17-07-2005 

By SUZIEANA UDA NAGU 

SOMETIMES, reality-based competitions are never about people making sensible choices as Malaysian Idol has sometimes shown to be.

  Malaysian Idol's "Workshop 1" saw viewers choosing talent over looks or mass appeal when they voted for Atilia Saarani, Tengku Hamisah Zaharah Tengku Zaimi Azlan (Xerra) and Faizull Herman Mohd Yahya.

  But for "Workshop 2", they igored the assessment of the judges and voted for their favourites.

  The judges, Paul Moss, Roslan Aziz and Fauziah Latif, had good things to say about the talent of Adam Ali but the viewers thought otherwise.

  Now what holds for Workshop 3 which has Yasir Mohamad, Prakash Karunamuti, Intan Suraiya Roslan, Mohd Farish Shamshuddin, Farah Asyikin Zulkifli, Aesar Mustafa, Tricia Priscilla D'Cruz and Daniel Lee?

  Arguably, they are the most talented batch in the three "Workshop" series. The judges noted that several of them have actually grown in the competition.

  While they have perfected their acts, they do not possess that X-­factor that will determine their rise or fall in the contest.

  But their unique performances were enough to impress the judges who had clearly loosened up compared to last week.

  Even Roslan, who is known for his abrasive comments, chose to soften the blow (of his curt words) using nasi lemak analogies to describe where the contestants' went wrong.

  Starting the competition on the right note was Intan Suraiya who did a creative rendition of Kris Dayanti's Mencintaimu.   The pint­sized girl has got talent but the judges think she may struggle to get votes.

  This could also be the fate of Yasir who sports an androgynous look.

  The Sarawakian lad wowed the judges and viewers with his smooth rendition of Dayang Nurfaizah's Coretan Cinta.

  Tricia, better known as Trish, put on a power-packed performance of Mary Mary¡¦s Shackles (Praise You) and received the loudest applause from the audience.

  This "big, sassy and fun" girl is predicted to be the one to beat in the competition.

Farah Asyikin performed an effortless rendition of Celine Dion's I Surrender. Moss thought the song was "right at the edge of her ability", but congratulated her for successfully pulling off the song.

  Despite having a good tone of voice, music major Daniel who performed Kavana's Special Kind of Something mumbled his lyrics. But Moss predicts that Malaysia will not be seeing the last of him.

  The judges, however, were less than kind to pretty-boy Mohd Farish and R&B crooners Aesar and Prakash. The three boys apparently had picked the wrong songs.
  Farish performed Dewa¡¦s Aku Cinta Kau Dan Dia, Aesar sang Broery Marantika¡¦s Layu Sebelum Berkembang whereas Prakash belted out Innuendo¡¦s Belaian Jiwa.
  After the unceremonious booting-off of Adam Ali from last week¡¦s Workshop series, it is hard to predict the voting pattern of Malaysian.
  But if talent still counts, Yasir, Trish and Aesar stand a good chance of going to the "Spectaculars". ¡V suzie@nst.com.my

. Stayed tuned to The Wildcard Episode on 8TV, 9.30pm on Friday where the "rejects¡¨ get their chance tom put themselves back on the race.

Source: New Sunday Times