I think I'll start a Quote of the Week, gathered from shows I've seen for the previous week.
Lemme start with the week of Sept 17-24. This week marks the beginning of what could be the most exciting moment for TV, since 2000.
So, I'll open with my mandatory..."Previously on...." :D
Prison Break Season 2, Episode 5 Map1213 Aired: Sept 18
Michael: Tell me that's not what I know it is. T-bag: Oh, it is. But don't worry no more, before I destroyed it, I committed it to my photographic memory. Michael: Coming from a compulsive liar I find that hard to believe. T-bag: I'd have tattooed it to my body, but I didn't have the time.
For this episode, all I have to say is: Where the hell is Haywire?
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip Season 1, Episode 1 Pilot Aired: Sept 18
Jordan: You know what this is? It's the sketch that got cut. I just read it and I thought it was inspired and I am not really an expert. Matt, read it and tell me what you think.. Matt: No, I'm not gonna read it. Jordan: Just read it and tell me if it should have gone on the air. Matt: I don't need to read it. Jordan: Matt --- Danny: He doesn't need to read it. Jordan: Why? Matt: Because I wrote it....four years ago. Shortly before I apparently quit. Jordan: I know. [pause] Alright so you want me to prove it? Here's my first try. Open with it next week. [cue music, Queen's Under Pressure, Jordan steps away.] Danny: You gotta give her style for that. Matt: Yeah...
I have to say this, this early....I am in love with Studio 60!!!
House Season 3, Episode 3 Informed Consent Aired: Sept 19
House: I tried to kill him, you're mad. I don't kill him, you're mad. Cameron: All he wanted was some dignity House: Where you in that room with him? Was he wearing a tux while he was choking on his own plasma?
House cracked me up so bad! I had 3 LOL moments for this episode.
The Office Season 3, Episode 1 Gay Witch Hunt Aired: Sept 21
Creed: I'm not offended by homosexuality. In the 60's I made love to many, many women, often outdoors....in the mud, in the rain. And, it's possible a man slipped in. There would be no way of knowing.....
And Creed said that with a straight face. Awesome line. Great delivery. Hilarious result.
Well, the story is: so far, it's disappointing and bad. I expect a trainwreck, the way things are going.
But first... if only our own set of Idol judges deliberated like this (although, these judges below have two-four years experience doing this):
And this is the perfomance they were judging: WATCH VIDEO
Anyhow... over here please. Presenting, Philippine Idol's Top 12:
The Worthy
MAU - Here's something I noticed when Mau began to sing during the Wildcard round: the moment she opened her mouth, the audience remained sullen. She made the crowd sit up, sit quietly... watching and listening. Her moment was, to some degree, short of being magical. There's no doubt she has the best voice. She has good control of her instrument (her vocals) and she knows what to do with it. When the song calls for her to sing something high, she adjusts the key to her range. Appearance wise, I don't care that she has black features, or that she's on the heavy side. She carries herself well, it suits her perfectly. And because of that, she's beautiful to me.
Video from: owl4ever
POW - I instantly liked her the first time she appeared at the audition round. Pow's voice is a breath of fresh air. She is no diva, but she can deliver powerful songs. Her ability to connect with the audience is what makes her a good singer. She sings from the heart (she made me emotional twice!) The fact that she's a lesbian does not sit too well with some Pinoys. She's of the third sex, one with the possibility of being crowned the first Philippine Idol. But then again, the first Idol ever, UK's Will Young, is gay. In my book, gender is no big deal.
Video from: empressmaruja
And Everyone Else (Not in order)
DRAE - From the looks of it, Drae is overflowing with personality. He's Mr. Nice Guy, I suppose (from the way his video feeds are edited). There's also no doubt, Drae is an educated gentleman (read his profile on the official site). But based on singing, Drae has a long way to go. Sure, his voice is good. But like many of the Top 12 contestants, it's nowhere near recording-quality good. He has pitch problems (could be corrected with voice lessons, and many of them need it, not just him). Also, based on his performance for the semi-finals, Drae seems comfortable on stage. So I give him props for that.
Video from: empressmaruja
GIAN - Gian can sing. He has a voice. His rendition during the Wildcard Round was fair. But it was nothing spectacular. Gian could be, in the words of Simon Cowell, "Forgettable." So he has make an effort to leave a mark with each and every performance. I understand he's trained in theater (?), but pop singing is different. People (like me!) will find his movements cheesy, choreographed and lacking in sincerity. It also is a distraction, I cannot watch Gian well because I'm too distracted by his movements/acting. He has to stop hanging around Armarie, hehe.
Video from: owl4ever
RAYMOND - Alright, I have to give him credit for stepping up when his first performance failed (through no fault of his). The dancing is bad. It's awkward, it's funny. Props to him for making me laugh though. The singing - okay. His voice is actually good for ballads. There's clarity in it (watching on Youtube, with earphone). Whatever possessed him to choose an upbeat number for his first live performance, I wouldn't know the reason. (He's probably trying to show versatility?) But upbeat songs ain't his forte. His voice is made for love songs.
Video from: shadowhide
KEN - His Wildcard performance was the worst of all. Understandably, Ken was sick at that time and failed to perform well. From Ken's last two song choices, it seems that he chooses songs released before he was even born (is he channeling Anwar or John Stevens of AI?). However, Ken's voice is not fit for songs like that. Does he not know that? Someone should tell him that. It wouldn't hurt to try and sing something more contemporary. I think he'll do better then.
Video from: starmometerdotcom
JAN KURT - Clay Aiken did this on AI, if I'm not mistaken. Jan Kurt is no Clay Aiken. His impact is not even a fraction of what Clay Aiken's audition meant. Of Jan Kurt's performance, Simon Cowell would have said something like: (in thick British accet) It sowndid like someone singing at an office puhrty... Although, it would be someone singing really well, but it's still singing at an office party, and not a singing competition.
Video from: PhilippineIdol3
MIGUEL - Based on what he did for semi-finals --- a 17 year old singing falsetto? Not easy! So I will give him a liiiiiittttle credit. Having said that, I think Miguel should steer clear of songs he cannot do (yet!.... again two words: voice lessons). His last performance was of him "thinking" and not singing. He might have been too conscious of hitting the high notes. He needs to take confidence points from Drae and just enjoy the moment.
Video from: PhilippineIdol3
ARMARIE - She makes an..."extemporaneous" effort to carry a tune. Haha. Seriously, she can sing alright. Only, she sings as if she's always mad or nagdadabog. She enunciates too much, she growls too much, she moves her arm with too much force. And that's my problem with her, she is The Overkill (my first Idol nickname, yey!). She would win me over if, in one of her performances, she just stands still, with her hands on the sides and delivers a powerful song. I also hope she refrains from crying. Because I cannot call her The Crying Lady, since that nickname is already taken. :D
Video from: empressmaruja
APPLE - I know, I know, some other contestant deserve to be where she is right now. But frankly, I don't have a problem with Apple's voice. It's not nearly as good as Mau's (I think they have the same range and type.) Again, voice lessons should help her. I don't have a problem with her image/look. She knows how to dress her age. She knows her style. Oh, and yes, she reminds me of a young Ali Sotto (looks + voice). I have a huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge problem with her song choice, in that, she doesn't know how to choose. Buki si Neneng! Whether her voice is good enough or not, it cannot be gauged at the moment since her bad song choices is what people are focusing on. And if you look at it, it's quite unfair for her to be judged based on song choice and not on her talent.
Video from: shadowhide
And because I had to watch this ^ video again... LSS!!!!!
JELLI - Using the pretty to get points? Maybe. Her audition was a lot better than what we have seen from her during the semi-finals. She is very, very, very pitchy. She makes no connection with the audience, too. And this is what she does for a living?? Jelli has to prove she's a pro at singing because from everything I've seen so far, if I'm the owner of the bar where she's performing, I will have to start wondering if it's worth keeping her.
Video from: idolfanatic
STEF - I have no love for her, sorry. She can sing, yes... but again, like many of them, she's not exceptional. I can't even find her Wildcard video on Youtube!!! That's how much of an impact she's made.
So, there they are....the passengers of what looks like a possible trainwreck. Hopefully, it gets better in the next episodes.
Who goes next? Beats me. The way we Pinoys vote, I should not be surprised if my first two choices leave real soon. (WAG NAMAN!!)
Finally caught up with this show, E-ring. Sometime ago, this was supposed to be on my TO WATCH list but I could not get around to watching it. Now that the show is cancelled after one season, and our local cable channel Crime/Suspense has began airing it....plus the fact that the other week, the episode had a Philippine connection to it, my curiousity is triggered and I decided to finally check it out.
Jury's still out on whether or not I like this one or I just wasted my time.
One thing though... I never realized that all that "paperwork drama", could actually leave my heart racing. I was literally holding my breath.... eagerly awaiting if the Pentagon finally decides to do an extraction operation of an undercover agent in China, so that she is safely sent back to America, with a top secret microchip (Pilot Episode). And apparently, as this show tells me, the extraction has to be approved by a lot of signatories (hence the "paperwork") before they actually begin it. Imagine how much time would've been lost, if this was Jack Bauer's mission!
Anyway, I still have to finish an entire season to fully judge whether or not the cancellation of this show was an injustice (if it's really any good) or a good call (if it was bad).
Level of intensity: Like 24, 4 seasons back, it's chest-pounding. Level of acting:Dennis Hopper and Benjamin Bratt? Expectedly, they're good. However, I'm still not sure if their talents have been underutilized for this show Level of absurdity: With all that military jargons they throw around, I cannot tell. Haha. Level of boringness: Boring??? I got tensed watching top military officials deliberate. I got tensed watching them sign documents. I got tensed because the Chinese satellite would have picked up American military presense on Chinese shores in 3 minutes... Level of cheesiness: Ooohh, quite high. But for some reason, or maybe I still need to warm up to this show, cheesiness worked for E-ring.
And this is a sample of a cheesy dialogue, felt like a 10 year old wrote it:
JT: We got a "nunya" in the works Another officer: What's a nunya? JT: None ya damn business!
Bwahah!
E-ring is on Crime/Suspense channel (Sky Cable), Tuesdays at 10 PM.
E-ring Original Airing: September 21, 2005 Last Aired: February 1, 2006 Network: NBC
The last season of Survivor I've watched was Pearl Island, the All-Stars Season. Since then, there had been around two or three (or four?) seasons I've missed. And I've made it a point to miss it. I have actually gotten to that point where I got tired of this. I thought that it was getting repetitive and predictable (only realized that after 10 seasons...or was that 8 seasons?)
In this new season, they're introducing a new twist: teams will be divided into race. So, that's why I'm back to watching it again. Because I love to analyze conflicts and pretend I'm a shrink (who did not get a slot at UP-PSYCHOLOGY coz I failed the UPCAT... I'm suddenly feeling quite bitter about that after several years, LOL!), this new twist just screams it.
Rooting for this guy, by virtue of, what else but RACE! Gay, athletic and Filipino-American, Brad Virata >>>
So today at 1 PM on Studio 23, the war is on. Quite a few people are alarmed but for the sake of entertainment on TV (whooohoo!) hope this one's not a dud because, man ...I want blood!
Survivor Cook Island Original Air Date: Sept 14, 2006 Network: CBS
Those Fall premiere shows better get online soon, because I am turning delusional and might eventually convince myself to launch a singing career.... I can't stop watching all the singing contests! I find myself visiting many music forum a lot more because of all the singing. I'm trying to learn who and what's hip with music nowadays, it's like finding the old me.
Several years ago, my friends and I would often get together and spend lazy Saturday afternoons playing "Name That Tune", and I'd usually do very well on that one. I could easily guess the songs and could even supply who sang it. Coz I was a "musical person." Fast forward 20 years later, and I don't even have a clue whose singing the songs I hear in the radio these days, unless it's an 80's music (or something really old, songs my grandma loves). So, all these singing contests and my browsing in music forums is like waking up that dead musical girl inside me.
Anyhow, the other night I let you in (you, as in the readers, all 2 of you, and that includes me! Hee!) on a preview of Jai Rodriguez in Celebrity Duets. Last night, I was laughing my ass off, watching bad audition's from Simon Cowell's The X Factor UK (will try to feature that sometime, but here is one I found on Youtube, it's sooo funny! and another one, haha it's stupid!) and I watched this after I watched the results show of Philippine Idol (not quite happy with that one). And today, while waiting for Australian Idol d/ls...I chanced upon this video on Youtube and it so.blew.me.away!
Bobby Flynn
If you've been following this blog, I earlier made an entry about who my favorites are in this year's Oz Idol competition and he's one of those. He almost received a "Touchdown!" from Idol Judge Mark. Can't wait to get the whole episode of this one. It supposedly was the best show since the first time Oz Idol went on air in 2003. Impressively amazing talents this year, it's hard to choose which ones should remain.
Anyhow, back to Philippine Idol, I think I've drained myself too much from rationalizing why two of those who went through last night made the cut. Do Pinoys want to their first Philippine Idol to be someone who won because s/he had a lot of friends who voted for him/her? Or do we want our first Pinoy Idol to be someone who who won because s/he can actually sing? Yes, we are musically inclined, us Pinoys... and we're very proud of it. We also make stupid votes.
I wasted my 25.00 pesos (cheap ako!) voting for two that deserved it but was not included in the Top 4. Will Ryan A announce that on National TV?
I taught my 8 year old how to use Windows Movie Maker the other day and this was one of his projects:
He needs to learn more about editing, but my boy's getting the hang of it pretty fast. And if there's one thing this boy had too much of, it's too much Spongebob. He rattles on about the show all the time...
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Incidentally, I've just seen a recent episode of Celebrity Duets. I think there's no need for me to finish this short series, I know who is going to win, coz there's no one else just as good:
This show is so interestingly bad, yet I cannot help but watch it. If you're singing contest junkie, this ought to be on your guilty pleasure list. I even find myself dancing to someone's bad rendition of a Pointer Sister's number of a Kevin Loggins classic.
So where does this story fit into my son's story? Well, the song sang by Jai Rodriguez (with Brian McNight) was the number 1 song when my son was born in 1997.
Steve Irwin died close to my birthday, ain't that sad? The news reports I saw on TV mades me an emotional wreck, especially when they played up the angle about the daughter (Bindi) losing her father.
Watching him interact with the animals brings out that child in me and my husband, and of course my little boy is often left amazed by what he does, he has that kind of effect on many people.
It was not so long ago that my husband said it would be terrible if something bad happened to him while he's doing what he is doing. I guess no one was prepared to learn he had died, because he has evaded it many times.
Something I picked from Youtube, from several other videos:
Bummer. They've evicted the most cunning player in the Big Brother House. I was prepared to see him win it the second time around. Was not prepared to see the master manipulator leave the house. On the flipside, girl power ruled the house this week. Kudos to the chicks for coming around and realizing they should not be played by the guys, served the boys right. Still, I do not like the two remaining women there (strong, strong dislike!). At this point, I couldn't care less who wins. I will just have to read about it on the net. On the whole, this was a terrible season. I think it's time CBS retires the franchise.
Anyhow, now I know who Will reminds me of....Reggie Mantle of The Archie's:
Big Brother All Stars USA Season 7 Will's Eviction Original Air Date: Sept 3, 2006 Network: CBS
The other day, I came up with a list of Singing Contest/TV Shows that I currently keep tabs of. You wanna know how many? It's crazy. I'm currently trying to watch all of it. Some I do more than others, some I look forward to more than the rest...but my TV viewing has been filled with too many music or singing, that it prompted me to buy the latest DVD of The Sound of Music (40th Anniversary Edition) and have made me prebook the latest DVD of Grease (Rockin\' Rydell Edition), even when I already have the previous releases. It also prompted me to dig up my old minus ones (casette tapes!!) and raid my fathers collection of Karaoke DVDs. I had my own concert the other day, much to my son's protest (Mommy, nakakahiya sa neighbors!).
Truth is, I can sing. Or at least I used to. I've won competitions back in the day. But because I stopped training, and started dating (wehehe), singing took a backseat. A few weeks ago, I was able to find a friend on Friendster. She and I used to sing together and even compete (on friendly terms, she really was my buddy!). I found out she was already singing abroad, professionally (earning like an equivalent to Php 80,000 a month or something), and has even recorded an album with her former band here (didn't become a hit though). I said to myself that if I had pursued singing all the way, I may have walked the same path as K.
But some things were not meant to be. Today, I don't have my soprano voice. Today, I even have pitch problems. And if my voice teacher can hear me now, she would say I've been singing from my throat and that I am not using my head tone. Today, I sound better in the shower and not with a microphone.
So, you could say that along with my being a frustrated TV executive, I am a frustrated singer. But thanks to these talent shows, I still get to enjoy singing. Some of these contestants in these shows are really good and if these happened in my day, I would have to be up against really good singers and lose to them.
I also tried to view: How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria, the search for the lead for the musical (I think this is for Broadway?)...and even if I cannot understand a single word, I checked out Idols (Sweden)
So, can you blame me for launching a concert in my bedroom the other day?
Of all the ones I currently watch, none of it compare to my favorite Singing Contest, and that is Australian Idol. I've been a fan of this show since 2004. Here are videos of two of my favorites from this current season. The reason why I like them is because they're very talented, it doesn't matter that they don't like stars. Their kind of music, and that kind of singing, one which you can never find anything like it, is what makes me a fan:
Bobby Flyn - Under The Milkyway
Damien Leith - You Are So Beautiful
My other favorite, Chris Murphy, has yet to battle it out in the Wildcards round today. Hope he gets through.
