On Singapore Idol 3 Top 07

Faizal Isa – The Reason

His worst performance to date. Vocal-wise it is decent, although the melody changes (1) get a bit distracting from time to time and (2) is by no means inventive in any way. But this is karaoke at best. Where is your emotion, dude? You are supposed to paint a picture in our head on how much you are learning this life. You are supposed to tell us a story about your pain. But all you did up there was to stand up and sing the melodies. And also, maybe Faizal needs to drop the “emo” act. The two such performances from his (this and Stop And Stare) have been a bit unfitting for his voice type. Grade: C+

Sylvia Ratonel – Warwick Avenue

I get the feeling that she is trying too hard to emulate Duffy’s accent, but simply, it does not work. Why will she not realize that her voice is already unique and there is no need to do a pale mimic of the original version? From a technical point of view, I like how she subtly plays around with her voice. She has completely mastery of her voice (although the nasally tone gets on my nerves, but perhaps that is intentional). But Singapore Idol is not a technical singing competition. For me, this performance leaves me cold on the emotional ground and it does not really go anywhere. Plus that her marionette personality still bugs me. Grade: B-

Sezairi Sezali – Georgia On My Mind

I really like this. If we judge this from his singing alone, he would deserve nothing less than a B+. But what is up with his stage presence? From time to time, he is just walking from one place to another before he is standing still with no movement whatsoever except that from his mouth. Had he been more energetic, I would have rated this performance really high. Grade: B

Tabitha Nauser – Summertime

It is a good performance, but it does not seem like Tabitha is up there trying to give her best. There is no belting, there is no breathtaking falsetto, there is no guttural raw delivery. This wonderfully-crafted song has been reduced to nothing more than “easy-listening”, so I am slightly disappointed. Grade: B-

Charles “Stitch” Wong – Fly Away

Good voice, but his interpretation gets a bit boring halfway. I think that half the magic of this song is Corrine May’s ability to switch between her registers so smoothly into her ecstasy-like head register. Half the magic of this song is lost in Charles’ version. It is good enough to stand on its own merit, but this is hardly Charles at his best. Almost a B. Grade: B-

Mae Sta Maria – Over The Rainbow

This song is so well-written that I like so many versions of this song that has been sung before, but I do not like Mae’s rendition. This could have been the performance transforming her into a front-runner, but she proves to be a disappointment yet again. There is no emotion conveyed in her singing. From her facial expression, I get the impression that she is bored and uninterested. And there is a really ugly note hit on the “why oh why” line. Grade: C+

Duane Ho – Imagine

Oh dear, he is really doing the David Archuleta version, except that it is being set up against piano and a full band arrangement instead of the guitar. It is hardly intimate or sincere or thought-provoking (which it should be), but I am grateful that Duane still has some potential to redeem him from all the craps he has shoved down our throat these past few weeks. The full band thingy is poorly-executed, by the way. Had he unleash his voice in an all-out manner and soar along with the band, it would have been fitting. But he kept the same restraint and soft singing style so the dissonance felt a bit weird. Grade: B-

I am underwhelmed. On a night where everyone could have the potential to deliver their showstoppers (minus Faizal Isa who picked a straightforward modern rock song), everyone was average. Sezairi was very good, but his performance was half-hearted so I could not fully enjoy it. At least no one hit the rock bottom.

Who should have been in the Bottom 3: Duane Ho, Mae Sta Maria, Sylvia Ratonel
Who should have been Eliminated: Mae Sta Maria has been the ultimate disappointment of the season and she is obviously the worst that night, but I would have spared her one more week because I still cannot forgive Duane Ho for butchering I Have Nothing and the horror that Tainted Love was.

Who was in the Bottom 3: Charles “Stich” Wong, Mae Sta Maria, Sylvia Ratonel
Who was Eliminated: Mae Sta Maria

I am surprised to see Mae eliminated, but I guess that the lack of truly good performances (I can only count one) have been such a disappointment that her fans are not as enthusiastic to vote for her or that they have switched to other contestants. She never lived up to her potential.

Some random information. I have received search engine hits with the following keywords: “charles stitch wong sucks”, “duane ho sucks”, “singapore idol duane sucks”, and “hate duane ho”. The backlash against Duane Ho is quite strong already, I doubt he can finish first place. The only way he can win the show is if he is up against Charles “Stitch” Wong on the finale and Charles reprises Take On Me and beatbox against some other crappy songs.

With Mae gone, I am twice more convinced that a guy will win this season. Sylvia Ratonel is just too middle-of-the-road and she is sharing her fanbase with Tabitha. Tabitha, on the other hand, is a good technical vocalist but not quite someone you would call as your “idol”. She needs to execute more personality and bring her heart closer to the audience. Contrast that with Faizal Isa, who seems to flirt with the audience in almost all his performances.

I think that Duane Ho and Faizal Isa are likely to be safe. I think that Sezairi Sezali is not in danger of elimination as well. I mean, Lady Gaga and Justin Timberlake. And Faizal? Well, he is Faizal. If he sings David Cook’s version, he is yet to solidify his front-runner status.

The three others are likely to be unsafe. Charles will be singing Insomnia and it is nothing special. He can choose to beatbox again or he can choose to strip this song down and sneak into safety. It might as well be the end of the road for him, especially when this song is not that much popular. Also, votes from Mae’s fans are likely to go into the direction of the two remaining girls, hence can barely save them from elimination.

I am still torn to predict who between Sylvia or Tabitha will be eliminated. Sylvia seems to have exhausted her magic and Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow is not a very audience-engaging song. As for Tabitha, I think that Ain’t No Other Man is a good song to listen to but not one to be performed. The song is supposed to be ear-pleasing, upbeat, and all. But it is a bit monotonous and hardly a song that was written to impress people. Except the opening note, maybe. But I doubt that anyone except Christina Aguilera herself can justify that note.

I will personally wave goodbye to Sylvia Ratonel.

Current personal ranking in my book:

1. Tabitha Nauser. No competition, really.

2. Sezairi Sezali. He is really improving a lot, no wonder he made it past the expiration from my original elimination prediction.

3. Charles “Stitch” Wong. I rank him slightly higher now just because I know that there are still occasional nice things that I can get from him.

4. Faizal Isa. He is okay, but it is really time to step up the game.

5. Sylvia Ratonel. I am tired of her. She is yet another girl who has all the potential to be, but never become one. I have been watching her singing for weeks already and she is still a mediocre girl with decent voice.

6. Duane Ho. Err, he sucks. I am not going to give him free tickets to pass anyone above him just because once he delivered an outstanding performance.