Eliminated...?

Currently Listening To: U2 - Magnificent

American Idol Update:

So who was in the bottom three tonight?

Anoop, Matt and Lil

(ANOOP??? WHAT TH- WHY DOES AMERICA HATE ANOOP?!?!)

And who was eliminated?

Matt...












Wait a minute.

He wasn't eliminated.

Hahaha gotcha!

The judges used their 'Save'.

I say, good for him. And the other remaining contestants were really happy for him too. What a lovely bunch of contestants this year!

One thing I'd like to know...who the hell was voting for Lil? What the hell man. Her singing wasn't the only thing that stank - her attitude too. And guess what, people still defend her and as if that's not ridiculous enough, they vote for her as well!

So unfair.

Oh Adam was so cute tonight!
What he said to Simon in response of Ryan's random provocations - I thought it was really funny lol.
And seriously, all the contestants this year are really nice, from what I can see. Even though I don't like Lil...I guess in general she's still okay.


Awww so sweet!

A Night of Boring Soundtracks

Currently Listening To: Kalafina - Serenato

Is it just me, or was tonight's American Idol a bit too dull? Why was everyone singing heart-wrenching ballads? WHY? Bored me to tears. Yes, even Adam was meh to me. And he wasn't singing a ballad (I wish he had though).

Top 7 theme: Idol at the Movies. Meaning, songs from movies.

On with the rankings.

7. Lil
You know what, I was gonna rank her a bit higher but after that tirade at Simon Cowell...I don't know what to say. Her singing wasn't that bad, in fact I thought it was a lot better than the person in 7th place. However, if she can't take criticism at all - please, just leave American Idol immediately. I've had enough of her, and I think the judges would agree with me. Constructive criticism from them every single week and she never once took their advice. And YET, she decides to throw a temper tantrum! What the hell man.

6. Matt
It really pains me to rank him this low, but seriously? That was awful dude! Viva La Vida all over again. This is so sad cos I actually like this guy, and this week is THE week for the contestants to try their absolute best to impress the judges and the audience. And what did Matt do? He falters. Badly. Epic fail. NOT SAFE AT ALL.

5. Danny
Typical Danny stuff again. Is this dude ever going to try something different? Doubt it. A solid performance despite the lack of originality. For some unknown reason, I still have faith in Danny. He's a nice guy, as far as I can see and he has a great voice. However, his song choices are really...well...boring. Bland. Predictable.

4. Kris
...I don't get the hype about this performance, with or without the "Adam treatment" (meaning fancy lighting). Really, it was okay. Nothing special. Randy was too harsh, Kara was too...I don't know, too Kara-ish. It was alright dawg, but in no way does it compare to Adam's Mad World! Wtf. The people in idolforums.com are too Kris-obsessed, I think.

3. Allison
Allison sang Aerosmith's I Don't Want To Miss A Thing, and I thought she did a good job with it. Not an easy song to sing. But she pulled it off, although she wasn't up to her usual standards. Hah, I have no negative comments about this performance at all. I'm thinking she has a great chance of winning AI8...over Adam. I love Adam, but he's a bit too kinky for idol And it's official, the judges are finally semi-promoting Allison. About time too!

2. Adam
Yes, the almighty Adam is at number 2! Dearest Adam was seriously over the top this week. From the hair, to the outfit, to the song choice and the performance - it screamed "YEAAAAAAH! IMMA ROCKSTAR DUUUUUDES!" He sang, Born To Be Wild and wild it was indeed. Hell yeah. I was kinda hoping he'd sing Hero from the first Spiderman, it would have shown a different side of his Rock persona but oh well. Being wild works too! However, Adam needs to remember that this is American Idol, and not a rock concert. I mean, dude was literally on his knees tonight, screaming at the audience. I would have fainted from sheer joy, but some unsuspecting anti-rocker might just faint from shock.

1. Anoop
Woohoo! Anoop dogg's back in business I loved his performance tonight, it was absolutely fantastic! Flawless vocals, awesome song choice (Everything I Do) - still needs to work on stage presence though. Adam could teach him a thing or two about that. And um, about what to wear during performances too. Adam looked every inch a rock star tonight, while Anoop looked like...Anoop. Lol.



Overall, I'm glad my top four favourite contestants performed the best tonight. A very boring night, mind you. Ballads are fine and all, but when 6 out of 7 contestants are singing slow-tempo songs...zzzzz.

I dread the elimination tomorrow.
Lil should be the one going home, but both Matt and Kris are not safe, especially Matt. And I doubt the judges will use the safe on Matt...

PS: I thought Adam looked super hot tonight!! ♥♥ *dreamy eyes* I've never seen a more versatile contestant on American Idol. Just check out his performances in Wicked! He can act, dances really well and very obviously he can sing! (He can sing anything too - rock, pop, musical-Broadway stuff, ballads, R & B, etc.)

EDIT: There's just one thing that I don't get - why defend Lil and Megan when they talk back (rudely) to the judges - and criticize Anoop when he does the same thing (not rudely, just honest)? Seriously wtf?!

Journals and Stuff

Currently Listening To: Allison Iraheta - Alone

For the first time in four days...I finally found some useful journals for my interim report (Communications in Business assignment, bleh). Go me!

But seriously, it's so irritating and frustrating (not helped by the incredibly unreliable Streamyx) to research for serious stuff. Seriously!

Of course, my obsession with American Idol (hahahahaha that's so obvious) did NOT help either.

So, I've found them journals but the actual report itself is still stuck at 0.1% completed.

Really, I'm having serious writer's block. I have no clue how to begin the stupid report at all! Hope I get out of that 'block' soon, or I'm so screwed for next week =(

For now, I've decided to take a break (no use staring at a blank page) by listing down my favourite AI (what else huh ) contestants for all the past seasons.

**Skipping Seasons 1 and 2 cos I missed both seasons.

Season 3: La Toya London! My only favourite that season.
I never understood the appeal of Jasmine Trias, but she made it all the way to the Top 3 - over LaToya and Jennifer Hudson! A bit crazy, if you ask me cos she was one of the worse contestants in that season, in my opinion.

Season 4: Constantine Maroulis & Bo Bice. (Both rockers!)
Yeah, I know Carrie Underwood won and all, but I was never a fan. Was a huge Bo supporter all the way to the end, until he lost to Carrie in the final two Then again, where's Bo now, and where's Carrie?

Season 5: Elliot Yamin ♥ & Katharine McPhee.
A pity my favourites didn't win, cos Elliot and Katharine were so much better than Taylor Hicks. I have nothing against him, but um. Well. He flopped, BIG TIME. I liked Chris Daughtry too, he had quite a few amazing performances but I wasn't really into him. No idea why, since I usually go for the rockers haha. Funny how the non-winners (Elliot, Katharine and Chris) are doing better than Taylor now...

Season 6: Chris Sligh & Blake Lewis EDIT: & Melinda Doolittle!
The season most well known for Mr. 'Fancy Hair' Sanjaya Malakar. I loved Chris Sligh, thought he was really good and funny too. However I can still remember his rendition of 'Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic' and it was not pretty. No wonder he was eliminated. Oh and apparently he's a friend of current season's Danny Gokey. And then there's Blake. He was...interesting, but I guess his style wasn't very marketable cos HE FLOPPED TOO. Poor thing! It's not like Jordin's doing that great either, but at least she had some sort of fame.

Season 7: David Cook ♥♥, Jason Castro & David Archuleta.
David Cook!! Hands down, my favourite idol ever. Kinda snuck up on Season 7's chosen ones David Archuleta, Michael Johns and Carly Smithson. Like Kris this season, David C. was virtually unknown and un-pimped...until he started to outperform all of them chosen ones. And then the Archuleta fans got mad I can still remember Suet Nee skipping class just to watch the finals lol. The Davids were the ultimate Idol showdown, I think and back then I really thought that Archie was gonna win!

And now for season 8. My opinion on the contestants will change since it's still ongoing but my original favourite was Danny. Sadly Danny hasn't been doing much for the past few weeks so now he's only like...maybe...my 6th favourite? I'm not a fan of Kris or Matt, and yet I think they've performed a lot better than Danny ever since the Top 13.

I guess my current favourites would be Anoop, Adam ♥♥ and Allison, then Kris, Matt and Danny. So yeah, in general I like all of them (except for Lil, sorry). It has never happened before, me liking all the contestants.

In terms of vocals...I guess Adam's number one for me? I mean, come on, his vocal range is just amazing! And Anoop is so underrated

If you're thinking that I'm nuts, well - I've always been a big fan of reality tv shows. From Survivor, to Amazing Race, to AI and ANTM. And yes I would have blogged about everything else too, if only Survivor and Amazing Race had not gotten so...samey.

And now if you'd excuse me, I think I need to get back to typing the stupid interim report...

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

Currently Listening To: Adam Lambert - Mad World

The most anticipated anime of 2009, according to Animax.

Seriously?! Acticipated yes, but MOST? Talk about heavy promotion lol.

Anyway, I watched the first episode earlier (on Animax), and it looks a lot more exciting than the original one. Can they keep up with the momentum though I wonder?

For those who don't know, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is the remake of the original Fullmetal Alchemist anime. Why a remake, you wonder? Well, Brotherhood promises to follow the manga's storyline as opposed to original one, which had deviated from the manga.

The seiyuus (voice actors) for Edward and Alphonse Elric, Romi Paku and Rie Kugimiya respectively, remain the same but most of other characters are now voiced by different seiyuus. For example, Roy Mustang is now voiced by Shinichiro Miki (Lockon Stratos, Gundam 00) while Toru Ohkawa (Deathscythe from Soul Eater hahaha) had voiced him in the first FMA. Judging from episode 1, I don't think Shinichiro Miki is suitable for Roy Mustang... =(

Other notable seiyuu changes would be the swapping of Kaori Nazuka (Nunnally from Code Geass, Tsubaki from Soul Eater) with Mitsuki Saiga, for the character of Maria Ross. That is one radical change...I mean, from the deep voiced Mitsuki to well...Nunnally??? Ridiculous, I say! It should be interesting to hear though...

The seiyuus for Winry, Liza Hawkeye, Scar, Lust and Jean Havoc, are different too, but not quite so...different in terms of style. Everyone else NOT mentioned should be voiced by the same seiyuus I think. And there seems to a semi-Gundam 00 reunion for Regene, Nena Trinity, Lockon and Allelujah cos Hiroyuki Yoshino (seiyuu for Allelujah) is in FMA2 as Kimblee.

~.~

Now excuse my sudden obsession with Adam Lambert by humouring me, and watching his audition video =P



He's such a sweetheart! ♥
I've completely forgotten about his audition, until I saw that video.
And I thought, "OH so he was the one who kissed Paula and Kara's hands! Ahhhh."
(I'll have to agree with Simon in that video - dude was seriously theatrical! It's a REALLY GOOD THING THOUGH!)

Hahahaha I think I've just lost it - Adam please kiss MY hand too XD

Shocking? Hardly.

Currently Listening To: Adam Lambert - Ring of Fire ♥

American Idol Update :-

Hmmmm I thought they'd get rid of two contestants today, but only one went home and guess who it was....







Scott MacIntyre

I'd say, good choice America.

Quite a predictable bottom 3. Oh what the hell, it was too predictable.

Anyway, moving on - believe it or not, Adam Lambert's a natural blonde wtf hahaha.

Click here for a pic of Adam in high school!

I don't know about you, but I find that really funny. I mean, take a look at that picture! He looked so cute and innocent, and look at him NOW. It's just hilarious bahahahaha.

Oh yeah, try listening to the studio version of all the performances so far, Idol fans!

Wasn't keen on Adam's live version of Ring of Fire, but the studio version is just awesome. Same goes for Matt Giraud's You Found Me. Better than The Fray's version, IMHO.

And Allison Iraheta's Don't Speak. So much better than the live performance! My opinion anyway.

Strangely enough, Kris Allen's recorded Ain't No Sunshine ain't that great.
Well, at least it rocked on the show.

Right now, I'm fully supporting Adam Lambert for American Idol 2009 =D Still love Anoop's voice, but judging from all that backlash...dude won't last for long.

Waiting impatiently for Adam's studio version of Mad World!

It's A Freaking See-Saw

Currently Listening To: Kalafina - Serenato

Before I continue with my weekly American Idol updates, I have some advice - I mean, tips, for the American Idol hopefuls.

Lesson Number 1: Don't talk unnecessarily.
Lesson Number 2: In fact, don't talk at all if you don't need to.
And Lesson Number 3: If you insist on talking anyway, kindly please shut it when you've made your point clear!

What's wrong with the contestants this year? That's all they do - bla bla bla non-stop. They just don't know when to shut up, seriously.

And kudos to Anoop for apologising, although I didn't think it was really necessary.
Simon is right - you do have the right to defend yourself, however snipy it might be. I bet Simon's all lovey dovey with Megan now after last week's 'I love you Simon, but I don't care."

One more thing before I get on to the performances - really, AI. The pimping? It's too darn obvious. Get a grip, and stop shoving *cough*Adam*cough* into the audience's faces. It might have an opposite effect instead! Sheesh.

Anyway, on to the performances. As usual, AI8 is like a see-saw. One moment they're up, and the next they're down.


8. Scott
I'm really sorry Scott, but your time is up. That performance was just a total train-wreck. For once, he appeared without the piano. Instead, he played the guitar. Shocked the judges with that, but the actual singing? It was just boring, bland and obnoxious. And he talked back to the judges after they gave their comments! His comebacks are quite funny but you just don't talk back when YOU DON'T NEED TO. Buh-bye Scott.

7. Lil
They're eliminating two contestants this week right? Well, that's a good thing. Cos Lil...I think your time is up too. No originality whatsoever - she was mimicking Tina Turner, 100%! The sad thing is, her performance wasn't bad at all. It was the usual Lil stuff, and I'm sorry but it's not working. Snooze-fest.

6. Danny
Sigh, Danny. Taylor Hicks Version 2 is starting to look very likely. Like Lil, it was the usual Danny stuff and it's not working anymore either. I wouldn't say it was bad, but it was just overly mediocre. No amount of pimping is gonna help him unless he does something different and fun FAST.

5. Kris
Holy shit - what happened to Kris? He was fantastic last week! And today...I don't even know what to say. It wasn't bad, I know. But it was far from great. I would've ranked him lower, if only Danny and Lil's performances were a little less mediocre.

4. Anoop Dogg
Anoop Dogg is the king of see-saws in American Idol Season 8. One week he sinks, and the next he rises yet again. I think this pattern will continue until he gets voted off. Which should be quite soon, I think. The negativity surrounding him is a bit too much...poor thing. I don't think the apology will help him win new fans.

3. Allison
Okay, I think she rocked this week. And she wasn't singing a rock song. I'm starting to see the Kelly Clarkson comparison and that's not a bad thing. Still don't like her that much, but she's the only female contestant left. (Sorry Lil =P)

2. Matt
Another see-saw! He just keeps going back and forth. Great performance tonight, it was cool and...very Justin Timberlake-ish. The hat, the outfit, the whole thing just screamed JT. The judges' comparisons really getting to you huh, Matt?

1. Adam
Who else besides Adam? Lol. Simon Cowell actually gave him a freaking standing ovation! I have to admit, it was a fantastic performance and the arrangement of the song was just stunning, but the pimping has to stop. The lighting for Adam's performance was absolutely amazing - and everyone else's was just normal. What the hell. Ridiculous.



Also, the judges are finally paying attention to Allison's amazing vocals. What they said to her about being more relatable to the audience was a little harsh and unnecessary, but I guess they have a point? Oh well. Good for her, at least she's getting the attention she deserves.

Some Freedom For Two Weeks!

Currently Listening To: Kalafina - Aria

Yay I have a two week break from Inti, starting today =D

Of course I'm happy about it, but I do have a lot of assignments and stuff to complete within these two weeks so...is that a good thing or a bad thing? =(

Anyway, I had two presentations on Wednesday and I thought we did pretty well!

The first one was the presentation for International Marketing.
Dr. Z (the lecturer) seemed quite impressed with what we had to say, AND he actually told us, "Excellent teamwork!"

That is just fantastic feedback after the previous team's disastrous try, so I dare say that we are proud of ourselves. Congratulations to us!

The second one, for Environmental Issues in Business, was not bad either. But Mr. Yeoh aka Mr. Supply and Demand commented that our slides were a little too brief. It is true I guess, since we didn't know much about genetically modified food and mostly we were just winging it. Not too bad for two people who knows nothing about biotechnology!

Enough about college stuff, let's move on to American Idol!

Bottom three this week: Megan, Anoop and Allison

HAH! I nailed all three of them! Am I an American Idol expert or what now? =P

So who was eliminated?

Megan

American got it right this time, she deserved to go. I can't remember why she made that "I don't care!" comment, but she sure deserved that "Just like how you don't care, we don't either." from Simon Cowell. And that weird flapping arm motion...what's wrong with her?

To quote NGH from Idolforums, "Megan was told she was in the bottom three. Her response? She cawed three times, flapped her arms, and skipped to the stools. Yeah. Like I said. Bat-@#$% crazy."

LOL. Yeah. I actually lol-ed when I saw that on TV. Creepy.

With that aside, Lady Gaga's performance was strange, David Cook's pre-recorded performance was great, that impersonation session with the idol hopefuls was cute - what else? Oh yeah. I'm starting to really like Kris Allen and Matt Giraud. Hah. Didn't see that coming.

From Heroes to Zeroes

It's time for another weekly dose of Amanda's American Idol updates!

The theme this week is a bit too broad, so the contestants' song choices are quite strange this time. Top 40 download in iTunes, or something.

SO how did they do with such a wide range of songs to choose from?

Let's just say...not very good.

Those who did well or not too bad last week, stinks this time around. And vice versa. With the exception of Adam Lambert, who always rocks! =P

And we'll start with with:

9.Megan Joy.
Oh. My. God. Girl, you need to get a grip. That was one lousy performance!
NOT SAFE. The song she chose, I've never heard it before. But I can still tell that it was horrible, horrible, HORRIBLE.

8.Anoop Dawg.
Oh shit. I love Anoop. As a singer I mean. Great vocals. Unfortunately, he flopped this week. Badly. Terrible song choice. I mean, Usher's Caught Up? There are so many other songs at your disposal! What were you thinking Anoop? Dude's just not suitable for uptempo numbers, I dunno why.

7.Allison Iraheta.
I'm not sure why some people actually like this performance - I thought it was really weak. I love the song, Don't Speak by No Doubt, and I felt that Allison kinda overdid things. She wasn't screaming, like what Simon said, but definitely it lacked something. Please, PLEASE don't try too hard next week. One more thing to add. The outfit? HAS TO GO. Just horribly unflattering.

6.Matt Giraud.
Sigh. First Coldplay, now The Fray. Matt just can't sing pop-rock songs, seriously. Just like Anoop with upbeat songs, he just can't sing this genre and I cant understand why not! Next time (if there's even a next time), please choose something non-pop-rock-ish. NOT SAFE.

5.Lil Rounds.
Mediocre as always. There's something about Lil that's just...mediocre. She's never fantastic, but she's never lousy either. Kinda reminds me of Lakisha from Season 6. She ain't getting anywhere, she's just gonna be in the middle forever. Well at least until it's time for her to go =P

4.Scott.
Okay. So he is still singing the same kind of songs. BUT. Even so. He was miles better than EVERYONE from No. 9 - 5. DUDE. I know Paula might seem to be drunk all the time, but you know what? You need to take her advice, and spice things up. Like really try something TOTALLY different ala David Cook/Adam Lambert.

3.Danny.
Danny is still Danny. Me thinks he should have sang this for last week instead. Not too bad, just the usual Danny stuff. Honestly, at this point, I don't think he's gonna win American Idol anymore. Dear Danny is just gonna fade out in a few weeks.

2.Kris.
The total opposite of Danny. Before the Top 10, I thought he would be sinking within a few weeks. He proved to me otherwise. He's rising, and he ain't gonna stop I believe. AWESOME PERFORMANCE of Ain't No Sunshine. He was fabulous with his piano, and his vocals were just amazing. Dark horse much?

No prizes for guessing who I think is NUMBER ONE this week.

Adam Lambert.
Oh yeah Adam. You are so fabulous!
Gay or not, I don't care.
What matters is his performance.
He's unpredictable, yet consistently FANTASTIC.
Go Adam, play that funky music!



Watch, and enjoy =)

On a side note, I love Kara's earrings!

EDIT: Read some more blogs about AI, STILL DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT WAS SO GREAT ABOUT ALLISON'S PERFORMANCE TONIGHT! Wtf. America must be deaf.

(Will blog about my presentations for today, tomorrow.)