The judges predicted it. The fans wanted it. And finally, after some agonizing moments, Farah, Daniel and Tricia get the votes and are through to the spectaculars.

It all began with suspense at 10:00pm when the live show started. Jien and Cheryl quizzed the judges of their pick, and all three were united in their choice for the top three.

The first bunch called to the front was Intan, Farah, Yasir, Daniel and Farish. From this, Farah and Daniel were announced as the lucky two who made it through. Daniel had probably expected the spot but Farah was visibly surprised and touched by her fans who voted for her. Then the last spot pitted Trish against Kash and Aesar. When Trish was announced as the winner of that round, the audience, made up heavily of her friends and family, burst into thunderous applause.

At the press conference, Farah admitted she never expected to make it through. Trish said she did not expect to go far in the competition. ¡§It¡¦s surreal. I¡¦m still absorbing it,¡¨ Trish added. However, both girls also expressed sadness that they would be losing some of the friends they¡¦ve made in the batch.

On the single that she has once recorded, Farah said that she did not consider herself an artiste just because she already had a single out a few years ago as all her efforts to record an album has been futile. So to her, Malaysian Idol is a great opportunity to break into the industry.

On the factors that won them berths in the finals, Daniel suggested that perhaps fans liked his unique voice. Trish did not know why fans voted for her. To her, she was just being herself and that was most important. Farah had earlier thought that many of the contestants would be singing in Malay. So she decided to sing an English song to stand out and showcase her vocal prowess. The gamble paid off.

For Aesar and Yasir, this was their second attempt at Malaysian Idol glory. Last year, Aesar made it to the top 75 while Yasir was in the top 100. Will there be a third time? ¡§No,¡¨ Aesar said matter-of-factly. ¡§To me, everyone who has made it to top 24 has won. They already have exposure and now it is up to us to utilize it. So I will not be trying again next year.¡¨ Yasir was not too sure about competing again. To him, next year is a long time. In the meantime, he figured he would focus on other talent competitions.

When Daniel was asked about comparisons between him and last year¡¦s Mr. Popular, Vick, Daniel said the only reason comparisons were made is that they were both Chinese. To him, there¡¦s no need to try to differentiate, as he will just be himself.

Another reporter asked Yasir the sensitive question of his personality and how it affected voting. Without missing a beat, Yasir replied that people probably assumed that men like him can¡¦t go far and so never bothered to vote for him. But he doesn¡¦t mind and it will not break his spirit. The other seven broke into applause at Yasir¡¦s upbeat response.

When it was suggested that his looks help Daniel score points, Daniel smilingly replied that looks, like voice, is God given, so it is up to each individual to appreciate and make use of it.

The remaining five were still unaware of their status for the wildcard round but they certainly had no plans to give up yet. Aesar felt that the judges¡¦ comment of him overdoing everything in his performance might not be fair as that was naturally his style. He would like a chance to showcase his style of singing and prove he can go further if he is picked for Wildcard. Kash on the other hand quips, ¡§Actually, I don¡¦t know why I chose that song (Belaian Jiwa). If I¡¦m selected, I¡¦ll do an English song that suits me.¡¨

Farish expressed hope that as the judges had seen their progress since the Audition stage, they would base their Wildcard choice on those who showed potential, and not just how they fared in the Workshop. If given another chance, Intan feels all she has to do is fine-tune her singing. On the other end of the spectrum, Yasir thinks he would carry a traditional song if given a second chance. The idea is to stand out, and he feels if he were the only one singing a traditional number, he would stand a chance.

As for criticism, most of them felt that what the judges said could be used to improve themselves as the judges have years of experience behind them. They also agreed that whatever mean things that were said were very likely to be for the camera, so they don¡¦t take it to heart. However, Daniel acknowledged that he has not really ¡§kena tembak¡¨ from the judges, so he is thankful.

When asked what were their plans if their journey comes to an end, Farish chipped in, "Back to position!" He will be looking for another job in multimedia design. At the end, all eight remained cheerful, upbeat and happy for each other. It was a great show; friendships were made and clearly will remain long after the competition is over.

For now, the 15 contestants who did not make the cut will ponder their fate for the Wildcard round. To see who makes it, tune in to 8TV this Friday night 9.30pm for a LIVE recording of the Wildcard show!

Source: Malaysianidol.com.my

Related link: Jaclyn.com.my

"SOMETIMES, reality-based competitions are never about people making sensible choices as Malaysian Idol has sometimes shown to be." New Sunday Times 17-07-2005 

17-07-2005

Malaysian Idol 2: Workshop 3 Results
8TV 10:00 PM

Judges' predictions:

Roslan: Farah, Trish & Daniel.
Jee: Farah, Trish & Daniel.
Paul: Ditto ... ditto ... ditto

Jaclyn.com.my: Farah, Trish & Daniel

Malaysians voted: Farah, Trish & Daniel.

    Congratulations to Farah, Trish & Daniel.

There will be live workshop show on Friday 23-07-2005. The 15 eliminated contestants will fight for remaining 6 places for the Spectaculars. 

Related link: www.Jaclyn.com.my

11-07-2005

SHAH ALAM, Sun. ¡V They gave their best performance and Wong Shau Fui (Ejay), Ashvin Kumar Nair (Ash) and Norhanita Hamzah (Nita) were tonight rewarded when they were picked to advance to the Malaysian Idol final round.

  The trio, who performed with five others in the Worshop 2 round last Friday, joined three other contestants from Workshop 1 who made the cut last week.

  The results how, carried live over 8TV from Sri Pentas tonight, were determined solely by SMS from viewers.

  The contestants eliminated from Workshop 2 were Suria Mawarni Ramlan, Jerome Sean D¡¦Cruz, Dianne Guerzo, Azam Yakob and Adam Ali.

  So far, two of the three workshop rounds to pick 10 contestants for the final round have been completed.

  The workshop is held every Friday while the results as released the following Sunday. The winners from Workshop 1 were Atilia, Faizull and Xerra.

Source: New Straits Times

Jun 5:

Musician and album producer Roslan Aziz has expressed disappointment at his ex-wife¡¦s ¡§callous¡¨ remarks in a newspaper report alluding to his alleged infidelity and for allegedly being a neglient father.

The report in Straits Times, Singapore, which was carried in The Malay Mail yesterday, quoted his ex-wife, 40-year-old singer Sheila Majid as saying that she had suffered in silence when their marriage hit the rocks and that her ex-husband should have divorced her if she was so bad. Instead he kept contradicting himself, she said.

Roslan retaliated by saying that he was appalled by the ¡§hyprocrisy and temerity¡¨ of his ex-wife¡¦s statement in the interview.

¡§How could she be so insensitive to come out with all these revelations now when she knew it was she who caused our marriage to crumble? It was she who left me for someone else and prevented me from seeing our children,¡¨ said Roslan.

¡§Do you know that I¡¦ve not seen my children for three years now? If she was a good mother she should not let our quarrels come between me and the children. Instead she has shut the door on me whenever I tried to meet my children and I¡¦ve even been arrested by the police (because she had a restraining order) once when I refused to leave her premises, trying to meet my children.

¡§Do you know that I had to spend a night in jail for this?¡¨

¡§It¡¦s just disgusting and unfair that she should paint a picture of happiness and harmony in her new life when every day I am dreaming of my children (daughter Khaleda, 14, and son, Megat, 11) and saving money to engage a lawyer to fight to get them back,¡¨ said the Malaysian Idol judge.

Roslan and Sheila were divorced in 2000 after a long-drawn court battle which heard allegations of infidelity and violence in their marriage.

Roslan said he did not want to divorce Sheila initially when the first cracks began to appear in the marriage in 1996 because of the children.

¡§Megat was only three and Khaleda, six-years-old at the time. I thought we could work it out.¡¨

It was during this time, Roslan said, that he had arranged for Sheila¡¦s London appearance, first at West End¡¦s Royalty Theatre where her Ratu album was launched to a capacity crowd, and after that at Ronnie Scott¡¦s, a jazz club, where she performed two shows.

¡§Can you imagine my pain, having to do this and seeing that she was no longer interested to continue with the marriage? Yet the show had to go on and let¡¦s not even talk about the amount of money I spent.

¡§I agreed to let her have the children after the divorce because I was broke. I thought she would be responsible enough not to turn the children against me.

¡§I¡¦m speaking up now because my dignity is at stake, as well as my parents¡¦, who are the ones suffering in silence.

Source: Malay Mail Online  

The auditions have ended, and the real show is beginning for Malaysian Idol season two. And there are more talents, more diversity and interesting personalities among the new crop of contestants this time.

IT¡¦S two days to the start of Malaysian Idol season two! So be sure you¡¦re in front of the telly on Friday at 9.30pm to catch the audition episode.

To be aired every Friday night, this season¡¦s show will be hosted by season one¡¦s host Jien who will be joined by Cheryl Samad. Repeats will be aired on TV3 on Sundays at 11.30am.

According to 8TV chief operating officer Ahmad Izham Omar, more than 9,000 hopefuls auditioned around the country last month. Out of these, 125 contestants were selected for the Theatre Elimination show.

Paul Moss, one of the three resident judges, said: ¡§There are more talented contestants this year who are willing to try as they have seen how well Jaclyn Victor is doing now. Malaysian Idol has changed her life.

¡§The diversity has also increased as the contestants come from all walks of life, possess strong vocals and sport interesting personalities that suit all genres of music. They appear more experienced and confident and we can expect stiff competition.¡¨ Fellow judge Fauziah Latiff added: ¡§I feel the talent from almost all the locations are better this time around. Some of them have a real unique sound.¡¨

¡§I observed that with the increased age limit, this season¡¦s audition has seen a plethora of experienced and exciting talents from older contestants. It¡¦s definitely a good thing,¡¨ said third judge Roslan Aziz.

¡§I observed that with the increased age limit, this season¡¦s audition has seen a plethora of experienced and exciting talents from older contestants. It¡¦s definitely a good thing,¡¨ said third judge Roslan Aziz.

THE HOSTS: Jien and Cheryl

¡§We also saw some of last year¡¦s hopefuls trying out for the second time. So, I believe this year¡¦s pool includes more potential Idols than the maiden year and I've a strong feeling that this year¡¦s competition would be more competitive. And yes, we are definitely looking for vibrant talents as this is what the industry demands.¡¨  

Aside from the contestants, the new Malaysian Idol will be similar to that of the first season, with the same rules, the same prize and the same judges.

The contestants will go through a three-day Theatre Elimination stage. From there, only 24 will be chosen for the Workshop stage where the public will be able to vote for the Top 10 finalists at the Spectacular round.

From there, weekly eliminations will happen, culminating to the final two contestants on Sept 23. This time around, the Workshop and Spectacular stages will feature a live band and live studio audience, indicating a more challenging and more synchronised environment.

Malaysian Idol is the local franchise of this renowned global talent search show that seeks to discover the best and promising stars, and most importantly, is a platform for young talents to compete for the title of Malaysian Idol. The fate of the winner is in the hands of the viewers who will vote for their favourite contestant. The winner will stand to win a platinum level recording contract from Sony BMG Malaysia, setting himself or herself up for stardom.

Source: New Straits Times

Related link: www.Jaclyn.com.my