Singapore Idol season 3 auditions at Cathay

Happy Birthday to Michelle Tay and Jialing

I was fortunate to leave the house a bit later yesterday, cos the weather was still as unbearable as always. Firstly I had early lunch at Plaza Sing, then headed to the Cathay Cineplex to check out the turnout for the Singapore Idol 3 auditions. Man I was right... it was MASSIVE, about 4000 people queuing up, 30% more than the turnout for last season!! And 40% of them are teenagers! I was surprised to meet Benny as well as Uncle Joe at the entrance region of the Cathay. Also, I saw Gurmit and Hady... later on Joakim got up to the orange elevator thingy to entertain the crowd and pick a few girls to showcase their talents. I left the place at 1225 hrs and took taxi to my workplace, telling the taxi driver about the return of the Singapore Idol franchise.

Later after I knocked off from work, I headed back to Cathay, only to discover that the barricades had been emptied at abt 6 pm; apparently the remaining fans were told to return to the same place the next day to resume the auditions round, for the security guards wanted them to get more rest and not fall sick afterwards. With little energy left inside my "fuel tank", I decided to head back home by bus, skipping the opportunity to see the rehearsals for True Hearts charity show at Toa Payoh HDB Hub.


As for the new changes for Singapore Idol season 3, Hady will be replacing Daniel Ong and taking on the role of co-host-cum-"big brother" in the upcoming season, while the producers decided to "tim the fat" and leave the judging panel at the original 3 (Dick, Flo and Ken). Gurmit remains as the main host, and there will also be changes added into the competition format... the Judges' Veto Vote and the Salvation Song will be added into the Spectacular rounds, and the results will be telecast on the same day as the performance show (much like Project Superstar or Campus Superstar). Singapore Idol season 3 is scheduled to premier on Channel 5 on August 9th, right after the National Day Parade live telecast... the date of the finals may be taking place in mid-December. (Truth be told, I really hope that history doesn't repeat itself on the day of the Finals yet again... let there be a female in the Final 2 this time please!)

To see more pics, go to this link... http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=119137&id=556354026&ref=mf

More info on the Singapore Idol franchise... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore_Idol

DFTL starts tonight!

Happy Birthday to Sugih and Irene

Be sure to catch "Don't Forget The Lyrics! Singapore" tonight! The long awaited local version of the popular gamshow is finally here, hosted by our very own funnyman Gurmit Singh. And to kick off the show with a BANG, we have the first of 5 specials... and what better way than to kick off with the Popstar Charity Special, starting off with 3 of the best-known Singapore Idol alumni... SI season 1 winner Taufik Batisah, SI season 2 finalist Jonathan Leong, and SI season 2-cum-Asian Idol Hady Mirza! You certainly can't miss out on this! ;-)

"Don't Forget The Lyrics" Popstar Special Recording

Happy Birthday to Elena

Yesterday was totally INSANE!! Not only were the Jonatics present for the final recording of "Don't Forget The Lyrics", but also the fanclubs for 2 more Singapore Idols (hint: TB and HM). There were also abt teachers and kids (abt 50 in total) from the Chasworth International School or something like that. I believe the total number of people present for the recording was about 100 or slightly more.

I reached good ol' MediaCorp at 6 pm, and more fans started coming at from 6.30 pm. Lo and behold, New Yi Qing arrived, escorting us to Studio 1. I shan't dwell too much into detail... the recording started at abt 8 pm and lasted for abt 3 hrs, the setting for DFTL looked smaller than I had anticipated (see rough diagram), and there was some 'major revamp thing' in the middle of the studio sets. The musicians who performed throughout the 3 hrs were an awesome bunch... I kinda like the female backup singer named Huimin, she looks really cute (and looks a bit like Jade Seah). Gurmit was indeed a really funny and quirky host, and it was truly an Idol Reunion of sorts among Gurms, Jonathan and the other 2 guys. If you wanna find out who, do catch "Don't Forget The Lyrics" on 27th November to find out ;-)

As we were heading out of the studio at 11.20 pm, I went on to take picture with Yi Qing :-) Then I managed to catch the last of Bus 165 and 854 to head back home... no need to take taxi, muahaha! ;-p

Ok lah, no need to guess the names of the other 2 guys already... do refer to the labels at the bottom of this post. ;-)

My thoughts on President's Star Charity and New paper New Face 2008

Happy Birthday to Nicky Bryne (Westlife) and Kendric Tan


Due to the F1 SingTel Grand Prix and other factors (namely the cancellation of future Ren Ci shows), this year's President Star Charity had been pushed to early October, and got less publicity as a result, compared to the last 2 year's PSC shows. And if there's one thing I'm not very happy about, it's gotta be the poster layout as seen in this week's copy of 8 days...

The biggest travesty has gotta be Jon Leong's image positioning in the ensemble... he is located at the very back row (behind 'Broadway Beng' Sebastian Tan's), and his face is barely visible under the poor contrast!! I felt that Jon's image (as well as Olinda's) should be placed within the same row as Taufik, Hady, Ping Hui, Fiona and Daren!! Jon and Oli are also rising stars, therefore they deserve much better positioning!! And poor Fathul of By Definition, his face is barely visible in the poster since it is located very near to the centrefold of the magazine.

I also feel that the poster design committee oughta be sued, cos the background color is totally salah for a supposedly jovial event like PSC!! With the background color being black in color, it only makes the poster look weirder, with the darkness mixing with the artistes' black hairdo... and that makes the heads of artistes like Jon, Hady, Fiona and Daren look even weirder!! What happened to the design team's sense of color theory and variety???

And to a lesser degree, I seriously think that Kym Ng's face should be placed BEHIND... not at the front most portion of the poster. matter of fact, I think she should switch places with Jon!! I feel she rather over-rated... and OLD. I heard she might already be in her 40s?

Tomorrow I will be going to Takashimaya Square/Ngee Ann City to watch the New Paper New Face 2008 finals, even though most of the girls totally cannot make it. I ain't even gonna place my bets on who's gonna win... I'm going there only to kill time and try my luck on spotting celebs...

OH WAIT!! I read from today's New Paper that there is indeed a celeb going there... 'JINGYI'!!! :-D

Hady Mirza the Asian Idol???

It's nearly 48 hours since the results of Asian Idol, and I'm still trying to swallow the fact that had been whirling in my head all this while... Hady Mirza, representing our small sunny island, being crowned the first Asian Idol? None of the citizens of the other 5 countries or the HapyHadys could have expected it. Even Hady himself could not believe it; his mouth dropped in disbelief, he fell to his knees, he covered his face and cried tears of joy. It's a fact that is much more shocking and earth-shaking than the results of Star Awards 2007. It's a win that would make Taufik Batisah envious.

No offence to Hady or his supporters, but Hady, who comes from a country with a land mass and population much smaller than that of the other 5 countries, winning the title? If the results were anything to go by...

• Hady Mirza (Singapore)- 28%


• Jaclyn Victor (Malaysia)- 27% (lost by 1%?!?!)


• Abijeet Sawan (India)- 15%


• Mau Marcelo (Phillipines)- 12%


• Phuong Vy (Vietnam)- 11%


• Mike Mohede (Indonesia)- 7% (!!!!)

Wait a minute... the whole show takes place in Indonesia and yet Mike got the lowest score??? @_@ I think the Indonesians are very angry and bewildered by the results... I wont be surprised if the Indonesian Idol forums are being flooded wif many posts of anger, disbelief or even demands of revote.

I am utterly speechless... I got nothing against Hady. He's not the strongest performer, and he beat all the rest. Could haf been Jaclyn Victor to win the title had she not lost out to Hady by a mere 1%. I would say it's got something to do wif clean-cut looks, x-factor, charisma and not just good vocals. Who wouldve thought that the very person we last saw perform at Courts Megastore 2 weeks ago would emerge as the best in the whole of Asia? With his unique soulful voice and charming looks, Hady will now represent Asia to promote the diversified Asian music to the world. And other than an international recording contract, he gets to win a free trip around the world to watch international Idol shows!! :-O

And Taufik? 3 years after winning the first Singapore Idol contest, he's struggling in Malaysia trying to promote his third album and known only in some parts of Asia. And I dont know what Jonathan must be thinking right now...

Crazy weekend part 2: Courts Megastore 1st Anniversary

Continued from part 1... me and Ishardi took a taxi to Tampines North Drive 2, where Courts Megastore was located. Once there, I saw a few Rui En fans, including pouty-lipped Steph whom I hadnt seen for some time. I still think she got a crush on Mr Leong (much like Rachel Lin who was present as well). I also saw Seth and Anthony from the HapyHady club.

The event started at exactly 1830 hrs... the emcee being Hype Records singer-actor Cavin Soh (last seen as a schizophrenic in "Metamorphosis").

First artiste to peform was Vasantham Star 2007 winner Ebi Shankara. That's really his name, as in Ebi Rice Burger. He sang a Tamil song and an upbeat English song. He looks a bit like someone though...

Next to come out was... JONATHAN!!! He damn shuai lor... he sang "Qing Qian 25", a Jacky Cheung song (drats forgot the song title) and a 'remashed-n-remixed' version of Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time". He's the only artiste to sing 3 songs, all the others sang 2. Here in the photos wif Cavin, he's telling the former Dreamz FM member to 'better buy his album' when it comes out. Haha, just kidding! :-p

3rd artiste was Olinda Cho. She still so chubby, but at least she still looks healthy. She sang Chaka Khan's "Aint Nobody" and a remashed-n-remixed version of Culture Club's "Karma Chameleon"... a rather sad rendition without the upbeat tones.

4th artiste was the Singapore Idol season 2 winner, Hady Mirza! Come 15th and 16th December, he would be performing wif 5 other Idol winners from all over Asia to compete for the title of "Asian Idol". He sang "Merpati" and "You Give Me Wings"... he was very sweet, he actually wished one of the HapyHadys (a gal named Siti) "Happy Birthday".

The moment Cavin said, "Before the next handsome guy, must come a pretty girl", we knew straightaway that the 5th artiste to perform had gotta be RUI EN!!! I tell u, we all screamed like mad when the pretty and adorable Rui En came out to sing "Jie Dong" (theme song for "Love @ 0 Degrees C") and "Kuai Le Fang Shi" (theme song for "Beautiful Connection"). I even waved the posters in the air as I snapped pictures of her... but I felt a bit guilty cos I realised that I took more pics of Fel (whom I last saw earlier) than of Rui En (whom I had not seen for 6 mths).

Last artiste to perform was the very first Singapore Idol winner, Taufik Batisah! I didnt take frontal shots of him cos I was waiting outside the tent located backstage wif the Rui En fans. I can't even remember the names of the songs he sang. And please, don't ever ask abt that certified Mr Sim, he's a certified has-been already. Let's just say Olinda is the runner-up for the 1st season of SI.

The few fans (50 I think) who had bought $30 worth of items from Courts got to go into the tent to take pictures wif the artistes as well as get autographs from them. Rui En came out at abt 2030 hrs, and I had managed to pass to her the letter I wrote to her... mission accomplished!! Soon after, Jonathan was escorted into the same van very quickly (less than 5 seconds I think). As the van drove off, I cheekily shouted out, "Rui En, Jonathan loves you!!" I never thought that both of my faves would end up taking the same van back to Hype :-p

Next to go was Taufik and Hady... Olinda and Ebi took the last bus back. I went to Ikea to haf dinner wif Carol, Valerie, Elle and the mum-n-daughter pair (so sorry, forgot their names). Man I tell u, the restaurant was HUGE, but what surprised me even more was the HUGE furniture section at the 2nd level!! We took a shuttle bus back to Bedok Interchange, and then took separate buses back.

I reached home at 2330 hrs... feeling happy abt the event that had just ended, and excited for the flea market the next day!