12 Days To Go....

OMG how time flies....

It's Tuesday, can't believe it was already a week ago that we bade farewell to super-awesome-contender-for-the-Idol-title Tabitha Nauser. I still say Top 3 go to Grand Finals also can waaat? rite?

Oh well, sigh, bygones. Time to focus on the Finals.

Lets get back to Idol business, sorry its been a bit quiet on the blog. Had guests in town from last week, then hitched a ride back to KL without The Husband, so am effectively single-parenting it amidst the dust bunnies, ventolin inhalers, mosquitoes and sweaty pasar malams here. A bit more settled in last night - but got time got sucked into Twitter (dammit, its crazy! before I knew it ...3am! Had been on Twitter/MSN for 5 hours!). But on the upside, I had an amazing chat with @siproducer on MSN and whoa have I got gossip up the wa-zoooo.... which I will spill when I get the okays ;)

Suffice it to say, the show is gonna be blardee amazing.

seriously. i kid you not. excited just thinking about it again!

I can share with you the medley for the opening number - its I Gotta Feeling-Bad Romance-Boom Boom Pow. :) Nice right? Shan't say anymore cos I'll spoil the surprise, except that its gonna be a spectacle with lots going on.

Ok secret-rundown-for-show aside, here are two vids of Airi and Syl trying out their new song choice 'Crazy' and 'Yellow' respectively at last Thursday's keycheck. Airi also presented his own original composition 'Something Personal' at keycheck, but ultimately the choice was 'Crazy' by Aerosmith.

Yesterday (Monday), the Top 2 got to ride the Singapore Flyer. Their profile shoots were shot there last night (more being shot today at their homes, see below) and both were elated to take the ride into the night sky. Here are some pics, courtesy of @siproducer and @izked.

I personally love going on the Flyer, its so peaceful (unless you get a bunch of chatty tourists - I was stuck with a bunch of Korean ones once, aiyo, could not 'ohm' at all, had to shout to my guests about the whole purpose of Marina Barrage)....and the skyline is beautiful. It really is an awesome ride, I recommend everyone go on it at least once. The Top 2, got to ride it for 3 rounds last night :)

Shots taken by @siproducer whilst st SylSyl's place this morning and Airi's place right now :) (Tuesday afternoon).

What else is up this week with the Top 2?

1. Tonight, they'll be walking the red carpet for the premiere of Avatar (looks like a scary movie dude) at 7pm. At least they get to relax right?

2. They are doing their last radio interviews this week, Airi's on tomorrow at 9am and SylSyl's on on Thursday at 9am. Betcha Dan & Young are gonna miss being idol-invaded every week :)

3. SylSyl's TP Homecoming roadshow is happening tomorrow at 3-4pm.

4. Tons of newspaper interviews to do tomorrow too from Berita Harian to Straits Times bla bla bla.

5. Thursday's all about vocal training in various combos with alums, guest artistes and each other. :) - I almost pengsan-ed (fainted) when I saw the schedule for Thursday - was like a menu for combo meals. Airi + x, Sylvia + y, Airi + Sylvia + abc, def+y+x+ Sylvia only. etc etc. Siao!

6. Friday's reserved for the studio recording of the winner's single. Yep guys, this is it, this will be the recording that will be released to the public when one of them wins. So Friday is D-Day - they gotta focus and NAIL THAT SONG in the studio. Uncle Ken should be back by then to supervise (I'm guessing), since the song's his baby.

7. Saturday is the last day for vocal training plus its Roadshow Day. Mae, Malaque, Nurul, Amira and Justin will be joining the Top 2 at The Heeren (newly revamped and revealed) at 630pm.

8. And from Sunday onwards, its choreo sessions (again, think combo meal menu) all the way to actual live rehearsals at SIS (Singapore Indoor Stadium). WOOT!

Oh, and Sunday is also Roadshow Day. Tabby, Charlie, Faizal, Duane and Farhan (ie Awesome Foursome + Farhan 'Tabby's Alleged Ahem' if you believe Matt the Wubby ;)) will be joining S&S.

Sounds like a packed week? Thats cos it is! I shall leave you to digest all that info now.

Tickets Anyone? Wanna go watch the Finals at Indoor? Simple.

Follow me on Twitter.

I'm giving away 2 pairs of tickets daily from now til the 26th. Contest runs from 12noon to 12midnight every day, just look out for question on twitter and retweet with the answer :)

Easy? You betcha!

Other ticket avenues :

1. Official Blogger Iz also running a contest

2. MediaCorp TV's Watch & Win contest (this one gives you $$$ too so you can pretty yourself up!)

3. Tune in to 987FM, Singapore Idol's Official Radio Station (and their website)

4. Bug the Idols (or their fanclub reps) til they budge on their Twitter/Facebook pages (Top 2 AND the 10 finalists)

5. Bug @siproducer on twitter

What you should NOT do is go to Reception at MediaCorp and ask - cos they won't have any.

Or bug the Channel 5 interns for tickets like @norasyraf <-- poor dude!

Ok, thats all from me for today - rushing off to take the kids for a swim before it pours, can you believe my friend's parents' built a salt-water pool for their newborn grandson? Talk about OTT! But hey, I shall not complain, The Kids and I get to chill in it today! Ah its so nice to be back in KL!

xoxo, s.

Idol Radio Interviews!

987FM is the Official Radio Station for Singapore Idol.

didja'll know that?

Daniel Ong said to the Idols once, "Come in, relax, make yourself at home, this will become like your second home during Idol, cos you'll be here every week...."

Which is pretty true, especially for the 2 that will be going to the finals in December. Because each week, 987FM will be carrying interviews with the Top XX on the days leading up to Idol Day and on Idol Day itself. Cool innit? Magic time - 9am.

Here's a look at what went down at Monday's interview with Mae, Charles, Syltra and Sylvia. You can check out more pics at my twitpic.

In case you didn't hear the interview, one thing you all must know - Charles is the sweetest- he actually picked all the girls up (plus Mae's hubby Mike) and drove them all to MediaCorp on Monday morning for the interview! How sweet is that?

And he's adorably blur too - he told Mae he'd pick her up at 7.30am to 'beat the traffic' and when they arrived at 7.45am (reporting time is 8.45am by the way), he was like, 'wow, we really DID beat the traffic...or....wait...maybe it's because today is a public holiday....' *face palm everyone :)* but still SO ADORABLE LOR!

This next vid features each of them plugging themselves and what they'll be singing for Chart Toppers tonight - woo hoo first Spectacular. They all look sleepy etc cos, well, its Monday morning.

Here are some pics from Izked's twitpics from yesterday's interview with Sezairi, Tabby, Amira and Justin.

Don't forget to tune in today at 9am to 987FM for the last five - Nurul, Farhan, Malaque, Duane and Faizal.

Plus, if you just can't get enough of them, Ria will also be carrying some interviews - check out Sezairi, Amira, Farhan, Faizal, Nurul and Malaque today at 8am on RIA.

Psst, follow Iz's tweets today from as early as 730am (thats right - that crazy boy is gonna be following the Idols from 730am! Siao, but good for us kaypohs!

Ok, am off to frost my cupcakes! Its my baby girl's actual birthday today, so its Princess Party Part Deux at school!

xoxo, s.

IT'S IDOL DAY! The One With All The Numbers

Good morning everyone! Its 5.17am on Idol Day!!!!!

And I'm up. C'est ridiculous no?...but I can't sleep - too excited for Group 2.

To be honest, when I first saw the line up for Groups 1 and 2 for Piano Shows, my first thought was 'wah, group 1 damn tough man!', but now I think Group 2 is just as tough - so much talent, how to choose?

Well, here's a reminder of who goes first, who's singing what and what numbers to call. Oh wait, before that, lets plug this morning's radio interview, happening in less than 4 hours.

Tune in to the Official Idol Radio Station, 987FM, where Dan & Young will be interviewing the last four of tonight's 12 performers : Benjamin Chow, Samantha Lee, Justin Jap and Mae Sta Maria.

Yesterday I wondered if D&Y were gonna talk about Char's sex tape scandal and they did, wondering now if they'll dredge up Ben's old hacker story + fake leg scandal! Must tune in to find out.

Official blogger Izked will be heading down to the radio station to tweet/twitpic during the interview. (Also, he's a big Daniel Ong groupie LOL <-- Iz, dun kill me! and dun faint when you meet Dan The Man!) Anyhoo, follow Iz's tweets here : Izked.

9am@987FM. TODAY. Listen.

VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE!

Ok, back to voting details!

Last week, the top 3 votes went to 3 guys. The Judges' Save went to 3 very talented girls. There's been so much talk about everyone wanting a 'girl' idol this year but looks like voters/viewers are all talk and no action.

Are you really voting for talent?

The judges can only 'save' the talent up to here, once at Spectaculars, its really a free-for-all.

So vote for the ones you really want to put through, the ones you want to see progress week after week, the ones you believe will do the Idol title and Singapore proud.

Without further ado..... here's what Group 2 will be singing and the numbers to call ......

For your quick reference :

sezairi sezali

"Sunday Morning"

1900 112 1201

SMS 1 to IDOLS (43657)

gabrielle ferdinands

"Thinking Of You"

1900 112 1202

SMS 2 to IDOLS (43657)

duane ho

"I'm A Little Too Not Over You"

1900 112 1203

SMS 3 to IDOLS (43657)

jonathan cheok

"Come Together"

1900 112 1204

SMS 4 to IDOLS (43657)

fathin amira

"Karmastition"

1900 112 1205

SMS 5 to IDOLS (43657)

sylvia ratonel

"Mercy"

1900 112 1206

SMS 6 to IDOLS (43657)

faizal isa

"This Love"

1900 112 1207

SMS 7 to IDOLS (43657)

charlene torres-tan

"Can't Take My Eyes Off You"

1900 112 1208

SMS 8 to IDOLS (43657)

benjamin chow

"At Last"

1900 112 1209

SMS 9 to IDOLS (43657)

samantha lee

"Don't Speak"

1900 112 1210

SMS 10 to IDOLS (43657)

justin jap

"So Sick"

1900 112 1211

SMS 11 to IDOLS (43657)

mae sta maria

"Better In Time"

1900 112 1212

SMS 12 to IDOLS (43657)

Like last week, I'll be tweeting/twitpiccing from the studio once I'm there. Follow me at twitter.com/summerr77.

Good luck LODIs, have a great show - bring it!

xoxo, s.

Radio Interview on 987FM : Sezairi, Gabby, Duane & Jon

And the Idol week has begun..

Today's radio interview on 987FM featured Sezairi, Gabrielle, Duane and Jonathan (not Sylvia as I had previously posted...note to self, must update 'Idol Spotter' after this post). Sorry for the misinfo peeps, the list I got from Ch5 must have been an old one. Its all goode anyway, the radio interview went smoothly (eventhough Jon was a half hour late! tsk tsk!). Sylvia will be on tomorrow with Amira, Charlene and Faizal. (just got the latest list, so this is correct!)

What did we learn from the interview? Lemmesee....

Airi WAS with the Performing Arts programme at LaSalle, now he's just ...performing (nice one Dan). He declined to comment if Idol was the reason he was no longer with the school. Wah, pleading the 5th and we're not even in US!

Duane is pursuing Idol and O-Levels!! (dude, hero la you!) Apparently his parents were angry at first that he wanted to join Idol, but once he got into the Top24, they did an about-turn and are full supportive now - good for ya Aunty and Uncle! Young people need support not dissent! :)

Last fun fact about Duane - he won a Pussycat Doll dance competition and got to dance with them on stage!

Gabby is a marketing and PR major (eh, same same babe!), and bla bla bla and SHE HAD A CRUSH ON JONATHAN! woot! (all the other info about being a good friend, talking a lot, people person etc all got blown away by this lil revelation)

Looks like every other girl has had a crush on Jon. My sources have told me our lil Sylvia also had the hots for him initially. And Jon's gotten loads of facebook friend requests from....you guessed it, random girls!

So looks like Jon Jon (new nick!) and not MJ, is the lady killer in the group!

Gabby's right though, spot on when she said Jon gives off this 'Badboy' vibe (thus my original nick for him) but he's actually so sweet and sentimental once you get to know him. Check out Jon's profile here and what I thought of him. You'll see that me and Gabs are on the same wavelength :)

So, all this while, they're yakkin' and talking Jon up, Jon's not actually there. He's late. I'm betting Suresh and Byron (the publicity pros behind Idol) will be giving him a 'talking-to' right about now.

Fyi guys, we were with Jon on Saturday night, he looked a little flu-ey, maybe thats why he woke up late despite TWO alarm clocks. Then again, this is Idol - no excuses is the mantra.

Stepping up to the mic...

-- Voice sample and "why should people vote for you?" --

Sezairi : "People should vote for me cos its my dream."

Gabrielle : "I can be their friend, we can sing along togetehr, its not about being on a pedestal, it should be the audience singing along with you."

Duane : "Vote for me if you wanna see me dance and cos I also want this really badly!"

Just as Duane finishes up, Jon Jon steps in - perfect timing!

Jonathan : "I'm gonna be myself on the show, I'm very Singaporean, therefore good for Singapore Idol. I'm someone they can look up to and relate to."

Dan : "Look up to and relate to, I like that!"

Young : "Relate, ya, most Singaporeans are late most of the time anyway...." <-- ouch Young!

Young's on a roll, he then outs Gabby to Jon about the crush (not that she didn't out herself already by saying it on National radio!)

Btw, she had a crush on him initially, but now they're just really good friends, the whole group hang out often.

Hope the four of them had fun at Idol's Official Radio Station 987FM. Can't wait to hear tomorrow's 4.

I wonder if Dan & Young will bring up Charlene's s*x tape scandal (as reported in New Paper). Maybe they'll keep it a wholesome, kosher interview, what with two very young hopefuls Faizal and Amira in studio :)

Til tomorrow!

Full profiles of this week's 12 a re all on the right sidebar!

xoxo, s.

ps. Will be meeting up with the idols for Choreo today, lets see how that goes! Missing my LUMIX...maybe I can run down to Sim Lim now and get me an Olympus Tough! <-- apparently can survive toddler throws - shock proof!

3 More Days to Idol Day!

Its Sunday night.

That means its 3 MORE DAYS to IDOL DAY!

(cue Idol theme music...te ne ne ne ne ne ne ne ne ne .... <-- apparently dougie's fb wall was flooded with 'theme' music when they found out he was Top24! LOL!)

In case I haven't mentioned it before, Wednesday shall henceforth cease to be known as 'Wednesday' and shall be known simply as 'Idol Day'!

So what happens in the run up to Idol Day? The typical drill would go something like this ...

1. Roadshows (Sat) - CHECK!

2. Vocal Training (Sat) - CHECK!

3. Choreo with Zaki (Mon) - ooh tomorrow!

4. Radio Interviews on 987FM (Mon, Tues, Wed) - comin' up!

So tomorrow (Monday) morning, tune in to 987FM at 9am sharp to catch Dan & Young interviewing 4 of this week's performing Idols - Sezairi (woot!), Gabrielle(woot!), Sylvia (woot!) and Duane (double woot cos he's just da sweetest! He asked me what 'pimp out your profile meant'...sigh..to which the other idols replied, Duane lets not use the word 'pimp' its a bad word :) agree!)

Alarm it on your mobile NOW!

(then repeat the same alarm for Toosday and Idol Day)

ROADSHOW @ Lot One, CCK.

So yesterday, Saturday was the Top 24 Group 2's roadshow at Lot One. I didn't get to go, due to some prior commitments, but I heard it was a BLAST!

On Blogger duty was Official Blogger Iz who twitpicced like crazy (broke already not?) - go check out the pics here if you haven't - and he should be putting up the vids pretty soon. I personally can't wait to see the vids. According to him the crowd went CRAZY! Lots of hyper little girls, apparently Jonathan has fans :)

Malaque, Ryan and Syltra (from Group 1) were there to support their Idol pals (aww sweet!) and Gabrielle's mom made fans for her fans! Thats right! A Gabby fan for Gabby's fans! Lovin' Gabs' mom right now. She's on my 'Coolest Moms Ever' List right now, right behind Lorelai Gilmore and Gwen Stefani, what with the synchronised tattoo and all. (Damn thats cool, gotta up my cool quotient later when The Daughter grows up!)

The event went off almost without a hitch. Apparently Mae screwed up a line or two, no matter sweetie, we still love ya, you know that right?! She's like Ta Jie (big sista) Mae, everyone loves her and she really takes care of everyone. She feeds them, gives them pep talks, hugs, etc. WE LOVE U MAE!

According to Izk, everyone got a lots of lovin' from the crowd. When I asked Duane how it all went, did people scream for him, he was so shy. He shyly recounted how he told the crowd to vote for him, Mr Pussycat Doll and then proceeded to blush a little, aw can I just say Duane is just the sweetest kid. And you can see the other Idols are really protective of him too :)

Justin apparently said something about voting for him if you like slow songs....*kok* Justin must have had a blonde moment - do not pigeon hole yourself like that so early on! I am here to say - he can sing fast songs too, in fact he can sing period (see his profile vid and my vids on Youtube from the vocal training - links below later, cos haven't finished uploading yet!).

Anyway, after the eventful event (see how I had some cheesy alliteration goin' on there... no applause necessary), everyone headed back to Caldecott Hill for their 5pm sharp vocal training session. 10 minutes each with Vocal Coach Ann Hussein. Chop Chop guys!

And it was really chop chop! I arrived at about 5.30pm, and already Sam, Sylvia and Charlene were practically out the door! I managed to snap like one pic of Sam before she flew out with a big smile cos she got to go off early!

Saturday night, everyone has plans right? My plan, was to hang with the LODIs.

So there I was, hi-fivin' Iz, takin' over the blogger/twitpic duties, and suddenly the mood went from up to down. By the end of the evening, suffice it to say, everyone was just dead tired and ready to go home.

I'm uploading the vids of whoever was hangin' around that night (and singing) up on Youtube now, will link it all up here (and post the vids also on a separate post) once they are all done :)

In the meantime enjoy the following, vids of 3 of the 4 (sorry, didn't quite catch Sylvia as she was off right after her session) you'll be hearing on radio tomorrow morning :

Gabrielle sings the Cranberries favourite 'Linger'.... guest starring Sezairi's guitar.

Duane practicing David Archuleta's "A Little Too Not Over You" in the hallway. Starts off a little shaky at first, but once he hits his stride at the chorus - lovely!

Airi doin' his own song called "Something Personal". (You can listen to it at his Purevolume page here). I likey much.

Sorry Sylvia babe, you ran off so quick, I didn't get a chance to video you singing anything! If you're interested to hear Sylvia sing, check out her profile here.

Likewise, you can go to any of Group 2's profile pages to learn more about them if you haven't, the links are on the right sidebar of my blog.

Posting more soon, gotta get this one up and our first to remind all you peeps about tomorrow's radio interview...987FM @ 9am - Airi, Gabby, Duane & Sylvia. Don't miss it!

Much love to muh LODIs,

xoxo, s.

VOTE VOTE VOTE Piano Show 1

Its 5pm, tx time is 8pm. Thats just 3 mere hours away.

Here are the vids and pics taken from this morning's interview at 987FM. Dan & Young are just the best. Super efficient chop chop and everyone got airtime to plug themselves!

Check out Dougie's interview....

Listen to the four of them give listeners a song sampler...niiiice....

Radio interview all done, group shot with the Dan & Young...and we're off!

Thanks Official Idol Radio Station!

Check out my pics from today's 987FM interview and a first look at the Piano Show set at twitpic. (http://www.twitpic.com/photos/summerr77)

After the radio interviews, the four of them headed to Studio 1 to join the other 8 for full day rehearsals before tonight's show...

I asked each of them to say something about how they are feeling about tonight...

OMG can't believe they're excited to see Michael Learns To Rock...the band with the most predictable lyrics ever. Ok la, I shouldn't diss them, I think I know all their songs too...I'm not an actor I'm not a star, and I don't even have my own car.....

Anyway, safe to say, they all seem pretty calm about tonight. I'll be seeing them in a few hours, lets see how they're holdin' up then! :)

xoxo, s.