Sunday, April 12, 2009

One In A Million 3 Top 5 Show Review


So last week I made a bold prediction that Simon would be the next to be given the boot on OIAM3. And whaddya know? I was absolutely right! Kelas gituh…

I mean, the dude is a fine artiste in his own right, but with “Too Simple” Simon, what you see is basically what you get. In this sort of competition, you should be able to pluck something unexpected out of the hat every other week to wow the people into voting for you. But Simon’s been producing the same ‘ol white rabbit and I guess people no longer found it to be cute or necessary. So, sayonara dude…

But before I get to the Top 5, did you see the (non) reaction on Nine’s part during Simon’s farewell performance? Dude basically had his arms folded up and looked completely disinterested. And just because of that, I’m predicting Nine to be the next one leaving, even before evaluating his performance. I mean, brooding and arrogant contestants have never won this sort of thing before, and Nine won’t be the exception.

So, on to the Top 5 show now. And it was immediately discovered that this week would be Sheila Majid week! I mean DATO’ Sheila Majid, of course.

Amylea went up first and she chose the rather snazzy and cheeky “Dia”. But in case you didn’t notice, the first performance only came some 25 minutes into the show! I guess it’s quite a challenge to fill airtime as the contestants thin out, so good job to the producers for making the talking bits as entertaining as possible. Back to Amylea, I thought she did a pretty good job with the song, and having the bench on stage as a prop was a nice touch as well. So I think she did enough to earn that ticket to the next round.

Up next was Nine, and I must repeat the fact the dude is definitely this season’s most stylish contestant. And his song choice of “Pengemis Muda” was rather interesting. The arrangement was bold and the crunchy guitar actually worked (who would have thought someone would add crunchy guitars to “Pengemis Muda” huh?). But what didn’t work was the vocals, dude! Uptight and unconvincing, Nine is now facing a countdown to his exit… Altogether now: Nine, Eight, Seven… Haha.

The vocals were much better from Aweera who stepped up next. And like Paul said, it’s rather easy for the heavy rocker dude; choose a pop song – any pop song – sing it well, and he’ll be a hero. Which was what happened when he belted the ballad “Antara Anyir Dan Jakarta”. But like the judges pointed out, the feel was missing a bit. Watch a tad more Hallmark ok dude?

I didn’t think anyone would attempt “Lagenda” that night, but I was proven wrong when it was announced that Esther would be the one doing it. And yes, she did give her all. Every technique in the vocal 101 guidebook was fully demonstrated by the Sabahan lass. But even if Baskin Robbins had 31 flavours, you wouldn’t want to try them all in a single cup would you? In other words, it was truly over the top, and I agree with Paul that Esther might be in bigger trouble than her fans might want to admit.

There will be no such problems though for the Artiste-Formerly-Known-For-Being-Sengau, Tomok. I mean, the dude has been getting rave reviews for doing female songs, so a Sheila Majid week just sort of played into his hand, didn’t it?

Opting for the sappiest ballad from Sheila’s songbook, “Aku Cinta Padamu”, Tomok surprised everyone yet again by turning it into a fast tempo song after a deceptively slow start. To be honest though, I didn’t quite enjoy the verses, which I thought he kinda rushed through, but the rest of it was simply brilliant. And that last “tenungan” into the camera must have surely earned him at least a few thousand more votes.

Now I know I myself have been raving about Tomok these past few weeks, but it’s clear for all to see that the dude is owning the competition lah. Compare him to Nine, for example. Both always pick up-tempo tunes and work every inch of the stage. But while Tomok completely mesmerizes with creativity and charm, Nine usually gets murmurs of “What the?” from the audience. I rest my case.

So to recap, I’m boldly predicting Nine to be the one out of the Final Four next week. And as usual, for everything on OIAM3, log on to www.8tv.com.my/oiam



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