rey's ramblings

The mould has been broken!

Plug-in: Takin' It to the Streets - Taylor Hicks

Taylor Hicks has won the latest fifth season of American Idol!
His win marks the second time out of five seasons that a male
has claimed the highest honour of the competition and is also
the first time a man has beaten a woman to the top spot in
male-female finales, as Season 2's unfortunate win by Ruben
Studdard was a result of a male-male finale against Clay Aiken.

What's with her key???

But most importantly of all, never before in the history of Idol has
anyone of his musical style and genre ever won, made it to the final
two or dare i say, even made it to the top 12. In that sense, Hicks is
a rare gem in the trough of manufactured pop, R&B and hip-hop
music that is all too common in the industry nowadays. In fact, the
last Billboard hit of his genre was decades ago in the '70s. Could his
win perhaps signal a revival of that era or at least a reinterpretation
of that genre? Well, the odds are certainly up against him but Hicks
has definitely left a mark in the contemporary American music scene.

Taylor and Katharine with Bacharach

Hicks win aside, wednesday night's two-hour results finale was an
extragavanza as the producers struggled to cram as many stars
as possible into the 100 minutes or so before the results (minus
the advertisements, Ryan Seacrest and the informal awards thing
going on). Paris Bennett and Al Jarreau's duet of "We're In This Love
Together" proved to be a superb pairing. However, most of the other
collaborations for the night were rather uneven. For example, Mary
J. Blige practically blocked out Elliott Yamin with her over-the-top
vocals in "One" and Katharine McPhee went slightly off-pitch with
Meat Loaf in "It's All Coming Back To Me Now". As a result, the
group performances, especially their session with six-time Grammy
winner Burt Bacharach on the grand piano and Dionne Warwick's
medley of "Walk On By" and "That's What Friends Are For", were
far more impressive. Prince's surprise appearance just before the
ending caught everyone off guard but deserved a thumbs-up.

Overall, the results show finale was one of the best in the six year run
of American Idol and also concluding a record-breaking season with
the highest ratings, votes and viewership.

The fact that I can't prepare completely everything for tomorrow's
Chinese O Levels unlike previous chinese exams is a bit worrying.
Hopefully the examiners decide to go easy on the new format, or at
the least not infuse the comprehensions with chinese literature.

soul patrol!

I crossed the bridge at 10:37 PM

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

A Little More Entertainment

Plug-in: Promiscuous (Radio Edit) - Nelly Furtado feat. Timbaland

American Idol reaches its climax tomorrow with the results show live from
the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. Tonight's final performances from finalists
Katharine McPhee and Taylor Hicks made it pretty clear as to whom would
be receiving the honour of being America's next Idol.

Although the producers may have made a poor decision by getting the finalists
to perform previously tackled songs for the two out of three slots and furthermore
the final slot being their brand new, never-before-heard debut singles which can
prove risky. However, Taylor Hicks took this formula to his advantage by opting
to redo two songs that he featured way early in the competition (about during the
audition rounds) whereas Katharine McPhee tried to play it safe by giving an encore
of two of her most acclaimed albeit recent performances. This actually proved lethal
for her as audiences and voters alike were given nothing to be wowed away with
because charm doesn't work the second time round. Furthermore, her final performance,
the debut single song, was a disaster partly (or perhaps mostly) due to the songwriters.

On the other hand, Taylor's two songs may not have been fresh in our memory but as
a result, proved much less stale than Katharine's choices. Despite that, his second song,
"Levon", was overpowered slightly by McPhee's "Somewhere Over the Rainbow". Hicks
however, removed any doubts about him becoming the next Idol with his debut single
performance "Do I Make You Proud", despite the song arrangement being only slightly
better than Katharine's.

Meanwhile, the chinese lectures in preparation for the 'O's are really mind-numbing and
sleep-inducing for some reason.

dangerous minds

I crossed the bridge at 11:21 PM

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Anticipation, it could have been deadly

Plug-in: Where'd You Go - Fort Minor featuring Holly Brook and Jonah Matranga

I think its rather evil for the last exam to be a mere three days away from the exam
results, not forgetting the absence of a genuine marking day or holiday. Today's ISD
department trip was not very interesting. It was a bit like a more revelatory Social
Studies excursion (a la propaganda) and some of the tour guides were consistently
anxious to find out whether we would like to join their department in the future.

To be honest with them, Singapore's espionage activities aren't very interesting at all.

Anyway, the gambling talk that preceded it was yet another one of those typically
useless talks on morality that as always are highly subjective and the result is that
most people don't really bother much about it in the end. Thankfully I didn't come
to school yesterday.. there was a talk about The Da Vinci Code, which I apparently
heard was even more boring.

Backtracking a little, went to joel's house after monday's paper to chill-out, play games
on xbox etc. Left a little past lunch hour for Orchard and walked around for a while,
looking at books and CDs at Borders before meeting up with sherry. Did some more
walking around orchard, hmv, before having tea at taka. Chatted with sherry regarding
a lot about exams, 'O's, JC admission, school life, amusing ghost stories, entertianment...
most things under the sun actually, haha. Left for home via the mrt before dinnertime.

The Da Vinci Code is rated NC16... How peculiar. Although this doesn't affect whether
I can go in or not, I am still nonetheless puzzled why this is so. Apparently, the BFC
(Board of Film Censors) said it had nothing to do with the violence or any sexual content
at all, but more of the sensitive religious issues it posed. However, the BFC wisely concluded,
in response to the religious authorities who wanted it to be banned, that all in all, the story
was still a mere work of fiction. And I agree with that. I don't see why the necessity for
being so worked up about it. Other books that inherently defamed religions like Islam and
Buddhism did not ignite such a wave of anger amongst the followers of the religions they
condemned. The religious heads shouldn't get so worked up about it, because after all, the
reality is that it is just a work of fiction.

Today's American Idol performances were all definitely a notch up previous episodes.
Taylor Hicks has brought along something different to the competition that has never
been tackled in previous seasons: the mixing of soul, motown and classic rock n' roll,
bringing in the likes of ray charles, marvin gaye and elvis presley. Although his style
may be unusual, it seems to be something that the american public has been sorely
missing for quite some time. This explains why its highly likely that he'll make it to
the next round. The other two, Elliott Yamin and Katharine McPhee have quite an
equal chance in making it to the finals as well, although the latter's stunningly beautiful
rendition of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and the amount of buzz she's generated
on the Net could be a likely indicator that she'll be the one grabbing the other coveted
spot.

the exam results are out tomorrow. the wait itself can be fatal.

you ain't nothin' but a hound dog.

I crossed the bridge at 8:37 PM

Saturday, May 13, 2006

Around the Corner

Plug-in: Again and Again - Jewel

Deceivingly close to the end, there's still one more exam before the close of
the mid-years. Quite mindless MCQ questions but there's no relief til' its over.
For some reason, there's no marking day. And, I wonder where the extra holiday
that's supposed to come from the Polling Day weekend? Almost all other schools
seem to have had that holiday already but it doesn't look like ours is anywhere in
sight, at least for this week.

Nonetheless, the end of a maths paper II certainly set the 'ending' mood for
most. Had lunch at dining @sakae after the paper at citylink with esther and
joel, since all of us had more or less finished our tests. Afterwards, we went
to hmv and mph to browse around.

The latest noteworthy albums out:
Stadium Arcadium by Red Hot Chili Peppers
Goodbye Alice in Wonderland by Jewel
Pearl Jam by Pearl Jam
Living With War by Neil Young
Eyes Open by Snow Patrol

And Johnny Cash's body of work is simply amazing. From his defining dramatic hits, most
prominent of which is I Walk the Line and folk ballads like Folsom Prison Blues to more
mellow love sagas like Big River and charming duets with his significant other, such as
Jackson. There is quite a lot to discover from this legend whose music was as wild and
diverse as his lifestyle.

Later, we took a train up to dhoby ghaut so I could pick up tickets for the Crowned King/
Saw Loser concert performance from Mtvasia headquarters which was at the atrium@
orchard. Security was incredibly tight for an office building, surprisingly. Then, we just
had a short cuppa at starbucks whilst deliberating and comparing exam performances
and papers before deciding to head home.

Those who don't take the strangely placed Geography Core I Exam can count themselves
lucky. Those who do, have a terribly wasted weekend.

you drove a 100 miles to escape perdition before running out of fuel.

I crossed the bridge at 9:20 PM

Saturday, May 06, 2006

Impossible, those impossible polls

Plug-in: I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor - Arctic Monkeys

Took a detour, actually two detours, during the stress-filled week of exams (the brutality
of a math!).

First up, went for the local gala premiere of M:i III on tuesday night with esther (so sorry
vanessa, we were only mailed a pair! =/) at the cathay. Somehow or other, a lot of things
end up at the cathay ever since it opened. But anyway, the movie did entertain a great
deal surprisingly, but then again, anything is entertaining when your brain is crammed
with a thousand and one facts.

The third installment in the Impossible series is certainly a major improvement over the
terrible sequel that constantly annoyed with its over-indulgent slo-mo scenes courtesy of
John Woo, the self-gratifying worshipping of Cruise/Hunt as some kind of unstoppable i-can-
do-anything-you-throw-at-me super-agent and who can forget the utterly meaningless
rock-climbing opening?

Thankfully, MI3 is a return to the style of Brian De Palma's original spy thriller. And there
was definitely the almost-certainty of Hunt dying, but we know how all popcorn movies end,
don't we?

The performances were a bit mild, as Cruise still has the tendency of over-acting, but still
roughly on par. Hoffman, instead of going the usual route of flop-acting that most post-Oscar
winners end up in, plays the archetypal villian role with an amazing balance of calm and
ruthlessness unlike the conventional screamy villian we are all too used to; which makes
it seem as if he'd coolly gun down a group of children if they were in his way. Sadly, contrary
to what the advertising suggests, he doesn't get the screen time he deserves.

The main factor that makes this movie
better than the previous two however, is
JJ Abrams. Despite this being his big-
screen directorial debut, Abrams has not
succumbed to the standard "bigger,
louder, faster" mentality that most
freshmen action directors bring to the
multiplex. Well, there was certainly a fair
share of them here but not for unnecessary
purposes. Three things to be applauded
for: 1) the Vatican City kidnapping heist
scene was a gem. They finally revealed how
those masks can be made in a matter of
minutes, no less and Maggie Q shone
briefly here.

2) the flashback sequences which got the movie off to a relatively good start and
3) taking a page out of the bond flick On Her Majesty's Secret Service, the concept of how
being a secret agent threatens the lives of the ones you love. ditto, as if we didn't figure that
out already.

Overall, M:iIII is strictly speaking, a good summer blockbuster and nothing more. The action
overtures are perfectly orchestrated and the suspense, twists are all very akin to those in
Abrams hit TV spy thriller Alias, which is a good thing. However, the plot gets lost (oh no, bad
pun) somewhere along the end of the third act and the acting as previously mentioned is
plainly mediocre. Which means M:iIII is your typical but perfect blockbuster and then some.

The other detour this week, was going for a Workers Party rally at Hougang last night. The
GE's only come by once every four to five years so I definitely wanted to take the opportunity
to attend at least one rally. The atmosphere was nothing short of feverish and the crowds were
mammoth-size. Really, the last time I'd recall such a large gathering anywhere in Singapore was
back in 1999 when Singaporeans were still afflicted by the mass euphoria of the Backstreet Boys
when they held their Millenium concert here. But anyway, it was really chaotic with people
chanting "Workers Party" enthusiastically and the speeches delivered were rather energetic.

The Workers Party has been making quite a

presence and revival this GE, after having been
stagnant since the 80's and they are making
quite an impression. I mean we do know how
the PAP has a monopoly on the political system
here, but its a good start more or less. Speaking
of the PAP, their methods have become
increasingly desperate. Its quite hard to see how
their overreacting to small issues that do not
hold the people's interest at heart, is necessary.
Also, very recently, PM Lee might have exposed
the nasty side of the PAP when he unwittingly
said in a public speech that his focus was to 'fix'
the opposition and figure out how to 'buy' his
support if the opposition won 10 or more seats,
although he did subsequently say that his choice
of the word 'fix' might have been too strong, and offered his apology if it had offended anyone.

Nevertheless, it's hard to say when the PAP will ever start waning in power. Perhaps not in
our lifetime. As the saying goes: "Money in politics is everything. If you have the money to
give, you win."

If exam stress is getting to you, here are some side-splitting parodies of pop culture to get your
mind at ease:
Memoirs of a Geisha
My Slumps (feat. George W. Bush)
Desperate Housewives
Grey's Anatomy
Newlyweds (with Jessica Alba)
American Idol (Since We Were On)
Enjoy.

[edit][1:19 a.m.] the results of the polls are exactly the same as the last GE. sigh, no change
again. but opposition support is clearly growing with increased percentage of votes despite
the PAP having had campaigned intensively this GE.

I crossed the bridge at 10:19 PM

Recent Bridges I Crossed

Archived Bridges