The 7 Coolest Things Of The 7 Days

1. “New” outfit Brawn GP does a 1-2 at F1’s season opener Australian GP!
And there’s actual overtaking in the first race. Hurrah!

2. Madonna adopting second Malawian child
The war on Angelina Jolie is definitely on!

3. Malaysian cyclists pick up silver and bronze medals at the World Track Championships
Two more Datukships coming right up!

4. Rihanna gets tattoo of a Gun
It’s supposed to scare away, you know, useless boyfriend and stuff…
..

5. CSI’s Marg Helgenberger files for divorce
Apparently she dusted off her own hubby’s fingerprints at places he shouldn’t have been at. Haha, I’m kidding of course.

6. Three Stooges film to be made!
And it will star Jim Carrey, Sean Penn and Benicio del Toro. I’m all laughs already.

7. Kim Kardashian revealed to have cellulite
In another shocking news, Scarlett Johansson was revealed to have a hint of a pimple. Sheesh…

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One In A Million 3 Top 7 Show Review

Finally, a guest judge with interesting stuff to say! Yes, Francesca Peter came, saw and didn’t put us to sleep this past OIAM3 episode. Woo-freakin-hoo.

But OK, let’s start from the top. As I had expertly predicted last week, Fify got the axe to the surprise of no one. And no, I do not want to talk about the weak elimination presentation yet again. Basically I’ve given up hope that it’ll ever be smooth and suspenseful. So on to the singing!
Immunity holder Esther came out first and did another guy song, this time choosing My Chemical Romance’s “I Don’t Love You”. Bold choice, I thought. And Esther even changed the whole arrangement of the tune, which was kind of creative. There was nothing wrong with her singing either. But, I simply HATED it.

Yeah I’m kinda biased since I love the original version by MCR, but Esther actually squeezed the soul out of the song lah. From an angsty masterpiece, it turned into, well, a singing competition mess. The baju also salah, and the taking off of the bracelet was lame. But did Syafinaz say she liked Esther’s version better? Gila ke apa?

Paul’s point was more valid, saying that the tune’s not mainstream enough and there’s doubt that the masses would appreciate the performance. Which means the Sabahan lass could wind up in the bottom three next week.

OK, I think three paras on Esther is quite enough, so on to the next performer, Rizu. And something curious actually happened right at this point. The host was actually positioned somewhere where we could actually see Esther rushing out and Rizu scampering in. Don’t think it was intentional so I hope no one got a memo from the big boss because of that.

Rizu picked “Naluri Lelaki” and to me it was quite a decent effort. But the judges seemed to hate it especially Paul. Not sure if there’s a bigger problem somewhere but Paul has been really hard on the dude. Which I don’t think he deserved most of the time. And please lah judges and hosts, stop calling him that “small/petite guy with the big voice”. We get it, OK?

Anyway, I thought Rizu did OK. And like Fran pointed out, the he’s got stage presence and personality; definitely assets that can take him far. In this particular competition, I think Rizu will be there at least till the Top 5 stage.

Someone who won’t be in the Top 5 stage I’m afraid is Simon. Yes, he’s a truly talented artiste, but is Brand Simon likeable enough to the voting public? His rendition of “Eternity” was slightly above average, but like Simon Cowell said on the past Idol episode, a contestant needs “a moment”. Something people will remember for quite a few days or weeks. Tomok has had his, Aweera as well. So, figure that one out dude.

Another guy I ‘m predicting to be in the Top 5 is Aweera, who performed next. And it’s rather obvious now that strategy is not the name of the game for him. The dude just wants to rock! Which he did with Metallica’s “Enter Sandman”. I mean, anyone who chooses this song must be a little nuts, but that’s exactly what’s gonna save Aweera from elimination for the next couple of rounds.

The resident singer/songwriter chick Amylea took the stage next with her own composition “Satu Dalam Sejuta”. And like the judges pointed out, the song’s rather decent, but it’s too laidback to make an impact. I’m not so sure myself if Malaysians would find that something to be proud out in this sort of competition. I can already imagine the office conversations:

Awek 1: Eh, Amylea OK jugak dalam OIAM hari tu.
Awek 2: Dia nyanyi lagu apa ek?
Awek 1: Er… entah. Dia cipta sendiri.
Awek 2: Ye ker… Tapi Aweera rock lah. Power giler nyanyi Metallica. Jom vote untuk dia.
Awek 1: Jom!

Nine meanwhile tried his best to bring the house down with Gigi’s “Nakal”…. but failed miserably. Although I do think the dude has been the best-dressed contestant so far. And the aweks above will no doubt be voting for him no matter what Paul says.

Finally it was down to Tomok. And the dude displayed sheer bravery by picking “Ingin Bersamamu”, Syafinaz’s own hit song! As far as I know, no one has ever covered this song cos it was tailor-made for Syafinaz’s unique vocals (yes, that’s an actual compliment from me to her).

But just like he did with Beyonce’s “Crazy In Love”, Tomok nailed his own version of the song, which was boldly rearranged and even had distorted guitar! Guest judge Fran wasn’t too crazy about it though but Paul appreciated it, and even used the words “CRAZY ASS” to describe it. Ahem, can you even say those words on national TV?

Anyway, Syafinaz herself liked it and it was no big surprise that the immunity was awarded to Tomok again. Seriously, the dude is the strongest competitor of the lot, with sound musical knowledge and strategy.

And like I said at the very beginning of this review, guest judge Fran did a commendable job as well. She looked and sounded enthusiastic, and offered the contestants advice that wasn’t just about pitching.

So who will be eliminated next? For me, it’ll be a toss up between Amylea and Simon. Yes, boo hoo.

As usual, do log on to www.8tv.com.my/oiam for everything on OIAM3!

Formula One Australian GP "Live" Blogging!

I've switched over to ntv7 for the race and goodie, they've got the ITV commentary feed! But hmm, no James Allen. Just Martin Brundle and another dude.

Formation lap begins! My heart already pounding. Funny though seeing World Champ Lewis Hamilton right at the back...

Hmm, BrawnGP cars actually look good in lime green and white.

Lap 1
5 red lights, GOOOOOOOOO! Accident on first corner! Button us leading. Barrichello nowhere now. Kimi up to 5th! Smoking start!

Lap 2
So far a thrilling race. Puncture for Heidfeld! Kovalainen in the pits as well. Car looks terpeleot. Webber needs a new rear wing. Best giler! Ahh, Barrichello caused the accident. Bad, bad boy. To eager lah.

Lap 3
Kovalainen's the race's first retirement. McLaren having a dreadful weekend. Button is really fast, man!

Lap 4
Vettel is catching up on Button though. God, the Renault car looks damn ugly. Piquet resists Hamilton. But for how long?

Lap 5
Hamilton up to 10th, but Piquest still holding on to 9th. Button up 4.2secs over second place Vettel. Kimi fading a bit. Come on Kimi!

Lap 6
Hamilton now up to 6th. But he's got lesser fuel. Fooh, Button is still holding out in front. Commercial break pulak!

Lap 7
Kimi is slowing futher, holding up Rosberg and Barrichello.

Lap 9
Rosberg overtakes Kimi! Barrichello takes Kimi as well but knocks something out! Aiyo Kimi, why lah?

Lap10
Kimi in the pit! Got problem is it? Must be the tyres. Massa being attacked pulak by Kubica and Rosberg.

Lap 11
Rosberg on a charge. That diffuser thingt looking good. Barrichello damn fast as well. Massa in the pit! Hamilton in the pit! Very early ain't it? But will it be an advantage later with the supersoft tyre phase out of the way?

Lap 12
Kubica in the pit. Supersoft tyres a big issue it seems. Button still majestic at the front with Vettel in second.

Lap 13
Fooh, Nakajima looking great as well in 5th. Oops, Barrichello losing pace now. Man, what a great race so far.

Lap 15
Still waiting for the leaders to pit and see how things shake out. OK, Vettel is now in. Long stop, 11.6secs.

Lap 16
Rosberg is in next. 21secs! Not good. Kimi returns favour to Rosberg!!! Kimi takes the position!

Lap 17
Button just had fastest lap. They're the real thing lah, Brawn GP.

Lap 18
Nakajima hits the wall! Safety car MUST come out. Is Button gonna lose his advantage? Barrichello in the pits. Long stop - 21.2secs! Almost bangs into another car in the lane. Button now in! 14secs!

Lap 19
Safety car finally comes out. More cars come into the pit. Don't really know who's leading. Toilet break!

Lap 20
OK, it's all set for a blistering re-start! 1. Button 2. Vettel 3. Massa 4. Kubica 5. Raikkonen...

Lap 23
All set for the re-start... Jeng jeng jeng... Oh, not yet. Safety car still out there!

Lap 24
OK, safety in THIS lap. Massa keeps locking his brakes. What's up lah dude. OK, they're slowing up. Button locks up. And here we go! Piquet knocked out! Top 5 still the same it seems. Safety car again? Don't think so. Hamilton up to 11th now. Alonso takes Glock.

Lap 27
Newbie Sebastien Buemi at a respectable 8th. Button builds on his lead, now up 2.1secs on Vettel.

Lap 31
Massa comes into the pit! A bit early ain't it? 10.9secs stop, OK lah. He's back in 13th now. Race is still tight and tense.

Lap 34
Kubica clocks the fastest lap, and hunting down Vettel. Exciting! Cars all look very reliable this season indeed.

Lap 38
Kubica finally in for 2nd pit stop. Kimi's in as well! Nice stop for both. Kimi's got some backmarkers to deal with now though. Hamilton up to 6th!

Lap 43
Hamilton in the pit. Good stop. Raikkonen in again? Hmm... And Massa is behind Hamilton? And

Lap 45
Kimi goes into the wall! But he's still alive it seems. Vettel in the pit and goes out to fight with Barrichello! Vettel holds Rubens off like a veteran. Caya lah.

Lap 46
Massa's got a problem. Looks like he's gonna retire. Garage ready to bring him in. Massa's limping and takes a shortcut. Button in for his stop. 13.2 secs. Not that great. But Button is still leading.

Lap 47
Massa looks pissed off. And euw, ugly goattee he has.

Lap 48
Rosberg clocks fastest lap. Kimi way back. Vettel catching up on Button. Cracking 10 laps up ahead!

Lap 50
Button still infront. Barricello comes in! Which means Kubica will be chasing Vettel and Button now. Brawn GP lloking good for some serious points today.

Lap 52
Top 3 cars just meters away from each other. Barrichello takes Rosberg for 4th!

Lap 54
Now Trulli takes Rosberg. He's got issues man. And Hamilton takes Rosberg next. Lewis is up to 7th! Producers, show us the top 3 lah!!!

Lap 55
Kubica hunting down Vettel. Contact! Vettel and Kubica come together!!! And Vettel and Kubica out!!! Aiya, amateurs!!!!! Barrichello up into 2nd. Safety car out! Bodohlah Kubica... Button is going to win the race!

Lap 56
Vettel says sorry to team. Haha! The race will finish under the safety car!

Lap 57
And guess what, Hamilton is 3rd!!! Vettel is still racing with bad tyres. What a sight.

Final lap
Vettel finally stops. Trulli is now 3rd? Rookie Buemi actually in 8th and is gonna score a point!

And Button wins with Barrichello in 2nd! Brawn GP chalks up a 1-2! It's nuts!!!! Trulli takes third and Hamilton in 4th. What a cracking race! Definitely going to Sepang next week!
...

Formula One Australian GP "Live" Blogging!

Oh yes, I'm so pumped up for the new season that I've decided to live blog the first race! So much free time I have, haha!

Anyway, It's less than 15 minutes to go to the race and here are some of my early thoughts...

- Tony Fernandes opted out of F1 but now his idol Richard Branson is IN! Ironic ain't it?

- And what a sight it is to see Branson in the paddock. Dude's got a rockstar aura!

- Nicole scherzinger is nowhere in sight though. Fairweather girlfriend! Pah!

- ntv7 is the official broadcast partner this year, but not all the races will be carried 'live'. But when they are, switch over to ntv7!

...

Finally, It's Talentime!

Just got back from Cineleisure for the premier of Talentime, Yasmin Ahmad's latest film. Now, I'm not a hardcore Yasmin fan but I strongly recommend that you watch this particular film.

It'll make you laugh, it'll make you cry, and it'll make you think. About so many things in life that probably you never thought about. Like, can you really find Bigfoot in Cameron Highlands? Haha! To understand the heavier stuff, you just have to watch Talentime that opens in cinemas this Thursday.

Yasmin being grilled by GUA

Jaclyn Victor makes her acting debut in this film. And she's excellent!

With the usual suspects from Media Prima. Iesta (second from right) is a Man U supporter. Ha ha!

The 7 Coolest Things Of The Past 7 Days

1. Kim Kardashian and boyfriend Reggie Bush get almost naked for GQ
It’s what famous people do when they’re bored, apparently.
...

2. Liverpool just a point behind Man U now
Can you say, “choke!!!”?

3. Bruce Willis marries girlfriend Emma Heming
And speaking of old grooms…

4. Harrison Ford to marry long-time partner Calista Flockhart
Apparently Calista has finally reached the ideal weight for marriage.

5. Megan Fox confirms breakup with Brian Austin Green
…by moving out of their shared home. What took you so long, girl???

6. Rihanna & Chris Brown sex tape is somewhere out there
And it is said that Rihanna’s into kinky stuff, like using umbrellas and stuff…

7. Obama appears on Jay Leno’s show
In local news, Najib Tun Razak announces that he will be on Chit Chat Azwan. Amboi, amboi, amboi…

One In A Million 3 Top 8 Show Review

Seriously folks, the OIAM3 producers really need to look at the elimination presentation each week cos I ain’t feeling the suspense lah! And where’s the obligatory sympathy sigh when a contestant is kicked out? Maybe the audience members need to be pepper sprayed to get them tearing up or something, but it’s getting embarrassing how the elimination process look so dead on TV every time. Brainstorm time, people!

Anyway, another gal got kicked out, and this time it was Anith’s turn. Well, I guess it doesn’t pay to be in catfights on this sort of show. You see, Anith and Pija had been at war over stuff I can’t write about, and now both of them are left with only dreams about that one million bucks. Awww…

Ah well, on to the show!

The theme of the week was “Opposites Attract” where the gals were required to sing boy songs and vice versa. Brilliant, I thought – although the fact that a few of the finalists had attempted this before kinda diminished the shock factor a little. But maybe I’m just overanalyzing this sort of stuff.

Up first was last week’s immunity winner Tomok who chose Melly Goeslaw’s “Gantung”. I don’t really know the song, so it didn’t sound weird or anything when the dude was singing it. But I did get bored in a jiffy. The song didn’t stretch Tomok at all, and it was all too easy for him. Yawn.

Amylea was up next and Jason Mraz’s “I’m Yours” was her choice. And as usual she changed the arrangement, which was commendable, but the singing for me was about 15% too much. The judges, including guest judge Jay Jay, liked it though, so, there you go.

Then it was time for a bit of gergaji rock when Aweera stepped up on to the stage. “Tiada Lagi” was his choice, and although the original singer was a lady, I knew his reference was 100% the version done by Amy Search a few years back. “Cheater! Cheater!” I was screaming rather loudly. And what do you know? Host Awal offered the same comment to Aweera at the end of the performance, and Paul rubbed it in sufficiently after that.

And why oh why did Aweera had to play the flag card? I mean, in the first place, SS2 has more people than his home state of Perlis. So macam mana nak dapat vote lebih? Secondly, I’m pretty sure everyone else not from Perlis felt rather indifferent to this show of unnecessary “semangat kenegerian”.

But of course guest judge Jay Jay liked it as well. In fact, he even liked the assistant producer testing the microphones. I’m kidding of course, but I’m kinda getting bored with all these guest judges who don’t quite have anything interesting to say. I just want to see Paul and Syafinaz fight lah…

Both Rizu (“Mercy”) and Simon (“When You’re Gone”) who were up next also gave weak performances. And I think Simon was simply rattled by the fact that he was in the bottom two. Which is the position he will be in again next week in my mind. I mean, yeah sure he’s got a great voice and the judges are behind him, but I’m not sure how much the voting public truly understands Simon the artiste. So sadly, I think the dude will be the first male to be eliminated in this competition.

But not next week, cos I think Fify will most certainly be leaving instead. The girl’s got a good voice, but like the judges keep pointing out, she’s too far away from being a star. And time is basically running out on her. While the rest have had some special moments to shout about, Fify’s been ordinary week in and week out. So, sayonara girl…

Nine was up next and while I hated the song he chose, “Karma”, the performance was slightly above average. But dude, here’s one thing you can work on: your FACE during critique time. Why do you have to look like the judges are talking in Greek? Smile dude, and try to look humble once in a while, ok?

And finally it was Esther’s turn who chose Maroon 5’s “Won’t Go Home Without You”. Everyone could see that Esther went for broke; changing the arrangement of the song and going wild with her showmanship. The judges loved it, but guess what, I totally hated it. Didn’t like the way her voice sounded on this song and I hated the merciless butchering of the melody.

But I think you should know by now that the judges handed her the immunity. Pah!

As I mentioned, there’s no doubt in my mind Fify will be going home next week, after which, the REAL competition will begin. And dear producers, please lah invite better guest judges ok? Thank you.

As usual, for everything on OIAM3, log on to www.8tv.com.my/oiam

My Top 10 Favourite Pop Songs Of The 80s

So I’ve had this list on my mind for, well, since the 80s, but have never really made the effort to write it down. Which is kinda weird, since I LOVE lists… Anyway, here it is then. Feel free to agree with me.

10. Every Breath You Take by The Police
Best stalker anthem of all time. And with one of the most memorable bass lines ever. See, you’re already playing it in your mind.

9. Don’t Be Cruel by Bobby Brown
Picad was never the same again after this tune came out. Too bad Bobby’s FUBAR-ed (look it up). Hey, life is cruel, after all.
...

8. With Or Without You by U2
Funny that I appreciated this song more these past 15 years then when it first came out, but it’s a classic no less.

7. Careless Whisper by George Michael
George Michael on his own and he nailed it with this awesome ballad. And I’ve got some pretty private memories attached to this masterpiece. Ahem.

6. In A Big Country by Big Country
Best. (Fake) Bagpipe. Song. Ever.

5. Wake Me Up Before You Go Go by Wham!
Yeah, yeah, the dudes wore totally gay hot pants in the video, but only George Michael can write this kind of super catchy stuff. Altogether now, “You put the boom boom into my heart…”

4. The Reflex by Duran Duran
“The Reflex” represents all the best stuff about a typical Duran Duran tune – it’s catchy, danceable, and lyrically perplexing. Flex flex flex flex flex…

3. Beat It by Michael Jackson
Most people prefer “Billie Jean” but “Beat It” is the better song for me. MJ actually looks and acts like a man here, and oh yeah, there’s that bit of awesome solo-ing by Eddie Van Halen to boot.

2. Take On Me by A-Ha
The keyboard lick is genius, and Morten Harket could hit notes that exist only on Mars. And don’t even get me started on the revolutionary music video.
...

1. When Doves Cry by Prince
Yes, I’m probably the biggest Prince fan this side of purple. And “Doves” is my totally favourite Prince tune of all time. It’s catchy, it’s dirty and it’s a damn good song. Period.

Next: My Top 10 Favourite Rock Songs Of The 80s

The 7 Coolest Things Of The Past 7 Days

1. Liverpool humiliate Man U 4-1!
At the, ahem, “Theatre of Dreams” some more.

2. Oprah demands Rihanna dumps Chris Brown for good
And when Oprah speaks, you should listen, don’t you?

3. AirAsia X finally launches flight to London
Apparently the toilet costs RM34 per usage. No, I’m kidding of course…

4. Kelly Clarkson has a bun in the oven?
Either that, or she's just having some sort of bet with Jessica Simpson.

5. Michael Jackson sells out all 50 London shows

Gloves not included.

...

6. Joaquin Phoenix attacks a heckler at his own rap gig
And no, it wasn't David Letterman.

7. Local animation feature “Geng” almost touching RM6m at the box-office
See, you don’t have to make a bad film to make it good at the cinemas, Prof!

One In A Million 3 Top 9 Show Review

So it’s been one big roller coaster ride this season, hasn’t it? One week they wow us, the next, they’re just plain woeful. The top 9 show was somewhere in between, although it was indeed a good idea to do the “songwriters week”, where the finalists actually got to work with some of today’s top composers.

As usual the show started with the elimination process, which was a very complicated thing this time around. The bottom five were told of their ranking based on SMS votes by hosts Awal and Marion, and you’d need a bloody calculator to make sense of it all.

Marion: “You were third from the bottom on Monday but you’ve moved up a place, but does this mean you’re still in the bottom two, or second from the top of the bottom five?”

Like, huh????

Anyway, it was no real surprise when Pija was eventually eliminated after the series of mathematical riddles were revealed. And judging by the crowd reaction, no one’s gonna miss you Pija, I’m afraid. People were like, “Pija? Now which one is she? Can we watch Aweera already?”

Speaking of which, immunity holder Aweera’s performance was much anticipated, but what did the guy do? He freakin’ forgot the lyrics of the very first verse of his song “Janjiku”. Man oh, man. But I’m sure the rock kapak clan will keep on voting for him till he’s there in the finals. Oops, is that me making a prediction? Well, maybe.

Amylea was up next and thank God she’s no longer a mushroom! With a cool guitar in hand, this is the look she should stick to no matter what happens to her in this competition. Her take on Estranged’s “Yang Pernah” was equally cool and creative, although I wish the chorus could have been crunchier. She should be safe from the next elimination, in my mind.

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Before I get to the next finalist, put up your hand if you think guest judge Fauzi Marzuki was plain ‘ol boring! Wow, thousands of you lot huh? I mean, try to come up with something else that’s not about pitching lah. And please pick a language and stick to it. Can ah? And it does look like Paul is trying to start some sort of trend with that choker thingy he’s worn two weeks in a row. Another product endorsement maybe?

Back to the singing, I thought Fify did pretty well with Elyana’s “Kalis Rindu”. Is she the Megan of OIAM3 now? It wouldn’t hurt her the least if that’s the case anyway. We were then told how the song’s composer Aidit Alfian was a bit anal with his songs and didn’t allow too much creativity in interpreting them. Boo! Hiss!

And note to scriptwriter: Jokes like the one by Awal - “Kalau saya yang nyanyi, saya akan tukar liriknya sekali. Dari “Kalis Rindu” jadi “Kalis Peluru”, was so lame lah. This is OIAM3 ok? Not “Usik-Usik Salleh Yaacob”.

As opposed to Fify, Rizu was given the freedom to interpret Flop Poppy’s “Cinta” the way he wanted to, and boy did he deliver. Honestly, I would definitely download this and even pay RM1.50 for it. The backing band though sounded a tad lifeless for my liking and the backup singers could have done a better job as well.

But if Rizu was really good, Tomok was simply terrific with his rendition of Meet Uncle Hussein’s “La La La La Kerjalah”. Proving that he’s now a real artiste instead of the “suara sengau” sensation, Tomok completely changed the arrangement of the tune and injected his own brand of charm and angst. I mean, this is TOMOK ok?

...

The next four, Anith (“Mungkin”), Nine (“Aku Dan Kamu”), Esther (“Dialah Di Hati”) and Simon (Generasiku”) were pretty decent, but no one came close to matching Tomok’s level of guile and originality.

And it was indeed entertaining watching Syafinaz bashing Aidit over and over again for not allowing the singers to be creative with this compositions. I don’t think the dude will be coming back to the show in any capacity anytime soon!

This week’s immunity was given to Tomok who completely desered it, and judging by comments on the net, the new New Boyz frontman will be around for a bit more.

My picks for the bottom three? It’s a bit tougher to predict this week, but I think the girls will be filling those spots yet again – Esther, Anith and unfortunately, Fify.

And remember, for everything on OIAM3, just click on to www.8tv.com.my/oiam

The 7 Coolest Things Of The Past 7 Days

1. Playboy founder Hugh Heffner turns 83 and is in perfect health
Well, we all know his secret, don’t we?

2. Britney’s back with her new Circus tour
And she looks smoking hot lah. Good for you Brit Brit.
...


3. American Idol set for the final 12, I mean, 13 stage
It took ages to get here, so let’s get the show started! And thank God it’s…

4. Without Tatiana!
Cos there’s only so much crazy we can take.

5. This new Terminator Salvation trailer…
Another year, another brilliant Christian Bale flick
...

6. Chris Brown charged in court for assault on Rihanna
And someone should sue him for being the reason the girl had to postpone her concert here in KL!

7. Lee Chong Wei loses in the All-England final
But Malaysians coming in second in the world of sports is perfectly ok what?

Cool And FUNNY Stuff I Found At a Japanese Store in the Curve

To read, please click HERE

One In A Million 3 Top 10 Show Review

So I think everyone would agree that this week’s show was miles better than the horror fest served up seven days ago. Song election was more sensible, and Paul Moss even wore a choker. A ratings booster for sure!

Of course the show started with the elimination process. I don’t know about you, but if there’s something hosts Awal and Marion could work on immediately, it is definitely this. I understand the need to keep everyone in suspense, but not like this lah…

Awal: Dan perserta yang tersingkir pada malam ni…
Marion: And the contestant going home tonight is…
Awal: Siapa agaknya?
Marion: Who will be going home tonight?
Awal: Dan perserta yang tersingkir… anda semua dah bersedia?
Marion: Are you ready?
Awal: Siapa agaknya akan tersingkir…
Marion: And the contestant going home tonight…

Aaaaghhhhhhhhh!!!!! And when the eliminated contestant’s name was finally announced, the mood music didn’t change at all, leaving everyone wondering if the announcement was actually the real deal.

Anyway, it was Labuan lass Han who got the least number of votes and exit the competition, but not before delivering a horrific rendition of “I Don’t Wanna Miss A Thang”. Good riddance, I say.

On to the real show and it was last week’s immunity winner Amylea who was up first with, haha, “Bohemian Rhapsody”. I mean, this is a song often chosen by those who wanna say: “lihatlah betapa bagusnya aku”. And like Paul said, she looked like a bloody mushroom with the overly-puffy sleeves on that ridiculous outfit. And unfortunately (or fortunately), 8TV experienced some “technical difficulties” with the audio and the home audience was treated to crackling sounds rather than Amylea’s vocals. But the performance sucked anyway, and without immunity, I can safely predict she’ll wind up in the bottom three once voting ends.

And oh, note to producer: check lah grammar on your supers. It should be “VOTING LINES WILL BE OPENED…”, not “VOTING LINES WILL BE OPEN…” ok?

Anyway, after Amylea’s show from dud-city, business considerably picked up. Nine dished out “Hapus Aku” with heart and style and I’m sure that got the OIAM female voting population all fired up… until stupid Anith later declared Nine already had a girlfriend. Hmm, perhaps that was a deliberate piece of strategy?

Fify sang Katy Perry’s “Hot & Cold” and did an okay job, while Simon shocked us somewhat by going with Saleem’s “Juwita”. It was weird seeing him without a guitar in hand, but the vocals were good as usual. The polo shirt he had on though was too plain and boring lah. Even Saleem used to rock some decent tops!

By this time as well, Mr Moss, Syafinaz and guest judge Jaclyn Victor were dishing out on-the-money comments with just the right amount of pretend feud. But can someone tell Syafinaz that it’s rather rude to call someone “orang tua”? I mean, Paul Moss is indeed old, but a subtler nickname would work better. Would Syafinaz, for example, find it funny if Paul were to call her “andartu”? Renung-renungkanlah.

Back to the performances, spoilsport Anith did a decent job with Kris Dayanti’s “Pilihlah Aku”, but it would have been better if the slut-effect was a few notches higher (I'm serious!). Up next was Rizu and I think dude did enough to avoid possible elimination next week. Still not a fan though.

Pija is looking good as a rock chick, but her “So What” left me asking just that – so what? Nothing incredible with the vocals and my interest was lost after 50 seconds or so into the performance. Which gave me the chance to crack open a packet of kerepek and brace myself for…

Aweera! After last week’s horror show, the rock kapak flag-flyer had to redeem himself big time with Jac’s “Gemilang”. And he did it with ease, I must say. I mean, like Jac herself said, got sumbang a bit that one time lah, but he passed the last note test with flying colours. Phew! Former immunity holder Esther then did justice to Macy Gray’s classic “I Try” with good voice control and a soulful feel. Too bad what she wore made her look more like a Loreal business development exec rather than an aspiring superstar.

And finally it came to Tomok’s turn. So here’s the frontman of a cheesy malay rock band who’s attempting to belt out Beyonce’s “Crazy In Love”. “Is he nuts?” everyone asked when the songlist came out earlier in the week. But the dude rocked it from start to finish! Like Paul remarked, the vocals were average, but Tomok basically gave his haters the finger with this difficult number and more importantly, might have booked himself a place in the Top 5 that very night. And I’m not just saying this ‘cos I’ve written lyrics for him before and am still enjoying the royalty till today. Ahem.

The immunity though went to Aweera and I don’t think anyone will quarrel about that. As for my picks for the bottom three, well, it’s kinda easy – Amylea, Pija and Fify.

And remember, to watch the show again, simply log on to http://www.8tv.com.my/oiam

In FHM News...

FHM (Malaysia) has been sold off by its publishers, Mediacorp Publishing, I heard. I was at the helm as editor when Mediacorp took over from EMAP some 4 years ago, and it’s changing hands yet again. The good news though is that the mag will still be hitting newsstands as usual although the Mediacorp office itself will be closed here.

I have only one piece of advice to the new publishers: Party harder! I’ve heard it from so many people that post-me FHM is rather lame, especially when it comes to throwing good ol fashioned babe fests. And you've got to give what the people want, don't you?