Your Singapore Idol is...Sezairi Sezali!

Congratulations Airi!

You've done it Singapore, you've chosen your Singapore Idol and its Sezairi Sezali. The Idol journey has come to an end for viewers, (and what an amazing journey it has been!) but its only just begun for Airi. He is now signed with music label Universal Music and will be a MediaCorp Artiste. And that gorgeous red Gibson he jokingly said would name 'Gurmit' (he's seriously considering naming it Gurmit now), is also now his to keep.

Hours after the win (and a pretty 'tough' press conference according to him), he still seemed a little shell-shocked and in disbelief. Check out this random vid of him - I caught him the minute he walked into his dressing room, with a ribena!

To my dearest Airi, you totally deserved it (both of you did, actually, but there can only be one), you worked hard and gave it your all last night and every performance hit its mark. The cheers and screams you heard were for you, and no, you are not dreaming, your song DID play on the radio today! Woot!

This is a reality, you ARE the Singapore Idol. :) I'm so proud of you Airi! Do us proud with an awesome album - 'Something Personal' has got to be on it!

Keep on that 'empire state of mind', and if you ever fall short, you know what/where to look to for strength k!

xoxo, s.

ps. Catch Singapore Idol Sezairi Sezali on Celebrate 2010 this New Year's Eve and the repeat of the Idol Grand Finals on Channel 5 this Saturday at 4pm.

Sylvia Ratonel - Your First Female Idol Grand Finalist

Kudos to Sylvia Anne Ratonel!

While they crowned Sezairi Sezali Singapore Idol, Sylvia Anne Ratonel did not walk away any less a winner. SylSyl is the first ever female contestant to make it this far, and put up an amazing fight she did, right up til the very end. Personally, although they are so different in their competitive strategies, they both worked so very hard to put on a spectacular show. Votes aside, last night's show was a tooth & nail affair between two talented singers who totally upped their games.

Sylvia, like Sezairi, gave each performance everything she had and hit the mark on Mercy, Yellow and Touched By An Angel. As Flo said, she was 'performing like a winner'. Sylvia has grown so much on this Idol journey, and it has been such a privilege to have been able to witness her transformation.

I have no doubt that someone will sign Sylvia on soon, somewhere. She has the chops to make it big, and with her 'instant fame' alreadu in her bag, whoever wants her better strike while the Sylvia's hawt. Here's Sylvia right after the 'gruelling' post show press conference, smiling and being random as usual, but generally happy.

To my dearest Sylvia, you are one of the most talented natural born singers I have ever met. You just have to really dig deep and believe in yourself girl, just like the way everyone around you does. I'm sure you'll make us proud given the opportunity and I believe, opportunities are going to come-a-knocking soon!

I'm so damn proud of you la girl, I watched back the performance show earlier today and your Touched By An Angel actually made me tear! Anyway, you know where to look to if you need to find strength and confidence, I hope you'll keep it with you always to remind you that you are a star.

xoxo, s.

ps. Catch Sylvia on Celebrate 2010 this New Year's Eve, LIVE from Marina Bay Floating Stage, on Channel 5.

3 hours to go! OMG!!!!

3 HOURS TO GO!!!!!!

Rehearsals are full swing, and here's a peek at some Idol randomness! Check it out, while I go back to where the action is....follow my tweets for updates and twitpics! :)

Tabby is cute right? :)

xoxo, s.

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.

9 Hours To Go.....

Time is just FLYING BY!

In 2 hours, your Top 2 will be reporting at Indoor Stadium for the biggest night of their lives. For Sylvia Ratonel and Sezairi Sezali, their Idol journey is about to hit its peak.

I'll be heading down to Indoor Stadium later at about 3pm, but before that, I have a video to share. Ages and ages ago (about 4 and a half months ago), someone sent me a demo for a great 'Idol song' written specifically for this season's Idol winner. I was just asked to listen and give comments, and truth be told, I was sold from the first demo eventhough it was very raw. The lyrics and melody are all uplifting - characteristic of an Idol winning single. But ultimately, the song selected to be the Idol single would be Uncle Ken's 'Touched By An Angel'. (I'm guessing there were other songs thrown up and the most suitable was chosen).

Anyway, I still think this is a great song, and I've just seen this vid by Izked and he's using the song I mentioned above. For whatever reason, he has not revealed the singer/composer, so I'll keep it as that as well. Suffice it to say, the boys who wrote this *wink* are the coolest and so very very talented. Kudos to you for such a beautiful song!

Now watch this, a very touching video of your Top 2, made by Official Blogger Iz, you made me cry dude! This is a great way to remember their journey - better than the usual exit VTs on the show!

Look out for more updates via my tweets later today!

I gotta feeling....woo hooo....

xoxo, s.

ps. OMG OMG OMG FINAL IDOL DAY!!!!!!

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!

26 hours to go...

A minor Idol history lesson....

So what are our chances of a female win this year?

In an earlier post, I summed up that its impossible to figure it out empirically cos Airi and Syl are basically apples vs oranges - they are two very different performers (at the top of their game), with two pretty different approaches to winning that game.

So rather than study them, lets take a look at past Idol winners, Singaporean and American, and see if it can help us conclude anything (I'm thinking/theorising as I type, sorry I don't do forward planning..)

As we all know, Singapore Idol's past two winners have been male...

Season 1 : Taufik Batisah vs Sylvester Sim

Winner : Taufik Batisah

Season 2 : Hady Mirza vs Jonathan Leong

Winner : Hady Mirza

Season 3 : Sylvia Ratonel vs Sezairi Sezali

Winner : now isn't this the million dollar/vote question?

American Idol has had 8 seasons under its belt!

Season 1 : Kelly Clarkson vs Justin Guarini

Winner : Kelly Clarkson

Season 2 : Clay Aiken vs Ruben Studdard

Winner : Ruben Studdard

Season 3 : Fantasia Barrino vs Diana Degarmo

Winner : Fantasia Barrino

Season 4 : Carrie Underwood vs Bo Bice

Winner : Carrie Underwood

Season 5 : Taylor Hicks vs Katharine McPhee

Winner : Taylor Hicks

Season 6 : Jordin Sparks vs Blake Lewis

Winner : Jordin Sparks

Season 7 : David Archuleta vs David Cook

Winner : David Cook

(Can't believe I just typed all those names from memory woot! And then I blanked and had NO recollection of who was even on season 8! tsk!)

Season 8 : Adam Lambert vs Kris Allen

Winner : Kris Allen (wahlao almost typed 'Adam')

So, lookin' at American Idol, female winners are a possibility. In fact, half the winners, 4 out of 8 seasons, are female. 5 out of 8 seasons saw a lady grace the one of the Top 2 spots. In fact, one of the seasons is an all-girl Top 2.

You're probably thinking, what has American Idol got to do with our own Idol right? Seeing as how we've had two seasons of male winners and Top 2s. Well, I'm just saying a female winner IS a possibility and I think Idol fans are discerning enough to make the 'right' choice for them as a whole (whatever that choice may be).

Lastly, I just wanna say that I hope people will look at the bigger picture and not focus on the 'skin-deep' or only the sob stories. I've seen so many comments about 'another-malay-boy-winning', as well as comments flaming MediaCorp for playing up their bakckgrounds. I mean, c'mon guys, its a reality show, its part and parcel of telling their life stories and giving the show more depth, not 'swaying votes', I'm sure you'll agree you aren't as blur to be swayed by a 2 minute VT - you can make your own minds up right?

Likewise, I'd hope that voters will look beyond race, and judge based on whether they move you with their performances tomorrow night. Check your baggage at the door and vote in the present. Enjoy, digest and reflect on Sylvia's and Airi's performances tomorrow night, then vote for whom you think deserves that crown, instead of dwelling on who doesn't. Thas'all I'm sayin' folks. Glass half full please.

xoxo, s.

ps. And for all those comin' to Indoor, bring positive energy with you k, your Top 2 need the lovin'.

pps. wah reading the above back, so preachy...sorry...was hungry with a headache, that combo makes me emo LOL!

The Day Before...

Just 30 hours to go....

Merry Christmas everyone! Hope you've all had a wonderful yuletide. I've been juggling trips to the Indoor Stadium and home to be with The Kids.

Rehearsals here at Indoor have been intense. In fact, I'm sat in Sylvia & Sezairi's dressing room right now while they prep for the afternoon's round of rehearsals. So this will have to be a quickie post.

Sylvia was kind enough to take us on a mini tour around Indoor Stadium to show us the stage and backstage. Take a look at this lil preview. Sorry the sound's not so good, you're gonna have to turn up the volume to hear what she's saying. But take it all in, its gonna be awesome tomorrow night!

This next vid is Sylvia showing us hers and Airi's backstage crib. Its so cool. Huge huge room and facilities. Its like a hotel!

Isn't she the funniest? Again, sorry the sound quality isn't great and it gets cut off at the end, but hey, better something than nothing right?

Ok, gotta sign off now, back to the arena to watch the rehearsals. Sorry I can't upload any more vids from here, gotta keep SOME element of surprise right? :) Suffice it to say, what sneaks you've seen of rehearsals are but a fraction of how amazing tomorrow night's performances are gonna be!

Keep a look out for more twitpics throughout the day k! Will blog more when I get home..

xoxo, s.

3 More Days : The Calm Before The Storm

3 MORE DAYS.

I was sitting at the MediaCorp reception this morning at 7.45am, enjoying the free wifi, waiting for Ms Ratonel to arrive for her 8am call time for makeup, when I realised, geez its just THREE DAYS AWAY.

The rainy weather and quiet calm at MediaCorp (everyone seems to be off on holiday, its like a ghost town, it probably is literally anyway), is like the calm before the storm (maybe even a hurricane) that is gonna be Sunday.

Don't you just love this poster? It basically visually chronicles their transformation from Piano Shows til now. They should print this and frame it for posterity.

Walking in the rain to makeup with Sylvia, we chatted about the journey thus far for her. She grills me about what it was like in the first season. I remind her that each season is unique because it depends so much on the personalities and talent (ie the contestants) that make up the show. I also remind her, she's on the top rated show on Channel 5, practically helming it with Sezairi.

So what's going to happen on Sunday? Have they got strategies? How are they gonna compete? Have they got a gameplan?

Both will tell you they are just gonna give it their all, and that they support each other and will be happy for the other should they win. Of course they want it too.

So PR right they all? Good job promo gurus :) (but I also know they honestly feel this way, these two have been friends since bootcamp! They've just gotten closer as the numbers dwindled.)

Ok, so since they've clammed up, I'll give you my take....

Sylvia is a singer in the raw. Her's is an innate vocal talent. She's had no professional training nor performance background. Ok, so she sang in the choir in school, but its nothing compared to the amount of stage experience some of the others have had. Sylvia's strength is her heart and her sincerity. She's not had it easy and she somehow manages to channel all that heartache and strife into her delivery. Her other strength is her ability to mould herself to a particular genre or song. Watching her sing 'Held' and watching her sing 'Mercy', it was like two different personalities (and voices at times), which means she's versatile. And as the season has progressed, her confidence has grown by leaps and bounds - she now owns that Idol stage every time she's on it. She also sex appeal which she is not afraid to use when she 'gets into character'. My favourite line was when Dick said to her, 'I thought the guest artiste was on already!'

Sezairi is a musician who can sing. His idols are the great musicians and singer-songwriters, like John Legend and Craig David. He's all about the music and has mad guitar skills. Airi and his guitar are a formidable pair. He's been gigging it on the pub circuit for a coupla years now so he's had some stage experience, which accounts for performing ease on stage. His strength is his musicality and his unique vocal tone, mentioned a number of times by the judges. His other strength is his ability to make a song, any song, his own, which is another testament to his mad musical skills - I loved it when Dick Lee said, 'Promise me you'll always pursue music'.

As you can see, they both have very different approaches to singing and music. One becomes one the song, the other makes the song his own. Its like comparing apples and oranges. So it all boils down to YOU. Who will you be spending your Christmas loot on, who will YOU be wearing your fingers thin voting for.

Believe me, I've tried a number of 'logical' ways to try and 'calculate' the possible outcome, to see if empirical results favour Syl or Airi, but its not possible to figure it out - apples vs oranges.

What I can tell you is this, no matter the outcome, you can be assured these two are bonafide winners already. I was chatting with Uncle Ken last night while he was in the studio, working on their winner's singles (he IS after all the songwriter). And he said, "You'll be surprised how good they sound in the studio. Both (are) impressive recorded." :)

And when I asked him for any last minute words of wisdom for the two, he said, "Its time to be yourself....quoting from the lyrics of Touched By An Angel." <-- way to plug your own song Uncle Ken LOL! :) But good advice nonetheless.

I spent the day yesterday and the day before watching rehearsals. I video-ed a lot, but I think I'll take the magic away if I release those vids. So I'll keep them for now :) But I can guarantee you, everyone is set to sizzle, ESPECIALLY Sylvia and Sezairi....

xoxo, s.

ps. This was them on Channel News Asia's Prime Time Morning yesterday. You can check out the interview at this link.

pps. Dont forget to catch Sylvia's 987FM interview tomorrow morning at 9am.

Quickie Update : Today's choreo session

Quickie Post : Are you Starstrukk?

LOL. I have a feeling our Top 12 will be once the guest artiste who's supposed to be performing this with them steps in to join them for final choreo rehearsals at Indoor on Saturday.

Highlight of the day?

Our Top 12 got a little whipping when exasperated choreoKing Zaki threw a hissy fit after the 800th time they did the routine with the same mistakes. Miraculously, the next three rounds were flawless :) More on that later...

I'm off to catch their full choreo rehearsals with dancers shortly, so thought I'd post this first - tis a sign of more vids to come later tonight when I get home :)

You are so gonna lurve the 'Bad Romance' vid....there is fire and sizzle I tell you...its gonna be an awesome show!

Later.

xoxo, s.

ps. Airi and Sylvia will be on TONIGHT's Malay news bulletin on Suria at 8pm (repeat at 11.30pm) in case you wanna catch it!

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!