American Idol's most famous runner up Clay Aiken is having a baby with music producer Jaymes Foster, a girl who also happens to be Clay Aiken's best friend. But before you gasp, let it be known that Jaymes, 50, became pregnant through artificial insemination. She is due to give birth to Clay Aiken's child in August. Clay Aiken, according to a publicist, has no plans to marry Jaymes Foster.

I am not sure whether I should be surprised with the news or whether I should have known better to anticipate it considering Clay Aiken has gone from geek to dude to K.D. Lang to Orlando Bloom.



Now he's a sperm donor and very soon he will turn father. Jaymes Foster is expecting the baby in August.

Jason Castro came home to Texas as though he won American Idol. The fourth placer is a native of Texas and put on a show to a horde of screaming fans who raised banners that spoke of every love imaginable from "You're # 1" to "Will you marry me?"

It seems Pinoy Idol is incapable of correcting its horrible production values. The ladies’ credible efforts on Top 10 night seemed in vain when you look at how miserably the show’s production has fared. They open the show exposing the fact that they have a small and ill-designed stage and Raymond Guttierez has to walk the ramp from the elevated portion on the left to the mini-stage to the middle like he is Tyra Banks on top of a Lego city. What’s even worse is that they had to let a lot of contestants follow suit even if some of them could have just made to wait in the middle of the stage where the mic stand is so as not to take energy away from their power ballads. Jeni Rawolle’s relatives stole the show. When Jeni performed, they all stood up and stole the show like how Madonna’s back-up singers/dancers would if they stood behind Miley Cyrus. The stage was dwarfed even Jeni who hovered a good couple of feet above them looked small. And the worst thing of all was they were ALL wearing white, and popped out unnecessarily while poor Jeni was garbed in black and disappeared. You NEVER put a row of people all clad in white in an intimate stage like that because even if you dim the lights and try to achieve a more intimate atmosphere, they will pop as they did the entire time. And you NEVER put family members or friends of a contestant near the stage like that because they will cause havoc even without them intending to. And if you have no choice but to put them there, brief them before the show that their every move will be caught on TV.

The worst thing in Pinoy Idol is the judging. If there is anything the show can improve drastically in order to redeem itself is through the judges. Ogie Alcasid remains to be my favorite judge on Pinoy Idol, only because there is no other choice. He sees the specifics that Wyngard Tracy and Jolina Magdangal fail to see. I felt Wyngard Tracy and Jolina Magdangal don’t cut it at all. Jolina is hopeless and Wyngard is just plain atrocious and can get obsessive over the most inconsequential of things. He can see the surface problems but can’t quite put a finger on the fundamentals that he needs to work on with many of these contestants. He criticized a lot of them for being amateurish and for choosing bad outfits but didn’t offer any advice as to how to polish their skills or the aspects of their styling they should change. He criticized Mae for looking and sounding bad even if it wasn’t (well the hot pink outfit was) but Wyngard how exactly do you take care of how you look and how you sound? What does the poor girl have to unlearn to look and sound decent to you? What am I watching again, Project Runway? Can we worry about the styling later on and focus first on their singing? Fortunately or unfortunately, the judges are cut short by the canned Idol music. On the plus side, I don’t get to hear Wyngard gripe about outfits even if there are a horde of other things to talk about—song choices, vocal range, screaming, presence, matching the emotions of a song, understanding the song. On the other hand, they don’t get to say anything substantial as it is, even worse to do all these things to discourage them from speaking their minds out. It’s as if GMA is excited to get to commercials because they feel like their sponsors will be pulling out of the show soon. That or because they are all inept at staging the show, they’re more comfortable showing commercials instead.

I liked Vren Villaflor’s take on “Wind Beneath My Wings”, but I don’t think Vren is maximizing her potential since she is stuck with the need to belt (or bumirit). If someone who knows Vren reads this, please tell her to avoid taking the Whitney/Mariah route and try chanelling the likes of Dianne Reeves and Patti Austin instead. She loses her voice when she forces the vibrato and the melisma. Mae Flores walked the ramp better than Raymond Gutierrez, and to think she was singing “Listen to Your Heart”. Penelope’s “Everything I Do, I Do It For You” was also good although she has to stop with the annoying arm extensions. I’m just glad Wyngard didn’t see her electric teal leggings or he could have raised hell. Or he would have stolen it for himself.

I hope people—particularly those connected to the TV show—would stop making excuses about Pinoy Idol coming from the third world because a lot of the problems aren’t technological or capital-related. It only takes common sense to deal with audiences, or to refrain the camera from swinging from one corner to the next, or to fix a decent schedule and timeslot for the show, or to convince the judges to do their job well. Let the show whip itself in the ass so that they can come out with a better production and not be content with the horrible product they come up with. Pinoy Idol is a far cry from mediocre, it’s regrettable. I’ve seen Indian Idol, Vietnam Idol and even attended tapings for Indonesian Idol, and none of them made excuses for being third world. They recognized their limitations and made the most of it. GMA has more resources for their show, I don’t know why it’s so difficult for them to study the elements of the Idol formula to make something out of it. Nor should the judges put all the weight of decision-making on the audiences. In any democracy, an informed opinion is important, and it’s stupid for the judges or for the show to think they have had no share in shaping the collective opinion (Ibalik si Bev Ejercito!!!). For now, theres nothing much to look forward to but to see if Raymond Guttierez will blush or cry sexual harassment to all of Ogie Alcasid’s verbal advances.

Season 7 American Idol winner David Cook sets a new record most number of debut entries on the US charts. According to Billboard, 11 songs performed by Cook on American Idol debuts on the Billboard Hot 100 while 14 of his tracks appear on the Hot Digital Songs chart. Cook's original song 'The Time of My Life' debuts at Number Three on the Billboard Hot 100 and will be in the Number One spot on the Hot Digital Songs chart with 236,000 downloads.

The previous record was held by Miley Cyrus last Nov. 11, 2006 with six new titles on the list of top 100. David Cook's 11 songs on the chart are the most in a week by any artist in the Nielsen Music era, which began in December 1991 when the chart converted to Nielsen BDS and Nielsen SoundScan data.

Aside from the records mentioned above, he holds the most placements on the list since the Beatles charted 14 songs on the Hot 100 in the week of April 11, 1964. His 14 tracks on Hot Digital Songs also gives David Cook a record for debuts and total songs on that three-year-old chart, besting Hannah Montana's total output of 8 and Bon Jovi's six debuts in the May 19, 2007.

David Cook's debut album for 19 Recordings/RCA is due in the fall.

Josiah Leming, one of the more memorable contestants who auditioned in the last American Idol, signed a deal with Warner Bros. Records last month and hos only gone public with the announcement recently on an interview with MTV. When asked about his American Idol experience, Josiah Leming said curtly: "It's like glorified karaoke. And yeah, I did it and it was great. I love those people there. They were great to me, and it gave me a great kick-start to my career. But the fact is, it's glorified karaoke — they pick people with pretty faces and the pretty voices, and they don't let them write their own songs. They pick these good-looking people with voices, and they have them sing these songs that other people have written. And therefore, it lacks passion, it lacks emotion and it lacks the things that set an artist off from being good to being great. So that's my feeling on it."

The notorious (Pinoy) Idol Mole writes again to leak out song choices for the top 20 of Pinoy Idol. This time the theme is "The Year I Was Born" so contestants will be singing songs from the year they were born! (Ang kulet!) Still not sure as to the intention of these leaks but what the hell, it gives us pause and wonder. Mostly pause, especially with the boys song choices because you can sort of see Jolina Magdangal giving her thumbs up to what could be a disastrous night.

PINOY IDOL TOP 10 BOYS SONG CHOICES WEEK 2
1. Ram Chavez- Boys Don't Cry (The Cure)
2. JJ Jr.- King of Wishful Thinking (Go West)
3. Kid Camaya- Always Something There to Remind Me (Naked Eyes)
4. Sherwin Marquez- The Old Songs (Barry Manilow)
5. Walton Zerrudo- Every Breath You Take (The Police)
6. Robby Navarro- What You Won't Do For Love (Bobby Caldwell)
7. Rye Estrada- Babe (Styx)
8. Daryl Celis- True Colors (Phil Collins)
9. Toffer Rei - I Want to Break Free (Queen)
10. Warren Antig- Open Arms (Journey)

PINOY IDOL TOP 10 GIRLS SONG CHOICES WEEK 2
1. Vren Villaflor- Wind Beneath My Wings (Bette Midler)
2. Sue Ellen- More Than Words (Extreme)
3. Jenny Rawolle- Lean On Me (Bill Withers)
4. Penelope- Everything I do (I do it for you) (Bryan Adams)
5. Mae Flores- Listen to Your Heart (Roxette)
6. Carol Leus- It Must Have Been love (Roxette)
7. Jay Anne Bautista- Kiss (Prince)
8. Regene Ong- With or Without You (U2)
9. Gretchen Espina- The Way You Make Me Feel (Michael Jackson)
10. Meryl David- I Feel For You (Chaka Khan)

In the meantime, I will have a pray-over tonight and tomorrow night before the show starts to ask for wisdom for the Pinoy Idol judges. If you want to join me for the pray overs, just raise your thumbs up to God in the hopes of seeing less thumbs from Jolina Magdangal and more candid and honest impressions of the things she'll be seeing and hearing from the contestants. I will also pray that Wyngard Tracy makes sharper comments about singing, song choices and vocal range rather than appearances. I will also pray for Ogie Alcasid, the most credible judge among the three, so that he may be more consistent.

American Idol winner David Cook appears on Ellen, talks about the win and the direction his life would be taking from here on. He performs "The World I Know" again, and this time he sounds much more relaxed and much much better.

Cool. It has been a while since I liked the winner of American Idol. And he's given me more reason to like him even more. Congratulations, David!

Drizzle Muniz and Bev Ejercito’s elimination from Pinoy Idol managed to raise eyebrows, including mine. The results were disappointing and infuriating. While I don’t feel all too bad about the boys—face it, they could have eliminated 6 boys and it wouldn’t have made a difference—these two girls shouldn’t have been eliminated. They were some of the night’s better performances and Bev Ejercito, in particular, showed a voice that wasn’t just superb but also took on a different direction from the rest of the contestants.

Granted, Bev Ejercito could have polarized or alienated the audience completely by featuring a song and singing style that may have not found its way into popular tastes or into Pinoy Idol’s demographics, but the song and the style in which it was sung shouldn’t be all too alien. The song, originally covered by Patsy Cline and composed by Willy Nelson, was not just revived by Norah Jones but was also sung by Nora Aunor herself. Bev’s take on “Crazy” was a nostalgic throwback to those times of husky vinyl records and when music stars were mythical. While I am not saying that every Noranian should have voted for Bev, such performances and songs go a long way back and deserve better appreciation not just from the public in general but most especially from the judges, so-called industry insiders who should know better and who should know when to incorporate knowledge of musical history into their critiques.

Ever since Tamyra Gray’s elimination in Season 1, American Idol has constantly addressed the conflict of talent vs. popularity, with everyone aghast at how someone that good fell behind the likes of the forgettable but once popular curly-haired mascot Justin Guarini. The point was reiterated the following year, with a Reuben Studdard and Clay Aiken finale, clearly stating that it shouldn’t be a popularity contest but a talent contest. With Pinoy Idol, it is not clear as to where the show stands when it comes to this problem that it will eventually face given the fact that the winner is chosen by the audience, or if they’re even aware of the implications of such a process on the determination of the show’s credibility. What if the show ends up with a really bad winner? It’s one thing to end up with a bad show, but you can’t have a bad winner as well.

So the audience has chosen it, does it mean the show is culpable for the audience’s decision? The audience is always the best excuse. And I am sure Pinoy Idol will be more than willing to do that. I’m still blaming the people behind Pinoy Idol. Not only was it bad from a production standpoint, it was also horrible because it is creating conditions for the show to become a popularity contest. Creating horrible screen names that people text in instead of a number, opting to make personalities more memorable than talent. They can’t even decide on a regular schedule for the show, inserting it in between shows, starting late on Friday for the boys performances and then starting out early on the eliminations on Sunday. Ano ba Pinoy Idol? Bakit n’yo ba kinakatay ang sarili n’yo?

The worst indication of the lack of a talent contest in a democratic voting system like that of Pinoy Idol can be seen in how the judges seemed to have abandoned all reason and expertise in favor of the entire process. The Pinoy Idol judges are good and have a lot to offer, but I don’t know why they are content at being mediocre and plain. They give their thumbs up without explaining what it means, even if they are paid to say something. They should anticipate what the audience is looking for and balance that with what the industry is hoping to achieve, and articulate that for the contestants to so that they can be given a realistic expectation of what will happen in the results show. They make stupid comments about appearances when a lot needs to be said about the fundamentals of singing. They opt not to say anything when their wisdom is badly needed. They rave over contestants who were convincingly bad. They raved basically over everyone. And they created a condition that made it difficult for audiences to neglect popularity in favor of talent. They didn’t give praise when praise was much deserved, nor did they give a whipping when it was needed the most. They were safe with their comments. They didn’t create a critical appreciation to guide the audience, and they didn’t have the balls and the fortitude to gamble on talent and a principle that defines their idea of talent.

I won’t be surprised if Pinoy Idol’s better contestants get eliminated one by one. And if that happens, they should just can the show even before a first winner is announced.

Sorry for the delayed post. I wasn't able to watch the show live because of an out-of-town trip and decided to sleep through the recordings of the girls performances in Pinoy Idol's Top 24 Round and last night's eliminations. So this may come late.

My two bets sang really well. I loved Regene Ong's version of "Fever", a little unpolished with how she worked the stage, but that is something she can learn eventually. That and she isn't afraid to go over the edge. Even if it was a little too costumey, I liked the get-up. Bev Ejercito's version of "Crazy" was to die for, and I feel bummed she got booted off. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Drizzle Muniz made a credible take on "My Immortal", a little unpolished still, but she has the fundamentals and has a good grasp of what she can do vocally. But she got eliminated. (Ano ba?) Sue Cubing is cute, but I am not sure how far she can push that voice of hers because one more note up and she will sound squeaky. I just hope she didn't smile too much because it was a sad song. Vren Villaflor is good too, but I don't know if she's as great as she thinks she is. She might be inclined to sing those dreaded diva songs like what Wyngard Tracy suggested. But I don't think she has a realistic grasp of her range yet. Whoever chose her dress should be hanged. It was too literal: it doesn't mean that just because you'll be doing a cover of an Irene Cara song, that you should be dressed like Irene Cara, in that pivotal audition scene in "Fame" no less. I also liked Penelope's version of "Wild Horses". I liked Jayann Bautista's voice, but a little too over the top still. She has to tame it and realize that subtlety works just as well as going overboard.

All in all, the girls sounded really impressive and promising. There are diamonds to be made out of these women, if only they showcased their talents in a more meticulously produced and not-so amateur-looking show. The girls definitely outsang the boys. The worst in this lot could outsing the best of the boys from the night before. But GMA and Louie Ignacio has got to mold this show if only to give the talent here a better chance at longevity.

What GMA should do:

1. Reconceptualize Raymond Gutierrez's hosting tasks, or at least explain it to him.
2. Let the judges speak, for chrissakes. You pay them a lot, and for what? To raise their thumbs? Let them argue, let them speak their minds out, let them share insights about the industry we don't normally see. It would be nice to see the judges taking risks too.
3. Hold off on its overzealous use of cranes in a small set.
4. Fix the set. Get a designer, if needed. Make sure the stage for the top 12 will be hipper and starker than this one.
5. Brief the live audience especially the ones around the stage. Tell them to pay courtesy to the performances while they perform and warn them that their movements (like picking their noses, standing up for no apparent reason) are caught on camera.
6. Clean up the technical glitches. Too much mic feedback. For a music-oriented contest, the audio is horrible.

I also watch the show from Sky Cable, and I notice that with Pinoy Idol and other potentially high-rating shows on GMA, there are a lot of static and lines and noise on-screen. Bad Sky Cable, bad.

Was it really any surprise David Cook won? The press have been at odds how the anointed one--a.k.a. David Archuleta--could have lost with a margin of 12 Million votes, possibly the wides in American Idol history. In contrast, the closest margin to a finale results show also featured two men--Clay Aiken and Reuben Studdard, where the former lost by only 130,000 votes.

I always believed David Cook will win considering he and Syesha Mercado were the contestants with fans that grew. David Cook wasn't a favorite on the Dial Idol polls early on but his position rose steadily as his good performances increased, and even departed from that of his competitor. David Archuleta had basically the same fans since Day 1, peaked in the competition too early with his rendition of "Imagine", and rode on the waves of a more vocal yet fickle-minded younger audience. In the past, it wasn't the teenagers who dictated the show's results but the 30-44 year old females who figured in installing the likes of Jordin Sparks at the helm of the show's season finales.

Even if I hate to admit it, I've grown up with a bunch of those females. Some of them have migrated to the States, with at least a half-dozen who voted religiously for David Cook, one even on 3 different kinds of communication devices--a mobile phone for texting, a traditional land line and on Gizmo. Her daughter, cheering for Archuleta, was doing a school project. A quick survey of 30-somethings confirm it too: it was hard for me to find someone supportive of David Archuleta in my immediate circle of 30-something friends (of which I am the youngest).

Add to that is the difficulty of pinning down David Archuleta's music. It's pop, but way too old and too serious to be put in the same league with the Jonas Brothers and Miley Cyrus. And it is too standard and traditional to be appreciated by an older audience who grew up with the likes of Michael Bolton and James Ingram. On the other hand, David Cook pinned his audience down. Almost anyone who swears by Rock and Roll loved what he did to 80's pop classics "Hello" and "Billy Jean", demonstrating in the process what his rock would sound like: up-to-date, emotional and fresh.

I've always wondered about David Cook's orange bracelet. At first I thought it was a fashion accessory. Then he wore it week after week and I thought it was a favorite thing, a lucky charm. I just got the story today.

Reporter Charley Belcher interviewed David Cook and mentioned her little girl Lindsey Rose who adores David Cook. Lindsey Rose is also struggling with leukemia. David Cook called Lindsey Rose and, according to Belcher, "He called Lindsey Rose and spoke such encouraging words to her. When I told him about the orange bracelet that I wear...he immediately asked for one. The fact that he followed through with his promise...and wears it on the air...is simply amazing."

Lindsey Rose's favorite color is orange, which is also the official color of childhood leukemia awareness. Belcher made orange wristbands for her daughter. On one side, it has Lindsey Ros's name, and "Do whatcha gotta do!" on on the other.

David Cook's brother, Adam, is suffering from cancer, and was on show once to support his brother.

David Cook exchanges banter with Jay Leno on the Tonight Show. The press gauntlet begins for David Cook, and in between, he will be working on his album. I hope he takes time to take it in and believe that the time of his life has just begun.

God, what an ugly show! And to think I just said I’m going to watch Pinoy Idol no matter what. I seriously want to take it back if only I can do other things with my time. Like watching the home shopping network. Or eating lice. Or committing suicide. Anything, because nothing can ever compare to how pathetic Pinoy Idol is. GMA should pay the show’s audience, and issue public apology letters to Fremantle and all of the contestants who made it and didn’t make it through the Top 24 for wasting everyone’s time.

The stage was horrible. I know GMA has had better sets for staging the likes of ‘Pinoy Pop Superstar’ a few years ago. Even the stage for ‘Ang Bagong Kampeon’, popular decades ago, had more depth than this, and the technology then wasn’t as exacting as what we have today. The proportion of the screen in the background is way too big and way too low especially since it’s less than 3 meters away from the main staging area where contestants deliver their performances. What’s even more annoying are the short dolly/boom movements abused throughout the show. The stunted sweep from left to right or from the back to the front punctuates the fact that the set is really small. Did they even test their camera work on this set of theirs? It’s so disappointing considering Louie Ignacio and GMA has done much better in the past working on limited spaces. SOP started small, but it looked dynamic and deep. This set looked flat, crowded and forced. A pity. I’m sure they plan to change it and make it bigger a la American Idol when they get to the top 12, but now would have been a good time to have a stripped down and intimate set to simulate the feeling of knowing the contestants better.

Host Ryan Gutierrez seems to be in a hurry to get the show over with. He’d throw a scripted question, pause for a second or two to let the contestants answer, and the carry on with his scripting duties without care over the fact that he initiated the conversation himself. He appears ruder, more frigid and insincere now that his interactions with the contestants can no longer be cut up in the editing room. He’s like the idiot board on the show, insisting on what is written down, incapable of adjusting to the situations that pop up, never allowing space for spontaneity.

The judges are also disappointing. I don’t know what they were listening to but a lot of the contestants whom they claimed to have sung well really butchered massacred the songs. They should confront these contestants and tell them to shape up because there probably more deserving contestants out there who didn’t make it through. They have to prove their worth. I particularly enjoyed watching the audience reaction to the singing. One woman seated in front kept wriggling in her seat and the camera would more than once capture a spectator in the middle of a performance standing not to applaud the contestant singing but to stretch the back or fix his jacket. Also telling are the faces of the girl finalists watching from the right side. I’m sure they didn’t enjoy it much but they were probably relieved that they didn’t have much competition. A lot of them were caught squinting at the missed high notes and the other rough spots of a performance. However, the judges were kind. Too kind, that it seemed a disservice to the contestant’s growth and more of a coddling of egos that didn’t back it up with talent.

They announced that these contestants received training from professionals prior to the start of the formal elimination process, but somehow the training was more an over-zealous crash course on showbusiness rather than music. The contestants appeared more comfortable playing to the cameras but a lot of them sucked at singing. They moved way too much, and for a small stage, they looked like they were on uppers. They kept moving left to right, their arms were everywhere, their eyes were closed way too much or their eyes were way too conscious to look for the camera. They should also de-polish the contestants and make them unlearn all those nasty styling habits of theirs. From wearing ugly contact lenses that distract from the song and the performance to those unkempt oily hair that make them look like they have bad hygiene.

The judges and other professionals training these contestants should first teach them to sing standing up, find their comfort zone from there and make them work on the movements later on. Many of them didn’t seem to understand the emotions of the song they were interpreting—smiling at an angry song, squinting way too much when the song needed them to be happy. I felt the rockstars were too much of poseurs who didn’t carry the angst of a rock song. They weren’t believable. Maangas but not necessarily of substance, which is the tragedy of clichéd rockers. It’s not just rebelliousness of headbangers (unshaved or not) sporting tattoos, piercings and unconventional clothing. Rock is also introspective, reflexive and probing of a lot of discomforts and ideas we collectively suppress. On the other hand, the balladeers were way out of their league. They made safe renditions of songs, and failed to pin down the fundamentals: pitch, rhythm and melody. Even lyrics. Some were nasal, some were bland.

And the judges let them get away with carnage.

The worst sin of them all: they made some contestants be evaluated just by one judge. Which misses the point of the show entirely. Democratizing the voting process means celebrating difference, ideas and opinions included, and they needed to display a range of ideas and opinions that will approximate what the audiences think.

And when all is said and done… the worst thing Pinoy Idol can do: Using names for texting instead of numbers. Anyone can text the name of their favorite without watching the show. It was an issue in American Idol, the whole contest turning into a popularity contest. And instead of creating a safeguard against the pitfalls of a popularity contest, they go on dismissing it replacing it with a system that can even potentially lower their ratings.

The worst comment by a judge: Jolina Magdangal’s thumb-up. While it may signify a half-felt approval or just plain stupidity, anyone who can raise a thumb can render Jolina useless.

The smartest thing a judge said: Ogie Alcasid calling attention to a contestant swinging his mic back and forth. But that doesn’t necessarily mean his judging was spot on.

The best (or most bearable) for the night: Walton Zerrudo, Toffer Rei and Robbie Navarro. They still have a long way to go, and they should hold the judges’ comments suspect if they really want to maximize their potential.

GMA has made fine artists out of people from their singing contests. And a lot of these contestants seem to have it in them. Unfortunately, it isn’t being developed. And the show is appearing to be plain profanity. What are they doing to these kids?

I had a wonderful time covering American Idol, and that experience was made even better by an exciting finale with two worthy winners capped by a results show with my bet David Cook winning. Honestly though, nothing has made me happier than to have had the pleasure to rant and rave like a lunatic in search of a futile dream, and I have my loyal readers to thank who have been so kind to notice the hard work in the past months.

Tonight we begin our odyssey with Pinoy Idol. As some of you know and have suggested, I was debating whether or not I shift this blog to Filipino. After much thought, I thought there are other blogs and message boards out there who provide a forum for this cause. I've decided not to do that with the simple goal as to provide the much needed discourse in providing presence to our own local idols in a global arena where not a lot is written about being Filipino.

Pinoy Idol is as aspirational as it gets, and represents that mythic longing about fame and talent that has long been ingrained in our culture. That's why even if it is extolling a lot of patience on my part with a half-baked and ill-conceived production, we are patiently rooting for the better contestants to shine despite the lack of technical, critical and creative capacity of the people at the show's helm. Rest assured that we will be here for the rightful Pinoy Idols.

Thanks again for all the support.

I loved the guitar rifts on this number. Great.

You have got to love this. I thought Michael Johns was superb here. I can't wait for his album to come out. I hope he'll be allowed to put "It's All Wrong But It's Alright" in there.

The Pips are, of course, Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey, Jr. This is one of the coolest things on American Idol this season.

Yes it is the time of David Cook's life. One of the better American Idol finales since Season 4. It was well deserved.

Random thoughts: The show opens with the So You Think You Can Dance Dancers upstaging the American Idols.

Syesha Mercado and Seal!!! On paper that could have been good. But what were they singing? Jason sings "Hallelujah" again.

The Top 6 girls sing with Donna Summer and they aren't really a strong bunch, with the exception of Carly Smithson. Michael Johns and Carly Smithson sang "The Letter" and it was something short of superb. The Top 6 Boys Performance was cute. It was nice to see Michael Johns and Chikezie Eze sing "Summer of 69". They were good in a more relaxed and non-competitive environment. Chikezie may have been eliminated way too early. In contrast, the two Davids went down the stairs tense and stiff. David Archueleta wants it, you know he does. David Cook seems to be waking up to the reality just now, as though he was asking: "What if I win?"

The American Idol Experience in Walt Disney, Florida? American Idol is the new Microsoft of entertainment. Money whore. But was it a good idea to sell it through Jordin Sparks? What was that gold dress she was wearing? And what was that lame song she sung?

Renaldo Lapuz sings with a marching band. It was funny in the auditions now it's just outright silly and no one was clapping. They should have made him sing the national anthem. Now that would have been a statement.

Can we have the results now?

Oooh! Lovely. Gladys Knights and Jack Black, Ben Stiller and Robert Downey, Jr. as the "Pips"!!! I love this!!!

And they're singing George Michael!!! Ooh I hope George Michael comes out (well he already did, but you know what I mean)... and he does. Yehey! And that would have been a great theme for the show.

Now the results:

David Cook Wins American Idol!!!

A beaver sent me this a few days ago. It's supposed to be the Pinoy Idol's top 24 song choices. While it isn't sure yet, it does make for good speculation as to whether or not the contestants can hack it. Which is quite difficult to do considering the show hasn't really given us that much to gauge where the top 24 is vocally since Pinoy Idol focused on a lot of inferred narratives that didn't really amount to anything but an approximation of a direction Louie Ignacio has yet to make for his entire crew. The beaver claims to be directly involved with the show. I think it's a stage parent. Possibly Sue Cubing's, an overbearing stage mom who can put Jeff Archuleta, Joan Benet Ramsey's folks AND Annabelle Rama to shame (It's a joke, ok... I think your daughter is good). It can also be someone from the family-oriented station (despite the presence of Willy Revillame making a pass at the dancers--and that's no joke). I also think this is GMA's way of compensating for the lack of a website, that they're going to contact everyone interested in Pinoy Idol to help generate an online buzz that you don't see online. I also think it's from someone who thinks I'm bad and is feeding me the wrong info. I also think it might be someone from the production who's underpaid, as almost everyone behind the camera (except for one or two folks in the tech booth) is. I also think it's just plain fun to think of the possibilities and that not a lot of these songs are avoiding the pitfalls of the redundant songstress-wannabes. I also think ABC 5 should revive 'Ang Bagong Kampeon' or 'Tawag ng Tanghalan' to get even with GMA, and I also think that McDonald's should bring back their twister fries. Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself. So before you guys copy content from here and spread the inanity that hasn't become Pinoy Idol yet, remember to heed the fact that it's unconfirmed. Anyway, the list--with annotations as to who the original artist is--goes:

1. Bev Ejercito- Crazy (Norah Jones)
2. Meryl David- You Mean The World To Me (Toni Braxton)
3. Gretchen Espina- Neither One Of Us (Lani Misalucha) --> really?
4. Carol Anne Leus- I Believe In You and Me (Whitney Houston)
5. Penelope- Wild Horses (Natasha Bedingfield)
6. Jennifer Rawolle- For Once In My Life (Vonda Shephard) -->this song is much much older than Vonda
7. Regene Ong- Fever (Elvis Presley)
8. Mae Flores- Love Will Show You Everything (Jennifer Love Hewitt)
9. Sue Ellen Cubing- Love Thang (Michelle Williams) --> parang Cece Peniston
10. Vren Villaflor- Fame (Irene Cara)
11. Drizzle Muniz- My Immortal (Evanescence)
12. Jayann Bautista- Secret (Heart)

1. Dio Paolo- Angels Brought Me Here (Guy Sebastian)
2. JJ Jr.- You To Me Are Everything (The Real Thing)
3. Warren Antig- Ulitin (P.O.T.)
4. Daryl Celis- Still With You (Eric Benet)
5. Toffer Rei- Stigmatized (The Calling)
6. Elliot Andal- Sana Ay Ikaw Na Nga (Basil Valdez)
7. Sherwin Marquez- How Do You Heal A Broken Heart (Chris Walker)
8. Rye Estrada- Your Love (Alamid)
9. Ram Chaves III- My Hero (Foo Fighters)
10. Robby Navarro- Whenever, Wherever, Whatever (Maxwell)
11. Walton Zerrudo- She's Out Of My Life (Josh Groban) --> again, Josh Groban just made a cover
12. Kid Camaya- A Song For You (Elliott Yamin) --> Donny Hathaway nga, panay na nga ang tribute ni Elliott Yamin sa kanya

The beaver is right, a lot of these songs raised not just an eyebrow but also a neck muscle. A strained neck muscle at that. Song choices are key, and IF these are really this week's song choices in Pinoy Idol, expect a lot of clanging cymbals. I'm flying to the moon this weekend. Will try to blog the show on Friday, but definitely not on Saturday. Hopefully I'll be back in time on Sunday to see the results of Pinoy Idol and blog about it.

In the meantime, please pray for David Cook's inevitable win. And that he visits the Philippines. And that he sings a duet with Ramiele Malubay. And we'll have TV hosts to force him to say how much he loves the Philippines despite making him pass through the beautiful and well-maintained NAIA 1. And expect him to know how to answer 'Kumusta Ka?'

Who will win the Seventh Season of American Idol? Between David Archuleta and David Cook, I am rooting for David Cook. And this is going to be happy news for everyone who likes him to win.

Oh this is a good one. Dial Idol predicts it to go David Cook's way. And Dial Idol has never been wrong before. Let's hope they're not wrong again so that David Cook can win American Idol. I'm so excited for tomorrow night's results.

Somehow I felt this song coming.

David Cook risks it all here. As though he was singing: "This is who I am and this is the kind of song you'll be hearing."

The songs suck. I pity these American Idol contestants. And whoever wins, will be singing a lame song.

It's a really really really lame song. And the sad thing about it is that it's not even the contestant's choice.

David Cook sings this song well. In the same league with Elton John and George Michael.

How can you not want this gut to win? American Idol needs a rockstar.

(Click the link to go to YouShare, and from there click to listen or download.)

FIRST ROUND

David Cook: "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For". A great opening for the show. Finally someone who has the grit to sing U2, and befittingly so. All the judges loved it.

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David Archuleta: "Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me". This song is so David Archuleta in every way and he did well. Simon just gave Round 1 to Archuleta. Damn.

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SECOND ROUND AKA LAME SONG ROUND

David Cook: "Dream Big". Where do they get these songs? I know they made an amateur song writing contest for American Idol. But it was such an ugly song. If they were really serious about their contestant's career, maybe American Idol should consider paying a really talented professional to write a song instead.

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David Archuleta: "In This Moment". Every year, they judges have criticized the finale song. And with good reason. They're cliche, lame, insipid and they were written and composed without the contestant in mind.

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ROUND THREE

David Cook: "The World I Know". The artist singing the song about the world as he knows it. It was a very subdued and emotional choice for David Cook. I liked it. Simon was right that it wasn't right for a contest since he didn't go all out with guns banging on this one. But I do appreciate the honesty in this song choice and the sense of wonder David Cook has displayed through this song.

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David Archuleta: "Imagine". Formula song for David Archuleta. Formula. The opposite of David Cook. If David Cook took a risk with something honest and reflective of his music, David Archuleta went out with something he knew he can deliver but it doesn't say anything about his musicality at all.

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10. Blake Lewis: "You Give Love A Bad Name". Admittedly, the weirdest song on Idol to beat-box but it worked. And it made Blake Lewis a contender in Season Six.


9. David Cook: "Billy Jean". We could also put David Cook's rendition of "Hello" and "Baba O'Reilly" here, but it was the definitve change of this Michael Jackson classic solidified David Cook's popularity and made him one of the front runners in Season Seven.


8. Katherine McPhee: "Somewhere Over the Rainbow". Call this Simon Cowell's gift to Kat McPhee. Her next best song on this Fifth Season was "Black Horse and Cherry Tree", and it was nowhere near this.


7. Clay Aiken: "Bridge Over Troubled Waters". I was thinking of putting up "Buttercup" here, but then again Clay solidified his worth as a singer with this one on Season 2.


6. Lakisha Jones: "And I Am Telling You". This performance earned Lakisha Jones a standing ovation on American Idol's opening night that introduced the Top 24. This was hard to top, and could also have been her downfall on Season 6.


5. Melinda Doolittle: "My Funny Valentine". Lakisha's only competition that season was Melinda Doolittle. Melinda lends believable emotions to any song she sings. Another proof is her rendition of "Home". Unfortunately, Lakisha and Melinda were eliminated 3rd and 4th respectively on Season 6.


4. Tamyra Gray: "A House Is Not A Home". Everyone felt Tamyra Gray was robbed off American Idol's first championship crown. She delivered divalicious performances each week. This was the culmination of it all.


3. Elliott Yamin: "A Song For You". Hard to choose between Elliott's breakout song "Moody's Mood for Love", the Elvis classic "If I Can Dream" or this, but Elliott was the ultimate underdog who made it through top 3 of Season 5 by virtue of really great vocals. Elliott remains to be the "best male singer" in the history of the competition.


2. Bo Bice: "In A Dream". No one before and after Bo Bice's rendition of "In A Dream" in Season Four dared to go a capella. For someone who brought the rock to American Idol, this was gutsy, this was bold, this was great. He brought it until he was made to sing Carrie Underwood-tailored songs in the finale.


1. Fantasia Barrino: "Summertime". The drama, the vocal prowess, the restraint. Fantasia Barrino's take on "Summertime" is as refreshing as any American Idol should be: original, confident and takes you to that moment that can make your heart drop if only to make you enjoy being alive.

On a pre-taped segment after the announcement of the Final Two last week, David Archuleta won the coin toss deciding the order of the contestants appearing on the American Idol finale. It's a no-brainer. Everyone knew that whoever came in last stands a bigger chance of winning. David Archuleta, of course, chose to sing second.

However, the American Idol coin toss was not to escape controversy. According to MTV, while David Archuleta was mulling over his choices, a loud Jeff Archuleta (David Archuleta's 'overbearing' stage dad) kept shouting in the background. According to MTV, "Jeff's cupped-mouth wails from the crowd of 'Second! Second!' (seemed) all the more ridiculous. No matter how hard the 'Idol' producers try, they won't get this guy out of his son's ear."

Despite the 10% drop in ratings for American Idol, it remains to be a formidable franchise, attracting not just major sponsorship deals from Ford, AT&T, Coca-Cola and now iTunes, but also selling itself through numerous franchises the world over, including our very own Pinoy Idol owned by GMA 7. As if licensing the brand isn't enough, the franchise also collects license fees from Fox who airs the show in the US and the world, signs recording deals with the winner, the runner-up and any other top-50 contestant it wants (as they get first option to sign the contestants who make it to the top 50), manages their careers, has a guaranteed publicity machinery to launch albums and re-launch careers of artists like Neil Diamond, and handles the annual summer concert tour.

While we really don't have to enumerate everything that makes money for American Idol--since it is quite obvious that it does make a lot--it would be nice to take note of both the nice and lame things that made American Idol this season.

For one, there is no Sanjaya Malakar, Kevin Covais or Constantine Maroulis this year. Granted Ramiele Malubay, Kristy Lee Cook, Jason Castro and Brooke White have stuck on far longer than they should on the show, they were all credible performers who can carry a tune but weren't polished enough to give America the performances it demands. Amanda Overmyer's platinum streaks and Jason Castro's dreadlocks were the closest thing to a living faux-hawk, and I am not exactly sure whether the lack of a mascot has done the show good. I wasn't exactly enamored by David Archuleta's cute goofiness but it was a refreshing reprieve from every 17-year old trying to act cool on television.

It was also good for the show to have allowed the contestants to play musical instruments. I wonder what stellar performances the show could have lost in the past if it allowed the likes of Bo Bice to fiddle a guitar. This year's best performances were made with a lot of contestants playing the instruments themselves--from David Cook on guitar to Brooke White on piano to Jason Castro on a ukulele. It didn't only show the contestant's ability to play, it also showed their musicality. They exposed their creativity on the show not just by showing how they can change a song to make it work for them, but it also showed how they would be making creative choices as an artist, and hinted at the possibility that they may not be choosing lame songs like their predecessors who failed. Of all the contestants, David Cook has showed us that he won't be just a singer or performer, he will also have a good head above his shoulders to make good music offstage.

I'm torn between this year's themes. I felt the themes came in too early when they forced the Top 24, 20 and 16 to sing from the 60s, 70s and 80s respectively. It felt like the contestants weren't given a chance to put their best foot forward and to expose themselves through songs that they were most comfortable singing. I hated the Lennon/McCartney songbook, even hated it more when the contestants had to do the Beatles the week after that. It was a massacre of some of the world's most beloved songs. I didn't like the Neil Diamond night as well, and felt that the songs were simply to odd and that the performances were forced. On the other hand, the Dolly Parton week turned out to be a pleasant surprise. I thought that was the best week with Michael Johns' interpretation of "It's All Wrong But It's All Right" (my pick for the sexiest song in American Idol history) and Carly Smithson's "Here You Come Again" along with the other more popular contestants. Andrew Lloyd Weber was also a surprise and exposed a lot of versatility in the contestants. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame night was also a great night with Syesha Mercado's heart-wrenching cover of "A Change Is Gonna Come", David Cook doing a magnificent job on "Baba O'Reilly" and David Archuleta proving he can rock it with "Stand By Me" and "Love Me Tender".

What didn't I like?

The judges seem to be stammering too much. Randy Jackson was way off this season, and Paula Abdul could have gotten away for not being too much of a mess if not for the ghost critique of a performance Jason Castro has yet to do. I was also hoping the judges to articulate some of the issues that the show tried to ignore with a significant number of their contestants working professionally in the past through major record deals or being granted the opportunity to work in a professional capacity in the industry having figured prominently in other reality TV contests in the past. Paula Abdul dismissed it once saying the contestants need to do what they can in the path to being discovered. Granted, but it still doesn't even out the playing field for other contestants who don't have the benefits of those experiences. While a lot of people have advocated for a change in the judging panel, I find it hard to watch the show without these judges.

The part that I hated the most this season was the expanded results show. It wasn't just torturous to the contestants, it was also bad for viewers who had to sit through an hour filled with lame question and answer portions, poorly choreographed group performances and guests who are given longer time than necessary to promote their projects.

Was it a good season for American Idol? In some ways. The news set was good, bigger. Was it the best? Not exactly. It was in poor taste for the show to advertise these season's contestants as collectively the best they ever had, a couple stood out. Compared to the last five contestants left standing in the Fifth Season (and mind you, Bucky Covington, Mandisa and Kellie Pickler failed to make top 5) when contestants weren't allowed to play instruments and didn't have as stellar themes as this season, this bunch was not as good as the show advertised. Just the same, it ended with the best two contestants they have and that can very well make up for the mishaps of a could-have-been-better season.

What did you like or hate about the season? Leave us your thoughts.

On a write-up appearing on the Inquirer, Pinoy Idol finalist Beverly Ellen Ejercito (whose name got shortened by the show to Bev Ejercito) described herself to have hair as big as her voice. Sounds familiar? That's almost the same confident response Season 3 American Idol winner Fantasia Barrino said to describe her voice when she was first asked why she was going to win American Idol during the auditions, only Fantasia made use of her mouth to make the simile.

Bev Ejercito brims with a quiet confidence, which is endearing given that her confidence isn't misplaced especially in a show like Pinoy Idol. What I like about her is that you can feel she's comfortable looking different and maybe even more comfortable sounding different. For one she doesn't pose like a diva--that errant yet enormously powerful maven of Philippine music that has solidified the likes of Regine Velasquez in the public imagination, with every local singing contest winner hoping to be just like her. And unlike the popular diva, what I like more about Bev Ejercito is she taps into the more subdued and genteel aspects of her voice to deliver more soulful renditions of a song.

Soulful as opposed to powerful. Birit or belting while making runs around a note have been the staple musical style defining Filipino music and you can see it in a lot of contestants. While the power is definitely there in Bev Ejercito's voice, it's just not being highlighted. Which could either work to her disadvantage or against it. It works because in a sea of diva-wannabes, she brings something different. A more tasteful and refined version of--for lack of a better local example--Sitti, perhaps, but definitely something our ears may not be used to before. There's the possibility to bring in the textures of jazz and r&b to a somewhat drab caucophony of screaming and wailing contestants trying to outflex each other's vocal chords in their quest to become Pinoy Idol. On the other hand, it should also be asked whether or not the local audience is ready for someone departing from your typical mold.

In any case, Bev Ejercito provides possibility not just for Pinoy Idol but also for the direction local music could take. Hopefully she takes the contest seriously, as Ogie Alcasid mentioned during the course of the auditions, because she isn't just pursuing her dream now but also representing the hopes of others who identify themselves with her.

Ok, someone asked me to post this here. If you are a David Cook fan, please re-post this on your blog or website, or email it to your friends and loved ones whom you know will support David Cook (it is basically useless if the information finds its way to the other camp). Set-up all the necessary gadgets you need even before the show starts so that you can enjoy an uninterrupted voting spree.
If you can't read the fine print:

1. DO NOT believe for a second that DC doesn't want to win or shouldn't win. Win or lose he is in the hands of 19E who manages Daughtry and we all know how that turned out for him and his band. One of the reasons we need to vote is because the winner receives a ton of promotion.
   
2. Make sure you voting device (phone for example) is charged.
3. Make sure you are rested and and wide awake. Idol voting is serious business.
4. Don't split votes.
5. Use 2 phones if possible.
6. DO NOT waste any time. This includes going online. This is the finale we're talking about and you can't get distracted for a moment.
7. Don't listen to the whole recorded message when your vote goes through. Hang up and vote again as soon as the message begins to play.
8. If you have texting then USE IT. Those are guaranteed votes without the hassle of busy signals. If you have a friend or family member with text messaging then ask to borrow their phone even for just a little while.
9. Get a Go Phone if you'd like: http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-phone-service/go-phones/
10. Use Gizmo and vote for all the timezones: http://gizmo5.com/pc/download/
11. Use DiaIdol to vote: http://www.dialidol.com/asp/download/Download.asp

It would be nice to find out a bit more about the Top 24 finalists who made it to Pinoy Idol but I can't do it all, so let me focus my energy on those contestants whom I like, or am liking so far. I know a lot of people feel bad if they don't see their favorites here, so just email me at idolphilippines@gmail.com and include all the info you want me to post here to give your favorites a fair chance. For now, let me focus attention on Regene Ong, who was the first contestant to be called in and to have received word that she is in the Top 24.

Regene Ong is a funky girl who has her own sense of music and doesn't seem willing to compromise. And that's a good thing, considering a lot of musical artists in the country sold out--from settling with song revivals and biting in to the frenzy of having to look like a diva (including the men)--she shows a strong sense of self and confidence in her musicality. I loved it when she stood her ground against Angeli Mae Flores during one of the Pinoy Idol auditions (who also made it to the Top 24 as Mae Flores), the latter belting out a song while Regene Ong stuck to her roots, making sure that her sultry jazzy voice was heard.

Regene Ong's sense of self also can be seen in her sense of fashion. As with her music, her sense of subdued gothic cum Japanese Kogal clothes is quite unique and works well for her. Consider this sailor get-up of hers in goth red and black:

Hopefully, Regene Ong will do well in Pinoy Idol and give us something original and unique to look forward to.


Regene Ong's first Friendster account.

Regene Ong's second Friendster account.

And thanks, Regene, for providing us with your (My)Space music link.

For those of us who want to reminisce, we're compiling videos of David Cook's significant appearances on American Idol. His body of work is proof enough that he deserves to win American Idol more than anyone else this season.

1. David Cook auditions in Omaha, Nebraska


2. David Cook singing Bryan Adams' "Everything I Do, I Do It For You" during the Hollywood auditions


3. David Cook singing The Turtles' "Happy Together" on American Idol's 60's night (Top 24)


4. David Cook sings Free's "All Right Now" for American Idol's 70's night (Top 20).


5. David Cook sings Lionel Richie's "Hello" for American Idol's 80's night (Top 16). This is where he begins getting noticed as one of the contest's front runners.


6. David Cook sings "Eleanor Rigby" by The Beatles for the Top 12 Lennon/McCartney night. I thought this was brilliant.


7. David Cook sings The Beatles again, "Day Tripper" this time for Beatles night (Top 11).


8. On 'Year They Were Born' night (top 10), David Cook sings Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" and makes his presence felt. From then on, he has become a top favorite on the show.


9. For Dolly Parton night (top 9), David Cook sings "Little Sparrow".


10. David's Inspirational Song for the top 8 is Our Lady Peace's "Innocent".


11. David Cook sings Mariah Carey's "Always Be My Baby" on Mariah Carey night (top 7). Ironically, he was the best performer on a night that was meant to give the girls a diva edge.


12. For Andrew Lloyd Webber night (top 6), David Cook sing "The Music of the Night" from The Phantom of the Opera.


13. David Cook first sings "I'm Alive" on Neil Diamond night (top 5).


14. David Cook then sings "All I Really Need Is You" again for Neil Diamond night (top 5).


15. On the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame night (top 4), David Cook sings "Hungry Like the Wolf" by Duran Duran. Arguably, his worst performance for the season. It was still one of the best for the first round that night.


16. He then sings The Who classic "Baba O'Riley" still for Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Night (top 4), and does this song really well. Personally, I like this song a lot, and it is nice to hear it given a more contemporary sound by David Cook, and possibly a younger audience.


17. For the top 3, he first sings Simon Cowell's choice "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" by Roberta Flack. It was a good song choice for David as it showed that not only can he do ballads, but he can rock them and maintain a certain sense of emotion associated with it.


18. He proceeds on the top 3 performance night with his own selection, Switchfoot's "Dare You to Move".


19. He finishes top 3 night with the producer's choice "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" by Aerosmith.

Forgive me Pinoy Idol fanatics, I am going to rant. Call me bad, but I'd rather be called bad than to stand up for stupidity... Tonight’s episode of Pinoy Idol was really appalling. The first segment started out strange: they showed bits of auditions that were neither here nor there—that were hard to call if the contestants were in or out—and left us all guessing whether or not the snips of auditions we are seeing was good enough for the judges or not. What could they have done instead? They could have set out a standard: a really bad example and a really good one, and the judges’ assessment of it. It may not necessarily be the best and the worst performances, but a yardstick to gauge where everyone else is. So when they delivered the news to the eliminated contestants in the second segment, it was hard to develop any sympathy for those who were eliminated because it was difficult to position their talent in relation to the ones who remained. Worse, until now, the show has yet to develop its contestants’ backgrounds. It’s bad enough that they haven’t shown strong pieces that can be associated with the Pinoy Idol contestants, even worse not to be able to dramatize their humanity in coherent and easily constructible vignettes. Instead of knowing who the bartender is, or the nurse, or the girl whose father died on her way to the auditions, we know things from the vista of tsismis, of gossip that potentially puts the contestants in bad light: the pregnant, the boy who delayed production, the girl who abandoned her partner.

So when the drama of selecting the top 24 from the top 30 was done, the first two segments prior to it felt redundant and useless. Who did they send out? Why not choose the 24 outright and let 6 kids suffer through a prolonged torment of having to hope? And why change their names? While we know that carrying stage names is necessary in the business, can’t that evolve in time? What’s wrong with calling someone Joselindo Pimpino, Jr.? And how is it worse than JJ Jr.? Surely a media outfit such as GMA 7 recognizes the colonial discourse behind the aesthetics of a name, and that having last names such as Pimpino, Maghari, Bayangan, Matanguihan and Tragico—all of which have been censured by the show—are not necessarily problematic even from a marketing perspective. After all, this is Pinoy Idol, and what better way to come to terms with the identity of the Filipino than to embrace the Filipino-ness or the Pinoy-ness of our names rather than Westernize them into half-baked, trying-hard names that don’t seem real and approachable, that don’t speak of parents who should be proud of their kin bearing their names on stage. The new names are replete of attempts at class cleansing, perpetuating further our disavowal towards being called Pimpino, Maghari, Bayangan, Matanguihan and, ironically, Tragico. Heck, Jolina Magdangal survived with her name and so did Ogie Alcasid, why sanitize these contestants' names?

Another ‘tragedy’ in the show is Raymond Guttierez. The boy simply cannot relate to the contestants. The judges were more sympathetic to the contestants, and technically—if Raymond knows their place in the show as judges—that isn’t their job. He asks an eliminated contestant: “Ano na balak mo ngayon?” (What do you plan to do now?) How do you answer that question when the reality has just stung you? The guy can’t even offer a hug, and hovers above the contestants—literally and figuratively—like the omniscient owner of the point of view of the whole show: frigid and clueless.

Ogie Alcasid proves he is a good judge, offering the best advise and the best critique, calling the most reasonable comments for the contestants. He obliged Melanie Sison, who didn't make the Top 30, to do something in the intervals, when there is no word to be sung and not to just stand there. He also called attention to Beverly Ejercito's seriousness after an audition piece where she forgot the lyrics. Simple advise no one is keen enough to notice. On the negative side, I don't know if these decisions to allow contestants to progress despite forgetting lyrics and delaying production have any effects on the professionalism the show will yield in the future. The judges are either kind to have done these contestants such huge favors or desperate because they can't find talents to take their place. One thing I found weird was Wyngard Tracy emphasizing the need for Carol Anne Leus to lose weight. She looked perfectly fine on TV and I don't know why the likes of the more plus-sized Regene Ong--excellent singer--didn't get the same critique. I don't understand why the judges have to make the critique about packaging themselves this early considering the contestants will be appearing on TV and will be retouched and made-over by professionals whether they like to or not. It's also an alarming category. They complimented Jim Joseph Lacson who has the potential to lead a band, but turned him down eventually because he doesn't look polished enough. What's a band's lead vocalists appearance have to do with it anyway? Have you seen Chito Miranda? Or Ely Buendia when the Eraserheads started?

When you go through the weirdos and outcasts who have prospered in different Idol contests the world over, they all came from a demographic whose appearances never quite fell into place in the status quo--Guy Sebastian was not your typical blond and blue-eyed Australian, Fantasia celebrated her difference, Clay Aiken was a geek, Kelly Clarkson was a social outcast. What the show seems to undermine in all these is trusting its audience. There is an intelligent Filipino audience, whether they believe it or not. They don't need fancy names like JJ Jr. or for people to look like they shop at Jolina's Fashion Gallery to know what good music is. Rock has prospered in the country despite appearances, and so should pop music.

Anyway, the complete list of Top 24 contestants for Pinoy Idol:

1. Regene Ong
2. (Angeli) Mae Flores
3. Jayann Bautista
4. Dio Paolo (Paolo Dio Maghari)
5. JJ Jr. (Joselindo Pimpino Jr.)
6. Robbie Navarro
7. Bev(erly) Ejercito
8. Elliot (Eleuterio) Andal
9. Meryl David
10. Warren Antig
11. Sue Ellen Cubing
12. Rye (Ryan) Estrada
13. Drizzle Muniz
14. Ram(on) Chaves III
15. Vren(ylin) Villaflor
16. Daryl (Daryl Jett) Celis
17. Gretchen Espina
18. Jennifer Rawolle
19. Sherwin (Bayangan) Marquez
20. Walton Zerrudo
21. Kid (Elizalde) Camaya
22. Carol Anne Leus
23. Penelope (Matanguihan)
24. Toffer Rei (Kristoffer Rei Tragico)

1. Regene Ong
2. (Angeli) Mae Flores
3. Jayann Bautista
4. Dio Paolo (Paolo Dio Maghari)
5. JJ Jr. (Joselindo Pimpino Jr.)
6. Robbie Navarro
7. Bev(erly) Ejercito
8. Elliot (Eleuterio) Andal
9. Meryl David
10. Warren Antig
11. Sue Ellen Cubing
12. Rye (Ryan) Estrada
13. Drizzle Muniz
14. Ram(on) Chaves III
15. Vren(ylin) Villaflor
16. Daryl (Daryl Jett) Celis
17. Gretchen Espina
18. Jennifer Rawolle
19. Sherwin (Bayangan) Marquez
20. Walton Zerrudo
21. Kid (Elizalde) Camaya
22. Carol Anne Leus
23. Penelope (Matanguihan)
24. Toffer Rei (Kristoffer Rei Tragico)

Fantasia Barrino sang "Bore Me" on American Idol, a bold move as she tries to stage her transition from the musical "The Color Purple" and into her sophomore album. While her debut album was moderately successful and her stint on the musical was nothing but phenomenal, this song is a brave move as she prepares to mount her second collection. It's a manic song, and given American Idol's reach, she could have just polarized her audience as "Bore Me", admittedly, is a tough song to appreciate.

The lyrics of "Bore Me" goes:

You come creepin in six in the mornin
Like ain't nobody supposed to know (know)
Say you been workin
But get in bed smellin just like a fresh bar of soap (soap)
Ask you about it just turn your back and get mad and then fall asleep (sleep)
Got a lot on your mind and an argument is the last thing you need

Baby you trippin, it don't get that way
This ain't no movie...or a tyler perry play
If you really wanted to mess around that's all you had to say
It aint gonna be itty bitty silly me so don't waste your energy
Expect me to listen when all i keep hearin is you spittin nothin but game (game)
Expect me to stay when all you can say is one day everything will change
don't wanna leave wanna believe that you won't do me wrong
but you're startin to bore me bore me bore me

I ain't yellin i'm tellin you nothin bout how i heard you gettin down
In the theater with sista girl over on the other side of town
Sin't got no pictures but yall might as well been walkin right into me
Ain't no way in the hell imma let it right but you do it to me

Baby you trippin, it don't get that way
this ain't no movie...or a tyler perry play
if you really wanted to mess around that's all you had to say
It aint gonna be itty bitty silly me so don't waste your energy
Expect me to listen when all i keep hearin is you spittin nothin but game (game)
Expect me to stay when all you can say is one day everything will change
Don't wanna leave wanna believe that you gonna do me wrong
but you're startin to bore me bore me bore me

I'm tellin you that i refuse to let it go down like this
babygirl you musta bumped your head
Every time you go assuming you know you go make a fool out of you
Got them other girls out of my world and you're the only one
Tryna make it clear, hope you feel me my dear

(How you gonna expect me)expect me to listen when all you keep spittin nothin but game (game)
Expect me to stay when all you can say is one day everything will change (Where you been all night? Coming home in the light)
Don't wanna leave wanna believe that you gonna do me wrong
But you're startin to bore me bore me bore me

Expect me to listen when all i keep hearin is you spittin nothin but game (game)
Expect me to stay when all you can say is one day everything will change
Don't wanna leave wanna believe that you gonna do me wrong
But you're startin to bore me bore me bore me

It's hard to imagine that the song has that much lyrics given how manic Fantasia's performance was. But I loved it, for one it pushes R&B to another dimension: an up-tempo song requiring a lot of range and a lot of sass that not a lot of people can do. It can very well be the next angry anthem, only it's in R&B and not in rock as it usually is. But will people buy it?


Judging from Simon Cowell's reaction, it's going to be tough to sell. (Look at that face! A Simon Cowell classic!!!) However, a quick glance at iTunes pegs the song at #31 of top downloads for the day. Clearly, Fantasia Barrino's "Bore Me" has found its audience.

Fantasia Barrino definitely got balls. She does what she wants, and this song doesn't feel like a desperate sell but a statement she can afford to make. Red hair included. Whether you like "Bore Me" or not, you have to admit watching Fantasia sing and groove like that on stage that the song and Fantasia isn't anything but boring.