A Night To Remember - Part Deux, Results Show late review!

Confetti + 2 MJs = Rockin' Results Show

Just a mere week ago tonight, we were picking up the scraps at the Indoor Stadium (no wait, 11.47pm last Sunday I was scarfing down bee hoon at the post show reception with Malaque, Nurul, Farhan, Izked and the rest).

Ok, wait, before I go any further, I wanna say sorry peeps for not doing this earlier - got so wrapped up in the whole aftermath (media backlash) and Celebrate 2010 stuff that I didn't review what was actually a great power-packed Results show! So come, sit back and let's reminisce together shall we?

So I shan't bother describing what was a pretty boring post-show party, lets rewind the night instead....

9.30pm, Sunday, 27th December 2009. Indoor Stadium.

We had just witnessed a super tight fight between Airi & SylSyl. Voting lines are open for another 45 minutes, and right now, its a half hour break before the Results Show comes back. But the lucky peeps here at Indoor don't have a chance to take a break. Stepping up to the mic to entertain us are Tabitha Nauser with 'Ain't Nobody', Faizal Isa with 'I'm Yours', Charles 'Stitch' Wong with his awesome beatboxing and last but not least, Hady Mirza with his latest Malay single, 'Angkasa' - delivered beautifully and flawlessly I must say! Here are the vids...

(this footage of Hady was recorded at rehearsals, cos I couldn't find any vids of the actual performance on Youtube. To watch more rehearsal footage, check out my Youtube channel here).

That was enough to make that lil half hour break feel like nothing :) Of course backstage was crazy la, wardrobe change, pee breaks, new hair (styles, not actual hair pffft!), then haul ass to stage left/right to prep.

10pm, We're back with the Results Show LIVE!

Shot and broadcast in HD (just like the performance show earlier on), the Idol Results Show opens with the 'Spectaculars Medley', featuring the following :

• Smooth Criminal performed by Sezairi Sezali, Charles 'Stitch' Wong and Faizal Isa (for Spectacular #4 'A Tribute To Michael Jackson)
• Chiggy Wiggy performed by Malaque Mahdaly, Farhan Shah and Nurul Huda (for Spectacular #3 'An Asian Feast')
• Hey Mickey performed by Fathin Amira, Mae Sta, Justin Jap and Duane Ho (for Spectacular #6 'Mambo Mania')
• When Love Takes Over performed by Tabitha Nauser, Sylvia Ratonel, and later joined by the rest of the Top 12 (possibly for Spectacular #1 Chart Toppers).

Watch...

Every time I watched them perform this medley, I got goosebumps, especially during Tabby and Syl's duet 'When Love Takes Over'. Every time I watch that, I can imagine what the Finals would have been like had it been an all-girl affair - without taking anything away from Airi - it would have been pretty explosive...and super sexy! Our Diva showdown - imo, would be better than Fantasia vs Diana Degarmo (cos lets face it peeps, although those two had vocal chops, our girls are vocals PLUS eye candy and swagger!) .... in the words of Ning Baizura, '...in another life, in another place...'

Not sure if you guys felt the same, but I felt 'Hey Mickey' was a bit of a waste of Mae's, Amira's, Justin's and Duane's talents (and a tad humiliating). Initially when I saw the choreo, I thought it was kinda cheesy but hey, its not too bad a song I guess. But when I saw what they had to wear, I was like...O...M....G.... I wish they would have picked a better song and dance (and wardrobe) for these four (but I must say, never once did any of them complain - such good sports!). There are so many great songs to choose from for a 'Mambo' theme... anyway, hope they've gotten over the trauma of wearing those yellow outfits! (I can just see someone commenting, 'producers made them wear yellow cos they secretly support Sylvia and want her to win!' - am I right? Haha, CAUGHT YOU, now that I've said it, this totally INvalidates that stupid lame-o thought, so don't bother posting -AUTO REJECT!)

After the medley, we were treated to a variety of gorgeous performances that I totally enjoyed. First up, Hady with his brand new self-written English single, 'I'll Never Leave Again'. Beautiful song, well written, and totally perfect for his great voice - loved it! Its such a great song, totally worthy to be played on radio stations around the world (and by that I mean US, UK, Australia and Europe! Sounds just as good as any of them angmoh singers wat right?) Backing him on guitars were Sezairi and Charlie.

This was followed by a great crowd-pleaser performance of 'Use Somebody' by the 'Idol Band' featuring the vocals of 'big brother' Hady Mirza with Sezairi, Charlie, Duane and MJ Kuok (everyone say woot!) I so absolutely loved that the producers brought him back for the finale. Eventhough it was just a few lines of song, we've all missed him and it was great to have him back as part of the Idol 'family'. It would have been better if producers had given him a little airtime to say 'hi'. I have no doubt many were wondering 'huh? is that MJ? whats he doing here? how? why? etc', woulda been nice if Gurms had said something about MJ's special appearance (after all, he did fly all the way back from the States just to perform :))

Watch...

Next, we had the Idol Boyband, made up of Uncle Ken's worst nightmares put together - Season 2's Joakim Gomez & Paul Twohill with our very won Farhair & Faizal.

Uncle Ken, can't say the boys dint listen to you when you told them to go form a boyband right? Imo, they actually sounded pretty good! Watch...

The Paulkim/FarFai show was followed up by a sizzling hot Idol Diva performance....

The Divas were Season 2's resident powerhouses Nurul Maideen, Gayle Nerva and Mathilda D'Silva and our very own power princesses Tabitha Nauser and 'queen-diva-for-the-night' Sylvia Ratonel(li <-- can you believe the CNA host got her name wrong and made her 'Italian'? tsk, never do homework hahaha! Aiya, live show, people make mistakes, however, SylSyl doesnt hear the end of it from the Idol crew - 'Ratonelliiiii!') Anyway, I'm sidetracking...back to the Idol Divas, they are AWESOME. Sizzling number that had all the right hair flicks, neck twitches, finger wags and hip pops! Idol Divas FTW!

Watch...

Speaking of divas, the next one up, was (no, IS) a major powerhouse to be reckoned with. No further introduction needed. The very sweet *and tiny!*, 17-year old, Charice Pempengco, performed her 'Bodyguard' medley (I Have Nothing/I Will Always Love You) and her first single, 'A Note To God'(written by Diane Warren and produced by David Foster for her).

Watch (and be blown away!)....

Earlier in the day I managed to catch her during her rehearsal (click here to watch), and even then at 'half-power' she was awesome. I totally regret not 'stalking' her for an interview - saw later on on my youtube comments that she's really sweet and woulda 'talked' to me :) DAMMIT! Charice if by some freak-of-nature-chance you ever read this - you were bloodee awesome man!

After all that balladeering, we needed a change of pace....

....and who better to kick us into high gear than our very first Singapore Idol (and can I say, hunk much?) Taufik Batisah! Sporting a new hairstyle (and fresh from a very handsome shoot with Manja magazine whose cover he graced), Taufik performed his brand new, yet unreleased English single 'Addicted'. I am TOTALLY 'Addicted' to that song, and the dancing - so awesome lor. Kudos to the original SI for always keeping a few steps (and notches) ahead of the game and keeping us wanting more. A few nights ago, I dreamt it got 'mashed-up' with Cobra Starship's 'Good Girls Go Bad'..... OMG - Taufik + Leighton Meester 'remix' video for 'Addicted! HAWT!

(okaaay, almost 2am, getting ahead of myself there....sorry Fik!)

Watch 'Addicted'....

(can't believe I don't have any rehearsal footage - Min, if you're reading this, spare me one can?)

And now, after all those vids, you KNOW what we're up for right? Yep, the results. Gurms recaps performances, recaps Judges' comments, and makes us wait through a commercial break. What you don't see at home folks, is that while we went on that last commercial break, Gurms left the stage and Syl and Airi DID.NOT.MOVE.

Not an inch.

They were rooted to that spot for the whole 2 minutes and 30 seconds (maybe more). I can't imagine standing there, rooted for so long, waiting for the announcement that could change your life, with more than 8000 pairs of eyes looking at you, piling their hopes and dreams (and voting guilt) on you. Iz and I were stood by the stage, behind Airi and Syl, and they seriously looked like statues.

Here's what happened when we got back from the break. It went by in such a blur. I was holding my breath and at the same time chanting 'I Will Not Cry. I Will Not Cry. I Will Not Cry.' (already did when Airi sang TBAA mah! Anyway, check out the hand that 'points' to the 'winner' at 2:13 <-- HILARIOUS! Its like he knew!!!!)

This is Airi singing TBAA again through the confetti. I love these confetti blowers, it always adds to the surrealness of that 'winning moment'.

Want more pics/vids?

For tons more vids and pics, do check out my youtube channel (loads of behind-the-scenes footage here or rehearsals and random moments for you to relive the last 6 months of Idol!) and my twitpics (tons and tons of pics of the Idols taken over the last coupla months - enjoy!).

And in case you're still wondering what '2 MJs' meant - aiya, MJ tribute and MJ Kuok lor. Check out MJ's backstage interview here. See my previous post about Airi's win here and the media backlash as a result of that win.

Coupla random pics before I shut down and ZzzzZzz (Scarlett's first day back to school tomorrow and Mummy is still up at 4.13am!)

Pic #1 :

Our favourite personalities - Judges Dick, Flo and Ken.

Pic #2

Here's a collage (click to enlarge) of the people who help make the show seamless for those at the venue - the Hosts! Kudos to Gurms, Matt (who's been our Idol wubby from Day 1) and The Muttons from Official Idol Radio station 987M! Plus, our very own Mae Sta and Tabitha Nauser did AWESOME 'hosting' links for LIVE tv - they're naturals!

Pic #3

And last but not least, haha, a picture of that 'moment' that has sparked tons of rumours in idol-dom....are Airi and Syl in lurve? ;) *go figure that one out yourself*

xoxo, s.

ps. Look out for my next post on Tuesday/Wednesday about 'The Death of Singapore Idol'. Apparently its a topic so hot - its gonna be on BlogTV.

pps. Its Monday 4th January right now, our Singapore Idol Sezairi Sezali will be enlisting in about 2 hours plus (I'm assuming calltime for these kinda army things is 7am?). Wishing you a painless and uneventful 2 weeks, and an even more painless, hurdle-less 5 weeks after that.

Charice is at Indoor Stadium!

Quickie Post @ Bugis Junction.

I'm literally sittin' in car outside Bugis Junction (The Husband's gone run down to get something) posting this cos I just saw @siproducer's tweet and Charice Pempengco is at Indoor Stadium like RIGHT NOW! I won't be there for another half hour or so!

Check out this twitpic from @siproducer! Follow him and me on twitter for more updates from Indoor Stadium as the day progresses.....

5 HOURS TO IDOL FINALS LIVE!

If you're at home, tune in tonight, 8pm, Channel 5! Results LIVE at 10pm.

Voting lines open from 8pm to 10.15pm tonight - voting deets on the left sidebar!

xoxo, s.

18 hours to go..

It's Idol Day!

2am on Idol Day, I'm super duper excited for the show later tonight. The thought of the results gives makes me anxious, so I'm compartmentalising and not focusing on that so much, would rather focus on the amazing performances lined up for viewers all night.

Here's what we can expect to see...

Performance Show :

1. Look out for a very cool opening sequence. If you'd read this blog, you already know the opening song is a medley of I've Gotta Feeling-Bad Romance-Boom Boom Pow. What you gotta look out for is the very start of the show - there are gonna be some familiar faces to look out for, and also, look out for the chemistry between the Top 2 during Bad Romance :) Sizzle!

2. Look at the left sidebar to see what your Top 2 are singing.

3. Wardrobe! I am so blown away by each of the Top 2's outfits/styling for each of their songs. The opening outfit is okay. But the individual outfits for each song, especially Crazy, Yellow and Touched By An Angel (they both look like 'earthbound' angels) are just breathtaking. Your Top 2 really glow, they've definitely stepped it up since the last time you saw them 2 and a half weeks ago.

4. Voting lines open at 8pm and will be closing 15 minutes later than usual, at 10.15pm. Make those precious extra 15 minutes COUNT you guys! Vote for talent!

Results Show

So many things to look forward to!

1. Taufik Batisah is performing! Yes! Your very first Singapore Idol is returning to the Idol stage and performing his latest, a brand new song called 'Addicted'. I watched him during rehearsals today, still one of the hardest working people I know, and he's awesome. Slick dance moves, LIVE awesome singing, catchy beats and a sexy-killer wink to die for. MUST WATCH!

2. Hady Mirza is performing! Our very own Asian Idol and as Gurmit likes to call him, 'Idol Big Brother', will be performing his first English single, 'I'll Never Leave You Again'. Its such a beautiful song, you WILL be blown away, Hady's voice is amazing, AND he wrote this song. :) Hady also joins forces 'Idol Band' which includes a secret guest bandmember guaranteed not to disappoint, to sing 'Use Somebody' - very very good!

3. Idol alums from Season 2 are performing with some of our Top 12 - Nurul Maideen, Gayle Nerva and Mathilda D'Silva join Tabby and Sylvia for a cool 'Divas' number singing 'Free Your Mind'. And Paul Twohill and Joakim Gomez join Farhan and Faizal for a 'Boyband' number. Check out my previous link to watch rehearsal vids.

4. Charice Pempengco's guest performance.

The Youtube starlet who made it to Oprah's soundstage will be gracing the Idol stage for a mini-medley and her single 'A Note To God', which incidentally was recorded before by Jojo (Duane was the one who enlightened me). Little girl with a big voice, I've yet to hear her live, she's only comin' in today at like 4pm, from what I've seen on Youtube, she's sure to wow. I've gotta make sure I'm next to Amira to catch her reaction cos she's a huge fan (and probably also catch her in case she faints! LOL!)

5. Top 12's 'Spectacular Recap' Medley. The main themes highlighted are 'A Tribute To Michael Jackson' (Airi, Faizal and Charlie sing 'Smooth Criminal'), 'An Asian Feast' (Malaque, Farhan and Nurul sing Kylie's 'Chiggy Wiggy') and 'Mambo Mania' (Mae, Duane, Justin and Amira sing 'Hey Mickey'). I have no idea what Spec 'When Love Takes Over' is for LOL!

6. And of course, the ACTUAL results....

With so much to look forward to, how can you not tune in right? Spread the word, the Idol Grand Finals is gonna be a night to remember.

Producers are going all out - expect pyrotechnics, confetti blower and a crew of awesome dancers. Plus, with Indra's LIVE band (and Indra himself stepping up to the piano for a number of performances) and Ann's back-up singers, each song just sounds so much better and fuller. Its a full-on concert!

Those comin' to Indoor Stadium are in for a treat. During the half-hour break (when News is on), you'll get to experience LIVE performances by Tabby, Charlie and Faizal, and possibly Hady too!

Sidetrack, speaking of live performances, standing in during full dress rehearsals for Charice Pempengco today were Gayle Nerva and Mathilda D'Silva. Props to both for pulling off those big songs. Extra props to Mathilda D'Silva for a SUPER amazing adlib performance of 'A Note To God'. She didn't know the song at all, so while the music played, she made up her own song, and it sounded pretty good! She was also hilarious, hamming it up along the way! I have tons of vids to share, and they will all go up tomorrow night after the show. :)

Ok, thats it...gotta go now, its 3am....17 hours to tx.

OMG!

xoxo, s.

ps. To see behind-the-scenes pics, check out my twitpics!

Zaki's whipping time....choreo sessions!

Wa-tissssshhhhhhhh!

(thats the sound of a whip cracking in case you didn't get it -_-)

Now that Ann's all done with the Idols and the alums (everyone knows what they're singing, when and with whom), its over to Zaki to whip them into stage shape.

As reported in an earlier post, Sunday onwards, would be choreo-choreo-choreo until they head to the Indoor Stadium for full rehearsals. On Monday, season 2 alums Nurul Maideen, Gayle Nerva, Paul Twohill, Joakim Gomez and Mathilda D'Silva turned up to join this season's Idols.

I arrived just as Airi was heading off (he wasn't needed for today's sessions), and who JUST arrived but a rather late Mr Paul Twohill. His opening shot was 'Zaki's gonna kill me...again, I'm always late wan!' :) Funny guy that Paul. As it turns out, when we arrive at choreo, its not his turn yet, the girls are still doing their 'diva' thang.

Sylvia, Tabby, Nurul, Gayle and Mathilda are doing a 'diva' number with En Vogue's 'Free Your Mind' and its hawt! Check out the vids below...

While the girls were perfecting their hair-ography (its a Glee term for when people use hair flicks and flips while dancing) and 'bend-and-snaps', I found the boys - Farhan, Faizal, Paul and Joakim Gomez in the ping-pong room, doing what else...playing ping pong.

This is actually the first time I'm getting a chance to actually talk any of the Idol Season 2 alums. I saw them at the charity carwash, but didn't really get a chance to introduce myself. We got to chatting, me and the boyz, and I have to say, I wish I could have seen what their journey was like.

While we swapped Idol stories and inside jokes, and the 2 boys from last season compared notes with the 2 boys from this season ('You're so lucky you got Ann, she's so nice, Babes (referring to Season 1 & 2's vocal coach Babes Conde) whipped us man!'), I was busy twitpiccing :)

Joakim recounted his 'haters' and Paul relived his drama (apparently he was so stressed he once went up to producers in tears, 'I can't do this anymore, just kick me off the show please!'), while Faizal and Farhan grilled them for gossip!

Soon, it was time for the boys to go in for their session. Here is their vid...

While the boys were busy with that, I stepped out for a quick chat with the girls - Nurul, Gayle, Sylvia and Tabby. I have no idea where Mathilda went. Similarly, the girls also exchanged notes, advice and idol goss.

Soon, it was time to go back in to combine both performances - the full segment would be Idol Boyband versus the Idol Divas. Here's the vid, unfortunately, my audio got muted by YouTube for some copyright thing - have asked Izked to help me edit the video a little and upload it for me - will replace it as soon as he does. In the meantime, enjoy the visuals :)

That was Monday.....today (technically yesterday since its 3.45am on Wednesday right now), choreo sessions were solely for the Top 12, and it was like being reunited all over again, and also like being in a 3-ring circus. One group would be in choreo with Zaki, another in the ping pong room playing, and another in the vocal training room watching tv. :) But they were quite efficient today nonetheless.

Some random ping-pong playing ....

The Top12 medley (to be performed at the Results Show) is made up of

Segment #1 - Smooth Criminal - Airi, Faizal & Charles

Segment #2 - Chiggy Wiggy - Malaque, Nurul & Farhan

Segment #3 - Hey Mickey - Mae, Duane, Justin & Amira

Segment #4 - When Love Takes Over - Sylvia & Tabitha

Here are the vids from today's choreo sessions... (missed out Smooth Criminal cos they were done like super fast!)

'Chiggy Wiggy' - Malaque, Farhan & Nurul


'Hey Mickey' - Mae, Duane, Justin & Amira

And here's the full medley item. Tabby & Sylvia's item, 'When Love Takes Over' is the last. I recorded it from two different cam angles so we wouldn't miss anyone out :)

Camera angle #2.

Well, hope you enjoyed all that. That was today's hard work for the Idols. Tomorrow (or today, Wednesday, more choreo sessions lined up. All Idols were asked to report to MediaCorp today at 9.30am. Two more items on the list that need choreo - Hady & the 'Idol Band' and 'Starstrukk' for the Top 12.

The 'Idol Band' consists of Sezairi, Duane & Charles (the ones who play instruments thus 'band') and they'll be performing 'Use Somebody' with Hady. While for 'Starstrukk' the Top 12 will be performing with a guest artiste - guess who? :) In case you're wondering what 'Use Somebody' and 'Starstrukk' sound like, here are the youtube vids.

Charice Pempengco will be performing two songs - 'I Have Nothing' and her own song 'A Note To God'. Here are vids of Charice performing those two songs on Oprah. For more info on Charice, check out her wikipedia page or her website.

Note To God (written by Diane Warren & Produced by David Foster)

Phew, 4.30am, ok thats all for me from now. More tomorrow... good night/morning!

xoxo, s.

ps. To those who are wondering, both Airi and Syl have an EQUAL number of performances for Sunday night - 7 a piece!

The Idol Numbers Game :) + Guest Star confirmed!

Quickie Post!

You know how I told you before that the performance rundown looked more like a combo meal menu right? 2 vege + 1 side + 2 mains etc.

Ok, so I've had a better look at the Idol combo menu and have gleaned the following information based on the number of songs each of the Top 12 are singing.

Sylvia and Sezairi will be performing a total of 7 times each.

Tabby, Charles, Faizal, Duane and Farhan are singing 4 times each.

Mae, Malaque, Justin, Nurul and Amira are singing 3 times each.

thats a lot of performances!

*Guest star confirmation*

Charice Pempengco

Charice Pempengco is confirmed coming! She's the Filipino kid that Oprah plucked from obscurity to showcase on one of her episodes on Smartest Kids in the world (first vid below). Charice later returned to Oprah on another episode about dreams coming true, and Oprah helped make her dream of singing with Celine Dion come true. Watch these clips, including the one where she's only 9. Charice has a truly inspirational voice.

Amira, if you're reading this, have you like pengsan already? Amira's has always said Charice is her hero cos she's so young and so talented. She had wanted to sing one of her Tagalog songs for Asian Week.

More guest stars?

I have heard from the grapevine that our fave Idol Season 2 alums are making guest appearances. Expect to see Nurul Maideen, Mathilda D'Silva and Gayle Nerva coming to bat for the girls and Paul Twohill and Joakim Gomez stepping up for the boys.

And of course, we at Idol are immensely proud of our two Idol winners, so you can expect performances from Taufik Batisah and Hady Mirza too. As to what they are performing - I have yet to find out.

Word is there's another guest appearance but that one is so vague it could be random actors from any Channel 5 show to Utt (ooh....yum!). But I was told this would be a huge surprise, so I'm excited!

Ok, gotta go...taking the kids to the museum, will blog more later! Found that clip I was looking for and its SLOWLY PAINSTAKINGLY being uploaded to Youtube right now - gonna leave the netbook to run on its own while I go be Mummy.

Have a great day, don't forget to check in at Twitter to join the contest for tix if you wanna be at Indoor in 9 Days Time! (yes! we're on the single digit countdown already! siaoness argh!!

xoxo, s.