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Thursday, May 26, 2011

American Idol 10: Why Scotty Won

American Idol 10: Why Scotty Won

(SOURCE: Click the title)

by David Bloomberg -- 05/26/2011
Scotty McCreery was not simply a good singer – he also demonstrated other characteristics that helped push him from merely being a performer to being the American Idol. Indeed, it may be that some of these other factors were even more important than his singing abilities. What did he do well enough to carry him to an easy victory? Why did Scotty win?
















When we first saw Scotty, he immediately caught our attention with his deep voice, his obvious country roots, and his aw-shucks charming personality; for a certain segment of the audience, the fact that he was a cute young guy didn’t hurt! Indeed, in my “Contestants to Watch” article that first discussed him, I noted that despite the fact I’m not a country music fan, even I could see that, “dang does he have the ultimate classic down-low country singing voice!” I predicted he might even make it to the finals – little did I know he would go even better than that and get to the finale, and then coast to victory!

But this is where we get to the question we’re here to answer. How did he get to this point? What road did he travel? When others went wrong, how did he go so right? To put it concisely: Why did Scotty win?
Each week throughout the season, we have asked the inverse question – why did each finalist lose? Now we will use the same criteria, found in What ‘American Idol 10’ Contestants Need to Know, to look at how well Scotty did in his victory.

We begin at – where else? – the first rule. It discusses the need to show both singing and performing talent. From the beginning, Scotty showed poise and professionalism, seeming completely comfortable the stage. That’s not to say there weren’t any problems, as he took on a bizarre “squinty, half-leaning country posturing,” as I put it in We’ll Be the Judge of That! at the time. I didn’t personally enjoy his performance – because I’m not a country music fan – but even I could tell, “Scotty definitely has a good voice and I have no doubt that country fans absolutely loved it. He’ll be around for quite a while.”

So began his run of solid performances that simply didn’t end. Week after week, with only a few blips, Scotty showed his singing ability. Unlike some of the male country singers before him, he didn’t suffer from their vocal problems. He had a good voice and performed well – it’s as simple as that. And while Scotty’s rather odd microphone-holding technique certainly drew some comments and jokes, it obviously wasn’t weird enough to scare away voters.

One issue, however, that did cause some people dismay was in his song choices. With only a relatively few exceptions, Scotty essentially sang the same thing over and over again. Amusingly, recapper Jenn even foresaw this after his first performance, saying, “there’s showing people who you are as an artist and there’s doing the same thing over and over. Guess which one Scotty’s doing? If I were planning to vote, I would have a hard time coming up with a reason to vote for Scotty. So I can hear him sing the same kind of song week after week? No, thanks.”

But here’s the thing: Jenn (and myself, for that matter) don’t represent the audience that Scotty was targeting. Of course we weren’t going to vote for him singing that same kind of song over and over again. But you know what? We probably weren’t going to vote for him anyway!

Scotty benefited from a change to the way Idol operated this year. Gone were disco week and big band week and all the times that would have normally pushed him outside his comfort zone. Instead, Scotty was able to pretty much pick songs that continually represented who he was as an artist.

Throughout the process, he stuck to his guns. He was country through and through and he wasn’t going to pretend to be anything else. He knew how to play to his audience and he chose his songs accordingly. A perfect example of this was a couple weeks ago, in the final four. The NGH Report’s Joseph said it best, so I’ll quote him:
Scott showed us that, once again, he was made to strategize. When I heard the theme was “Inspirational Songs,” I immediately turned to my father and said, “I bet you he sings a song about, Jesus, America, or 9/11.” Who would have thought he’d find a song about all three?!
But Scotty’s good choices in songs went much further back than that – all the way to the first few auditions and in Hollywood. Scotty defied the conventional wisdom by repeatedly singing the same song (I don’t even have to quote it – the lyrics just popped into your head all by themselves). Many of us watching and commenting on the performances thought he was crazy to do it! Contestants were supposed to show an ability to sing different songs! But Scotty knew where he was the most solid and he wanted to put his best foot forward – so he did… and it worked perfectly for him.


Another thing that worked perfectly for Scotty? Well, I already mentioned it: The format change that didn’t force him outside of his comfort zone. The third rule tells singers they need to be consistent and able to sing different genres. Guess what? Scotty is forcing me (along with Idol themselves) to likely delete that second part come next year. If the producers aren’t going to make the singers jump around in different genres, then there is no reason they need to be able to do it! Scotty just proved that!

Scotty also proved just how important the first part of the rule still is – consistency can mean everything. It’s clear as day: This rule says, “you need to be able to sing every week consistently.” Scotty did. Sure, there were a few minor slips, but those came after his voting base was solid enough to handle them. Until that point, he was a rock.

Actually, Scotty did even a bit better than that. Like Haley showed us, Scotty didn’t just stay on a level playing field – he improved as the rule instructs… at least to a certain point. Unlike Haley, Scotty didn’t start as an underdog and have to scratch and claw his way to stick around each week. Scotty’s path was a bit different in that he was seen from the get-go as a likely frontrunner, but he still improved along the way.

Several of our Foxes On Idol writers have suggested that Scotty essentially coasted and held back a bit in the finals until he was criticized (albeit mildly) by the judges. After all, why change or improve when you’re being told you’re already great? It can be much better to wait and then show such “improvement” after you’ve been told to do so! Then everybody believes, “Wow, you’re even better than we thought!”
 Presuming Scotty was thinking along these lines (and I do believe he is cagey enough to have done so), it was a great plan.

But not everything can be planned. Scotty’s role in this season as the male country star, for example, needed some help because he couldn’t control who might be up against him. Even so, though, Scotty stood out in terms of the fourth rule by showing himself to be unique – certainly among his own competitors and also throughout the show’s ten seasons.

Sure, we’ve had male country singers before, but none of them were this charming, this young, or – most importantly – this good. And as I mentioned before, none of them had the opportunity Scotty was given to keep himself firmly planted in a single genre. Just as Scotty didn’t need to worry about tackling various different types of music, he was better able to define exactly who he is as a singer, again emphasizing his uniqueness.

Because of that, Scotty was also extremely memorable. While one or another of the various young ladies who were on the show might have fallen out of your recollection (I have to admit, I struggled a bit with some of them on finale night!), Scotty was firmly planted there. Heck, I even suggested as much earlier when I mentioned the song we all know he sang several times in the early goings and noted that I didn’t need to quote the lyrics because they would just spring into your head. Like I said, memorable!

Pulling those aspects together made Scotty into the complete package he is, in accordance with the sixth rule. I’ve already said it a couple times, but I’ll say it again now: Scotty has looks, charm, voice, performance skills, and a well-defined musical genre. We all know what to expect from his first album. Voters knew exactly what they would be getting when they dialed (or texted, or whatevered) in for him. Scotty knows who he is and he made sure we knew it as well.

The seventh rule was a non-issue. Why? Because it says not to argue with the judges and, other than maybe once (the very mild criticism/guidance), Scotty had nothing to argue against!

So that brings us to the eighth, which says to create a fan base. Obviously, Scotty did an awesome job here. We’ve always known that country fans are a solid support base for any decent Idol contestant. We’ve also known of the power held by young teenaged girls, who seem to be among the most dominant voting bloc (if such reports are to be believed). Scotty managed to hook into both of these groups! Heck, he and Lauren even managed to somehow avoid the vote-splitting we almost always see in situations where two contestants with similarities are up against one another.

We know the overall voting tally for the finale was huge. According to the information – mostly unofficial – that I’ve seen, the margin was quite wide as well. Scotty had been so successful at turning himself into a vote-worthy package that he also created an unstoppable fan base.

Scotty’s Idol journey helps to emphasize one of the main reasons for these articles. If it was all about singing, we wouldn’t need to worry about why one person lost and another won. But it’s not. Scotty did a good job not only on the stage but also in his preparation. He sang what he knew. He picked good songs that would appeal to his target audience. He stayed positive and focused on the goal. To properly use a phrase, he was indeed “in it to win it.”

Scotty not only performed well, but he did so on a consistent basis and then improved when he eventually needed to do so. He showed all the viewers exactly who he was as both an artist and a person in general, grabbing up a big chunk as his voting support in the process. Scotty didn’t just sing his way into the American Idol title – he seemed to have planned it out, defining himself early and lodging himself in viewers’ minds. Strategy combined with talent and charm – that is why Scotty won.

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Fwd: The legal Implication of Conversion to Islam - IN MALAYSIA

(OLD STATEMENT - STILL RELEVANT)
 

The legal Implication of Conversion to Islam This is what happens in Malaysia for Muslim convert



Fwd: Unethical Doctors

It's good advice to get a second opinion.

There were many instances, too. A friend of mine was diagnosed as a having a
septic leg and being a diabetic, he was told by the Damansara Specialist
Centre (at TDI) doctors that the leg up to his ankle must be amputated since
gangrene had already set in. It wouldl cost RM25K just to saw off the leg. I
told him to get 2nd opinion at the UKM Hosp (Govt) Specialist Centre. 


The specialists there told him that there was nothing wrong with the leg and gave him antibiotics instead. Today (4 years after the incidence) , at age 61, he is still working and doing things such as climbing without much problems.

What would it be if he had listened to the unscrupulous doctors at Damansara
Sp Centre? He would be walking with crutches, poorer by 25K and without a job
to support his family. What a shame for these "Ugly Malaysians". I am sure
there are many similar instances which everyone can share.

So be careful, Malaysian Specialists are giving the nation a bad name. They
want to make money and make the patients suffer (more so if you have an
insurance coverage). It is best to seek 2nd and 3rd opinion to be very
sure....TOM
 
Dear friends,

I am a general surgeon in private practice in Kuala Lumpur . I would like to
bring to the attention of the public the unethical practices of some doctors
in private practice.

An 8-year-old boy was brought to see me by his father after suffering from fever, cough and vomiting for 1 day. He DID NOT HAVE ANY ABDOMINAL PAIN. He was initially seen by a general practitioner who insisted that the father bring him to see surgeon G at a specific private medical centre in Kuala Lumpur. 


The father at first refused and had wanted to bring his son to the
medical centre where he was born but relented when the medical practitioner said that surgeon G will order some blood tests and will send his son home with some medications.

However, when he brought his son to see surgeon G, the surgeon examined his son's abdomen and pressed so hard that he elicited pain. Then the surgeon told the father that the son had a perforated appendix and insisted that he be operated the same night. The father was baffled because his son did not have any abdominal pain prior to that excrutiating examination but he reluctantly agreed upon insistence by the surgeon. 


About 1 hour prior to the surgery, the father suspected that something was not right and he asked for his son to be discharged. He then brought his son to see me.

The first thing I noticed was that the boy had a slight cough but he was
very active. His father told him to jump to prove that he did not have any
abdominal pain, which he did with great enthusiasm. After a thorough
examination, I was convinced that the boy did not have appendicitis and
definitely not a perforated one. I treated him symptomatically for upper
respiratory tract infection and sent him home with some medications. The
father was outraged with what happened to his son earlier but he was
relieved that his son was saved from an unnecessary surgery.


Professionally, I could not tell him that surgeon G may have tried to cheat him but, in my heart, I knew that was the case because I knew surgeon G very well and had inherited a few of his patients whom he operated upon and had botched the surgeries.

The next day, surgeon G called me and asked what happened to the patient. I told him I was certain that the boy did not have a perforated appendix but he insisted that the boy was very sick and had rigors (severe shivering) when he first saw him. Surgeon G said the boy improved tremendously after one dose of antibiotics.


In my years of practice, I have not come across one case where one dose of antibiotics can cure a case of perforated appendicitis. IT IS JUST NOT POSSIBLE! 

He also said that the boy's father was a liar and had lied about his son not having any abdominal pain. Well, dear readers, I am a parent too. No father will lie about his son's health because he would have wanted the best treatment for his son.

I suspect surgeon G is giving kickbacks to many general practitioners to
send patients to him to operate. In return, he would pay these general
practitioners for each patient referred to him. He would cooperate with the general practitioners to convince the patients that they need urgent
surgery.


I have personally worked with surgeon G and I know that his skills are questionable. He told me once that it is alright for a patient to have a
recurrent disease as a result of his incomplete surgery because he would
then refer the patient to another surgeon to tackle the problem. He had
caused one death from a thyroid operation and at least 2 cases of
complications after gall bladder surgeries which he refused to admit fault. 


In his clinic he has medical books with pictures of dangerous diseases which he uses to scare his patients into accepting surgery.

I am writing this to alert the public that there are doctors who are out for
money only and are unethical in their practices. It breaks my heart that
there are such individuals practising freely and fleecing off unsuspecting
and vulnerable patients and giving this noble profession a bad name. The
only defence patients have is to be knowledgeable about their own illnesses and not be afraid to ask questions.


All patients have to right to a second opinion and no doctors should coerce their patients to accept treatment against their will. The only consolation I have is that most doctors, both in public and private practice, are still ethical and are sincere in helping their patients.

Please circulate this article to your friends and loved ones and lets hope
no one will suffer in the hands of surgeons like surgeon G. Also, beware of
the general practitoner who insists that you see a particular specialist in
a particular hospital because he could be working hand-in-hand with that
doctor.

Thank you.



Fwd: Lemon - ONLY kills cancer cells? Read on...

Just cut 2-3 thin slices of lemon in a cup/container and add drinking water will become "alkaline water", drink for the whole day, just by adding drinking water.  Take it as drinking water everyday is good for everybody.  

The surprising benefits of lemon!
I remain perplexed!================================
Institute of Health Sciences, 819 N. L.L.C. Charles Street Baltimore , MD 1201.

This is the latest in medicine, effective for cancer! 
 
Read carefully & you be the judge!!!
 
Lemon (Citrus) is a miraculous product to kill cancer cells. It is 10,000 times stronger than chemotherapy
 
Why do we not know about that? Because there are laboratories interested in making a synthetic version that will bring them huge profits. 
 
You can now help a friend in need by letting him/her know that lemon juice is beneficial in preventing the disease. Its taste is pleasant and it does not produce the horrific effects of chemotherapy. How many people will die while this closely guarded secret is kept, so as not to jeopardize the beneficial multimillionaires large corporations? 
As you know, the lemon tree is known for its varieties of lemons and limes. You can eat the fruit in different ways: you can eat the pulp, juice press, prepare drinks, sorbets, pastries, etc... 
It is credited with many virtues, but the most interesting is the effect it produces on cysts and tumors. 
 
This plant is a proven remedy against cancers of all types. Some say it is very useful in all variants of cancer. It is considered also as an anti microbial spectrum against bacterial infections and fungi, effective against internal parasites and worms, it regulates blood pressure which is too high and an antidepressant, combats stress and nervous disorders.

The source of this information is fascinating: it comes from one of the largest drug manufacturers in the world, says that after more than 20 laboratory tests since 1970, the extracts revealed that:
It destroys the malignant cells in 12 cancers
 including colon, breast, prostate, lung and pancreas ... The compounds of this tree showed 10,000 times better than the product Adriamycin, a drug normally used chemotherapeutic in the world, slowing the growth of cancer cells. And what is even more astonishing: this type of therapy with lemon extract only destroys malignant cancer cells and it does not affect healthy cells.

Institute of Health Sciences, 819 N. L.L.C. Cause Street, Baltimore, MD1201
 

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

American Idol Season 10: Top 2 Performance Recap

American Idol Season 10: Top 2 Performance Recap

(SOURCE: Click the title)

Posted on 05/25/2011 by Gina in American Idol

American Idol Season 10

by Todd Betzold

You ready for your country-themed American Idol finale?

The finale for season 10 put the country talents of Scotty McCreery against the country talents of Lauren Alaina. Three rounds consisting of round one having the contestants picking their favorite song from the season, round two having the contestants' idols choosing a song for them and round three being the first single for each contestant should they win.

Up first, Scotty takes the stage singing "Gone" by Montgomery Gentry. He starts in the audience and works his way to the stage, like he did his first time singing this song. He seems to start out nervous, but once he hits that stage it is go time for him. He is working the crowd, working it with the band members and has a ton of energy. Great range and a brilliant vocal from Scotty.

Lauren gets her first shot of the night as she sings "Flat On The Floor" by Carrie Underwood. A great song for Lauren and it also gets the crowd going with it's high-tempo beat. She shows great range and ends it on a high note.

After a very close round and equally great performances by both, I give the slight edge to Scotty.

Round two starts out with Scotty's idol, George Strait, choosing "Check Yes Or No" by Strait for Scotty to sing. Scotty brings out the guitar for this song and he shows those calm nerves as he belts out another great performance. He shows off a good range, including some high notes he was able to hit. I feel it was a great song choice for Scotty.

Lauren fires back with "Maybe It Was Memphis" by Pam Tillis, chosen by Lauren's idol Carrie Underwood. Lauren showed good range and tone during this song. She was very clear with her vocals and it was another great performance by Lauren and another great song choice for her.

Another round down and another set of beautiful performances by the finalists, but I give another slight edge to Scotty.

The judges piped in after the two rounds and Randy and Jennifer split the rounds, with round one going to Scotty and round two going to Lauren. Steven said they both did amazing and gave both rounds to Lauren because she is prettier, which Scotty accepted.

Time for Scotty to hit the stage for his final performance, where he sang what would be his first single should he win, "I Love You This Big." I felt the song was fitting for him and it showed off his journey through the competition. Scotty showed some great range again in this song. His vocals were amazing and like Lopez stated, you felt like he was telling you a story. Can Lauren top that?

Lauren comes to the stage to sing her first possible single, "Like My Mother Does." This song showed viewers why she was in the finals. Lauren showed amazing range during the song. It was soft in parts, but she totally controlled the whole song. Such beautiful vocals to go with such a beautiful song. During the performance, Lauren walks over to her mother and hugs her and sings part of the song to her. Amazing, amazing job.

Now after two rounds, I had Scotty winning after each round. After round three and the performance Lauren gave during that last song, it made me forget who Scotty even was. That song was just a wow moment for me and I think many viewers. She owned it, but in the end, I don't choose the winner...America does.


Who will the winner be? Tune into the finale of American Idol tonight at 8/7c on FOX.

(Image courtesy of FOX)


Follow Todd @tbetzold


Friday, May 20, 2011

ESSAY: The migrant’s eye — Shaun Tan

Subject: The migrant's eye - Shaun Tan. (one of the finalists in the World Bank 2011 Essay Competition, on the brain drain issue.
May 05, 2011

MAY 5 — Below is the entry by Shaun Tan, one of the finalists in the World Bank 2011 Essay Competition, on the brain drain issue.

“Our young people represent the future of our country.” This phrase has been echoed by almost every politician in almost every country in modern history. However the changes instigated by the increasing ease of migration are such that not even this time-honoured cliché holds the weight it once did. Young people still represent the future, but it is the future of whichever country they decide to settle in or impact, which may or may not be their country of origin. As with most changes, there are new benefits and drawbacks, and new winners and losers. Among the most pressing questions countries now face are how to prevent their young people from migrating, and how far they should go in providing for the migrants residing within their borders.

Exodus

Smart Indians go to med school,

Smart Chinese go to investment banks,

Smart Malaysians go to Singapore.

— Anonymous

My first brush with migration was in 2002. My father came home one day in a state of great excitement. My father is an excitable guy. He is also an alumnus of a university in New Zealand, and he had just learned that, because of this, our family was entitled to permanent residency (PR) status in New Zealand upon fulfilment of a few (relatively minor) requirements. One of the requirements was that we reside in New Zealand for at least three months over the next two years. We discussed it and decided it might be fun. We packed for summer.

Within a few weeks I was bored. New Zealand was charming enough in its own way, but it didn’t have the vibrancy of my home city of Kuala Lumpur, and I couldn’t imagine us choosing to live in this land of sheep and five o’clock closing times instead. And yet I understood why my father pushed for PR status so eagerly. He remembered the Indonesian racial riots of 1998, and he kept the pulse of rising extremism in Malaysia. If violence ever broke out in Malaysia my family would have a back door, a way out.

Later on I saw that most of my Malaysian friends who could afford it went abroad for at least part of their education. Some went to boarding schools in Singapore, Australia, and the UK. When it came to university, almost all my Malaysian friends went to Australia, the UK or the US. The reasons they (and their parents) gave for wanting a foreign education were the same: the racial quotas in Malaysian universities, the skewed syllabi, the controls on free expression, the low standard of the Malaysian education system (apart from a few private university colleges), and the relative quality and prestige of foreign schools and universities.

At university this trend continues. Many of my Malaysian friends plan to remain overseas after graduation, or to work in Singapore. “Everything in Malaysia is on such a small scale,” one of them said, “it can’t compare with the training you get overseas.” Some of them hope to return to Malaysia later, but only in the distant future, after earning enough money and establishing themselves in their industries. I know the power of inertia, and every year that goes by makes it less and less likely that they will return.

Asian societies have very tight family bonds. Most of my friends have parents who miss them very much, and who dislike them living far away. However, far from meeting with parental opposition, these plans have full approval: the message my Malaysian friends get from their parents and relatives is: “Don’t come home.”

No Brain, No Gain

Malaysia faces a brain drain crisis. Recent decades have seen the migration of many ethnic Chinese (comprising 26 per cent of Malaysia’s population) [1] and Indians (8 per cent) [2], as well as considerable numbers of Malays, the majority ethnic group (53 per cent) [3]. Shamsuddin Bardan, executive director of the Malaysian Employers Federation, reported that there are 785,000 Malaysians working overseas. [4] Unofficially, the figure is thought to be over a million. [5] According to the World Bank, the number of Malaysian emigrants has increased almost a hundred-fold in the past 50 years, from 9,576 in 1960, to almost 1.5 million in 2005. [6] A parliamentary report revealed that 140,000 Malaysians emigrated in 2007. [7] According to Deputy Foreign Minister Kohilan Pillay, the figure between 2008 and 2009 was 304,000. [8] As of 2007, 106,000 Malaysians had renounced their citizenship. [9]

Many of these Malaysians go to Australia, the UK, and the US. [10] About half of them go to Singapore, [11] which has a GDP per capita almost four times larger than Malaysia’s [12]. The portion of the Malaysians who return is minimal (Prime Minister Najib Razak reported the figure to be less than 1 per cent) [13] prompting former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad to suggest that other countries should pay Malaysia for having seduced them to stay “since by right, the graduates’ training and knowledge should be called intellectual property.” [14]. Prominent writer Mariam Mokhtar outlines the reasons given by emigrants: “improved employment and business prospects, higher salaries, better working environments, greater chances of promotion and a relatively superior quality of life.” [15]

This has severely retarded Malaysia’s development. Malaysia continues to be the poor cousin of the Asian Tigers — Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan. Malaysia’s growth rate dropped from 9 per cent a year, from 1991 to 1997, to 5.5 per cent a year, from 2000 to 2008. [16] Stewart Forbes, the executive director of the Malaysian International Chamber of Commerce and Industry, explained that many of Malaysia’s lost investment opportunities stem from the brain drain — because international companies had trouble finding skilled employees in Malaysia. [17] “People have left, growth prospects have dimmed, and then more people continue to leave,” [18] said Danny Quah, an economics professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science, and Council Member on Malaysia’s National Economic Advisory Council. “It’s a vicious cycle that the economy has had to confront for the last decade or longer.” [19] The increasing ease of migration has produced new winners — countries like Singapore, Australia, the UK and the US, who get to cherry-pick from a global talent pool. It has also produced new losers. Malaysia is certainly one of them.

The Malaysian Dilemma

As there are new winners and losers from migration, so too are there new benefits and drawbacks. A classroom discussion threw this debate into stark relief.

It was last year. The date was the September 27, the country was America, and I was in my International Relations class. We were discussing globalisation, and having gone through some of its benefits, we moved on to its drawbacks.

“Well,” said one of my classmates, “one drawback is that it increases the brain drain effect and leads to greater inequality between countries. Developing countries lose a lot of the talent that they badly need.” This received a general nodding of assent.

I raised my hand. “Actually,” I asked, “is greater inequality necessarily a bad thing?”

My class, accustomed by now to my mannerisms, still looked at me strangely.

“I mean, it’s true that many developing countries end up losing their talent, but really, some of these countries bloody well deserve to lose them.”

This created a small firestorm. From my classmates’ reactions you’d have thought I’d asked what was wrong with genocide. There were gasps. Before I could finish, a forest of hands shot up to respond. One of my classmates burst out angrily; “Now you’re just being facetious!”

My professor moved to restore order. He was a kindly old man who usually let our discussions run their course. He did however step in whenever our discussions threatened to turn into a pseudo-intellectual brawl.

He turned to me. “I assume you said that to be deliberately provocative,” he said gently; a teacher reasoning with a difficult student.

“No,” I said, “not at all.”

I looked at the rest of my class who now whispered amongst themselves and eyed me warily, apparently taken aback to see their (I hope) usually charming and amiable classmate say such callous things.

But to me my statement seemed as normal as breathing. And said to any reasonably informed Malaysians, it wouldn’t even have raised an eyebrow. I realised then that there were perspectives on this issue that are unique to Malaysians, and to those who have experienced similar circumstances.

Push and Pull

I’ve left a few unanswered questions over the course of this essay. Like why do loving parents tell their children not to come home? And why do many Malaysians think Malaysia deserves to lose its talented young people? Now at last is the time to answer them.

Malaysia has a lot going for it. It has much untapped potential. It is devoid of natural disasters and rich in natural resources. It is a country with warm weather, amazing food and hot women. Its people are generally warm, friendly, and (with certain exceptions like yours truly) humble. Pull-factors like these would require considerable push-factors to trigger mass emigration.

But there’s a darker side. A side behind the strained tranquillity and Malaysia Truly Asia adverts. Since its independence in 1957, Malaysia has been run by the Barisan National (BN) party, and its regime is an autocracy that institutionalises racism. Non-Malays, including the ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities, are discriminated against in favour of the majority Malays, whose support BN depends on. Malaysian laws make non-Malays pay higher prices for certain goods and services, allocate them only a small percentage of places in public universities, and impose significant barriers against their advancement in the military, police force, civil service, and in government-owned companies. The BN government persecutes minority religions, and major Malay politicians often refer to Chinese and Indian Malaysians as pendatang (immigrants), of inferior status, while the current Prime Minister Najib Razak is alleged to have threatened to “bathe a keris dagger with Chinese blood”.

The BN government is also very protectionist, making it even more difficult for international companies to set up business there, for example, international law firms can only operate in Malaysia by acting in partnership with a local firm. Furthermore, the BN government is both grossly incompetent and highly corrupt. Billions of dollars in public funds are squandered on cronyism [20] and ill-conceived mega-projects [21], instead of being properly used to develop the country. The judiciary is largely comprised of underqualified yes-men, the police force is unreliable, and the public schools and universities are of low standard, such that even Malaysia’s top university, University Malaya, has dropped out of the top 200 universities in the world on all major rankings. [22]

This is why loving parents tell their children not to come home. They don’t want their children to live as second-class citizens in Malaysia, where their ambitions will be limited by institutional inefficiency, where they will be passed over for promotion in favour of others, not for any lack of skill, but for the colour of their skin. “Money does have a significant role but the most important factor… is opportunity,” outlined Wan Saiful Wan Jan, founding chief executive member of the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs. “Malaysia is too politicised and opportunities are not evenly available to everyone.” [23]

This is why Malaysians flock to Singapore, not because Singapore’s government is less despotic (it is even more so), but because the Singaporean government at least prizes efficiency, and recognises merit regardless of race. When a Malaysian renounces his citizenship, he doesn’t see it as an unpatriotic betrayal, he sees it as washing his hands off a regime that has marginalised and persecuted him. As one Malaysian, Wan Jon Yew, explained: “I’m not proud of being a Malaysian because I think the government doesn’t treat me as a Malaysian.” [24] Migration is beneficial because it increases efficiency; it allows young Malaysians to move to take their best offers, to move to where their ability is truly valued. A mind is a terrible thing to waste, and migration helps to reduce this wastage.

Not all Malaysians mass-emigrating are Chinese and Indians. Many Malays are emigrating too. Although they do not face racial persecution, many of their reasons for doing so are the same as those of non-Malays: the corrupt and inefficient system, the lack of security and religious freedom, the quashing of free expression, human rights abuses. Furthermore, Malays face a different form of religious persecution — forced piety by the overzealous Islamic moral police. Non-Muslim Malays and Malay homosexuals are jailed or sent to “re-education centres” [25], and earlier this year 80 Malays were arrested for celebrating Valentine’s Day [26]. In light of this, Malaysia deserves to lose the talents of its young people. It doesn’t appreciate these talents; it punishes its best citizens — those brave enough to stand up for themselves, or those too principled to fake devotion to a religion they don’t believe in — and instead it rewards its worst elements — the religious extremist, the racist, the snivelling sycophant. In a sense, we as Malaysian citizens deserve to lose the benefits those talents would have brought, because through our participation or collective inaction we allow this wretched state of affairs to continue. Migration is beneficial because it allows Malaysians to leave, and to live in a country that accords them the dignity commensurate with their status as a human being.

The Open Door

The ability to migrate presents young Malaysians with an open door to the rest of the world. This is not without its drawbacks. Many of the Malaysian émigrés leave not because they are weak or cowardly, but because they are ambitious, or because they are uncompromising — they refused to take orders from those who are their inferiors, or to remain party to a system that is morally indefensible. One cannot help but imagine how much good such spirit could have done if they had no choice but to remain in Malaysia. Not necessarily by engaging in overtly political activities, but by simple apolitical acts — by living their lives in their own way, free from compromise, and refusing to curb their ambitions. As Vaclav Havel explained in his book “The Power of the Powerless”, such simple acts are often the most potent weapons against oppressive regimes. Thus, migration has its drawbacks — it makes it harder for Malaysia to achieve real change because it takes away some of its most spirited people.

However there are also many young Malaysians who choose to return, and who seek to bring real change to the country. People like Nathaniel Tan — a Harvard graduate, who writes books exposing the abuses of the BN regime, even if his efforts meet with harassment and detention. Or Alea Nasihin — a friend of mine, and a student at Nottingham University, who resolves to return to work as a human rights lawyer. [27] Or myself. For us the open door is comforting. It gives us the courage to say or do things we might otherwise be wary of. Because it reminds us that there are limits to what an oppressive government can do. Because we know that even if our efforts harm our careers in Malaysia, even if the BN government hounds us and bars us from getting a job at any major company in Malaysia, there will always be many other places eager for our talents. It allows us to take more risks and dare greater things. The open door presented by migration therefore simultaneously hinders and helps the process of change in Malaysia.

Point of Origin

From a Malaysian perspective, good measures for broadening opportunities for young migrants in their countries of origin are relatively straightforward. The most obvious one is to increase meritocracy, to distinguish merit instead of race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation. When each citizen is judged solely on the basis of his ability, when high standards are promoted, when the most innovative people are rewarded and encouraged, the whole country progresses and develops, creating greater opportunities for all. Nepotism and cronyism should be prohibited in all industries, so that positions and promotions go to the most able candidates. This policy should be pursued in conjunction with scholarships and financial aid for poor youths to attend schools and universities, again awarded on the basis of merit.

The other obvious measure is to liberalise. A liberal society that respects human rights provides the broadest opportunities for free expression and the free practice of religion simply because fewer things are prohibited. Laws should be enacted against the interference with an individual’s expression or religious practice, unless he harms or grossly misrepresents another person in doing so. The judiciary should be allowed to become strong and independent, so that everyone has the opportunity for a fair trial.

Meanwhile, opportunities should be given to migrants who consider returning to their country of origin. Those living overseas, but with vital skills in various fields should be invited back and offered senior positions, with PR status or citizenship offered to their families.

A fair, liberal government that rewards merit provides the broadest opportunities for its people. Measures like the Malaysian government’s Returning Export and Brain Gain Malaysia programmes fail to attract young people because they make only cosmetic changes, refusing to give effect to the principles of fairness, liberalism, and meritocracy, that are the essence of true improvement of opportunity.

Destination

Good measures for broadening opportunities for young migrants in their countries of destination are relatively straightforward too. They largely consist of refraining from the policies these migrants were fleeing from in the first place. Other than some free basic language-training programmes, no special privileges should be given to these immigrants, and no affirmative action policies should be implemented. Instead, these immigrants should be allowed to compete for (generally) the same opportunities as everyone else, judged on the basis of their merit, rather than race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation. They should be given equal opportunity to exercise their civil rights, like the rights to free speech, association, and religious practice. Their right to marry should be recognised regardless of sexual orientation, and the continued ban on gay marriage is an instance where the US has fallen short of this standard.

However governments should be conscious of where granting formal rights in fact restricts opportunities. In “Beyond Liberal Democracy”, Daniel Bell contrasted Western and East Asian approaches to dealing with migrant workers. He described how migrant workers in East Asia are denied citizenship (and thus full legal protection) no matter how long they stay, while those in Western countries are able to obtain it much more easily. The result of this is that East Asian countries are able to officially admit many more temporary contract workers. Comparatively, Western countries can officially admit few migrant workers, although many more work there illegally, without any legal protections at all. “In the West,” Bell explained, “the liberal political culture places higher priority on the justice of legal forms… In East Asia, by contrast, the authorities prefer to enact… laws that allow for large numbers of migrant domestic workers to engage temporarily in legally protected work in their territories.” [28] Governments therefore should not dogmatically pursue form over substance, but should be pragmatic in their measures to achieve the best results for immigrants.

Ich bin ein Inmigrante

“Once I thought to write a history of the immigrants in America. Then I discovered that immigrants were America.”

— Oscar Handlin

America is not without shortcomings in providing for its immigrants. True equality of opportunity can only be achieved with the shattering of glass ceilings, and there are numerous social barriers that still need to be overcome. To this date, the highest office in the country, that of the President of the United States, can only be held by someone born on American soil. And yet America remains the land of opportunity for so many people. The immigrants in America are integrated far better than those in Europe, because Americans are conscious of the fact that they were all immigrants once. And America has benefited greatly from this. It gets physics from Einstein, political theory from Arendt, movies from Ang Lee, eye-candy from Maggie Q, and literature from Junot Diaz. The fact that Irish-Catholic immigrants like the Kennedys could become America’s most prominent family, that an Austrian immigrant like Arnold Schwarzenegger could become Governor of California, and that a black man born in Hawaii and raised in Indonesia could become President, is a testament to this tradition.

I am the product of migration. It was through migration that my ancestors from Fujian province in China came to live in Malaysia. It is through migration that I have been able to grow up in Malaysia and study in Britain and America, and it is through migration that I have had the privilege of learning from people from all over the world. My accent is a bastard mix of British, American and Malaysian. My upbringing was a schizophrenic blend of liberalism and Asian Tiger Mom-style parenting. I revel in living in a mixed-up world and having a mixed-up self. [29] I have tried to live consistently with the principles advocated in this essay. Where in my life I have failed I have accepted it and tried to learn from my mistakes. Where I have succeeded, I have taken pride in the knowledge of having done so myself, not needing any legal crutch to prop me up. The only right I have demanded is the right to a fair contest. I think that the right to fair competition is the only thing we can and should expect.





Thursday, May 19, 2011

American Idol: Top Three Performances

May 18, 2011 06:59 PM by Lisa Princ


Tonight on FOX‘s American Idol, the top three got to take a trip home and then they headed back to give us three song performances! Keep reading for all the details on how the top three did with their song choices, the judges’ song choices and Jimmy Iovine’s song choices!


American Idol kicks off tonight with Ryan Seacrest talking about the shocking elimination last week, and then he shared what we already knew – that James did go home last weekend to Santa Cruz. Tonight, the top three performed 3 songs each – one of their choice, one chosen by Jimmy Iovine and one chosen by the judges. To help mentor the contestants this week in their song choice was Beyonce. Here is the how the final three did on their choice:

Scotty McCreery

Country crooner Scotty was up first and he chose “Amazed” by Lonestar and Beyonce just thought Scotty was the cutest thing – I am sure all the young ladies out there agree! Scotty performed it amazing and to me it was better than the original. The crowd loved him as did the judges – Steven started off by saying he thinks Scotty gets better and better and that he took the song up a notch. Jennifer said it was a great show starter while Randy said it was an amazing choice for him and he loves that he is picky smart song choices.

Lauren Alaina

Lauren chose “Wild One”by Faith Hill for her song choice tonight and Beyonce loved it saying she loved when Lauren showed her fun side. Lauren came out looking absolutely adorable and gave a stellar and fun performance. The crowd and the judges loved her. Jennifer told her she attacked it while Randy said he loves to see her have fun, and he could see that she was loving it. Steven said he loved the way she sang like she owned the song and ended saying she was ready for America to be all over her.

Haley Reinhart

Haley chose “What Is And What Should Never Be” by Led Zeppelin. Beyonce thought it showed that she was a risk taker. Haley chose a great song for her and she performed it perfectly, despite a small fall during her performance. The crowd loved her and the judges gave her a standing ovation. Randy started by saying that she slayed it and it was one of her best performances ever. Steven called it superb and Jennifer said it was a really tough song and she sang it really great.

After the performances were over, Ryan asked who the judges thought round one, and they all agreed that Haley won round one hands down. Next up for the top three were Jimmy Iovine’s song choices for them, and this is how the top three fared courtesy of Jimmy:

Scotty McCreery

Scotty was back and after we watched his audition from Nashville, we learned that Jimmy had chose Thompson Square’s “Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not”. This was another great, solid performance and we heard some different notes out of Scotty. The crowd loved him as did the judges – Steven started by saying it was great. Jennifer said there were so many moments in the performance that she loved and then she asked him if he would shave his head for the finale. Randy said Jimmy picked the perfect song and he compared him to Garth Brooks ending with Scotty’s “in it to win it”.

Lauren Alaina

After a review of Lauren’s audition revealed that Lauren would be performing “If I Die Young” by The Band Perry. Lauren did a good job with it but she did have a few pitch issues during the performance, but no one seemed to mind as the crowd went wild. Jennifer said it was beautiful and she gushed that Lauren has the most beautiful tone out of the contestants. Randy said she has such a beautiful tone and it was a great song choice for Jimmy. Steven said she nailed it.

Haley Reinhart

Haley was up next and after seeing her audition again, we were informed that Jimmy wanted her to perform “Rihannon” by Fleetwood Mac. Not as good as her last performance, and definitely not Stevie Nicks. It was comical to watch though with the “wind” blowing on her. Randy said she cracked him up because she was looking up and she did a good job. Steven said her performance made him remember why he fell in love with Stevie Nicks while Jennifer said it was a beautiful moment, but she hoped Haley would take it a little further at the end.

When Ryan asked who won round 2, Steven said Lauren did, but Randy, Jennifer and Jimmy said that Scotty won the round. Next on American Idol we got to see the premiere of her new video “Run The World (Girls)” by Beyonce. Then it was time for the judges choice and this is how it went down:

Scotty McCreery

Scotty was given “She Believes In Me” by Kenny Rogers as his judges choice. This was a different type of tune for Scotty but he pulled it off perfectly and made it look effortless. The crowd roared and the judges were glad they chose that song for him as Steven said he put it over the top and it was the first big chorus he has sang. Jennifer said that is exactly why they chose that song for him and he showed them. Randy said seeing him do the big chorus was very nicely done.

Lauren Alaina

Lauren was up for her final performance and the judges chose “I Hope You Dance” by Lee Ann Womack for her song. Lauren looked stunning as she donned a gorgeous gown and her performance was just as beautiful and perfect as she looked. The judges loved her as Jennifer said the performance was beautiful and she won the round already while Randy said she slayed it. Steven said Lauren walked in like owned the Grand Ole Opry and went on to say she sang it perfectly.

Haley Reinhart

Haley closed the show with her judges’ choice of “You Oughtta Know” by Alanis Morrisette. It was a good performance but she sounded like she was screaming to me, but I am not a fan of the growling personally. The crowd enjoyed it and so did the judges as Randy said the choruses were amazing, but there were some other problems while Steven said she nailed it. Jennifer said it was a really good job in the chorus.
Be sure to go vote for your favorite because at this point in the game, every vote counts! Then tune in tomorrow for the live results show to find out who gets sent home!



Wednesday, May 18, 2011

American Idol 10: Why James Lost?

American Idol 10: Why James lost?

Firstly, I'd start with his curtain call:


American Idol 10: Why James Lost



(For SOURCE: CLICK ON THE TITLE)

by David Bloomberg -- 05/16/2011

James seemed to be the frontrunner to win American Idol, but instead he followed so many other talented singers who left in fourth place. What happened?! Should we be surprised? Does it remind us of a previous rocker who also went out in fourth? How did other factors affect James this past week? Why did James lose?

I should have known better.

In my prediction article with Sting7, I said I didn’t know if he would win, but, “If I were forced at gunpoint to make such a prediction right now, I’d say yes.” I did give myself a bit of an out, adding, “But this is American Idol and crazier stuff has happened!” Back and forth I went, both in my own mind and in the article. After that statement, I said, “Still, it won’t be so crazy that he’ll go home.” Then I noted, “I said something similar about Chris Daughtry at about this time in his season,” and related the story of how I predicted Chris’s win in a newspaper column that was pre-printed… and appeared in the paper the morning after he lost!

James’s loss has a similar feel to it, and as I said at the top of this article, I should have known better. I got caught up in his performances as much as anybody, but now it’s time to take a step back and objectively look at our question: Why did James lose?

Even in shocking times when I give myself a head-slap and wonder what I was thinking, we go about this the same way – by looking through What ‘American Idol 10’ Contestants Need to Know to figure out just what happened here. (And yes, for the record, I know I’m behind on Jacob’s column – but I wanted to jump ahead for James’s because I felt that question needed answering more than Jacob’s did.) While we’re at it, I have a feeling some points from Why Chris Daughtry Lost may appear here as well – like I said, this has a familiar feel.

We begin with the first rule, which says to show singing and performing talent. It should be obvious to everybody that James has both of these in spades. However, in his final night, not everybody loved him. Well, the on-site judges did, but that’s no surprise. As for those of us here at Foxes On Idol, it was a bit of a mixed bag.

In her recap, Jenn said James’s first performance was “actually … boring.” She liked his second song much better, though. Our We’ll Be the Judge of That! duo felt essentially similar, with Tyler calling the first song only “solid” and Erika saying it was a “normal” James performance. Not really criticism, but not singing his praises. The second song earned higher marks, with Tyler saying it wasn’t as good as some previous performances but was definitely worthy of becoming a hit, and Erika chiming in that he rocked the house.

Joseph, in The NGH Report, ranked James as only third out of the four performers. He said James’s first performance “felt really lazy” and “something was missing.” Joseph, like our other writers, preferred the second performance, saying it was a “great vocal” and “just soared.” However, he also noted, “it wasn’t the moment I think he needed.”

As for me, I felt pretty much the same as my fellow writers. His performance of that classic Journey song (which was my absolutely favorite song back when it came out) was not up to his usual level in my opinion, despite what the on-site judges said. And his second song rocked the house.

However, it’s time to turn back to look at what happened to Chris Daughtry. To quote from “Why Chris Lost”:

One of the items mentioned in the first rule, but rarely referred to this season, is the issue of confidence vs. overconfidence: “You need to be confident when you are up there. Look like you belong there. But don’t overdo it and become overconfident, because then people will turn against you, thinking you’re egotistical.”

At the time, I said I personally didn’t think that Chris had crossed the line, but others did. The same is true here. I have heard whispers that some viewers felt James was getting overconfident. Indeed, a little bit of that even showed after he was informed he had lost, as he talked about having done things on the show that nobody else had done.

Continuing with my Daughtry article:

Could it have been that he too believed he would be in the final two? Is it possible that some people saw this in him even if I did not? I’d have to say yes. After all, if a few people … thought it, odds are they are representative of people elsewhere, and that factor cannot be ignored.

Interestingly, another line from the first rule in the Chris article also mirrors what we have already talked about already: “But getting back to his recent performances, last night gave us a bit of a mixed bag.”

So let’s talk about that a little bit more in terms of the second rule. Besides the general opinion around here that James didn’t kill “Don’t Stop Believing,” most of us also thought it was a poor song choice. Jenn noted, “Of all the songs in the world, he chose this one? … Steven thinks this was a good choice because the song is really popular right now. Correction: It was popular two years ago when Glee did it.” I’m glad Jenn brought that up, because I was thinking the very same thing! I mean, sure, “Don’t Stop Believing” enjoyed a popular resurgence because of Glee, but even besides the fact that it happened a couple years ago, it’s also a double-edged sword because you often don’t want to compare yourself to a recently-popular song.

His second song was definitely a better choice, with Jenn noting, “The arrangement is easily the most original one of the evening – “Love Potion No. 9” as a rock song. Thank you, James!” Tyler similar said, “About time we heard James Durbin hard-rockify another song. … [T]his is the kind of song that James could have hits with. It screamed pure rock, and that's all I want.”

It may have been what Tyler wanted, but was it what overall viewer/voters wanted? We’ll get to that later.

I don’t want to leave this rule without once again looking back and what I had said about Chris Daughtry, as it seems eerily familiar:

This week, I think [another contestant] picked two absolutely perfect songs. Chris, however, picked one good song and one that maybe wasn’t so good. I can’t say it was definitely bad because some people did like it. I didn’t.

Replace “Chris” with “James” there and it would have seemed to be written about this week’s performances!

The third rule discusses the need to be consistent. James not only did well in that basic portion of the rule, but the more complex aspect involving risk-taking. We saw such behavior from Blake, Adam, and David Cook in previous seasons, and James was right to follow that path.

But there is also a part of this rule that talks about Lee and applies here in something of a reverse way

Last season, Lee did even a little better than just being consistent – he got consistently better. … There were certainly little blips here and there, … but overall, he did better and better as time went on in the competition.

The on-site judges commented on it, as did many columnists and viewers. The Lee we saw on the finale looked very little like the one we saw early in the competition – he had gained a ton of confidence, which allowed him to put more of himself into the performances and make them that much better. Lee started off good but ended up, as Simon said, going from a normal person to a star. That is even better than being consistent and even can help explain why so often we see those who are initially deemed as favorites fall by the wayside while others step into the role and win it all.

Sound familiar? James started strong and finished strong, but didn’t have that upward trend. Who did? Haley has shown it the most, but each of the other two also have boosted themselves along the way as well. It’s something of a frontrunner curse – if you’re already at the head of the pack when you start, it’s hard to get even better; meanwhile, the underdogs can catch up.

Moving to the fourth rule, it tells contestants to be unique. There is no doubt that James succeeded wildly in that regard. Sure, he was compared to Adam Lambert at first, but that was just silly. James was his own man and showed it throughout the competition. Heck, even though I’m comparing him to fellow rocker Chris Daughtry throughout this article, that doesn’t mean the two of them would ever be confused! It’s the result and some of the related issues I’m comparing here.

Similarly, James certainly gave us some memorable performances in accordance with the fifth rule. His loss definitely had nothing to do with any failures in this regard.


The sixth rule might also seem to be a gimme – James knew he had to package himself, and did so in order to show just what kind of an artist he is. He never held back the fact that he’s a rocker and wants to sing on stage with screaming guitars. And a lot of people loved it! He had talent, he had personality, and he was likeable.


But there was a problem that was somewhat out of James’s control. I’m going back to my article on Chris Daughtry again for this one (and this is also one reason I feel I should have better seen this coming):


The only issue here is that a large part of the package that is Chris is that he’s a rocker. [I]t was always clear where his true musical focus was.


At the time, I then questioned whether a rocker could ever win Idol; since then, we’ve seen it happen. But James was facing a different challenge – he was up against the country fan base. While I was focusing on Scotty and Lauren splitting that vote, apparently it’s even stronger than I realized!
But even looking at the rocker (or rockers, depending on exactly how you categorize singers) who have won, they have represented what I would call more mainstream rock. James has been emphasizing a harder rock – to the point of metal – than most viewers would embrace. And while Chris Daughtry has gone on to have a couple successful albums, when he was on, he faced a similar situation, as I noted at the time, “Chris’s brand of rock and roll went after a different audience, and that audience may simply be too narrow to win on Idol.”

This leads us directly to the eighth rule (the seventh talks about arguing with the judges, which was a non-issue for James), which discusses the need to create a fan base. Here I’m once again going to quote from “Why Chris Lost”

Chris certainly had [a fan base], and they were loyal. But were they big enough? I would have to say no. Infact, looking back, it really is something that I should have picked up on sooner... Anyway, as the show nears its end, more people tend to watch and vote. As the voting audience grows, the power of a narrow fan base will erode, which is what happened to Chris. This is not Rock Star, and most people tuning in are not looking for Chris’s brand of rock music.

The same definitely held true for James. Heck, I would say it was even more true that his chosen genre isn’t as popular with as many Idol fans, and that was emphasized greatly in his performance of “Love Potion No. 9,” with the screaming guitar and all.

At this point in the competition, it was even more complicated than that – James didn’t just have to worry about his own fan base, but about those of the other three singers. Scotty’s fans have shown themselves to be amazingly loyal (as country fans have been throughout much of this show’s history). Lauren’s fans have likewise been loyal and she was hailed as the star of the night and she was coming back from a low point – all of these things helped spur her voters on to greater heights.

And then we had Haley, the ultimate underdog this season. She was singled out for criticism by the judges, to the point that Randy even declared the first round a three-way tie – everybody except for her! While it was not necessarily good for Haley to argue with the judges, the fact is that many people thought the judges were unnecessarily hard on her, which could easily have spurred her fans and other viewers into action. Indeed, Simon seemed to have learned, through his years on the show, that when he criticized a singer too much, their fans would often respond with lots of votes. There were times when he said something mildly nice and I had the distinct feeling that was because he wanted them to go home and didn’t want the fans having a reason to vote angrily. Apparently, Randy hadn’t learned this lesson yet.


James is a great singer with a big personality who went all the way with his performances. He brought in fans from all over, and those fans certainly love him. He was unique, he was memorable, and he presented himself as a complete package. But he wasn’t perfect. He occasionally picked a bad song or had a less-than-stellar performance, as he did in leading off the final four show. And while his fans loved most of his hard-rocking songs, that somewhat closed the door to bringing in new, more middle-of-the road fans as the competition became fiercer.

The final four is a dangerous time, as many talented singers have found out – James is only the latest. It is a time when one little miscue, or even the judges being too harsh on somebody else, can tilt things just enough against you. James showed us who he was, never backing away from that, and had a great fan base because of it. But hard rock/metal fans just are not the target Idol audience, and that somewhat narrow focus hurt in terms of bringing in new voters during this crucial week – especially in comparison to the fans of the other three remaining contestants. That is why James lost.


Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Karen Kong 龔柯允... I like...

This blog post is dedicated to Karen Kong.  I've been a fan of her since 2006, following his friendster blog till 2008.  Recently, I found out she has Facebook and Twitter page.

Who is Karen Kong: Here's her wiki page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_Kong
This is the song that started it all... Cinta Hello Kitty.  That make me fell in LOVE with Karen Kong. Been following Karen Kong since Friendster days back in 2006... Just "discovered" her Facebook page on 9 April 2011 and Twitter page on 11 April 2011...
I compiled a few Youtube Video of her...  
 Enjoy:
Video 1:
 
Video 2:
Video 3:
 Video 4:
Lastly, this is her Youtube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/karenkong99?feature=chclk
Her Facebook fan page:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=754601917#!/pages/KAREN-KONG/10442534693
Her Twitter page:
http://twitter.com/#!/mykarenkong


 

四大皆空 黃明志/龔柯允 WE ARE NOTHING by Namewee/KarenKong feat. Dennis Lau

I, Jeff Lim would like to share this song to all readers/subscribers to this blog.  This is a very meaningful song. Do pay attention to the lyrics:





Thanks....

Sunday, May 01, 2011

Happy Labours day...

Happy Labour's day everyone...  Unfortunately, I need to work today @ Mid Valley Exhibition Hall.  IProperty.com.my Roadshow...  My Company has a booth there...


Saving grace is I don't need to work at "Replacement Holiday" tomorrow (Monday) since Labour day falls on Sunday this year...