American Idol Aftermath
To most Filipinos, this season of
American Idol had the most tuned-in and interesting and infuriating and frustrating finale ever. Everyone had been so hopeful that the 16-year-old, half-Filipino, half-Mexican contestant named
Jessica Sanchez would win, given her amazing vocal chops and… amazing vocal chops. And of course, every Filipino wanted her to win because she’s a Filipino! When a Filipino joins an international singing competition, he should win because he’s a Filipino! He is the best singer in that show because he’s a Filipino! His competition would stand pale next to him because he’s a Filipino! And when that Filipino doesn’t win, well, this show sucks and/or a manipulation must have happened. How can a Filipino not win? God, this show really
sucks.
Hello,
us. Hello, Filipino mentality.
I’ve tuned in to
American Idol for almost five years, beginning season 7. I’ve witnessed three Filipinos made it to the live shows: two got eliminated halfway of the competition (i.e.
Ramiele Malubay and
Thia Megia) and the last one almost won. She was almost there – she almost raised the flag to the top. Only, it stopped a shy away. Sucks for us, really.
Sucks
more for the
Idol winner.
I know I shouldn’t be writing about singing competitions and the hoolahs that come with it – and especially, I don’t get to say who should win and who should not because I am not a singer and I’m basically tone deaf. But this is
American Idol (and not
Filipino Idol), even if I don’t live in either of the fifty glorious states that gets to vote, there’s this television trend called “match airing” where the networks can air a show within hours after it was shown in America (or somewhere) via satellite. It’s pathetic, really, how I get hooked to this show even if I can’t contribute to an
Idol hopeful’s destiny. But then I’m pathetic; we are
all pathetic.
Getting hooked to this show and rooting for a particular contestant and hopelessly crossing fingers to make sure he/she doesn’t get eliminated are some of the reasons why we ultimately hate the show after the finale and our rooted contestant doesn’t win. These are also the reasons why we hate not only the show, but also the
Idol winner. See? It sucks more for him/her.
This is the perfect time for me to insert the undying line, “You cannot please everybody”. It annoys me how people (majority of us, Filipinos) keep pushing that Jessica should have won and not the white guy with the guitar named
Phillip Phillips. If you can recall, when a result has been announced, it can’t ever be taken back (this only happens in
The Bachelor). And if you can also recall, this show is based on votes: the person with the most votes wins. This means we can’t put the blame on either Phillip Phillips or the show. You know who to put the blame to? The voters who tirelessly voted for Phillip to win. But then you can’t really blame them for not going gaga over Jessica – it’s their choice.
So if we just please stop sending hate mails to them? Could we please stop saying that America got it wrong, that Jessica is better than Phillip and that she should have won, that
American Idol sucks and such a cheater (because it really isn’t)? What can your rants do, really? It’s not like
American Idol would undo everything and alter the results. If you believe that the contestant with the biggest voice and most number of standing ovation should win,
Joshua Ledet shouldn’t have been eliminated, knocked everyone down and simply took over the competition… and so is
Adam Lambert or
Jacob Lusk
And what’s up with the “
American Idol shouldn’t be named
American Idol – it should be
White Guys With Guitars Idol”. So what if there’s a male trend in
Idol? It can be called as a mere coincidence… or that Americans just love laidback performers better. So maybe, umm, stop posting posters online of “How To Win in American Idol: 1) Must be a white guy; 2) Must know how to play guitar; 3) Must look good; 4) Must have the “underdog aura”; 5) Must basically be charismatic”. That’s just plain pathetic and bitter.
In a lighter mood, I rooted for this particular awesome guy named
Colton Dixon. (My early favorites
list.) I am basically in love with him, to be simple. I swear I always prayed and believed that he would win… only he didn’t. He got eliminated, placing 7th in the competition. It was heartbreaking, so heartbreaking I cried when he sang his last song, and asked my mom to stop watching the replays. I called it “my first
American Idol heartbreak”. After that I barely watched the show (I only saw it again when he performed on the finale). I didn’t hate America for not voting for my guy; I didn’t hate
American Idol for not having a second set of “save” for him. I just stopped watching the show because, honestly, he was the only one whom my attention was given to. After watching his performance from the first week of the live shows, I basically turn off the television, collapse on my bunk, fangirl and log in to Tumblr the next day to reblog photos of his performance. You can say it was biased, but really, err…
okay, it was biased. When he got eliminated, I still kept track of his career. I’ve learned that he
worked a little with Lifehouse, got invited to a ball in White House, met several famous artists along the way, got a
photo with the wax replica of Marilyn Monroe, and went back to his town, Murfreesboro, Tennessee, to
write his songs. To write his songs. To write his songs for his first solo
album. His first solo album. And in that moment, my prayers were answered:
he won.
This story is just one of the many evidences that an
Idol hopeful’s career won’t stop even if he doesn’t win. The life after the competition is just the start. If he is really good, he would make it far. And having an
Idol title isn’t basically necessary. Of course, it is important, but what’s more important is the passion an artist has to chase his dreams of winning a recording contract and having a platinum album.
So,
American Idol winner or not, Jessica Sanchez will make it big. And so will Phillip Phillips and everyone else from the competition – it’s just a matter of perseverance and hard work, really. Can we now all move on and hug each other?
← older / top / newer →
a woeful & chaotic diary since 071409
American Idol Aftermath
To most Filipinos, this season of
American Idol had the most tuned-in and interesting and infuriating and frustrating finale ever. Everyone had been so hopeful that the 16-year-old, half-Filipino, half-Mexican contestant named
Jessica Sanchez would win, given her amazing vocal chops and… amazing vocal chops. And of course, every Filipino wanted her to win because she’s a Filipino! When a Filipino joins an international singing competition, he should win because he’s a Filipino! He is the best singer in that show because he’s a Filipino! His competition would stand pale next to him because he’s a Filipino! And when that Filipino doesn’t win, well, this show sucks and/or a manipulation must have happened. How can a Filipino not win? God, this show really
sucks.
Hello,
us. Hello, Filipino mentality.
I’ve tuned in to
American Idol for almost five years, beginning season 7. I’ve witnessed three Filipinos made it to the live shows: two got eliminated halfway of the competition (i.e.
Ramiele Malubay and
Thia Megia) and the last one almost won. She was almost there – she almost raised the flag to the top. Only, it stopped a shy away. Sucks for us, really.
Sucks
more for the
Idol winner.
I know I shouldn’t be writing about singing competitions and the hoolahs that come with it – and especially, I don’t get to say who should win and who should not because I am not a singer and I’m basically tone deaf. But this is
American Idol (and not
Filipino Idol), even if I don’t live in either of the fifty glorious states that gets to vote, there’s this television trend called “match airing” where the networks can air a show within hours after it was shown in America (or somewhere) via satellite. It’s pathetic, really, how I get hooked to this show even if I can’t contribute to an
Idol hopeful’s destiny. But then I’m pathetic; we are
all pathetic.
Getting hooked to this show and rooting for a particular contestant and hopelessly crossing fingers to make sure he/she doesn’t get eliminated are some of the reasons why we ultimately hate the show after the finale and our rooted contestant doesn’t win. These are also the reasons why we hate not only the show, but also the
Idol winner. See? It sucks more for him/her.
This is the perfect time for me to insert the undying line, “You cannot please everybody”. It annoys me how people (majority of us, Filipinos) keep pushing that Jessica should have won and not the white guy with the guitar named
Phillip Phillips. If you can recall, when a result has been announced, it can’t ever be taken back (this only happens in
The Bachelor). And if you can also recall, this show is based on votes: the person with the most votes wins. This means we can’t put the blame on either Phillip Phillips or the show. You know who to put the blame to? The voters who tirelessly voted for Phillip to win. But then you can’t really blame them for not going gaga over Jessica – it’s their choice.
So if we just please stop sending hate mails to them? Could we please stop saying that America got it wrong, that Jessica is better than Phillip and that she should have won, that
American Idol sucks and such a cheater (because it really isn’t)? What can your rants do, really? It’s not like
American Idol would undo everything and alter the results. If you believe that the contestant with the biggest voice and most number of standing ovation should win,
Joshua Ledet shouldn’t have been eliminated, knocked everyone down and simply took over the competition… and so is
Adam Lambert or
Jacob LuskAnd what’s up with the “
American Idol shouldn’t be named
American Idol – it should be
White Guys With Guitars Idol”. So what if there’s a male trend in
Idol? It can be called as a mere coincidence… or that Americans just love laidback performers better. So maybe, umm, stop posting posters online of “How To Win in American Idol: 1) Must be a white guy; 2) Must know how to play guitar; 3) Must look good; 4) Must have the “underdog aura”; 5) Must basically be charismatic”. That’s just plain pathetic and bitter.
In a lighter mood, I rooted for this particular awesome guy named
Colton Dixon. (My early favorites
list.) I am basically in love with him, to be simple. I swear I always prayed and believed that he would win… only he didn’t. He got eliminated, placing 7th in the competition. It was heartbreaking, so heartbreaking I cried when he sang his last song, and asked my mom to stop watching the replays. I called it “my first
American Idol heartbreak”. After that I barely watched the show (I only saw it again when he performed on the finale). I didn’t hate America for not voting for my guy; I didn’t hate
American Idol for not having a second set of “save” for him. I just stopped watching the show because, honestly, he was the only one whom my attention was given to. After watching his performance from the first week of the live shows, I basically turn off the television, collapse on my bunk, fangirl and log in to Tumblr the next day to reblog photos of his performance. You can say it was biased, but really, err…
okay, it was biased. When he got eliminated, I still kept track of his career. I’ve learned that he
worked a little with Lifehouse, got invited to a ball in White House, met several famous artists along the way, got a
photo with the wax replica of Marilyn Monroe, and went back to his town, Murfreesboro, Tennessee, to
write his songs. To write his songs. To write his songs for his first solo
album. His first solo album. And in that moment, my prayers were answered:
he won.
This story is just one of the many evidences that an
Idol hopeful’s career won’t stop even if he doesn’t win. The life after the competition is just the start. If he is really good, he would make it far. And having an
Idol title isn’t basically necessary. Of course, it is important, but what’s more important is the passion an artist has to chase his dreams of winning a recording contract and having a platinum album.
So,
American Idol winner or not, Jessica Sanchez will make it big. And so will Phillip Phillips and everyone else from the competition – it’s just a matter of perseverance and hard work, really. Can we now all move on and hug each other?
← older / top / newer →
a woeful & chaotic diary since 071409
Profile
Already several months had passed, and I am missing
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry more and more each fleeting day. There are just some things in life that we can never forget – especially that something that had given us knowledge, skills, strong relationships and a second home. I am glad that everything in the magical world is now at peace, since Voldemort (yes, I can now say his name; no need to be afraid) had died. I had secretly admired Tom Marvolo Riddle (Voldemort’s birth name) though, because of his intelligence, passion and love for magic. Wasn’t he very clever to think of and conjure his seven
Horcruxes to preserve his life, or form a clan of
Death Eaters who were very loyal to him and would give up their lives just for him to succeed? Not everybody can acquire that much loyalty from people these days. I do not, however, admire him for the way he had carried out all of his plans. He had a good agenda, his means just weren’t morally right. But he still is one of the darkest wizards of all time… and let’s leave it that way.
Oh, for all those who are baffled of what I’m saying here and who the heck I am, my name is
Christine Faye Ordas, and I am an alumnus of Hogwarts. I came from the bronze-and-blue-clad house of the smart ass witch Rowena Ravenclaw and her dictum
“Wit beyond measure is a man’s greatest treasure.” And yes, I know the wonderful Luna Lovegood (she’s such a darling) and Harry Potter’s first crush Cho Chang. I had just left Hogwarts last May. Right now I am trying to pursue a career in magical researches, literature and writing. It’s my dream to inscribe intellectual books, publish and sell them in
Flourish and Blotts for the future Hogwarts students’ use. I am also planning to credibly write for the
Daily Prophet, the magical world’s primary news bulletin. And of course, I will be very much honored to contribute to Mr. Xenophilius Lovegood’s
Quibbler (hence, my interest in magical researches). I have always found the Lovegoods a fascinating family, and I bet working with and for them will be very exciting. Or maybe, in Merlin’s beard’s time, I can write legends and bedtime stories like the famous – and wickedly brilliant – Beedle the Bard.
And that’s how my life goes these days. I am utterly missing my old school, my friends, the Great Hall, the bronze eagle knocker just outside the Ravenclaw common room, Professor Flitwick (the head of our house), Hogsmeade, the Quidditch matches (although I didn’t actually play for the house), the moving portraits, the castle ghosts, the pumpkins on Halloween, the giant pine trees on Christmas, Rubeus Hagrid’s (Hogwarts’ gamekeeper) tea and treacle fudge – even the crabby Argus Filch (Hogwarts’ caretaker) I miss. Maybe I can visit the school grounds sometimes and see how the magical world’s been doing since Voldemort died (I’ve been spending my months in the muggle world, you see). I’ve heard everybody’s been moving on and starting all over again; the ministry is back on work under Kingsley Shacklebolt; and Harry Potter’s scar haven’t been disturbing him since.
All is well, indeed.
And because of that, we should celebrate and drink firewhisky! Oh, I still don’t drink firewhisky; I can take butterbeer or tea or pumpkin juice – just not firewhisky, please.
Accounts
FACEBOOK
TWITTER
INSTAGRAM
GOODREADS
