the world knows she can sing…

…now, they know that she can dance too. 🙂



charice continues to wow the american crowd like what she had been doing in the past few months with this morning show guesting. what’s make it even more amazing is this was an early morning show and yet she can belt it out just as easy.



sobrang natutuwa kaming mag-asawa talaga sa kanya. such a great story. 🙂

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ai7: america got it right

we had just finished watching the season finale a second time around and we were still perplexed. what was going on? what were the judges thinking? is this how they’re gonna end the seventh season of american idol? 😕

fast forward to last night’s results show. did david archuleta do enough to become the seventh idol? did the judges sway the casual viewers to vote for da? did david cook’s excellence transcend the judges comments and went straight to the viewers? it would’ve been an exciting and suspenseful results show but we were robbed of this experience as we already knew who the winner was prior to watching the show… no thanks to a couple of friends’ text messages and emails. *sigh*

anyway, the results show was entertaining (although a bit cheesy at times 😮). on a 2-hour show packed with performances, here are some of our random thoughts:

• carly smithson and michael johns will each have successful careers. they’re so good that that pair could easily have been an alternate finale for the idol crown.
• is it just us or was amanda overmeyer not having any fun at all?
  why was jason castro the only ai contestant who had a solo number?
• it was so nice to see jordin sparks well after her bout with throat sickness. her performance not only showcased her doped vocal skills but it had massive tons of her bubbly personality too. great job, jordin. 🙂
• wasn’t it great that zz top decided to give the spotlight to david cook instead of sharing some of it or getting most of it as most guest stars do when they perform with idol contestants? amusing dance by david cook during this performance btw. 😀
• by giving renaldo lapuz his 5 minutes of fame, ai just assured that there will even be more weird auditions next year.
• george michael, having colds and all, rendered a poignant rendition of the song, praying for time. great performance though we felt like it didn’t suit the overall mood of the results show.

the highlights of the night though came during the announcement of the winner. first it was simon’s public apology to david cook.


(video courtesy of youtube by aifreak08 )

that act took much humility and it was a very nice gesture by simon. some naysayers would argue that simon already knew the result and he’s just backtracking because of all his comments the night before. we don’t buy that because we felt his sincerity and his reaction after the result was announced would not support such conspiracy theory.

david cook was simon’s choice all along. prior to the finale, he verbally announced on two hit tv shows (tonight show w/ jay leno and the ellen degeneres show) that dc deserved to win. maybe simon’s comments were brought about by having extremely high expectations on dc. or maybe simon was playing the reverse psychology game so that dc fans would panic and vote like crazy. whatever the reason was, it didn’t matter. he said just a few minutes earlier that he didn’t care who would win but based on his reaction to the announcement of the winner, simon cared deeply as he looked both relieved and extremely happy that david cook won. 🙂

and david cook’s reaction after the announcement was another classic. first, he acknowledged david archuleta (those were the first words out of his mouth). then, just as we thought he’s gonna act cool about winning the whole thing… it hit him. he got all emotional and all. gotta love the drama. 🙂

and then dc singing the coronation song with all the finalists was a sight to behold.



great job, dc. congratulations. ai8 contestants have a tough act to follow… but we will watching again as it all unfolds next year. 🙂


(video courtesy of youtube by penneyboy245)

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ai7: a pre-finale look back

the ai7 finale is just a few hours away and just fresh off the star world ai marathon, it’s a perfect take time to look back to what has been one of the most interesting (but at times frustrating) seasons of american idol. this season is both interesting and frustrating for a number of reasons:

• this is the first season that contestants were allowed to play musical instruments. this highly benefited two contestants, namely, brooke white and jason castro, both of whom would probably not even make it to the top 24 without instruments.
• this is the season where there were not once, not twice but multiple occasions wherein contestants forgot the lyrics. heck, for the first time, a contestant even had to re-start her performance… twice.
• shocker eliminations are a given every season. but this season, there were just too many of them. gone are the days when a contestant is automatically eliminated because of a poor performance. on the contrary, this season, it was when a contestant gave his/her best performance was the time he/she was eliminated. the worst performer? continues on. yes, like we blogged before, ai has turned into a popularity contest.
• paula abdul’s 2nd song comment on a song which has yet to be performed. we think this was a result of massive confusion and then was not handled very well. consequently, this incident only threw more fuel into the fire of the conspiracy theory that ai is rigged.

but this season should be be most remembered solely for the music. this year, there were the tons and tons of fantastic performances brought about by the deep depth of talent courtesy of the contestants. we thought of putting up all the best performances throughtout season 7 but we ended up with an extremely long list. sobrang dami. 🙂 so we trimmed it down a bit (yah, just a bit. 😀) and came up with a shorter list. so here are our most memorable performances of ai season 7, in no particular order:

michael johns
it’s all wrong but it’s all right
michael johns was one of the early front-runners for this season mainly due to his strong showing at hollywood week plus his effortless performances leading to the top 12. after an jaw-dropping rendition of the queen’s we will rock you and we are the champions just the week before, michael johns performed this song with so much passion and showcased his incredible vocal skills. it was so good that it might be even considered the best performance of the whole season. surprisingly, michael johns was eliminated the following week… one of the many shocker eliminations of the season.

(video courtesy of youtube by wookielover)

brooke white
i am i said
we are not fans of brooke white. she’s just a benificiary of a strong fan base. but we gotta give her credit for this performance. this was her best for the whole season but, ironically, it was also her last.

(video courtesy of youtube by bonk65)

kristy lee cook
anyway
we adore klc. she could’ve easily tanked out early on as she consistently was in the bottom 2. but she got her groove and showed her talent starting on week 10 with her rendition of God bless the USA. then it was one solid performance after another with this being our favorite amongst them. this was followed by another solid one the following week (forever by mariah carey) but just as we thought she already had momentum, she got eliminated.

(video courtesy of youtube by aifreak08)

syesha mercado
one rock and roll too many
syesha peaked at the right time during the competition and it was this performance that started off her string of strong performances leading to her top 3 finish. this showed how great a performer syesha is (checkout her theatrics) and disguised her weakness of not being able to connect to the audience.

(video courtesy of youtube by daeward725)

jason castro
hallelujah
jason castro was a prototypical singer/songwriter. we did not expect him to last long during the competition but he did. he had a few strong performances but this was his first and, some may say, his best.

(video courtesy of youtube by hippiegeekette)

carly smithson
i drove all night
carly was the female front runner going into the top 24. she had mad vocal skills. unfortunately, the pressure might have been too much for her as she, more often than not, was too tense during the performances. early on though there was still no pressure just like this top 24 performance. after this, only a couple of performances stood out with Jesus Christ superstar being the last. and yeah, she got voted off during that week. weird huh?

(video courtesy of youtube by jooshuaa)

chikezie eze
i believe to my soul
chikezie had talent plus personality. strangely, he didn’t have enough fans. this top 24 performance was a real wow-er. he then gave another solid one during the top 12 (she’s a woman) but then he got eliminated the following week. we told you it was a trend this season. perform really well and you’ll soon be eliminated.

(video courtesy of youtube by blahzooo)

david hernandez
papa was a rolling stone
this was one of the first real “ang GALING!” performances we saw this season. stellar performance. he could’ve gone deep into the competition with such talent but maybe there were just too many david’s already ruling the contest. 😉

(video courtesy of youtube by stipsrm)

ramiele malubay
you don’t have to say you love me
we honestly thought ramiele could’ve gone all the way to the finals and with this top 24 performance, we thought she was well on her way there. great control and, as randy said, she sang like a pro. unfortunately, poor song choices plus an ill-timed sickness did her in. but we can always look back at this performance to see how an incredibly talented singer she is.

(video courtesy of youtube by blahzooo)

david archuleta
you’re the voice
we had a difficult time of trying to remember what were david archuleta’s amazing performances. at first, we can’t think of any. there were a lot of good performances but we can’t think of any great ones until we thought of this one. interestingly enough, it was a non-ballad performance which stood out for us. yes, this was so disney-like but we enjoyed it. 🙂

(video courtesy of youtube by zuperarchie)

so there it is. for us, the ten (or more) most memorable performances of ai season 7. but wait, before any of you react, we did not forget about david cook. any “most memorable performances of ai7” list is not complete without dc. david cook was soooo good that we can make a separate list solely for him… and we did. 🙂 week after week was a molten hot lava bomb (ala randy jackson) performance from him. he was that good. we posted some of his smokin’ performances already on a previous blog post (hello, billie jean, always be my baby) but here are a few more notable standing ovation performances:

david cook
music of the night
this proved that david cook is more than just a rocker. flawless performance.

(video courtesy of youtube by razorfist20)

david cook
the first time i ever saw your face
this was simon’s song choice for david and it really upped the level of difficulty for dc. not surprisingly though, david cook smashed this one as he showed sensitivity and performed a heart-wrenching rendition of the song. simon was so satisfied that he clapped during and after the performance, the only time i can recall simon did that to any contestant.

(video courtesy of youtube by supervid98)

david cook
all i really need is you
as if he has not proven it already, david’s performance of this song only cements the fact that he is ready to be a recording artist. as simon said, this can be heard on the radio today and it would be a hit. perfect example of what the judges say of taking an old song and making it current.

(video courtesy of youtube by aifreak08)

this post is getting way too long already 😀 so just check out these other home run performances of david cook:

• baba o’riley
• eleanor rigby
• innocent
• little sparrow
• daytripper

for us, david cook has shined the brightest during the whole season. in itunes, his recordings have been the most downloaded almost every week. but despite his dominance, he’s still not a shoo-in for the title of american idol. it’s all about popularity and david archuleta has the most rabid fans who will religiously vote for two hours just to see their idol win. america made some mistakes througout this season, we hope they get it right this time around.

david cook for the win! 🙂

 

 

 

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ai7: halfway through

our last post was all about the ongoing season of american idol. it’s been over a month since we last blogged (we’ve been so, so busy… 😦) and we thought it would be interesting to look what has happened to ai season 7 since.

this season is kinda frustrating with the majority of those who have already been eliminated are really, really good singers… better than some who still remain on the competition. the last 3 eliminations were shockers starting with ramielle followed by mj and just this week, klc. all three still deserves to be in the competition.

of the 3 favorites we picked, only 2 remain. meanwhile, both our dark horse picks are gone. ai is supposed to be a singing contest but this season, more than the previous 6, it obviously has turned into a popularity contest hence the results halfway through the final round.

having said that, how do we think the rest of the season will pan out? brooke white and jason castro will definitely not reach the final 2 since they’ve been just surviving due to their popularity and not their talent. that would only get them far but not too far into the contest (although, we felt that they should’ve been eliminated by now). syesha mercado is a technically good singer. the problem with her is that she can’t seem to connect with the audience. add to the fact that she’d been in the bottom 3 multiple times already so she’ll probably go as far as top 4 the farthest. carly smithson is extremely talented (and one of our earlier favorites… but things have changed since then) but she’s so tensed and strained when performing thereby limiting her potential. unless that changes, she can go as early as next week to as far as top 3.

then we have david cook… our favorite this season. 🙂 we just love this guy. and ever since he performed his version of the lionel richie pop classic, hello, we’ve been anticipating something special from him on a weekly basis.


video courtesy of youtube (hardcoreGREENDAY)


video courtesy of youtube (bonk65)

his latest concoction? a rocked-out version of mariah carey’s always be my baby. man, that was doped!


video courtesy of youtube (FreeMoviesAtyamour)

and with all the potential threats gone, david cook is easily the most worthy to win ai 7.


photos courtesy of americanidol.com

most worthy? yes. definite winner? most probably not. simply because of david archuleta and his hordes and hordes of teenage fans. argggh…

hopefully, we’re wrong. hopefully, america will get it right and vote for the rocker/musician. because, as simon cowell said, “if this is solely a talent contest, you (david cook) will easily win this.”

in any case, we’ll still be watching ai because we’re music lovers. 🙂 whatever the result will be, we just know that david cook will be a star. we’re hoping ramiele, kristy lee and michael johns will be stars too. 🙂

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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

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