AMI Top 13 Performs and Conspiracy Theories...

Alrite, so, it's that time of the year again, when I get to enjoy my dose of AMI. after all the crazy-shit funny auditions of course. This year's a Top 13, as compared to the previous years' Top12 and a new twist this year is the Judge's Veto - i.e. to say That means if someone is sent home whom the judges think should stay, they can have the power to keep them there. (no one is voted off that week but the following week, two goes home)

As said by Ryan:
“The judges can save one contestant from elimination just once. Once they’ve used the save, they cannot use it again the entire season. The week they use the save, no one will be eliminated but the next week, two will go.”

wow. first a top 13. then two goes home for the first episode. now this. anyway here are my last night's favourites: (in order of preference)

Michael Sarver - You are not alone
- Great ballady song. I didn't know if the original was as ballady as his', but i'm a sucker for ballads.



Alexis Grace - Dirty Diana
- It's was not over the top as Simon had put it to be. I didn't think that she got the credit she deserve for her performance though. Or maybe it was over the top but i liked it...



Kris Allen - Remember the time
- OMG. i thought that he sucked last night. ok, maybe it wasn't as bad as i put it to be... but in the middle when he got too excited, he was like all over the place. i'm only putting his performance here because i like him. i don't think he's going to make it far though, even with all his screaming female fans.



Allison Iraheta - Give in to Me
- Great Rocker chick with a great rock performance. She's like an ugly duckling turning into a swan. i don't think she has marketability potential though.



P.S. : Stop supporting Danny 'douchebag' Gokey. He's pimping his deadwife to further his stay on AMI and getting sympathy votes. so what if he can sing? he's got no market appeal whatsoever. period.

Now, the fun part. since who knows when, there's been like conspiracy theories floating around regarding AMI. now, here's one that caught my attention recently - The Red Lights Theory. So here's the thing: During performance night, whoever's performance got the Red lights flashing in their's, it means that judges want them gone. So going by last night's performances, Jorge, Kris, Allison and Jasmine got the red light treatment.

At first, i was a bit fascinated by this theory as it definitely got me interested and left me pondering. but in the end my conclusion: it's most likely false.

Why? from what i've seen on AMI since the start of Season8, Simon has always thought that Jasmine has got marketability and compared Allison to when Kelly Clarkson was in the same stage in the competition. Furthermore, Jasmine was saved by the Judges, first by putting her into the wildcard round, then putting her through to the Top 13 (even though IMO, other more qualified contestants such as Ricky Brady failed to do so) So, to support the Red Light Theory would be to say that the judges wanted Jasmine gone in less than even a week, which is highly contradictory.

Of course, i'm only elaborating on Jasmine here but there's also Allison. Though i wouldn't say the same for Jorge, who doesn't have the appeal to cut a record, even though he has the chops.

All in all: i think the lights just add to the dramatic effect of their stage presence. that's all...

It's Almost Here

I've supported her since she debut with the album, Listen to my Heart. From the smooth silky hair girl to the sultry mature singer that she is today, I think that BoA's one of the most hardworking Asian singers out there. Sure, she's the result of a combination of smart marketing from SM Entertainment, lots of make-up and styling and great dance choreography, it's easy to neglect the fact that she's a pretty decent singer with a easily recognised voice that differentiates her from other singers.



Hot off her eponymous U.S. debut album, I Did It for Love, is a sure-winner over Eat You Up. This song features Sean Garrett, whom i best remember in Enrique Iglesias's Away. Freakin' catchy, a great electro sound (thanks to her using a vocoder), and a hot, sexy image in the MV. this song is a definite hit in the clubs, even before the remixes start to appear.





Her us debut album is slated to be released on MARCH 17. MARK THAT ON YOUR CALENDER! Be sure to pre-order your copy from Amazon or iTunes, or from your local music store.

Finally, here's a teaser for her I Did It for Love MV.

Music for the Soul

I've always said - if you want to enjoy both visual fulfillment and great music at the same time, watch either Grey's Anatomy or Private Practice, or even better, both. Which, by the way, I do. Talk about emotional overload here. And how glad was I when I heard these two pieces of music on Episode 12 of Season 2 of Private Practice - Homeward Bound. We first hear the first piece of great music when Charlotte was about the pull the plug on her dying father - this one is Don't Give Up by Clare Reynolds.



The second one is at the end of the episode, when Charlotte and Cooper were on the plane, and Charlotte just cuddles in Cooper's arm and weeps. As well as the Addison thingy of course. This one is Devil's Thunder by Rachael Cantu. Enjoy.

A Song about Pimps & Ho's

There. Taraji P. Henson said it. That's what this song is all about. Pretty catchy, u gotta admit it. and can u imagine it though, It's Hard out Here for a Pimp, won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 2005? this is sung by Three 6 Mafia and my favourite lady, Taraji P. Henson. Enjoy.

Movie Reviews

Over the past couple of days, I've watched quite a number of films and some of them were pretty darn good. Here's my two cents worth on them:

The first one i watched was Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, which serves as a prequel to Underworld 1. Considering how shiteous the first flick was, I must say that this third installment was pretty ok to me. The thing was, throughout the film, i find the female lead to be quite familiar, though i couldn't quite pin-point where i saw her before. and i wasn't sure whether she was the same chick in Underworld 1. After doing a little research, i realised she was the detective Kit McGraw in Nip/Tuck, who had an incestuous relationship with her brother, who didn't have a penis. Ahhh. No wonder. Here's Rhona Mitra (Sonja in U3) and Kate Beckinsale (Selene in U1):

*they look quite similar in the film*

The next film i'm going to talk about is a huge favourite of mine: Burn after Reading. Funny title; not the kind i would go watch just based on the title. First, here's the theatrical poster:

Witty. Clever. Great Fun to watch. It brings up a lot of topics about people in a very real environment. E.g. Insecurities, Sense of deluded importance, Affairs, Divorce. The film is so named cos the film is centred around a disk of apparently "classified" information that the characters played by Brad Pitt and Frances McDormand discovered. Special mention include George Clooney and Frances McDormand as Linda. George Clooney was particularly hilarious.

I'm a sucker for horror flicks and even though i'll hide behind my pillow and my legs will turn into jelly whenever i watch 'em, i simply can't resist them. which brings me to this double bundle of joy: Kill Theory and The midnight Meat Train.



I don't think Kill Theory has been released in Singapore yet, and i doubt it ever will. I could just sum it up in a sentence: Typical high school students meets serial killer horror flick. Nothing fancy. Pretty average actors. OK script. The 'twist' at the end was ok also... But here's the thing: it's pretty gory. which going by the theatrical poster, i could understand. but it's just that nowadays, more and more 'horror' flicks are becoming 'gore'y, including the next one i'm going to talk about: The Midnight Meat Train.

OK, let me make this very clear. This HORROR flick is 10 times more GORE-Y than Kill Theory. yup. which as u can see from the stills above. for me, the above scenes were one of the scariest. Dead naked bodies hanging from the hand rails on Butcher hooks in a train. yup. in the beginning first few kill scenes, it was pretty artsy, as well as right in your face GORE. slowly, it began to feel like a thriller, with the conspiracy thingy and i pretty like the cinematography. And the ending was pretty good as well. Though it's pretty far-fetched from reality, as like Hey, what are the odds of getting butchered to death in a railway train in today? but hey, it's fantasy horror flick after all. i had great fun watching it and scared myself to shits.



And currently showing in Singapore is the feel-good comedy, Role Models. Surprisingly, this wasn't produced by Judd Apatow. and just knowing Sean William Scott is in it is enough to rush down to the cinemas to catch it. He WAS funny in it, no doubt, but somehow i felt that his performance in it was restrained, held back. not the kind of outright-in-your-face, Sean William Scott-esque funny. feel very scripted. Sure, this is feel-good comedy, about Sean William Scott and Paul Judd doing community as guidance adults for the 'Littles', who wanted nothing more than to finish their hours as quickly as possible, only to come out at the end to have learnt some much from the 'littles'. However, this flick doesn't feel a single bit cheesy and off-the-mill funny. it is seriously funny. and the poster above is pretty kick-ass.

Thought i would post a very meaningful quote from Taraji P. Henson (Queenie in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button):

Work like you don't need the money.
Love like you've never been hurt.
Dance like nobody is watching




Left: Taraji P. Henson all glammed up Right: Taraji as Queenie in TCCOBB

Although the original quote was from either Mark Twain or Satchel Paige, depending on the sources, and it goes something like this (once again, differents sources will quote it differently):

Dance like nobody's watching;
love like you've never been hurt.
Sing like nobody's listening;
live like it's heaven on earth

Depending on how u want to interpret it, you can rearrange it anyway u want, the last phrase being the most important one to you.

**on another note: i decided i'm not going to let old fuddy-duddies who do nothing but fail people all day determine whether i can drive or not.

Next time... watch it.

Man, i simply feel like killing someone right now. Someone in particular. that someone - motorcyclist - who ZOOMED past my car while i switching lane and was on a FREAKIN' TRAFFIC POLICE DRIVING TEST just now. and guess what? yes, i FAILED. surprise surprise. based on my experience in military driving, from the moment that MUTHA-FUCKER sped up right after completing his u-turn and sped past my vehicle, and the tester was like 'woah!', i knew on the spot i failed immediately. Knew it. there's a lot of different way to look at this. before that, here's the facts: i checked the rear view mirror, clear, then i checked my blind spot. and there he was, speeding right past my vehicle. but the problem was i having a tendency to turn as i checked. so in a way, it was my fault. i'll admit it. but then, i'm on a freakin TP test. can't u just let me? is it that hard? can't u see my left signal light? KNN. second thing: when i checked my rear view mirror, it was clear: i.e. to say that MUTHA-FUCKER was from the u-turn and immediately after exiting, he sped up, even though he could jolly well see i wanted to change lane. KNN. Hope u rot in hell.

the frustrating thing was that was the final part of the test. to keep left after the u-turn. that's it. imo, everything i did was perfect until then, and i felt that the tester was going to let me pass (cos he didn't do much clicking on the board --->not too many mistakes) but then, immediately after that MUTHA-FUCKER sped past my car, the tester was like quickly clicking on his electronic board (i swear to god that one incident made him penalise me a lot more than i deserve) and when i got back my scoresheet, MAN, I got 32 freakin' points. 32! i bet almost all of it was checked after that motorcyclist incident.

the main gripe i have about failing is not about having to go for more lessons and a retest, but the money and the fact that the next re-test will be like 6 weeks later. and while it sucks to know other people who passed and u didn't. like that lady i was talking to while in the holding room. she was like " Oh, i don't know lah, that outside road one i srsly don't know..." and i was like thinking "great.... that means she passed." but at least i knew one other guy failed too (cos he left immediately w/o going to the TP counter) but i was one of the first back, some i don't know much about the rest thou. and i guessed that a few of them were on their second tries or more. AND guess what? that makes me feel a lot better!!! AHAHA. i know i'm evil. but whatever.

and the tester said i was "very agressive " when it comes to changing lanes.... hmmm. that's the thing. some instructors like to be more safe, while some like u to take every opportunity u got when it comes to lane-changing. so i feel as if i can never satisfy everyone. whether i take the 'aggressive' route or 'safe' route. not that u don't do safety checks when u go aggressive, of course. u know what i mean.

and i don't know whether i should cover up my tattoo on my right forearm with some concealer or not and take my diamond ear-stud i wore today. i think i should make myself look more goody-two-shoes more? and i kinda came to a conclusion that for my next test, i'm gonna put on a SOUR-PUSS face throughout everything. it kinda makes me channel all my inner rage towards doing better, and i think i'll do better. l o l .. .

arghhh.. another two hundred plus gone. great.