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.