Pinoy Idol Girl Finalists Rule
Here is an interesting Pinoy Idol article entitled Girls Rule Pinoy Idol as written by Nestor Torre
MANILA, Philippines - After viewing the first weekend of telecasts showcasing the 24 finalists on “Pinoy Idol,” we can share these initial impressions:
Quite clearly, the 12 female finalists are more promising than their male counterparts, quite a number of whom sound and look rather “TH” and/or amateurish. “Star quality” generally eludes them—in fact, some of them come across as rather scruffy.
On the other hand, about half of the female finalists have both looks and singing talent going for them. At this early stage of the TV tilt, therefore, we can “predict” that the women will rule the roost during the final phase of “Pinoy Idol.”
This is in sharp contrast to what transpired on the recently-concluded 2008 “American Idol” show, where the men clearly outlasted the women: Of the tilt’s Final Four, there were three male finalists, and only Syesha Mercado managed to hold her own against David Cook, David Archuleta and Jason Castro.
Here are the valuable observations that you, Pinoy Idol readers have been saying all along.
Another key observation: While there is a sufficiently wide range of singing and performance styles evident among the “Pinoy Idol” finalists, much of the variety appears to be artificially induced, rather than emanating from the young singers’ natural musical impulses.
Translation: Quite a number of the finalists are gaya-gaya or plakado performers who “emulate” (imitate?) the way famous foreign singers perform.
Yes, this is a familiar fetish and flaw of Filipino singers; but you would think that a major singing tilt like “PI” would take pains to reduce, if not totally eliminate, its uncreative and unoriginal manifestations among its chosen “best.”
Third point: The production’s resident “stylists” try too hard to jazz or punch up the finalists’ appearance and projection, resulting in quite a number of them ending up as fashion victims.
Now, we can understand the stylists’ concern, because some finalists look drab and clueless about what it really takes to become and look like a singing star. But they should know when their stylistic fiddling around or fussing up is too much—to the point of committing the mortal sin of distracting viewers’ focus from the singers being so dolled up and “showcased.”
And remember how you ranted about Raymond Gutierrez inept hosting skills?
The proceedings are further dampened by the desultory work of Raymond Gutierrez as the tilt’s program host. His problem appears to be his mistaken notion that hosting is mainly a matter of saying the right things at the right time, and to keep the proceedings on fairly even keel.
He fails to factor in the tilt’s human dimension, which is sorely tested on “PI” by the stress the finalists are constantly exposed to.
It’s OK for the competition’s judges to be cool and “objective,” but the host has to feel for the contestants, to help them cope with the extreme emotions they have to contend with. Much of the time, Raymond fails to provide this necessary support. In addition, his speaking voice is pitched too high, so he needs to modulate—big time.
A bright spot is the jurors’ performance. The “PI” judges are less consciously “entertaining” than the contestants, and that’s a good thing. Occasionally, however, the judges come up with raves that we can’t figure out, because the performances they so enthusiastically extol don’t appear to be all that great. Well, they obviously see something we don’t—so, de gustibus…
Last May 25, four of the 24 finalists bit the dust—the tilt’s float indication of “voter power” in action. Was the general voting population really speaking up, or were the finalists’ respective “vote-generating machines” asserting themselves? We may never know for sure, but may the best new singer win!
—-
With Nestor Torre’s observation and Your Message to GMA 7, will GMA network try to improve Pinoy Idol?
Loading ...
No comments yet.