On Singapore Idol 3 Past Unreviewed Performances

Thanks to Lynette who has kindly provided me with a link to watch the performances. Perhaps when I have enough time, I can go through the semi-final performances as well. But for now, enjoy my rating for the following performances that I have skipped from reviewing:

Duane Ho – Dang Ni

Some uncomfortable notes here and there. His tone quality fluctuates when he gets to the slightly lower pitch part. Perhaps he really should have picked a song that would suit his voice more (meaning something that is actually composed for a man to sing). But at least he seems to enjoy himself on stage. Grade: C+

Sylvia Ratonel – The Way You Make Me Feel

Song progress a bit undeveloped, so the performance never really brought us anywhere and it just ended suddenly (if not awkwardly). Stage presence wise, this is her best. Even her eyes speak of her attempt to project the tough girl image. But I cannot really rate it that high simply because she never really nailed the vocal part. Her falsetto notes were good, though. Grade: B-

Charles “Stitch” Wong – Remember The Time

Not as bad as I expected it to be, but nothing much impressive. I still think the beatbox early in the beginning is such a gimmick. Well, a very old gimmick that does not really work anymore. His falsetto does not sound like a squeak anymore, but why all of a sudden he is the one with deadpan eye expression? Haha. Grade: B-

Tabitha Nauser – Who’s Lovin’ You

Not as good as I expected from her, but nevertheless, a strong performance from Tabitha. Slightly rough end, though. Grade: B

Mae Sta Maria – I Want You Back

For once, I cannot find any disturbing notes from her. But this is just cheesy. Your best vocal, Mae. But unfortunately, this is your worst performance so far. Grade: C+

Duane Ho – The Girl Is Mine

See? When you pick an appropriate song for you to sing, you sound pretty decent. His occasional breathy quality reminds me a little bit of David Archuleta, by the way. Grade: B-

Malaque Mahdaly – Rock With You

Her low notes are pretty good and she should have explored that more throughout her stay in the competition. The rapping sounds ridiculous and unauthentic, by the way. One of her better performances, but still not good enough to earn her anything in the B’s range. Grade: C+

Charles “Stitch” Wong – Fall For You

It sounds raw and intimate. I am almost tempted to grade it on the A’s region, except that I realized it was not near as good as Duane Ho’s Poker Face. Grade: B+

Malaque Mahdaly – Because You Loved Me

I was wrong. She did not screw up. But three things were preventing me from grading her into the B’s region: (1) nasal voice; (2) plain delivery; and (3) she sounded thin. You know, even though it is relatively soft for a Celine Dion’s song, it is still supposed to be sung with power. Otherwise, she might want to shock us all by doing a smooth rendition of it. She did neither. She sang it with a thin voice under the usual delivery. Grade: C+

Charles “Stitch” Wong – Take On Me

This is bad on a self-masquerading level. Embarassingly bad. He hit all the notes, yeah, but he sounded like crap because he cannot really master how to blend her low, middle, and high notes in a fine, non-wtf way. Grade: D

Duane Ho – Tainted Love

OMG! Seriously, is this Singapore Idol? So these are among the best eight singers in the whole nation. Had this and Charles’ performance opened the first week of the season, the show would have been doomed to obscurity with zero rating. Sorry, Duane. But the performance failed to seduce me. I was half-expecting that it would at least be fun (think American Idol’s Nick Mitchell), but his expression and all were dead. Yeah, so he did some dance moves, but it gets a bit boring after quite some time. At least he sings better than Charles, though. Grade: C-

Faizal Isa – That Thing You Do

So, actually having a good voice helps. I thought that it would be old-fashioned and boring and all, but his rendition is pretty fresh. Or maybe the stark contrast between this and the two performances somehow made Faizal Isa sounded like Paul McCartney. Bad spectacles, by the way. Grade: B-

Mae Sta Maria – Kiss

Eh? She sounds decent, but I do not like it. I am bored. Her singing is not flat, but her emotion is. There is nothing soulful or groovy about her performance, it is just her trying to be cool but failed to do so. Grade: C+

Malaque Mahdaly – Last Dance

I am actually surprised because her singing has improved a bit. Still a bit nasal and, apparently, I think she borrowed a page from Mae’s book. You know, the one that is titled “How to Sound Flat and Pitchy”. Grade: C+

Sezairi Sezali – Play That Funky Music

I thought it would be good. Okay, this is not bad, but it just felt wrong. Sezairi and heavy arrangement are just entities belonging to different universe. He should have tried to “jazz-ified” or “soul-ified” this song. Grade: C+

Sylvia Ratonel – I Wanna Dance With Somebody

Ingredient: 50% karaoke, 50% seizure dance moves. Oh, what a crappy night this is. Do they not know that synthesizer is so yesterday? Grade: C

Tabitha Nauser – Ain’t Nobody

Another proof that having a good voice helps. Absolutely the best of the night, although clearly this is not Tabitha at her prime. Grade: B-