A song that sparks out some irony

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO DARREN LIM
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ERICIA LEE

"Wake Me Up When September Ends", a very recent Green Day song was sung by Tanya Chua alongside the Final 2 Singapore Idol contestants Hady Mirza and Jonathan Leong during the SI Finals results show at the Indoor Stadium just a few nights ago... the song came at just the right time somehow, for it marks the end of a nationwide phenomenon towards the end of this month (see the irnoy here?), and the start of the dreadful Idol Withdrawal. Indeed life is never going to be the same now that the Singapore Idol frenzy had become nothing more than a distant memory, starting from next week onwards :-(
Info on the song:
"Wake Me Up When September Ends" is the fourth single from Green Day's seventh studio album, American Idiot. Released on 13 June 2005, the single peaked at number six in the United States, becoming Green Day's second Top 10 single. It also peaked at number eight in Canada and the UK, while making number thirteen in Australia. The song is well known for its music video, which paints a drawn out intimate portrait of a wartime situation.
The song was co-written by the members of Green Day (with lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong writing the lyrics), and was co-produced by Green Day and Rob Cavallo. There once was much debate about what this song was about. However, Billie Joe has confirmed to the mass public that the song was written as a memorial anthem about his father, a jazz musician and minor league baseball catcher, who died of lung cancer when Billie Joe was only ten years old.
The song eventually became a tribute song to the victims of Hurricane Katrina, and sound bytes were added from various news coverages to the song. A live version of the song, recorded on September 3, 2005 at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts was released soon after and dedicated to the hurricane's victims. The song also became tribute for those who had lost their lives from the September 11, 2001 attack (i.e. the World Trade Center Twin Towers collapse). The song has also been dedicated during performances in 2004 to Johnny Ramone after his death.
For more info on the song, click on the following link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wake_Me_Up_When_September_Ends
For more info on the American rockband Green Day, click on this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Day

Summer has come and passed
The innocent can never last
Wake me up when september ends

Like my fathers come to pass
Seven years has gone so fast
Wake me up when september ends

Here comes the rain again
Falling from the stars
Drenched in my pain again
Becoming who we are

As my memory rests
But never forgets what I lost
Wake me up when september ends

Summer has come and passed
The innocent can never last
Wake me up when September ends

Ring out the bells again
like we did when spring began
Wake me up when September ends

Here comes the rain again
Falling from the stars
Drenched in my pain again
Becoming who we are

As my memory rests
But never forgets what I lost
Wake me up when September ends

Summer has come and passed
The innocent can never last
Wake me up when September ends

Like my father's come to pass
Twenty years has gone so fast
Wake me up when September ends
Wake me up when September ends
Wake me up when September ends

Surviving the many hours of HELL... in the form of Private Sales

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO BRYAN WONG YUAN LEE, HAZEL FU, BENJAMIN NG
AND ROISWANDI

The past few days were total madness... cos there were too many customers queuing up within a period of 7 to 8 hrs!!! And it's NO THANKS to a stupid Private Sales event going on at Isetan. Bcos of the great amount of stress I had gone thru, Im only going to describe the hours of sheer pandemonia in the forms of questions that we may never know the answer to, and my own viewpoints:

- Why is it that some part-time crewmembers haf big attitude problems and want to make lame excuses on why 'they cant work for long hours' and that 'they haf to go back home to settle some urgent personal matters wif their parents'??? And why can't they even call the managers and notify them that they cant make it to work at the very last minute??? Shawn and Sherlyn should get a reality check and grow up. SHAME ON THEM!!!
- Why did Roy and Candice quit??? My fave manager's decision could be due to 'exhaustion' or something... whereas the cutie pie had been wif us for less than 2 months and suddenly the decision to resign. That was really very shocking. And now I realized that Im starting to miss Candice a lot, tho i had only known her for a few weeks :,-(
- Why do soooo many customers come to Mos Burger of all places??? There's always McDonald's and KFC to go to mah!!! The more customers, the more we suffer and the more tired we get, and the more prone we are to making mistakes along the way... can't they even spare a thought for us??? We're not slaves for goodness sake... and I think most of my colleagues will agree wif me that it's not good to work like a horse. But what can we do abt it? Going thru all that mad shit is part of the job... bo bian. NO PAIN, NO GAIN
Now I can roughly know how much work (and stress as well) Jonathan, Hady or any of the Final 12 contestants from Singapore Idol had gone thru... signing countless autographs, going for location shoots, rehearsing for their next performances, etc. Which is why Im not quite ready to take up part-time acting yet, let alone be an extra. Im afraid I may not be able to handle the stress of being in the entertainment industry. Then again, I'll never know til I try. For now, I need to find a way to crawl out of this shithole and get back on my feet.
And to that stupid customer who talked real fast (i can somehow tell that ur not even local), kept insisting on buying curry burgers and rushing off for a meeting, if ya aint down wif our terms of service, then I GOT TWO WORDS FOR YA AND YOUR GIRLFRIEND... SUCK IT!!!!
As for that stupid old fella who comes to the place regularly yet keeps requesting for the egg yolk to be removed from the Oyako Rice Burger... I got this to say...
YOU CAN'T SEE US!!!

Really cool drawings of the Singapore Idol Final 12... in a bid to battle Idol Withdrawal

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ADAM KOH

More than 24 hours after the new Singapore Idol had been crowned, Im now struggling with the first taste of the dreadful Idol Withdrawal...
Saturday afternoons will never be the same again now that the Idol franchise had come to an end. Sad that there wont be any more roadshows to attend.
Sad that me and the other Idol fans wont be going for any more Spectaculars.
Sad that we wont be booking tix thru Uncle Joe.
But there's one thing that can never be taken away... MY FRIENDSHIP WITH THE FANS AND THE IDOLS.
Indeed Im very blessed to haf known some of the Idol fans during the few months of Idol Mania... as well as most of the finalists (Jasmine, Gayle and Emilee esp) and semi-finalists (Primero, Siew Woon, Levin, Wan Hua, Annabelle, Randy, to name a few). Hope we can still continue to keep in touch...

Well, I decided to upload the drawings I made of the Final 12 (based on their personalities, individualities and talents)... created just days before the Final 4 Spectaculars. Its a mixture of Mortal Kombat, Power Rangers, Gransazers and the X-Men!!! Yes, I am truly hit by Idol fever!!! :-p
Jonathan Leong the 'Black Ranger'... armed with a huge metallic sword
Paul Twohill the 'Red Ranger'... armed with a curved sword (yes, Paul signed this at Radiogate after his elimination)
Rahimah Rahim the 'Brown Ranger'... check out the Wolverine-like claws!!
Jasmine Tye the 'Orange Ranger'... armed with a bow (yes, Jas signed this when I went to her alma mater to lend her my support)
Hady Mirza the 'Green Ranger'... armed with a large hatchet
Joakim Gomez the 'Blue Ranger'... armed with a polearm that can be split into nunchakus
Nurul Maideen the 'Yellow Ranger'... armed with a pair of daggers
Emilee Kang the 'Turquoise Ranger'... armed with a pair of metal fans (yes, she's the hottest of them all!)
Gayle Nerva the 'Pink Ranger'... armed with a pair of bladed discus (one of the easiest to do!!)
Mathilda D'Silva the 'Aquamarine Ranger'... armed with a long spear
Norman Then the 'Purple Ranger'... armed with a pair of tonfas
Jay Lim the 'Silver Ranger'... armed with a shining sceptre (this one's a bit hard to do)

Presenting to you, your new (and perhaps very last) Singapore Idol...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO WEIYI AND REBECCA LIM
Indeed, it was a very close fight between Jonathan and Hady just now... they performed alongside local band Electrico, homegrown singer Tanya Chua, singing icon Rahimah Rahim (not the finalist of the same name) and Taiwanese boyband Energy (pity there are only 3 members left). And by 2125 hrs, the results were announced... and your next Singapore Idol is... HADY MIRZA!!!!

Yes, history has indeed repeated itself in the end... not that Im biased or racist. Of course Im very happy for Hady... and equally happy for Jon for putting on a good show. To think abt it, Hady did sound a lot better with the original song titled "You Give Me Wings"... indeed the song was truly meant for him all the way.
The big shocker? Hady had beaten Jon by an even bigger landslide... 70% to 30%. A huge difference of 40%?!? What is this world coming to?!?
While I may haf no regrets attending both the performance show and results show, my only regret was not being able to console Sharifah and Idah after the results were announced (it didnt help that I couldnt locate them anywhere in the stadium). Altho I wasn't equally devastated as most of the Jon fans, I can roughly feel their pain, cos I, like most of the other Idol fans, had been thru this phase too many times before (back when Gayle and Jasmine got booted off, tho the latter's exit wasn't much of a surprise).

I only know that there are A LOT of reasons behind this rather unsurprising decision. Like the controversial votings, the technical glitches, the drastic fall of viewership, the judges backstabbing each other, lack of talent pool, etc. The only thing that makes this season much more worth-watching than the first one is the strong bonds between the finalists and the semi-finalists.
Savour this moment while u can, Idol fans. You're looking at the second, and possibly very last, Singapore Idol winner. IMy congratulations go out to him anyway, he truly deserved the win. All Hady needs to do now is to work harder on his overall showmanship to make up for his lack of star quality, marketability and commercial appeal... qualities that Jonathan exudes.

More pics after the results show!!

I was kinda surprised to know that, upon locating a lot of empty seats at the T01 sector of the Indoor Stadium (shifting down from that dreadful balcony area), the semi-finalists were seated at the row right in front of mine!!! That's right... Primero, Randy, James, Levin, Siew Woon, Wan Hua and Annabelle were there... and indeed they were being rather playful and cheering away after the Singapore Idol winner was announced (read next entry). My only regret was, I didnt ask them to pose for a group shot before they left... sigh, Im still kicking myself in the head.
But I did get to take pic with Roslan as well as Nurul's sister Nisa!!! :-)
Updates on 'Ousted Idols' checklist (those in bold are the 'regulars'):
Terence- He never came!! :-(
Janson- still zilch :-(
James Tay- 6
Levin- 9
Geraldine- 2
Milly- 1
Melissa- 1
Siew Woon- 17!!! (still the most!!!)
Randy- 4
Tengku Adil- I didnt see him :-(
Roslan- 2
Primero- 7
Wan Hua- 8
Annabelle- 12
Charmaine- 1 (hmmm... I didnt see her anywhere either)
Meryl- 2

Pics I haf yet to give away are those of Terence, Janson, Adil and Charmaine

Presenting... the 'League of the Ousted Idols'!!

Happy Birthday to Kailin, the diehard Jasmine Tye fan!! Indeed last night was a night full of surprises... not just from Hady or Jonathan, but also from the semi-finalists who showed up for the night. It was the very first time I got to see Milly and Melissa upclose... and yep Meryl was present too!! Oh man how I missed her so much!!! I suceeded in giving her a big hug... same for some of the other semi-finalists. And yep, I did draw pictures of ALL the semi-finalists on Saturday night after reaching home from work :-) Me and Geraldine Chua, the one who was known for her quote "Shut up your mouth" during the bootcamp at Pasir Ris. In person, she doesn't have an attitude problem at all... she's actually very friendly and easy-going (im not kidding)!! She should eat more tho... too skinny like Rui En Me and Milly Khoo she does look a bit like Rui En from some angles!! Esp the nose, those dreamy eyes and the cheekbones!! Cute Ah Lian!!! :-p Me and the enigmatic Randy Chua Me and the super-sweetie Meryl!! Oh man she looks like a doll!! Super kawaii!!! :-) First time I saw Melissa Loo, I was like WOW... she's really beautiful (never mind if she may not be as slim as most of the other gals) Me and the cool Ah Beng Levin... Me and the youthful looking James Tay, who turned 24 just a few weeks ago Can you tell the semi-finalists from the fans? :-) Number of times I had seen the semi-finalists as of Sept 24th (yes, I do keep track of such details, don't mind my craziness, haha!!): Terence- not even once!! :-( Janson- zilch so far :-( James Tay- 5 Levin- 8 Geraldine- 2 Milly- 1st time!! Melissa- 1st time!! Siew Woon- 16!!! (yes more times than the others!!! Hahaha!!!) Randy- 3 I think? Tengku Adil- not yet :-( Roslan- 1 (not present ytd) Primero- 6 Wan Hua- 7 Annabelle- 11 (not present ytd) Charmaine- 1 (not present ytd) Meryl- 2 Later tonight die die must get the autographs of Terence, Janson, Adil and Charmaine (if they're able to attend the results show that is)

Jonathan versus Hady... Idol Face-off!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO STEPHANIE MCMAHON-LEVESQUE

Everyone in Singapore is talking about it. The Final Showdown between Jonathan Leong and Hady Mirza. White vs Blue. The competition will come to a climax at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on 24th and 25th September.
Hady Mirza
How he's performed so far: He has shown consistency and versatility in handling different genres. Besides having the ability to charm and move audiences, Hady also has a commanding stage presence and the hard work and passion he puts into his performances is always self-evident. Needs to be less mechanical on stage though. A better singer than Jonathan.
Taufik Batisah: Hady had his vocals down and is probably saving the best for the finals. He needs to work on his stage presence to beat the X-factor that Jonathan has.
Sylvester Sim: I think Hady's good enough already. He performed especially well at the R&B-themed Spectacular Show but needs to show off his dance moves a little more.
Olinda Cho: Hady has been a very consistent performer throughtout the competition. He really hung in there and delivered his best every time.
Ken Lim: Hady needs to have fresh perspectives to look at how he can develop an identity that is his. He is a very good singer though.
Jonathan Leong
How he's performed so far: He radiates star quality. He is more versatile and talented, given his talents with the piano and guitar, and his talents as a songwriter. His strengths lie in rock and jazz, as shown how he nailed a rendition of Snow Patrol's "Chasing Cars" and sizzled with Nat King Cole's "Unforgettable". However, he needs to work on his showmanship.
Taufik Batisah: Jonathan has a low vocal range and hasn't fully used his higher range yet, Therefore, his choice of songs is important and should fit his range.
Sylvester Sim: Jonathan's a rocker and everyone says that he's this season's version of me (ed: only difference is, he's MANY TIMES better than you). He should just push his vocals to the max. That should bring the house down.
Olinda Cho: I think Jonathan is very strong in his stage presence and that is his plus point. He should just be himself and not pull any stunts because the audience will be able to see it right away.
Ken Lim: Jonathan must make use of his charisma and ability to charm. He must realise that he finishes the competition, it's not so much a question of how good you can sing, but how well you can be marketed commercially.

The Singapore Idol journey

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MATT HARDY, BEN YEO, HUANG XUEHUA, KENNETH CHEN Z L, AND DANIEL LEE P L

What a crazy and scary journey it had been.

Top 28 Piano shows
Just when most people thought that this year's bunch would be rather boring, there seemed to be a few interesting individuals... like emo-rocker Paul Twohill and angsty rock chick Rahimah Rahim, whose personalities really stood out from the rest. Meryl's decision to pull out from the Wildcard round came as a bit of a surprise, considering the fact that her A levels were approching, and that her exit had somewhat depirved the otehrs of achance in the Wildcard round (thanks not to the producers!). but the technical glitch involving Mathilda and Nurul was rather questionable.
1st group of guys: Jonathan Leong, Paul Twohill
1st group of girls: Rahimah Rahim, Jasmine Tye
2nd group of guys: Hady Mirza, Joakim Gomez
2nd group of girls: Nurul Maideen, Emilee Kang
Wildcard show Judges' Choices: Gayle Nerva, Norman Then
Wildcard show Viewers' Choices: Mathilda D'Silva, Jay Lim

Spectaculars

Ousting of the Judges' Choices
It wasn't much of a surprise when Norman Then was the first to be booted out on the 13th of July, due to his lacklustre rendition of "Don't Leave Me High and Dry". But little do we know that there is another contestant who is a lot worse than the poly undergrad as well as the others...
However, when Gayle Nerva got booted off on 20th July, everyone was in shock bcos she had a lot of potential to offer... maybe it was bcos she chose a rather recent song "Leave (Get Out)". The sweetie pie wasn't the worst singer at all, yet the lack of votes did her in. Everyone from the remaining contestants to the Gayle fanclub to the majority of fans in the studios cried buckets of tears. And I myself totally regretted not being present at the studio on that day, thanks not to work.

Unjustified exits of The Oldest competitors
Third person to be ousted was Emilee Kang, the oldest female in the competition at 28. Altho the beautiful ex-lounge singer had shown gradual improvement, dropping the vibrato and doing very well wif her first ever attempt at jazz with "Makin' Whoopee", it was perhaps her age disadvantage that sealed her fate on 27th July.
As for Jay Lim, he made a rather risky move by singing an upbeat song "Supreme" by Robbie Williams for the British Invasion Spectaculars... something totally different from his usual ballad choices. Although the Lee Wei Song music teacher did decently on that week, he still got ousted on 3rd August, most probably due to his age disadvantage.

Shocking Eliminations of the Female Vocal Powerhouses
Rahimah Rahim performed a rather flat (and angsty) rendition of Lindsay Lohan's "Confessions of A Broken Heart", and eventually got sent home on 10th August, leaving rumored beau Joakim in a bucket of tears. Perhaps it was Imah's inability to connect with her fans that resulted in her elimination (the deletion of her fansite blog may haf got something to do with it... no, Im NOT gonna mention anything more abt that... whatever the case is, I did NOT spread the rumors). Or due to the fact that she wasn't in top form that night.
Mathilda D'Silva had been performing consistently (tho rather garang at times) since the Spectaculars, and often scored an A every week in the Idol report for TODAY. Yet the biggest shock came when she was announced to be in the unsafe group with two of the competition's strongest competitors... Hady and Jonathan. And Mathilda, whose last song was Bon Jovi's "Livin' On A Prayer", got axed on 17th August, generating shockwaves across the nation and culmulating in thousands of protest letters.
Next to go was Nurul Maideen, who often performed bland and lukewarm songs, yet had shown improvement week after week. Altho she did moderately well wif "If You Want My Love" and "Dia", she got sent home on the 24th of August (Dick Lee's birthday) nonetheless, in a shocking tiwst of fate. The other person in the unsafe group? Joakim Gomez, who had stayed for too long in the competition. And wif Noodle's elimination that fateful night, Jasmine was the only girl remaining in the competition.

Teenyboppers
Joakim Gomez, perhaps the most controversial contestant throughout the whole season who got slammed for his flat singing throughout the Spectaculars and his overdue run, surprised everyone with his on-key and earnest renditions of "My Cherie Amour" and "I Don't Wanna Know". Though Joakim got eliminated the very next night on 31st August, at least he was glad he got a dignified exit. And so was the majority of Singapore.
Next on the cutting list was Paul Twohill, arguably the most unique and most popular among the Final 12. It became evident that he was losing his spunk and energy as the weeks wore on, often butchering certain songs with his screeching (mostly due to his braces?) and crazy hair-flinging. Yet when it was announced by Gurmit that Paul's Idol journey had ended on 7th Sept, most of the fans from the other fanclubs cried for him, other than Paul's family, friends and supporters.
Last person to be eliminated was none other than the Last Girl Standing, Jasmine Tye. Although the adorable girl had shown marked improvement week after week, she had somewhat lost her competitiveness on the very last Spectaculars, probably knowing that she won't be able to stand a chance with the two male vocal powerhouses. And indeed Jasmine got 3rd place on 14th Sept. But I'm still very proud of her for doing her best and for lasting this long.

And now... we're down to the Final Two... JONATHAN LEONG VS HADY MIRZA. So hard to choose!!! Like last year, it's a case of deja vu: the Rock Balladeer vs the Soul Provider!!! :-o

How to free oneself of guilt

After reading the article on Mavis Hee recovering from her recent clinical depression (when she stalked two unknown hotel guests and yelled out "Call me God!"), I now realise that there are still many people out there who had it much worse than me... unable to stabilize their emotions at times and get depressed upon any mention of their past deeds. It doesnt help either that some people get too emotionally attached to people they like, and end up destroying themselves (a very good example of this is Darth Vader getting too obsessed with learning the power to save his wife til he even renounced his humanity). Truth be told, it take me abt one to two weeks to get over my guilt, but as of late I had learnt to control my emotions better.
The problem with some Christians these days is although they know that Jesus had paid the penalty, they somehow can't let go of the guilt (like what I had been thru last week). It's as if Christ's suffering were not enough, and they must contribute some of their anguish by continually lamenting their failures. In fact, they even go to the extent of keeping copies of everything they've done... how foolish!!
The Apostle Paul (not Paul Twohill lah!!) wanted nothing of this. He accepted as an accomplished fact the removal of all guilt before God because Christ's death had marked PAID IN FULL over his account. The memory of earlier days remained vivid, but it didn't weigh him down a single bit.
Everything that happens to us is retained in that remarkable filing system called "memory". A wise forgetfulness based in Christ's atoning sacrifice can keep all feelings of guilt from cluttering up our life. The more we look forward to each new day, the less likely the events of the past will trigger our inner depression. Guilt is a burden God never intended His children to bear.

How to tell between SI 1 and 2

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO IAN LOON

Indeed I won a pair of tickets to the Singapore Idol Finals results show yesterday at the magazine booth at Wisma Atria!! Say say say YAPHOOOOOO!!! :-D
While I was chatting wif Farhan, Anthony, Sharifah and Idah abt Singapore Idol (minutes before the magazine booth opened), we couldn't help but point out the many similarities between SI 1 and SI 2...

1) First and foremost, The Careless Whisperer Patrick Khoo appeared in both auditions!! After his first appearance, he actually appeared in one of 6 Royston Tan's short films!! The second time round, we still couldnt hear what he's singing, and a very infuriated Ken yelled at Patrick to get out!

2) There is at least Chao Ah Lian in each season with a huge ego/attitude problem...
Season 1- Maia Lee (short, busty, tattooed, dropped out from school, a single mum)
Season 2- Geraldine Chua (tall, act-fake, best known for her quote of "shut up your mouth" during the bootcamp)
Winner: Maia. Not only was she chosen by the judges to advnace from the Wildcard to the Final 11, she actually made waves with her brief marriage to Sly, her short stint as a journalist from the New Paper, and the relaese of her debut album, which drew a measly 1000 copies. Lol, she even posed fro FHM in spite of her small build!! So Geraldine should count herself lucky not to have been chosen by the judges or the viewers to advance to the Spectaculars (thank God for that)... otherwise, she would haf ended up just like Maia.

3) There is one female contestant who pulled out halfway thru the competition...
Season 1- Candice Foo. Pulled out of the Spectaculars at the very last minute
Season 2- Meryl Joan Lee. Pulled out a few days before the Wildcard round.
Winner (in terms of redemption probability): Meryl, without a shadow of a doubt. At least there was a video explaining her decision to withdraw from the competition (she had to study for her A levels, tho there might be more than meets the eye), so she can be redeemed in the end (even if she deprived many others of a spot at the Wildcard round). As for Candice, it seems highly unlikely that her arednt supporters would be able to get over her decision to quit the competition hours before the crucial moment that is the very first Spectaculars. Altho she cited financial problems as the 'main reason', it was still very unclear as to why she would want to do that (til now, most fans kinda despised her for being a QUITTER and depriving the semi-finalists of a spot at the Spectaculars).

4) For each season, we had one judge whose comments make very little sense...
Season 1- Douglas Olivero (who lacks orginiality, often borrowing quotes from the other 3)
Season 2- Jacintha Abishegenaden (who comes off as too techinical or metamorphical)
Winner: No doubt it's gotta be Jacintha. More fun and more recognizable, she's known for her quotes like 'subtext', 'synthesis', 'poet' and the like (which resulted on Ken Lim saying rather bad things abt her). For weeks, the viewers couldnt get what the 'bimbo' is trying to say, but that's what makes Singapore Idol season 2 more interesting to watch. At least she doesnt come off as wishy washy as Douglas, who was being slammed for his rather insincere comments abt Sly during the last Finals and after that. And it does help that Ja used to be Dick Lee's wife.

5) There are a few cutie pies, both male and female...
Season 1: we had Chrissypooh, Daphne Khoo and Leandra
Season 2: we had Joakim, Jasmine, Nurul and Gayle.
Winner: A bit of a tie, but the cuties from Season 2 actually look a little better and more marketable. Lol, Jasmine and Daphne are too similar in almost every way!!

6) There is a crybaby in each season...
Season 1- Beverly Lim Morata
Season 2- Jay Lim
Winner: Jay Lim. His reasons for crying were understandable (tho a bit too exaggearating): he was too touched to have been selected as one of the Final 12, esp since he's the oldest guy in the Top 28. And he also cried whenever someone got eliminated... but he managed to hold his tears during his own elimination... breaking down only after he got to the end of "Solitaire" (and before he kissed his girlfriend). Beverly cried during the Piano show only after a few good comments from the judges, leading many to think that she's fake. But she didnt cry in the next few shows after that... not even when she got eliminated on the very first Spectaculars.

7) The strongest singers got ousted very early... way before their time!!
Season 1- Jeassea Thyidor
Season 2- Mathilda D'Silva
Winner: It's more like a tie, but Jeassea had it a lot worse, mostly bcos she's a non-Singaporean who had been living in Singapore for only 2 years, and she got eliminated in the very first Spectacular, 4 weeks after her Piano show performance (The song she sang? "Love Will Lead You Back"... a totally jinxed song, since the original singer quit from showbiz 2 weeks after that song). At least Mathilda, who was born and bred in Singapore for most of her life, got thru the Wildcard round and lasted for 6 Spectaculars... tho her exit sparked a huge wave of anger and protest) esp since she did very well wif Bon Jovi's "Livin' On A Prayer").

8) We had an Ah Beng for each season...
Season 1- Sylvester Sim
Season 2- Paul Twohill
Winner: Paul Twohill. Sure he may look scary with that eyeliner and that hair, but he's a much more unique and more talented individual than Mr Thick Lips Sylvester. And the emo-rocker doesnt even need to point and wink at the younger fans; he just flings his hair and says out that Hardgay quote without going overboard. Moreover, Paul can speak English and Chinese very fluently.

9) We had a feisty tomboy.
Season 1- Olinda Cho
Season 2- Rahimah Rahim
Winner: After some consideration, I think Olinda wins this one. Rahimah may be looking more adorable every week, but she still got a rather good figure and still looke feminine. As for Olinda, she lost a lot of weight in the few weeks after the Finals and has even gone on to wearing more revealing clothes. Lol, even Carrie Chong borrowed that revealing black swimsuit worn by Olinda (from one of the slimming advertisements) for her latest FHM cover shoot!! OH BEHAVE BABY!!! :-D

10) We had a tone-deaf singer who drew a lot of bad publicity
Season 1- Jerry Ong
Season 2- Joakim Gomez
Winner: You gotta give it to Joakim. He's lasted longer than most of the other (usually-better sounding) finalists, performing flat week after week, endured lots of hate mail and negative comments as a result, and still managed to improve himself with "My Cherie Amour" and "I Don't Wanna Know". And he got a dignified exit the next night... tho his overdue stay had somewhat cuased the standard of Singapore Idol to drop drastically. As for Jerry, he sounded flat and constipated all the way, even at his very last Spectacular. Jerry's wide age gap didnt help much either.

11) The Final 3 saw two guys and a girl for both seasons...
Season 1: Taufik, Sylvester and Olinda
Season 2: Hady, Jonathan and Jasmine
Winner: As much as we would love to see Jasmine stay, we weren't too surpised when it came down to Jonathan vs Hady. Both of the guys are almost equal in terms of vocal ability, charisma and personality. When Taufik and Sly advanced, many people all over Singapore were really angry over the tone-deaf (mostly under-16 female) fans for voting Sly into the Finals, esp since Olinda was many times better than him. it became obvious to most Singaporeans that Taufik is a BILLION TIMES more talented than Sly. And mark my words, I make NO APLOGY with my constant slamming at Sly.

12) And now for the Finals... we have A GUY VS A GUY for both seasons
A) We haf the Rock Balladeer vs the Soul Provider.
B) The Rock singer is Chinese and the Soul singer is Malay.
C) The Chinese has long hair and the Malay has short hair.
D) Like Sly before him, Jon himself had been in the unsafe group more times than anyone else... but mostly for the wrong reasons.
E) The only difference is, the Chinese guy (Jonathan) in this season is a TRILLION TIMES BETTER than the one from last season (Sylvester).
F) and hence both Jon and Hady are equally good. And it helps that both the Hady and Jon fan clubs are in very good terms.

LOL is this gonna be a sign of deja vu??? Only one way to find out... watch the Singapore Idol Final Showdown on 24th Sept and 25th Sept at either the Indoor Stadium or on Channel 5!!

Less talk on the chalet, more on forgiveness

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO KELVIN LIM YY

I may haf no regrets going for the chalet at Ananda Resort on Mon evening (I even had a good night sleep from 12 am to 7.30 am)... but things took a worse turn by Tuesday afternoon when Rashidah and Kim started arguing. Sensing a great disturbance in the Force, I left the chalet on my own accord at 1315 hrs... never turning back. True enough, from what I heard from one of my classmates, the chalet event ended later that night, when everyone got chased out by the organizer's mum. It was just too much for Rashidah to kick a fuss over trivial matters and show her attitude in front of everyone. Ditto for a few other gals for saying bad things abt others behind their backs. Altho I was relieved to haf left the chalet rather early, I haf to say that it's a really big shame for the whole chalet gathering to end in such a horrible manner. Im not gonna blame anyone here... but rather, I want to share wif u readers on how to resolve conflicts thru forgiveness.

When we or someone we love has been hurt, thoughts of revenge may dominate our minds. But we won't be able to 'get even'. Dr Lewis Smedes stated that "revenge never evens the score, for alienated people never keep score of wrongs by the same mathematics. Forgiveness is the only way to stop the cycle of unfair pain turning in your memory. Forgiveness is not about forgetting, excusing or smoothing things over. Instead, forgiving breaks the cycle of revenge and creates a new possiblity of fairness by releasing us from the unfair past. Forgiving is love's toughest work, and love's biggest risk. To forgive is to dance to the beat of God's forgiving heart. It is to ride the crest of love's strongetst wave. To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner is you all along."

Ephesians 4:31-32
All bitterness, fury, anger, shouting, and reviling must be removed from you, along with all malice. And be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ.

Off to a class chalet!!

HAPPY ADVANCED BIRTHDAY TO MARILYN, ALVIN LEE AND JAMES MARSDEN (Cyclops/ Richard White)

I'm going off for a class chalet at Pasir Ris today.. will be back here by Wednesday evening. I will be wearing eyeliner for the very first time, muahahaha!! Wish me luck in my quest to get tickets to the SI Finals at either Wisma Atria or Bugis Junction on Wed!! ;-)
I think Im going to spend less time in the Singapore Idol section of the Mediacorp Forums... if not, the whole of the forums so I can find time to face my inner demons.

My thoughts on the Clementi MRT Drama

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY TO MENTOR MINISTER LEE KUAN YEW
HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY TO... MY DAD (No, I didn't forget at all!!)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO JONATHAN PHIPPS
HAPPY ADVANCED BIRTHDAY TO XINYI

Its already Sunday and I'm still losing sleep due to my remorse over the stupid dispute wif Mr XYZ. I dunno if Mr XYZ had forgiven me... I think he has. But Im still not very sure leh. Moreover I've already cried enough tears that night as well as on Thurs night after Jasmine got eliminated. So yeah I'll be alright, I hope. I may need to see a psychiatrist if I'm suffering from depression.
Ok ok so maybe I should really get over the traumatic encounter that happened on Wed night... cos what I had been through is NOTHING compared to what a certain Miss Jenny Low had gone thru on Friday afternoon... she was nearly killed by her ex-boyfriend.
And how? That jerk named Mr Kwong KH pushed her off the platform and onto the tracks of the Clementi MRT station. Fortunately, the train driver managed to hit the emergency button, and Jenny managed to run to the side of the train before it whizzed past her... she suffered only bruises and numbness. After the train personnel led her out of the side thru the doors of the train, she was taken to Singapore General Hospital as an outpatient. Yet she managed to sleep well that night and even said that she will still continue to take the train to work.
What else can I say abt Mr Kwong? Considering how he tried to kill his ex-gf, I think he's damn bloody STUPID AND CRUEL. So what if he's got 2 degrees from NUS and scored mostly As in pre-U?? And it was reported that he even worked in a big bank, servicing small and medium-sizee enterprises!! What could possibly have gone wrong??? I think he took the breakup too hard. Which is the reason why Kwong's lawyer later deducted that he could be suffering from reactive psychosis and depression. No wonder many people say that women are often the reason behind man's downfall (see how Eve got Adam and herself into trouble in the first few chapters of Genesis? Ditto when Anakin Skywalker turned to the dark side with hopes of saving his wife from death). But anyway, I felt kinda bad (but NOT sorry) for Mr Kwong. Now he's gonna get charged with attempted murder...
My advice to anyone of you who take the train at the higher-deck stations (i.e.e those that are non-underground)... DO NOT STAND TOO CLOSE OR BEYOND THE YELLOW LINE. THIS IS TO ENSURE YOU MAKE WAY FOR THE PEOPLE COMING OUT OF THE TRAIN AND TO PREVENT FALLING ONTO THE TRACKS!!!

Jasmine, you did us all proud

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO JAY LIM!!

Ok this is the hardest AND longest Idol entry I had to write about... my personal fave. The only female contestant to have lasted longer than the rest, hence the moniker "Last Girl Standing". The one whose fanclub I joined overnight at Mount Emily hangout on 31st July (and never looked back since). Yes that's right, I'm talking about the sweet, adorable and talented Jasmine Tye. And yep I'm going to focus all my attention on Jasmine Tye here.
3rd place is already a very big accomplishment itself... altho I did vote for Jasmine a few times (no less than 10 btw), I still know they wont be enough to get her into the Finals, esp since it's the whole of Singapore voting for the Final 2. So it was a little expected when Gurmit announced that Jasmine's Idol journey had come to an end; indeed, history has repeated itself. And of course I'm equally happy that Hady and Jonathan would indeed be going to face off in the Finals (oh yeah, I agree that Stacie Orrico is HOT!!!). I know this is the 100th time I'm saying this, but I wanna say once again that Im still very proud of her for going this far, and Im still very happy that she did great on the last Spectaculars with "Valentine" and "Some Hearts". Indeed she has made the most improvement among all the other finalists... from her lacklustre performances with "There You'll Be" and "Wannabe" (shudder) to compliment-worthy performances like "Don't Forget To Remember Me", "Sweet Child of Mine", "Foolish Games" and "Right Here On My Own".
I don't mind the fact that Jasmine is getting a little chubbier these days (she doesnt even need to be tall or stick thin to look beautiful)... I don't care abt people slamming her (no matter how angry I may be, but Im not gonna fall in their trap this time around) cos they won't make me change my mind abt Jasmine. She's a really sweet, friendly and unpretentious person, and it's really hard not to like her. Indeed she's the perfect description to the girl-next-door whom many guys would want to bring home to introduce to their mums. I admit I got a minor crush on Jasmine too (don't we all do so?), but I'll still continue to support her all the way :-)
I wanna thank Jasmine's parents, sisters, uncles, aunts, cousins and other relatives for giving me the opportunity to join in the craze and being really nice to me and my fellow supporters. I also wanna thank Jumali, Hoonie, Kendrick, Gerald, Jeremy, Joyce, Khairul, Syafiq, Kailin, Jasmine Seah and all the other fans from the Jasmine fanclub for accepting me for who I am and allowing me to know you all a little better, as well as join you in supporting Jasmine like mad. Indeed I'm gonna miss each and everyone of you... I hope we can all continue to keep in touch even as the Spectaculars come to a close. And last but not least, I thank God for giving me the opportunity to know all of you wonderful people. :-)
In all, I had seen Jasmine in person about 21 times as of last night... even more than Hady and Jonathan (tho not anymore)... I know I'll still get to see her again at the Indoor Stadium with the other finalists. But for now, here goes the list:
1) 8th July: the very first time I saw Jasmine was at the Final 12 roadshow at Bugis Junction... they arrived half an hour late but that didn't matter. I wasn't crazy over her back then.
2) 9th July: Then I saw her at the Final 12 roadshow at Bishan Junction 8 for the official SI magazine signing... my main focus at that time was on Emilee and Gayle
3) 19th July, my very first time attending a Singapore Idol Spectaculars event (Final 11 performance- Number One hits)... while it was the third time I would see Jasmine and few others, little did I know that the next day would be the very last time I would see Gayle in the competition (but definitely not the last time I would see Gayle in person overall of course). Didnt quite like Jasmine's hairstyle there
4) 22nd July, Joakim's birthday: I saw her at the Lime Charity event (Final 10 appearance) outside Orchard Cineleisure, where she auctioned away her table tennis trophy
5) 31st July, Mount Emily hangout... this was the very night I officially joined the Jasmine fan club, and never looked back since. Nurul's birthday happened to be on that day too
6) 5th August, two events 'back-to-back'... Final 8 at Suntec Convention Center and Orchard Cineleisure.
7) 8th August, Final 8 performance: Home, Family and Friends. Jasmine aced it up wif Carrie Underwood's "Don't Forget To Remember Me". It was also the first real time i got to chat wif Siew Woon and Wan Hua.
8) 10th August, Final 8 results... Jasmine is one of the first few to be safe, whereas Rahimah had been eliminated.
9) 16th August, Final 7 performance: Rock Da House. Jasmine wowed everyone with Guns N Roses' "Sweet Child Of Mine". I didn't attend the results show the nest day, but I was quite relieved not to haf done so, cos Mathilda got booted off that night, and it shocked everyone all over Singapore.
10) 23rd August, Final 6 performance: Asian Pop. Jasmine did well with Zhang Huei Mei's "Ting Hai" and Tata Young's "I Believe".
11) 24th August, Final 6 results (and Dick Lee's birthday!!). Jasmine was among the first 3 (alongside Hady and Jon) announced to be safe, whereas Nurul got booted out, leaving Jasmine as the 'last girl standing'.
12) 30th August, Final 5 performance: R & B. Jasmine continued to show improvement with Aretha Franklin's "Think (Freedom)" and Christina Aguilera's "Come On over".
13) 31st August, Final 5 results... Jasmine, Hady and Jon were once again announced to be safe, while Paul and Joakim were the last two standing. Joakim's journey ended with dignity.
14) 2nd September, the Final 4 made their appearance at Compass Point from 1500 to 1630 hrs
15) 3rd September... the Final 12 Idols reunited for an ensemble for the President's Star Charity event. And it did help that I was a fan of Vincent Ng, who happened to be Vincent's fave local celeb. :-)
16) 6th of September, Final 4 performance: Judges' Choices. Jasmine sang "Out Here on My Own" and "Foolish Games".
17) 7th September, Final 4 results... Rui En was the guest performer that night, and the Rui En fan club came in full force. Everyone in the studio go emotional when Paul's Idol journey ended that night.
18) 8th September: I went to Chung Cheng Secondary to show my support for Jasmine, esp since I had a lot of free time before the Westlife concert.
19) 9th September: Back-to-back events for the Final 3 at Plaza Singapura at 3 pm and at the Youth Park at 5 pm.
20) 13th September: Final 3 performance... she sang "Valentine" and "Some Hearts".
21) 14th September: Final 3 results... Jasmine became 2nd runner-up. But wow, what an amazing journey she had been through.

Whew... finally finished with this entry!!! I need to rest...