one ends and another begins

competition is always a treat to witness. that is why i am an avid sports fan. but lately though, tv has been offering competition outside of sports… and, more often than not, it is entertaining at the very least.

just last week, one of our favorite tv shows ended. american idol is a show that we religiously followed every single week. with the show being aired thrice on tv every wed & thurs nights (6 & 8 pm @ star world and 10 pm @ abc 5), we never did miss a show all season (except probably the auditions… which we were not that fond of). as with any competition, we did pick our favorites… and by the end of the season, my pick & selle’s pick wound up in the finals. woohoo! 😀

blake lewis. easily the strongest male contestant among the top 12. his beat-boxing was unique and a welcome treat. during the hollywood week, his beat-boxing brought the house down during the group performances. ang galing! 🙂 not only did he have that unique talent, his musicality was top-notch as he would time-and-again redo songs so that they’ll be more contemporary… and, of course, so he could incorporate his beat-boxing. 😛 but his talent does not end in beat-boxing because he does have a singing voice as he would display throughout the contest… to the delight of randy, paula and simon.

jordin sparks. the young (she’s only 17) girl with the big voice. early on the season, there were 2 early favorites (lakisha & melinda) but by mid-season, jordin joined that group and those 3 were the girls to beat. all 3 had big voices. all 3 were soulful. all 3 had performances worthy of being tagged as the best of the season. but what separated jordin from the other 2? personality. she has that contagious smile and bubbly personality which we believe endeared her to all of america. nakakatuwa kasi that whatever happens, she would always be smiling after all the judges have given their comments and then she’d flash that heart-shape signal she does with her hands. 🙂

the performer vs the singer. that’s how the final was hyped-up. it was great watching both giving one great performance after another. in the end though, the required original song was a ballad… not blake’s forte but jordin’s strength.

last song of the night always leaves a lasting impression. i can still remember 2 years ago when carrie underwood, under siege from bo bice’s performances, gave an emotional rendition (teary-eyed and all) of angels brought me here which basically gave her the title of american idol. jordin sparks basically did the same. she gave a fantastic performance and then, overcome by emotion, she almost didn’t finish the song. but the judges didn’t care. america didn’t care. after such a performance, she did deserve to win.


finale: this is my now by jordin sparks

series of event during the announcement of the winner. ganda ng gown ni jordin, no? sabi nga ni selle before the announcement, “pang-champion ang suot ni jordin.” and, of course, she was right. 🙂

btw, jordin was my pick… blake was selle’s. 😛

i have not been that accurate in picking the winner for american idol. i’ve been following it since season 3 (actually, i started watching it since season 2 but not that regularly). and here is how my picks went:

season 3: diana de garmo (2nd. lost to fantasia. although, i still think that her rendition of “i believe” is much better than fantasia’s)
season 4: anwar robinson (bowed out surprisingly early. his version of “what a wonderful world” is the best i’ve ever heard), carrie underwood (winner. the aforementioned “angels brought me here” is spine-tingling)
season 5: chris daughtry (victim of a shock elimination. even the judges were shocked. but guess what? he is right there with kelly clarkson & carrie underwood as american idol success stories. good for him. :-))

let’s just see how we do next year. 🙂

in the meantime, as american idol ended its season, another show made its debut. on the lot is american idol for filmmakers. and being interested in videography and really into movies, this show was something we anticipated. 😉

ang saya panoorin when they had to form teams of 3 and had to shoot a short-movie (2 minuter?) within 24-hours. being all directors, ganda panoorin how they would interact with one another. katuwa din to see that they used the very same camera that bob (our videographer) uses, a panasonic dvx-100. tapos noong editing na, para silang nagawa ng onsite with a little more time but a little more stress due to the conflicting minds & ideas. when it came viewing time, they all made great mini-movies. ang galing! especially the one by the special effects kid, zach, freezing out time. ang tindi!

now only 15 directors remain. just this week they each showed a 1-minute short comedy film. then, ala american idol, america votes for their favorite. each week, someone goes home.

on the lot is shown at star movies. tues & weds at 9 pm.