Malaysian Idol 02-16, Airdate: 31/07/2005 – Spectaculars #1 Result Show : The Power of A Pretty Face

(Image courtesy of malaysianidol.bluehyppo.com)

Nick’s pick to leave: Ash & Ejay

I have to say that has to be the hardest Malaysia Idol recap to write anywhere near objectively because I am still fuming at the outcome. I was practically hyperventilating when they announced the names of the contestants leaving the show tonight because what happened was so wrong. It has been truly an unexpected result to the first Spectacular rounds which in a way made for a very shocking and exciting results show. In fact I have to say that the result show was even more exciting than last Friday’s Spectacular show itself.

Moving on to the recap.

The show started up with a truly wretched group performance. When I first saw it, I was thinking that they were going to sing as a group. As the song went on, I finally figured out to my absolute horror that the group will be dancing as a group instead. There were a lot of pointy poses and missteps that looked absolutely horrendous. The whole group were better off harmonizing as a group in a group sing instead of trying to do synchronies stomping. It wasn’t a surprise to see that all the ladies, Daniel, Adam and AzamBot could move to the beat fairly well. Ash and Faizull were barely following the beat and may be thinking that they were too rock to groove if they can groove at all. These two were clearly the most lead footed performers of the group.

I hope, for the sanity of the Malaysian Idol viewers and fans, the producers don’t make the contestants dance in a group again for the whole season. The show is “Malaysian Idol” and not “So You Think You Can Dance”. Let them sing as a group and give use their vocals to distract us from their dance moves.

The judges were next asked to comment about the show last Friday. All three agreed that there were some good performance but there were also some very bad performances that should not have happened in this round of the competiton. Paul likened it to something like the first day of kindergarten which I take it to mean that some people were really lost without a clue how to do things i.e. perform correctly. At least that’s what I hope he meant. My first day of kindergarten was so long ago that it’s all a blur and I don’t know how to compare it with the last Spectacular show.

Judges picks:
Roslan : Ejay & Ash
Jee: Ejay & Ash
Paul: Ejay & Ash but Trish, Xerra & Atilia might also in danger

The first group to be called on to the centerstage tonight were the 5 guys. Both host read out the judges comments one by one and soon announced that they were all safe. At this point I was really surprised by the result. I was very confident that Ash would surely had his last performance last Friday but it seems that his fan base was successful in keeping his hopes in the show alive for another day. Do I think that the judges remarks on the show enraged his fan base and mobilize them to bulk vote to try to keep him on? I think in a way it did. Either the voting numbers are really low this year or the contestant have enough exposure now to build a fanatic cult of personality around them that will be voting for them even when they sound like toads croaking for rain.

With all the guys safely through to the next round, it meant that 2 of the female contestants were leaving the show tonight. All six of the contestants were divided into 2 groups with one group being the divas, Xerra, Nita & Trish, stood to the right of Jien and the other group comprising of Atilia, Farah & Ejay stood to the left of Cheryl. When the hosts announced that one from each group will be leaving them, I was just flabbergasted since it meant that one of the divas group will be leaving the competition. After the judges comment were read out, it was announce that the first person leaving tonight was Trish. While they were showing her exit clip, her journey from the auditions to the Spectaculars, I was trying to understand why she felt through and I was only able to come up with the conclusion that she didn’t give us the full potential that would have made her last Friday performance more memorable. It didn’t show her big, sassy and fun personality or vocal range. Unfortunately for her and the viewers of the show, we don’t get a chance to see her learn from this mistake.

After a somewhat emotional farewell to Trish, we turned our attention to the last three contestants for the night. After they read all the judges comments, it was announced that the sobbing Atilia will be going out instead of the stoically stunned Ejay. I had to pick up my jaw from the floor and hyperventilate for a few minutes after they announced the result. Atilia was sobbing and looked absolutely devastated. She was already sobbing after they announced Trish’s departure so I was under the impression that she was sad for that but I think that she might have seen her name in Cheryl’s hand at the same time and figured out her doomed fate. The judges looked disgusted by the results and even Jien was trying hard to control his emotions. I’m convinced that I saw him teary-eyed the whole time but surprisingly Cheryl kept her head and her cool during all this. The crowd in the auditorium deservedly booed the results.

Sparks further flew when the judges were asked to give their comments after the results. Roslan just flew off his chair and angrily call for the Malaysian Idol voters to wake up because they have just voted out their best performers from the show. Jee at this point was inconsolable and asked why the voters let this happened. She posed the question to the audience if the two who were cut out deserved to stay and the answer was a resounding yes but the people who cast their votes this past weekend seemed hell-bent to prove the judges and to an extent better judgment wrong. Prophetic Paul said that he wasn’t surprised with Trish’s ousting since she had a bad night last Friday and thought that Atilia fell because she was too plain looking for the voters to be excited about voting for her.

A flabbergasted Jien reiterated that the judges, hosts and producers were not to blame if we didn’t like the outcome of the show. He called for the voters to vote wisely and not let talent pass through the cracks. It was a fairly somber occasion when the called down the remaining 9 contestants down to centerstage as the credits rolled.

It is result shows like this that makes me fighting mad and furious knowing that no matter how many votes I put in for my favorite contestants, there are always someone who would be willing to put in more. With the group being as diverse as it is this year, it was hard to pick a favorite to vote on and the spreading of the votes might very well be the thing that killed these two talented singer’s chances this early in the competition. The judges harsh comments might also have motivated the rabid fans of Ash, Ejay and Daniel to send their votes in bulk in hopes that they can save their favorite Idols for another day. We saw this happening before in Malaysian Idol as well as the American Idols. We should know and acknowledge the power of love-sick, tone-deaf rabid fans foaming at the mouth with too much mobile phone credit to burn trying to keep their Idol hopes alive can accomplish.

What do I foresee for the next week? I think that the voters who voted for both Trish and Atilia, if they are not too discourage by this week’s results to continue participating in the voting, will definitely not give their votes to either Ejay (definite) or Ash (probable) next week because they might feel that these two contestants would have enough votes from their current fan base. Voters might be convinced now how important their votes are and might even stop spreading their votes around and instead focus on the person they want most to continue on. Hopefully they would know to vote wisely for talent and not for how they looked.

As for the judges, I hope they don’t make things too personal in the following weeks. I agree with them that the results tonight were unfair and that we lost two of the better singers in the group in the first cut but we need to move on from this point. Some of your harsh comments were like a red flag waving in front of a mad bull just spoiling for a fight. If their performance sucks in the next Spectaculars then just tell them it sucked and leave it at that.

As for the remaining contestants, especially Ejay, Ash & Daniel, they need to step up and give it their all every week. There are no off-weeks in this competition as every off performance may be the one that would kill your chances of continuing to be in the competition.

Quick, pass me the smelling salts. I have to lie down now to recover from the shock.

Out this week: Trish & Atilia
Nick’s prediction success to date : 7/13