Remember my previous post which said that your family is better? That they're always there to help you, to watch as you start off with baby steps and finally achieve independence? I lied. It wasn't on purpose, I was fooled as well. Whoever started telling people that crap was a complete and total moron. Family bonds? So freakin' overrated.
People always say that your family are the only ones you can trust in your life. Well, they haven't met mine. My life sucks and mostly it's because of them. I was in APEL class a few days back and I was told to write down a spiritual goal. My mind went blank because I couldn't think of anything that gave my life meaning. Then my teacher "forced" me to think and the first thing that came to mind was my eldest sister.
Not my parents, or my other sister. Not them. My eldest sister. It occurred to me then that something was wrong. Really wrong. Almost everyone would firstly, have something in their life that gives it meaning and secondly, that would be their parents or their other half. Ok, I don't have a other half which means it should have been my parents. But it's not.
And honestly, it wasn't a surprise. My eldest sister is always there, maybe not physically and not all the time. But she's there for me more than my family is. My parents do help me, but they come back and screw me for causing trouble and making them solve it for me. Which, to be honest, I didn't ask for it. I'm not trying to be ungrateful but you don't voluntarily help someone then scold the person you're helping. It just doesn't work that way.
Parents are supposed to give unconditional love to their children. That is NOT unconditional love, period. My sister provides a better example of unconditional love. Then they say, "Ask your sister to provide for you then. Pay for your school fees." Really? Your family is much better? Moron. It's raining now. Everything seems dark and gloomy... Something happened just now, which is why I made this post. But it sounds very superficial so I'm not posting it up. I'm upset, so freakin' upset. But no one knows, no one except my sister. And you wonder why I say she makes my life meaningful.
She gives me hope and inspiration. She has gone through worse than me and made it through. She lets me know that damaged people like us deserve a second chance and that I can make it through just when I think the road is going nowhere.
Family... you wonder why people say they're the best. It's definitely not. Not all of them anyway. Don't believe that crap... trust me. I found out the hard way. I'm upset and alone and do they care? No. To them, I've disappeared. I'm nothing. I only matter to one person... and that's why she gives my life meaning.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
american idol's upset victory?
Ok, I think I've made it pretty clear I'm a Kris Allen fan and proud of it. My friends are starting to get annoyed with my constant gloating. Yes, all you Glamberts who made my life hell. Day after day listening to you guys say Adam IS going to win. Haha! Anyway, since the results of American Idol have been released, I've seen so many articles/blogs/posts whining and bitching about how it's rigged and whatever rubbish they can come up with. I've read these articles/blogs/posts and I'm going to set the record straight and tell you Glamberts why Kris Allen won. Some of the insights I have come from the articles I've read but there's too much for me to credit. Sorry about that.
A side note, Kris's victory of American Idol isn't an upset victory AT ALL. Do people even know the meaning of an "upset victory"? It refers to someone very weak emerging as the winner among a group of strong people. Anyone, anyone who says that Kris is weak and that he didn't deserve it is a complete and total moron. I believe some Glamberts will agree with this, only the reasonable ones. America isn't blind, if Kris sucks, he wouldn't be in the finals. Well, with the exception of Taylor Hicks.
First up, the whole "anti-gay" crap is full of bullshit. Anyone who uses that to explain why Adam lost should be shot dead and trampled on. Seriously, if Adam lost because of his sexuality, then why did he even make it into the finals? Shouldn't he have been kicked out long ago?And for the record, there were anti-gay people supporting Adam. So no, Adam didn't lose because of his sexuality. In fact, NO ONE CARES.
Secondly, Adam reached his peak a long time ago while Kris has been steadily gaining momentum throughout the entire season and peaked at the right period, which is towards the end. It's like in Season 7 when Archuleta was giving 5 stars performance and the only thing he can do is remain where he is and watch as Cook became "a threat". The same theory applies here. Adam has been pimped by Simon since the beginning (it's disgusting really) and there's really nothing else for him to do but to watch as Kris grew. Therefore, when it came down to the 2 of them, Kris appealed more to the audience because of his personality, musical talents and the fact that each performance was something new. Adam's performance on the other hand, though spectacular, was the same thing over and over again. By the finals, we had already seen everything he had. Don't forget, Kris left us heartless with his stripped down performance of "Heartless" during the final 3 week. That was something new, the likes of which we didn't see from him during the entire season.
Thirdly, their personalities played a big difference. Kris, though "common" and boy-next-door, managed to captivate the audiences week after week. His music is very audience orientated and it appeals more to a significant part of society. He has the ability to change the song to fit his vocals and "puts his signature on it", at the same time, connect with the audience. On top of that, you can tell he loves the song he's performing and he feels for it. It's as though he read the lyrics beforehand and changed the song to capture its meaning. Even Kara DioGuardi praised Kris for his emotional connection with the audience time after time, the very same challenge she posed for Adam early in the competition. As I said to my fellow Kris Allen fans, he interested me with "Man in the Mirror", mesmerised me with "Ain't No Sunshine", captivated me with "She Works Hard for the Money", took my breath away with "The Way You Look Tonight" and completely took my heart with "Heartless".
Adam's performance, on the other hand, is good. As much as I don't really like him (bracing for hate mail), I'm not going to be ignorantly foolish to say he sucks or that he's not good. I have to say this though. One thing that puts me off is his constant "screaming" (subjective) and the close ups of his tongue. He needs to know that not every song calls for a falsetto. Sometime, even Glamberts can't deny this, it's really a bit ear-piercing at times and Simon gives him a standing ovation for it. Like seriously? Also, he goes over the top with his performances always. I know it's an Idol thing and that's what you're supposed to do, but he needs to tone it down and even Slezak says the same thing. After a while, it seems to me like he forgets he's on a concert stage and he thinks he's performing in a theatre. A theory that I have is that his "over the top" performances may have appealed to the Americans but the people in Asia aren't ready for those kind of performances. We're a more conservative society and seeing nail polish, eye liners and constant "screaming" on a guy isn't a social norm. Not to mention the sexuality issue. I have no qualms about that, but a lot of others do. And people know that those living in Asia can vote as well and it's the largest continent, so that may have affected the results as well.
Lastly, one thing I've noticed here in Singapore (yes, we can vote in Singapore, so there's no excuse not to vote), everyone supports Adam. However, most of them are just normal fans because they jumped on the Adam bandwagon after hearing about Adam through word of mouth. Yes, that's how we are. We don't often catch up on American Idol so we get the latest information through others who do. So when people say "Adam is good", they get that mindset stuck and never bother to really see who they support. So when the finals came, and it was time to really show their support, they didn't vote for Adam. They were just "fans" but apparently not enthusiastic enough to lift the phone and call. I voted for Kris during the finals after I realised like the week before that Singaporeans could vote. That's how real fans should show their support. No point saying "I'm an Adam fan" but your actions fail you. Basically, Adam garnered many fans, but they weren't that big a fan to vote for him even though it's free.
On a side note, the Glamberts were wasting time slamming the Kris fans for voting because they are convinced that Adam would win. During the 7 hours of voting, they were on the chatbox slamming the Kris fans while we were voting like crazy. Ergo, wasting time. And for the record, Gizmo IS NOT CHEATING. It's been recognised by American Idol as a voting medium.
Regarding the results, Seacrest, the 2 finalists and Paula said they have no idea how the votes were split. Which led many to believe that the margin was wide and they didn't want to publicise it. I, however, do not believe that 38 million votes came from Arkansas as they only have a population of less than 3 million. Hope this helps!
I've already consolidated everything I've read from other articles and I hope this manages to quash any rumors or assertions that American Idol is rigged or Kris doesn't deserve to win. Digressing away for a moment, I'll like to comment on some stuff that I felt was unfair.
Firstly, many people speculated that "No Boundaries" was written more for Adam because the notes were too high for Kris, and that everyone thought Adam would win. I was one of them. During the performance, you could see Kris was struggling with it (poor bloke) and looked relieved that it was over. I'm of course not going to deny that it posed problems for Adam as well. Then Kara gave some crap that she agreed it was too high for Kris and hopes that people vote for him based on the season instead of the song. Ok, one, you didn't even feature Kris much in the earlier part of the show because he was apparently "cannon fodder". So how do you want people to judge him based on the season? Two, you co-wrote the song and you didn't realise it was too high for him? What rubbish is that? Not to mention that the lyrics were cheesy and I thought they were throwing darts at nonsense lyrics on the board. However, it obviously backfired and Kris emerged victorious instead because of his musical ability to change the song to fit his vocals.
Secondly, according to an article I just read, New York Times writer Jon Caramanica said this of Kris. "At worst, he’s indefensible, utterly lacking in texture and range and interpretive imagination." I would like to ask Mr Jon Caramanica this. Where were you when Kris was performing "Ain't No Sunshine"? Or "Remember The Time", "She Works Hard for the Money" and just recently, "Heartless"? It seems that Mr Caramanica practices selective seeing and hearing because Kris has been praised for his changing of those songs. Furthermore, "Heartless" took the world by storm as Kris just sang together with his acoustic guitar and nothing else. That simple, stripped down version of "Heartless" won praises from all 4 judges for it's originality and even the recognition of Kanye West himself, the original singer of the song. So what exactly was Mr Caramanica judging on when he said Kris has no "interpretive imagination"? Pray tell.
Mr Caramanica also mentioned that Kris lacks "range". If he were referring to vocals, I would suggest that Mr Caramanica should try to visit a CD shop in the near future. Some of the best selling artistes have no wide range as well but they're still successful and it says a lot. It's wrong to generalise and assume that if you want to be a great singer, you need to hit every note in existence. If he were referring to song choices, I would again like to ask him where was he during Kris's performances? He has indeed performed a wide range of songs and even held his own during his duet with country singer Keith Urban. I wonder if Mr Caramanica even watched any of Kris's performances before making that critique.
That being said, I hope that people stop sulking and accept that Kris really deserve to win American Idol. I don't like Adam (hate mail...3,2,1 inbox full) but I acknowledge that he's a great performer in his own way. I wish both of them well and I'm anxiously awaiting Kris's CD to hit the stores.
A side note, Kris's victory of American Idol isn't an upset victory AT ALL. Do people even know the meaning of an "upset victory"? It refers to someone very weak emerging as the winner among a group of strong people. Anyone, anyone who says that Kris is weak and that he didn't deserve it is a complete and total moron. I believe some Glamberts will agree with this, only the reasonable ones. America isn't blind, if Kris sucks, he wouldn't be in the finals. Well, with the exception of Taylor Hicks.
First up, the whole "anti-gay" crap is full of bullshit. Anyone who uses that to explain why Adam lost should be shot dead and trampled on. Seriously, if Adam lost because of his sexuality, then why did he even make it into the finals? Shouldn't he have been kicked out long ago?And for the record, there were anti-gay people supporting Adam. So no, Adam didn't lose because of his sexuality. In fact, NO ONE CARES.
Secondly, Adam reached his peak a long time ago while Kris has been steadily gaining momentum throughout the entire season and peaked at the right period, which is towards the end. It's like in Season 7 when Archuleta was giving 5 stars performance and the only thing he can do is remain where he is and watch as Cook became "a threat". The same theory applies here. Adam has been pimped by Simon since the beginning (it's disgusting really) and there's really nothing else for him to do but to watch as Kris grew. Therefore, when it came down to the 2 of them, Kris appealed more to the audience because of his personality, musical talents and the fact that each performance was something new. Adam's performance on the other hand, though spectacular, was the same thing over and over again. By the finals, we had already seen everything he had. Don't forget, Kris left us heartless with his stripped down performance of "Heartless" during the final 3 week. That was something new, the likes of which we didn't see from him during the entire season.
Thirdly, their personalities played a big difference. Kris, though "common" and boy-next-door, managed to captivate the audiences week after week. His music is very audience orientated and it appeals more to a significant part of society. He has the ability to change the song to fit his vocals and "puts his signature on it", at the same time, connect with the audience. On top of that, you can tell he loves the song he's performing and he feels for it. It's as though he read the lyrics beforehand and changed the song to capture its meaning. Even Kara DioGuardi praised Kris for his emotional connection with the audience time after time, the very same challenge she posed for Adam early in the competition. As I said to my fellow Kris Allen fans, he interested me with "Man in the Mirror", mesmerised me with "Ain't No Sunshine", captivated me with "She Works Hard for the Money", took my breath away with "The Way You Look Tonight" and completely took my heart with "Heartless".
Adam's performance, on the other hand, is good. As much as I don't really like him (bracing for hate mail), I'm not going to be ignorantly foolish to say he sucks or that he's not good. I have to say this though. One thing that puts me off is his constant "screaming" (subjective) and the close ups of his tongue. He needs to know that not every song calls for a falsetto. Sometime, even Glamberts can't deny this, it's really a bit ear-piercing at times and Simon gives him a standing ovation for it. Like seriously? Also, he goes over the top with his performances always. I know it's an Idol thing and that's what you're supposed to do, but he needs to tone it down and even Slezak says the same thing. After a while, it seems to me like he forgets he's on a concert stage and he thinks he's performing in a theatre. A theory that I have is that his "over the top" performances may have appealed to the Americans but the people in Asia aren't ready for those kind of performances. We're a more conservative society and seeing nail polish, eye liners and constant "screaming" on a guy isn't a social norm. Not to mention the sexuality issue. I have no qualms about that, but a lot of others do. And people know that those living in Asia can vote as well and it's the largest continent, so that may have affected the results as well.
Lastly, one thing I've noticed here in Singapore (yes, we can vote in Singapore, so there's no excuse not to vote), everyone supports Adam. However, most of them are just normal fans because they jumped on the Adam bandwagon after hearing about Adam through word of mouth. Yes, that's how we are. We don't often catch up on American Idol so we get the latest information through others who do. So when people say "Adam is good", they get that mindset stuck and never bother to really see who they support. So when the finals came, and it was time to really show their support, they didn't vote for Adam. They were just "fans" but apparently not enthusiastic enough to lift the phone and call. I voted for Kris during the finals after I realised like the week before that Singaporeans could vote. That's how real fans should show their support. No point saying "I'm an Adam fan" but your actions fail you. Basically, Adam garnered many fans, but they weren't that big a fan to vote for him even though it's free.
On a side note, the Glamberts were wasting time slamming the Kris fans for voting because they are convinced that Adam would win. During the 7 hours of voting, they were on the chatbox slamming the Kris fans while we were voting like crazy. Ergo, wasting time. And for the record, Gizmo IS NOT CHEATING. It's been recognised by American Idol as a voting medium.
Regarding the results, Seacrest, the 2 finalists and Paula said they have no idea how the votes were split. Which led many to believe that the margin was wide and they didn't want to publicise it. I, however, do not believe that 38 million votes came from Arkansas as they only have a population of less than 3 million. Hope this helps!
I've already consolidated everything I've read from other articles and I hope this manages to quash any rumors or assertions that American Idol is rigged or Kris doesn't deserve to win. Digressing away for a moment, I'll like to comment on some stuff that I felt was unfair.
Firstly, many people speculated that "No Boundaries" was written more for Adam because the notes were too high for Kris, and that everyone thought Adam would win. I was one of them. During the performance, you could see Kris was struggling with it (poor bloke) and looked relieved that it was over. I'm of course not going to deny that it posed problems for Adam as well. Then Kara gave some crap that she agreed it was too high for Kris and hopes that people vote for him based on the season instead of the song. Ok, one, you didn't even feature Kris much in the earlier part of the show because he was apparently "cannon fodder". So how do you want people to judge him based on the season? Two, you co-wrote the song and you didn't realise it was too high for him? What rubbish is that? Not to mention that the lyrics were cheesy and I thought they were throwing darts at nonsense lyrics on the board. However, it obviously backfired and Kris emerged victorious instead because of his musical ability to change the song to fit his vocals.
Secondly, according to an article I just read, New York Times writer Jon Caramanica said this of Kris. "At worst, he’s indefensible, utterly lacking in texture and range and interpretive imagination." I would like to ask Mr Jon Caramanica this. Where were you when Kris was performing "Ain't No Sunshine"? Or "Remember The Time", "She Works Hard for the Money" and just recently, "Heartless"? It seems that Mr Caramanica practices selective seeing and hearing because Kris has been praised for his changing of those songs. Furthermore, "Heartless" took the world by storm as Kris just sang together with his acoustic guitar and nothing else. That simple, stripped down version of "Heartless" won praises from all 4 judges for it's originality and even the recognition of Kanye West himself, the original singer of the song. So what exactly was Mr Caramanica judging on when he said Kris has no "interpretive imagination"? Pray tell.
Mr Caramanica also mentioned that Kris lacks "range". If he were referring to vocals, I would suggest that Mr Caramanica should try to visit a CD shop in the near future. Some of the best selling artistes have no wide range as well but they're still successful and it says a lot. It's wrong to generalise and assume that if you want to be a great singer, you need to hit every note in existence. If he were referring to song choices, I would again like to ask him where was he during Kris's performances? He has indeed performed a wide range of songs and even held his own during his duet with country singer Keith Urban. I wonder if Mr Caramanica even watched any of Kris's performances before making that critique.
That being said, I hope that people stop sulking and accept that Kris really deserve to win American Idol. I don't like Adam (hate mail...3,2,1 inbox full) but I acknowledge that he's a great performer in his own way. I wish both of them well and I'm anxiously awaiting Kris's CD to hit the stores.
Monday, May 18, 2009
american idol
Ok...this is not a normal post that I would do but I really have to do it. I'm not jumping on the American Idol bandwagon (it's kind of obvious that this year is one of the best, if not the best top 3/4 they have) because I've always liked American Idol since like season 2. It's just that no one there ever really appealed to me that strongly to make me feel that he/she should win. The only one that appealed to me was Kris Allen from this season. He's the first one who I felt very strongly about and really wanted him to win very badly. He made me really start following American Idol closely. The only other one I "supported" was Carrie Underwood but I supported her because it was either her or Bo Bice. Oh, and probably David Cook as well. I did watch a few of his perfomances although I still don't get what's so great about his rendition of "Always Be My Baby". Anyway, I know that Adam is great, blah blah blah, loads of people are saying it but I think Kris is the real winner here. Look, American Idol isn't just about singing. It's also about your style, personality and talent.
Seriously, sometimes I think Adam is overrated. His vocals are good, he has charisma (although I don't feel it) and people will want to go see him perform. But sometimes, when he hits high notes, it really hurts the ear because it's more of like a screech. And I still see Simon say it's perfect. Talk about being biased. Sometimes he comes across as a bit too over confident, just because he's good. Whatever. Kris is good as well, but you don't see his ego pouring out of him like there's no tomorrow.
I know Kris isn't vocally powerful as Adam (I'm not admitting he sucks, I'm just not so ignorant to the point of foolishness where I think he's perfect), but he has the ability to make the song his. It has been shown consistently throughout the show and even praised loads by the judges. Paula Abdul even calls this process "Allenizing". Kris has the voice, style and talent. He embodies the spirit of American Idol, and yes, American Idol is partly a talent show as well. I just think that Kris deserves to win American Idol, truly and totally. Even if Adam takes the title (I really hope not), we know that Kris is the real winner because of who he is and what he represents. And yes, I'm so going to vote for him.
Seriously, sometimes I think Adam is overrated. His vocals are good, he has charisma (although I don't feel it) and people will want to go see him perform. But sometimes, when he hits high notes, it really hurts the ear because it's more of like a screech. And I still see Simon say it's perfect. Talk about being biased. Sometimes he comes across as a bit too over confident, just because he's good. Whatever. Kris is good as well, but you don't see his ego pouring out of him like there's no tomorrow.
I know Kris isn't vocally powerful as Adam (I'm not admitting he sucks, I'm just not so ignorant to the point of foolishness where I think he's perfect), but he has the ability to make the song his. It has been shown consistently throughout the show and even praised loads by the judges. Paula Abdul even calls this process "Allenizing". Kris has the voice, style and talent. He embodies the spirit of American Idol, and yes, American Idol is partly a talent show as well. I just think that Kris deserves to win American Idol, truly and totally. Even if Adam takes the title (I really hope not), we know that Kris is the real winner because of who he is and what he represents. And yes, I'm so going to vote for him.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
life is short, live it
A couple hundred years ago, Benjamin Franklin shared with the world the secret of his success. “Never leave that till tomorrow,” he said, “which you can do today.”
This is the man who discovered electricity. You’d think more of us would listen to what he had to say. I don’t know why we put things off, but if I had to guess, I’d say it has a lot to do with fear. Fear of failure, fear of pain, fear of rejection. Sometimes the fear is just of making a decision. Because, what if you’re wrong? What if you’re making a mistake you can’t undo?
Whatever it is we’re afraid of, one thing holds true… that, by the time the pain of not doing a thing, gets worse than the fear of doing it, it can feel like we’re carrying around a giant tumor.
Life is too short for you to live it the way others want you to. We need, at some point in time, to take control of our lives and steer it in the direction we want. How many times have we done things because we want to and not because someone is dictating our actions? Most of the time, we do things because we're required to. Or because it's acceptable. We repress everything inside of us, and we never really let it out.
Some want to sail the 7 freakin' seas, some want to go around the world in 80 days and others want to climb a mountain or do some ridiculously insane stuff. And we never do it. Why? Because we either don't have the time or we're afraid to be different. We let people decide how we should live our lives. For me, I do things because I want to. Fine, maybe not all the time, but at least I'm doing it. Because I know that I don't want to make tapes on my deathbed to release like 60 years of repressed rage. And I don't want to lie there thinking of all the things I should have done but didn't do because I was too stupid to control my own life. I don't want my life to end in regret. Whatever you want to do, do it now or soon. Life is really too short for you to live it by the rules of others.
'The early bird catches the worm.' 'A stitch in time saves nine.' 'He who hesitates is lost.' We can’t pretend we haven’t been told. We’ve all heard the proverbs, heard the philosophers, heard our grandparents warning us about wasted time, heard the damn poets urging us to seize the day.
Still, sometimes, we have to see for ourselves. We have to make our own mistakes. We have to learn our own lessons. We have to sweep today’s possibility under tomorrow’s rug, until we can’t anymore, until we finally understand for ourselves, what Benjamin Franklin meant:
That knowing, is better than wondering. That waking, is better than sleeping. And that even the biggest failure, even the worst, most intractable mistake, beats the hell out of never trying.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)