Singapore Idol / Superband / Superstar

Not that I'm saying I am a talented singer.
(I am not)
But this season's Singapore idol is... sad.

Just a couple of months ago I was wondering, just when are we going to run out of talents for all these reality shows.
Singapore Idol, Superstar, Campus superstar, Superband and now the second season of all these are starting allover.
When will we run out of talents?
Singapore is not very big you know?

Another problem with reality shows in Singapore is that local audiences, I suspect are deaf.

When Olinda Cho got voted out in last season's Singapore Idol, I honestly thought majority of Singaporeans were deaf. Because she clearly had the vocals and the talent.
Unfortunately many pointed out to me that Singapore Idol was not looking for good and talented singers but idols. And so I relented.

This season's Singapore Idol?
I can't wait to see who's going to win the competition.
Because I cannot identify one good singer that is likeable overall.
I mean, there are those that can sing pretty well like.... Mathilda.
But when she performs on stage, she makes me cringe. Like really cringe.
The things she say.. are so Fann Wong-ish I'm wondering just why aren't they hounding at her for that yet.
She say stuff like, "finally, I've got some constructive criticisms for me to work on! Like yay!"

Right.
The biggest constructive criticism coming from me is, Silence is golden.
If you don't have anything to say, I don't think you need to find something to say.
Really.
And, what's with the cleavage man?
Every week she's there shoving the cleavage up the screens of us homeviewers.
Less is not always the best.
Perhaps she take the "If you have it, flaunt it" thing a tad bit too serious now.

Maybe there is something wrong with my hearing this week, but they all sounded off-tune this week.
I am not sure if Joakim Gomez tried to make the song sound different, or he was really off. But I cringe (even more when Mathilda was singing) when he sang. He's a very likable boy really. But that's just that.

Even Jonathon Leong bored me this week.
I mean, I like his song. But I think his charismatic appeal stops almost immediately when the song ends. But I like him most, (not because he is good looking) but he has the decency to shut up when he doesn't have anything interesting to say. Which for me is the most important thing.
Knowing when to shut the fuck up and when to speak.

The rest.
They were just off!

I hate to say this but I think Superstar was more entertaining and the winners had the most potential.

Seriously, do you still remember how Taufik sounded like?

Thankfully MiLuBing won Superband.
Not that I am a huge fan of theirs, or think that they are really good.
But I'd prefer them than say, Soul.
Its not that I personally hate Soul (the group), I think they sing ok, but do we really need another boyband? Especially when they aren't particularly good looking a boy band to begin with?

If I had the chance to pick, I would go for Lucify.
I think they had the most potential in terms of marketability, but then again, that's my point of view. Because we all know reality shows do not have a fixed model or theory to follow. This is, the best singer/performer is not necessary the biggest winner.
Instead, everything lies in the hands of screaming young girls these days.

Don't they all feel empowered suddenly?

It really amazes me how all of these idols accumulate this much fans during this short span of time. Doesn't this make the world oh-so-shallow?
In such a limited period, did you really see for yourself how talented a person is? To the extent he/she is worth all your ardent support?
Maybe they did.
But honestly, I don't see how in this short period of time, someone could drive an individual over the edge like the way some of these idol supporters are.
And are they really that many screeching young Singaporeans out there?
I shudder at the thought of it.

Singapore is such a small little country.
Finding talented individuals to take part in all these numerous competition isn't easy. We can all see for ourselves through this 2nd season of Singapore idol.
Gone are the thrills of seeing talented individuals with voices that can really move mountains on TV.
Instead, we are invaded by good lookers and their lame shot at fame.

These days, its all about the entire package, and never about the little amazing talents anymore. And that's just so sad.
A sad reflection of what we Singaporeans think constitute talent. It's all found in our reality shows.

When will the Government or anyone up there realise?
That arts, creativity and talent cannot be bought.
All the foreign talents bought, the little lame programmes brought out to entertain, the huge durian monument to promote arts are just tools that you place in front of the people. Without the right talents or mechanisms to motivate us or drive us forward, how are we going to loosen up, throw that uptight image away and be as visually interesting as the other developed countries?

Art, is spontaneous.
Having specific areas or licenses in place to ensure you have the right to doing art is just wrong.
So now we have buskers on the streets, performers strutting their stuff along Orchard Road during the weekends.
Do you think those are spontaneous work of art?
We have designated youth parks for folks to show their talent in grafitti.
Do you think those are spontaneous work of art?

Drop all the rules, drop all those regulations, drop all the licenses etc etc.
Then can we be creative.

I am not saying I am a talented individual that's bursting to head out and paint the streets red or sing my lungs out.
I'm just feeling the slight bit repressed after all these years living in Singapore.

For starters, do you honestly believe we Singaporeans have the freedom of speech?
Racist remarks in your blog? And you're off to jail.
Grumbling about the Singapore Government? And you're sued till your pants drop.
Mention the increase in bus/train/taxi fares after elections? And you may lose your job.
Wonder about the rich/poor gap in Singapore? And you may just lose everything.