As I've said in an earlier post, I was joining one in a Million this year. But before I tell you my results, lets have a little runthrough of my grueling day at time square. I didn't sleep the night prior to the competition - wasn't tired. So, I pretty much used to computer till 5:30 am then nat arrived at 6 something. My dad gave us a lift, (technically, I drove the mercs down and he drove it back.) I told Nat we had to be there early so that we could be one of the first that made it in.
One in a Million
We arrived on site at around 7 am and surprisingly, there were people already waiting outside the hall. We met a few people, without giving a name to their faces, their names were Timothy and Dani. They pretty much accompanied me and Nat throughout the entire process. As the day went on, it got way more crowded. At some point, they told us to line up, thank god me and Nat got a chance to squeeze in the front of the line. Believe me, the line was LONG. But even with our luck, the bloody coordinators were there to ruin it. They made the people from the back line up into 4 individual lines, helping them CUT infront. To make it worse they said "rush in!" forcing everyone to stampede in, making it completely unfair for those who've waited longer than those who came later.
Ian waiting in line
Let me give you an illustration of how this unfair line system worked.
Rush!
The orange dots are basically malays, the yellow dots are chinese and the black dots are well. You can guess. and I made the coordinator guy a little darker cause I don't like him very much.
But the point is that we got inside, and once we got inside, after waiting for an hour outside. WE HAD TO WAIT ANOTHER 2 HOURS TO REGISTER. I swear the workers there were slower than well.. sloths. I think if you replaced them with sloths, the lines would've gone much faster. They were chit-chatting, doing their nails, and slowly verifying the information. Basically making everyone wait a long time to get registered.
One in a MillionWe arrived on site at around 7 am and surprisingly, there were people already waiting outside the hall. We met a few people, without giving a name to their faces, their names were Timothy and Dani. They pretty much accompanied me and Nat throughout the entire process. As the day went on, it got way more crowded. At some point, they told us to line up, thank god me and Nat got a chance to squeeze in the front of the line. Believe me, the line was LONG. But even with our luck, the bloody coordinators were there to ruin it. They made the people from the back line up into 4 individual lines, helping them CUT infront. To make it worse they said "rush in!" forcing everyone to stampede in, making it completely unfair for those who've waited longer than those who came later.
Ian waiting in lineLet me give you an illustration of how this unfair line system worked.
Rush!The orange dots are basically malays, the yellow dots are chinese and the black dots are well. You can guess. and I made the coordinator guy a little darker cause I don't like him very much.
But the point is that we got inside, and once we got inside, after waiting for an hour outside. WE HAD TO WAIT ANOTHER 2 HOURS TO REGISTER. I swear the workers there were slower than well.. sloths. I think if you replaced them with sloths, the lines would've gone much faster. They were chit-chatting, doing their nails, and slowly verifying the information. Basically making everyone wait a long time to get registered.
Eventually though, I got in with Natalee. It was this really large hall you wouldn't expect to exist in time square. Like this secret hideout with dusty carpeted floors. It was rather disgusting. So we waited and waited like good little puppies. There were some people that were allowed to sing to the crowd. There was a girl in leopard wear that stood out. Well.. stood out as a bitch. Her voice was so pretentious and retarded, yet she claimed herself as the best. She was wearing this really kinky leopard outfit and blond-dyed hair that doesn't seem her style at all. God she was a loser. Niken is 20x better than her at singing no one.
But after atleast 5 hours of waiting since we arrived on-scene, my number ( 9162 ) was finally called. We were asked to move to a rather coveted section of the hall. All the people in my room were wondering what was about to happen, since just another part of the room doesn't seem like the most appropriate place to judge a competition. After a short period, we were asked to move to a another room, our curiosity was solved. Not too far from the hall, around a corner, were 2 rooms that were set up where the competition really began. I was posted to room 1, where the "senior producing director" - Zeb was put in to filter the first line of people. The contestants waited with bated breath as we were momentarily allowed into the room. Zeb waited there vigilantly. Why this suddenly start to sound like some cheesy teenage book.
Lets cut this short. I don't have all day.
I sang Hallelujah and Somewhere over the rainbow ( because the judges wanted a song without the guitar, well, judge.) 2 guys and 1 girl ( including me ) were asked to proceed to round 2, 2 malay guys were let through to the next stage. Meaning, me, another chinese guy, and Putri, this super fantastic girl that blew me away with her singing, went under the "maybe" catergory. I mean like what the hell? The 2 guys who got in couldn't sing for nuts. Don't believe me? ask anyone of my group members, they ALL agreed the 2 who got in didn't deserve the right neither did they sing very originally. I mean one of them were tone deaf! WHAT THE FUCK RIGHT?
Putri
So we waited; and waited; and waited. 4 hours later, round 2 for my group finally started. Putri was put in my group again. We entered the room, this time, there were 2 judges, this vocal teacher, or so I was told. The vocal teacher was this mixed woman that was pretty nice to me. Unlike the first round. This round was done individually. One by one the contestants went in, then it was my turn. I sang the same songs as I was told to. "Awesome" The woman said as she thanked me and asked me to wait outside. Soon, everyone was done singing and waiting for the final results. Now it was whether you were in or out, no more maybes.
Normally the announcer would appear and tell the results, weirdly, this time I was asked to re-enter the room under the request of the judges. They questioned me on my genre. Like seriously questioned. "Do you think your genre can sell?" "Where did you get your genre from." Finally they ended telling me "We don't think your genre is fit for the competition." Well, Zeb said it, i don't think he liked me a whole bunch. They asked me to sing an upbeat song this time, on the top of my head. I sang "This love - maroon 5" and the woman said "Awesome" and let me out. 5 minutes passed and the results were out.
I didn't get in.
They didn't like my genre, it was evident. It wasn't because I couldn't sing, it was because they didn't like my genre, it was so fucking unfair. I heard that not one chinese got in, not one chinese guy atleast. In KL. Wonder why is that?
Here's a clue.
1 Chinese has won OIAM in the past
2 Malays have won.
What if another chinese guy wins? How would that look?
2:2
Look at the balanced. It has HAS to be another malay or indian guy to keep the balance. I doubt that the whole KL didn't consist of any one chinese guy who could sing. Unfair comp? Maybe, what do you think?
Fine, it's a pretty mean and racist thing to say, but it's Malaysia isn't it? Since when have we been graded fairly among races? If you say "Yes you have ian, you're just being unpractical" or whatever crap.
Fine, to be fair, lets look at this in another direction. Lets say that the judges really didn't like my singing style. And for people like trixie that are going to go "Oh-my-god la ian you can't really sing, and stop posting my name!" I got alot of good feedback that day at the hall. I had atleast 3 people come up to me, ( Or asked me to come to them ) to tell me that I had a beautiful voice and I'd sail through the first round, and it was pretty genuine.
Lets say, that they didn't like my singing style, my, Ian style, my voice that comes along everyone one in a million singers ( Fine, maybe not :P but i like to think so. ), shouldn't I still be given credibility for my originiality. I mean, almost every singer in that hall possesed an almost similar voice to one another. You couldn't tell the malay singers apart from one another because they were more or less singing the same malay song that made the day all the more monotonous.
Their slogan this year was apparently "Find your own voice" or, "Originallity." Oh please, I was way more original than any other guy singer in that stadium, I mean, they all had a very similar voice. Apparently, the standard this time was "Ayu's standard" anyone below that would get cut. I mean, she couldn't even really sing, there was this other singer, which was atleast 100 times better than her, and could actually speak ENGLISH pretty well. Ayu's pronouciation sucks so much it makes me wanna chew my head off. Fuck you Ayu. Oh and have you noticed not one winner of any music contest in malaysia has made an internationally known song? That none of their songs are as popular as singers like Guy Sebastian or even Taufik Batisah? Why is this you ask? Well, it's the dumb fact that Malaysia is so biased towards Pop-based singers that sing mostly malay songs even if they were chinese. I mean, buck up Malaysia! Start giving people who actually have a good grasp on songs that other people like and not songs you hope to appear in clubs a chance!
Anyways, I'm pissed now, Leaving off to genting AGAIN on wednesday, the 10th of dec 2008. Kinda sad to be missing prom tomorrow. But as long as I don't see that person dance with other people, I'm fine.
Ian.
Fine, it's a pretty mean and racist thing to say, but it's Malaysia isn't it? Since when have we been graded fairly among races? If you say "Yes you have ian, you're just being unpractical" or whatever crap.
Fine, to be fair, lets look at this in another direction. Lets say that the judges really didn't like my singing style. And for people like trixie that are going to go "Oh-my-god la ian you can't really sing, and stop posting my name!" I got alot of good feedback that day at the hall. I had atleast 3 people come up to me, ( Or asked me to come to them ) to tell me that I had a beautiful voice and I'd sail through the first round, and it was pretty genuine.
Lets say, that they didn't like my singing style, my, Ian style, my voice that comes along everyone one in a million singers ( Fine, maybe not :P but i like to think so. ), shouldn't I still be given credibility for my originiality. I mean, almost every singer in that hall possesed an almost similar voice to one another. You couldn't tell the malay singers apart from one another because they were more or less singing the same malay song that made the day all the more monotonous.
Their slogan this year was apparently "Find your own voice" or, "Originallity." Oh please, I was way more original than any other guy singer in that stadium, I mean, they all had a very similar voice. Apparently, the standard this time was "Ayu's standard" anyone below that would get cut. I mean, she couldn't even really sing, there was this other singer, which was atleast 100 times better than her, and could actually speak ENGLISH pretty well. Ayu's pronouciation sucks so much it makes me wanna chew my head off. Fuck you Ayu. Oh and have you noticed not one winner of any music contest in malaysia has made an internationally known song? That none of their songs are as popular as singers like Guy Sebastian or even Taufik Batisah? Why is this you ask? Well, it's the dumb fact that Malaysia is so biased towards Pop-based singers that sing mostly malay songs even if they were chinese. I mean, buck up Malaysia! Start giving people who actually have a good grasp on songs that other people like and not songs you hope to appear in clubs a chance!
Anyways, I'm pissed now, Leaving off to genting AGAIN on wednesday, the 10th of dec 2008. Kinda sad to be missing prom tomorrow. But as long as I don't see that person dance with other people, I'm fine.
Ian.
Ian
No comments:
Post a Comment