. And finally Vick and Andrew came on last singing Man Bai’s Kau Ilhamku. If Vick wasn’t there to sing the song with him, Andrew would probably put me to sleep once again. Seriously.

After the Final 10 contestants, Jien and Aleya introduced Mohd Izwan, the PBSM guy who sang a dangdut song in the audition. That guy sure got some BALLS! At first I thought it was going to be oh so tacky, and will set a precedent for other people who’s going to audition next year. People who will audition and do the craziest thing just for the sake of getting their 15 minutes of fame, which is just kind of sad. But the PBSM guy’s performance was still pretty comical, and I don’t think Malaysians should start worrying that he will ever get a recording contract like a certain Mr Hung.

Before they announced who the winner was, Jac and Dina had a final duet together, singing ‘Signed, Sealed, Delievered’. I was not at all happy to hear them singing that song. YOu know why? Because it will once again set off alarms in clueless people’s head when they once again satrt comparing Jac to Fantasia (who sang this song in her first round of American Idol). I really hope Malaysians will come to terms and realise that Jac and Fantasia are as different as Monica and Macy Gray. Please stop the comparisons NOW!

Finally the results were announced. Jac winning Malaysian Idol with a staggerring 76% of the votes were simply overwhelming. It’s nice to know that Malaysians have not completely lost their common sense (and sense of hearing) yet. Thank you Malaysia for making Jac our very 1st Malaysian Idol.

And to Jac, a very well earned Congratulations are in order. You totally deserve it!

Oh wow. What a show! I never thought I’d EVER say this but I’m kinda glad I skipped watching a Survivor episode for another show. Believe me, you will never hear me say that again. But.. whoa! The Malaysian Idol grand finale is the total shiznits! (Survivor recap will be posted on Monday)

The show started off with a rather ambitious Red Carpet kinda thing. That was a great effort - giving the show a glorified pseudo Hollywood-ish kinda feel. What’s lacking was the lack of celebrity. I mean, Sasi The Don.. Phlowtron..? Okay, so they are artists in their own rights, but come on! I’m sure they could get more, you know, bigger and better celebrities. But overall, I liked their effort. There’s always time for improvements next year.

The show started off with a group ensemble of the 10 other Malaysian Idol finalists. “Ku Bawa Sinar” was a feel good song, and granted that the 10 weren’t exactly AF students and it seemed pretty messy, it was quite a fun performance (for the finalists - I can’t speak the same for the viewers). What? Give me a break. This is going to be the last time I’ll be criticizing their performances. Let me rant, okay? LOL Anyway, out of the 10, I see big things for Sufiah, Nikki, Saiful, Vick and Zamil - I’m not overtly worried about those five. Oh, and to the producers, where the heck was Shima? She was so robbed.

Jien gave me a glint ray of hope when he asked Gee if she “was going to miss sitting in between the two guys”. I take that to mean, either she WON’T be here next season, or better yet, the baldy next to her won’t be in the judges seat next season. And I would like to slap silly the idiots who replied “YES!!” when Roslan asked if they wanted to hear more pantuns from him (And Jien.. STOP encouraging him). Urghh enough already with the pantuns. But I don’t know, to be fair, Roslan’s comments on Dina and Jac’s capabilities (the one recorded while he was in the recording studio) proved that he knows what he’s talking about, music and talent wise. I just don’t know why he comes across as an ignorant fuck during the shows. His comments during the show come across as one dimensional, shallow and well, pretty much useless - as though he’s trying to hard to give these ‘controversial yet meaningful’ comments to woo the viewers. Meh. Whatever. Hopefully that’ll be my final rant on him. Ever.

Other highlights of the show.. hmm… well I really like Dina’s quote of “Rock chick don’t play with Pooh bears”. That was pretty witty. Oooh and I looooved the special guest ‘appearances’ by Fantasia, Bicurious George and Boomquisha. They rock! And I am still wondering, why do people keep saying that the Malaysian Idol winner will be up against Fantasia in the World Idol? I thought it was Ruben’s turn to perform in the World Idol. Well whatever it is, Fantasia/Ruben may not be the best in the World Idol stage. There could be a Kurt Nielsen Part Deux too.

Okay, on to the performances. I’m going to keep these very very brief :

“Gemilang” - Dina (the Malaysian Idol single)
Dina hit excellent high notes but she fell a tad short near the end, In some parts, I feel like her voice was drowned out by the loud music. But it was a very pleasant performance. An 8 and a half.

“Tunggu Sekejap” - Jac (Judges’ Pick)
I can’t honestly say that I’ve really listened to P Ramlee’s version prior to Jac’s first performance. And after hearing the original P Ramlee version, her rendition tonight was just WOW! How did she ever manage to turn that P Ramlee original into a song like that? Her ending was excelent. A 9.

“Jelingan Manja” - Dina (Her pick)
I wasn’t sure if Dina was going to sing “Jelingan Manja” or “When You Believe” for the finals cause I thought these were her two best performances. Her rendition this time was very nice, but not nearly as nice as her first rendition. Gee stole the words out of my mouth. She lacked that certain cheekiness (and that cheeky laughter) that made the first rendition so excellent. But it was still a good performance. A 9.

“When I Fall In Love” - Jac (Her pick)
I was over the hill when Jac chose to sing this song, because I still believe that her performance for this song from the 3rd concert was her best performance so far. Well, until tonight, that is. I didn’t think she could’ve made the song any better, but goddammit, she DID! She can even pull the notes while sitting down. INfuckinCREDIBLE. A perfect 10. That performance just blew Fantasia’s (overrated) Summertime the fuck away.

“Hit Em Up Style” - Dina (Judges’ Pick)
Well, Dina was clearly in her element with this song. Though she sounded good, I think her first rendition was much better than this one. And I think she shrieked a note somewhere in the middle. An 8.

“Gemilang” - Jac (Malaysian Idol single)
Jac looked elegant in that all black dress. Her rendition is this song is much superior than that of Dina’s. And Paul summed it up just right. It was a perfect ending to this season. A 9 and a half.

So, who you’re gonna vote for? You have less than 10 hours to vote now, so get your asses on gear and vote vote vote!

For some of you wondering out there, no, I have not totally given up hope on on Malaysian Idol yet. “Totally” and “yet” being the keywords there. I didn’t make any commentaries on the past two Malaysian Idol shows because :

Last week :
- Survivor Vanuatu premiered on Friday night
- I went for a friend’s birthday celebration at Saisaki’s (freshest.salmon.ever) on Sunday
This week :
- Survivor still hasn’t moved to the 11:10 pm time slot on Friday because The Amazing Race was still on
- There’s no actual good reason to wake up on a Sunday morning (11:30 is still considered A.M.)

Anyway, even though I didn’t watch the actual shows on tv (you can download the clips at www.kreees.com), I still sent in my votes for Jac and Dina cause those are the two that I want to see in the Finale (which I might also forego since Carnivale will be premiering on HBO next month).

There’s not much to say really. Andrew is finally out of the competition this week. I felt that the show has been a bit lackluster for the past few weeks. I’m not blaming the contestants because they are definitely giving us their best week in week out. I was put off for a bit because it’s depressing to see what some of the viewers deem as ‘the best performances’ and blindly sending votes to see their favourites stay in the competition despite knowing the fact that they’re not really ‘the best’. Thankfully, that stopped this week.

Well, if all goes according to plan, it will be Vick’s turn next week. Vick is a decent singer, but I just feel his performance hasn’t been as consistent as Jac’s or Dina’s. As at the time of writing this, 65% of me wants to see Jac win the title, and 35% of me wants to see Dina be crowned the first Malaysian Idol. They both have their own uniqueness and strengths (and for the millionth time, vocal wise, Jac is NOT the same as Fantasia, seriously) which will make Malaysia proud in the World Idol.

Okay, now I have to get back to Episode Three on Angels in America.

Izad - Out

Sometimes I really pity the poor bastard. No, I’m not talking about Roslan Aziz (this time). I am, of course, referring to my housemate - my token live entertainment on Sunday nights in front of the television. Okay, “entertainment” might be stretching it a bit, but he certainly does amuse me sometimes. Take for example his constant ramblings on Phat Fabes’ FCUK shirt. For crying out loud, granted that it might be a play on the word FUCK, FCUK actually stands for French Connection United Kingdom, and I just wished I would’ve slapped himself silly, but what fun would that be, eh? Has he not seen me wear my “fcuk fear” black v-neck t-shirt ever? Mmm.. probably not, cause the last time I wore it was during the Travis/Coldplay concert in Singapore. And probably because I have so outgrown the shirt. Literally. HafuckinHa.

And as the contestants were placed into two different groups (I was so waiting when this would happen), Mr Know-It-All just had to light up his cigarette and non-chalantly (and no less confidently) announced that any fools would know that Group A (Jac/Nikki/Saiful) would be safe and Group B (Vick/Andrew/Dina) would be the bottom three. I was secretly wishing that it would be the other way round just to spite his cocky know-it-all self. And, whooops, I accidentally got my wish.

Apparently, Jac, Nikki and Saiful were in the bottom three. And based on the look on Jien’s and Aleya’s face (and how they conducted themselves), I can’t truthfully say it was a surprise. I knew Vick, Andrew and Dina have a very big fan base. Saiful was the first one to be announced that he would be safe. Here we go again. You can expect many many many disgruntled viewers crying out foul saying that Saiful should go, he should leave, he doesnt deserve to be there, blafuckingbla. I have never voted for Saiful in this competition, but what can you do? Whining ain’t gonna make things different. All that you CAN do is by sending in your votes to make sure your favourites stay in the competition. Please la.. no talk is better than all talk, mmmkay? So quit complaining. It’s not like it’s Saiful’s fault that he’s there.

It was then down to Jac and Nikki. I was ready to throw in the towel (yeah, I keep saying that week in week out) if Jac would be the one to go. Fortunately, it wasn’t her time to go. Unfortunately, that meant Nikki would be leaving the competition. It’s a shame. Was I sad to see her go? Well, part of me did. Some of her performances really impressed me. But as she herself has said, she really has a lot of room for improvement. I like her honesty and openness to admit her weaknesses. With that kind of attitude, and some more practise, do you have any doubt that this girl will make it far? No? I didn’t think so. I wish Nikki all the best of luck, and her farewell performance was much better compared to the one of Friday - a sign to show that she does indeed take the constructive criticism seriously. Bravo, Nikki.

This just in : several friends of mine just told me they did not get any confirmation SMS when they tried to vote for Nikki today. At first I thought it was just one of them, but I figured something fishy is definitely going on when I get more and more complains from my other friends. (Sorry but I only sent votes in for Jac and Dina this week, so I can’t vouch this for myself). Were their votes for Nikki blocked by certain parties? Hmmm.. will the conspiracies never end? God knows we have this same kind of … emm.. ‘problem’ (if you want to call it that).. when Nurul was voted out in Akademi Fantasia. Hmm.. 8tv and Fremantle’s got a whole lot of explaining to do to the upset fans out there.

Anyway, next week. OH BOY!!! They will either totally murder the whole thing, or they will make it a very memorable night. I think it will be the kiss of death for Andrew. Vick might fare well, along with Jac and Dina. Saiful will probably shine. It’s a shame Zamil has left us last week. He would so kick the other contestants’ asses for next week’s theme : Songs by the Legendary Tan Sri P. Ramlee. Can’t wait.

Izad - Out

Okay, now I finally get why there’s no group performance. Just looking at their short short dance routine at the beginning of the show was enough to make me cringe. Just imagine what the group would be like dancing AND singing together. Yes, I finally see the reason for the lack of a group performance.

This week’s theme was Rhythm and Blues which sounded promising. After all, I would say that probably 75% of the audition process involved the genre one way or another. Ahmad Izham as the guest judge was a very welcome change. Paul’s short rant about Jien calling him ‘unprofessional’ was funny. It’s a known fact that Paul visits the message boards where people (or shall I say, kids) were calling him names (’unprofessional’ being one of the more famous ones). That short stint just proves that he’s a good sport and is able to laugh at himself. Onto the show!

Jac - Lady Marmalade (Patti LaBelle)
Jac sold me when she came on stage with the pink feather boa. I admit that that’s one of my weaknesses. Riiiiight. Jac’s performance was good. But, I don’t know, ever since her performance last week, I just can’t get it out of my head that she remind me of any other band singers singing in pubs and clubs. It’s a compliment, but I also keep asking myself, HOW is she different from those people? I still haven’t found the answer yet. It wasn’t her best but it was certainly an enjoyable performance. An 8.

Vick - You Don’t Miss Your Water (Craid David)
Well, someone slap me and call me a monkey’s uncle, but Vick surpassed my expectations with his performance. After he wrecked my favourite Craig David song, Walking Away, a few weeks ago, his performance tonight was really really good. There were no theatrics and he didn’t overdo his vocals. It was just nice. Very very nice. I liked it a lot. An 8.

Saiful - Tekad (Hazami)
Saiful is smart. I’m sure by now the audience knows that he probably can’t sing English songs very good, so why bother showing off his weakness. To be fair, Saiful’s got a nice voice. Granted that he can’t really pull the high notes, I did not for a single second think he fucked up this song. This song is not easy but it was well delivered. Again, how I wished Saiful had gone into Akademi Fantasia instead. He would’ve fared very very well there, but whatever it is, I’m pretty sure he’ll become one of the more famous Malaysian Idol contestant after all this is over. His performance, a 6 and a half. And can I just add a trivia fact here : The one single most over used word in the history of Malaysian Idol - “terkucil”. Can someone throw these monkeys a thesaurus for a change?

Nikki - Emotions (Bee Gees)
Nikki started off a bit funky but she carried the song well midway through the song till the end. Ahmad Izham knows what he’s talking about. Nikki’s got a great voice but she should learn how and when to use her ‘Nikki-ness’ into these songs. Personally, I thought she overdid her modulations in certain parts, but it’s not half bad. The girl can hit her high octaves, but I hope she’ll deliver a more solid performance in the weeks to come. A 7.

Andrew - I Wanna Know (Joe)
Damn, this song brings back good memories. But probably not any more. Not after last night’s show. Andrew’s got a really pleasant mellow voice. But it’s been.. how many weeks now? But still.. his stage presence : zero. It is definitely his number one weakness. He’s got the looks that makes all the girls go ga-ga over him and he’s got a decent voice. If only he’s able to work up enough confidence to shine on stage, he would so be golden. But in the mean time, he just doesn’t. A 5. (On listening to the recap, he somehow reminds me of the Roman brothers, which is definitely not a good thing)

Dina - Hit ‘Em Up Style (Blu Cantrell)
Whoa. Homegirl brings down the house yeah yeah yeah! For the first time in the competition, I felt that I would be pleased if Dina was crowned the Idol and not Jac. Before this I was content if Dina ended up in the Final Two. But, in my mind, there is no doubt, that Dina is slowly becoming a serious contender for Jac. It was a strong performance. At first I thought she was dangerously imitating Blu Cantrell to every single note, but fortunately, there were some touch of Dina scattered towards the end of the song. Bravo Dina. I am so proud of you. Easily the performance of the night. A 9.

So that’s it folks. Again, I thought Vick was good and was ready to let him share the “Performance of the Week” with Jac, but Dina swept the rug beneath their feet. Do I think Vick, Jac and Dina will be in the Top 3 on Sunday night? They might, but don’t count on it. Strange things have happened in this show, which I’m sure you’re all pretty aware of. Speaking of strange, the Malaysian Airlines ad reminds me that Carnivale will be showing on HBO next month. Yay! We’re finally getting all the good shows next month. The Apprentice, Carnivale, Survivor.. and of course, the Malaysian Idol finale.

Izad - Out

First of all, I love the short Malaysian Idle segments by Phat Fabes and Rina. They’re funny! And Rina rocks my socks off!! I love that girl. I just about almost shat myself when Rina asked the audience “Are you guys MENTAL??”. LOL. That reminded me of my encounter with this one particular mental fan in the audience two weeks ago.

Secondly, I know it’s hard to get people to drag themselves to Sri Pentas 2 on a Sunday night, but they got to shift the focus away from the empty seats in the studio. It looks bad. I think it would be nice if they had a short group performance for the results show. At least the audience will get something out of it. The hassle for driving all the way to Shah Alam at least an hour before the show starts is just not worth it.

As for me, well, I get more entertainment watching the show from home with my housemate. Yeah, I didn’t think it was possible either. During the short Guy Sebastian promo, my housemate asked me if he was an Australian aborigine (because of the hairdo). You’d think he was jesting, but trust me, he wasn’t. Aiyo.. I don’t know whether I should feel bad for him or what, but I just chortled and pretended I didn’t hear him.

Separated at birth? Mmmm.. I don’t think so. Possibly the worst comparison in the history of mankind.

Anyway, nothing controversial in the results show tonight. The judges were rather subdued as they kept it short and simple. By the way, do you think if we skipped the judges comments, we can squeeze in a group performance? Hmm definitely something to think about, Fremantle. The judges made an almost unanimous predictions on who would be in the bottom three : Zamil, Andrew and Saiful. And they nailed it.

Was I surprised to see them in the bottom three. Not really. I would be very upset if one of the girls ended up in the bottom three. However, contrary to popular opinion, I think Saiful was one of the better performances that night, but that’s just my opinion. Andrew’s performance, like I said, was bad. But I really do feel bad for him. You can actually see him tried his best, but rock just wasn’t his thing. I’m gonna say it again. As much as I love rock, the rock theme for Malaysian Idol was an ill conceived idea.

Zamil. Man. I’m going to just admit it right here, right now. I voted for Zamil this week. And I have been voting for him every week since the Final 33. He’s what you can call my Malaysian Idol guilty pleasure. I have absolutely no regrets that I ‘wasted’ my votes on him. He’s probably got the best voice among the male contestants but it just wasn’t versatile enough. It’s a real shame. Again, I blame rock. Or rather, I blame whoever that suggested the rock theme. Was I sad to see him leave? Of course. It’s a real shame that he’s going to miss out on the Rhythm & Blues theme next week. But that’s life. He made a graceful exit, and I’m proud to have helped him in his journey in the Idol competition. Zamil, keep your chin up. Better things will come your way soon. Dude, you will be missed.

And honestly speaking, I’m kind of glad he’s gone this week, because if everything goes according to plan, I don’t even have to tune in to 8tv next Friday night *cough*SURVIVOR VANUATU!!*cough*

But I’m pretty sure I’m going to anyway.

Izad - Out

I have no idea what the judges are looking for from a rock show. I thought it was a mistake to have this theme in the first place. I mean, I love rock but I don’t think it’s appropriate for an Idol show. I think Simon Cowell has said something during the World Idol, he mentioned something about why there’s a reason why it’s called Pop Idol in the first place. Rock, as much as I love it, doesn’t fit into the format of this show. As for the judges.. there are no words. Well, there’s actually plenty, as you will soon see.

Andrew - Higher (Creed)
Loved this song. It’s one of the first songs by (the now defunct band) Creed that made themselves known here locally - it’s a shame many Malaysians missed out on their gem, “My Own Prison”. Andrew tried too hard. Vocally he was horrible. Performance wise, it was horrible. Come on, his head-banging during the song was so inappropriate. It was a bad bad start to the competition. A 3 but kudos to him for making the effort. By the way, Roslan mentioned that that was not him. He should be simple and elegant. IN A FUCKING ROCK SHOW?? Someone wake me up once he gets his head out of his ass.

Dina - Bring Me To Life (Evanescence)
Initially, I thought Dina was going to sing a song from Ella, but I wasn’t disappointed with her choice of song. However, she started off really weak. She picked it up during the chorus. It was alright, but it lacked confidence, in my opinion. A 6. Roslan’s vocabulary is too damn limited, it’s just fucking embarassing. Can he stop talking about RAP signing contracts? You know what? Just take Dina and go the fuck away to bloody RAPland already. What? RAP doesn’t want to sign losers? Well, I guess one big loser there is enough.

Zamil - The Reason (Hoobastank)
Dude, I can’t keep voting for you if you keep singing like this. Rock was clearly not Zamil’s genre. I knew he would sound kinda nasal in a rock song. He didn’t sound too awful, but like I said.. Rock doesn’t belong in an Idol show. I loved the white streak though. A 4.

Nikki - I’m With You (Avril Lavigne)
Inconsistent Nikki. I have grown to like you, but your performances are too inconsistent. That was bad bad bad. I don’t know. Maybe she tried to showcase her vocal prowesses but it came out wrong. I have to admit that I was disappointed of her performance tonight. It reminds me so much of her rendition of “The Voice Within”. By the way, I thought the braids were damn cool. A 4. HOWEVER, my friend who was at the show swore that Nikki sounded brilliant. I don’t know, Nikki is really weird. I was in the live audience last week and Nikki sounded really really good. But after watching the playback, she sounded bad on TV. SUCH a mystery.

Saiful - Berlompat Lebih Tinggi (Sheila On 7)
I think it’s safe to assume that Saiful just CAN NOT sing English songs, and I am so ready to write him off. Don’t get me wrong. I like his personality and he does have a unique voice but he still has pitching problems, and the fact that he hasn’t sang an English song in an Idol competition just bothers me. However, I thought his performance tonight was not bad at all. Not at all. It was a pretty good softcore rock-ish performance. A 5 even though he forgot some of the lyrics. Roslan, I was ready to give you the benefit of the doubt when you teased Paul about liking ‘pretty boys’. But it is now, rather obvious, that it is you who have a problem with ‘pretty boys’. Your comments were degrading and condescending and most of all, insulting. I was wrong when I called you a racist. You are, in fact, a fucking bigot. I hope you get trampled by a group of tranvestites on your way back home.

Vick - Numb (Linkin Park)
Wow. I never thought I’d say this but I was impressed with Vick’s performance! (That still doesn’t make me a fan, though). I don’t need to say much here. His performance was so enjoyable, I was ready to give him the performance of the night. For a rock show, I thought it was brilliant. I don’t know what the hell Paul was smoking but I sure like some of it. An 8 and a half.

Jac - Sweet Child O Mine (Guns N Roses)
Jac is back. After her slightly above average performance last week, she came in full blast. EASILY the BEST performance of the night. However, halfway through her performance I thought to myself, “How is she different from the clubs singers around town? They are equally good, if not better”. But her performance rocked. It was a good way to end the night. A 9.

Or so I thought. Jien and Aleya introduced Kris Dayanti on stage for a performance (which is dubbed, mind you). It wasn’t much of a surprise cause when they introduced Anang Hermansyah, I kinda figured his wife would be here as well. My friend must be creaming her pants cause she is such a huge fan of Kris.

Anyway, the show started out bad but it ended up quite alright. I know that I’m starting (starting?) to have a personal vendetta against Roslan every time I watch this show, but I can’t help it. He seriously need to …. God, I don’t know. At this rate, I’m even willing to trade him for that bastard Colin from Amazing Race.

I.am.SO.FUCKING.GLAD.that.Survivor.Vanuatu.is.gonna.start.next.week.

Izad - Out

Okay, that’s it. I’m more than ready to throw in the towel. My passion for Malaysian Idol started to slip away after the paltry.. no, horrendous performances on Friday. The Idols have disappointed me that night. At that time I had a glimmer of hope that Malaysian viewers would at least salvage what’s left by voting for the real talents. I was shocked to see Dina at the bottom three. I mean.. urghh I was going to rant, but why bother. However, my biggest disappointment and annoyance came from one of the judges. I STILL don’t know how Roslan can get away with those racist remarks. You don’t think so? Well, Saiful didn’t sing terribly well and he has a huge fanbase too, why did Roslan not mention him but focus on Vick, Victor and Andrew, then? 8tv, Fremantle, whoeverthefucksinchargeoftheshow? Get a clue. You need to fire his sorry ass. This was not the first incident. Remember the Jawa remarks? And now this? You know Colin from Amazing Race? Yeah, Colin defines Ugly American. Meet Roslan. He’s OUR counterpart. Does he even know what being professional means? You, sir, are a disgrace to Malaysians. Now, kindly get off my fucking TV. Thank you in advance. And buang je lah songkok hang tu. Ni haaa pantun dua kerat untuk hang:

Pucuk Paku Ulam Pegaga,
Sudahhh! Takde maknanye.

Anyway back to the show. Jien mentioned that people have been talking that Dina and Jac would be the Final 2 Malaysian Idol contestants. And I was like… NOoooooo.. don’t say it. He’s gonna jinx them. It’s like the kiss of death. I was laughing out loud when Andrew told the camera that Victor helped him with his dictions and stuff. And I was laughing even harder when Victor said (paraphrasing) “Eh, Andrew.. Hello. Are you serious, ME helping you with diction? I think I need more help in that than you”. It’s really good to know that these kids are able to laugh at themselves. The judges made their picks on who they thought would be leaving. He said the Chinese guys will be safe tonight. Yeah, why don’t you grow a pair of balls and say it like you mean it, dick? Too scared? Trying to be politically correct? Newsflash for you : IT DIDN’T WORK. Gee said Victor and Nikki were vulnerable. Paul also said Victor and Nikki, and also included Zamil in the bottom three.

The bottom three were announced : Zamil, Victor and Dina. Was I surprised to see Zamil and Victor at the bottom two? No. As much as I like Zamil, I honestly don’t think he has improved at all since the beginning, and he is comforming to his stereotype. If he was the one voted out, I won’t be crying him a river because basically, he would’ve dug his own grave. Victor, that was kind of expected, but I honestly would like to see someone else than him in the bottom two. At least he has some stage presence unlike some other Pak Pacak.

Now, Dina. In the bottom three? Was I surprised? Yes. Did I wish it had been Nikki instead of her? No. Even though Nikki sounded a bit over the top (and slightly out of tune) in the recaps, I still stand by what I said. She sang beautifully in the lower registers during the live show. I honestly think she has the potential than most of the others left in the competition. Dina, I don’t know what went wrong. Do you think people are quite sick of her trying to kiss Roslan’s ass for offering her the recording contract? Perhaps, but that is besides the point. And frankly speaking, she could do SO much better. I did vote for her, as well as Jac, Nikki and Zamil. I don’t get the reasoning why she’s in the bottom three. Perhaps, most of us are still that shallow after all, going for looks instead of talents.

Next week’s theme will be Rock, and I bet Dina will be the one rocking the most. Whatever. Let them choose their Idol. See if I care.

Man, I can’t wait till Survivor:Vanuatu comes on in two weeks. Finally, something to REALLY look forward to on Friday nights.

Izad - OVER and Out.

Hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil