So here we come with Asian Idol!
I was watching the recorded show of Asian Idol, on our national TV, RCTI. RCTI held the Indonesian Idol’s shows for 5 consecutive years, and my company was sponsoring the 3rd season.
At that moment, I went with some of colleagues to see the show live. Crowded, of course, full of teenagers and hyper excited supporters. Indonesians have strange fanaticism, if you know personally to the contestants, you’re in the family, you’re the neighbors, schoolmates, or just came from same city, you should vote for them. I think this Idol’s contest in Indonesia is more like popularity contest than a singing contest..
the stage
I don’t want to brag about our Idol winners, but hell ya, I don’t think they won’t have a chance to compete with the winners of the world hence the region. But..I wasn’t surprised ( and kinda relieved ) when Mike Mohede, 2nd season winner was chosen to represent Indonesia..because he’s the one I believe won’t embarrassed us to other Asian viewers…
The Indonesian Teddy Bear
Anyway, while typing this entry, I’m hearing his performance, not too good, IMO. He missed some notes, but still Indra Lesmana ( Indonesia’s judge ) praised him. Oh man, I never believe on Indra’s opinions. Mike has beautiful voice, I admit that, but he still needs some improvement in performing. I don’t mean about his physical appearance ( he’s the Indonesian version of “Teddy Bear” Ruben Studdard ), but he seemed just sing idly at stage. It’s not quite entertaining. And for the later appearance, Mike sang “I believe I can Fly”..a song that he frequently performs…
About the other contestants, let me clear something up for the readers, I’m not a music genius, I just enjoy music. My opinion is based on my personal taste. So…no offenses here, OKAY?
Jaclyn on her 2nd performance
First performance opened by Malaysian Idol, Jaclyn Victor. She has strong voice. But being the first one is hard, I understand. She seemed so nervous, and her performance was affected. She hadn’t showed the best of her..and again, I wasn’t impressed on her second performance..Too bad. She has potential indeed.
Hady Mirza with Indonesian hosts, Ata and Daniel
Then Singaporean Idol, Hady Mirza. Never heard his songs before, but I’ve seen him several times in CLEO magazines, once as the cover boy ( I subscribe to Singaporean edition of CLEO magazine. We have our own Indonesian version now, btw, but somehow I like the Singaporean version better ). Hady has the look that would melts many girls’ hearts…and so does his voice. He sang a Malay’s song ( is it Singaporean song? I don’t know..), with shaky voice. Too bad. I blame to the 5000+ audiences. Too many eyes watching over you could make someone scared. Fortunately, he fixed it on his 2nd appearance, sang an U2 song. But, like Paul Moss said, Hady’s too sweet to sing a rock song.
I don’t like this dress. I like her 1st outfit better, but I can’t find the picture..
Third one was Vietnam Idol, Phuong Vy. Beautiful sound of name, comes with beautiful look. No wonder Daniel Mananta ( the Indonesian host ) was keeping his eyes on her.. I like her voice! Wow. How lucky you are. Pretty lady with talent. But again the judge Paul Moss said, why should she sang an English song? And she proved that she’s real singer by singing a Vietnam song, very beautiful!! I like the song, I didn’t understand a single word, but it sounded romantic..( unfortunately, Philippine’s judge Pilita Corrales didn’t have same opinion. She said the song is boring..How could it be??)
That’s what I call the Bollywood style! Nice!
Speaking of language, I read that the next contestant from India, Abhijeet Sawant learned his song, “Everything I Do ( I Do It For You” ( my all time favorite ) for just a week! He’s not fluent in English apparently, but he performed convincingly.AND…I LOVE his2nd performance. I am not really into Bollywood songs and movies ( too much dancing for my liking ), this performance was incredibly the most entertaining one of the night! The song is catchy, Abhijeet sang it nicely. The Indonesian lousy dancers should not be there. They were distracting! Abhijeet should have danced more..he seemed too concentrated in singing, which was OK though, but I was waiting for him to do some Shahrukh Khan’s moves! ( OK, he’s the only Indian actor that I remember the name correctly.. 
).
Awful dress..
The Philippine’s Idol, Mau Marcelo, is one of the contestant who really has powerful voice! I’m not stereotyping, but don’t you think that most of big singers ( I mean big in physical appearance ) have powerful voices? She sang a Philippine’s piece on 1st performance, a serious one ( sounded like almost opera’s song ) and it showed her ability to pull high notes… and the 2nd song, “Reach” ( of Gloria Estefan’s fame ) was great..Don’t like her performance though, and her choices of the costumes. She wore a national costume ( is it true? ) and it was not flattering. It made her looked bigger! She should chosen a simpler dress.
The commentators
The factor that I always want to complain about from this kind of contest..is the judges. From all the Idols’ show I have ever seen ( I didn’t see a lot btw ) I admired the sharp tongue of Simon Cowell ( the American Idol judge ), even though he often gives harsh comments but he no doubt has the ability to see a real talent. Indonesian Idol judges were..unbelievable. I didn’t buy any of their comments. They always tried too hard to sound smart yet mean as Simon Cowell’s style, but really didn’t come near to him anyway.
The Asian Idol’s judges, well, I don’t know much about them. I like Paul Moss’ ( Malaysia ) way of commenting, his words are reasonable. The Singaporean judge, Ken Lim, is sooo flat. I wonder if he ever showed his emotion..his voice is almost toneless, whether he was praising or criticizing someone. The Vietnam’s judge, Siu Black, is not fluent in English..enough said. I praise her for trying.
The show was closed by the 6 contestants collaboration, which was a very good ending. Hady and Abhijeed sang an Indian song ( sounded familiar, nice song ) and they matched quite well. Then the powerful voices of Mau and Phuong Vy, “I will Survive” ( da best! )..and the last but not least, Mike and Jaclyn sang “Sinaran”. They should collaborate more often, the beautiful voices of Asia..
OK, IF I have to vote, I would choose….Phuong Vy and Mike.
I wasn’t interested to vote, I believe there’re so many people voted already..
Why? As for Phuong, I really like her voice, her performance, her attitude, everything..I think she’s really talented, has high voice, can dance, and she has all the commercial factors as a performer.
I must be nationalist, so I choose Mike.. 
Nah. I like Mike’s voice anyway. But he should improve his stage’s act..seriously. Maybe that’s the reason he rarely shows up on TV shows compared to other Indonesian Idol’s winners ( or finalists ). Good voice is not enough..sadly.
And…other potential winner is..Abhijeet of India. He’s good entertainer.
I shouldn’t understate Hady Mirza though..he seems to have big (female) fans base who are ready to vote for him, so who knows he might be the winner?
The baseline is, I don’t mind whoever is going to win this competition and become the first Asian Idol, they already won in their own country, and this is just an extension to get more fans regionally, which somehow I believe they’ve already got by now..
Good luck for everyone!
I will come back tomorrow ( or the day after ) with the result!
( The result show will be held Sunday, Dec 16 2007 with some guest stars performances, including : Taylor Hicks-American Idol, Guy Sebastian-Australian Idol, Rivermaya, Peterpan, Agnes Monica, Sui Black, and many more )
Images credit to : wantil @Idol Forum
To watch some of the videos, check this site : AsianIdol2007’s blog
The Asian Idol’s official website is here.
The contestants sites :
Apparently our Idol, Mike, doesn’t have his own site.. 
Posted in Asian Idol, Music, News, Reality Show, Television
