Malaysian Idol and Akademi Fantasia

Was a really really dull weekend for me. Nothing much happened, and, me being the "anak mithali" that i am, spent Saturday and Sunday night going out for dinner with my parents at Hartamas and Bangsar. Spent most of the daytime veged out in front of the idiot box surfing through the various channels on Astro without anything keeping me interested for more than an hour or so.

However, i did manage to catch both Akademi Fantasia (AF) on Saturday (blame it on the lack of live football on a Saturday night) and Malaysian Idol (MI) on Sunday noon on good 'ol TV3. One thing that i noticed immediately is the absolute GULF in the talent on show between these two "karaoke" competitions. I mean, MOST of the girls on AF just could NOT hold a tune to save their lives, except for the one that came from Johor, god forbid i remember her name, who supposedly was to be "surprised" by the appearance of the big boned one from last year's AF fame. The guys were waaaaay much better singers and also waaaaay much better performing. But comparing the talent on show on AF with the one's on MI the next day, i would say that probably 80% of the AF hopefuls would not stand a CHANCE against most of the people that were eliminated in the second round. I mean, MI has it's own hits and misses, but i mean, the AF 12 are supposed to be the ones who were picked from an audition of THOUSANDS!! I mean, from the thousands that came to audition for AF, is the 12 that they picked THE BEST that they could come up with?

I actually, am more impressed with the MI contestants, and it is actually good that they show it from the auditions itself so we can actually get entertained with the lengths that some people actually go to during the auditions. I remember watching it last Sunday (yes yes, i did sort of follow American Idol before, so i thought, might as well give us Malaysians a try), and i could remember watching ONE OF THE WORST and HIDEOUS and GROSS and UNSIGHTLY scenes i have seen on local television. You know, the one where the slightly overwight guy (?) giving his impression of Kylie Minogue and "Spinning Around", with the ULTRA-SHORT YELLOW SHORTS AS WELL. OH... MY... GOD... is only what i could say. I mean, i think it's absolutely HOT what Kylie did, and the year when she came out with that video, i admitted that sometimes, shorts can be even hotter than mini skirts. BUT OH.. MY.. GOD.. That fella has just spoilt that sweet memory of mine. Tainted forever. Actually i am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and assume that he actually lost a bet, or he is bound to receive HUGE AMOUNTS OF PLAIN HARD CASH to such an obscene national television showing, and if that is indeed the case, good on him. But still, absolutely gruesome.

Another one i remember from yesterday's show was the small kid, who i must say, did impress me during the first round auditions. I actually was looking forward to seeing how he would fare since we could be uncovering our own "hedgehog haired-one" (well, without the hedgehod hair). Sad to say, he turned out to be absolutely tone deaf. Sorry boy, if you can't sing in tune, much like me, i don't think you would have a chance being the first Malaysian Idol. Maybe he can go home and get some "tone practice" (is there even such a thing?) and come back next year?

I never fails to amaze me how people can just go out there in front of the camera and a panel of three "judges" and just audition without any supporting music. It must take a lot of balls just to be there. However, it also never fails to amaze me how some people can be so utterly deluded that they have a voice of the next "Mariah Carey" when it is plain bleedingly obvious that it's much closer to William Hung. Oh well, at least it provides the rest of us with some much needed entertainment on an otherwise dull Sunday afternoon. (Can't get 8tv at home)

Later.