Eclipsing the Brouhaha

It’s that time of the year. My addiction. AI Season 7! I have been glued to the tube for the past 2 months, plus some. Following the auditions, the eliminations, the booboos, the tears, the triumphs. *Sigh*. This is my drug. And I only get a dose roughly 5 months a year. But it’s worth it.

After the last two seasons you would think Idol would have saturated the market of voices that can wow, but this season shows how universal the program is. The ensemble is so diverse this year, in race and music genre, and they are all ready to rock.

There’s one factor missing though. Every year for the last 6 seasons they always had this token someone who's kinda mousy, nerdy or weird in the mix. Not really bad, but deffo not good either. But surprisingly this year ALL the TOP 12 contestants are strong. They have they’re own styles but everyone can carry a tune and sing in rhythm. You’ll notice that during the “critique” portion because most of the comments of the judges are about song choice and performance, not the voice. Maybe they’re finally realizing that “commercial-bility” comes in different packages nowadays.

I am doing fearless forecasts for the past two days since the first elims happened. I think David Cook, Carly Smithson and Michael Johns should be TOP 3. I know a lot of folks would hate me ‘coz I didn’t pick David Archuleta or even Ramiele Malubay who’s a “kapwa” Filipino. Here are some of the reasons:

1.David is not so commercial.
2.David would shoot to stardom anyways even if he gets eliminated next week.
3.David is too cute and too young for the cut-throat world of the music industry.

I am now turning into a mother hen. He just kicks my “mother-ing” instincts in gear. I always wanna cuddle him and shield him from big-bad, Cowell. Just imagine how I felt when he forgot his lyrics. He had this lost look in his face, I wanted to swat the producers who came up with the theme. And I love Lennon and McCartney!

As for Ramiele Malubay. Honestly I don’t understand what went wrong. I saw her during auditions and elims and she had these really power house performances. Then everything went downhill from there. And gawd, I am getting pissed with her attitude. She seems so conscious when she sings. I imagine her asking herself when she’s on stage: “Is my blocking okay?”, “Does my hair look good?”, and “Should I turn this way or that?” Really disappointing lately. She would really need to concentrate more on the singing and just not think about anything. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t know what’s going on in her mind when she pouts at Simon Cowell (!?!?!?). But I won’t be surprised if she’ll be eliminated in the next three weeks if she doesn’t show why we Filipinos should invest our hard earned money texting and calling to vote for her. There are deffo better singers in the group.

Ok. So I’m off to my long weekend. I am planning to hibernate this Friday ‘coz I have been on the go for almost two months now. I need some “me” time.

By the way, I tried reading all the brouhaha with the Gucci Gang and all that stuff. Via and Aubs have been talking about it and I couldn’t relate. (And it's only fair to be updated since Via watches AI just so she can relate to my addiction) But as for the whole Brian, DJ and Celine controversy:

I would rather watch American Idol over and over again.

That’s it. -ISH.