an idol named larry

there's been word about the posssile cancellation of the singapore idol franchise, which as expected, garnered a few approving nods from some sectors of the public. but personally, i do think that it'd be the biggest mistake mediacorp would ever make since they let joakim pass through the audition round (this is purely my own personal opinion and may not neccessarily portray his actual musical abilities, which if god or divine equivalent that you may believe in has afforded you a decent pair of ears, would allow you to discern for yourself and cringe in sheer pain).

there's been talk about the mediocre quality of musical talent on show this year and ultimately the dip in viewership, which as we all know dictates the world of television-- though the presence of my sassy neighbour in a prime- time slot casts a high degree of doubt on this. not surprisingly, one of the more outspoken and illustrious proponents of such a cancellation is no other than maia lee, a singapore idol contestant herself, who without batting an eyelid slams the show that propelled her into her relative and obscure "stardom", and cites the lack of musical talent as an iron- clad justification to wrench the franchise off national television-- all the while oblivious to the screams of judas across the island. following up on her little 'comment', and to milk the limelight for all its worth, she reflects on her own 'raw' performances in season 1-- an over- statement no less-- and remarks how the current crop of contestants are 'worse'.

setting aside the shock of reading her comments that, without a doubt, reeked of sour- grapes and ungratefulness, its rather amusing how she rates herself as 'raw' and deems this year's contestants to be 'worse'. far as i can remember, she sounded like a cow who sucked in too much helium, which was as 'raw' as she ever got, and to be perfectly honest, its a virtual impossibility to be 'worse'. the way she went about in season 1, she would hardly even get to be featured on donny & marie. why the new paper would consider maia's thoughts as an 'expert opinion' on the matter still baffles me. the only reason i can think of is that the publisher had too much too drink the night before, but in all honesty, even being that tipsy would not let any man with common sense commit such a gross mistake. she was obviously trying to touch up on her 'bad- ass' image by 'putting it to the man' and blasting idol.

what these top honchos have to realise, is that the fate of the idol franchise shouldnt rest on factors like viewership or such 'expert opinions' alone. true, the quality of musical talents that was on show this year may have not been as stellar as was expected. true, there was no way in hell the idol contestants could match the vocals of the 'rockstars' of supernova fame that was featured on star world at the same time. true, joakim gomez needs more than a vocal coach-- he needs a team. true, gurmit is balding. but idol is more than just mere numbers and statistics.

its a platform for aspiring local musicians to exhibit their talents and show to the nation what theyre made of. the idol phehomena with the mass publicity that it generates is a crucial element that is sorely needed by these individuals. its the proverbial 'leg- up' that so many of them need. nowhere else, would they be afforded hundreds of thousands of spectators that would for that precious few moments listen intently to every word of theirs and witness their musical prowess. what would they have? a club full of 40 people? an outdoor venue with 200? not only that, it also rejuvenates the flagging local music industry by showing the people that there are people on this island that can sing, that there are hadys and jonathans and joakims hidden amongst us.

what more, nothing is more beautiful than seeing the average heartlander, truly connecting to the 'idol' on show, an idol that one is familiar with and one that gives form to the wildest aspirations of the average singaporean. more than just clamouring for a far- away musician on foreign shores, the raw appeal of idol is that it gives us singaporeans a source of pride that we can call our own, more than anything else. and to cancel out such hopes and dreams of a people who all this while has been treated to mindless fodder on our screens would be nothing short of treachery.

and hey, it shows that there is no 'climate of fear' once it comes to voting after all.