Congratulations Nurul, welcome to Singapore Idol's Top 13.

In the wake of MJ's departure, the 13th spot is now filled by Nurul Huda.

Remember folks, there is no Idol show this Wednesday, the show returns NEXT WEDNESDAY (23 Sept), 8pm, with the very first Spectacular episode (theme is Chart Toppers).

Is Nurul a good replacement for MJ? Who would you have rather seen in that spot?

summerr's take :

Aiya, to be honest, I would have been happy with Nurul, Jannah or Teddy taking that spot. From what I hear, Nurul had the most public votes after MJ, so she's the natural replacement, since MJ was also voted in by the public. I wonder what would have happened had it been a judges' choice that decided to pull out - who would the Judges put in?

*am also assuming you have to replace like for like, so only chose from Piano Show 1. If Piano Show 2 were to be included, I'd add in Gabby and Jon.

xoxo, s.

Twilight Idol

Even the Ghosts want a piece of Idol action!

Its the Hungry Ghost month for the chinese and the holy month of Ramadhan for the Muslims, time is ripe for some spooky tales and ghostly happenings, and this time, it happened to one our very own. Two in fact, am counting the Blogger as part of the Idol family mah!

As many of you may know, Caldecott Broadcast Centre has long been touted as haunted (as are many old buildings). And the Training School where there Idols spend most of their time is said to be one of the most haunted (hearsay of course).

Last Saturday, after the roadshow, Group 1 contestants were scheduled for their vocal training sessions at 6.30pm.

This spooky story was told to me by our very own Official Blogger.

At about 7.30pm (twilight*!!!), one of the Top 24, got locked out outside the building because she forgot to bring her pass and her handphone (alamak!). She'd gone out to reception to buy a drink because for some unknown reason, the vending machine at Training School was shut down (and this machine is always on k...I wonder how it got shut off? *cue eerie music*)

After about 15 minutes of waiting, a kind MediaCorp staffmember opened the door for her and she finally rejoined the group.

At about 8pm, her mobile starts to ring. The number that's flashing is Izked (Idol Official Blogger). She picks up the call and Izked tells her he's locked outside, and to come open the door for him. (Seriously, why do our passes all not work on that door?)

She goes to open the door, but Iz isn't outside. She braves the dark and opens the other entrance by the dark toilet, and he isn't there either.

Then, as she walks past the vocal training room, she sees Iz sitting inside.

OK, start freaking out. Another Top24-er who was with her confirms Iz was inside the vocal training room all the time.

When the door to the vocal training room opened (its closed during each individual's session), our freaked out Top24-er rushes in to ask Izked if he'd called her on her mobile just now.

Nope. He didn't.

A quick check on his mobile shows no record of any made calls in the last half hour. Last call made was to Jannah over an hour ago. Iz had been inside the whole time recording Ryan's session on his camera.

FREAK OUT NOW.

Our poor freaked out Top24-er shows Iz the phone, and there is indeed a record of 'his' call to her. When asked if the voice on the phone sounded like him, she said it was kind of muffled and mumbled, and it was a quick call.

Poor girl was in tears from this episode (which is why her identity is not revealed).

We hope she's alright now and will always remember to go anywhere in crowds when at Caldecott Hill.

UPDATE!!

Izk just posted his first hand account of the 'ghostly encounter!'.... go read his story CLICK HERE!

xoxo, s.

*twilight is known be the witching hour for many cultures. It is the transitional time between day and night. Muslims believe that the time between the prayer times of Maghrib (7+pm) and Isyak (8+pm) serves as a portal for ghosts and lost souls. This time coincides with twilight.

ps. I've heard numerous ghost stories from Mediacorpers. I generally RUN through Mediacorp when its dark and I'm alone.

pps. Its IDOL DAY today! So don't forget to tune in tonight at 8pm to catch the first group of 12 perform! And then VOTE like siao! Only 6 will go through tonight, results show at 10pm.

Brothers Cheok tribute to Ben Chow

Check out what I found on youtube :) Idols supporting their fellow Idol! (awwwwww!)

The Brothers Cheok doin' a shout-out to Ben Chow in light of his hacker plight.

Very cute guys. I had fun watching this lil clip!

Ben, if you're out there, have you seen this? Its buddy support Idol-style!

Sound quality and picture clarity not the best, so don't hold it against the brothers k?

xoxo, s.

Singapore Idol Piano Show Vocal Training Session : Group 1

Latecomers beware.

Its been a while since I've seen anyone from the Top24. Last time we met, it was a hi-bye thing, at The Esplanade, where one of them had a showcase (which I missed by a mere 5 minutes thanks to the mad maze that is Marina Square's sprawling shared carpark).

But that was like over a week ago.

On Saturday, I arrive just after 2pm for their vocal training session at Caldecott Hill. Whilst in the cab crawling up the windy road round the hill, I was silently cursing that I was gonna be late (silently telling the cabdriver "Oi, Uncle, late already la, can hurry up not?").

But when I pulled up outside Mediacorp, half the group of 12 that were slated for today's vocal session were sat outside yakking away. I thought to myself - 'sure kena wan later' - it was already 2.07pm. Producers don't like to be kept waiting and it would take another ten to fifteen minutes to change IDs for security passes and then walk to the Training School building where the session was.

Sure enough, once everyone settled in, producers made it clear that tardiness is not a desireable trait and that latecomers will not be tolerated, especially in a LIVE show environment (cannot imagine what would happen on the Live Piano Show if one of the 12 were late or did not turn up). Instant disqualification? Shudder to think about it!

The mood lightened up considerably when this season's vocal coach, Ann Hussein, took over. (I think she's adorable!) First up on the 'to-do' for the session - going over the show's 'Group Song' - Michael Jackson's "Wanna Be Starting Something".

As the group learned their parts (girls vs boys parts, harmonies etc) and I kept hearing certain lines over and over again ("I'm a vegetable! You're just a boofaaay (buffet)...I kid you not, check out the lyrics here), my heart sank for a minute when I realised come September 2nd, this group will be halved....*sob*

Check out this wooden cube. Got story k...

Mid-song, a tiny cockroach decided to make a scurry for the group. It headed right for Bellydancer who tried shooing it away with her lyric sheet, (I was thinking, "aww what a sweet girl, didn't kill the cockroach, how ni...") and THUMP! Bellydancer had picked up a wooden cube and just thumped it right on the lil' thing! "Murderer!"

About 20 minutes later, she declared "Eh, its hollow la! The thing is still alive!". Shrieks (real and laughter) filled the room. I have no idea where that traumatised lil cockroach went in the end. Probably still under there...'hello? anybody there? I'm under here...the idols locked me in here...hello?'

After the group session, it was time for each of the 12 to get one-on-one time with Ann and Music Director Indra Shahril (trivia : Indra is actually the little brother of Iskandar, Season 1 & 2's Music Director.) To ensure fairness for all, each contestant's time is set and timed to the second with a stopwatch (manned by none other than the Executive Producer).

So while someone is busy doing their one-on-one, what do the other 11 do? Practice or goof-off! What else?

The corridor and adjacent rooms/areas were filled with various tunes from Christina Aguilera to Rihanna to The Fray. Across the hallway, was the large mirrored dance studio (where Zaki will undoubtedly be teaching them choreo in the weeks/months to come!).

Lots of mirrors and lots of echo. Like fish to water, everyone headed for the big echo-ey room. We whiled the time away exchanging ghost stories and horror movie reviews.

Somewhere along the way, I caught a glimpse of Cackles having a heated argument with this vending machine. Note to Machine, you do NOT want to piss Cackles off.

Piano Show 1 (to be aired September 2nd) comprises the following 12 contestants :

6 girls :

Diva, Pussycatdoll, Bellydancer, Cackles, Ebony and Ivory

6 boys :

Momma's Boy, Goodboy, Glamourboy, Homeboy, Ben and Colgate

Tough competition. Viewers will vote 3 in and the judges will save another 3. Putting 6 through to the top 12 on the same night.

Ones to watch, a very awesome rendition of KT Tunstall's 'Blackhorse and A Cherry Tree', unique versions of Rihanna's 'Rehab' and Howie Day's 'Collide' as well as a pretty suave rendition of Van Morrison's 'Moondance'.

Full deets on who sings what closer to performance dates. This Saturday, I'll get to see the 2nd group of 12....lets see how many are punctual ... Idols, you've been given a heads-up, you don't want to get lectured :) ... tsk!

xoxo, s.

*pic of Ann Hussein and Indra Shahril at the piano, courtesy of SI Producer's twitpic from the vocal training session. Thank you!