₦airaland Forum

Aziza:
@Lawyerchap. My mail does not suggest that viewers somehow get together and agree to allow a very talented singer leave the competition while a less talented one stays. The very nature of the show doesn't allow for viewers to get to together and exit a contestant.

@Aziza
My point exactly. So who else is in a position to engineer this consistent removal of the contestant that is guaranteed to produce the most shock and outrage? No prizes for guessing. This thing isn't always about votes. How do you explain Nicolette (hugely talented no doubt but losing focus daily) who has become the new Cynthia and has spent her entire run on Idols in the Bottom three suddenly getting more votes than Ammara who has never been in the bottom three, and on a night Nicolette had the worst performance ever? Being constantly in the bottom three is a marker for a stagnant fanbase while never being there indicates the opposite. Then all of a sudden that vibrant fanbase that has kept her out of the Bottom Three just fails, neglects or refuses to vote? And the stagnant fanbase that couldn't keep Nicolette out of the Bottom Three all competition long suddenly falls into a voting frenzy and manages to outvote Ammara's fanbase? That just beggars belief!

@Beamer
Where the heck are you?

@Kaydee
this thing is wide open right now, but my money would be on Eric and trinah making the finals. But don't be surprised if Nicolette or Adiona upstages one or the other of them. Go figure.

Aziza:
This is the eight season of Idols (American Idol, WA, SA, East). Every Idols season I have watched (except) SA Idols has that "surprise" exit of a star singer, someone who came on very strong at the beginning and everyone fingers him or her as a the winner. That someone often has more talent that the other 9 top 10 contestants combined or has a unique star quality.

In American Idol season 3, it was Jennifer Hudson; season 4 was Anwar Robinson; season 5 was Chris Daughtry; season 6 was Melinda Doolittle; season 7 was Michael John. In Idols WA it was Jodie. Which brings us to what Idols is - a voting competition.

@Aziza
Really I think the conclusion of your analysis lies in the opposite direction. Are you saying that the voters always decide to let a strong contender go when they seem like they're coasting to the final? The very fact that it has occurred repeatedly in each and every edition rather suggests to me that it is scripted into the plot for ratings sake. But i don't want to sound sore. Ammara had a good run and was easily one of the most gifted people i have seen on idols. I wish her all the best.

lawyerchap:
It's about time for a typical idols surprise a la Jodie's exit in the West African edition, so gird your loins and prepare for a shocker sometime soon that will see one of the seemingly strong contenders voted off.

Nuff said.

Went to see Hancock instead of waiting for the results show, and i'm so glad. African Idols shows are beginning to take on a rather scripted feel; the talentless escape artist who survives for so long and then is canned just when the audience gives up hope of ever evicting them, and the uber-talented contestant who is voted off simply for shock value.

@Aziza

You're absolutely spot on about Nicollette. When the competition started i had her down as far and away the best singer from a technical standpoint. she's got a great voice and having played the violin from four years old and the piano from twelve, she knows a thing or two more about music than all the judges combined. But she's listening to them and she's totally lost focus now. I would love to see her in the Top3 but on current form, i think it's pretty doubtful.

@Aziza
Hey you, long time. So sorry i couldn't reply your birthday message but believe me, i truly appreciated it. Thank you so very much.

I'm so not surprised Mkhululi took the walk last night. I had always felt he wasn't quite top5 material. But then, neither is Nicolette (on current form). But if there's any justice in the world i think she should be the next to go. Adiona will probably be with her in the bottom three next week. It's about time for a typical idols surprise a la Jodie's exit in the West African edition, so gird your loins and prepare for a shocker sometime soon that will see one of the seemingly strong contenders voted off.

Ammara and Trinah really do need to watch it as their performances appear to be on a downward slide, or perhaps we have gotten used to their talent and we now judge them by the appropriate standards. The result of this is that when they meet those expectations we are not wowed anymore because we totally expect it of them. They have lost the element of surprise.

Eric is looking good for the title at this point but i don't know if i would be so bold as to put my money on him just yet. I have this niggling feeling that a female is going to win Idols this time around. But eric really deserves to win it on current form. he's got everything going for him. He connects with the crowd and has built up such a strong fan base. But i suspect whoever eric faces off with in the top two (if he makes it that far) will probably nick it from him. But i hope he wins it, i think he's pretty much the complete package.

Well, Mkhululi had a good run but his time was effectively up after last Sunday's performance.

You know, I had been in a serious dilemma regarding writing a review about the Top6 Spectacular as I really didn’t consider myself fit to judge the singing on a night I knew only two of the songs. But seeing that Beamer has already done the honours, I can heave a huge sigh of relief. (Heaves sigh of relief). But I am not too sure if I agree completely with his account of things.

Ah, Beamer. Granted it’s the Top 6 and at this level everyone’s on top of their game, but Mkhululi was really the dregs on the night. His performance was tepid to say the least and for once I concurred with Kaweesa on his pick of worst of the night.

And truth be told, Trinah wasn’t far behind Mkhululi with what was her lamest tamest performance in Idols. I have never felt so underwhelmed following a Trinah performance. I could usually count on her to leave me on a high but on the night she sounded hollow and didn’t quite seem able to inject her usual passion into the performance. Perhaps she was totally unnerved by the giraffe, or perhaps the song choice got the better of her, but anyone who has followed Trinah on this journey will easily pick last night’s performance as the weakest so far.  Yeah, Trinah normally delivers every Sunday but last night she delivered spam.

For me, the bottom three performances of the night were Mkhululi, Nicolette and Trinah in no particular order, though I will be very surprised if we find Trinah in the bottom three this evening. She has established a serious fan base that should keep her out of trouble until the Top3 when she will most likely leave us.

Eric, Ammara and Adiona had the best performances on the night, but I liked Adiona’s rendition of Freshly Ground’s “I’d Like” the most. Ammara the Banshee spared us her shrieking and gave us a comparatively subdued “Vuli Ndlela” made famous by Brenda Fassie. The highpoint of the performance was the costume and perhaps some of the dance moves she threw in. The vocals were not fantastic on a night that provided precious few chills of the spine-tingling sort from any of the contestants.

The walk of shame tonight is a toss-up between Mkhululi and Nicolette. It is so close that I cannot call it one way or the other. But we’ll have to wait and see how it plays out, won’t we?

Peace out.

Hi people,
Missed the spectacular and the results show (again ) because of a wretched advertising pitch, but thanks to Beamer, it's almost like i was there. great review, man. What would we do without you?

Finally Cynthia leaves us, and apparently after her 'best' performance too. Well, all i can say is, not a moment too soon. Good riddance to bad rubbish. Ammara is my favourite contestant and i am mortified to hear that she was the worst performer on the night. but that was kaweeso's opinion, and we know how he can get at times. But Ammara does tend to get carried away with her ability to hit those notes in the stratosphere of the human octave range and so she wangles those high notes into any song she is performing, whether necessary or otherwise. It's like she shrieks just because she can. But rest assured that she is going to be in the top three.

I understand AIT broadcasts the Spectaculars and results shows on saturdays. Does anyone know what time these broadcasts are done? It would be great to catch up on the shows i missed. So anyone with the timing, please holla.

Again, Beamer, what would we do without you? You're the best.

Peace out.

well, well, well. Surprise surprise. our rocker Samantha Trivachio left idols last night. Adiona and Mkululi were also in the bottom three. Again Cynthia wasn't in the bottom three, let alone going home.

I think Mkululi should have gone instead of Samantha. Well, its the first surprise of Idols East Africa (not counting Cynthia's survivals). If you ask me, Samantha was better than both Mkululi and Adiona. Either of them could have walked, but not Samantha. But hey, at this rate we'll need a sniper to take out Cynthia as it doesn't seem like she's in a hurry to stop humiliating herself.

@Kaydee
I hear you bro. But you could have called me. Anyway, na you miss sha.

Zizi:
Trinah's rendition of Faith Hill's Cry gave me goose pimples!!!!!!! The girl can sing joo!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Amarah murdered Celin Dion's I surrender. The girl lacks soul in her performance. The babe that sang evanessence hmmmmmmmmmmm started well and went off key. The others are all dry!!!!!!!!! Cynthia should be voted off. The girl cannot even sing to save her life. T You F I A!!!!!!!!!!

@Zizi
i agree that Ammara is not as soulful as, say, Trinah, but her performance was flawless on sunday night so i don't know how she murdered the song. And the others are dry? I'm shocked to hear it, to say the least. Are we watching the same show?

The Top 8 Spectacular was exactly that: Spectacular. There were simply no half measures on the night. Those that were good were spectacularly good and those that were bad were spectacularly bad. Even the clothes were spectacular, the judges comments were spectacular, Kaweeso was spectacular in his stupidity, lebo was spectacular in his presentation of the show. Everything was simply off the hook. They even managed to arrange the performances in the right order with Eric opening and Trinah closing the show guaranteeing two great highs.

Eric’s opening was excellent and set the tone for what would be a truly phenomenal night. He sang Mary Mary’s “Can’t give up now” apparently a very popular song in East Africa as it was a perennial favourite during the auditions. Finally I got to hear Eric sing rather than perform and he wasn’t half bad. His voice is rich with a sonorous timbre that quickly deepens to a gruff back-of-the-throat growl when he engages ‘perform-mode’ and though this serves to add pizzazz to his performances, he does tend to overdo it from time to time. He may have overdone it on the night but no one seemed to notice. Except evil Scar. Scar took time out to inform him that there is a thin line between confidence which will get the fans screaming and swooning, and cockiness which will get them turned off. Well, everyone seems to still be screaming and swooning, so no harm done. Yet.

Samantha Trivachio (who I think has the perfect name for an artiste) has tons of talent though we hadn’t quite seen her explode with a performance. Well, the explosion finally happened with Pink’s “Who Knew.” I mean, who knew Samantha was such a rocker? With all the right moves behind the microphone, she took that song and rocked the house with it. I could actually imagine a band around her with the acoustic guitars going gaga and the drum riffs running riot. Samantha may actually be a genuine star in the making. Totally loved her performance.

Then the mood dipped a bit with Adiona singing Stranger in my House. She seemed like a stranger on the stage, just singing the song almost listlessly and not putting any real emotion into what is an achingly emotional song. She seemed like she was focused on remembering her lyrics and forgot to sing the song. And what’s with the breathlessness? She seemed out of breath yet again. I’m beginning to suspect that she gets nerves whenever she gets on that stage and that is so not a sign of a great performer. Her stay on Idols might just be shorter than we expect.

And then came the ultimate mood-killer Cynthia. In scar’s words “why does she do this to herself? She should just quit already.” She ‘talked’ us through a horribly mutilated version of India Arie’s ‘Video’ in the worst top10 performance in any Idols competition, I’m sure. What’s with Cynthia? So good-looking and so talentless. She gets full marks for courage though, as it takes stern stuff to come before the whole of Africa and thoroughly disgrace yourself week after week. But this has to be her last performance. Simply has to be.

It was up to Mkululi to revive the stone-dead mood in the house and he made a truly valiant effort with Nick Lachey’s ‘What’s left of me.’ But truth be told, he simply is not a rocker and his voice made an RnB song out of a rock gem. I wasn’t impressed, not because he’s not a good singer but because I think it was a poor song choice. He did manage to get a weak pulse going though.

But it was much maligned Nicolette who got our hearts pumping again. When Lebo announced that Nicolette and Ammara would be doing songs from Evanescence and Celine Dion, I so wanted the Evanescence song for Ammara but it turned out it was Nicolette who had made the most inspired song choice of the night. Singing the Goth-rock ballad “My Immortal” on her knees, Nicolette showed us that she can sing. Her voice shone like a million stars as she easily carried the haunting melody made famous by the one-in-six-billion voice of Amy Lee, lead singer of Evanescence. As can be expected, she missed a few notes when she got to her feet, but I cut her some slack merely because she had the heart to take on one of the world’s most unique voices and one of the world’s most powerful singers. Kaweeso Richards was enthralled, as was everyone across Africa, I suspect. The house went wild for Nicolette and I smiled knowing she had finally gotten the recognition of her talent that she so deeply craved. Contender for performance of the night for me.

I’ve made no bones about the fact that I am secretly rooting for Ammara to win this thing. She’s pretty, she’s sexy, she’s phenomenally gifted with an amazing voice that she knows exactly how to use. She came almost fully made to be a star. But that’s just me. Back to the spectacular. Nicolette’s performance was going to be a tough act to follow and there could be no room for error if the suddenly upbeat mood in the house was going to be sustained. There was none better to give it a shot than Ammara. Singing a Celine Dion song ‘I Surrender’ she sent me introductory Goosebumps with the purity of her opening notes. It was so clear that I couldn’t imagine that it was a Celine Dion song (I know that’s somehow twisted). She kept at that song with such passion that I had to shut my eyes to make sure I was not rooting for just a sexy girl in a nice dress. But with my eyes shut the music sounded even better (if that’s at all possible).

And then she hit the first of the high notes. My eyes flew open half expecting to see Mariah Carey on the stage. But it was only Ammara. How does she do it? How can she hit such a rarefied note? That’s in the region of the fifth octave (the absolute limit of the human voice with musical value) and we thought only Mariah Carey could hit those notes. Well, Mariah move over, here comes Ammara Brown. By the time she brought her performance to a close, I was dumbfounded at this awesome talent in such a beautiful package. But that was just me. Everybody else went wild. Scar said his goosebumps had goosebumps and the butterflies in his stomach had butterflies in their stomachs too. High praise indeed, but she deserved every word of it. It would be a travesty indeed if she doesn’t win this thing.

Not so fast. There’s still Trinah who may not be able to match Ammara’s insanely wide range but more than makes up for it with a voice that is as powerful as it is sincere. Trinah has the uncanny ability to take a song and make you feel what the song is talking about. She’s also not afraid to belt out in her performances. She has no comfort zone and will never shrink from trying for a high note, and most times, the sheer depth of her voice gets her there. Singing Faith Hill’s ‘Cry’ She gave such a powerful performance that was by turn pleading and indignantly demanding. It was a classic Trinah performance complete with the irreverent key changes and the almost petulant head-tossing. It was a brilliant performance to round off a truly spectacular night.

Now, to Kaweeso’s stupidity. He said Nicolette was the best of the night and Ammara was the most improved. What on earth did he mean? I thought most improved meant weighing last night’s performance against the previous week’s. in which case Nicolette should have been most improved, not Ammara who has been quite consistent throughout Idols so far. Personally i think Kaweeso should be voted off. But again, that's just me.

Missed the results show last night and the idols site is not opening, so still do not know who walked last night.

Someone with information, please help out.

Peace out.

@Beamer,
Excellent write up. My hat's off to you.

@Kaydee
How far? Long time.

Missed both the Sunday Spectacular as well as the Monday Results Show. No thanks to work. But Salsera gave us a bit of an analysis. (Thanks Girl. ). Learnt Faycal has been booted off the show while Cynthia wasn't even in the Bottom three. Well, it seems like Jerrilyn and Temitayo all over again. Never did feel faycal much so i'm kind of not surprised he's gone. But Cynthia's escapes are beginning to boggle the mind. Surely next Monday, you feel. But like i said before, she could just make the Top5.

That would be a travesty indeed.

By the way, where is everybody?

@Genre
I have the song but you have to get a song for me in exchange. I need Mamacita by Collie Buddz. Do you have that? I'll send you the song by email.

The first Idols East Africa Spectacular started first with a bang as we were introduced to the beautiful new stage with all the flashing LCD screens (there must have been at least twenty of them. There should be a warning for epileptics not to watch those shows.) . But the bang quickly died down to a whimper as the first performer was introduced. It was Cynthia, unarguably the worst singer of the Top10 currently. Looking great as usual, her lame performance of Donna Summer’s Last Dance failed to ignite the night and got me wondering how she actually made it through the theatre auditions. She sounded off-key in half the song and the other half there was absolutely no voice control. From the moment she put down the mic, she herself must have known she was Bottom Three material, even before the others had performed.

Mkululi had nothing nice to say about his fellow contestants at the theatre stage of the auditions and that made me instantly dislike him. He came across as someone who felt he was better than everyone else. In the tiny country known as Papua New Guinea, that would be called arrogance. And I agree. But now I have a grudging respect for the boy after Sunday’s Spectacular. He performed Lionel Richie’s Stuck on You and I must say, he’s got a voice on him, and he knows it. Call it arrogance if you like. A truly beautiful performance of a great song, he got the crowd going (finally) with his sonorous voice. He kept his notes pure and managed his voice excellently to fit the wandering scales of the song. He’s made a believer out of me.

Everyone has been worried about Christine’s heavily accented voice. It surely had to be hell to sing in such a voice and be judged on pronunciation rather than on technical quality. It just seems a mite unfair.   Kikidixy absolutely hated that voice and, after Sunday’s Spectacular, it turns out she was absolutely right. Christine’s performance of Mariah Carey’s “Can’t Live Without You” belonged on a soundtrack of a horror movie. When you take on a song by a diva with a five octave voice range, you had better prepare for the highest of high notes and the lowest of low notes. Christine showed us that she could hit those high notes, but not before she had showed us her truly frightening low notes. It was torture to listen to, believe me. Everyone in the arena must have been squirming in their seats. I know I was. It was a dismal performance. Even Cynthia could have breathed a sigh of relief after that.

Faycal was up next with another Lionel Richie song. This time it was “Hello.” Faycal didn’t truly belong in the top10, but gender balance put him through and it showed on the night. Singing nasally and trying to play to the females in the audience by blowing kisses and addressing them (to the exclusion of the guys. What’s up with that?) he seemed too contrived and came across as somewhat insincere. The performance didn’t get anyone jumping up and down in excitement, though he did throw in a twist in his performance by singing some parts of the song in Swahili.  It wasn’t enough to rescue what was really an insipid performance by a less than gifted performer.

Then came wildcard Adiona with a truly puzzling mix of song choice and wardrobe. She had elected to sing Beyonce’s “Irreplaceable” and chose to wear a knee length skirt and a yellow top (totally unBeyonce-like). But the surprises didn’t stop there. The arrangement of the song sounded strangely empty, sort of like a singer/songwriter setting where there is only minimal musical accompaniment and that didn’t help the performance at all. But was she done surprising me? Hell no. She came on stage and sounded like she was out of breath from the very first note.  I watched the entire performance with raised eyebrows. Was this the same Adiona who had wowed the crowd at top24 stage? I didn’t like the performance at all because I think it was a wrong choice of song for her. But she’s still a great performer anyday.

And then Trinah. Good heavens, Trinah. Singing Janet Jackson’s “Together Again” in that sultry voice, she finally lit up the Spectacular from the right place, the stage. The arena jumped into life as she took the song places that would have surprised Janet herself. When she began, I couldn’t quite follow the melody and so didn’t recognize the song. I think the same thing happened with the live audience. But as soon as she hit the chorus, the whole place erupted. And Trinah knows how to belt out a song, so once she got the crowd going, she pulled out all the stops doing riffs and runs in exactly the right places. The finish was almost orgasmic. Performance of the night for me, without a doubt.

Nicolette is the most polished singer of the Top10. I mean, she is a concert violinist so you can imagine what her musical tastes must be like. But she is making a grave mistake by judging Africa by her own high standards. She chose to do L.O.V.E. by Natalie Cole, a very cabaret-ish song which perfectly fits her jazz-singer persona but which would fly right over the heads of watching Africans. She performed the song perfectly, with the whole cabaret attitude and I was enthralled. But apparently I was alone because the judges said some very uncomplimentary things about her performance not knowing they were showing themselves up as musical semi-literates. That being said, Nicolette needs to go more mainstream or she will have a rather short stay in the Top10.

Samantha Trivachio picked a Whitney Houston song! Don’t they ever learn? Whitney, Mariah, Alicia, Beyonce, : don’t go there. But she did and very nearly got away with it. Holding her notes in check for the first half of the song, Samantha’s voice shone through the song and it looked like she was going to make a clean job of it. But then she decided to start wandering the scales like a diva. Didn’t work. Result? She took the shine off her own performance.

Eric of the afro came on stage singing “Signed Sealed Delivered”and boy, did he deliver. He got the crowd’s participation very early in his performance and they stayed with him throughout. Great voice, wonderful stage presence, my only problem is, I don’t know if I’d buy a record by Eric. He seems to be all performance and very little real singing. I wonder what he’d sound like in the studio. Anyway, the crowd loved him and so did the judges. Great performance.

Ammara sang Aretha Franklin’s “Respect” a song I frankly hate. Again, I think it was a wrong song choice for Ammara because she is the quintessential Hiphop/RnB singer, but she hasn’t got an ounce of soul in her body. She had absolutely no business doing a song by the queen of soul. She was always going to underperform. And I think she did. She couldn’t quite carry off the song the way Jodie did in the West African edition, perhaps because we are yet to see a softer balladsy side of her and so cannot quite associate her with soul. Consequently she looked somewhat like Enya singing an Evanescence song. But she’s got the voice to sing any song (as opposed to ‘carrying’ the song) and for the most part, she can fool people into thinking that whatever she sings sounds the way it does because she intends it to sound that way. And she got away with it on the night.

The results show was a really mixed bag. Top 3 were Eric, Ammara and Trinah. No surprises there. Bottom 3? Now that’s where there were surprises aplenty. Faycal, Christine and, horror of horrors, Nicolette made up the Bottom 3. Where the heck was Cynthia? Sitting on the safe side with the real singers. Now, Cynthia is from a very well-off family and I strongly suspect that there’s more than her looks keeping her in the competition as it is definitely not the singing. I think there is a voting syndicate behind Cynthia much the way Temitayo stumbled all the way to the top4 in the West African edition courtesy of some serious syndicate voting. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Cynthia make it to the top5.

But Nicolette in the Bottom 3? Come on East Africa, you guys are pretty short on talent yet you cannot recognize it when you see it. What’s up with that? Faycal and Christine deserved their places in the bottom3 but I don’t think Nicolette belonged there.

Christine finally became the first to take the walk of shame as she was the idol with the least votes. I suspect independent judge Kaweeso’s remarks had everything to do with that. He said after the Sunday Spectacular that Africa should not encourage trash and should vote off Christine. It was such a vitriolic attack that even Scar cringed at the venom in the remark. Well, seems Africa listened.

Looking forward to the next Spectacular on Sunday. In an ideal situation, Cynthia should be the next to receive marching orders from Africa, but with the present voting format of Idols that allows a well-heeled contestant to practically buy the title, the situation is anything but ideal.

Let’s see how this plays out, shall we?

Peace Out.

J UNIT:
the only, only onllllllllllllllllllllllly, person i can recommend to win this shitis, eric at least he could have mad the top 80 of nigerian idols.

You obviously don't know about Ammara Brown. So you're forgiven for that.

Meantime, look out for Debra Chansa and Samantha Trivachio on Sunday.

Samukeliso let me down so hard my joints are still aching from the impact. She took so many liberties with the Bon Jovi song that it was almost criminal. She's going to deny Africa the opportunity of hearing that wonderful voice again. But i suspect its Africa's loss.

Nicolette, Eric and Adiona are Top10 contenders from that group and they will all make it into the top10 eventually. Nicolette is the best singer from that group, speaking from a technical point of view. Her control is impeccable, her range is very expansive and her notes, high or low, are pure. But i wished she would have grabbed that microphone and involved the crowd more in her performance. Adiona on the other hand delivered a very lively performance that is more likely to be remembered than Nicolette's flawless and polished performance, and that may be Nicolette's undoing tonight.

But whoever doesn't get through tonight among those three will still make it through on the judges wildcard. So look forward to seeing Nicolette, Adiona and Eric in the Top10.

@Uche1
Great to see you again bro.

@Modups!
Longtime. What's up with you? Actually the contestants are still wearing their own clothes. At top10 stage they will be clothed by some fashion brand, as was done in our own version. But you're right, their dress sense leaves much to be desired.

Well, it seems the Penjani who made the Top24 was not the same one who won the local version of idols in her country. But despite her very best efforts singing Celine Dion's "It's all coming back to me now" on Sunday, she was still the first person to be kicked off Idols last night.

Irenne the mouthy had to eat humble pie last night as she also got the boot after an anemic performance of Celine Dion's "Declaration of Love" on Sunday. Independent judge Kaweesa summed up her performance by saying she left him just as she met him. In other words, her performance had no effect on him. And i agreed with him, though i probably would not have put it quite that way.

Trinah Chisanga was the highpoint of Sunday's performances. Clad in a striking white and black hips-displaying ensemble, she did magical things with that venerable ode for pining lovers "When i need love." Her performance was a clear statement of intent to everyone who would make it into the top10: Trinah is here to win this thing. It was thus no surprise when she became the third person into the Top10.

Goofy Katungulu, winner of catwalk Kenya and the last person into the Top24 put on quite a display with her rendition of Gloria Estefan's "Rhythm of the Night." But the beautiful dance moves and the shoes weren't enough to convince Africa to keep her in the Top10. Well, i guess its back to scissors, needle and thread for the gifted kenyan designer.

Alice was completely forgettable in her performance of "Thunder only happens when its raining" while Faycal's rendition of Michael Buble's "Crazy Little thing called love" didn't exactly have me jumping up and down in excitement, but it was apparently enough to get him into the Top10. Personally i think they went for gender balance with the choice of Faycal, because i think that generally Katungulu's performance was more enjoyable than Faycal's.

Group Three perform next Sunday as Doris, Chibwe, Nicollette the concert violinist, Eric of the big afro, Adiona of the beautiful eyes who belongs to a musical group with members older than her father and Simukeliso take on the Idols stage.

Does anyone know Miss Zulu Song's name?

Peace out.

malaika:
Welcome back LC hope you'll feel 100% again soon. Katungulu is the Kenyan chic who won a local design competition. I've not been blown away by her. In this group I expect Trinnah with her sultry almost-hoarse voice and Penjani to do good. Can't remember the others.

As for Cynthia, it might be a case of Jerrilyn, hope not though! Ammara might not win this, people might vote for an 'underdog' like Miss Zulu song: "Uyindod' emadoneni, ungubaba wezingane zami, " (You are a man amongst men, the father of my children) beautiful song

@Malaika
Great to see you again. And thanks. Yeah, i saw the preview for the second group performing on Sunday and realised that Katungulu was the chic who won Catwalk Kenya and got the first Golden Ticket in Nairobi and was the last person into the Top24. I agree with you, she has never blown me away but i guess she'll grow in the competition if she makes it through. For heavens sake, who is that Miss Zulu Song? I am so watching out for her. Trinnah is something special and will also be one to look out for on sunday.

Hey people,
Been offline since the weekend due to some small illness. Will be back to full strength by tomorrow. Meantime, Cynthia Kuto in the Top 10? How on earth did that happen? I so did not feel her performance on the night. But she sure looks great. Great eye-candy for television, but the singing? It totally didn't 'werk' for me. Even priscillah was way better. But perhaps Priscillah isn't built like an idol and so she didn't make it. Much the same way the albino with the goosebump inducing voice didn't make top10 in the west african edition.

But Ammara! Oh Ammara. I fear that girl. And i fear for that girl. As at Sunday, she appeared to be losing her voice but she still blew the competition away. Thankfully she will have about a month to recover it before the top10 starts to perform. I fear for her because she is so good that people will become complacent and neglect to vote for her, much like happened to Jodie. But she is clearly the best in the competition.

Singing next week are Katungulu, Trinah, Faycal, Penjani, Irenne and Alice. Penjani won a local version of Idols in her country and actually went to canada to record an album. It never materialised and she came to audition for East African Idols. At her audition i didn't think she was up to scratch but she got the gplden ticket and made it into the top24, so she must be doing something right. She will be one to watch, just because of her background story.

Not too sure if Katungulu is the shorthaired chic who sang the zulu song at the auditions, but if she is, then i think she's got a great chance of making the top10. Faycal will be holding it down for the guys and i wish him luck.

Well, let's see how this goes, shall we?

Peace Out.

uchetobi:
Lawyerchap, good to see you here, Looking foward to your analysis

@Uchetobi
Great to see you here too. Looks like its gonna be a great ride.

adechuks:
Lawyerchap, una don come here again.
Good to see you with you insightful analysis. How did your "Call to prayer" pitch do last year?

@Adechuks
Thanks bro. Call to prayer went to another agency. Thanks for all your support. How you doing?

afrochalk:
hey guys, do i seem to have missed something?? on which channel did they show the top 24 thing?? i've been glued to channel 198 on dstv but i have seen anything worthwhile,

@Afrochalk

Yep! you have missed the Top24 results show. It is broadcast on Africa Magic as well as the MNet East and West channels on Sunday and Monday evenings. You'll need to go to their site to get the exact timing as i don't know your location. Sorry dude!

Wow! That was some result show last night. Tension was palpable and there were quite a few surprises. Most notable among the surprises was Mandiso who had talked down on the talent at the auditions and had kept her group waiting almost all night for her to come to rehearsals. Good singer with a memorable voice, something must have gone wrong with her final audition. Or maybe it was just poetic justice for her running her mouth.

Ammara Brown, Samantha Trivacho and the shorthaired chic with the long name who sang a zulu song at the auditions are, in my opinion, the ones to watch.

Notice how the chics totally outnumber the guys in the top24? i think its like 19 to 5 if i remember clearly.

Waiting for next Sunday when Ammara Brown will be singing for our votes. Also singing on Sunday would be Mukuni Mulundika, Cynthia Kuto, Priscillah Mubone who had a fainting fit on the first day of the theatre auditions, Meeghan Galloway whose sister didn't make it to the top24 and Samantha Mogwe another brilliant singer. I think Ammara Brown and Samantha Mogwe have the brightest chances barring any unfortunate occurrences on the night.

Watchu guys think?

Returning from a night at the movies, was doing about 100km/h in my Golf GTI when i noticed a large truck parked dead ahead on the inside lane of the 3rd Mainland Bridge. I immediately switched lanes to avoid the hulking deathtrap.

But as i passed the truck my usually super-responsive GTI developed a mind of its own. It started heading towards the railings and no matter how much i steered it the other way, it just kept heading towards the Atlantic. I had time to say a quick prayer to God that if i was to die that day the car should remain on the bridge and not plunge into the Atlantic.

All this time i had held off from applying the brakes because i didn't know what was going on (the driving principle "when in doubt, both feet out"), but as the railings and the ocean loomed closer, i gently stepped on the brakes trying to make a controlled stop. This transferred the weight to the front of the car, causing the rear end to swing around and send me into a wild spin. The car slammed into the railings with the passenger's side and flipped over and over a couple of times before coming to rest on its side.

Tuface Idibia was still playing "My guy na your eye you go sharpen" when i climbed out of the car. There wasn't a scratch on me. Not even from all the glass flying around.

Kind people stopped to help and they explained to me that the truck's tank had ruptured and it had spilled diesel all over the bridge. They told me i had probably stepped on my brakes as i passed the truck and that was what made my car stop responding.

Before i finished salvage and rescue operations that night, about seven other cars fell victim to the slick surface with varying degrees of damage.

Insurance came through quite speedily though.

Beamer:
Now, now, now, more to important things. Angela kissing Scar,

Oh wait, these is about the music, no?

Okay, they made good music!

What was that all about? methinks Angela is the kind of chick who loves bad boys and Scar's ruthlessness is actually striking a chord with her. Wow! i totally didn't see that coming. Wonder if they will be taking it further. Poor TK must be feeling somewhat left out.

What a bummer the Malawi and Botswana Auditions turned out to be. Not because of the pathetic talent we were subjected to, but because they have totally removed any vestiges of suspense the competition would have held for us.

Why do i say this? Last night i saw the winner of Idols East Africa and she is 19 year old Ammara Brown from Botswana who blew the judges and me away with an unbelievable rendition of beyonce's "Listen." And she is a hot looker to boot.

Either she will win Idols or she will be another Jody and get voted off because everyone will think she is too good to be voted off and neglect to vote for her. Either way, she is the best singer so far in this edition, and neither Timi nor Omawumi can hold a candle to this girl.

Legolas against the Mastodon - Lord of the Rings (The Return of the King)
Aeowyn (Princess of Gondor) against the Chief Nazgul - Lord of the Rings (The Two Towers)
The Battle in the Mines of Moria - Lord of the Rings (Fellowship of the Ring)
Frodo against Shelob - Lord of the Rings (The Return of the King)
The Battle of Minas Tirith - Lord of the Rings (The Two Towers)
Boromir's death fight - Lord of the Rings (The Fellowship of the Ring)
Smeagol's fight with his brother for the Ring - Lord of the Rings (The Return of the King)
Gandalf's Confrontation with the Chief Nazgul - Lord of the Rings (The Two Towers)
Gandalf against the Balrog in the Mines of Moria - Lord of the Rings (Fellowship of the Rings)

Don't blame me, that's like the greatest movie ever made.

Harare is looking good for the title if you ask me. But we haven't seen Malawi yet, and if Code of Big Brother was anything to go by, there could be something there. by the way, Big Brother Africa is back and taking applications o. it's closing end of the month.

afrochalk:
well well, kenyans can sing, but they don't waste their time with the idols thing, unfortunately. those who do are either high school kids and the likes. the lawyerchap idiot seems to have a personal dislike towards kenyans. calling them rodents was crap and shows that he's a local SOB who's not travelled anywhere. but fact is kenyans sucked, maybe because the idols thing was not well advertised there. but Zambians seem to be stealing the show

Whoa! Seems like i hit a bit too close to home for your comfort there. yeah, i know it was an unfair and insensitive comment to make but somehow i just couldn't resist making it. i'm sorry if it offended you. I don't have any feelings about kenyans one way or another, but i do know that they cannot sing to save their lives. And don't give us that crap about Idols not being well advertised there. So how come the wack singers got to hear about it and turned out almost one thousand strong?

Before the auditions moved to Tanzania, Kenya's 13 golden tickets was the lowest ever in Idols history. Until Tanzania turned out only 4 golden tickets. The Lusaka and Kampala Auditions had way more talent than the Nairobi and Dar es salam. Plus they also had a couple of people who actually talked back to Scar. I especially liked the girl who had her passport with her. After Scar shot her down and, Angie in trying to be nice asked her to come back next year, she turned and said she'd never come back because of Scar. Scar had made a comment about it not being a beauty contest and even if it was and he was a judge there she still wouldn't make it through. She actually gave the judges quite an earful but i don't quite remember everything she said.
But the guy in Nairobi who played the guitar behind his head definitely takes the prize for "Motor Mouth" of the competition. Even Scar didn't quite know how to handle him. Somehow though, i don't think he's all "there" if you know what i mean.

looking forward to seeing the rest of the Kampala and lusaka auditions after work.

Peace out.

@Thegame
Sometimes its not about the ride but its all about the driver. And don't knock the GTI o. That's a ride with pedigree. Pound for pound it probably generates more horsepower than the Honda. its a hugely quick car and will race anything thrown at it. i know how many N5m cars have been put to shame by that car. seriously.

Modups dearie, longest time. What's been up with you? I've been under the radar for a while. You know its now idols season, that's why i'm back on nairaland. Hope i'll see you on that thread.

Just before you guys continue railing about how ads are sick and stupid, i must let you know that coming up with those ads involves a whole raft of professionals both on the ad agency's side and on the client's side. Then so that those involved are not found guilty of tunnel vision, there is an additional failsafe that involves testing the ads on teenagers of average intelligence. Once they can grasp the message that the ads are promoting, the ads are certified fit for broadcast.

Granted, production often leaves much to be desired in Nigeria. Granted again, everyone is entitled to their opinions, but to say that a concept is stupid or sick simply because you don't "get it" merely says something about your level of intelligence. Don't forget that ads are tested on teenagers of average intelligence, and they "get it" otherwise the ads wouldn't be aired.

So try and think through an ad before you pronounce judgment on it. And on yourself.

Missed the opening of Idols East Africa as I was at work. But when I did get home I could only stomach about thirty minutes of the Nairobi auditions before I changed the channel, lest I damaged my TV.

First off, Kenyans bear an uncanny resemblance to rodents. They all had this shifty look that you see in a cornered rat, and when combined with the omnipresent snout, you’ll find that this comparison is really quite accurate. Unfair and insensitive, maybe, but accurate nonetheless.

Then who in God’s name are those judges? They do not have one musical bone in their collective ears. The one called Scar, supposedly a hiphop star in Botswana, is he supposed to be the Simon Cowell? Or Dede Mabiaku? He’s doing an absolutely wack job of it. Angela is a Kenyan radio DJ and she seems to be the one with the right approach to the auditions. As for Trevor Siyandi, the Zambian record producer, I’m wondering how he got so “successful” if he could pass up some of the talent he did.

Quite apart from the astounding lack of talent in Nairobi, the judges also made some truly horrific calls. Of note was Sarah who performed Alicia keys “Woman’s Worth” most creditably but was bounced by the judges. But the truly mindboggling decision was the refusal of a golden ticket to Jemima, a pretty young lady who plays a mean guitar. She performed a hauntingly beautiful song she had written and I was almost moved to tears. But then she was asked to perform without the guitar and she still gave a good enough account of herself to have earned a golden ticket. But the judges refused to let her have it. Trevor Siyandi gave his reason thus: “You’d be fantastic in a studio. You reminded me of Tracy Chapman there with the guitar. But we’re looking for an idol to sing onstage. We’re looking for vocal power and I don’t think you have it.”

At that point, I changed channels. I mean, here was a young lady who, without a doubt, is going to be a musician. What would it hurt to have given her a chance? Not out of anything, but because she merited it. For some reason, they didn’t and I couldn’t watch anymore.
Only thirteen people made it through from Kenya. Tonight we tune in to Tanzania. Hope it will be worth watching.

Peace out.

A 2008 Honda Accord V6 raced me on 3rd mainland bridge a couple of weeks ago. I was driving my 1994 Golf GTI the original 'Hot Hatch.' The Honda is a mover, that's for sure, but it was no match for my nimble and speedy GTI. The weaving in and out of high speed traffic is what undid the honda. While i could nip in and out between cars, the Honda, being larger couldn't quite manage it with the speed that i could. But even in a straight line, when i pushed the GTI really hard, i kept up with the Honda, which is humongously quick in a straight line. But the GTI's acceleration is phenomenal and could always get me ahead of the honda from the same starting point. Plus my GTI is a manual transmission while i suspect the Honda was automatic. There's also the fact that the guy driving was probably mindful that he was racing with a N5m car against a N700K car. The GTI has never failed me in a race except once against a porsche 911, and that was because i had waded through a deep puddle of water and until it dried out of the engine i kept losing power on my gear changes.

I would love to buy the 2007 GTI if i can find it in Nigeria. sadly, it isn't offered for sale by Stallion motors. I wonder why. Such a shame.