Saturday, November 28, 2009

The One With All The Vids

Good morning people!
I spent all of Thursday night/Friday morning uploading these vids, then couldn't bring myself to put it on the blog cos I was bleary-eyed and dead sleepy.
Anyway, here you go, these vids were shot at key-taking for Spectacular 11 : Step Up & Dance, on Tuesday (Nov24th) evening. Yes, the Idols select songs for the following week a day before the current week's performance. So for one Idol its usually kinda wasted effort la when they get eliminated. But this week - non-elimination - so it's all goode....

Sorry there aren't any vids of Charles, he was first to go for keycheck and out the door thereafter cos he had to get to work. :(

You'll see a little of Charlie in this one though, he was packing up and just singing along with Tabby and then he walked out and left - hahaha, Tabby still singing to herself and didn't realise he left.


Next up at keycheck is Sezairi, so while he's in the room, Tabby and Sylvia hang with Iz and I at the vending machine room. Tabby was recording a message and about to give me a sampler of whatever she was gonna sing, but we got distracted by Sylvia and Iz.


Charles was singing this earlier and Tabby tries out a 'Ne-Yo' song. Very short clip but when I came home and played it back I was just amazed at Tabby's vocals.


We were recording stuff and then suddenly some bhangra drum beats sounded. There was a dance rehearsal just two doors away. But we continued to record anyway, it stops midway, just in time for you to really heat Sylvia 'tarikkkkk' ...awesomeness! Watch! (this is one of Sylvia's confirmed song choices for next week's show)


Sezairi is back from keycheck. Check out his song choices at my previous post here. Sylvia's turn in the room, and while Tabby's waiting for her turn, Airi obliges by accompanying her while she tries out Pixie Lott's 'Mama Do'. One of my fave vids for the night. This song turns out to be one of Tabby's confirmed song choices for next week's show.


Everyone loves singing to Airi's guitar-playing, they all say they sound super good when its just raw with guitar-accompaniment. Tabby now tries out 'Crazy In Love' by Beyonce. This one turns out to be Tabby's other confirmed song choice for next week's show.


Its Tabby's turn to go into keycheck, so Sylvia takes a turn with Airi. I asked her to sing American Boy again because the earlier recording had the drums. But turns out, I actually prefer the way she sang it the first time around. This was good too, hahah, except for the choking at the end!


I actually like this vid very much. Both Sylvia and Airi sound really good together.


Last vid of the night, this one caught me by surprise. I wasn't recording, but when I heard Airi start singing my favourite Coldplay song, I had to record it - loved it! This song always 'gets' me.


Well, hope you enjoyed the vids. That was my night with the Idols at Tuesday's keycheck. My fave time is not the roadshows, but this time, the downtime with them, cos its just a bunch of people hangin' out and singing, and I love hearing them sing, cos they really are just so good unplugged :).

Have a great Saturday ahead! Don't forget to catch them at the roadshow today, 5pm at Orchard Cineleisure!

xoxo, s.

Friday, November 27, 2009

Spectacular 11 : Song List

Just Dance, Gonna Be Okay...Da Da Doo-Doop .....
Next week's theme is entitled 'Step Up & Dance', so your Idols will be churning out some 'dance-worthy' tunes, TWO each in fact (love it, any extra time watching them perform is great!). Out of the two songs, one will receive back-up in the form of dancers, so I'm thinking Glee? Ok, maybe not so Glee after you see the song choices...then again...

Point is, dancers add pizzazz, showmanship and entertainment value to what would otherwise have been a solo performance on the Idol stage, so kudos to producers for dreaming this theme up - about time we had some professional booty-shakin' on stage....oh fun *clapclapclap*!

Anyway, here's what your Top 4 (yay still Top 4!) are singing next week....here we go....in no particular order...

Tabitha Nauser
Song #1 - Mama Do by Pixie Lott
Tabby sings this song very well. I like her take on it, and depending on the backing tracks she ends up with, I'm quite sure she'll ace this one.


Song #2 - Crazy In Love by Beyonce Knowles (with dancers)
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What more could a huge Beyonce fan ask for? Since she's got back-up dancers for this, it should be hawt! I decided to post this vid instead of the regular music video, because it shows B's stage choreography - maybe we'll be seein' something similar (although, er, maybe less leg? We're a family show mah!)



Sezairi Sezali
Song #1 - Mad by Ne yo
This is such a beautiful song. I don't see how Airi's gonna be dancing to this one though....? Guess will just have to wait n see...


Song #2 - Caught Up by Usher (with dancers)
Ooh, most Usher songs just scream 'dance me!' And with the help of the dancers, this should be quite fun to watch. I wonder if it will be an original routine, or something to ape Usher's video....Airi in a fedora and jacket?



Charles 'Stitch' Wong
Song #1 - With You by Chris Brown
Chris' slick moves are awesome. If Charles can mimic those moves, he's so SET! Actually watchin' this vid, I can so see Charles singing and doing a few of the moves here and there. Especially after watching all those vids of him doing b-boy stuff at the roadshows! Go Charleyyy!


Song #2 - Lovestoned by Justin Timberlake (with dancers)
Imo, Charles has a similar tone to Justin. So this song should be easy for him to ace - I think,....someone once told me, 'never underestimate the complexities of an R&B song'. Also, I wonder how the dancers are gonna fit into this?



Sylvia Ratonel
Song #1 - I Don't Need A Man by Pussycat Dolls (with dancers)
Great sexy, dance-y song. You know what would be awesome? A windmachine. If Sylsyl had a windmachine for this song...wah-seh! Sumore got back-up dancers...fulemak! @siproducer.. 2 words....Wind.Machine.


Song #2 - American Boy by Estelle
When Sylvia first said she was gonna try out this song, everyone in the vending machine room (ie the other Top 4, me and Iz) were like...OMG this song is SO YOU! You HAVE to do it. And she is! Yay! Watching Estelle in the vid, I can so see Sylvia doing the same moves, she already does!


Well, there ya have it, your song list for next week! You all likey? I definitely likey. When I first heard about this theme, I was like...er 'Dance' songs for a singing competition? A bit off right? Producers then explained to me that I had to stop thinking 'ahbeng techno' and think more in terms of like 'Fame' or 'Glee'. Ohhh I seeeeee.....

Fastforward a few months later and here we are...'Step Up & Dance' may as well be called R&B week! But no matter, I still love the song choices, imo, crazysexycool is what next week's ep's gonna be :)

xoxo, s.

ps. Wonder what the group song's gonna be....

Sleeq @ Idol

FINALLY!
Thank you Youtube for finally pullin' it together! Here are the three songs that Sleeq performed during the break at this week's Idol show. I'm sorry (and a little embarrassed) to say I don't know the names of the first two songs, but I'm sure all you Sleeq fans out there can help me out right :)(then I can re-label the vids!)

















(cool pic courtesy of May Tan from the SI Official Facebook Group)

The 3rd song is of course the very popular 'Moviestar' which incidentally may be made into a music video! Woot!
Ok, nuff goss...watch...
(apologies for the low vid quality, lighting was bad and I didn't realise how pixelated it was until it got uploaded to Youtube, normally when lighting is sufficient its okay.)




Hope you enjoyed that - keep supporting local talents like Sleeq, I'm still blown away that they do all their writing, producing, recording AND publishing on their own! Huge props to the boys!

xoxo, s.

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Quickie Update : on like everything lah!

Quickie post!
Sorry, just a quickie one cos its a rather busy day for me at home, just a coupla things to address - housekeeping on a number of things that have cropped up!

1. Charles in an accident!!
At about 12noon today I received a tweet on my phone from @siproducer saying 'I hope Charles is ok'. Like a few seconds later I got @izked's tweet saying 'Oh no! Charles got involved in a car accident!'. I gasped so loud, the people around me at ion Orchard (I was with my son) all started staring at me, almost dropped my ribena packet, so I called Izked straightaway to see what happened.
Iz reported he's ok (THANK GAWD!) ... he was on his way to Ann Hussein's (the Top 4 were expected there for this week's music video vocals) and got sandwiched on the PIE. Luckily he's alright! Phew!
So everyone - breathe.....

2. Getting Idol tickets
From what I understand, Idol tickets are given away every Thursday (for the following week's show) at 6pm at MediaCorp Reception. Each Idol is also allocated tickets for their fans, so they will usually put up a Facebook post on their respective fanpages about the tickets.

3. Sleeq's performance vids
Aiyo I'm so sorry. I was up til like 4plus and youtube was still 'processing' the vid which I had uploaded like 3 hours before at 1am. Sigh. Will be trying again tonight..sorry @syarifsleeq and @iamalyph :(

4. Where the Idols at?
Tonight ladies and germs, your Top.. I dunno how many (I know Duane and Farhan are going), will be at the Twilight New Moon gala premiere at Shaw Centre (Lido theatres). Sigh, was so torn about giving up my ticket to join them (yes, producers were kind enough to include me this time round for the premiere-so sweet right?!- but I got mommy duties :) Plus my fave cuz is in town :) Will save New Moon for after I read the book.

5. Celebrate 2010
Your Top 13 will be performing at this year's Countdown party and its called Celebrate 2010. Find out the details and join the facebook group to get updates and behind-the-scenes stuff as we get closer to the show - rehearsals etc should be starting next month - so even MORE Idol stuff to look forward to after the Indoor Stadium finale on Dec27!

Ok, thats my quickie update...here are some more behind the scenes pics from the Step Up & Dance trailer shoot courtesy of JameseyJames :)

Best buds and neighbours...Awesome twosome Duane and Faizal.
















Channeling Beyonce, Duane was the choreographer for all the 'Single Ladies' dancemoves :) You go Russell Fierce! *snap!* Chiiiillldddd!
















Super hip hop - check out Tabby's outfit! Top 6 having fun on set :)
















More BTS pics of the shoot have been uploaded to the Facebook page...:) check it out!

More later tonight! (grrr, while I wait for Youtube to sort itself out)

xoxo, s.

Idol out : NO ONE! Woot!

Surprised? Expected?
I was vascillating between both actually.
I kinda 'expected' it to happen based on American Idol's track record. When they did Idol Gives Back, which is a similar themed show, charity, uplifting, positive stuff, they too sprang the whole 'no one's going home' deal at the end of the show.

But somehow, watching Gurms go through the motions and put Charlie in the bottom half, then send Airi to safety, then Sylvia to safety.... I thought OMG, maybe I 'predicted' wrong, maybe there IS gonna be someone going home tonight...heart started to do a thumpa-thump-thump there.

Anyway, its all goode. I'm happy that its non-elim. I saw some facebook posts and not everyone was happy bunny bout it. Many were also confused by what this whole non-elim thing means.

Let me try and clarify it to the best of my knowledge (@siproducer, feel free to jump in via comment box if I trip on anything)...

1. Tonight is a non-elimination round, which means no one gets sent home. (y'know, like in Amazing Race! Duh, stating the obvious there...)

2. All the votes received tonight will be snowballed to next week. Which means you add this week's votes to next week's and the person going home will be based on the TOTAL lowest votes received over tonight's and next week's shows.

3. Judges Save - ok, this one a bit iffy - as far as I know, Judges Save is no longer in play cos it only goes up to Top 5. I've not heard anymore buzz about it being extended for use. So lets just fuggedaboutit - old news.

4. Whose votes were lower, Tabby or Charlie? NO IDEA LA. Gurms din say waaat. But suffice it to say, both of them are your Bottom 2. So if you don't want them to remain there, next week, between 8pm and 10pm, better sms faster and more frequently to keep them in the game. Saying that, Sylvia and Sezairi fans, don't be jumpin' for joy so soon - complacency has killed many an Idol dream. Jeassea Thyidor - classic case imo.

5. So is it confirmed that Sezairi and Sylvia are in the Top 3? Please refer to the above points. They are no way guaranteed a spot in the Top 3 as of now, cos there is still more voting to come. You need to add next week's votes to this week's votes. The Idols will then be ranked accordingly once all votes are in at the end of next week's show - and then you'll know who your Top 3 are.

OMG. Top 3. Next week. Mind boggling. Seems like just yesterday it was 24 of them! And then 13! We're seriously just a month away from sitting in Indoor Stadium. Geez...

*snapping out of the daydream* <-technically still night dream since its 2am!

Ok, back to the post - hope those points above clarify where we are right now. Next post, more deets on Step Up & Dance! :)

In the meantime, I managed to catch Airi and Sylvia for a quick interview about how the felt regarding the whole non-elimination stunt...watch...




Sorry I didn't manage to catch Tabby and Charlie. The former was yakking thru the toilet door, thought I had it down, but the sound quality is so blur, won't bother uploading it to YouTube. The latter went missing super fast after the show - didn't see him again until I got out to recep where he was bein' mobbed by fans.

xoxo, s.

ps. For a look at some amazing pics taken by the in-house team of paparazzos, go to the Official Singapore Idol Facebook Group.

pps. To the fan who requested to hear Faizal's original song, sorry but I have not seen him at all since last week, will endeavour to catch him for it whenever I can ok? Sorry!

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Next Week's Theme : Step Up & Dance!


Step Up & Dance!
Its time for the Idols to move you to groove! Thats right folks, next week's theme is all about the tunes that get your hips grinding, hair-flipping, shoulders shimmyin' and booty-jiggling! The Idols will each be singing two 'dance' tunes. For each one, one of their performances will be accompanied by professional dancers to heat up the stage - woot!

Here are some behind-the-scenes pics taken by James during the trailer shoot in early November (which is why you see Faizal and Duane there). Look out for the new trailer, coming soon on Channel 5 :)







































More deets when I return from the studio...in the meantime...enjoy the pics and the rest of the results show...

xoxo, s.

ps. live updates via twitter :)

10pm : Time for a Sneak Peek!

So, the lines are closed - who have you sent home this week Singapore? Whose Idol dreams have you ended?

waah, so drama.
Thats such a morbid thing to dwell on right? Especially since the Results Show is like ONE WHOLE HOUR LONG....

So instead, lets not dwell, and I shall distract you with a sneakpeek at next week's theme...check out this pic...can you guess what they're doing?
















The answer at 10.45pm. In the meantime - back to my twitpiccing! (Btw, this IS a scheduled post, I'm at studio - in case you're being blonde ;))

xoxo, s.

9pm : Show's Over - Keep Voting!


Its 9pm.
The show's over, but you still have time to vote so keep those fingers busy.








Just an hour away, so much to look forward to....
Jack & Rai performing















Idol alums performing (Nurul, Malaque, Amira, Farhan, Duane, Faizal woot!) <--one won't be coming tho' :(













Nathan Hartono is performing with the Top 4













Top 4 will be performing with the Idol alums
(for full details, check out my previous post!)

So many performances, and all for a good cause! Oh, and PLUS that 'naked idol' music video to look forward to too!

Just.Cannot.Wait. :)

Seriously. Less than an hour to go - Keep voting and make sure you come back at 10pm. Voting deets on the left sidebar of this blog ;)

xoxo, s.

ps. Or you could stay glued to the comp and follow my twitpics/tweets ;)

It's IDOL DAY PEOPLE!

OhHappyDay! It's IdolDay!OhHappyDay! It's IdolDay!OhHappyDay! It's IdolDay!OhHappyDay! It's IdolDay!OhHappyDay! It's IdolDay!OhHappyDay! It's IdolDay!OhHappyDay! It's IdolDay!OhHappyDay! It's IdolDay!OhHappyDay! It's IdolDay!OhHappyDay! It's IdolDay!OhHappyDay! It's IdolDay! OhHappyDay! It's IdolDay!OhHappyDay! It's IdolDay!

Phew! Finally managed to high-tail it back home before going out to the studio....below (and on the left sidebar) are the voting deets for tonight! Remember, each Idol will be singing two songs - a cover and an original composition they wrote especially for tonight's theme - Song For A Cause. And of course, the cause in question tonight is World AIDS Day (comin' up this December 1st).













Sezairi Sezali will be opening the show with the Black Eyed Peas hit 'Where Is the Love?' and performing his own song 'You' later on in the show. 'You' is a beautiful ballad (listen out for the beautiful lyrics) about how the imperfections of a person is what makes them perfect.

Tabitha Nauser will be performing second with her original song 'No Matter', a jazzy-gospelly song about how she will be there for someone who's going thru struggles 'no matter what'. She says the lyrics are simple but heartfelt and hopes the audience will sing along with her tonight. Her second song for the evening will be Carrie Underwood's version the George Michael classic 'Praying For Time'.













Charles will be going 3rd and singing U2's 'One'. His 2nd outing tonight will be his original song 'Before You Hit The Ground' about a girl with AIDS. The song states that he will be there to support her, to 'catch her before she hits the ground'. Awww....












Going 4th and last tonight will be Sylvia Ratonel. Her first song will be her original song 'I'll Be Here' which she describes as a melody made up of mish-mashed melodies she's been storing on her ipod. The song is what she hopes/envisions people will say to her should she be the one in a struggle or dealing with tough times. Her 2nd song for the night will be a cover of Adele's 'Make You Feel My Love'.













check out my previous posts to find out more about their songs.

I think tonight's show is gonna be awesome. The theme itself already warms my heart, because HIV & AIDS awareness is already a cause I support. Education is so important, because it not only saves lives, it helps those living with the virus cope with it in their society.

On a lighter note, I'm also looking forward to seeing tonight's result because, this morning, on 987FM, Dan the Man has boldly declared that neither Tabby nor Sylvia will be going home tonight....shockers! Is he predicting either Charlie or Airi going home tonight? Daniel Ong has laid $100 on the line to either one of the girls if they end up at the 987FM studio tomorrow morning as the eliminated Idol!

I say, getting eliminated so not worth the $100 lor! hahahah.
Let's see if Dan gets this one right - his last prediction came true. So maybe Dan the Man is clairvoyant!

Oh, and just to clear the air about the Twitterpanic that happened this afternoon....keep your panties on people....no one has pulled out of Idol.

@siproducer tweeted that they needed to re-do the choreography for the night because someone wasn't able to attend.

@siproducer later clarified that it was one of the ex-Idol contestants who was not able to attend due to an urgent personal matter that cropped up. So instead of 6 Idol alums returning for the Results Show, you'll have to do with just 5 instead.

So don't worry, NONE of your Top 4 have dropped out of the competition! Phew. Press that UNpanic button now.

Whee...just 2 hours plus to showtime, and half an hour til I leave home for the show yippee! Look for my tweets/twitpics!

xoxo, s.





















Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Hady's new album!

Ooooh, too good to keep to myself...
Just got a call from Taufik & Hady's manager, and we were yakkin' about somethin' else, and then she mentioned that a date has been set for the launch of Hady's much-anticipated album! Woot! The date is somewhere mid-December, will definitely post it when I get the actual date :)

I'm excited. I love his new single 'Angkasa', but what I'm really waiting for are the two English songs that will be on that album. Like Taufik, I think Hady really excels when singing English tunes, its got a different kinda groove you know? (no offence to the Malay tunes, which I'm still a fan of btw, my loop song on my ipod was Nafasku for-like-forever). Speaking of Taufik, am also waiting to hear when his new album's due out.

In the meantime, here's a snippet of 'Angkasa' that I found on YouTube and a clip of Taufik's 'Nafasku' <-- beautiful song, cried the first few times I heard it. (Check out those biceps too! Min, oh how our baby has grown! LOL!)




I likey the tunes boys, keep up the good work!

xoxo, s.

Spectacular 10 : Performance Order

Who's opening/closing the show?
Wow, we're just down to 4 now, makes me wonder whether performance order is still worth announcing. LOL. Nvm, since I have the info, might as well just share right?!

Oh wth am I talking about? Of course its important - voting deets are determined by perf order mah! AIYO - apologies for my blonde moment...here are your voting details and performance order...remember, each Idol is singing twice, so I've listed them in order of the songs they will be singing...











































































































If you still aren't sure what tomorrow's show is all about, check out the trailer below.


xoxo, s.

ps. WHAT? You didn't know your Top 4 are on Twitter? Sure you an idol fan not?
here are the links..click and FOLLOW!