The Official Singapore Idol™ 2009 Blog

This is my last task before i wrap up my very own Idol journey. I headed down to the Marina Bay floating platform earlier to cover my idols for their rehearsals for the countdown tonight. Fresh in their minds were their last spectacular finale held on the 27th December. It was our hot conversational topic. Our newly crowned idol, Sezairi looks relatively tired with all the media interviews and whatnots.

It’s Wednesday and by right it supposedly is Idol day, oh well. We are all suffering from Idol withdrawal symptoms.

It feels empty right now but meeting each other was good all over again, though i foresee some of them are ready to lead into different directions of life once all these are over. That doesn’t mean it’s the end of our friendship; that’s for sure. Now, how about a good show later as it is our last!

Rehearsals were pretty long, but we’re used to it haha thanks to Idol, anyway here are the pictures below, if you have not been following my tweets



A little promo for the show, because our idol family and anyone related to idol is giving their last performance of the year! They are…



Catch your Singapore Idol, Sezairi Sezali together with his camaraderies, performing during the show. Also not forgetting during the pre-show [which is not shown on tv] Our Singapore Idol together with his well acclaimed band, Juxtapose will groove and rock the platform down! How about Sezairi coming up with a band like Chris Daughtry? Awesome isn’t?!



Our resident heart throb, Farhan Shah will get into his element with his band, Heregoesnoth!ng. I went down to his gigs before and guys you must not miss this at all, unfortunately it will not be show on television, whatelse.. COME ON DOWN!



Our favourite ex-promo intern at Mediacorp will also be appearing during the preshow together with his regionally famous duo, Sleeq. Catch Syarif and Alif at the countdown belting out their famous hits from their album that is massively acclaimed overseas! Show them some love :]

Well, you guys can’t miss all these entertaining acts, and if you have not figured out what to do for New Year, come down to the Marina Floating Platform aka THE FLOAT and party with us! Tickets are available at all sistic outlets and costs only $30. If you attended Singapore Idol Finals last Sunday and you still have your ticket stub, show it at the ticketing counter and you’ll get $10 off the original price!

How fantastic is that? So guys, i’ll be waiting for you at the platform tonight! :]

“….2010…”

Sezairi’s triumphant win last Sunday created one hell of a stir amongst Singaporeans. With the issue of, “Another Malay idol?!”. What is wrong with that? Why can’t another “brown guy” - quoted by Sezairi; win the competition?

Sylvia and Sezairi are off two different talent, it’s just like a Kris Allen and Adam Lambert finale. Unfortunately, reality check; it has to be only one winner. If it was up to me, come on, i‘ll crown them both, and maybe Tabitha as well. I received comments saying that the votes should be partially shared with the judges and the public.I’m sorry to say, we can’t change the Idol format; and it applies internationally. In American Idol, or so all votes are accounted for by the public and the judges only have their say during the weekly shows.

If you say, it’s about time for a change in format, the ownership of show might just say the exact words together with an evil stare. Gah.


Same goes, “It’s about time for a female Singapore idol,’ but dreams were dashed because the crown went to Sezairi. I say, if you really wanted a female idol; why didn’t you vote? Pretty much said over and over again. I’m satisfied with either one who wins because each individual portrays a different kind of musicality and vocal tone to the local music industry. You have good looks diva quality Whitney Houston [Sylvia] and original soulful John Legend [Sezairi] here. There’s no way i would compare.

In my very own opinion, Sezairi owned the stage during the finals and his performance came off very sincere and much more convincing. Of course Sylvia gave a tough fight with her to die for vocals and good looks.



I was quite appalled with the Newpaper headline, “The End of Idol?” Come on, judging from the facts of the amount of views from season 1 was way higher. It does make sense because afterall, Season 1 is the first ever Idol show in Singapore but to compare with Season 3? There’s one thing missing, the upkeep of technology throughout the years. Within a span of 5 years, various kinds of viewing media developed.

You’ve got blogs, Youtube, Mobtv, Hubstation; all these various media that doesn’t has it’s rating views counted in. You’d never know, the views might be higher than before. From my opinion, the 8,000 strong crowd at the Indoor Stadium that day proves so much of having hype and keen interests from the public about the show, plus i found out finale tickets are sold at Ebay and the highest amount bidded so far went to a whopping $200.

Say, doesn’t that portray, a pretty high demand for the show.

Lacklustre? Not good looking? No star quality?

I say, it’s all crap. We can groom these qualities. Sezairi may not be that drop dead good looking hunk, but one thing for sure his passion for music burns deep in him. The talent that has been bestowed upon him together with his knowledge about music just puts him onto a level of much respect, but nope i don’t think the disgruntled public sees that. They just see it as another, Malay guy.

Why can’t we put the race issue aside. We say it almost everyday when we were young or at least, us Singaporeans; it’s embedded in us, “Regardless of race, language and religion..” When someone told me, “but not gender.” OH MAN, come on, are we still living when women are supposed to be housewives and men brings home the bread? There’s equality among all of us; the capabilities of both genders are on par; why differentiate? The only difference is physicality, which sometimes can be off an added advantage or not. Guys come on, again from the pledge, “based on justice and equality.”

I believe if Sylvia would have gotten the title, there would be unhappy opinions as well because of her mixed parentage, i shall not even go there.



HOW DO YOU GUYS GET SATISFIED? Why can’t another Malay win the idol? We’ve got an Indian President, we’ve got a Chinese Prime Minister, can’t we have a Malay Singapore Idol? They say, he won votes because he has almost the entire Malay community backing him up. Maybe it’s true, but i don’t think the entire Malay votes would make up the winning amount, afterall; they’re not the major race in Singapore.

We work hand in hand, i believe there are non-malays who gave in a vote or two for the boy. I know 24hours after his win, there are online petitions about “Sylvia should be the Idol”, “Sezairi doesn’t deserve the title!”, you know what.. WHY BOTHER, it happens during every elimination round. I’m totally not surprised because it is pretty much the norm? Then again, the public can say whatever they want. As long it doesn’t go over the limit.



Hmmm. It’s about time for some recognition for our newly crowned idol. How about, a nice congratulatory headlines for a change? Newpaper, hear that? I truly believe, Sezairi would definitely work hard to sustain his title. He is all about the love and compassion, point proven above. The note taken from his fanpage written by him personally in his defense of spreading love amongst the fans when he saw hate comments on his other fellow contestants fanpage.

Spread the love instead of hate, because all we need is a little bit of love. Sezairi, will definitely groom himself to be better than he is now. He made alot of others proud. With the tough beginnings he has to face, he will definitely grow to be even more mature than what he is now.

Without a doubt, he will walk with his head held high, and embrace his title with no regrets because i know he deserves it.

Celebrate 2010 is a star-studded countdown event set against the fantastic view of the Singapore skyline at Marina Bay. The event will kick off at 8pm by our host, Soo Wei with a splendid line-up of On Site entertainment with stellar performances by homegrown celebrities, artistes from across the region as well as our Singapore Idol finalists.

Groove on and countdown to 2010 with special appearances by MediaCorp celebrities: Adrian Pang, Michelle Chia, Nat Ho, Gurmit Singh, Jade Seah, Michelle Chong, Dai Yang Tian and Pornsak! Be thrilled with more exciting performances by Taiwan sensation Da Mouth (touted as Asia’s very own Black Eyed Peas!), The Great Spy Experiment, John Molina & Kreuger, the winner of Singapore Idol 2009 with the Finalists! and many more!

What: Celebrate 2010
When: 31st December 2009, 8pm to 1st January 2010, 3am
Where: The Float @ Marina Bay

The countdown to the hottest and biggest New Year’s Eve celebration begins! Book your tickets online now at www.sistic.com.sg

Ticket Price: S$30
Venue: The Float @ Marina Bay
Date: Thursday, 31st December 2009
Time: 8pm to 3am (1st January 2010)
SPECIAL – IF YOU SHOW YOUR TICKET STUB FROM THE SINGAPORE IDOL FINALE, YOU’LL GET $10 OFF THE ORIGINAL TICKET PRICE!

You can watch Juxtapose [Sezairi's very own band] in action, Heregoesnoth!ng [Farhan Shah's own band] and Sleeq [Syarif's duo!]

Com’on down!


Alright guys, i’ve got some behind the scenes photos during the Idol Finale. I was cursing and swearing on how unlucky i got when my camera broke down on the 26th evening during rehearsals. FROM ALL TIMES, the camera died on me the day before the finale! I went to summerr and showed her my camera, the vision were all purple and negative looking. We spent an hour on “repairing” it but to no avail. OH well, thanks to Asyraf for the picturessss :] Here are some photos of that night!

A dinner gathering before the show


Hey, i love kung pow chicken alright.


MJ Kuok! The brother from another mother whom i really missed dearly and he is back for the show! Wooohoo!






How about a little game of taboo…




Everyone looking mighty fine for the finals


Post reception party, weeeheee!


Almost the entire crew that made the show happened :]


The end of the idol journey… :[


“…for now…”

TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL sang by SEZAIRI SEZALI
(Music and Lyrics by Ken Lim)

My world had just gone by
Always darkened skies
There was no reason to try
Never could fly

Now I’m tired of searching
And wondering why
It’s not really all that, much far
Reaching out for stars

Bridge
Time to reach out
Time to be who I am

Chorus
Finally, I believe
My dreams will unfold
It’s like being touched by an angel
A brand new beginning
It’s amazing
This is, a moment, I will remember

Finally, I can feel
Heaven on earth
It’s like being touched by an angel
My world is changing
I’m living out loud
Feels like, I’m been, touched by an angel above

I’ve waited for so long
For this day to arrive
The world seems a different place
Knowing I can fly

Bridge
Time to reach out
Time to be who I am

Chorus
Finally, I believe
My dreams will unfold
It’s like being touched by an angel
A brand new beginning
It’s amazing
This is, a moment, I will remember

Finally, I can feel
Heaven on earth
It’s like being touched by an angel
My world is changing
I’m living out loud
Feels like, I’m been, touched by an angel above

Here are Sylvia’s videos of her performances during the finale :] Again thanks to “Azhar Berry”







“…sylvia ratonel…”