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Friday, May 18, 2007

Frustrations

While surfing, I saw this quote from famous NBA coach Red Auerbach: “music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life”. Do I agree? Of course! He could actually be referring to me.

I sing. Some people like it, some don’t. But when people who know me hear me humming a tune or heartily blurting out a melody, they already have an inkling of what’s going on – I’m probably just doing my “laundry”. Didn’t I tell you long before that I am a soul starched with the dust of life? You get the drift.

But I am more of what people would regularly call a “frustrated singer”. Or better yet, “castrated”. You know, if only to highlight the impossibility of the dream ever being brought to fruition (grin).

I’ll let you in on a secret. I did fantasize about singing professionally (I joined a singing contest before and won second place). But I had an early realization that the amount of talent given to me could only land me, at best, in provincial karaoke bars. That can hardly qualify as a profession, so the dream ends there.

But the fantasy lives on when I empathize with real singers, as they battle against each other in hard-core singing contests. That’s why these contests, local and foreign, are number one in my viewing fare.

Which brings me to this season’s American Idol.

I’ve been watching the show even before Sanjaya became a joke. And while at first I was convinced it should be Melinda Doolitle and Lakisha Jones in the finals, I was not really surprised when Lakisha had to bow out. Lakisha became inconsistent as the stakes grew higher. But what actually did her in were when she sang the hits of former Idol winners and she obviously paled in comparison. And of course, she ran
out of breath in her final song. That was mortal sin even in barangay-level contests.

But I did think that it will be a Melinda vs Jordin finals. Blake is unarguably not within their league (although he’s surely a pop icon material).

Then came last night’s shocker. I can’t believe that Melinda Doolittle is out of American Idol finals. This was extreme shock. Don’t these American voters have ears? Oh well, I forgot. AI is not a just a singing contest.

Melinda, I know, was not booted out. I surmise the voters thought she was safe that they concentrated on saving their other bet. I’m sure the results would have been different if the viewers were instead asked to vote for the one they’d chose to eliminate. But then again, AI was so patterned to create upsets of this nature and thus fuel controversy and generate more patronage. Need I say this was all for the money?

I hate it that the AI finals will be featuring half-baked but popular talents. While certainly, viewership will still be high, whether both will make it big after the contest will still be one big question. But Melinda? I’m sure she’ll do a Jennifer Hudson and she will, in the end, have the last hearty laugh. Wanna bet?

7 comments:

p said...

doesnt this remind you of Jasmin Trias when she went into the top 3?

meganyoung said...

i was heartbroken too =(

and i'm also a "castrated" singer. i want to be a lounge singer! hehe.

Anonymous said...

me? i'm a...a...sOnger!! hehehee^_^

Rochelle said...

I too was shocked!! I don't sing all that well, but I play the piano when I feel frustrated and it relieves tons of stress!

atto aryo said...

Philosophical Bastard: You mean, was I similarly frustrated when Jasmin Trias got into the top three when there were far better singers who were earlier booted out? he he.

Cyril: Ikanta na lang natin ang frustrations. Banatan mo ng "para sa yo, ang laban na to" ...:-)

Plumbum: Thanks for the visit. What kind of a songer are you?

Rochelle: Not being able to play any musical instrument is also a big frustration of mine. How I wish I could just go some place by the sea with a guitar and sing to my heart's content.

Abaniko said...

Too bad I don't watch American Idol. But whoever wins, I'm sure the person will be deserving of the title. PAg napapadaan ako sa sala minsan, naririnig ko silang kumakanta. Ang gagaling nila no?

atto aryo said...

Ang gagaling nga nila. Kaya nga gusto ko silang gilitan ng leeg para manakaw ang kanilang mga boses, he he.