American Idol Updates @ BLOGGED

One hundred seventy-three singers. Three judges. One stage. Millions of Americans.

‘American Idol’ judges dish about the upcoming sixth season
By Christopher Rocchio, 01/08/2007

The sixth season of American Idol is set to premiere on Fox on Tuesday, January 16 at 8PM ET/PT with a two-hour episode of the reality competition series, and host Ryan Seacrest said this installment has all the highs and lows viewers have grown accustomed to over the years.

“These are the savviest contestants we’ve ever seen. There’s aggression, intensity, a bit of every man or woman for himself or herself,” Seacrest told Entertainment Weekly. “They don’t care about making friends. They want to make money.”

The three Idol judges also said this season is as competitive as ever, with no clear-cut favorite strutting their stuff during auditions. Despite the lack of a sure thing, the judges still gave general descriptions of their frontrunners. Randy Jackson told Entertainment Weekly the winner will be “someone with curly hair” while Simon Cowell has his sights set on “one girl who’s got an incredible voice… but not much personality at the moment,” as well as another contestant.

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I can’t wait to watch the auditions. The only reason American Idol is entertaining to me is because the auditions make me laugh. You know how laughter is the best medicine of all. I can’t wait.

My husband just bought the January 1/15 2007 issue of Newsbreak. On page 32, there is an interesting Philippine Idol article of “Choosing our Idols”. It says that “the similarities between Philippine Idol and Philippine Politics are just too stark.

The similarities are indeed obvious . Here are list of similarities and quotes from the article.

1. One needs campaign machinery to spread the word.-
In the article “the mayor of Sariaya, Concepcion Doromal , offered to contact the 40 or so other town mayors of the province from whom she solicited a minimum 5000 pesos each” Also, some contestants were said to have supporters spending as much as 100,000 pesos a week and beginning to set up headquarters for voting and mobilization

2. Funding to support the campaign
An example of this was stated in the article “Another well-off supporter from Quezon, a lawyer approached Marcelo , spending from 15,000 pesos to as much as 40,000 pesos a week to see her through the next competition round. Each night like a dutiful campaign manager, he would distribute the prepaid cards to Marcelo’s supporters who would gather in one table just to text their voites within the prescribed two-hour period.

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A fairy tale ending to a provincial lass who has struggled most of her life to enter the music industry and make a name for herself. Mau Marcelo, the First Philippine Idol beat city boys, Jan Nieto and Gian Magdangal. I jumped for joy for Mau that I ran near the stage so I could get more captivating photos of the First Philippine Idol (View Photos of Philippine Idol Results Night. As soon as Ryan Agoncillo announced Mau’s name, the audience cheered and gave a standing ovation. Mau was beyond disbelief and her knees buckled over as she teared over the announcement. One can see her victory in this youtube video.

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The Philippine Idol Finale at the Big Dome , the Araneta Coliseum rocked!
Jan Nieto, Gian Carlo Magdangal and Mau Marcelo hug each other after their Finale number. After all these months of hard work , tears and laughter, it must be a relief for them to have reached this far.
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The pressure has been lifted from Miguel Mendoza’s shoulders. It must have been a relief for him. It is seen in his smile that he accepted this fate. He can now return to the life of a normal teenager after his commitments with Philippine Idol expires.

Last week, we read the angry comments of disappointed Pow fans when she was eliminated last week . When Ryan A announced that Miguel and Gian could take a seat, I thought “No this doesn’t seem right. There is no suspense. No nerve wracking moment. All week there had been furor over Pow’s elimination”. Something was fishy . I knew it when Mau and Jan were left onstage. It must have been difficult for Mau to choose Miguel. All of them are deserving to be in the Finalists. Unfortunately, one has to be eliminated every week.

Tonight’s results showed some crucial revelations:

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Bong Austero, a columnist of Manila Standard could not believe last Monday’s verdict on “Philippine Idol.” I am not alone in this belief after all. It’s not a matter of a fan’s opinion that one of her favorites, Pow, was booted out. Bong analyzes the state of the Philippine Idol results. Like most of us have blogged about…. “how is it possible for someone with the least talent to outstay the better performers in a competition? Are we really such poor judges of talent that we seem to be voting for the wrong candidates—even in singing contests?” The Philippine Idol is not just another quirk of the times we live in. Bong adds that “But I think that it is actually symptomatic of the state of our democracy. This is the Philippines, and this is our version of democracy. It’s a system built on certain myths.” Bong provides an interesting and comprehensive perspective of Philippine Idol reflective of the country’s political climate.

The first myth is that the playing field is level—that everyone has equal chances of winning. Unfortunately, that is an illusion. In our country, economic power is absolute power and he who has more money, or at least the support of the people with money, wins hands down. To win popularity contests such as elections and yes, Philippine Idol, it is not enough that one has the talent or the qualification or the willingness and determination. One has to have the resources as well.

And so, we have a sorry situation where certain people run away with titles and the positions mainly because they have more resources than their competitors do. So yes, I believe that despite the dismal performance of its candidates in the surveys for the 2007 elections, the Arroyo administration might still be able to pull off an upset if it is able to muster enough resources (do not ask me where they will most likely get the money, your guess is as good as mine). It is an appalling thought, but that’s the way the cookie crumbles in our so-called democracy.

It is not about who is more qualified, it is about who has more money to spend. Forget about winning popularity contests or elective posts if you do not have the resources. Mau and Gian may be the better performers among the remaining four contestants of Philippine Idol, but their talent is not enough guarantee that they will get into the finals.

continue reading Bong Austero’s column and Lea rocks ‘Philippine Idol;’ Pow bows out of the competition

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Disappointment and anger is a perfectly normal reaction for the sad Pow fans. Anger does not equate to hatred. Anger is a normal process of grieving over the loss of a favorite Idol finalist from staying on in the Philippine Idol competition. Fans choose to express their anger through blog comments and forum posts. The devil advocates who think that the slanderous criticisms of inferior candidates are also entitled to their own opinions. (NOTE: except criticisms that attack an Idol’s gender orientation, color, personality or character is unacceptable criticisms). Criticisms are after all constructive if one is open-minded about it. Look at how the block voting was eliminated and the number of voting hours reduced. Look at how Philippine Idol spiced up the show by moving it to sunday and inviting guest judges. All of these new developments came about because of constructive criticisms from loyal Idol fans. Idol finalist should also know that criticisms are part of show business and should be ready to accept good and bad critiques. Idol fans who think Jan and Miguel have well oiled voting bloc didn’t conjure that speculation. I can easily post here what I hear inside the Philippine Idol live shows but I’d rather not out because it doesn’t sound nice.

This is just what I have to say…if only the families of a few Idol finalists had been more discreet at the start of the competition, then none of this so-called “critical backlash” would have happened. I believe even Jove Francisco blogged about it once. When he wrote that particular controversial entry I had never met Jove but I witnessed it too. Philippine Idol will surely learn from all of these and produce a much better season in the future.

After all the hurt and the anger has been said and done, it’s time to move on and make a stand.

Only four idols remain:

To all the Pow, Apple, Ken, Reymond, Drae, Arms, Stef, Jelli fans, it’s time to make a stand and ensure that a deserving Philippine Idol wins this title. Maybe your Idol didn’t make it but it would be to the best interest of the reality tv program to come up with a credible Philippine Idol. You have to make your votes count in the next 4 shows.

My Top 2 Philippine Idol finalists are Gian and Mau. I envision a Mau-Gian Finale.

Since there can only be one winner, I have to make a stand . My choice is Gian Carlo Magdangal

Why do I think Gian Carlo should be the first Philippine Idol?

Ever since I saw Gian Carlo Magdangal at the Cebu auditions, I immediately noticed his looks, voice and stance. I thought, “Gian is a Philippine Idol contender” After watching Gian live for many shows and actually having small talk with him, these are my reasons:

1. He is entertaining and has great eye contact with the audience when singing live. One can feel his passion.
2. He is charming to his fans and willing to have photos or autographs. Patty, a Gian fan can definitely vouch for this. Read Patty’s encounter with Gian and how Gian treats a fan.
3. He sings well.
4. He has the looks and the stage presence. He carries himself well.
5. He shows flexibility in various music genre.

From Manila Bulletin Entertainment (November 22, 2006)

It had been said by Mr. C that talent-wise, the “Philippine Idol” title should be a toss between Mau Marcelo and Gian Magdangal. It was the first time the two were the safest two during the results show as Pow was joined by Miguel Mendoza and Jan Nieto in the bottom three.

Lea Salonga also named Mau and Gian the best performers Sunday night but like Idol history shows, no one is safe in the competition.

Gian with his adoring fans

Vote Gian for Philippine Idol

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