Singapore Idol 2: PYTs, Ingenues and the rocker chick

It was ladies night at Singapore Idol and one could be forgiven for thinking it was a beauty pageant. Obviously, after last season's experiment with cutie-pies (Leandra and Daphne) and non-conventional types (Olinda and Maia), the producers have decided to return to a more familiar formula: doe-eyed pretty young things and cute girls with sex-symbol potential. That's the way to draw in the teenaged boys and NSmen votes.

And then there was Rahimah Rahim, but more on her later.

Geraldine: I will survive
Energetic and vivacious personality, which could get grating if we had to watch her for a full season. I did not appreciate the “Where are my fans? Cheer for me!” bit. Coming from a 16 year old, I did not find it arrogant, just misguided. She can perform up a storm in that she isn’t afraid to look like a fool on stage. While her voice was far too thin for the song and vocal dynamics completely non-existent, she ended up being one of the better performers on the night (Ken was right about this – she did not do too great herself, just that most of the rest were worse). She could have a career as a teeny-bopper idol, singing bubble-gum pop songs where the singing itself doesn’t matter as much as looking cute

Melissa: I can’t live
Oooh, one of those girls that always look just slightly older than their actual age. That's not going to help her in this business. Florence's critique was a nice way of saying "You look old". She did that annoying thing that AI contestants do all the time; pitching the song way too low for her range, just so that she can belt out the octave-change part of the chorus. The beginning was a mess and the end was just okay. Pity, because her voice does have a very pleasant tone to it.

Milly: Colours of the wind
When two of the judges start of their critique by praising the way you look, you know the singing must have been bad. If this had been the audition rounds, she would have gotten her marching orders halfway through her second line. This was a complete train wreck, off-pitch in so many places, strange phrasing and badly enunciated. Was it nerves or complete lack of any training? She did look very sweet and that might get her some votes.

Siew Woon: Are you happy now?
I thought her singing voice was among the strongest and her vocal technique among the most assured of the night's contestants. The song, though, was just a big NO in my books (I cannot stand Michelle Branch) and made for a performance that lacked zing. I suspect this girl has a fun personality and she was trying to bring that across, but there was a breakdown in communication somewhere. Besides, this is NOT a song to have fun with. It’s a mean, (w)angst-ridden number. Is anyone paying attention to the lyrics?

Rahimah: Don’t speak
I am not wild about the hair or styling or the rock pretensions, but the girl undeniably has talent. It's very raw talent, but perhaps that lack of polish is part of her distinctive edge. I personally thought she butchered the song, with her affected vocal growling and her horrendous enunciation. She's that sort of interesting contestant - while I hated her performance and she probably will never be my cup of tea, I can acknowledge her potential and hope that she makes it far in the competition. I will probably hate every performance she puts on because her mush-mouth drives me wild (and judging from the painstaking way she spoke during the pre-performance video, even elocution lessons might not help), but I would like her to stick around just to add some variety.

Jasmine: Love will find a way
Just as Jonathan Leong is Sly with a system upgrade, Jasmine is Daphne with an Operating System update. Daphne is the sort of cute that inspires cheek-pinching, Jasmine is the sort of cute that invade the dreams of teenaged boys. Her singing was no great shakes and she was noticeably flat in more than one spot, but the performance was engaging and likeable. I don’t really see star quality but that could be moulded. If she get through to the finals, I would like to hear how her voice holds up to different genres.

Gayle: If I ain’t got you
She reminds me of Candyce Toh from Project Superstar, with the same slightly sulky demeanor (it’s just the shape of the mouth, not a comment on personality) and the same tendency to look as if she is going to have an emotional meltdown on national TV. She was so obviously thrown by her missed entrance into the song, and I thought she struggled from thereon end. She has a good voice and shows hints of having some chops, but her confidence was visibly shaken and her technique abandoned her on this rather demanding number. She was painfully flat during much of the chorus, which she wailed rather than belted. I also got the impression that she knew she was blowing chunks, which properly bodes better for her than her performance or the judges’ overly uncritical comments.

One thought - what is with all the teenagers in this group? And why do they all look like anime characters, with their large eyes, rosy cheeks and perky noses? Are they trying to find the next Mandy Moore / Britney Spears? Quite a few of last year's memorably talented ladies (Olinda, Jeassea, Beverly, Shirin, Nana - all of whom blow tonight's group to Uranus and back) would not have made the cut if they had used this screening criterion.