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!