AI - Female Performances

The 12 female contestants of AI were on stage yesterday. It’s the men's turn today. It was revealed that four contestants, the two females and males who rake in the lowest votes, would be booted out of the competition weekly. This format will go on, for about 3 weeks, until the contestants are trimmed to half their number. Following are some highlights of yesterday’s performances.

Oustanding performances by...

Mandisa sang Never by Heart - it was simply an awesome performance. Being first on stage, the other girls quickly realize they had their work cut out for them. I love this song, well almost all of Heart’s songs actually. Mandisa reminded me to take out my Heart Album, dust it off and listen to it the rest of the night.

Paris sang Midnight Train to Georgia by Gladys Knight - this girl continues to surprise me. She can sing and dance! Hot, hot, hot performance. Love her makeup, outfit and the hair, the hair!

Lisa sang I am changing by Jennifer holiday - I was simply glued to her performance, at 16 she makes the older girls look and sound ordinary.

Katharine sang Since I fell for you by Barbra Streisand - a surprising performance, I really like it, her voice was natural & effortless, and she made it look so easy. I just cant resist adding, what’s with the dance moves, or was it really dancing She seemed drunk to me.

Notable performances...

Melissa sang When the lights go down by Faith Hill - unfortunately I tuned out in the beginning but when I realize, whoa, what a voice, I think I left my mouth open, hopefully not drooling. I liked her performance, I love her raspy voice. I hope she steps up her game next week if she wants to go the distance coz there were 4 exceptional performances last night.

Kinnik sang Get here by Anita Adams - I like her, but I think she shouldn’t overdo or over sing, she will just appear to be trying too hard. The younger girls make it sound so easy and effortless as it is.

Kellie sang How Far by Martina McBride - she looked so sweet and heartfelt but she was a bit tentative.

So, so performances...

Becky sang Because The Night – she looks pretty but looks awkward singing, had a few misses especially during the end of the song.

Ayla sang Reflections by Cristina Aguilera - a few misses in between, I think the song got the better of her, she could have chosen a better song to suit her.

Brenna sang You are the sunshine of my life – on a different tempo and pitch her performance could have been up there on the notables, however she took the safe route and ended up with much left to be desired.

Forgettable...

Heather sang When you tell me that you love me - a weak and forgettable performance, her tempo was slow to my liking, I tuned out in the middle of her performance.

Stevie sang To where You Are by Josh Groban – I love this song, but Stevie killed the life and spirit of the song. I can’t believe she sings opera songs but can’t sing falsetto. She is so unsuited for this competition. No doubt she is going home next week, she gave the weakest performance of the night. I would have to praise her though for a subdued makeup tonight, I like her fish lips.

I can’t wait to hear how the men fare tonight.

Must Watch TV Part 2

The past weekend hasn't been memorable for me to say the least. Not only did I not have a date, I had a fever and an inflamed throat to boot, bummer.

Anyway, let me just vent out a weekend's worth of pent up frustration and confinement by posting the second installment to my Must Watch TV post.

Prison Break - I am so excited about this show coz it finally reached Philippine shores! It had a grand premiere last week, like a movie premiere, very unusual for a foreign TV show in this country. I am glad that Crime & Suspense Channel has pull out all stops to promote and hype up this show. All I can say is, it deserves it and once you’ve watched it, you’ll agree with me, it’s worth it. What do I like about this show? Two words: Wentworth Miller. Ok make it four words: Wentworth Miller and Michael Scoffield.

Long story short, without giving major spoilers:

Lincoln Burrows, was framed for murder and waiting on death row. Believing in Lincoln’s innocence, his younger brother Michael, a successful structural engineer, deliberately held up a bank so he can go to the same prison, with the intent of breaking out of it with his brother. Whew, crazy eh? Did I mention that they have to break out before Lincoln’s execution, which is 30 days? How’s that for a suspense thriller?

That’s just the main plot, which is easily revealed in the first 2 episodes. It gets better after that. Now don’t start worrying, what happens after the 30 days, regardless if they escape or not. The Creator has already mapped out the story until end of Season 2. Watching this show felt like watching 24 in theater mode. With Brett Ratner on the helm, what else can you expect?

Prison Break starts airing tonight on Crime & Suspense Channel.

A sad day

The country is still reeling from the death of 70 Wowowee fans at Ultra early this month when another disaster strikes.

According to news reports survivors are unlikely as the whole village, including an elementary school, is engulfed and buried in mud.

My thoughts and prayers are with our brothers and sisters in Leyte.

Amazing Race Asia is finally here!

I was surfing the AXN Asia website when this news hit me, amazing! Forgive me if this has been advertised on AXN Channel, my cable provider does not carry AXN, pitiful eh?

After so many years of waiting and wondering, Amazing Race comes to Asia. The emmy winning reality TV show is finally open to non-Americans! Yipee!

Anybody interested in submitting their application? Looking for a partner? Email, text or call me!

Must Watch TV

As you may have noticed from the thread of my earlier posts, I am a couch potato. Seriously. Recently I shared with a couple of friends my list of must watch US TV shows, some are syndicated locally, some are on cable. I thought what the heck, might as well share it here, I could turn some non-believers into believers and help keep the shows alive.

Warning, there are spoilers below, if you do not wish to find out what will happen in advance, just read the show titles. Bummer.

Veronica Mars - VM, brilliantly portrayed by Kristen Bell, is a teen private investigator. It is not your run of the mill high school drama, despite its setting. The 1st season revolved on how VM's life has drastically changed due to the infamous murder of her best friend, losing her boyfriend (which happens to be her dead bestfriend's brother) and how her family became the pariahs of the town of Neptune. All these happening while she cracks and solves cases whew!

Sadly, this show is not doing very well in ratings in spite of being a critically acclaimed show. It was listed by the American Film Institute in its top 10 TV shows last year. Some of its vocal fans includes: Kevin Smith (Writer & Director of Clerks, Mallrats, Dogma, Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back), Joss Wheddon (Exec producer of Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Stephen King (Sci-Fi, Suspense Thriller writer)

Incidentally Kevin Smith & Joss Wheddon guest starred in separate episodes in Season 2.

In the new season, another mystery is introduced, question is, is VM involved, who was the intended target and who did it? And of course, the answer to the cliffhanger in Season 1 finale, who was at Veronica's door, Logan, Duncan or Leo?

Season 1 of Veronica Mars airs locally on the ETC channel, Wednesday nights at 8.

24 - Jack Bauer is back from exile, rather his imaginary grave, on Season 5. The 4-hour season premiere absolutely rocked! I can't imagine any other TV show killing off two key characters in the first hour alone. Sniff Sniff... I will miss them. As per previous seasons, all episodes are frenetic, action packed, sucking you in and leaving you asking for more.

This season Jack has a new girl, Chloe has a boytoy, Edgar remains as Chloe's whipping boy, CTU has a new "hobbit" boss, Logan is still president, Mike is back, Audrey is back at CTU, the Almeida couple are, sort of, back too. This time Russian extremists has taken hold of a cache of weapons grade chemical which they threaten to detonate on US soil since they can no longer ship it to Russia without being caught by federal agents.

ABS-CBN broadcasted a tagalog dubbed version of Season 3 months ago. While Studio 23 and AXN broadcasted the English version. No local release dates are set for Season 5 yet.

Lost - probably the hottest TV show on earth today, period. You must be living under a rock if you haven't heard of it before now. What makes lost addicting? Let me count the reasons: aside from staging the most expensive pilot in TV history, there's the eye candy of course, the mysteries of the island, the survivors' backstories and how they are ALL connected to each other, the hatch, the out of this world theories thought of by its rabid fans, the Dharma Initiative, the easter eggs that the writers throw in to tickle your mind, who are the others? Are there more survivors of the crash? I could go on but space is limited.

In Season 2 the hatch is finally opened, some mysteries of the island is revealed but more questions are asked, we get to meet the other inhabitants of the island, more flashbacks and connections and someone will die.

Lost airs on AXN and Studio 23.

I will end here for the first installment of my own TV guide, stay tuned for the next one.

AI 5 - My faves are in the Top 24!!!

No surprises in today's AI. My 3 faves are in the Magic Circle of 24. Just a few observations and comments:

I loved Taylor Hick's grand entrance, complete with harmonica accompaniment, a first according to Paula. He was so endearing when he broke into song upon learning he's through in spite of Simon's disagreement.

I'm sorry but I just cant help but comment on Stephanie Scott. She's pretty and all, I like her outfit, very flattering on her, but man her make up made me step back a bit. I'm no make up expert but her RED lipstick, matched with PINK blusher and GOLD eye shadow was too much for me. Hopefully the AI makeup artists will do a good job on her.

Kudos to Mandisa Hundley for making Simon eat humble pie and apologize for his tacky remarks during her Chicago audition.

My favorite soundbites... courtesy of the Brittenum twins, who with a sigh of relief, are not competing due to their legal problems.

"My behavior in this past 4 days has been nothing but exemplary."

"We've been angels."

"Our behavior has been absolutely flawless".

Go here for Derrell's mug shot tee hee hee.

I noticed that there are a lot of eye candy this season and I really wonder if they are as talented as the judges believe they are. We'll see as the saga of AI continues...

American Idol 5 Favorites

The fifth season of American Idol is here. I try not to miss the audition episodes coz all the funny and wacky moments are found there. I always wonder if the 3 judges go through listening to all those people... stadium full of people per city. Even taking away the hakot or support groups, what remains is still a staggering amount of hopefuls. I doubt if there are people who screen them though coz there are more delusional contestants than real talents shown per episode. Anyways, I have 3 favorites so far this season.

First up is Taylor Hicks, the salt & pepper haired guy who sang Georgia on his audition. He definitely stands out in a crowd, not because he looks elderly, he is only 29, but for his talent. His singing mannerisms and concentration reminded me of the late Ray Charles. As much as I am rooting for him though I don’t see him going very far in the competition, coz he doesn’t Iook commercial or pop. But I would buy his CD. I am sure with his AI exposure, he will get the break that he and his band needs to further their career.

Kellie Pickler is the Cinderella story this season. She doesn’t have any musical background or training. She just likes to sing and she has a sad story to tell. She lives with her grandparents coz her dad is in prison and her mother ran out I think, sorry I can’t remember. I was blown away by her rendition of the Kelly Clarkson song, Since Uve Been Gone.

Last but not the least is Paris Bennett. This early I am predicting that this girl will go to the finals if not run away with the title. Man, can she sing or what! And she is only 17 years old! Can’t say I’m surprised though, her granny is a Grammy Award Winner. She sang a blues song that I don’t recognize. Simon was so impressed that all he can say was, "Where have you been all this time?" This girl has so much talent and potential, the best is yet to come.

On the other end of the spectrum I can’t say that I like the Brittenum twins. They aren’t just hissy as Simon called them, they’re also full of air. Yeah they have talent but it’s forgettable. I was bummed that the judges invited them back after Derrell declared his and his twin’s resignation. "My spirit is broken!" -- Derrell Brittenum said. It certainly looked like it when both brothers went back on stage hat in hand, apologizing to the judges and seeking mercy LOL. It is not clear though if both will be allowed to compete considering their present and pressing legal problems. Both twins, have outstanding arrest warrants for theft, forgery and identity fraud at the time the auditions were shown on TV. Terrell has been in jail since January and Derrell is expected to surrender to authorities.

Although I am glad that a Fil Am made it through, Jose "Sway" Penala has a lot of work to do to make it far. If the work attitude that he showed on TV tonight is any indication, he’ll be in trouble pretty soon. But first he has to prove that he is eligible to join the contest. Rumor is he has not left his band and they are under a recording contract, if true, he will be disqualified. So far he has denied this and claims that he left the band before the auditions.

And the American Idol saga continues...

LOST valentine messages

Head over to my favorite TV Diva, Kristin Veitch's, valentines day chat transcript for some cute, albeit spoilerish valentine messages from the LOST cast, courtesy of the show's executive producer, Damon Lindelof.

I am curious though if Damon's reference to the Philippine coast is a clue to the location of the survivors or the island. Could they be near us all this time? Damn this show is so good.