Singapore Idol returning??

Happy Birthday to Jade Soo and Neal-D

I know this comes a little late, but it was announced sometime last month that Singapore Idol is returning after a nearly 3 year absence!! :-O

Was I shocked? You bet I was. Was I happy? Hmmm, so-so. Am I eager to give it a try? NO WAY.

Although the idea of auditioning for a competition (Singapore Idol, Project Superstar, SuperBand, etc) may sound kinda fun, I am not keen in auditioning for it, for I know I may get eliminated at the audition rounds (due to my singing being less than perfect, by my own admission). I'm so not gonna make a big fool of myself on national TV, I'd rather be myself rather than pretend to be someone I'm not (look at rejects like "Singapore Cowboy", "Banana Man", "Kung-Fu Master", and even "Yellow Trunks" Steven Lim... their antics are downright embarrasing to watch). Moreover, I feel that I have a stronger bond with the MediaCorp artistes than with the Idol alumni. Unless a friend of mine qualifies to the semi-finals or even makes it to the Spectaculars, I may reconsider my options, but I don't think I'm gonna allow myself to be 'part of the frenzy' on a long-term basis, like what I did for Singapore Idol season 2. Although I did attend roadshows involving any of the Idol alumni (Taufik, Jonathan, Olinda, Daphne, etc) or even Project Superstar/Campus Superstar alumni, I don't think I'm going for all of the roadshows involving the batch for the season 3 finalists come the second half of the year. The most I might do is watch by the side and snap pictures of the individuals like I've always done during roadshows in general...

If I have to be honest, I had already lost some faith in singing competitions since mid 2007, after bearing witness to the biggest mistake/travesty/joke ever made in talent competition history within Singapore... that took place in the reality show known as "Live The Dream", which saw the totally terok Victor Tang overstaying his welcome to go against the much more capable Affendi Sahid in the finals for the solo category, resulting to much criticism and derision from the public and the judges. That goes to show that the outcome of every voting round is not always a pleasant one (even if voting lasts for only half an hour as per LTD standards).

It was already bad enough that Robert Sunga, undoubtedly the best singer of the lot, was eliminated in controversial style, and it was on that night that Victor truly became the source scorn and disgust of many, by cheering and going "YESSSS" arrogantly after being announced as safe (damn qian bian, don't you agree?). I remember seething my teeth and clenching my fists in anger on the night when Shauna Simon was announced as the contestant to be eliminated, and that got everyone (read: those who don't support Victor) shocked, bewildered and depressed at the same time over the fact that Shauna got ousted instead of Victor. 60% of the blame game should go to the judges for allowing Victor to get into the qualifying rounds in first place!! 30% to the fans and family of VT, and 10% to the fans of the other soloists.

Thank God then that Fendi won the solo category instead of Victor, even though the damage had already been done. Im sure that people sure will avoid the winners' showcase totally if it were Victor were the one who won instead (Victor never showed up for the 2008 Countdown, thankfully), and that would truly be a nightmare for the whole of Singapore. As for the group category, it was only right that the youthful, vibrant and electrifying By Definition win over the rather old-school CatsineCradle. Of all the finalists for "Live The Dream", the runner-ups (VT and the Cats) and Oli were not involved at the countdown event at VivoCity.

As far as I know, "Live The Dream" will never, eee...ver make a return for a second season, given the dismal reviews as well as the controversies surrounding it, thanks not to Victor "Von Doom" and his "Doomified" league of fans.

Back to the topic of Singapore Idol... although i am still not sure about the changes in the format of the upcoming 3rd season of Singapore Idol, I personally hope that the security put in tighter measures should any Idol rejects from previous seasons ever attempt to join the auditions once more... most particularly Patrick Khoo the Careless Whisperer!! Should he dare show up again (which I highly doubt, given his current age being slightly above the cutoff point), somebody please pass me a strait jacket already!!! :-(((

For now, I'm keeping my fingers crossed and hoping that Jonathan Leong's debut album be released asap... and also waiting for more updates on the Idol Reunion special.

Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore_Idol