yipee! got my results today... hee, good! it was much better than i expected definitely... i thought my linear algebra 2 and probability was going to be gone case or something. fortunately not! i'm happy...

anyway, the wedding dinner at ritz carlton was pretty good yesterday night. the food was quite nice, but then i didn't like wearing those awful clothes there. we had trouble simply getting there. the fool of a cad driver didn't even know how to get there. i gave him the exact address already, and he still didn't know. idiot... and he was like complaining and everything. heLLO... anyway most of the people were wearing pretty formal clothes. neck plunging, floor dragging, back exposing gowns for the ladies... te bride was pretty, she looked very sweet. and her eyes were huge... anyway, the food was good. the first dish was lobster salad plus fried shrimp ball or something. tasted really good! then they had a little bowl of sharks fin sometime. it wasn't the usual thick gravy kind. it was like cleaer chicken soup as gravy. tasted not bad. i liked it... there was a dish that consisted of a single piece of abalone with loads of vege. i couldn't finish the vege. ugh. but towards the end the food wasn't nice. the noodles smelled of the oil that indians like to put in their hair. i don't like that smell in my food... anyway! it was a generally nice tasting dinner...

next sem i've to work really hard again. if i'm taking arts modules, i'll really have to put in plenty of effort. can't imagine them...

miss clay! hahaha...

posted by Yee 11:55 AM

. . .

actually i've been hoping to keep this blog entirely reserved for my american idol obsession (or specifically my clay-infatuation). not that i'm really that obsessed, i'm still healthy ok... but after all, i named this blog honeybunch not for no reason... how i love that song... esp if clay sings it... hee!
but now that american idol is over, there's really nothing much i can talk about. i don't want to abandon the blog THIS quickly... and the AI gossip isn't that much to talk about either... sigh...

posted by Yee 1:17 AM

. . .

clay...

i'm missing american idol already... really badly... there's hardly anything at all for me to look forward to every week. and in about another one week's time, i'll be starting tuition. how great... of course it's a good idea not to waste my time away, but instead do some work and earn a little pocket money. but i don't particularly enjoy tuition. of course it's still better thatn working anyway. and working with kids, it's much nicer than with plotting, exploitive, manipulating adults. anyway, two days ago i went karaoke with the girls. phew, nothing went wrong, fortunately. it's my first time organizing this sort of outing. apparently everyone was happy. good! i'm glad... they're hoping for another of those outing pretty soon. this is good... haha, and we got a $20 voucher too. hee!

i think the clay fans are slowly accepting the fact that ruben won the title, while, hehe, clay won our hearts! now it no longer matters whether or not clay has the title. he has a recording contract (meaning we will all get to own his cd sometime) and plenty of publicity too. plus, he gets more rest than ruben. i see that much as ruben is happy he got the title, he is kinda irritated that this isn't a good deal after all. no sleep, no rest, no life. and, he has to do some really cheesy actions and everything. remember the guest judge medley? i bet he never expected that he would be made to perform like the pips. uh huh, kim locke was singing. she was gladys knight. he was one of the pips. my gosh. all those weird actions and moves. he must really be regretting having to do these sort of stuff. i recall one of his interviews (shouold be the larry king live) when he said he didn't actually want to enter the competition bcs it was really "cheesy". and now, haha... like clay puts it, ruben just became the "king of cheese". hahaha... ruben yawns through his interviews and complains about his lack of rest. poor fellow. meanwhile clay is energetic and happy. he has got so much to say during the interviews, he smiles and laughs, bright and cheery all the time. i'm glad for him. but there's one thing about him that's realy pitiful. i bet he never expected, too, that with those looks there could be millions of girls out there who are all crazy over him. he still can't seem to accept that. and i saw the post by some member in another forum. his fans (unruly ones only) were mobbing him. they were yelling right into his face and he looked "totally petrified". my goodness... poor clay! maybe he should just have a handshaking and autograph session. people should be made to queue up for an autograph, and get a simple handshake from him. that should be enough to make me melt, goodness... hehe, so long!

posted by Yee 11:56 AM

. . .

hee hee!

"The constant references to Clay being perfect for Broadway were silly too and Ruben supporters who parroted that time and time again apparently do not realize that only the purest, most talented singers with perfect voices are "perfect" for broadway. Because on Broadway you can't fake it. There is no one there to make your voice all nice and shiny like the people who work on Brittany Spear's CDs. To star on Broadway, you have to be perfect. Somehow Simon turned it into an insult. "

told you there's nothing wrong... anyway, i'm angry at simon. *two tight slaps across his face* why did he actually want clay to be in the finals? just to put him down? clay very obviously did much better than ruben the entire night, but what did he get in return? unfair criticism. first simon said that clay was "really ugly" in the beginning, "look how handsome this show has made you". uh huh, we all know that clay is handsome now, but you didn't have to make anymore unnecessary references to what he looked like. at least clay improves. look at ruben. second simon insists that both clay and ruben left the best for the last. uh huh, you refuse to comment on it right? you just refused to admit that clay did well.. ruben did fine, you said he was superb. clay did well, you said "you can't really go wrong with this song". do you know the range of that song? *punch him in the stomach* third and last, clay's performance was without doubt the best of the night, if not the entire season. simon knew that, but he just had to say that clay was "a bit off tonight". he wasn't, HE WASN'T! you idiot of a simon... clay wasn't off at all, ruben was. he was hoarse, he was weary, he was off key during the end of his second song. {at this point, i must still stress that i'm fine with ruben cos he's better than loads of others.} what the heck is wrong with simon? the even more problem is, what is wrong with america? you all know that simon is talking nonsense, he's manipulating you, and you just let it be... oh i'm so pissed...

"And lets not forget how many times we were told that Clay did not look like a pop star. But apparently Michael Jackson has been thinking of putting on a couple hundred pounds so that he can match Ruben's perfect pop star physique. Notice how Simon told Vanessa and some of the others that they needed to lose weight. It was never mentioned to Ruben. It makes you wonder if Ruben would have even been able to compete last year considering all the obese people Simon tossed aside due to image issues."

on a brighter note, here's something nice! and i agree to it! check this out... it's from foxes on idol.
So what is it about Clay? What has given Clay Aiken the X-factor?
Here are my top ten Clay-factors:

1) That voice! Well, what can I say. That amazing voice became more searingly beautiful every week. It could have come straight from Heaven.
Off-stage, Clay, by his own acknowledgment, is more hyperactive. On-stage he acquired a groundedness, depth and resonance which was almost ethereal. His voice spoke to the depths of the soul and touched emotions we didn’t know we had.

2) Love. Clay is loving and caring. This is very evident on stage. When he smiles, hearts melt. He seems to express such joy that people’s hearts go straight out to him. A fan explained this much better than I could: “Clay puts love and joy out there ... he gets it back ... and gives it out again ... that’s why we stay in love with him.” “And when he smiles ... he just has you smiling back. He is thoroughly enjoying himself ... and we enjoy him back.”
He also loves his mom, and is very tactile towards women. How sweet was that to watch. No matter what country they were in, women would have been mesmerized. The same fan said, “And he’s so sweet and gentlemanly - what’s not to love. He stands there before us with OPEN ARMS ... and we just want to fall right into them.”

3) The ‘geek to chic’ factor. Clay has transformed himself before our very eyes. At his audition he was an ordinary student – crumpled, thickly bespectacled, red-haired, skinny, and with prominent ears. The judges didn’t think he looked remotely like an idol and were even unsure whether to allow him into the next heat.
Then he transformed himself into a love-god. Turned out all the time he was not an ugly duckling at all! He got a makeover, or several. He stopped contorting his face. He got sharp suits and leather jackets. He got lighting. He got great songs to sing. His voice was fabulous. The mix became irresistible.
So what emerged? A swan.

4) He forgot his words once, but he picked himself up again. During a potentially beautiful rendition of Don McLean’s “Vincent,” the unthinkable happened, and Clay forgot his words in two places. Did he collapse in a heap, show visible signs of nerves or flunk out of the contest? No way. This is Clay!
What Clay did was blithely carry on as if nothing had happened, finishing, as Paula Abdul noted, with dignity. And when Ryan asked him how you pick yourself up from something like that, he said, “You bring it! You bring it next time!” And he proceeded to do so, and then some, knocking us out with “Mack the Knife” and “Unchained Melody.”
What Clay was doing here was saying in not so many words, “It’s okay to mess up! We’re all human, and humans go wrong sometimes. When you do, you don’t have to rip yourself to shreds because of it or hope the floor will swallow you up. You don’t have to brand yourself a failure and give up. It’s okay! Just carry on, and you’ll get there in the end.” People love him for it.

5) Clay learned on the job. To start off with, all he had was potential – a fabulous voice and not much else going for him that anyone could see. Oh and self-belief. He told the judges he thought he could be the next American Idol.
Every week, he listened and learned. He took Simon Cowell’s often abrasive comments and looked for the gold nugget in them. Je practiced relaxing his facial muscles so that he suddenly looked gorgeous while he was singing. He listened to Paula and injected more pizzazz into his performances. He learned to look into the camera so he was staring straight into the viewer’s eyes. As another fan said, “I feel like Clay is singing just to me through the camera.” He learned to exude sexuality, but probably didn’t even know he was doing it.
So the rest of us could see that we didn’t have to be perfect, or even anything special to start off with. If we just focused on something, we could get better at it with practice, like he did. Anything became possible. We realized that there was a swan inside all of us, just waiting to get out.

6) He’s suffered. I don’t think that life has been a bed of roses for Clay Aiken. He hasn’t led a charmed existence. He’s just like the rest of us. His background may not be extremely poor (although he may have known some hardship), but it wasn’t wonderful either. He had a father with whom he wasn’t close. Clay felt strongly enough about this to change his name to his mother’s maiden name.
He must have watched his mother struggle to bring him up. He also had to contend with acquiring a stepfather, and then his stepfather died last year. Clay has had his share of troubles in life.
All of this gives him the depth of expression he always exhibits when he sings.

7) Humility. Clay Aiken doesn’t just say he has humility. He actually does really have it. He could be quite self-deprecating and genuinely didn’t understand what all the fuss was about – why he touched so many people’s hearts. If he were arrogant, then people may want to knock him. As it is, they love him.

8) Sincerity, kindness and thoughtfulness, being open and trusting. This young man is nothing if not sincere. He is genuine and straightforward. He is a Southern Baptist and wants to do good in the world. He wants the influence and exposure from American Idol to be able to help autistic children.
And through everything, he has maintained an ability to be open and trusting, and let his emotions shine through. Singing “Solitaire” especially, he let his vulnerability be clearly seen. It endeared people to him.

9) He demonstrated a lovely sense of humor and didn’t take himself too seriously. His endearing smile lit up our TV screens. His sexual gyrating was done with glee. He found this funny!
He demonstrated a quick wit and was more than a match for the judges, dealing with them with humor and dignity, or sometimes flirting with Paula. Paula: “I want to give you a hug.” Clay: “Is that a date?”

10) He and the other contestants saw us through a potentially dark period of human history. If love often arises out of adversity, then this could explain some of the depth of emotional attachment being felt.
Perhaps Clay’s greatest achievement has been to give hope in what seemed an uncertain world. He has been like a beacon of light in the dark. He has given us hope that we could find our own path in life and fulfill our wildest dreams. If Clay could do it, then so perhaps could we. He made us feel special, and he made anything seem possible.

posted by Yee 6:49 PM

. . .

alright... back to reality. ruben won the title of american idol. clay's second, kimberley's third.

24 million votes, 0.56 percentage point difference, 134400 votes. it's mere negligible. it's like statistical discrepancy. i've seen many posts on the forums. well...

24million votes, 3 hours, 8 million votes entering the two lines per hour. 133million calls per minute, about 1 million votes per line per second. can see where i'm driving at? the lines are bound to be too busy, there are so many people who are voting at the same time, so many more whose votes would matter. why are those producers so stupid? why couldn't they just open another line for each contestant so people who wanted to vote could actually vote? they used to be able to get in about 200 votes per person per night, now they can hardly get in even two digit number of votes. 20 million votes used to be distributed among 5 lines, now it's only two. it is amazing why this people didn't think of any way to get around the problem of busy signals. wouldn't they have wanted to say tht more than 24 million votes? text messaging hardly even got in. there were so many problems.

you might think i'm driving at some conspiracy theory that will eventually conclude clay didn't win the title because the producers tried to hinder his votes from entering. rubbish. i don't think the producers will do something that idiotic so as to mess with the votes. but they definitely tried to manipulate the votes. they gave ruben so much more. it's written everywhere, i don't feel like going into that. they want ruben to win, bt they're unwilling to let go of clay. he's like a money spinning machine, they're gonna milk him for as much money as they can. they're letting clay and ruben's albums get released on the same time. i hope the clay fans would sweep the shelves and clean all the stock of clay's cds. i want a landslide defeat by clay over ruben then. never underestimate the spending power of women. AND teenagers. if clay's album is available here, i'd buy it too. not just bcs i love him, but also i want to show them ruben's not the actual winner here. i know i'll be falling directly into the producers trap, but there's no way out, none at all. bt for ruben, they have all those older fans, those who are working, they definitely can buy his albums. celebrites love him too, and they'll harp on some ace singer who owns his cd, and he's so honoured... whatever...

by the way, i'm sort of amused... imagine what the media is in for!!! hahaha... we all know ruben answers the questions posed to him in words less than a 2 digit figure. or putting it another way, his answers are always shorter than the questions. imagine an interview with him... he's like always half asleep, and according to some site, "the only time the big lug truly comes alive is when he and his little buddy are goofing around"... haha, he needs clay around him... otherwise he hardly even moves...

i don't feel like saying anything... i'm tired, and pissed by the stupid producers. but i'm fine with ruben. i'm ok with him. and i love clay.

posted by Yee 12:00 AM

. . .

ruben won! by 130000 votes or so out of 24million. hehe, we'll talk later...

love clay

posted by Yee 11:25 AM

. . .

i just finished watching the first part of american idol... wow! i can't imagine what's gonna happen... ruben's first song was ok, quite nice. his second song was good, except for the last part where he went a bit off (but nobody heard it, or you can say nobody cares) and his last song was... brilliant! clay's first song was very nice... his second song was ... meh... but his last song was AMAZING. it sounds so different from the original song yet recognisable. wow...

but i've really got no idea who'll be THE american idol. i was thinking it's not exactly a good thing for clay to win. but if clay hopes to win (not desperately, but hope) and if simon's gonna sign on both of them anyway... I WANT CLAY TO WIN! he deserves that title... but i shan't be too disappointed either if ruben's crowned winner. i'm at peace with that. i won't start cooking up some story about conspiracy (but i'll go around reading them! and agree! hahaha... ) even though almost everything was biased towards ruben and unfair to clay. but clay is great already. yes he is... *swoon* *melt*

hope for the best results... anticipating...

posted by Yee 9:27 PM

. . .

american idol tomorrow!!! literally, yes! hahaha... i'm so nervous... better not even go online tomorrow... nah, maybe that's a bit too much. i'll have to take extra care when i go online tomorrow. avoid seeing anything that has got to do with AI, resist ay temptation to check things out. *take in deep breath* i can't hold it much longer!!!

posted by Yee 9:20 PM

. . .

took a look at the forums just now, read just a bit... a bit, but enough...

does clay oversing his songs? yes
is it a problem? nope

they say that he oversings his songs, drawing too much attention to the singer rather than the song... ruben is much easier on the ears... uh huh, i don't disagree. but i don't think american idol producers spent all that money trying to produce a cd that i'm gonna play as background music/ for relaxation purposes. i might as well spent just a bit and get one instrumental music cd/ or better still some therapy sort of music. really, why woud i want to spend that sort of money? i'd rather buy one that i can listen to, one that engages my mind, one that i'll sit down and listen to and enjoy, rather than play it while i'm working. and why would i want to buy an entire cd that sounds essentially the same? no thank you... i don't think it's a problem to sound broadway, it's not a problem to look weird or unable to dance. eventually it's the cd that matters. i'm not going to see the person singing it. doesn't matter if he looks like an elf, got big ears, dances horrible, has weird facial expressions, is sweating all over, or got a 54inch waist. it doesn't even matter if he looks good, got huge dimples, great hair, or looks endearing. it doesn't matter-- i'm only gonna listen, not see. and whoever it is, he's just my idol. he's my nobody else, doesn't matter if he's gay or what. so what's the problem with these people? they're just trying to pick fault on the top two. and it's really stupid. quit that you morons.

i dunno if clay's gonna win. but if he doesn't, it'll be interesting to hear all the rumours about some conspiracy, manipulation, blah blah... the fans really take things too hard. i'm not about to start looking for people to blame if clay doesn't win (notice i never say lose) unless blatantly obvious conspiracies are staring me in the face. the clay fans (fellow clay fans, specifically) are so into discussing the immense media attention unfairly bestowed on ruben. none of them seem to appreciate the fact that even with the lack of attention on clay, he remains the only one never to have visited to bottom three/two group. he has still gotten himself on the same standing as ruben. it's like one is running upslope, one is running downslope. yet both of them travel the same distance within the same time, though one has gravity working against it, and the other has gravitational pull on his side. who is better? even an idiot knows. alright, maybe not an idiot, but it doesn't take a lot of thinking to realise who's the better one. further comparison? ok, both have the stamina (pretend that is god given ability). one runs uphill, the other one runs downhill in the beginning, and then later as he gains speed (already has the fan support) he decides to just roll down instead; save the trouble. so?

posted by Yee 11:13 AM

. . .

darn, today's only monday... it's like so long to thursday. and meanwhile, wednesday and thursday will take such a long time to pass by. why? cos it's really hard to resist the temptation to surf around and read all the recaps/news. and hard not to want to download the performances. but i believe... i can resist the temptation! i mean, i'll try... so i'll have to start looking for something to keep myself occupied during that time. anyway it would have been much easier if sugarpie didn't just threaten to play it at full volume every now and then...

they're not revealing the order of the performances nor the theme/ songs clay and ruben are gonna sing. but i'm guessing clay will perform first, then ruben. simply bcs clay was the last to perform last week. haha. unless the producers really do what they claim they will-- let the two contestants pick the order out of a bowl. but that doesn't matter at all. i don't really care about the order of performances. if you're good, you're good. the order's not gonna help. which also means, if you've decided, nothing's gonna change your mind. so actually there isn't even a need to perform for this last round. like some website puts it, ruben can just come out on stage, burp a loud one, pound his heart several times and go back in. and paula will still love it. many people would too. and i can say even if clay does some stupid grease dance again, his fans will still swoon all the same and vote their fingers off. so this time, it's just a matter of whose fans have better access to non-congested phone lines. alright, i should check out if alabama is bigger or north carolina. but if i'm predicting it's alabama although i have no references except the contestants. wanna know why i guess alabama's bigger? shouldn't be difficult, make an intelligent guess...

simon, randy, the media on the whole, as well as many a celebrity, have already announced they want ruben to win. yup, WANT. and they're conveniently manipulating the public to vote that way. the mastermind is simon. oh you knew that already? oh yes, i forgot, he's, made a confession already right... nevermind, i don't care who wins. both of them are in the top 2 and i'm happy.

i think hardly any of the contestants read harry potter. how many times have they told harry "play to your strengths" but apparently most of the contestants take that to heart. kim locke's strength is a powerful voice that can hit some good high notes. so i dunno what got into her and she kept singing songs that start off at lower keys. so she begins her songs shaky for about all her performances. but good thing, she can recover halfway through the performance, like clay can too. with that blunder in vincent, he could still carry on with the song seemingly unaffected. something josh will never learn. start off flat/sharp, and he never recovers. what makes things worse is, he can start off fine and go all bad in the centre (which will remain bad for the rest of the song). did you hear the bee gees medley? when they were singing "stayin' alive", oh boy josh really ruined the harmony of their voices. he was so obviously singing on a totally different key. the best he could do was to sing softer, but no. he was shouting out his off-key notes. oh boy. urgh. carmen's strength was obviously her looks/youth. whatever it is, it's NOT her voice. so i had no idea why she wanted to just stand still with that microphone stand and sing a song that "shows [her] range" since she has none. goodness. trenyce was not at fault for getting eliminated. nothing to say about that. josh deserves to go right from the first round of finals where he sang the same song as ruben. i can't say anything about him, i can't even see WHERE his strength lies. if there's any, it's his baby girl and marine status. maybe he should just have piggy backed his adorable baby girl and sing some corny tune that marines march to. AND dance to it (think "uptight"). HAHAHAHAhahahaha!!!!!............... hahaha.... *choke* ok ok , retribution for being mean. quit it...

why do the fans like to blame to background vocals? sometimes they ought to thank them... these are what cover their flaws... either the bg vocals are loud enough to cover the contestants's voice, or the bg vocals are so bad you divert all the attention to them and forget to take notice that the contestant has already gone all off key. OR the fans can blame the bg vocals for disharmonious sound effects. so it's not entirely a bad thing. people shouldn't be requesting turning off those. hehe. well but i shouldn't be saying too much first, not too nice, don't want to eat my words later on... =p

gotta wait another 3 days...

posted by Yee 6:10 PM

. . .

YES!!!
Clay's in the final 2!!! yeah... he deserves to be there. and unlike many clay fans, i think that ruben deserves to be there too. they're no doubt the best in the competition. many would believe that kim locke should be in the top 2. but i don't think so. she's not consistent enough, and that's talking about AFTER she's gotten better (according to simon well...) so nope, not her. i'm no fan. loved her "band of gold". not the recent one, the one with frenchie. alright, that's officially the only performance i'm happy from her. all the rest are... nah... anyway i'm listening to her recent "band of gold". poor kim, the background vocals are simply dreadful. she absolutely butchered the judges choice song. what's the name again? i can't even remember. but i know her last one "inseparable" was rather good.
i remember ruben's ones. i loved "signed, sealed, delivered". it was high! great song... "smile" was AWFUL. nevermind what i think, cos the judges love every single performance of his. so nevermind. the last one was... "if ever you're in my arms again". great song. but he sounded a little hoarse by then, like his throat was getting dry and a little dry already. there might be something wrong with the way he songs. cos he's not aupposed to be using his throat to belt out the notes. but nevermind that too.
alright. clay's. THANK GOD!!! i was so worried about tht state of "vincent". apparently it wasn't as bad as i thought it might have been. left out some parts in the middle. if nobody told me, it might have taken me quite some time to realise he forgot the words. cos anyway the arrangements of their songs are often weird. but he sounded quite alright. then came "mack the knife". stupid paula. this song made him sound like a lounge singer more than anything else. what was she thinking? but nevertheless, clay sang it very well. it sounded perfect on his voice, notes were right on, he looked great too. i like that style, even though it's not what American Idol is looking for. nevermind that... "unchained melody" was P-E-R-F-E-C-T. and i mean, it was perfect. whatever they said about the arrangement. clay MADE that song perfect. it was a totally different rendition. that makes it incomparable. AND special. the notes were great, right on, sent chills up my spine, and made my hair stand. all for the right reasons. beautiful song.

talking about which, i love the group medley for neil sedaka week. for the wrong reasons. josh was in there. he danced horrible. he looked horrible. haha... nevermind, but i loved trenyce. it was great to see her there. she sounded great too, no to mention she looks good... it was the first medley and the best. the bee gees medley was good too, cos the songs were quite high. bee gees have good songs, but i can't stand their voices. so when the contestants sang the bee gees songs, all sound great. wow... the recent medley with the top 3 wasn't so nice though... they all sound good, no one to spoil the harmony of their voices. but the songs just weren't so nice, and three people running around the stage wasn't as entertainig as with a few more people. and the actions were a little stupid too. haha. but it's alright.

i wonder if i dislike ruben. i like him, i like his voice, his style. i'm ok with the 205 jerseys. i don't mind him. even though he is clay's major competitor, i don't hate him. but there's something i can't help. he's getting boring. his stlye lacks versatility. every song sounds the same after he sings them. that's a problem to me. i start to get bored with his performances. and the judges are not helping. ruben is overrated. the media, the judges, the celebrities... everyone thinks he should win. they can no longer give him some constructive criticism so that he can improve. or do they think he can't improve anymore? his voice is not perfect. he does go out of tune, he does sound a lil hoarse after some time. but none of the judges point that out, even though man people know it. and it's geting onto my nerves. and many others too. i used to think i don't mind ruben to come in first and clay second. cos both of them are good and deserve to be up there. but then, over the weeks i see clay improving, working hard and showing plenty more personality. and i see ruben staying stagnant, or even, not shining as much as he used too. the competition may be wearing him off, and that is a valid reasn. but that doesn't seem to happen to clay and kim locke. so it actually tends to reflect very badly on ruben. so now i'm not that happy with the idea of ruben winning clay deserves to win more than him. though i also wonder if it's a good thing for clay to win the title. too much of that nonsense, and it's gonna spoil him as well as his image. nah... i dunno, whatever, i'm alright...

posted by Yee 6:23 PM

. . .

i'm gonna drop dead any moment.
i don't dare to imagine how badly clay did this time round. it's a bad week to hit bottom low. really bad. i've heard so much about it. this is gonna be real bad. totally butchered "vincent" which happened to be such a fantastic song. yeah, i can expect it to be badly screwwed up. i hope he can stay in the finals. i'll probably cry if clay goes this week. trust me i think i will. that's the end for me then. they said that kimberley did really well. but of course, she got "band of gold". what can you say? the very song people think is the best song for her. how great. im officially depressed. sad. and as usual the judges are gonna fawn over ruben, so no matter what he does they'll praise him anyway. i'm so not looking forward to that. yucks.
maybe three songs is too taxing. i duno, but if there's really some conspiracy then it's gonna be real bad... i don't really believe what some people suggest that clay's performance suffered because of some stupid suggestion by the producers. but looking on the brighter side, if he really screwed up the first round but topped the other two, that's as good as "sun zi bing fa", which is a rather good tactic. it could have been better to forgo one and concentrate on the other two. better than doing just alright in all. i dunno. i dunno... i'm still depressed anyway. i can just hope that he stays in the competition and get into the final 2. God bless!

posted by Yee 6:27 PM

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sigh... people just hate clay. why? what's wrong with him? i didn't use to be infatuated with him or what, i just grew to enjoy watching and listenig to him more and more as the show progresses. because of this, i refuse to accept any excuse of "clay is boring". he is far from that, they can never be more wrong. clay's just proven his versatility and range more than everything. they were complaining about ballads, then came "tell her about it" , the upbeat song that raised spirits for the first time that night (and probably the only time); they complained he was always wearing the same thing, then came the suits, tie, leather jackets... anything wrong? what do they want? corey's fishnet top? *puke puke puke* they complained he didn't move around enough. is that required? weren't everybody enjoying themselves anyway? nevermind first, cos clay danced a little anyway during "grease". mind you, i have to admit it looked pretty awkward. sent me into a fit of laughter and disgust, but deeply amused. i was happy. it served its purpose didn't it? we all know clay cannot do it well, but he obliged anyway. i like that spirit. you were complaining about... WHAT was boring? everything that needed variety and change has been done, whatever left unchanged is now known as -- style and personality. so what if they think he sounds broadway? he does pop and country too, this is a refreshing scene, one that is needed. alright, so everyone's saying ruben's better.

i used to think so too. and i felt that the most appropriate was for ruben to come out first, clay in second place. after watching more of their performances, not anymore. ruben has just proven the very thing others are somplaining about clay. he really IS boring. every song sounds like the one before, as well as the one after. you can say that's his style. unfortunately, it just shows a lack of versatility. you can't change every song to the same thing, then there's no point of singing different songs in the first place. clay has been doing different songs, changing it a little bit for it to embed his style in it (so called, making the song his own) yet maintaining the essence of the song so that it's still reconisable yet unique. for that, hat's off to clay. on the other hand, ruben "lutherizes" every single song beyond recognition. need proof? listen to "breaking up is hard to do". that's one of my favourite songs and i probably wouldn't have known what he was singing if no one told me what it was. get my point? ruben has got a great voice, there is nothing we can argue about that. it's steady, it's smooth, it's "radio-friendly" (according to neil sedaka)... but then, like what i came across on the internet: "go to any gospel church in the south and you can find a million kids singing like that". my point exactly. it's not something that will strike out immediately and tell me "that's ruben studdard singing!" i had some trouble distinguishing between rickey and ruben in "what the world needs now is love". ruben was singing higher notes at that time. it's not a very distinct, memorable voice. BECAUSE, as mentioned, there are loads of people out there with that sort of voice. clay would be easily recognisable, that's why i said it's called STYLE.

does that mean clay's gonna have a higher chance of winning? unfortunately no. everyone's obsessed with ruben. everybody thinks he'll win. and if this goes on, he really is going to. people who don't really know too well will be influences by the "media hype" around him (as josh put it). since everybody thinks he's the best, he must be the best then. yeah, that's why josh thinks ruben will win. and i think ruben will win too. even if he screws everything up the next performance, he'll still make it.

posted by Yee 6:52 PM

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by the way, next week they'll each be singing 3 songs. judge's pick, contestant's pick and a wildcard pick(meaning at random). i'm not worried about what song clay's gonna sing. i am sure he'll do a great rendition of the song and i'll love it.

i wonder what ruben's gonna do. i know whatever song he'll be singing, it'll sound the same. not that i mind. but i really REALLY hope he's NOT going to sing "superstar" for us again. i swear i'll mute the tv if he does. he's already successfully spoiled the song for me forever. i'm sick and tired and terrified of hearing that song ever again. yes, even the original one done by the carpenters. nope, no way i'll ever hear that song again. puke.

posted by Yee 2:27 PM

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UNBELIEVABLE

it was the Bee Gees night, and i was quite alright with that. many people apparently don't like the bee gees though... i didn't mind it. everyone got to perform 2 songs. good and bad.

first up was josh, oh my goodness... "jive talkin" was about the last thing i wanted to hear, but i didn't even hate that song. now i do. he was like dumping everything people criticised him for into that performance. singing through his nose, running all around and going out of breath, awful constipated facial expressions, off beat dancing... when he came so near the camera (and hence my tv screen) i more than just cringed and twitched. i almost fainted and drifted off into a nightmare. *shiver* and the judges seemd to have gotten a hang of the trend now. they all heaped praises upon him. they finally figured out that the harsher you are with the criticism, the more people are going to vote. haha. and some people actually believed it. anyways i don't like that performance at all.

clay performed second. i loved it. adored it. so did simon. that was no doubt an excellent performance. perfect pitch, great interpretation and rendition. comfortable to watch. penetrating. sent chills, it was impressive... worth all those praises. even before the camera moved to robin gibb, he gave thumbs up. it was simply great... definitely the best performance of the night, that one...

kimberley locke sounded quite good with her first song. it was a nice song, and her pitch wasn't blasting nor ear piercing. but not very impressive.

ruben sang "nights on broadway". i didn't like it at all. it sounded ok only. at least i swayed to it a little, but there were some parts that was a little off pitch. nahh, i didn't enjoy it as much as i used to enjoy his performances.

round 2, josh sang "to love somebody". what?! are you sure? uh huh, that was my reaction. and i went HOW DARE YOU... how could that even cross his mind. of all people, you choose to sing the same song as clay? the voice? he's asking for it. but with that in mind, it wasn't too yucky. i mean it could have been worse, but nah, it was alright. at least i didn't cringe as much as i did during "jive talkin". but it spelled misfortune. the first week he sang "baby i need your lovin", the same song as ruben. so when he sings the same song as clay, it has to be his last week. he's smart. i'm sure he meant to leave. did you see how relieved he was when he landed in the bottom 2 instead of ruben? he really did. and for a good reason. save him from being further condemned. and yeah, i don't find him as detestable now... =) good for you...

clay sang "grease". hahahahahahahhhahahhahaha!!! my goodness, i was laughing throughout that performance! he looked so awkward and everything, and he was wearing a red leather jacket! just to suit the grease theme! it was nice... i think the song sounded perfect on him. just right for his pitch, nobody could have done it better than him. he obviously has been listening to what the fans were talking about. he sticked to his own style of singing, he wore something different, he loosened up a little bit (though he really looked uncomfortable, haha...) and he fooled around on stage to give everybody a good time. thanks!

kim locked has spoiled the song "emotions" for me. i hate that song now. when she started on the song it was ok. then it all went off track. the arrangement was horrendous. everything about it sucked. let's not go into that...

ruben sang... yawn... i can't remember how it sounded like, but i know it's called something like "... mend a broken heart". i was o the right pitch, and he looked like he was enjoying himself on stage too. yeah, he even looked happy to be heartbroken. totally no emotions on his face. he was engaged with the audience, but not with the song. and as a singer that shouldn't be the thing to do... i started getting sleepy during his song. for the first time, i realised. i never felt tired watching american idol. he did it, he couldn't come out with anything new and i was really bored... nah...

so though everybody loves ruben and his voice, and the judges worship the ground on which he walks, i wasn't impressed at all. i enjoyed clay's performances far better. call me biased. but i believe i'm not seeing only part of the picture. i'm sure i'm not missing anything here. we'll see about that.

posted by Yee 2:23 PM

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hahaha! it's thursday! i can hardly wait for 8pm... alright, my wild guesses were really wild. think josh is the first one to perform. maybe they're really determined to make him go. i would be happy to see him go too, but it would have been much bettaer if he did so earlier... nevermind, just as well. that poor fellow looks like he's being tortured there. anyway, i ought to start doing something more constructive now, shoudn't waste my time away. ok! i'll have tonight to look forward to!

posted by Yee 4:14 PM

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it's wednesday it's wednesday! it's american idol again tomorrow night! hahaha...
just went to the claytonaiken website just now. i didn't go and see what songs clay sang, but i do know he's the second one to perform. guess the first one hsould be kimberley, thrid one is ruben, and josh the last one to perform. i dunno, wild guesses... first one can't be ruben cos he just did so last week. don't think it's josh cos josh fans have been complaining that josh is always not given those advantages, and that everybody thinks that it's not good to be the first one to perform; last one is better. yah yah, look at "celebrate", you found that good? look at clay's "at this moment", it was deemed PERFECT by simon. alright, maybe simon is not very reliable... haha, but if ou're really good, being the first one to perform shouldn't be too bad... but i really like it when clay is the last one to perform. it feels great, wraps everything up nicely cos he sings best. it's nice when ruben starts first, cos he gets me swaying to the song and puts me in the mood for all the songs to be performed the night. so josh fans, stop complaining... they all admit that josh has been performing badly for the past few weeks but they keep voting for him in hope that he will bounce back and give a brilliant performance. but is he even capable of that? or does he even want to stay in there? this poor fellow has been officially branded the nikki mckibbin of the season, and he's condemned by almost everyone except for his fans. even people who don't support anybody on the show are surprised how, with those lacluster performances, he can still be in the final 4. guys, spare him. i don't like josh, but i'm starting to even pity him. nobody seems to care how he feels, and it becomes like a sin for him to stay on. let him go, that would be the best for him. if he doesn't go this week, that's going to be the end for him. clay fans love clay so much, it's getting personal in the sense that they actually consider if winning the competition is going to be a good thing for him. they consider how everything will affect clay, they really care about him. guess it does make a difference if you touch people's lives. he really did, that voice is a god-send to us all... back to the topic, josh fans never even think about how josh feels. they didn't see him lose that spark in his eyes during the whole performance. they didn't notice that he didn't even make any small attempt to get people to vote for him. they saw that josh seemed ashamed that he didn't land in the bottom 2, but it didn't even seem to occur to them that the poor fellow will never be able to face his fellow contestants ever again. what a shame... anyway, i wonder what the contestants will sing for the bee gees theme. hope nobody does an entire song in falsetto, yucks. but i did entertain the thought that ricky could do that and i would be so amused! haha... alrigh,t, enough of my obsession... time to get to serious stuff, i need to look for a temp job or whateve. maybe tuition will be good, i dunno. hope everything turns out fine... and good luck clay!

posted by Yee 12:19 PM

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i saw something nice on the internet! show you... it's from http://www.elitestv.com/NewsPub/Stories/2003/05/02/10518776839.html

Clay, oh King of Utter Perfection, you didn't disappoint. This kid is just full of surprises. Just when everyone's griping that he can't do anything but "Broadway" (sorry, that's not all I hear from him by any stretch), he listened carefully to his critics, ironed out the issues and then last week walked out onstage and swept everyone right under the rug with two stellar performances. His "Build Me Up Buttercup" was infectious and the only complaint I had with "Solitaire" was how terribly short it was. He is certainly one of the most amazing singers in regard to vocal technique that I've heard in years. Kiddos, he takes this competition seriously and it shows. He just might win this thing. And admit it...aren't you just a wee bit curious to see what in the blue blazes the record label will do with him should he win? God forbid...the suits might be forced to DO THEIR JOBS for a change and actually DEVELOP an artist! *GASP*!!!

posted by Yee 8:32 PM

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OH MY GOD!!!
did you see that? did you hear that? yes! clay's performance on neil sedaka night! wow!... i was simply A-M-A-Z-E-D...
i can't believe how already being the best in the competition (you might want to argue witht aht, but i don't really care...) he can still improve week after week... he really pays attention to what the judges say about him (of course no point trying to understand some nonsense from the notorious incoherent one) and then improve time and again. i'm really impressed. and i think his personality is starting to even move simon. it really takes a lot for simon to, having showed immense favourtism for ruben over clay and hence gave several unfair comments to clay, admit that clay "is one of the few people i've met in all these competitions who can take criticism like a grown up". clay graciously accepts whatever people say. unlike some idiotic fellow j*** who had looked so pleasant and generous for the past weeks only to let it al out finally at full blast and grab every chance to shoot back at simon. jerk. j***. i think the "drag queen" was totally rude, though only tip of the iceberg. so much more, the push ups, blah blah. he may not be the oldest in the competition, but he ought to have been the most mature one given that he is already married (not to mention he is a father). funny how he seems to be the most childish and behaves unseemly. throwing people into the pool? people had handphones and discmans with them ok. calling your fellow contestant a jerk over a misundertanding? how dare you when you yourself are one. and what's so funny about competing with simon on doing push ups? hello, you're a marine... "i'm a marine" "i'm a marine" and here you are enjoying yourself on the show. now what? try to win the competion and then quit being a marine? he's contradicting himself constantly, not to mention the country twang nonsense. i thought he was a gentleman despite his lack of talents when you compare with some others like ruben (i'll suan4 zhang4 later) but he's only turned out to be just as fake as his fake-country-twang. yes, i hereby register this word the be used exclusively to describe him only. the only time i didn't cringe when he sang on thursday was during the group medley where he sang "young girl". he gave that fake-country-twang a rest (and my ears and muscles some rest too, thank you very much) and i suddenly recalled why he got into the finals. phew, pls don't let hatred take over me.

enough nonsense... ruben did well, as usual, but didn't really shine... his first song was good, i was swaying to it non stop. it definitely got me into the mood for the show. but his second one wasn't so impressive. maybe i'm used to hearing the upbeat version of "breaking up is hard to do". but it really didn't strike me that much. but there's nothing i can pick on, so i can safely conclude it was a good performance. trenyce sang "proud mary" first. it sounded SOOO.... nice in the beginning. it was steady, smooth, yet powerful... but towards the middle of the song it got rather throaty and wasn't as pleasing to the ear. hate the dress too, but love her figure, haha! the second song was "fabulous". really. very very nice... i can't really remember kimberley locke's performance but there weren't any gaping flaws. it sounded ok on the whole (i remember some of my thoughts) but she sounded a little unwell, like she was having flu and blocked nose, sort of. but still up to standard. j*** simply screwed up his performanceS. yup, both. i think he's determined to go/ he's convinced he's gonna go after landing in the bottom two for the 1st time last week. he really did badly from deep within him. let's not go into the details...

and the clay blew me away.

just 2 weeks ago i was playing three songs on my winamp playlist when i break from my usual american idol songs. they were:
1) "Build Me Up Buttercup" - the foundations
2) "Little Devil" - neil sedaka
3) Technicolor Dreams" - bee gees
did you see that? i nearly went crazy...
i knew clay was going to sing a song be neil sedaka (i was high on that) and another from the 60s. but i had absolutely no idea it was gonna be one i know AND love... the moment ryan seacrest said clay was going to sing "build me up buttercup" i nearly lost my mind! and throughout the song i was clayed... it was perfect. i can't describe it -- it's beyond words. and so was "solitaire". clay has just successfully proven himself worthy of all the praise and love showered on him, as well as being the only one never having landed in the bottom three/two. (pls, fellow fans, don't get complacent) i was truly impressed by BOTH of clay's performances...

WHAT IS RUBEN DOING THERE? oh. thanks to josh.

posted by Yee 6:12 PM

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