sunclouds.blogspot

7.20.2006

i wonder if every idol episode that showcases #1 hits will always, without doubt, turn out to be a downer. i still remember how Anwar Robinson burned his chances with "Ain't Nobody" or how Lisa Tucker butchered Kelly Clarkson's "Because of You", both strong vocalists let down by contemporary hits. nobody bombed too badly today on singapore idol (judging by the standards of previous episodes), but my faith in the show becoming half as good as its american counterpart is now dead.

had a terrible headache as i flipped through the VCR version my mom recorded for me. i suspect the judges were equally disturbed that the studio was like a (cliche alert) fish market with people screaming, shouting, voicing comments at particularly awkward moments. it didn't help that the sound system was screechy and echoing as the judges muttered their kind words of advice (not that any of the participants might have heard anything they said though, seeing how insanely rude the mob was).

no disrespect for iskandar ismail but the arrangement for the songs tonight were horrendous, on songs in which the original arrangements weren't utilised. photography was equally bad: shaky camera, odd camera angles, painfully retarded switches between screens. and just when you thought the show couldn't get any worse, throw in gurmit and it just becomes a real pain to watch.

01 Mathilda - Bootylicious (by Destiny's Child)
a classic example of an arrangement gone wrong. music was too weak for mathilda's strong vocals (dick was right, here). as much as it was a good start to the show, i felt her performance was kinda bland. she didn't really play around with the melody. in fact, there was practically no melody.

02 Emilee - Just Like a Pill (by Pink)
suprisingly, i like this performance. it's the first song from her in which i didn't feel she should have joined a chinese singing contest instead. the nasal quality in her voice fit the song pretty well, i thought. she acted too hyper at the end, though.

03 Hady - Maria, Maria (by Santana ft. Product G&B)
woah. good voice, terrible song. lighten up on the malay accent and you'll do fine.

04 Jasmine - There You'll Be (by Faith Hill)
BAD. i wonder though, why the judges didn't notice she was flat throughout. this is a really big song. think on the scale of Pearl Harbour, and the fact that a*mei took on the chinese version of this really moving piece. jasmine sounded monotonous, off-key, and didn't emote at all. strong contendor for worst performance of the night.

05 Joakim - Lonely no more (by Rob Thomas)
i'm a big fan of him for being the only one who attempted to shush the audience, but unfortunately that's not good enough to be idol. twas a manic performance leaving him breathless and me dizzy (you could hear him panting by the middle of the song). would have done much better if he added some runs to the notes. the endings of his notes were cut short pretty abruptly, probably from the lack of air. and ja's eccentric comment didn't help at all (i mean, what the hell was she trying to say?!).

06 Paul - My Sacrifice (by Creed)
i don't exactly know how this turned out because i fastforwarded after the first 10 notes were emitted from his mouth. a lot of hair-playing, gimmicky, out-of-tune. probably worse than jasmine.

07 Nurul - Torn (by Natalie Imbruglia)
soft and steady. but i still don't understand the nasal quality of her voice.

08 Gayle - Leave (by JoJo)
the lisa tucker of this season. strong voice let down by song.

[add] apparently i was right about the lisa tucker comparison in more ways than one. poor girl got booted the next day. at least she didn't butcher a kelly clarkson song.

09 Jonathan - Smooth (by Santana ft. Rob Thomas)

BEST IN SHOW. started out really odd; i barely figured out what he was singing. but once he got into the mood of the song, his tone was absolutely alluring. very comfortable, very smooth. potentially better than the original, i thought.

10 Jay - If You're Not The One (by Daniel Bedingfield)
boring-est contestant. oh well. stick to singing standards, please.

11 Rahima - I'm With You (by Avril Lavigne)
paul's partner in crime: gimmicky and tuneless. i don't understand why the judges were so approving of her. it was badly emoted; she was practically shouting throughout. the original by avril was an appropriate showcase of the forced strength and weakness in a girl, emotions clearly lacking in rahimah's rendition, which was akin a ranting episode by an angsty teenager.

all in all, i fear for singapore.

02:12 / and blackened tears fell with mine //

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