Sunday, May 16, 2010

Happy Teacher's Day

Happy Teacher's Day to all the teachers who have taught me in the past and present! This is not a planned post as this morning as I was reading the Sunday's edition of the Star Education section, the cover was four people posing in some nice clothes...and one of them looked really familiar to me...
It was my English teacher Pn. Tay aka Ms Loo Mee Keun who taught me from Form 3 to Form 5! She was one of the winners this year for the Star's Teacher Idol competition. The lady second from left in the above picture with her hand open wide...LOL

Some junior from my school wrote an essay about her and somehow inspired the judges that got her for a day of makeover at Pavillion KL...Kudos to her and my fellow junior, judging from the essay entry he wrote to The Star, so much has changed in my high school!
 Pn Tay getting her makeover by a make-up artist at the Laura Mercier counter!

Here's the link to The Star article titled "Stars of the Noble Profession". And this is the link to the essay entry the student wrote to The Star titled "The Funshine in Class".

In high school, no doubt that my favorite class was Pn Tay's class, English was my favorite subject in high school, literature and writting essays and reading...I miss those days, I also remember Pn Tay will photocopy a lot of exercise for us and we had to cut and paste into our exercise book and do them!

Happy Teachers Day again!

Saturday, May 15, 2010

I'm a Gleek

It will be a matter of time that I'll stop watching American Idol  entirely and "swatching" to the new television musical/ comedy series Glee!
I don't know how or when that I became a Gleek, at first when I watched the series I couldn't be bothered to stick to the seat and watch the entire episode, I thought it was cheesy as it is not exciting as High School Musical because the people in the show are just covering charted or hit songs from established artist. 

Unlike High School Musical, we get to listen to new songs from the teen idols in the movie, dance numbers, cool outfits etc etc etc...I think I was not interested in Glee because it was just trying to be another High School Musical rip off with more drama and versatile cast to draw more audience from different demographics.

I guess it all started when Season 9 of American Idol started to get really boring, especially when I don't really have any favorite contestant this year. The contestant were choosing lousy songs to perform on stage and they did not show much personality on the stage. So I turned to Glee. First I got the soundtrack for volume 1 & 2 from Glee, listen to some of the songs, started to like them. And the chapter of Gleek started...
When I started watching Glee it was already half way into the series on television, thanks goodness Star World had repeats over and over again I had the chance to watch the series from the beginning to the latest episode!
One thing about Glee is that if you noticed, most of the songs covered on Glee has been done on American Idol, almost as good as AI! The singers on Glee are really good too, except for one or two of them who can't really sing live.

One thing I like about Glee is that the singers/ performers on the show won't get eliminated like American Idol, so we don't have to worry our favorites will get cut every week in a new episode. Unless they get suspended or expelled from school or Sue Sylvester the evil cheerleader coach successfully take down Glee Club!
It's also been a while since I bought a magazine, when I saw Galaxie magazine cover story was about Glee, I had to buy a copy of it to read everything of it about Glee!
To date, four album has been released from the Glee franchise. Glee Volume 1, Volume 2, The Power of Madonna, and Volume 3: Showstoppers. There's more to come in June when the fifth album is released - Journey To Regionals - when the new episodes are aired and more songs are covered. So far my fav songs from Glee are...there are too many to list here, surprisingly, I don't any of the albums yet, who knows when I'll buy them, the local CD store is selling it at a really expensive price since it's in demand, it will be a matter of time that I own those Glee albums...but I already have all the songs in my computer...and I'm still not over the songs from four of the album. Volume 3 will be released next week but some of the songs are already available on iTunes!

Friday, May 14, 2010

Demi Lovato

The Miley Cyrus era is almost over on Disney Channel, it's time for the new crops of teen stars to take over. Demi Lovato first starred on Disney Channel's Camp Rock back in 2008. At first, I didn't really like the movie, but after watching a few times of repeats on Disney Channel, the movie is quite OK...but one thing I hated about the movie is that there's too many genres of song in one movie especially Techno.
And now, I got myself Demi's debut and 2nd album Don't Forget and Here We Go Again! Both albums are really good, some of the songs from both albums that are actually really good.

My personal favorite from Don't Forget is Get Back, Don't Forget and La La Land. I heard La La Land for the first time when my cousin let me watch the music video on his phone via YouTube. And after that it became another favorite song that we share together - again! 
Here We Go Again, I guess many people can relate to that song, thinking that you've got over the person that's important to you or you like, but somehow they get back into your life and you realize that you are not over them yet. I like the song, but I can't relate to it...yet...LOL
My other favorite tracks from HWGA is Falling Over Me and Solo, all of Demi's song are individually different and unique, she shows different side of her as an artist on her albums. There's ballad, rock, Pop, dance tunes on both of her album, a little of something for everyone. Check it out. Demi is also a really good vocalist compared to many of the Disney teen princesses.
Demi Lovato will also be starring as a guest on the current season (6) of Grey's Anatomy episode - Shiny Happy People. Demi also recently performed on American Idol with Joe Jonas, singing Make A Wave, my cousin liked that song too. And during September - Winter of 2010, Demi's will reprise her role as Mitchie Torres on Disney Channel's Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam along with the Jonas Brothers!
The new single for Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam is Can't Back Down! Check it out. Download it here, courtesy of Jon Wire.

Friday, May 7, 2010

American Idol Season 9

I'll sum up American Idol Season 9 with one word - BORING! As you noticed I stopped posting American Idol Season 9 related post after the Top 16. I couldn't be bothered. The contestants are pathetically boring, they only have one thing in common - they're trying really hard to be original! So hard that it seems they've forgot who they are in the process.
Todrick Hall, remember him? I won't blame anyone if they forgot who he is. He's the guy who made Kelly Clarkson's Since U Been Gone into a stupid techno trash song. Ryan Seacrest is getting more and more annoying each and every week, it's so irritating to hear him say "This is American Idol!" change the host!!! And why is he hanging around the judges table so often? I know Simon is leaving this season, does Ryan wants Simon's job? NO WAY! Hollywood hates Ryan...remember how Brad Pitt ditched him for an interview on the red carpet?

The truth is, I didn't really stick to my seat during the whole show this season like I used to in the past. Although with a few face-lift on the show, it still didn't attract me. American Idol is not the feel good show anymore, they're inviting so many thrashy performers to the show - Ke$ha - what's with her performance? dancers with a TV on their head?! Blah Blah Blah? What's that about? Seriously? Lady Gaga in a net and bikini and men dancers in racy clothes? I thought it was suppose to be a family friendly program?! What the hell?!

Country week - Why did so many groups perform on the show instead of the mentor - Shania Twain!!! Sons of Sylvia - I know SOS collaborated with Carrie Underwood on her 3rd album, so they wanna promote them, I don't mind Rascal Flatts coming back to Idol again, but singing twice during the one hour show is a little too much, Lady Antebellum and Shakira too...what's with country week? I love country music but it seems the show is no longer about the contestant anymore, it's like trying so hard to get more viewers to watch the show by letting these people perform.

Let's talk about the Top 10 - Didi Benami, I don't get her, I really like her Terrified performance, but after that, she was overshadowed but the other contestants, sometimes I forgot that she's still in the competition, when it was her turn to sing, I was like - oh my - I forgot about her.
Andrew Garcia - I was impressed with his rendition of Paula's Straight Up, he peaked too soon, after that he was trying so hard to make every song unique but failed miserably...and his hair and the tattoo on his neck is so distracting every week - in a bad way...and those glasses, oh my, I feel like smashing them! He didn't show any personality on stage, so what if you're a hyper guy with full of personality backstage? No one will know and they won't vote for you. Glad he's gone!
Casey James - He's still in the competition because he showed his body to the world - gross! He's the same every week - standing and singing with a guitar every week - without his guitar during the Top 5 performance he sang horribly! No one will vote for a person who can't be a versatile singer.
Michael Lynche - What is wrong with him?! I noticed that he's singing songs about love almost every week. Does his world revolves about love only? It's so pathetic, I wonder why the judges used the save on him, they just should let him go when he was voted up during the Top 9. We don't need another Ruben Studdard - look how successful he is now...oops, where is Ruben now anyway? I remembered he returned to AI this season and he's performance was not really impact-ful. And to me Michael looks really cocky - arrogant!
Tim Urban - Sanjaya of season 9. Stupid girls voting for him because there's some shirtless pic of Tim Urban circulating on the internet thanks to VFTW.
Katie Stevens - She has potential to win this season, but I think she's confused with what type of singer she wants to be - or her song choice selection is just really bad. She has great vocals too, I was a fan, but she left too early.
Aaron Kelly - David Archuleta of the season, but not cute enough, not as talented as Archie, lousy stage presence. Bad impersonation on the show, he's trying so hard to impress the judges every week with those vocals of his, and it wasn't really good for Idol standards. It's just OK. I wonder if the viewers noticed, but he always opened his legs very wide everytime he sings and shake his hips lightly...he's not Ricky Martin or Justin Timberlake, so don't do that!
Siobhan Magnus - Might be the best vocalist of the season, or best screamer? She singing something different every week, who is she? Her excuse is that she doesn't want to stick to one kind of genre, but the reality is, people want to vote for someone where they know what kind of songs or albums they will be buying from them in the future. And she extremely weird - at 1st I was Ok with her weirdness, but it started to creep me out the way she talks...its likeeeee ssoooooo sleepyyyy with noooo energggyyy.
Lee DeWyze - My friends like him because he's hot - handsome - and a little talented - cute - shy. He's singing? Most probably the best among the guys this season. But he seems so dull on stage, he doesn't really smile - until recently - and when the host ask him a question - he talks too much - and doesn't answer the question. Makes people frustrated.
Crystal Bowersox - Tipped to win the competition this year. Well, I don't really know why, the judges always praise her performance, but I don't see anything unique, her voice is not that nice. I don't get some of her performance. Most probably I won't buy her album. 
And finally - American Idol Season 9 Compilation will be releasing on May 11th, 2010. There's only 10 tracks on the album. Seriously? It's the worst American Idol compilation to date. There's not even a group performance on the album or a winning single on the album like the previous season compilations - or at least include the Top 12!!! There's no point buying the album if fans downloaded the songs from iTunes already.
If I'm still watching American Idol next season, hopefully the contestant won't try so hard to be original or impersonate someone anymore, just sing - just sing because you love to sing.