Ellen is coming!!

The title speaks it all.

WOW.

But imagine how she felt... she signed a contract for a couple of years and then after that Simon says he's leaving. Lol. I guess Simon is a factor for her signed acquaintance with Idol... and Simon is leaving right after this season...

Idol 9

Sadly, the news of Simon Cowell staying for his last season on Idol was released some time ago.

The show will lose arguably its biggest asset and attraction that stays on the show (meaning excluding contestants).

Idol can no doubt still survive as a singing competition, but there might be defections to other competitions such as the X Factor that Simon is bringing from Britain to the US.

Idol needs to get a replacement like him, and while names like Piers Morgan are thrown in, the impact of Simon will definitely be missed. It depends how small they can limit this to.

But Ellen will be a good addition, and let's enjoy Simon's last season, and hope this will be an equally talented season at least compared to the previous one.

American Idol Greatest Songs

Here is a list of the best performances from Idol. At least in my opinion. There are of course flaws in this least.

1) I can only pick a few from Seasons 1-4 because I was rather young and had caught few of the performances.
2) I omitted some performances because personally I didn't love it. This includes a slightly biased pick for Adam's performances, though I did take both his rock week performances. And I didn't include a solo from Allison.
3) I randomly chose a performance for Chris Daughtry to recognize his presence in the show, because I didn't know which was his best performance.

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Bad Day (Daniel Powter)
Home (Chris Daughtry)
Celebrate Me Home (Ruben Studdard)
Home Sweet Home (Carrie Underwood)

A Moment Like This (Kelly Clarkson – Original)

Flying Without Wings (Ruben Studdard – Westlife)
Solitaire (Clay Aiken – Original)
Bridge Over Troubled Water (Clay Aiken – Simon & Garfunkel)

I Believe (Fantasia Barrino – Original)

Bohemian Rhapsody (Constantine Maroulis – Queen)
Independence Day (Carrie Underwood – Martina McBride)

Do I Make You Proud (Taylor Hicks – Original)
Living for the City (Taylor Hicks – Stevie Wonder)
In The Ghetto (Taylor Hicks – Elvis Presley)
A Song For You (Elliot Yamin – Donny Hathaway)
Wanted Dead Or Alive (Chris Daughtry – Bon Jovi)
Over The Rainbow (Katharine McPhee – Judy Garland)

My Funny Valentine (Melinda Doolittle – Chaka Khan)
Home (Melinda Doolittle – Diana Ross)
There Will Come A Day (Melinda Doolittle – Faith Hill)
Have A Nice Day (Melinda Doolittle – Bon Jovi)
I’m A Woman (Melinda Doolittle – Peggy Lee)
I Believe In You And Me (Melinda Doolittle – Whitney Houston)
How Can You Mend A Broken Heart (Melinda Doolittle – Bee Gees)
You Give Love A Bad Name (Blake Lewis – Bon Jovi)
This Love (Blake Lewis – Maroon 5)
This Is My Now (Jordin Sparks – Original)
A Broken Wing (Jordin Sparks – Martina McBride)
To Love Somebody (Jordin Sparks – Bee Gees)
This Ain’t A Love Song (LaKisha Jones – Bon Jovi)
Change The World (Chris Richardson – Eric Clapton)

Eleanor Rigby (David Cook – The Beatles)
Billie Jean (David Cook – Michael Jackson)
The World I Know (David Cook – Collective Soul)
Imagine (David Archuleta – John Lennon)
Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me (David Archuleta – Elton John)
The Long and Winding Road (David Archuleta – The Beatles)
Let It Be (Brooke White – The Beatles)
Hallelujah (Jason Castro – Jeff Buckley)
One Rock & Roll Too Many (Syesha Mercado – Starlight Express)
I Hate Myself For Loving You (Amanda Overmyer – Joan Jett)
We Are The Champions (Michael Johns – Queen)

So Small (Matt Giraud – Carrie Underwood)
Viva La Vida (Matt Giraud – Coldplay)
Lil Rounds (Be Without You – Mary J. Blige)
Ooh Baby Baby (Anoop Desai – The Miracles)
Mad World (Adam Lambert – Tears for Fears)
Slow Ride (Adam Lambert/Allison Iraheta –Foghat)
One (Adam Lambert – U2)
Cryin’ (Adam Lambert – Aerosmith)
Whole Lotta Love (Adam Lambert – Led Zeppelin)
If I Can’t Have You (Adam Lambert – Yvonne Elliman)
You Are So Beautiful (Danny Gokey – Joe Cocker)
What Hurts The Most (Danny Gokey – Rascal Flatts)
Hero (Danny Gokey – Mariah Carey)
Jesus Take The Wheel (Danny Gokey – Carrie Underwood)
September (Danny Gokey – Earth, Wind & Fire)
Come Rain or Come Shine (Danny Gokey)
Renegade (Danny Gokey/Kris Allen – Styx)
Heartless (Kris Allen – Kanye West)
To Make You Feel My Love (Kris Allen – Garth Brooks)
How Sweet It Is (Kris Allen – Marvin Gaye)
Ain’t No Sunshine (Kris Allen – Bill Withers)
She Works Hard for the Money (Kris Allen – Donna Summer)
No Boundaries (Kris Allen - Original)

Sezairi, new Idol

There are mixed reactions to his win. Some people say he deserved it, some say it should have been Sylvia's, and some even say he shouldn't be in the finale at all.

Based on the finale itself, I think Sezairi had deserved the win.

Sylvia started stronger in the first song, but in the second song, Sezairi did better than Sylvia. As correctly pointed out by Ken Lim. Then the final song, the recording song written by Ken, called Touched By An Angel.

Firstly, well written song, just like the previous 2, I Dream and You Give Me Wings. Inspirational songs. On other days, Sylvia's ability to emote will set her apart and make her do better. But somehow, on this night, she wasn't really her normal self. Could be nerves, or it could be that she tried to hard and ends up changing some things wrongly.

Touched By An Angel, very surprisingly, was done better by Sezairi than Sylvia. So I was thinking, based on the final, Sezairi. Based on the whole season, Sylvia.

Let us backtrack to Top 3. In Top 3, as I have said, Sylvia did the best, and I thought Sezairi was the worst and he should be out of the contest. I wasn't biased, and it was clear because prior to that performance show, I would have liked a guy vs gal show in the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

But his dreadful take on Haven't Met You Yet by Michael Buble sealed my opinion. Yet he made it to the finale...

Such scenarios are not unseen. In Season 1, Sylvester Sim made to the final at the expense of Olinda Cho, an early favourite. In American Idol Season 6, the most unexpected thing happened and Melinda Doolittle became arguably the best contestant to fail to make the final. In AI Season 5, hot favourite Chris Daughtry was ousted at the Top 4 stage.

And it is a different thing altogether in the finale. Some viewers only tune in when it matters, some vote only when it matters most, in the finale. So, the performances in the finale matter more than any other in the season. And it was when it was most important when Sezairi did it better. And thus, he deserved his crown.

On very few occasions do the contestant who perform less well in the finale win the title. Kelly Clarkson did better, Ruben Studdard did better, only marginally better than Clay Aiken, with his Flying Without Wings. Fantasia, Carrie, Taylor Hicks all did better. Jordin Sparks as well.

The exception is probably Season 7 of American Idol, when David Archuleta lost to David Cook. But Cook did every other thing 'right'... he wept for one to touch the audiences after his final performance. And he was second to sing.

Almost everytime, the last person to sing competitively wins. Kris Allen as well. But Kris Allen was like Sezairi, he probably did a little bit better, or at least tied with Adam in the finale. He probably shouldn't make the finale because of the technical ability of Danny Gokey. And the Danny Gokey factor (could have been Kris Allen factor had Danny made the finale) played an extra unique role in the big win over Lambert.

So, the finale matters most, and we should just applaud Sezairi for giving his all, especially on that final song, that recording song.

Finale up

Tomorrow is the day we finally crown a new Singapore Idol!

Await it and catch it live on Channel 5!

Sezairi Sezali vs Sylvia Ratonel.

Singapore Idol Top 3 Performances

For once I have decided to take the opportunity to comment on the performances before the results show coming soon at 10pm...

Okay before the performances (I had still yet to see Top 4 performances, but got it taped down), I thought Sylvia was the best positioned and being Singapore, it's likely we might get Sezairi instead of Tabitha in the final.

Now here's my take on the performances:

Tabitha Nauser
I couldn't really catch on the first song, but in the second song, the more familiar Superwoman chosen by Dick Lee, I thought she stamped it. Meaning that she had really showed her vocal abilities and really, a good high pitch. And it was an Idol-esque worthy performance.

Sylvia Ratonel
Good job by Ken. Though I was a bit hesitant at the start. I figured it might be because I didn't turn the volume high enough, as at points I could not really hear her. Oh well, 2 songs I have never heard before, as usual, but she could really do well in carrying emotions into every of her performances. My first choice for the final even after the 2 songs.

Sezairi Sezali
The first time I typed his whole name... okay I thought Flo had not done a really great job. The first song was rather flat and leaves little opportunities for him to exploit. Expectations cannot be that high you see... and then there comes a great mistake in picking Haven't Met You Yet by Michael Buble. For me, an avid Michael Buble fan, I had huge expectations. In fact there is no way he could have done well for me because Buble's performance for me cannot be matched in that song. At times the song showed his limited vocal range and for me, it degenerated into some grunting. Only some portions were pretty good. I can't see why the judges said as if it was real good. Not at all.


I thought Sezairi had too limited a vocal range and would thus have limited impact in his performances... with Tabitha getting the high notes right and Sylvia delivering the emotions, there is little space for Sezairi.

My take is an all-female finale.


But in retrospect, the American Idol 8's Top 3 produced much better, of course. Adam Lambert with 2 more of is usual stuff, stunning vocal range... Danny Gokey changing things around with his take on You're So Beautiful, the classic, performed 3 seasons ago by Taylor Hicks at the same stage, and still doing it so well. I agreed with Simon it was a song that does not need any changing in the vocals... but he pulled it off. Then Kris Allen came in with a great performance in changing Kanye West's Heartless and now it's on his self-titled debut album as well.


But my expectations aren't that high either. Oh well... rather good for me, the performances, though I thought Sezairi could have had a bettter chance with other song choices. Seriously, Haven't Met You Yet is a really high-tempo song that requires lively vocals that can bring forth the hope that belies despite prior setbacks. Sezairi, in twisting it into his own, to fit his style, should be given credit for the effort, but the delivery was a little grunting and reminds me a little of Lady Gaga actually... his natural tone on this song kills the liveliness and didn't show enough of the hope that should be presented. Not his fault though. He could do better with something like U2, etc. Buble, the Canadian crooner, is not someone whose songs are easy to handle. That's why he's my idol XD

American Idol 8 repeat on Ch 5

The title says it all.

Time to relive the moments of arguably the most talented Top 12 (or 13) group XD

And Singapore Idol 3 runs to the Final 3... I have not watched the performances, shall watch them on the encore later this week.

Charles is out, so at least a female gets to the final. For once XD

But Sezairi could well pose a threat, being the most talented and consistent guy in the competition.