Yeap. After watching the Astro Talent Quest 2005 heats last weekend, I feel the urge to rant about this.
There’s that particular pretty boy male singer whose face looks like one of the pretty boy in F4 (so I shall call him the F4 wannabe) who just CAN’T sing.
His voice is too soft, his words are barely audible, his accent is SO off, and the bloody judges gave him a 50+ mark (and that, dear reader, is actually a very good mark since majority of the other singers score below that.)
What, the HELL?
Are the judges that DEAF, or are they just hearing-impaired?
Or maybe, the judges just loved that pretty face of the boy. =.= (3 of the judges are male, by the way.)
And no wonder the quality of singers these days are bad. Gone were the days of clear vocals and meaningful songs; these days people are rapping rubbish and making as much noise as possible with their screaming and drums-bashing =.= (no offense to rappers and rapper fans, ya?) or otherwise whispering into the damn mike like the mike’s a precious fragile piece of glass or something.
People/listeners like you and I who listen to good singers will look at two things – the ability to sing, and the personality of the singer.
The ability to sing is of course the most important thing since it’s the one which makes or breaks a singer. If the person who sings keeps singing off-key or off-beat, wrong accentuation of the song in all the wrong places, forgetting the words to the song or lip-synching, WHISPERING instead of singing out loud – forgot about ever heard the word ‘singing’, dude. Singing’s SO not your job. Go somewhere else.
And personality. Now nobody wants a rude singer or a shy chick singing, right? A singer’s job requires a bit of courage, and one cannot be too self-conscious, otherwise all the rhythm (and life) of the music will be gone. Nobody wants to listen to a song full of swear words (duh), but nobody wants to hear the whisperings of a ghost on radio too, right?
And the one thing that amuses me is that some of the bad singers (as in, really can’t sing well) who got kicked out of the competition actually CRIED.
You know what, kid?
GET. A. LIFE. Go whine and cry somewhere else. You should have expected failure and success together when you entered the competition.
Okay, it’s not a kid who cried. It’s a young adult, but to me, anyone immature is considered a kid.
Oh, sorry, did I offend you? My deepest apologies, then. I do sometimes speak out of turn, so please pardon me for this.
It’s because I just can’t stand crying kids. Or young adults, for that case of the wannabe-singer who cried.
Anyway, back to the topic.
At the rate it’s going, singing competitions are just another fad, another new thing whose novelty will face in due course. Because once people realize that all these singing contests are BULLSHIT and that the frickin’ judges willingly supports pretty boys and gals who just CAN’T sing, nobody will watch the darn show, and there goes the profit for the company and sponsors for the show. And in the future, all future singers will have to look another way in to get into the limelight (and that, is a rocky path. I understand.)
Every action has its consequences in what is known as the domino effect. (Don’t worry if you don’t get my meaning, dear reader…I shall, uh, enlighten you another time. Do remind me though.)
So, before things get worse, will somebody get the judges at the Astro Talent Quest 2005 to KICK that IDIOT F4 Wannabe off the stage before he does too much damage?
Or, better yet…how about changing the panel of judges themselves to other people who are able to understand music and one who emphasize the importance of quality singers?
Then again, there ain’t much that kind of people who chooses quality over beauty left in this world, or in this country for that matter. *sigh*
What about me, you ask? Do you think I can sing? If I can’t sing, do I have the right to judge this people?
My answer, is this: Yes, I can sing. I was in my school choir in my primary years, and I was the soprano. Therefore I AM able to judge whether a person can sing or not. And I really hate it when bad singers steal the limelight from potentially good singers.
Though the fact that I haven’t sung for the past few years, well, give me one week to retrain my vocals, and I shall sing till the devils cry XD
Enough of my rant for the week. Whoever said that my ‘Heaven on Earth’ is the place where I’ll blog good things? Heaven is of course the one and only Paradise (that’s where all the good stuff comes in), but Earth?
Hah…Earth is turning into a literal Hell day by day. Remind me to tell you why in my next post.
Now, dear reader, do you agree with what should be done? Or do you have another view? Please, share them.
Thursday, June 30, 2005
Monday, June 20, 2005
The Good Ol' Days
Right. This week, I shall be talking about the good ol' days that I promised I will enlighten you guys about it (but did you guys really read my blog?...Just wondering...)
So.
In the past, there's no PS2, computer games, Internet, handphone, blogging, the stuff you modern people have today.
The past, is essentially, to the modern generation...the age of the dinosaurs.
Got a laugh outta you, I bet.
But it's true.
I know I'm one of the 'rebellious' ones in class during my primary years.
And these are my crimes:
- coming to school 5 minutes before the bell (but that's because I live quite far from school...1/2 hour drive and the traffic jam, so yeah)
- practicing 'corruption' by doing my friend's homework in exchange to read a really good book/comic
- bringing illegal stuff to school e.g. cards, comics, games
- gambling in class XD (usually played 'cho tai di', but sometimes there's the occasional black jack)
- letting the person off for breaking school rules (I definitely miss those reigning days of mine as a prefect XD)
- terrorizing the rest of the common student folk (uh...not exactly terrorizing...they're somewhat afraid of me. All of them. Like the time when I saw two kids in class during lunch hour and they saw me, and they started screaming "Prefect! Prefect!" and they ran down the corridor as if the Grim Reaper had just appeared. Pretty hilarious actually, to come to think of it.)
- always doing more homework than required (I mean, Maths WAS easy...but Pn Dina dislike it, and I remember her tearing my extra pages that I'm not supposed to do from the workbook. Since then, I never tried to do more anymore. Definitely learnt my lesson.)
- reading books under the table when I'm supposed to concentrate in class
- got involved into fights (no, I'm not the victim nor the attacker, but had to play peacemaker between the fighters at that time. Sometimes, things got a bit out of hand, too. Especially when a student is attacking another prefect.)
And it's also the time I learnt to play chess. And checkers. I can actually defeat most of my chess-playing friends that time. And in checkers, they're virtually no match for me. Ah, the good ol' winning days...
Hey, at least I did do some good stuff too, like always doing my homework, helping the teachers, helping to keep the darn class quiet, went on prefect duty, the 'good little girl' jobs.
I'm essentially a bookworm by Std 4, when the reading-books-campaign by Pizza Hut hits off. The competition actually work; me who never touch a book since young is starting to read classics and many MANY storybooks.
Music in those years? Mostly from my organbooks. Then when I saw my bro watching some music video, I'm into Beyond and Bon Jovi. Michael Learns to Rock, too. Their songs are the best, till today. Too bad, the lead vocal for Beyond had passed away. But Bon Jovi's still rocking on. ^-^ At least their songs are meaningful and clear, not like today's rapping and much noise in da house...
And then, came secondary school.
I remember Form 1 is my best and most favorite year since I'm no longer a prefect and I can start breaking more rules XD Ah, the taste of FREEDOM...it's sweet ^-^
- I know I'd always trashed the whole Form 1 Aqua that year for every exam XD but I'm only always in the top ten during primary school. So it's a nice change of rank and status.
- got chased out from ITC for damaging school property =.= but it wasn't entirely my fault...the darn keyboard just fall out when we're fighting to control it...
- bringing comics/games to school right after the finals...and most of it got confiscated *sigh* It's UNFAIR...how come the head prefect in my old school gets to organize Magic:The Gathering duels in class after finals and yet here we can't even bring card games. What the hell...
- the year I finally get to know the Internet properly. Oh yeah. Std6 we're only allow to use those kiddy programs, but by the end of Form 1, I've already make the computer and Internet my new best friends. Neopets is fun, ICQ's cool, flash games are the 'in' thing.
Form 2...is pretty unpleasant. That's when I got promoted to Form 2 Cempaka, the so-called elite class.
Yeah, I thought the people here are the really really smart ones and expected much tough competition.
But I'd never expected the bullying to come with the package.
Yeap, Form 2 Cempaka made my life a literal living hell. The 'tai lo' is a fat smart snob, and the rest of the boys just love picking on me. The girls even played practical jokes on me! What the heck?!
But hah, I screwed them all the same.
I practically trashed the class again in almost every exams (well, I did beat majority of them, except a few excellent ones like YY, KT, and NL. I know I can never defeat them. But I treat them as my equal.)
By then, they did FINALLY learnt to respect me.
It's also the year I get into class fights. Yes, meek little me who was once a good prefect is actually FIGHTING in class.
But it's not my fault....That fat snob started it first. And that skinny guy too. And the other guy.
Played TCG, too (can't remember which year though). Pokemon, to be precise XD. The Mind Shop (re)opened in KLP, and my best friend CC introduced me to playing the card game. Got me hooked for a while, but there's ALWAYS new expansion packs out every 3-4 months, and ultra-rare Holo cards and/or extremely strong cards e.g. Rocket's Mewtwo are the rage.
But I LUV the dueling part. It may sound I'm bad, but I just like finishing off my opponent in the first 5 rounds of the game, just where everyone's busy evolving while I just plop my Rocket Zapdos/Mewtwo out to wipe out at least 2 Basic Pokemon in those 5 rounds.
Then Form 3...PMR year. Yet the year CC introduced me to the one thing that's now a part of my life: the Playstation. XD
From then on, I hafta juggle between studying and playing.
Got VERY addicted to Final Fantasy, especially VIII. Played VII too, but gave up on IX because I just don't like 3/4 tall characters.
Then I graduated to playing PS2.
Then comes Devil May Cry. XD
And much much more games.
And my fandom grew to writing fics and reading fics.
And the rest, is history XD.
Let's not forget those animes on AXN, ya?
And then I got my PS2, just days before my finals XD
But of course, I can still resist the temptation to play.
And studied as per usual.
Hah, study camps are ALWAYS a waste of money and time. I didn't go, and yet I still get my straight 7A's.
And...Mr Lee is the best teacher I've ever met. I think he helped me to finally discover my potential. He tells really great stories too, especially when it involves history. And I miss his Latin jokes.
No other teacher can replace him, I give you that.
Also the year I start and stop learning ninjutsu. Due to one accident, I had to stop going for classes. Oh well. At least I've learnt two arts of fighting ^-^ One's taekwondo in primary school, but that's another story.
And then Form 4 and Form 5, the years of the Sheat. XD
Nah, he's a good guy, only he's a bit too long-winded at times, but I can tell he really really care about us and wanted us to really really score for our Chemistry. He tried so hard, and got somewhat far, like making those African/Swahili/graveyard-zombie jokes...but in the end, it doesn't even matter...coz we ALL wanted to get an A for Chemistry in SPM.
"He tried so hard, and got so far, in the end, it doesn't even matter..." Dang, I'd actually just type the words of that Linkin Park song.
Oh yes, it's also the year I got into rock. And lovin' it. Linkin Park's songs are deep, actually.
And the year I indulged back in chess.
Only to be defeated this time by brats younger than me. Young brats from Form 3 and even from Standard 6.
I must be growing old.
But I'm only sixteen at that time! *sigh*
And the years I'm introduced into the next new 'hype' - MMORPGs. Ragnarok Online. Played one too many times an Acolyte/Priest that I got sick of it and got on to become an Assassin.XD
Man, I missed killing those little critters already.
And it's way more addictive than the PS2 at that time, so I'd actually played it a week before exams, but still managed to score some decent As and Bs.
And now...we're in the present. Gone were those good ol' rebellious days of mine. Ah yes, I miss the prefect years, and Form 1.
But we all have to look forward to the future, right?
And what's next?
Maybe the PS3 XD, more cool animes, new programs to play, MANGA, and the likes.
Woah....this post is getting a tad too long. Ah well. My story ends here for today.
Maybe you guys can share with me about your good ol' days too ^-^
So.
In the past, there's no PS2, computer games, Internet, handphone, blogging, the stuff you modern people have today.
The past, is essentially, to the modern generation...the age of the dinosaurs.
Got a laugh outta you, I bet.
But it's true.
I know I'm one of the 'rebellious' ones in class during my primary years.
And these are my crimes:
- coming to school 5 minutes before the bell (but that's because I live quite far from school...1/2 hour drive and the traffic jam, so yeah)
- practicing 'corruption' by doing my friend's homework in exchange to read a really good book/comic
- bringing illegal stuff to school e.g. cards, comics, games
- gambling in class XD (usually played 'cho tai di', but sometimes there's the occasional black jack)
- letting the person off for breaking school rules (I definitely miss those reigning days of mine as a prefect XD)
- terrorizing the rest of the common student folk (uh...not exactly terrorizing...they're somewhat afraid of me. All of them. Like the time when I saw two kids in class during lunch hour and they saw me, and they started screaming "Prefect! Prefect!" and they ran down the corridor as if the Grim Reaper had just appeared. Pretty hilarious actually, to come to think of it.)
- always doing more homework than required (I mean, Maths WAS easy...but Pn Dina dislike it, and I remember her tearing my extra pages that I'm not supposed to do from the workbook. Since then, I never tried to do more anymore. Definitely learnt my lesson.)
- reading books under the table when I'm supposed to concentrate in class
- got involved into fights (no, I'm not the victim nor the attacker, but had to play peacemaker between the fighters at that time. Sometimes, things got a bit out of hand, too. Especially when a student is attacking another prefect.)
And it's also the time I learnt to play chess. And checkers. I can actually defeat most of my chess-playing friends that time. And in checkers, they're virtually no match for me. Ah, the good ol' winning days...
Hey, at least I did do some good stuff too, like always doing my homework, helping the teachers, helping to keep the darn class quiet, went on prefect duty, the 'good little girl' jobs.
I'm essentially a bookworm by Std 4, when the reading-books-campaign by Pizza Hut hits off. The competition actually work; me who never touch a book since young is starting to read classics and many MANY storybooks.
Music in those years? Mostly from my organbooks. Then when I saw my bro watching some music video, I'm into Beyond and Bon Jovi. Michael Learns to Rock, too. Their songs are the best, till today. Too bad, the lead vocal for Beyond had passed away. But Bon Jovi's still rocking on. ^-^ At least their songs are meaningful and clear, not like today's rapping and much noise in da house...
And then, came secondary school.
I remember Form 1 is my best and most favorite year since I'm no longer a prefect and I can start breaking more rules XD Ah, the taste of FREEDOM...it's sweet ^-^
- I know I'd always trashed the whole Form 1 Aqua that year for every exam XD but I'm only always in the top ten during primary school. So it's a nice change of rank and status.
- got chased out from ITC for damaging school property =.= but it wasn't entirely my fault...the darn keyboard just fall out when we're fighting to control it...
- bringing comics/games to school right after the finals...and most of it got confiscated *sigh* It's UNFAIR...how come the head prefect in my old school gets to organize Magic:The Gathering duels in class after finals and yet here we can't even bring card games. What the hell...
- the year I finally get to know the Internet properly. Oh yeah. Std6 we're only allow to use those kiddy programs, but by the end of Form 1, I've already make the computer and Internet my new best friends. Neopets is fun, ICQ's cool, flash games are the 'in' thing.
Form 2...is pretty unpleasant. That's when I got promoted to Form 2 Cempaka, the so-called elite class.
Yeah, I thought the people here are the really really smart ones and expected much tough competition.
But I'd never expected the bullying to come with the package.
Yeap, Form 2 Cempaka made my life a literal living hell. The 'tai lo' is a fat smart snob, and the rest of the boys just love picking on me. The girls even played practical jokes on me! What the heck?!
But hah, I screwed them all the same.
I practically trashed the class again in almost every exams (well, I did beat majority of them, except a few excellent ones like YY, KT, and NL. I know I can never defeat them. But I treat them as my equal.)
By then, they did FINALLY learnt to respect me.
It's also the year I get into class fights. Yes, meek little me who was once a good prefect is actually FIGHTING in class.
But it's not my fault....That fat snob started it first. And that skinny guy too. And the other guy.
Played TCG, too (can't remember which year though). Pokemon, to be precise XD. The Mind Shop (re)opened in KLP, and my best friend CC introduced me to playing the card game. Got me hooked for a while, but there's ALWAYS new expansion packs out every 3-4 months, and ultra-rare Holo cards and/or extremely strong cards e.g. Rocket's Mewtwo are the rage.
But I LUV the dueling part. It may sound I'm bad, but I just like finishing off my opponent in the first 5 rounds of the game, just where everyone's busy evolving while I just plop my Rocket Zapdos/Mewtwo out to wipe out at least 2 Basic Pokemon in those 5 rounds.
Then Form 3...PMR year. Yet the year CC introduced me to the one thing that's now a part of my life: the Playstation. XD
From then on, I hafta juggle between studying and playing.
Got VERY addicted to Final Fantasy, especially VIII. Played VII too, but gave up on IX because I just don't like 3/4 tall characters.
Then I graduated to playing PS2.
Then comes Devil May Cry. XD
And much much more games.
And my fandom grew to writing fics and reading fics.
And the rest, is history XD.
Let's not forget those animes on AXN, ya?
And then I got my PS2, just days before my finals XD
But of course, I can still resist the temptation to play.
And studied as per usual.
Hah, study camps are ALWAYS a waste of money and time. I didn't go, and yet I still get my straight 7A's.
And...Mr Lee is the best teacher I've ever met. I think he helped me to finally discover my potential. He tells really great stories too, especially when it involves history. And I miss his Latin jokes.
No other teacher can replace him, I give you that.
Also the year I start and stop learning ninjutsu. Due to one accident, I had to stop going for classes. Oh well. At least I've learnt two arts of fighting ^-^ One's taekwondo in primary school, but that's another story.
And then Form 4 and Form 5, the years of the Sheat. XD
Nah, he's a good guy, only he's a bit too long-winded at times, but I can tell he really really care about us and wanted us to really really score for our Chemistry. He tried so hard, and got somewhat far, like making those African/Swahili/graveyard-zombie jokes...but in the end, it doesn't even matter...coz we ALL wanted to get an A for Chemistry in SPM.
"He tried so hard, and got so far, in the end, it doesn't even matter..." Dang, I'd actually just type the words of that Linkin Park song.
Oh yes, it's also the year I got into rock. And lovin' it. Linkin Park's songs are deep, actually.
And the year I indulged back in chess.
Only to be defeated this time by brats younger than me. Young brats from Form 3 and even from Standard 6.
I must be growing old.
But I'm only sixteen at that time! *sigh*
And the years I'm introduced into the next new 'hype' - MMORPGs. Ragnarok Online. Played one too many times an Acolyte/Priest that I got sick of it and got on to become an Assassin.XD
Man, I missed killing those little critters already.
And it's way more addictive than the PS2 at that time, so I'd actually played it a week before exams, but still managed to score some decent As and Bs.
And now...we're in the present. Gone were those good ol' rebellious days of mine. Ah yes, I miss the prefect years, and Form 1.
But we all have to look forward to the future, right?
And what's next?
Maybe the PS3 XD, more cool animes, new programs to play, MANGA, and the likes.
Woah....this post is getting a tad too long. Ah well. My story ends here for today.
Maybe you guys can share with me about your good ol' days too ^-^
Saturday, June 11, 2005
Argh, this blog seems soooo dead...must make it active again!
An avalanche of assignments just hit me, so not much time to actually posting stuff (all the college stuff has been posted in my Lj. Oh well.)
So...to make it more interesting, I shall talk about a topic weekly or biweekly (depends on my busy-ness). Besides, it's fun to have some (intelligent) feedback from you guys ^-^
And today's topic is....: The National Anthem.
Yeah, we ALL know what is our national anthem. Duh, the song's been drilled into our minds since, what, Standard 1? I'm surprised to find that some adults coulda forget the song, as reported in The Star newspaper...
But anyway, things have taken a little small step too far when they say you have to sing it in the cinema.
First of all: what is a cinema for? To watch movies, to see shows, yeah. We go there to enjoy ourselves, to relax, to take a break watching some action flick or some teary romance story, to bond with our friends, etc.
So, WHY must we SING the national anthem in a CINEMA?
Give me one good reason.
To build our patriotic spirit? To instil the nationalist spirit in us? To promote racial unity and harmony?
...these aims can be fulfil through other better SENSIBLE ways, my fellow ministers. Like keeping silent while the Malaysian flag is raised and 'Negaraku' plays in the background of important functions. In school we always sing the 'Negaraku' when the flag is raised during assembly. That's what we all did. That's the norm, anyway.
So WHY do we have to SING the 'Negaraku' in a CINEMA?
....we do things when the situation is right, and we do it after considering things in a rational way. But this act of singing the national anthem in a cinema?
It did not have a purpose...other than getting a good laugh out of it, but to joke about the national anthem? I think not. The national anthem is IMPORTANT to the country since it is one of our identities, and to simply sing it in inappropriate places e.g. cinema is totally...inconceivable.
We have to RESPECT the song, damnit! We sing it proudly when we're in the stadium, we sing it in school, we sing with tears of joy when we've won international championships and they play OUR national song for US! We should NOT degrade our national song by asking us to sing it in a CINEMA!
...We might as well say we sing it in a theme park, or before a concert, or before an orchestra performance, or even in the airport when tourists arrive. Haiyoh.
And I know youngsters these days are rebellious (but their aim of rebellion is for the worse and not for the better. *sigh* Gone were those good ol' days when we rebel for the right...I think only a few of us past generations remember what it's like....you don't get me? *sigh* I'll talk about it some other time...) , so they'll not sing the anthem, or stop visiting the cinemas for good, and start buying pirated movies...can't you see?
...so this act of making people sing the anthem in cinemas is bad. We can try to encourage it only, but definitely not enforce it. How can you jail people for this? Not like we're degrading the song. This act of forcing us to sing in the cinema will do that.
The anthem's an important song to the country, and therefore it's important that we know where and when to sing it, and it's definitely not in a CINEMA. We sing in school, important functions, during sports championships, NS, army camp, all these important places that we show our love and respect to our country. NOT IN A CINEMA, GET ME? The cinema's an entertainment place, and you DO NOT sing the national anthem in an entertainment place. It's not the right place for the song.
The national anthem deserves more than that.
....ah, this topic will never end if I'm gonna continue typing. So guys, share with me your views ^-^
So...to make it more interesting, I shall talk about a topic weekly or biweekly (depends on my busy-ness). Besides, it's fun to have some (intelligent) feedback from you guys ^-^
And today's topic is....: The National Anthem.
Yeah, we ALL know what is our national anthem. Duh, the song's been drilled into our minds since, what, Standard 1? I'm surprised to find that some adults coulda forget the song, as reported in The Star newspaper...
But anyway, things have taken a little small step too far when they say you have to sing it in the cinema.
First of all: what is a cinema for? To watch movies, to see shows, yeah. We go there to enjoy ourselves, to relax, to take a break watching some action flick or some teary romance story, to bond with our friends, etc.
So, WHY must we SING the national anthem in a CINEMA?
Give me one good reason.
To build our patriotic spirit? To instil the nationalist spirit in us? To promote racial unity and harmony?
...these aims can be fulfil through other better SENSIBLE ways, my fellow ministers. Like keeping silent while the Malaysian flag is raised and 'Negaraku' plays in the background of important functions. In school we always sing the 'Negaraku' when the flag is raised during assembly. That's what we all did. That's the norm, anyway.
So WHY do we have to SING the 'Negaraku' in a CINEMA?
....we do things when the situation is right, and we do it after considering things in a rational way. But this act of singing the national anthem in a cinema?
It did not have a purpose...other than getting a good laugh out of it, but to joke about the national anthem? I think not. The national anthem is IMPORTANT to the country since it is one of our identities, and to simply sing it in inappropriate places e.g. cinema is totally...inconceivable.
We have to RESPECT the song, damnit! We sing it proudly when we're in the stadium, we sing it in school, we sing with tears of joy when we've won international championships and they play OUR national song for US! We should NOT degrade our national song by asking us to sing it in a CINEMA!
...We might as well say we sing it in a theme park, or before a concert, or before an orchestra performance, or even in the airport when tourists arrive. Haiyoh.
And I know youngsters these days are rebellious (but their aim of rebellion is for the worse and not for the better. *sigh* Gone were those good ol' days when we rebel for the right...I think only a few of us past generations remember what it's like....you don't get me? *sigh* I'll talk about it some other time...) , so they'll not sing the anthem, or stop visiting the cinemas for good, and start buying pirated movies...can't you see?
...so this act of making people sing the anthem in cinemas is bad. We can try to encourage it only, but definitely not enforce it. How can you jail people for this? Not like we're degrading the song. This act of forcing us to sing in the cinema will do that.
The anthem's an important song to the country, and therefore it's important that we know where and when to sing it, and it's definitely not in a CINEMA. We sing in school, important functions, during sports championships, NS, army camp, all these important places that we show our love and respect to our country. NOT IN A CINEMA, GET ME? The cinema's an entertainment place, and you DO NOT sing the national anthem in an entertainment place. It's not the right place for the song.
The national anthem deserves more than that.
....ah, this topic will never end if I'm gonna continue typing. So guys, share with me your views ^-^
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