Introducing...

Currently Listening To: Laura Marling - Ghosts

Another relatively unknown singer I've been listening to lately: Laura Marling

December in Brief

Currently Listening To: Evanescence - My Immortal

It's the end of the year again, and I guess everyone has mostly abandoned their blogs (including me!).

So what have I been doing this whole month? Well it's holidays and...

• I had dinner at Kampachi, the super fancy (and pricey) Japanese restaurant @ The Equatorial Penang for the first time in my life. Celebrated the parents' 29th anniversary there two days ago. 6 pieces of Sushi for RM36! Seriously man.
  
• This is the second year in a row I have not been working during holidays. Sent some resumes out but no reply yet so far (probably cos I'm too last minute bwahahaha...)
  
• I've been playing Persona 4! What a fascinating game. Seriously. That game seriously has everything that's usually taboo in society. Anyone who likes RPG games should definitely play Persona 4.
  
• More house renovations, thanks to the bloody termites. Ate away the kitchen doors so now they have to be replaced.
  
• Glee's on a break! =( Although the second season is not that great, I still love the show and I hate it when they're on hiatus or something. Thankfully it'll be back in February, and Pretty Little Liars in January!
  
• It's a little over two months since Adam Lambert's Glamnation Concert in Malaysia =( Yes I'm still suffering from Post-Glamnation-Syndrome! At least I'm no longer a concert virgin!
  

I guess that's about it? Some holiday I'm having.

Introducing Mt. Desolation

Currently Listening To: Mt. Desolation - Bridal Gown

Initially I wasn't planning to listen to Mt. Desolation, since they classified themselves as 'alt-country', but after hearing their single State of Our Affairs I guess I changed my mind.

After all, Mt. Desolation is the brainchild of Tim Rice-Oxley and Jesse Quin from (my favourite band ever!) Keane so I should give them a chance, right? Well I'm glad I did cos their debut album is actually pretty decent for 'alt-country'. I can't stand wannabe-country music (blergh Taylor Swift), so I guess I should say that I'm quite impressed with the Keane boys! I mean, Keane doing country is just odd on so many levels. Strangely enough it works.

Not to worry, the band is made up of more than just the two of them. Members of The Killers, Noah and the Whale, Mumford and Sons and The Staves provide Mt. Desolation with their backing band, and there are other backup singers too (including Jesse's mother!).



I really wouldn't say that they sound very country, safe for a few songs but it's close enough with only slight hints of Keane-ish music. All of the songs in the album are composed by Tim and Jesse, so good job guys.

If you're not a country music fan, stay away from this album. If you're a diehard Keane fan, then go ahead and give it a listen. It's interesting to see them doing something different for a change.

One more thing - Tim should leave the singing to Tom Chaplin and Jesse. It's not that he sounds bad, it's just...well Tom and Jesse are the better singers. I was watching some live videos of Keane's recently completed tour to the USA and Tom is just amazing! That man has a wonderful voice with a great range and a lovely falsetto, and I really hope that one day I'll get a chance to see them live.

I can now happily cross out Adam Lambert from my 'Must See Live' list, and now the only one remaining is Tom Chaplin - both of them are my favourite male singers ever.

Overall: A much better side project than say, Chester Bennington's Dead by Sunrise or Mike Shinoda's Fort Minor, despite the fact that it's COUNTRY music. 8/10
Recommendations: State of Our Affairs, Bitter Pill, Bridal Gown, Another Night on My Side.

Glamnation Tour Malaysia 2010

Currently Listening To: Adam Lambert - F-F-Fever

Three days later...

I'm still hungover from seeing ADAM LAMBERT LIVE IN MALAYSIA OMGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!
I CAN'T BELIEVE I SAW THE REAL GLAMBERT!
That man is absolutely GORGEOUS IN PERSON! AND OMG HE SOUNDS FREAKING AWESOME!
Can you believe that I screamed and jumped like mad person in that hot, stuffy pit? Well I did! I didn't realize that there were 13000+ people in that freaking stadium. Seriously, it didn't seem that packed! But the pit was definitely cramped, I think there was at least one thousand people in that tiny area. So glad that I got in the pit early or I wouldn't have seen anything! Thank you Xian Na and her parents!
(The queue to the pit was maddeningly crazy, the seating areas were definitely less populated, sadly!)



Some photos of the concert...
(taken from Wai Yee-Sama and hotxpress.com)

Guess who was spotted at the Glamnation Tour"> ;)











To all those people who protested outside, for all your talk about bad morals and all, at least Adam respects you enough to follow your silly restrictions. You guys on the other hand, have absolutely no respect for another human being and saying all sorts of insulting things about someone you don't even know is just plain classless.

Putting that aside, I really enjoyed the concert! When he comes to Asia again, I'm so going to another country to watch it.

A Thousand Suns

Currently Listening To: Florence and the Machine - Dog Days Are Over

I used to be such a big fan of Linkin Park, so I am very shocked to discover that they've just not-that-recently released a new single, and their fourth studio album is actually out TODAY. I mean, I only found out about their single while watching the VMAs earlier, where they performed The Catalyst. As for the album, well, Google's my best friend.


What a cover? No album title, no band name...?

Anyway, I've just finished listening to the album and...wow. It is very...underwhelming. It's a bit better than Minutes to Midnight I suppose but I don't know. At any rate I am not impressed. Three years ago, I gave Minutes to Midnight a fairly bad review. I rated it 3.5/5 back then, but you know what, I have not listened that album ever since...well, 2007. If you were to ask me right now how I would rate Midnight, I'd gladly give it a 1/5. There are a few nice songs in there but I really dislike that album in general. In fact, I think it's one of the worse albums I've heard in the past three years or so. I still listen to Hybrid Theory and Meteora occasionally, but Midnight is a big no no.

Now, A Thousand Suns, I really have no idea how it got 5 out of 5 star reviews. It may not be a bad album but it definitely does not deserve a full star rating. I don't see what's so artistic about it, to me it's like random melodies and lyrics. I can't even judge the songs individually cause everything sounds the same! Not to mention all those random ridiculous interludes/instrumentals. What's up with that? There are about 5 or 6 of them, and they serve no purpose as far anyone can see.

Seriously, I can safely proclaim that I am not really a fan of Linkin Park anymore. I still love their older songs, but their new music is just no longer appealing to me.

Overall: 3/10, I will definitely not listen to this all over again.
Recommended: Iridescent, The Catalyst...and that's about it?

P.S.: Florence and the Machine's performance at the VMAs was totally awesome! I've never really listened to her songs before, but I'll definitely try it out now.

It's Like A Dream Come True...

Currently Listening To: Jojo - Can't Take That Away From Me

I never thought that I'd actually get a chance to do this but....

I'VE GOT THE PITT TICKETS TO ADAM LAMBERT'S GLAM NATION TOUR IN MALAYSIA!!! 14h OCTOBER 2010!!

Like OMG!


Le tickets!!!

Wheeeee! Malaysian Glamberts unite!

A September Day

Currently Listening To: Bruno Mars - Just The Way You Are

Dear abandoned blog,

It is no longer a trend to blog I suppose, seeing as no blogs have been updated recently. That includes me, obviously. I haven't forgotten my blog at all and I do click on the link -almost- everyday but I'd look at it and then...I just don't have anything to say.

I still don't have anything to blog about but thought I'd say a few words about the lack of activity in the blogdom.

So what am I doing now? Nothing actually. The last few days of my one week study break (study break my foot! No studying done for the past whole week). Client brief for Marketing Professional Practice still untouched. Tutorial that was due last week untouched as well. I pretty much spent my whole 'study break' playing games on Facebook hah!

Need to get my ass moving soon before it gets too big.

What I've Been Up To Lately

Currently Listening To: Adam Lambert - Strut

I've been listening to relatively unknown bands and singers lately.

Local Natives








Fleet Foxes





A.A. Bondy





Our very own Yuna.



Do support her by buying her new album, Decorate when it's available.

Lissie's amazing cover of Kid Cudi's Pursuit of Happiness.



~*~

I just bought the soft cover of Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol last week, finished reading it within 2 days. Can't say I'm impressed with the book, cos honestly it's extremely disappointing and rather boring. Compared to his other books, The Lost Symbol reads like it's his first ever serious work or something. The problem is...it's not his first book. Nor is he an amateur writer. Heck, he has sold millions of books by now so he should be a lot better than the crap in The Lost Symbol. Terribly disappointing.

Bought Audrey Niffeneger's Her Fearful Symmetry as well. She's the author of The Time Traveller's Wife, which I've never read before, even though it's an international bestseller, with a movie and all. Just bought the book cos there's 20% off if I were to buy two books instead of one.

And they've just reprinted Agatha Christie's books! There's a 3 for the price of 2 offer in MPH on all her books, so I'm really tempted to buy. I don't know if I should though, I mean, I just bought those two other books last week and also new bags and shoes and clothes so...gah. Spending way too much money lately.

That Feeling...

Irritated.
Annoyed.
How to get rid of this feeling?

Aphrodite

Currently Listening To: Kylie Minogue - Aphrodite

First blog entry for July!
It has been a while since I've reviewed any music, so I thought I'd start things off for July with a review of Kylie Minogue's new album Aphrodite.

I don't think I've mentioned this to anyone before but I'm actually a fan of Kylie. Unexpected? Haha.

Kylie Minogue - Aphrodite

Anyway, before I left for my KL trip I listened to the album and I must say I really enjoyed it. Much better than her previous album, X. Also, I was seriously delighted when I found out that one of the tracks on her album was written by Keane's Tim Rice-Oxley. More reason for me to love Kylie and Keane!

If you're looking for fun pop songs, Aphrodite's the album for you. It's mostly dance/electro pop stuff - very typical of Kylie, and that is why it works so well. She isn't trying too hard to be someone different (Xtina anyone?) or aiming to shock audiences (ahem Gaga).

Overall: A great album, in my opinion. 8/10
Recommended Tracks: All The Lovers, Get Outta My Way, Aphrodite.

~*~

SPAIN won the 2010 World Cup!

I can't even begin to tell you how nervous I was when the finals kicked off. Watched it at my uncle's in KL at 2.30am Monday night. Can't say that the actual match was exciting, cos it wasn't, but it sure was intense. I was watching with such intensity, my mum actually asked me 'Why the hell are you so tensed?' (AND YES my mum watched the second half of the match!). And when they won, I was absolutely delighted! In fact, I'm still excited now, two days after the finals! I was really impressed with the Spain squad, I've been supporting them all this while without watching them play.

Although I've been a supporter of both Germany and Spain since the start of the world cup, I was secretly rooting for Spain more cos they've never won the cup before. And after watching the Spain vs Germany match, I was sold - Spain all the way! I feel really bad about Fernando Torres though, I'm a huge fan of his (bahahaha not just for his looks, or the fact that he plays for Liverpool) and to see him play so half-heartedly and then getting that injury...ouch =( Here's hoping he'll recover soon AND that he'll stay at Liverpool FC...if he leaves I think Liverpool's screwed. At any rate, I'll be a Torres fan no matter where he goes...

A few hours later...

I think my obsession with Fernando Torres just went up about two notches, after watching vids of his amazing goals. Sobs, please recover well! You can't let all that talent go to waste!

~*~

My results came out last night, and I'm proud to announce that I've passed all the four subjects, including a distinction for Entrepreneurship! That was unexpected, I had been afraid of not doing well for the assignments. And not surprisingly, Strategic Management was my worst subject, but at least I got more than just a Pass for that! Congrats to me =D

On a side note, I finally found Diana Wynne Jones' Year of the Griffin in Kinokuniya after searching around for it in other shops for...two years? I did see the book two years ago, when I was at Kinokuniya, but the only copy they had then was in terrible condition. Thank god they had a new copy in stock this time around!

Nearing the End

Currently Listening To: Empire of the Sun - We Are The People

One more paper on Tuesday and I'll be free for a month!
I'm full of plans for the holidays now, but I assure you once it starts I'll be wasting away in front of the TV watching random stuff and football and munching on food that ain't healthy at all.
Oh not to forget wasting away in front of the laptop playing FB games and the Altador cup on Neopets (I know what y'all are thinking, so old d still play Neopets! But it's fun la :P)

Other plans for the holidays include learning how to play the guitar (need to buy a guitar first though), working (HAH now this plan is doubtful), finish several PS2 games (after slacking for so many years, I doubt this too), finish reading all my abandoned books (I've finished reading the newer ones but some books like Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell has been rotting on my shelf for the past 3 years...) and what else? I guess that's about it.

Cheers to all Curtin students cos we have one month off! Woohoo!

P.S.: Xtina's new single is kinda shitty no?

World Cup Fever

Currently Listening To: Adam Lambert - If I Had You

The World Cup is finally here!
Can you believe it has been four years?
Last world cup felt like just yesterday.
You know what, even my mum's excited about it. Unfreakingbelievable!
I'd love to park my butt in front of the TV but I can't.
Need to -study- for exams.
Can't wait for that to be over!
I'm so not in the mood for studying.
I have plans for the holidays.
Eat, sleep, watch TV and everything else on my still-quite-empty laptop.
Just started watching Parenthood on Starworld.
That reminds me, Fox TV is coming to Astro.
Now I'm not entirely sure but it is most probably that US TV Network.
I mean, there are no other Fox TVs right?
Anyway. I'm turning into a TV addict again!
On seconds thought, scratch that.
I was never not a TV addict!
I guess I'm just gonna be a TV addict-er.
Also, ANTM is now showing on StarWorld.
Apparently Channel V will be replaced by Fox, but I'm not too sure about that.
This is probably my weirdest blog post ever.
Super disjointed.
Oh before I forget, bon voyage Trix!
Have a fun time in the UK, although I know you're not too excited about it!

Desperate Times

Currently Listening To: Grizzly Bear - Cheerleader

I've kinda forgotten about my blog again. What can I say bahaha.

Anyway, American Idol is over!
Lee won, Crystal was second and to be honest with you at the end of the day I wasn't too bothered about it.
I still can't bring myself to congratulate Lee cos IMHO he really didn't deserve to win the title, then again neither of them were that deserving either.

Let's see if Lee will do better than Kris.

American Idol aside, Finals coming soon!
I'm completely unprepared for it.
Heck I wasn't prepared for any of the assignments either.
Especially the Marketing Research project due this Friday.
I think it's safe enough for me to say that we're screwed. BIG TIME.
Oh what the hell who cares.
Can't do anything about that anymore!
It's time for me to study extra hard for the finals!
Desperate times calls for desperate measures.
Ganbatte Manda!
Let the idea of a one month holiday spent catching up on anime, movies and tv serials inspire you!

Surprise Surprise

Currently Listening To: Glee Cast - 4 Minutes

Crystal Bowersox and Lee DeWyze are the final two contestants of American Idol.
Surprised? Not at all.
Poor Casey never had the chance, what with his lacklustre performances and drab song choices.
Still, I was rooting for him.
Now that he's out, I say Crystal's the man! Er, woman!
I'm sorry but I've had enough of Lee's whiny singing voice. Dude has no range whatsoever, he growls his way through most songs, and well, his name is my last name what the hell!
Okay so that's not a valid point but whatever!
The most depressing final two ever, in my humble honest opinion.
Even Diana Degarmo vs Fantasia Barrino was more exciting (and they were goddamn boring).
No way in hell would I wake up at 8am to watch the finale this year, especially since Adam Lambert won't be performing.

Who will it be?


Lee?

Or


Crystal?

May the fair maiden win this time.

P.S.: Lee DeWyze is the number one trending topic on Twitter. Interesting but like Justin Bieber...how undeserving.

Early May Updates

Currently Listening To: Keane - Clear Skies

I've kinda forgotten about my blog, honestly.
My thoughts are kinda in a disarray right now.
Way too many things for me to do lately.
What now?
I have two more major assignments left.
The second part of the Entrepreneurship assignment.
Due very soon and progress is still at 0%!
The entire Marketing Research project.
Quite untouched. Needs to be completed within the next few weeks.
I need to stop procrastinating...but I can't help it!

Bought more books last week.
The Black Magician series by Trudi Canavan.
Thought it was a trilogy until I googled...
There's a freaking prequel and a soon to be released sequel!
Holy crap what have I gotten myself into???
Kinda spoiled myself too when I googled the books...
Nevermind I'll continue collecting the series.
It's very interesting actually.
One of the main themes in the books is actually homosexuality!
How unusual is that?? It's usually a taboo topic or something.
And NO I did not choose to collect the series because of that!

Currently listening to Keane's newly released EP, Night Train.
What can I say about it...
Unusual.
Weird.
Strange.
More 80s stuff.
But strangely addictive.

May Day

Currently Listening To: Glee Cast - One Less Bell To Answer/A House Is Not A Home

Omg it's the last day of April!
Where did all that time go?
Unbelievable.
Current struggling to complete endless assignments.
I just can't wait for it end.

I give up on American Idol, seriously.
I mean I'll still watch it for fun, but I don't care who wins.
With Siobhan gone, only one red rose is left to struggle with 4 blunt thorns.
I mean seriously. The most snooze-worthy Top 5 ever.
So I give up.

Also, I'm totally loving Glee's last episode, Home.
I just don't get the hateful reviews for the the episode.
What's wrong with a little emotion?
We can't and shouldn't laugh all the time.
After the cheese of Hello and the Madonna episode, the change of pace in Home is really welcomed.
I was actually crying for 3/4 of the episode.

The character development for Finn and Kurt was fantastic.
It's nice to see a different side of them.
I love the songs featured in the episode too, awesome oldies.
I especially love Kurt's A House Is Not A Home and Will and April's duet of One Less Bell To Answer/A House Is Not A Home.
Totally fab.
Kurt is ♥
Kudos to Chris Colfer for his fantastic portrayal of Kurt Hummel!~
You know I love you, xoxo.

(Sorry reading too much Gossip Girls! Speaking of GG, I am like, soooo inspired to collect the whole series now!)

Goodbye, Tim Urban

Currently Listening To: Tim Urban - All My Loving

I never thought I'd ever blog about this but...
Tim Urban, I'm gonna miss you on Idol.
You may not have been the best contestant, but you did YOUR best.
You had a shaky start, but as the show progressed on you actually improved.
And you've turned me into a fan.
So I say, good job Tim!
Love what you said in your exit interview.
Best of luck to you, hopefully someone will sign you to a record label.

Yours truly,
A Turban Fan.

American Idol: Top 7

Currently Listening To: Glee Cast - Like A Prayer

Today's Inspirational theme was so inspiring, I was inspired to not blog about tonight's inspirational songs. I mean seriously.

As a result of that inspiration, I am not going to blog about the performances at all because the contestants were super duper inspiring.

Let me just...summarize the contestants in a sentence or two.

Crystal, you're the only bright spot in this competition. So PLEASE stay cool and hang on and don't get overly emotional.

Siobhan, I don't know what the judges have against you but seriously. Don't bother explaining yourself cos they'll just hate you no matter what.

Lee...I think you're overrated. Sure, occasionally you're quite good but most of the time you're just mumbling and whining. Then again, you might actually have a shot at winning this competition cos everyone else stinks.

Casey, dude, time to take this whole thing seriously. You're doing the same old mediocre karaoke schtick every week. Okay, sometimes you're actually REALLY good but that's a very rare occasion so...yeah.

Tim, I like you. I don't know why but I do. Unfortunately you have a limited range and unless you pick the right songs, you kinda stink. Totally not cool man.

Big Mike, nobody seems to like you and two weeks ago you were almost eliminated. So if I were you I'd lay off the cheese and ego and just sing cos you're actually the best male contestant left. Vocally anyway.

Aaron Kelly...it's time for you to go home.



And that about sums up the whole season. Won't be blogging about this anymore unless something interesting happens. Right now I kinda have like a million assignments to complete within the next two weeks so...yeah. I think I'll be seeing y'all in the mental hospital after this.

Really Random Thoughts

Currently Listening To: Siobhan Magnus - Paint It Black

I believe in dressing properly for the right occasions.
I think those who dress inappropriately are silly, frivolous fools.

Two years ago, I said that I will definitely continue piano lessons.
Two years later, the layer of dust on my piano has tripled.

Somehow I work better under pressure?
My last minute work > My carefully planned and meticulously completed work.

I shouldn't be supporting Tim Urban, he's so not my style.
But I am supporting him somehow. Must be that hair.
Casey's hair is really pretty too. Goldilocks.

Some Inti Penang students are definitely spoilt brats.
If you can't get what you want, whine, complain, point fingers and then do nothing.
Brilliant.

Also, I'm having a stomachache now.
Boo no raw salmon sushi for me today =(

~.~

I was in the school choir for three years.
Wish I had been in a Glee club instead.

Looks can be very deceiving.
Apparently I've deceived everyone yippee.

Elvis Rocks the American Idol Stage

Currently Listening To: Glee Cast - Hello Goodbye

One of the best weeks this season, definitely.
I mean, how can it not be great with Adam Lambert as the mentor? =P
Fangirl-ing aside, Adam really did give good advice to all the contestants.
Also, the Glee cast was in the audience! Now how awesome is that?
Adam + Glee = Awesomeness!
Since Big Mike was saved last week, it's the Top 9 again so here we go:

The worse this week is Andrew Garcia without a doubt. I don't even know what to say about his performance. The Tim haters are so wrong, Andrew's the Sanjaya of this season. Seriously if he doesn't go home this week, the ones who will be leaving should give him a sucker punch before they leave the stage. Why? Because he stole their spot in the Top 7, that's why.

Aaron Kelly is definitely losing steam. Vocally he was okay but honestly, there's just no oomph in him. Adam was right, Aaron really needs to spice up his song choices and his performances. It's all boring, bland ballads and well, that's just not good enough for the competition.

Casey James. Well, after last week I was expecting more so when Casey gave another mediocre but solid performance...I just kinda went 'That's it? C'mon Casey.' I'm sorry but at this stage, being consistent is just not good enough. Try to be more like Adam!

Katie Stevens, hmmm I actually enjoyed her tonight and y'all know how much I dislike her so, yeah good job Katie. She has definitely improved a lot since the Top 24, but she's rather...dull. Still, she's better than some of the other guys tonight so don't go home yet.

Siobhan Magnus, poor thing. I thought she sounded great but Kara and Simon threw her under the bus like roadkill. What the hell? Matt/Anoop/Kris received the same treatment last year too, so I really hate them for that. I'm not a big fan of Siobhan but damn I'm so supporting after that whole charade. Siobhan, you deserve better than that.

Big Mike. Hopefully he's safe this week cos he doest't deserve to go, not this week nor last week. Solid performance, solid vocals, typical Mike song choice and that SHOULD be good enough...

Tim Urban. Oh wow. A few weeks ago I would have never ranked him this high but he was really good tonight! Talk about proving his critics wrong. And at least the judges gave him credit when it's due (unlike Siobhan!)

Lee Dewyze. Okay so he's still pretty stiff on stage, and Adam was spot-on with his criticism but at least vocally he was pretty good. My second favourite performance of the night.

Crystal Bowersox. It's Crystal Bowersox. End of story. Good job as usual. Loved the bluesy feel of the song.

And that's it for today, I wonder what will they be singing next week? I hope the Glee Cast performs tomorrow too! Would love to hear Lea Michele put all the freaking contestants to shame.

P.S: What was wrong with Ryan tonight? He was behaving like a drunk 5 year old! At the end of the show he was like fangirling over Adam. 'What are you gonna sing tmr Adam? Pls pls pls sing Whataya Want From Me OMGGGGG! Sing it for me Adam, sing it sing it sing it omg!'

Lennon/McCartney and Some Humour

Currently Listening To: Kalafina - Ashita no Keshiki

It's the John Lennon and Paul McCartney songbook week!
...again. Is it just me or do we have that theme every year too?
Oh wait, just season 7. (David Cook ftw!)

Well at any rate Lennon/McCartney seems to be a good theme for all contestants cos almost everyone sounded okay last night.

The worse performance of last night - Aaron Kelly. He went first and boy was he uninspiring or what? He sang The Long and Winding Road and it really was long and winding. And bland. So bland I almost fell asleep.

Andrew Garcia, back to square one. He was cheesy beyond words, I don't suppose it was that bad but compared to everyone else he was terrible last night. Horrible song choice. No one in their sane mind would have chosen Can't Buy Me Love cos that song is just not suitable for a competition! And he was way beyond stiff in terms of 'performing'.

Katie Stevens, I didn't get her Let It Be at all. And everyone's like, praising her! I know it was a lot better than her previous performances but by American Idol standards that was still pretty weak. So I really don't get it and I still want her to leave ASAP. I swear if she wins this thing I'll...scream.

Lee Dewyze. Hmmm the bagpipes. Good distraction cos vocally he was kinda off last night with Hey Jude. The whiny tone is back and I didn't like it at all. If not for the bagpipes I would have ranked him lower! Just kidding haha. Not good.

Tim Urban. You know what I really liked his version of All My Loving. Talk about perfect song choice. His voice totally suited that song, he was not pitchy, not out-of-tune and best of all - he actually performed that song well. Just Tim and his guitar and it really worked! Great, now I'm kinda rooting for him. Darn it Tim!

Michael Lynch. He wasn't that bad last night but I thought it lacked something. Eleanor Rigby, previously covered by David Cook back in season 7, is not exactly a radio-friendly song and Big Mike kinda made it sound even less...accessible. David Cook's version on the other hand, was awesome and two years later I'm still loving it. Big Mike? Not so much. I feel bad for him though.

Siobhan Magnus. Sleepy is indeed the best word to describe her rendition of Across The Universe. Michael Johns sang it so much better in Season 7. (Season 7 > Season 9 by a hundred times!) Luckily there was no screaming whatsoever (what the heck, Across The Universe is not scream-material) and vocally it was quite incredible.

Crystal MamaSox. I loved what Crystal did with Come Together last night. It was refreshingly Crystal-ish and it sounded nothing like Carly Smithson (Season 7) and Kris Allen's versions of it. Granted, Carly's cover is still the best but at least Crystal's effort to make it sound different worked out well. Yet, she wasn't the best last night cos...

...Casey James was totally awesome! He sang a song called Jealous Guy (I've never heard that song before) and wow, it totally showed a different, raw side of him that everyone loved. Yes, including Simon Cowell! It may not have been pitch perfect but the whole performance was just wow. Very impressive. In fact, I thought that was his 'moment', definitely one of the best performances in this dismal season.

Also I love you Crystal! For cracking me up and for saying what has been on my mind all this time - Andrew and Lee, you guys go ahead and make lovely Danny Gokey babies together. They're this season's Kradam for sure!

One more thing, Adam Lambert will be mentoring them next week!
Unbelievable, he wasn't even the winner last year. Poor Kris.
I love Adam and all but...him mentoring the Idol hopefuls?? Very strange.
Let's see how he will fare next week. Can't be as bad as Miley Cyrus or sth.

P.S: I just got spoiled for tonight's results show! Shit. Damn you America.

Random Thoughts

Do you know what I do when I wake up from a nightmare?

I create some sort of weird ending for it in my head so I wouldn't be so scared anymore.

Eg:

I had a nightmare about some freaky Ju-On-ish creature chasing me once, and I woke up right before he/she/it caught me.

So I thought to myself, the Ju-On-ish creature fell into a deep hole as the sun came up.

Yes I know ghosts are suppose to float and not run so they can't actually fall into a deep hole but whatever!

And Then They Were Ushered

Currently Listening To: Owl City - Fireflies

It's a miracle!
Tonight, the American Idol contestants actually sounded really decent for the first time this season. Surprise, surprise.
The theme was R&B and even though I didn't think the song choices were that great, at least everyone sang well (yes even dear old Tim Urban!). Usher was their mentor, and he was not too bad I suppose. Better than Miley Cyrus anyway. So:-

Lee, Crystal and Mike were the highlights of the night, I thought all three of them gave solid performances. Lee was the best, hands down (on R&B night too, what the heck) while Crystal and Mike were their usual selves - consistently good. Crystal's "surprise" for this week turned out to be the piano, and I'll have to say that I wasn't that surprised. I think she really needs to ditch the instruments for at least one week, just for us to see how well she'll do without anything else to depend on, other than her singing.

Casey, Aaron, Katie and Andrew were okay, all four of them gave dull but dependable performances. I can't believe Aaron sang 'Ain't No Sunshine' after Kris' amazing rendition of that song last year. He should have thought of the consequences before choosing that song. Obviously he'll be compared to the former, and the fact that his version paled in comparison didn't really help either. And after weeks of mediocre (bordering on awful, actually) performances, Andrew finally stepped up his game last night with his version of Chris Brown's Forever. It may not have been a great performance but at least he redeemed himself. Also, I've realized that I just can't stand Katie Stevens no matter how decent she sounds. There's something about her that's just really unappealing ugh.

Siobhan, Didi and Tim however, did not do so well tonight. Siobhan was actually quite awful! Believe me, I was really shocked when I heard her off-key notes and all those horrible almost-screams. It was so bad, I almost muted the TV (horrors!). Talk about an off night - when she's off, she's really really off. She'll have to step up her game next week.

I was a little doubtful about ranking Tim last because he wasn't that bad. Unfortunately, out of all of them, he is still the least capable in terms of vocal ability. In other words I think it's really time for him to go this week. For this week though, my least favourite contestant will have to be Didi Benami. I don't know what to say about it, vocally it wasn't that bad but the whole performance was just really, extremely bleh. Ryan was unnecessarily nosey and cruel to her though, I mean he was actually bugging her about her reasons for crying. Come on just let the girl cry in peace mmkay?

Overall, quite a good night for a dismal season.
Now if you'd excuse me, I'm gonna go youtube my favourite Adam Lambert/Kris Allen performances. Have a good night.

Bad Song Choice Week Indeed

Currently Listening To: Radiohead - No Surprises

Today's episode of American Idol can be described in just one word - HORRIBLE. Someone in idolforums.com joked about this week's theme being 'Bad Song Choice', and I agree - most, if not all, of them made really bad decisions with their song choices. Only one or two of them sang their bad song choices decently and that's really saying something. Also, Miley Cyrus was their mentor, but I'll have to admit that she was not too bad. When I first heard the news, I nearly died because the thought of Miley Cyrus giving them advice on singing is just hilarious. Moving on to the contestants themselves:-

Paige Miles. What the hell, this girl basically screwed herself just by picking that song. Against All Odds?? Seriously?! On American Idol! Worse song choice ever. And on top of that, she sang terribly. Maybe she should suffer from laryngitis all the time cos she sounded a lot better when she was sick. I mean, she was pitchy throughout the whole song. Awful, awful if she ain't leaving tomorrow then the Americans must be really kind.

Andrew Garcia. Man that was worse than last week. Andrew has left the building. What happened to him? It was just awful. I could hardly hear him sing, and I actually heard the audience laughing at Simon's seriously nasty comments. I felt really bad for him but judging from the way he behaved, I think he knew that he stank. If Paige ain't going home, then he should.

Tim Urban. Honestly, I didn't think it was that bad but the judges were really harsh on him. It may not have been his best performance (the studio version of his Under My Thumb's not bad btw!) but it definitely wasn't his worse, nor was he the worse of the night. I'll give him a free pass this week - I hope he stays over Paige and Andrew.

Katie Stevens. She was out of tune, that about sums it up. She sang Fergie's Big Girls Don't Cry and I love that song, but I hated her version of it. Didn't like it at all. On the bright side I liked her hair? Hated her outfit though, it wasn't any better than those 'pageant-horror' outfits she has been wearing for the past few weeks.

Aaron Kelly. The latest laryngitis patient was definitely having some problems with his voice. I really wouldn't say that it was a bad performance, it was just kinda so-so. He sang I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing, and it was kinda karaoke-ish but at least he sang better than the other four.

Casey James. Casey James was Casey James. The same old Casey. Wasn't great, wasn't bad, weird song choice and um, decent vocals I suppose. I think I say the same thing about him every week? Well, can't help it I guess. Casey James is Casey James and he'll always be Casey James.

Lee DeWyze. He was less pitchy and whiny this week, and he actually sounded quite strong. I believe it's just the song though, he didn't have to sing using his upper or lower register so he was in tune. However, that proves how limited his vocal range is. How can people compare him to David Cook?? My beloved Cookie can sing circles around this dude with my surname as his first name.

Didi Benami. I don't know what the judges were listening to cos I thought she was pretty good, for someone who was singing about You're No Good. I'm no longer a fan of Didi, but I think she deserves more credit.

Siobhan Magnus. She needs to stop screaming. Girl ain't screeching like Adam Lambert, she's actually screaming. Like the 'HELP SOMEONE PLS SAVE ME FROM THIEVES' kind of screaming. Again, I blame her lack of experience. Other than the screaming, the rest of the song was quite decent so...rock on Siobhan?

Michael Lynche. I personally thought that his performance was awesome! Once again, I don't know what the judges heard, their comments on his performance were very divided. And I loved how he lifted Miley up with his gigantic bear hug, she looked quite scared!

Crystal Bowersox. Crystal Bowersox is the queen of the world. Or at least the Queen of American Idol. There, I've said it. I'm no big fan of hers, but she is definitely the most consistent contestant this year. In that sense she kinda reminds me of Melinda Doolittle from Season 6. Consistently good, but a tad too predictable. That might sound very unconvincing but at least she's still better than the other 8 constantly inconsistent morons.

Can't believe I lasted through 2 hours of that. At least Miley looked quite amused.

AI Without Lilly Scott

Currently Listening To: Timbaland ft Katy Perry - If We Ever Meet Again

While I was watching American Idol earlier, I couldn't help but think 'Man Lilly would have rocked the Rolling Stones night!' and after watching the show, I still think the same way. (I miss you Lilly! Still my favourite this season. Not to forget Jermaine Purifory, who didn't even make it to the Top 24.) That being said, I think all of them were actually better than I had expected.

Let's start with who I thought was the weakest tonight:

Andrew Garcia. O how the mighty have fallen. There's no doubt about this - in my humble opinion, he was the worse contestant tonight. There was just nothing in his performance at all. He was bland, he was off-key at times, he chose a boring song, he did not do anything to catch anyone's attention and...well, he's Andrew Garcia. I mean come one, Tim Urban was better than him! Speaking of Tim...

Tim Urban. It was an awkward performance, thanks to the extremely strange reggae arrangement (for a Rolling Stones song! What the hell?). I'll give him credit for the unusual song choice and for his somewhat decent vocals but other than that? It was not good. I still can't believe he made it into the Top 12 over Alex and Todrick! I don't blame those two for being bitter about their exit. Not at all.

Aaron Kelly. All right, it was a lot better than last week BUT still it's not good enough. The problem wasn't his song choice, it's more like his whole performance style is just too lacklustre for American Idol.

Lacey Brown. I love Lacey but that wasn't a very good nor memorable performance. Still love her voice, her looks, her style - she just needs to polish up her vocals a bit and she'll be a lot better. Based on her performances so far though, I don't think she deserves to be in the Top 12. Lilly and Katelyn were better than her in almost all aspects so it's too unfortunate for them.

Paige Miles. So Paige had laryngitis and yet she sang quite well. Overall she gave a decent yet boring performance, but I think she's gonna make it through to next week. She does have a powerful voice after all, she just hasn't fully utilized it yet. Here's hoping that she'll show us more of that voice before she bids farewell to the competition a little too soon.

Casey James. Meh. That's all I can think of to say about his performance and you know what, I think that about sums it up. Vocals - okay, song choice - funky, outfit - um what?, hair - he needs to tie up his hair okay? He looks like freaking Bucky Covington with that hair. Casey's just a bit better looking than Bucky, and well he sounds better too. If you ask me, that performance was a bit karaoke-ish but what the heck the judges loved it.

Katie Stevens. I still don't like Katie. I just don't like her at all. Hated the dress she wore, what the hell was she thinking? Oh wait, she's only 16. Can't blame her. Yet. Anyway, I actually preferred her rendition of Wild Horses over Susan Boyle's version (and just as I expected, Simon mentioned her. Well duh.), solid vocals, but as always Katie Stevens manages to turn every song she sings into a energy-sucking lullabye. I don't get it. Is it her old lady vibe? Or that boring, monotonous voice? Or maybe it's her lack of emotion. I don't know but whatever it is, I hope she snaps out of it soon or else she should just go home already.

Lee Dewyze. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I'll say it again - Lee has serious issues with his lower range. He can't sing a single low note without being pitchy and whiny! The rest of his voice is okay, and he needs to stop being so nervous every time he's on stage, especially when he's listening to the judges or when he's waiting for results. He needs to be more confident on stage, I don't think he's that bad but I don't see what's so appealing about him either.

Didi Benami. Didi sang really well again this week. She's still giving off this boring vibe, but at least there's a marked improvement in her performance. I used to be a big fan of her, right now however I'm not too excited about her. I can't explain it, it's just a weird feeling.

Big Mike. If you were to ask me who is the most surprising contestant to date, I'd have to say Big Mike. When I first heard him, I thought he'd be cannon fodder like the Michael from the previous season (I liked last year's Michael, sadly though I knew that he was not good enough to be a strong contender) but guess what, Big Mike's actually quite good. The best male vocalist by far. The rest of the guys are either just so-so or crappy. Big Mike is the only one with a wide range, and that includes his amazing falsetto. To top that, he has no pitch problems whatsoever and he's hardly out of tune. Totally unexpected. A dark horse perhaps?

Crystal Bowersox. Crystal. Hmmmm. Well, Crystal is still Crystal, she still sings the same kind of songs and it sounds totally awesome. Unfortunately, some people are getting tired of her because she's Crystal. She only does Crystal and nothing else, so some may think that she's boring. Personally I like what she has done so far, she has been consistently good for the past four weeks. Other than Siobhan, no other female has been this consistent so, kudos to Crystal for doing a good job.

Siobhan Magnus. Best vocals of the night, complete with the screeches. I thought she gave a splendid performance, and I loved the ending part of the song (not that screech). The problem with Siobhan is her control of her upper range. Yes, she can hit those high notes in pitch HOWEVER she lacks the strength so when she hits those notes, it comes off as a bit too screechy and thin (I must be one of the very few people who find her screechier than her co-screecher ADAM LAMBERT). As good as she is, I still think Adam's better than her (thanks to all those comparisons). Now I don't claim to be an expert nor am I biased towards Adam, but I think Siobhan lacks experience and that's why she still needs a lot of practice. Well, practice makes perfect right? I don't know who has the potential to win at this stage but if Siobhan keeps improving, she'll definitely go far.

By the way, hats off to Crystal for paying a tribute to her dear friend Lilly Scott! *salutes* I could see it in her eyes, she was still upset about Lilly and Katelyn's elimination last week. Love Crystal for that. I feel like cheering her up somehow, she looks so sad most of the time!

Results show tomorrow - please, please let those who overstayed their welcome go home ALREADY! *cough*TimKatie*cough*

Extras: Jermaine Purifory's amazing audition!

Bitter Taste

I don't know about you, but I think the American Idol voters are mostly idiots.
The four people who went home tonight actually deserved to be in the Top 12 and thanks to silly teenage voters, four less deserving contestants remained instead.

Those eliminated tonight are:

Katelyn Epperly (Katelyn! I was shocked when I found out!)

Todrick Hall (I may not like him that much, but I think he is definitely more worthy to be there than, say, Tim Urban?? Thanks to last night's performance though, Tim's in. I knew it. Just as I had predicted. At least Todrick left with dignity, and with an awesome swan song. He should have done that last night instead!)

The next two might give you a heart attack if you've been paying attention to the whole season so far because NEITHER of them deserved this premature fate:-

Alex Lambert (I was shocked too! I didn't see that one coming cuz although his performances may have been quite awkward for the past 3 weeks, at least he has been consistently decent vocally. And I thought he had many SUPPORTERS! SHOCKING!)

And believe it or not...my favourite (and the consistently awesome) Lilly Scott went home tonight too! When I saw her up there with Katie Stevens, I just knew that she was going home. The power of the Miley Cyrus supporters is freaking damn scary.

So I wasn't that shocked about Lilly. However, I am seriously pissed off and upset because I won't get to hear Lilly sing every week anymore! *sobs* Lilly's awesome! She didn't deserve to go home, Alex and Katelyn did not deserve to go home either! I like Lacey and all, I really do but she, Paige or Katie should have been the ones to leave!

I no longer have the mood to watch American Idol. This season anyway. I don't really like any of the remaining contestants that much, except for Lacey and Crystal but Lacey doesn't deserve to be there based on her progress so far and as for Crystal...let's face it, she's not going to win unless a miracle happens.

If Tim Urban wins this freaking season I'm gonna throw a fit and stab a Tim-Voodoo-Puppet with a million and one pins! Or fly over to America and shave off his god awful hair! Or seriously disfigure his so-called handsome face with a marker pen! *fumes*

On a side note, Crystal looked really upset for the four FORMER contestants. She couldn't even smile when Ryan told her that she's in the Top 12. Or maybe she's still sick. She didn't look that great during her performance earlier this week.

Gah I hate American voters! I detest that emotionless Katie Stevens with a passion! She knew she didn't deserve to be there, and the same goes for Tim!

Stay tuned for more next week - wait, I might not be back next week. I'm too upset to look at the contestants seriously now. Damn it!

American Idol Top 16

I really don't fancy composing a super long post for this week cos I felt that it was kinda underwhelming, so I'll just summarize it in two parts - one for the girls and another for the guys.

Top 8 Girls
Best performances of the night: Crystal, Siobhan, Didi, Lacey and Lilly.
All 5 of them gave solid performances, especially Crystal and Siobhan. Lilly was a bit off last night, I'm not sure why but Lacey sang quite well, surprise surprise. Didi returned to form last night, singing Stevie Nick's Rhiannon and I loved it! So much better than Taylor's mutilation of that song at the Grammy's.
The remaining three, Katelyn, Katie and Paige, didn't do so well last night. In Paige's case, she totally ruined Smile! She's so going home tomorrow man, and hopefully Katie too.

Top 8 Guys
Best performances of the night: Lee, Alex, Big Mike, Casey and surprisingly Tim Urban.
Lee sang something really interesting - Owl City's Fireflies. I thought it was the best, maybe not the vocals but as a whole it was quite nice. Alex was okay too but was way too stiff, totally agreed with judges. Big Mike reduced Kara to tears and although the performance was pretty good, it did NOT deserve those tears. And the biggest surprise of the night...Tim Urban was actually quite good! I think he's gonna make it to the Top 12...crap.
Not so good: Andrew, Aaron, Todrick.
Poor Andrew. I feel bad for him. Week after week the judges tear him to shreds for not living up to 'Straight Up', and this week...ouch. I didn't think it was that bad, but they were really cruel to him so...not safe. Todrick ruined Somebody To Love, and Aaron was just bleh. I dunno, I may not like any of the guys but I don't know who should leave the competition at this stage...if I had a choice I'd say all of them.

Anyway, next week we're moving on to the Top 12. Hopefully things will get better? Cos right now Season 9's a snoozefest. They'll be doing the Rolling Stones next week.

Distractions

Currently Listening To: John Legend - Everybody Knows

I'm too lazy to blog about AI today, so I'll just blog about it after the guys perform tomorrow. Oh and John Park, Jermaine Sellers (finally!), Michelle Delamor and Haeley Vaughan left the show last week - too bad for John and Michelle, good riddance to the other too.

Anyway, lemme blog about my life instead.
One reason why I'm not blogging about AI is because I actually accepted a job to sort out some data thingy for Inti. Email addresses and phone numbers of applicants. Of course I'm getting paid! 5 bucks per hour, not bad what. I went through 270 of them in four hours.
FOUR HOURS! That's why I don't have time to blog about AI la.
Okay fine, partly because I'm lazy too.

Also, I have about a ton of assignments to complete.
I'm so not joking.
The lecturers for this semester seem to be really fond of tutorials and facilitations/presentations so I'll be stuck doing tutorials every week and preparing for the facilitations every other week or so.
Blah heavy work load. Thank god I'm not taking a fifth subject or I shall die of boredom!

Oh oh I can't wait to watch Alice in Wonderland! I've been trying to book tickets for the 3D one for the past few days but it's FULLY BOOKED =( It looks like I'll have to watch the normal one in Queensbay then...well, I'll save time and money by doing that!

Edit: OMG more forms for me to sort out tomorrow! And and I have one tutorial to sorta complete by Friday...waa! But I'm getting paid right! Nevermind, for $$$ I'll do anything! Dare me to strip for $$$ and I'll do it!

American Idol Rundown - Week Two, Part 2

Currently Listening To: Glee Cast - Lean On Me

I'll try my best to keep this simple and short, cos it took me like ages to compose last night's post which was super long and if you've noticed I have the tendency to be long-winded just like this ridiculously long sentence.

Right, with that out of the way let's move on to American Idol! (If anyone's wondering why I'm so enthusiastic about blogging about Idol...well, think of it as some form of therapy from my soon-to-be hectic college workload. That and the fact that I love analyzing them idol wannabes hahaha...)

So Crystal Bowersox returns to the American Idol stage and delivered a solid, typical Crystal performance. Yes it was good, and to me one of the best performances of the night but still nothing to shout about really. There's just no wow factor yet.

Haeley Vaughn sang Miley Cyrus' The Climb and failed in her bid to impress the judges - again. I didn't think it was THAT terrible, but definitely horrible enough for me to agree with all of the judges. Oh what the hell, even Miley's a million times better than that! Haeley needs to go before she becomes the Sanjaya of this season.

Lacey Brown. Much better than last week, but still a bit off-ish somewhere. In serious danger too. Sad actually cos I do like Lacey, and I loved the song she sang, Kiss Me by Sixpence None The Richer. Oh oh and I think she looks like a red-headed pixie! Something about her hair, eyes and make-up. She has gorgeous eyes, that Lacey.

Katie Stevens is like the female version of David Archuleta - young, but sings and talks like she's 50. Seriously, that girl has a very mature sounding voice so no matter what she sings, it sounds old and kinda forced. I won't deny that she has a good voice but she needs to lighten up a little. Anyway, she was not too bad tonight with Corinne Bailey Rae's Put Your Records On.

I was really disappointed with Didi Benami because she's one of my favourites, but she sounded quite terrible singing Lean On Me tonight. If she was some other contestant then it wouldn't so bad but it's Didi and we're expecting the best from her!

Moving on to Michelle Delamor, with the weirdest song choice of the night - a ballad version of Creed's With Arms Wide Open. Ummmm I didn't think it was that bad but it was definitely a weird rendition of that song. Not the best performance of the night, but not the worse either.

Lilly Scott. What the heck, my mum liked her version of A Change Is Gonna Come. I mean I liked it too but I can't help but think of Adam Lambert's version since I've listened to that one about like a million times already lol. Quirky and unusual, that's Lilly Scott and it worked. The judges loved her and she's still my favourite contestant so, keep up the good work Lilly!

Katelyn Epperly surprised me again tonight, by singing a slower version of Coldplay's The Scientist (and the original version's already slow enough man). Randy and Ellen thought that it was too slow but I actually loved her performance. Best vocals of the night for me, thought the judges were a bit harsh on her. Oh and she played the piano quite well too.

Paige Miles (finally I remember her name!) wasn't too bad this week either. I can see why the judges think that she has the best vocals - she kinda sounds like a mixture of Kelly Clarkson and Allison Iraheta. She sang Kelly Clarkson's Walk Away, and actually managed to change it up a bit in a way that worked well with her voice.

Siobhan Magnus got what we AI fans call the 'Pimp Spot' (meaning last to perform so that the audience will find her easier to remember) and she ended the show with an Aretha Franklin song - meaning booming big voice and super-high-impossible-to-reach glory notes...and she nailed it! The high note anyway, the rest of the song was a bit underwhelming but with Siobhan no one will give a damn. See? I told ya she's like the female Adam Lambert! If there's a high note to hit, she'll damn well hit it.

I liked - Crystal, Lilly, Katelyn and Siobhan.
Disliked - Haeley (PLEASE PLEASE just send her home AI voters), Didi (a disappointment!)

That's all for today, four more contestants will be going home tomorrow - best of luck to my favourites and hopefully Haeley WILL leave us this week.

(I said I'd keep it short and simple, but I guess it's still pretty long and complicated haha...mission failed! =P)

American Idol Rundown - Week Two, Part 1

Currently Listening To: Rihanna - Rude Boy

So the guys performed tonight instead of the girls because Crystal Bowersox was hospitalized for some complication with diabetes. Poor girl, I hope she's well enough to perform decently tomorrow.

Anyway, on to the guys. I'll just summarize each performance in a few sentences to make it easier. Let's start with -

Michael Lynch aka Big Mike. First to perform. And for the first time in God knows how many weeks he finally performed, if you get what I mean. Easily the best peformance of the night (not the best vocal performance though), even though he was the in 'Death Spot' for the night. Got 4 thumbs up from the judges too. But did he deserve that standing ovation from Randy? HELL NO.

Alex Lambert. Well, he was definitely more confident this week but he still needs a lot of work. He sang John Legend's Everybody Knows, and he sang it well too. Okay, so Alex may not be the best vocalist of the bunch but something about his voice just kinda appeals to me (and to quite a lot of the American audience too it seems). Like what Kara said, you can't help but root for him cos he's just so nervous and lovable somehow.

Lee Dewyze. Okay I'm actually ranking them and as far as I'm concerned Lee Dewyze was the third best tonight. However, his voice has this strange whiny quality to it, and every time he sings a low note it gets all squeaky and pitchy. That's right people, he's out of tune when he sings LOW NOTES what the heck. At the rate he's going, he'll go through the entire pop-rock band catalogue. And enough with the David Cook comparisons. They're not that similar.

Aaron Kelly. Er, weird song choice but at least he sang it well. Simon was being unnecessarily cruel to him. Hey, at least give him some credit for the great vocal performance all right? No need to throw him under the bus this early.

Andrew Garcia. Oh boy. Andrew's really going downhill. His performance wasn't that bad, but it was nowhere near fantastic either. The judges are not impressed with him at all, and I've always thought that he's overrated anyway. His situation now is the result of high expectations and undeserved praises. Definitely this season's Danny Gokey. I'm afraid his fans will be ditching him real soon...

Casey James. Ouch. Kara actually over-criticized her boytoy. Gee I wonder why. Dear ole Casey sang Gavin DeGraw's I Don't Wanna Be with his electric guitar and um, I don't really know what to say about his performance. He concentrated so much on his guitar playing until he totally forgot about singing well. The judges were right about him this time. Another case of complacency.

Todrick Hall. I blame the judges for this. They've always been supportive of contestants rearranging existing songs and making it their own but when it comes to Todrick, nothing he rearranges ever works for the judges. Remember Adam Lambert and Kris Allen's outrageous rearrangements? So maybe not all of theirs worked either but at least the judges appreciated their effort. I may not like Todrick, but I do feel bad for him. That being said, I'll have to admit that Todrick's 'artistry' kinda sucks. Horrible rearrangements week after week. It's still the judges fault for giving contradictory advice though.

John Park. Ah, the Korean dude. Boy is he boring or what? So he actually has a good voice - unfortunately he has ZERO charisma. And that will be the death of him. Even if he doesn't go home this week, he will not last for long.

Tim Urban. Slightly better than last week, but still quite bad. Sorry Tim, you can't sing that well but it looks like the teenage girls will be voting for you based on your good looks. And that about sums it up. Also, I thought Ellen was a bit cruel to him, telling him to consider acting as a career instead (she suggested Glee! Of all things!). Ouch.

Last and definitely the least...

Jermaine Sellers again. Okay fine, he's just awful week after week. Bad vocals, bad rearrangements, horrible attitude. Technically he has quite a decent singing voice but he does not know how to use it AT ALL. He's either trying to hit the high notes (key word TRYING) or sleep-talk through the rest of the lyrics. Please just send him home already!

(I'm ending this abruptly cos it's late, and I have classes tomorrow so I'm going off now.)

At the end of the day...

Currently Listening To: Keane - Again and Again

...it doesn't matter if you're a female or male competing for the American Idol crown because the contestants of Season 9 are all completely unprepared for the real thing.

Okay so I didn't get to watch all the guys perform but those that I did manage to see were not so good. And the best performance of the night was just really mediocre compared to the previous seasons. That dubious honour goes to Casey James, and he managed to send Kara into crazy-land just by standing there and smiling shyly. As far as I'm concerned, her reaction to his performance was pretty damn freaky. I mean, she was behaving worse than Paula Abdul on a bad day. Ellen and Simon's comments were spot on - STOP BEHAVING like a SILLY HIGH SCHOOL girl you 40-year-old woman! See your husband in the crowd? I hope he spanks you for your childish and pervertic behaviour!

*takes a deep breath*

So, four contestants were eliminated tonight, two girls and two boys and once again, I think America made a wrong decision. Out of the four kicked off, only two deserved to go IMHO, those two being Ashley Rodriguez and Tyler Grady. The other two, Janell Wheeler and Joe Nunez, did not give spectacular performances either but they were a lot better than a few of the remaining contestants (Haeley and Tim Urban I'm talking about you two! And also Jermaine Sellers.)

I seriously doubt the commitment of the remaining 20 contestants. None of them seems to be taking this seriously, I have this feeling that they think they're better than they actually are. And because of that, they're just sailing through the whole thing without much effort.

I don't know if I will continue blogging about this - if anything I'm just tuning in to see how bad they are and well, that's not the point of the show!

It's All About Song Choice

Currently Listening To: Paramore - Turn It Off

I actually went to Gurney Plaza today with the intention to watch Avatar again (my mum is anxious to watch it in 3D), but since the tickets for the 2.55pm show was kinda limited, we ended up watching the 72 Tenants of Prosperity instead and bought tickets for Avatar tomorrow.

Not a bad movie I guess. Not something I'd usually watch in the cinema but hey, Bosco Wong's in it! =P

Anyway, thanks to that movie I watched American Idol at 8pm instead of the usual 6pm. As I've said before, I was really excited about the girls this year but errr after watching them sing I am no longer that excited.

Why? Because 90% of the girls sounded terrible tonight.
I'm serious here. I'm not quite sure what happened to them, but the judges were spot on about the song choices. Most of them chose songs that were either too big for them, or too boring and slow for the big stage.

Just awful song choices all around. The award for the worse song choice goes to Lacey Brown. And she's one of my favourites! Unbelievable.

Surprisingly, Katelyn Epperly did better than I had expected. Still not the best singer, but a lot wiser than the others. She picked a song she liked and sang it quite well. Great song choice. The rest, not so much.

Highlights: Lilly Scott, Didi Benami, Crystal Bowersox.
Nightmare: Lacey Brown (WHY?!), Ashley Rodriquez, Haeley Vaughan.
Oh-Wow-That-Wasn't-Bad-Afterall: Katelyn Epperly, Michelle Delamour, Siobhan Magnus.

Loved Lilly's song choice. No idea what that song was but I would love to listen to that again.

I thought Didi sang really well too, loved her voice but the song was a bit bleh. Still one of my favourites though.

Siobhan Magnus is like the female version of Adam Lambert - big voice, great vocal range and the ability to screech on command. I did not like her during the group performance, but she sang pretty well tonight and surpassed my expectations.

And Crystal Bowersox...well what can I say, she has performed consistently well and she did it again tonight. Solid vocal performance, decent song choice but there's something about her that just spells...trouble. I didn't like the fact that she's just doing this for her son. I mean, if you wanna be the next American Idol you have to ENJOY singing too you know. Not just 'Oh it's only for my son. I don't care about this any other way.' A lot of people would kill for the opportunity to stand on that stage, so she could stand to show a little more enthusiasm.

As for the rest of them...I don't think I'd want to listen to them sing ever again. I wonder if they're taking the competition seriously? Ashley Rodriguez was dreadful - I couldn't hear a single thing she was singing AND yet she thought she was wonderful when she wasn't. Haeley Vaughan - poor girl the judges DID NOT love her tonight. She has great range, but needs A LOT of training before she can sing on stage. Lacey Brown was so terrible I don't even wanna think about it.

Those I didn't mention obviously did not leave much of an impression on me. Who did I miss out? Michelle Delamour (sang a decent cover of Alicia Key's Falling but other than that she was uninspiring), Janell Wheeler (what did she sing? I can't remember), Paige something (I can't even remember her full name. Shows how memorable she was) and Katie Stevens (cute, decent voice but boring).

Randy Jackson was another pleasant surprise. He actually gave constructive comments for once. I found myself nodding and agreeing with him for once, while Kara was just...Kara as usual.

So who's going home tomorrow? I have no idea but Haeley, Lacey and Ashley are NOT SAFE from the looks of it.

Next Week: The Boys - hopefully they'll do better than the girls.

So How's The Weather?

Currently Listening To: Yuna - Dan Sebenarnya

One more week.
After four whole months of doing -almost- nothing, I'll be going back to Inti in about one week.
Technically the new semester begins on Monday, but I don't have classes on Monday so I'm only going back there on Tuesday.
Wheee I'm actually kinda excited to go back (I think I say this after every long break.)

Lately I've been listening to Yuna, a Malaysian singer who kinda sounds Norah Jones-ish.
I know the name 'Yuna' will forever be associated with the Yuna of Final Fantasy X, but this is a different Yuna and she's actually a real life person so it's NOT THE CGI-ed Yuna.



Not bad for a local singer eh?
Oh what the heck I think she's awesome =) Go listen! You can hear her songs on the local radio stations too.

Also, I'm excited to hear the Top 24 contestants of American Idol Season 9 sing tomorrow. Provided if my parents don't drag me off to watch Avatar in 3D.

P.S: Am I the only who enjoys Sora no Woto???

American Idol 2010 - Let the frantic blogging begin...again!

Currently Listening To: Pink - Glitter In The Air

I never thought that I'd be excited for the latest season of American Idol but guess what, I kinda am. Excited, I mean. Don't know why but something about AI just appeals to me some how.

So anyway, American Idol Season 9 did not get off to a great start either, just like last year. The auditions (yes I actually watched all of it this time) were mostly mediocre or terrible. The guest judges were not as interesting as I thought they would be.

Despite the setbacks, it looks like you'll be seeing a lot of American Idol on my blog again (I really should be getting paid for my hard work) - the Top 24 this year is quite decent. I just love watching people sing their butts off on stage and then trashing them when they sound horrible =P

So, Top 24.
Although I think they're okay this year, I think the judges made a few poor choices (if you're a fan and read the American Idol blogs like me, you'll see a lot of people saying the same thing) by favoring better looking contestants over the more talented ones.

Case in point - Haeley Vaughan and Katelyn Epperley over Angela Martin and Shelby Dressel. Or Jermaine Sellers over Jermaine Purifory. Totally, absolutely unfair! Jermaine P. was my favourite audition-er so I was pretty pissed off when he wasn't chosen. Why did they choose the other Jermaine? He was awful! And he threw the band 'over' the bus to quote Kara. Dumb decision.

Another unlikely candidate for the Top 24 is Tim Urban. Seriously, everyone hates this dude for even making it past the first round because he isn't good at all. Seriously. What did the judges see in him? Okay fine so maybe we shouldn't be judging him yet. I mean, who knows what will happen? He might suddenly bedazzle us next week (I doubt it).

Back to Top 24.

The clear favourite for now is definitely Crystal Bowersox. Everyone seems to love her. Personally I think she's quite good but I have a feeling she just might crash and burn like Danny Gokey. Hopefully not cos I do like her.

Speaking of Danny Gokey, am I the only one who thinks that Andrew Garcia and Lee Dewyze resembles him? I mean, if you combine both of them together you'll get Danny Gokey. They kinda sound like him too. Scary stuff.

Right now I'm kinda favoring Didi Benami, Lilly Scott, Lacey Brown and Crystal. Yes, all girls. Most of the guys this year are just okay. A girl's definitely gonna win this year. Unless someone does a Kris Allen. If I had to choose a guy, I'd go for Casey James (Kara's BRAND NEW boytoy) or Andrew Garcia (the only male front runner so far).

Oh oh and I don't get the hype about that Korean dude, John Park. Based on his first audition (that was the only time we get to hear him sing ya know. Throughout the whole audition. Just one time. Then again a few of the Top 24 weren't even shown at all. Oh well?), he's not too bad but the hype?

Take a look at this website if you're interested to know who's being favored, and who's not - Top 24 Ranking

P.S: There's another A. Lambert in the competition this year ;)

Random CNY Snapshots

Random pictures I took today.

It's a rare occasion, me taking pictures and posting them here so enjoy it.



Deco made from CNY cards received.
And the annual hamper from my neighbour.
And gift from my cousin.



Wanna show off my outfit but didn't get a decent pic of just myself.



My new heels! (For fancy occasions + presentations)



My new wedges! (For casual wear)



What I wore today close up.

Some Thoughts

Currently Listening To: Kesha - Tik Tok

You know I really like reading thoughtful blogs.
Sad thing is I can't seem to write anything thoughtful myself.
I'm the write-gibberish kinda person so, any attempt at being thoughtful usually fails.

What am I thinking about now anyway?
Wondering if I should take an extra subject this coming semester so I can finish my degree within this year.
I'll have to write a letter to the relevant authorities explaining why I'd want to do that.
Should I should I? I guess I should. Why wait for another extra semester huh.

That's about as thoughtful as I'll get.

You know what I have way too many unknown 'acquaintances' in facebook.
Like seriously. They're all extra army members for Castle Age, or Metropolis, or Sorority Life, or something else. Think I should get rid of them?

Maybe I should, it's a bit weird allowing random people to look at my profile.
Or read my random status updates.
You know it'll be a really bad idea to link my Plurk to Facebook.
Look at all the crap I plurk about!

And and I can actually remember the words to Kesha's stupid TikTok song.
Well okay, just the chorus but still! It's Kesha. KESHA. She sounds bad. Not bad-ass. Just plain old bad.

Darn.
I just can't blog seriously now, can I?
I always end up crapping some nonsense somewhere, somehow.

ANYWAY signing off now.
Life's on.

P.S.: My foot was asleep last night too Chief.

I'm Back...

Currently Listening To: Taylor Swift - You Belong With Me

Dear Blog,

It has been a while.
Sorry for abandoning you for two whole weeks - I just didn't have anything to say.
But now, I think I've found something to talk about.
So ladies and gentlemen, today I'll blog about...Taylor Swift's disastrous Grammy's performance with Stevie Nicks.

Let me start this off by saying...Good Lord she was terrible.
Don't believe me? Just watch this.



I really can't fault the critics for dissing her, she really was awful.
The ever so likable Taylor Swift was completely off-key!
I don't understand how anyone can defend her this time.
There are actually people saying 'Oh she's still young, she's still inexperienced, she's usually better,' etc.
Young? She's turning 21 this year. Not that young.
Inexperienced? For crying out loud she has been around for approximately 4 years! What inexperience? She has traveled all over the world, performed in front of huge crowds, sold millions of albums - if that's inexperience I don't know what to say.

Hell, Miley Cyrus sounds better than her live and Miley Cyrus is NOT GOOD.
At least Miss Cyrus isn't off-key.

Face it Taylor fans, this is not the first time she has failed in a live performance. Stop giving excuses, it's not helping her at all.

Now let's analyze that video.
The first song she sang was her own song - Today Was A Fairytale.
BAH. Bad. Taylor honey that's your own song surely you know what it sounds like?
Second song - Rhiannon with Stevie Nicks.
Just...painful to watch. First of all Taylor was...totally and absolutely off-key. Secondly she was swinging back and forth like I don't know - someone desperate for attention. And there are people who claimed that Stevie Nicks was off-key too. I listened to it again to make sure - sorry folks she wasn't, the person who sang it out of tune was Taylor Swift.
The last song she sang was the extremely overrated You Belong With Me.
Okay so that one wasn't so bad. She was singing in the right key for once (apparently it's a different key from the recorded version according to some random comment I saw). But other than that her voice was weak, squeaky, and just not good overall.

If she had auditioned for American Idol sounding like that, even Paula would have sent her packing I think. Taylor Swift you need vocal lessons!
I'm not saying that I'm a good singer or anything but thank God at least I'm not tone-deaf.
Sad to see her win the awards for Vocal Performance and Album of the Year. Sorry, but she just doesn't deserve it.


Right.
Moving on.
AMERICAN IDOL!
Anyone else watching that?
Doubt I'll be blogging about it this year.
Noone really interesting so far.
4 weeks of auditions and nobody really stood out.
Even the 'crazy' auditions aren't that crazy.
Here's hoping that it'll get better next week? Ellen's finally judging!

Favourite Songs of 2009

Currently Listening To: Keane - Sunshine

I've listened to a lot of songs in 2009, and you know what I thought it was a great year for music. What with the Lady Gaga craze, and the Taylor Swift phenomenon that started in 2008 and spilled over to 2009 with a huge splash, and of cos my personal favourite of the year - nothing US related - Kalafina. Okay so maybe Kalafina was already around before 2009 but I've only heard of them sometime last year. I think.

So anyway here's a list of my favourite artiste/songs of 2009. In no particular order:

1. Empire of the Sun We Are The People



2. Kalafina Natsu no Ringo, Seventh Heaven





Two of the best songs from their first album Seventh Heaven

3. Grizzly Bear Ready, Able




Another weird video from Grizzly Bear O.o

4. Lady Gaga Bad Romance


What an interesting part to pause at...

5. White Lies Unfinished Business, The Price of Love





6. Erin McCarley Pony (It's Ok), Gotta Figure This Out





7. Arctic Monkeys Cornerstone



8. Music from Glee =D









All hail Glee!

9. The Noisettes Never Forget You



10. Jay-Z feat. Alicia Keys Empire State of Mind



11. Yui Again

Can't find any proper videos for this song =(
Copyright issues I believe. Le sigh.
Love it though.
This song is the most played song in my iTunes music player thingy.
No joke.

I guess that's about it?

Currently Listening To: Adam Lambert - Whataya Want From Me

Lately I've been reading a lot of blogs.
I guess that's just what you'd do when you're bored.
Anyway. Reading blogs is still a lot better than doing nothing.

About the blogs.
Well what can I say.
There are various types of blogs.
Most of them are pretty much journals, detailing their daily lives, or any interesting occurences.
Some are informative, full of...information about anything. I suppose that's for advertisement purposes?
Or maybe that person's just trying to be helpful. Or sharing knowledge?

Personally, I prefer those slice-of-life kinda blogs.
It's interesting to know how other people are leading their lives.
I've noticed most of those bloggers are kinda...rich though.
Jetting off to all sorts of countries. How nice...*ish jealous*

Then again there are some blogs that are just plain annoying.
Boastful, self-absorbed individuals who enjoy putting others down and flaunting their riches.
Making fun of other people who can't afford the same luxury as theirs.
Gucci, Prada, Tommy Hilfiger, etc. I can probably afford that too, geez...*crosses fingers*
Okay fine we get it, you're rich. Feel free to blog about your...rich escapades or exclusive presents or whatever.
But please - do learn something called humility.
I suppose that word just doesn't exist in their vocabulary.

On second thoughts, don't bother. It's entertaining. Keep boasting and showing off.

There are also bloggers who use really...big words.
Like, really, really big words.
Discombobulate comes to mind cos guess what - I'll probably need a dictionary to understand one simple blog post.
Good for literature, not good for interacting with us mortals.
Keep it real dudes.

I'm also really curious about those bloggers who only advertises stuff.
It's kinda boring no?
All about some new product, or some event, or some contest or something.
At least it's informative?

Seriously ppl. The simpler your blog is, the better it is to be honest.
Doesn't really matter what kind of blog it is.

(Do I really have the right to make such um, comments? I mean my blog isn't anything fantastic either. Oh well.)