Pinoy Idol: "My Greatest Performance"

I don't understand the theme in last night's Pinoy Idol. I don't know why the show is insisting on very personal themes--father's day, birth year, now your greatest performance--when a lot of the contestants need to be re-educated with regards to music. It would be nice to tackle a genre or an era or specific music from a particular artist that would force the contestants out of their comfort zones and make the really brilliant ones stand out: the ones who can understand music and hear things in a whole new and exciting light. The personal themes are doing the opposite. Instead of making the contestants shine, they are made more amateurish than they should be, allowing them to continue those nasty habits they need to unlearn through songs they like, songs that they think they can sing but can't. Unless it's the finale, and these really are the greatest performances under the contestants' repertoire, then be afraid. Be very afraid.

Case in point: Someone should tell Warren Antig to stop it with the rock antics. It's getting annoying considering he can sing and doesn't have to hide underneath that cocky rockstar wannabe attitude of his. Considering every rockstar wannabe like him has his or her own version of a Tears for Fears song, his was really unforgivable, he couldn't hack it. And what was Gretchen Espina thinking singing "Respect"? Of course you have to be compared to Aretha Franklin. If you figured out that you are no Aretha, you shouldn't even entertain the idea of singing her songs. It takes a lot of grit and soul, and if you don't have it, a cutesy rendition will do no justice to one of the feminist movement's theme songs.

It would be nice if the 'minds' behind Pinoy Idol can get contestants like these two to sing something else if only to let them discover that they are not who they think they are. Gretchen Espina should be given more melodic songs, the kind that Jolina usually sings on SOP. Warren Antig should try going soft and see that there's nothing wrong with letting your guard down and sing without having to scream. If Pinoy Idol can do something like a duets night, they should let these two sing Regine Velasquez and Robin Padilla's cover of "Tuwing Umuulan". That they can do.

(Or better yet, Pinoy Idol can do a novelty song night and sing stuff from Lito Camo, Yoyoy Villame and Willy Revillame. That would be so much fun. A Lito Camo night would be perfect because there is a market for songs like that. More on this next time.)

On a positive note, Mae Flores did us proud. On an Alanis Morisette song no less!!! Robby Navarro did good too, but Mae is my dark horse and I feel she didn't deserve to be in last week's bottom two. I am still waiting for her to go all out as I felt she was still a bit tentative last night. Jolina Magdangal is exerting more effort to be a little more articulate only she has to stop saying "Winner". I'd rather have her do her thumb-ups instead. But is it enough? Not really. I think the judges should sit down one time and maybe discuss with the producers what each contestants' weaknesses and strengths are so that they can point it out during judging.

I am not saying who, but one contestant's problem is phrasing. It's been consistent from week to week and no judge has tried to correct it. A couple are too nasal, and they're not being called on it. Another one tends to go faster than the beat, another one has a problem with the middle register, another keeps singing high-pitched songs but would be better off with low-pitched songs. They should scrap the group number on performance night. It's silly, the contestants have to deliver their songs and let them focus on that. Plus it would be nice to hear them sing for more than a minute.

The set is still awful, and the lighting really putrid. Since they have a bunch of pretty contestants, they should do a sagala night and let them parade under their magnificent arko (arch) in couture gowns so Wyngard Tracy can have a blast commenting about looks and outfits. I think they got sick of everyone saying that the lighting is bad so they bombarded it with lights. Which, again, is proof that it has nothing to do with being 'third world' or 'colonial' as some of our smarter readers have said. Today's media is global and definitely commercialized. What should potentially make money is given a lot of money, third world or otherwise. To accept mediocrity and to refuse comparing it with successful global franchises speaks of not just an inability to compete but to also accept subjugation just because we don't have the capital. Regine Velasquez's show "Songbird" on GMA has a beautiful set in such a small stage. But it looks and feels bigger than what GMA has done with Pinoy Idol. Why can't they do that for this show? It's absurd, you don't even have to compare the show to American Idol since GMA has had better conceptualized, designed, executed and judged singing contests before that it's just easy to see how horrible this one is turning out to be.

E bakit ka pa nanonood?

You'll never know if the next best thing is there who will overcome a bad production and shitty judging, who will surprise us (like what Mae Flores did last night) and give us something new to sing in the future so that I wouldn't have to listen to Sitti in the mall, in the restaurant, in airport terminals.