Its the end of Nurul's Idol journey.
Tonight, Nurul gave us a very sincere and heartfelt performance of Michael's classic 'Ben'. Dedicating it to her younger sister, she sounded like she meant every word.
Tonight's Tribute to Michael Jackson was highly anticipated. The audience were super pumped - Iz and I were practically shouting at each other while trying to hold a conversation. We were sat in the audience tonight and boy, the atmosphere was awesome! Good job fans!
Just a foot away from me were Tabby's fans and they were absolutely crazy screamers - I got this pic off Facebook, courtesy of 'May Tan', thanks May! I am a little deaf right now.
Anyway, I digress, back to Nurul.... it was really sad to see her go. I felt she had one of the best vocals in the competition. It was unique and I loved her husky tone. Granted her diction wasn't spot on (as Dick had pointed out), but that could have been groomed (or is being groomed) along the way. Maybe the last two weeks' worth of less than spectacular performances gnawed at her votes. Either that or her fans just got complacent.
When Gurmit announced that the 3 idols on the stools (Mae, Airi and Sylvia) were safe, and the 3 standing with him were the ones who were 'unsafe', my heart did a flip-flop. I was relieved that 3 really good singers were safe, but at the same time, I didn't want Charles, Nurul or Malaque to go home.
Mae, Malaque, Airi and Sylvia broke into tears when Gurmit announced Nurul's name. They were all 'crying like little girls' in Airi's words. Especially Malaque who couldn't be consoled - see pic of Justin trying to console her - so poor thing, she was really crying her eyes out :(
Anyway, here's Nurul's exit interview with Idol TV host Jonathan Cheok.
Its uncanny how Jon spotted the fact that Nurul was the 13th person to join the Top 13 because she came in to replace MJ Kuok. And now, on 'MJ' week, she's the one to go. Twilight Zone much?
Here's her full exit song - you know how it always gets chopped off on tv cos the credits finish running. So I'm now making it a habit to record the full song - as a tribute to the ousted Idol and also for their fans. (Nurul decides to go out on a happier note and sang 'Oops I Did It Again'. Thank gawd she didn't sing 'Ben' as her exit song or she would have had us all bawling.)
Whatever it is Nunu, we love ya! Nurul fans, don't forget to catch her on Project Hope, this coming Monday, 19th October, LIVE on Channel 5 (and simulcast on some other channels too) at 8pm. We'll also be seeing Nurul at the Idol finale on 27 December at the Indoor Stadium, and again on the Channel 5 Countdown Show on New Year's Eve, so don't worry, we've not seen the last of her yet :)
Oh and yes, don't forget to catch Nurul's radio interview tomorrow on 987FM with Dan & Young at 9am.
xoxo, s.
ps. I heard Flo (as in Judge Flo) wanted to 'talk' to her - maybe she wants her to record something for radio? Woot!
