First of all, I would like to say that I canNOT imagine anyone else more deserving (out of the twelve finalists) to be in the top three spots other than Olinda, Taufik and Sylvester. Without much doubt, each of this trio of youngsters has his/her own distinct vocal style and personality, thus appealing to different categories of the viewing, or voting, public. After watching the first five minutes of tonight's show, I am even led to believe that this motley trio had become overnight celebrities, to be able to draw screaming fans in droves during their public appearances much like their American counterparts. To have this kind of phenomenon occuring in our little island of singapore, is all quite crazy actually. I admit, I was looking forward to tonight's show because I think the theme would be the best one yet, and to a certain extent, I wasnt disappointed...
Good old Oli kicked off the show to a spectacular start with I Need A Hero from Footloose the movie. I lurrvved the energy of the song and how she belted out the lyrics like she meant it. However, things started to go awry with Hopelessly Devoted To You which was in my opinion, not well-suited to her normally gruff and powerful style and thus, it turned out to be more yawn-inducing than feminine-sweet. Even Carmen Rasmusen (who had the tendency to sing mostly flat) from AI2 had done a better version of this song... but maybe it was just the boring musical arrangement. It was quite fortunate then that Oli hit back in fine form with a sensitive yet emotional rendering of Evita's Don't Cry For Me Argentina. I didnt think it was 100% appropriate for her husky vocals but it turned out pretty nicely anyway despite her abit salah dressing.
Taufik didnt really break any new ground with his first number, Aint No Sunshine and his third, True To Your Heart; the former is a slow ballad that's sure to dazzle his already swooning fans while the latter is an uptempo Stevie Wonder/98 Degrees song that's most appropriate as some sort of celebratory closure to his performances. However, both are done in typical Taufik style -- smooth and suave in both vocal delivery and execution. It doesnt matter that sometimes he sounds abit nasal; what really matters is that Taufik is cool and the "it"-thing. Time and again, Taufik has wooed audiences with his brilliantly-controlled vocals and his beautiful falsetto notes and tonight was no different. The only blemish however, was his attempt at musical theatre with This Is The Moment, which ended up quite flat, pitch-wise. But then, if one didnt know any better (and I'm sure only a minute few knows of the original version anyway), one would still be inclined to believe that even that was a great performance.
Only the most die-hard of Sylvester's fans would dare say that his Music Of The Night was a good rendition. In truth, I thought that it was quite horrifying because being a musical theatre song, it was imperative that he executed his phrasing conscientiously (which he did NOT). Sylvester fared a little better on Boyzone's Picture Of You as it managed to highlight some of his unique (and endearing?) quirkiness, reminiscent of his Rock Your Body performance a couple of weeks ago. Although not wholly suitable for his edgy vocals, Seal's Kiss From A Rose was his best performance for the night. It's clear that Sylvester posesses the vocal-chops to deliver every note of the song competently yet, if not for his careless diction (which never sounded more ghastly than tonight), it could have been a near-perfect delivery. What a waste!!!
Well, whatever the case, all the respective fans have already started voting and I'm sure panic votes are streaming in for Sylvester after all those negative comments he received from the judges tonight. Then again, perhaps those comments have purposely been engineered to cause an avalanche of support to keep him in the competition? Is there a Mediacorp conspiracy afoot? Will Singapore get an Ah-Beng Idol? OR a tomboy Idol? These questions and many more shall hang in the air for now but come Friday night, we will finally know which two will proceed to the Sg Idol finals at the Singapore Indoor Stadium (wahhh kencang seh~!!) on 1st December. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for an outcome favorable to my Idol choice... Are you???
PS: It's quite amazing how engrossed I've become with this show! I'm a little ashamed of myself actually~! LOL
