#851 - The Apprentice

ENGLISH

One of my favorite reality show is The Apprentice. If you do not have anything else to do or you feel bored, you can do some research in this blog and you will find several Apprentice-related entries written by me. I was also happy when the Indonesian version of it was made about five years ago.

Anyway, so I have been watching the newest season of the US Version of The Apprentice. and I am extremely happy that for this season, the format was changed back to its original one, where ordinary people were cast to be the candidates. I think this is waaay more interesting because we watch real people work real hard to get something done, in an ordinary and daily-basis situation. I mean, I don't think we will see a burgershop sells burgers for 250 dollar a piece and ask tips for up to 1,500 dollar for it. Puhleeeaaassseeeee. That's not business at all, I think :-) Anyway, if you do not trust me, just look for an older episode of The Celebrity Apprentice and you will find an episode where one team sold burger for 250 dollar and asked tips up to 1,500 dollar. In fact, in the end, most of their revenue came from the tipping (of course)!! Who would be willing to buy a 250 dollar burger and give tips up to 1,500 dollar?? Not an "ordinary" customer, of course, but their contacts!!

So, yeah, I really dislike the concept of The Celebrity Apprentice because it significantly diminishes the essence of The Apprentice as the theme of the show was shifted from business to "celebrity exploitation". Plus, because they ARE (already) celebrities, some of them might not feel the need to "respect" Donald Trump. In other words, Trump lost his "power" in the boardroom and his presence on the show has waay less meaning.

So far, four episodes of this new season have been aired and something comes to my attention. Somehow I do not feel that the tasks given were really "The-Apprentice" typical tasks. I mean, the "business feel" is not felt as "strong" as in previous seasons. For example, this week, the task was to create a viral video. Team Fortitude lost because their video was more like a commercial for the product and not "extreme" enough. In the original season(s) of it, the highlight would have been in the word "commercial", not "extreme". Another example, last week, the task was to run a doggy day-care. Okay, good I thought, but then the winner was determined by the owner of the daycare and a dog expert rather than the actual sales teams could make that day. C'Mon!! I am afraid having runned three seasons of The Celebrity Apprentice, the producer has already forgotten the essence of the "original" The Apprentice.

About three weeks ago, a friend of mine recommended me to watch the British Edition of the show. As a refreshment activity to do in my weekend, I decided to go for it. The British version apparently offers a different atmosphere. It seems that playing "low" is seen as a very despicable thing to do and participants need to focus more on the task, playing it in the "highway". Even in the original US Version, playing "low" is considerably okay until several degrees. The tasks given in the UK version were "s0-business". This "so-business" atmosphere is even more felt now, after comparing it to the newest season of the US version. This is really refreshing!! I think I will watch several more seasons of the UK version.

By the way, some hours ago, I found a youtube video about one very classic moment that happened in the Celebrity Apprentice. It involved Omarosa (no wonder), and this is the reason why I really love the appearance of Omarosa in this show :-) See the video below. My comment: Omarosa is a classic!! :-)



BAHASA INDONESIA

Satu acara realitas favoritku adalah The Apprentice. Kalau misalnya kalian lagi nggak ada kerjaan atau merasa bosan, bisa deh melakukan riset sedikit di blog ini dan kalian kana menemukan beberapa postinganku yang terkait dengan topik The Apprentice. Aku juga merasa senang ketika versi Indonesia darinya dibuat sekitar lima tahun yang lalu.

Ngomong2, sekarang aku juga sedang mengikuti hmusim terbaru dari versi Amerikanya The Apprentice. Dan aku sangat senang bahwa musim ini, formatnya kembali ke format awal, yaitu orang biasa lah yang menjadi pesertanya. Aku rasa format seperti ini jauuuh lebih menarik karena kita memang melihat orang biasa yang bekerja keras untuk menyelesaikan suatu tugas, dengan situasi yang biasa dan sehari-hari. Maksudku, aku rasa aku nggak akan deh melihat sebuah restoran burger yang menjual burger dengan harga 250 dollar sebijinya dan kemudian meminta tip sampai 1.500 dollar atasnya. Aduh, plis deh ah!! Menurutku sih, hal begitu itu bukan bisnis sama sekali :-) Kalau nggak percaya, coba deh cari sebuah episode yang agak dulu dari The Celebrity Apprentice dan disitu memang terjadi bahwa sebuah tim menjual burger seharga 250 dollar dan kemudian meminta tip sampai 1.500 dollar. Akhirnya, malah sebagian besar pendapatan mereka datang dari tip (ya iya lah)!! Siapa sih orang yang mau beli burger seharga 250 dollar dan memberi tip sampai 1.500 dollar?? Ya bukan pembeli "biasa" tentunya, tetapi kontak para selebriti itu!!

Jadi, ya, aku memang sangat nggak suka sama konsep The Celebrity Apprentice karena konsep ini secara signifikan mengurangi esensi dari The Apprentice dan tema dari acaranya berpindah dari bisnis ke "eksploitasi selebriti". Plus, karena mereka ADALAH selebritis, jadi sebagian dari mereka mungkin tidak merasa perlu untuk memberi "hormat" pada Donald Trump. Dengan kata lain, Trump kehilangan "kekuasaannya" di boardroom dan kehadirannya dalam acara ini jadi kurang berarti.

Sejauh ini, sudah empat episode yang ditayangkan dan satu hal agak mengkhawatirkanku. Rasanya aku merasa bahwa tugas yang diberikan di musim ini tuh bukan tipikal tugas di "The Apprentice". Maksudnya, aku rasa "bisnis"-nya nggak terasa sekuat di musim-musim yang dulu. Misalnya, minggu ini, tugasnya adalah membuat sebuah viral video. Tim Fortitude kalah karena video mereka terasa lebih seperti iklan komersial dari produknya dan kurang "ekstrim". Di konsep yang asli, tentu penekanannya adalah pada kata "komersial" dan bukan di kata "ekstrim". Contoh lain, minggu lalu, tugasnya adalah menjalankan sebuah pusat penitipan anjing. Oke, bagus, itu yang aku pikir, tetapi kemudian pemenangnya ditentukan oleh pemilik tempat penitipan itu dan seorang pakar anjing, bukan dari nilai pendapatan yang bisa mereka peroleh hari itu. Aduh!! Aku agak khawatir nih karena sudah menjalankan tiga musim The Celebrity Apprentice, produsernya sudah lupa akan esensi dasar The Apprentice "yang orisinil".

Sekitar tiga minggu yang lalu, seorang teman merekomendasikanku untuk menonton Edisi Inggis dari acara ini. Nah, sebagai salah satu aktivitas penyegaran selama akhir minggu, aku memutuskan untuk mengikuti versi ini deh. Versi Inggris ternyata menawarkan atmosfer yang sangat berbeda. Sangat terasa bahwa bermain "kotor" itu sangat tercela di versi ini dan para kontestan harus fokus lebih dalam terhadap tugas yang diberikan, dan menjalankannya dengan cara yang "bersih". Bahkan di versi Amerika yang orisinil, kadang bermain "kotor" itu diperbolehkan sampa taraf tertentu. Tugas-tugas yang diberikan di versi Inggris ini juga "bisnis-banget". Atmosfer "bisnis-banget" ini makin terasa sekarang, setelah membandingkannya dengan musim terbaru dari versi Amerika. Bener-bener menyegarkan nih!! Aku rasa aku akan menonton beberapa musim dari versi Inggrisnya nih.

Ngomong2, beberapa jam yang lalu, aku menemukan video di youtube tentang satu momen klasik yang terjadi di Celebrity Apprentice. Momen ini melibatkan Omarosa (nggak heran), dan inilah alasan mengapa aku sangat suka dengan kehadiran Omarosa di acara ini :-) Lihat deh videonya di atas. Komentarku: Omarosa memang klasik!! :-)

#821 - Congratulations Lee DeWyze !!!

Lee DeWyze

ENGLISH

Continuing my tradition of dedicating one entry to the winner of American Idol each year, after five years ago to Carrie Underwood, four years ago to Taylor Hicks, three years ago to Jordin Sparks, two years ago to David Cook, and last year to Kris Allen, now I would like to congratulate Lee DeWyze for winning this season of American Idol.

Well, I have mentioned several times that this season of American Idol is not my favorite season. But, if about ten weeks ago I had to pick to contestants to be in the finale, I would have chosen Crystal Bowersox and Lee DeWyze, simply because they were the best this season. At first, I would have easily picked Crystal to be the winner, since she had been consistently good since the first week, even since her audition and especially Hollywood Round, where she sang "Natural Woman". But then, as the season rolled, especially after the "Lennon/McCartney Week", the "Shania Twain Week", and the "Frank Sinatra Week", I changed my mind and picked Lee as my winner. Those themes didn't fit Lee at all, but he still managed to perform really really well!

Then, my prediction turned to be correct as both Crystal and Lee became this season's finalists. The final was, somehow, a deja vu. Crystal Bowersox outperformed Lee DeWyze in every single performance. Lee was probably nervous and couldn't deliver his 100%. Plus, Lee performed first. This is very similar with what happened in season 7's final, where David Acrhuleta completely outperformed David Cook, and David Cook performed first at that time (for story in more detail, open the link to season 7 above). But in the end, Lee DeWyze still managed to win (just like David Cook won). The crazier thing is that Lee DeWyze is a rocker singer, just like David Cook!! Well, this is just soo deja vu.

Well, the grandfinale was also not that "grand", I felt it was just okay. Plus, it was not really a "grandfinale", but much more like a "grandfinale-Simon Cowell Farewell Tribute". Ah, and Simon is also leaving the show. That's why it's kinda interesting to see what Idol will do to "survive" this condition: declining ratings and Simon leaving. Also, the number of votes wasn't revealed this season, and I am pretty sure it dropped a lot from the world-record-breaking votes of almost 100 million last year. This season is not that great, in overall, and the ratings has dropped.

Anyway, congratulations Lee DeWyze for winning the season, and also Crystal Bowersox for almost winning it. Wishing all of you all the best :-)

BAHASA INDONESIA

Melanjutkan tradisiku untuk memberikan satu posting dedikasi untuk pemenang American Idol setiap tahun, setelah lima tahun lalu untuk Carrie Underwood, empat tahun lalu untuk Taylor Hicks, tiga tahun lalu untuk Jordin Sparks, dua tahun lalu untuk David Cook, dan setahun lalu untuk Kris Allen, sekarang aku akan menyelamati Lee DeWyze atas kemenangannya di American Idol musim ini.

Yah, aku sih sudah menyebutkan beberapa kali kalau American Idol musim ini bukanlah favoritku. Namun, kalau sekitar sepuluh minggu yang lalu aku harus memilih dua kontestan untuk final, aku akan memilih Crystal Bowersox dan Lee DeWyze, karena sederhana saja, merekalah yang terbaik musim ini. Awalnya, aku akan dengan mudah memilih Crystal sebagai pemenangnya, karena ia sudah bagus secara konsisten semenjak minggu pertama, bahkan sejak audisi dan babak Hollywood dimana ia menyanyikan "Natural Woman". Namun kemudian, dengan bergulirnya musim ini, terutama setelah "Minggu Lennon/McCartney", "Minggu Shania Twain", dan "Minggu Frank Sinatra", aku berubah pikiran dan memilih Lee sebagai jawaraku. Tema-tema tersebut pada dasarnya tidak cocok sama Lee sama sekali, tetapi ia mampu tampil dengan sangat sangat baik.

Kemudian, prediksiku tepat karena Crystal dan Lee keduanya menjadi finalis musim ini. Finalnya agak-agak deja vu bagiku. Crystal Bowersox tampil jauh lebih bagus daripada Lee DeWyze di setiap penampilan final. Lee mungkin gugup dan nggak bisa tampil 100%. Ditambah lagi, Lee tampil pertama. Ini sangat mirip dengan apa yang terjadi di final musim 7, dimana David Archuleta tampil lebih bagus daripada David Cook dan David Cook tampil pertama waktu itu (untuk lebih detailnya, bisa dibuka tuh link musim 7 di atas). Tapi pada akhirnya, Lee DeWyze masih bisa menang (sama seperti David Cook). Hal yang lebih gila lagi adalah Lee DeWyze itu adalah penyanyi bertipe rock, begitu pula dengan David Cook!! Deja vu banget kan.

Hmm, grandfinalnya sendiri bagiku nggak se-"grande" itu yah, biasa-biasa saja. Ditambah lagi, acaranya bukan "grandfinal" tuh, tetapi lebih ke "grandfinal-Tribut Perpisahan dengan Simon Cowell". Ah, dan Simon sekarang meninggalkan acaranya nih. Makanya jadi menarik untuk melihat apa yang akan Idol lakukan untuk "bertahan" di situasi seperti ini: rating yang menurun dan kepergian Simon. Juga, jumlah suara yang masuk di final kali ini tidak diumumkan, dan aku yakin kalau jumlahnya turun banyak dibandingkan tahun lalu yang mencetak rekor dunia, dengan jumlah suara hampir 100 juta. Musim ini secara keseluruhan nggak begitu asyik, dan jelas rating-nya menurun.

Yah, pada akhirnya sih tetap akan mengucapkan selamat bagi Lee DeWyze atas kemenangannya di musim ini, dan juga Crystal Bowersox yang hampir memenangkannya. Aku harap semoga mereka mendapat yang terbaik :-)



Crystal Bowersox

#802 - American Idol 9 Top 24

ENGLISH

Well, one year has been quick!! Now, another season of American Idol has started. The exciting part has started right now, the top 24 (semifinal) onwards. Anyway, finally my favorite format for the semifinal is back: top 24 contestants consisting of 12 girls and 12 guys, divided into two groups by gender where each week for three weeks, the bottom two of each group will be eliminated, leaving the final top 12 in the end. It is a MUCH better system than the system they used last year. Well, I hate that system because I don't think it's fair.

Anyway, watching this season's audition and Hollywood week, female contestants seemed to have the potency to dominate the season, rather than all male contestants. Many female contestants were really strong during their audition and Hollywood Week. However, unfortunately, ALL female contestants were disappointing this week in their first performance. NONE of them stood up. Sure, still there were several potential contestants, but they were not that strong this week, sadly. In other hands, some male contestants performed really well and exceeded my expectation!! Watching this week's show, I have several potential favorite contestants. Yeah, they are still "potential" and further performances are needed to finalize my votes. They are:

Female:
1. Paige Miles
2. Crystal Bowersox
3. Didi Benami
4. Katelyn Epperson
5. Lilly Scott
6. Siobhan Magnus (but I don't really like her attitude tho, she's kinda too "stiff", hmmm)

Male:
1. Casey James
2. Aaron Kelly
3. Lee DeWyze
4. Alex Lambert (well, he didn't perform that well this week because of his nerves, but he has a really unique voice!! He has a great potency to do well in the competition)

Well, I have several weakest contestants this week:

Female:
10. Ashley Rodriguez
10. Lacey Brown
12. Haeley Vaughn

Male:
9. John Park
10. Jermaine Sellers
11. Todrick Hall
12. Tim Urban

For the women, I think Ashley Rodriguez and Haeley Vaughn should be eliminated this week. Well, I think the probability that Ashley will go is a lot bigger than Haeley tho. This is because I think Haeley is actually quite unique in term of the way she sings. It's just that she didn't pick the right song for her style this week. But we will see tho. For the men, Todrick Hall and Tim Urban should go. Todrick changed Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone" too much, murdering the song. I like the original version much better. For Tim, well, I think he struggled. He picked the wrong song, "Apologize", which needed a lot of falsetto while his falsetto technique was still not that great. It was kinda torturing, hmmm....

::: American Idol 9 Top 24

note : photo taken from nydailynews.com

BAHASA INDONESIA

Wah, setahun cepat juga yah!! Sekarang, musim terbaru dari American Idol sudah mulai lagi nih. Bagian yang asik sudah mulai juga, top 24 (semifinal) dst. Ngomong2, akhirnya format semifinal favoritku kembali lagi: 24 besar kontestan yang terdiri atas 12 cowo dan 12 cewe, dibagi ke dua grup berdasarkan jenis kelamin dimana setiap minggu selama tiga minggu, dua terbawah dari masing2 grup akan tereliminasi sehingga menyisakan 12 besar akhirnya. Sistem ini JAUH lebih baik daripada sistem yang dipake tahun lalu nih. Yah, aku benci sistem itu deh karena ga gitu adil dah.

Ngomong2, nonton audisi dan minggu Hollywood musim ini, kontestan perempuan kayanya akan mendominasi musim ini, daripada kontestan cowo. Banyak tuh kontestan perempuan yang sangat kuat sepanjang audisi dan mingu Hollywood-nya. Namun, sayang sekali, SEMUA kontestan perempuan mengecewakan deh minggu ini. NGGAK ADA yang bener2 bagus. Tentu, memang ada sih beberapa yang terlihat berpotensi bagus, namun masih nggak sekuat itu minggu ini, sayang sekali. Di sisi lain, kontestan cowo justru ada beberapa yang melebihi ekspektasiku minggu ini!! Nonton show minggu ini, aku ada beberapa kontestan potensial untuk menjadi favorit nih. Yeah, mereka masih "potensial" dan penampilan lebih lanjut masih perlu dilihat. Mereka adalah:

Perempuan:
1. Paige Miles
2. Crystal Bowersox
3. Didi Benami
4. Katelyn Epperson
5. Lilly Scott
6. Siobhan Magnus (tapi aku ga gitu suka sikapnya tuh, agak-agak "kaku", hmmm)

Cowo:
1. Casey James
2. Aaron Kelly
3. Lee DeWyze
4. Alex Lambert (yah, benar bahwa dia tidak tampil maksimal minggu ini karena grogi banget (keliatan banget), cuma suaranya dia khas banget lho! Jadi dia sebenernya memiliki potensi untuk berprestasi baik di kompetisi ini).

Aku juga memiliki daftar tentang beberapa kontestan yang lemah minggu ini:

Perempuan:
10. Ashley Rodriguez
10. Lacey Brown
12. Haeley Vaughn

Cowo:
9. John Park
10. Jermaine Sellers
11. Todrick Hall
12. Tim Urban

Untuk yang perempuan, kayanya Ashley Rodriguez dan Haeley Vaughn yang seharusnya keluar minggu ini. Yah, aku rasa Ashley berpeluang lebih besar untuk tereliminasi minggu ini daripada Haeley. Ini karena Haeley sebenarnya cukup unik juga dalam hal cara bernyanyi. Sayangnya, dia tidak memilih lagu yang tepat dengan gayanya itu minggu ini. Tapi akan kita lihat deh. Untuk yang cowo, Todrick Hall dan Tim Urban seharusnya tereliminasi minggu ini. Todrick mengganti lagunya Kelly Clarkson yang "Since U Been Gone" dengan agak berlebihan, justru menghancurkan lagu itu. Aku jauh lebih suka versi originalnya. Untuk Tim, yah, kayanya dia bener2 kesulitan deh. Dia memilih lagu yang salah, "Apologize", yang membutuhkan banyak falsetto sementara teknik falsettonya masih sangat lemah. Agak menyiksa juga, hmmm...

#799 - The Amazing Race 16

note: this entry will only be written in English because I am not in the mood of writing bilingual :-)

Earlier this week, the newest season of one of my most favorite TV shows, The Amazing Race 16 was premiered. I, of course, didn't miss it. Even though I missed the premiere at AXN because I was in Jogja, I caught up with its first rerun. O yea, speaking of missing one episode, I just realized that I apparently missed one episode of Heroes Season 4 last week!! Arrrgggghhhh..... . Anyway, well, this month is really joyful as it's filled with so many interesting tv shows being premiered.

Well, back to topic. This season of The Amazing Race consisted of 11 teams. However, just purely based on this season's premiere, I think the casts were not as strong as season 15's casts. It doesn't mean that no contestant attracts my attention yet, it's just that during season 15's premiere, I managed to get 3 favorite teams and 2 potential favorite teams, while this season, I only had a handful favorite teams and few potential favorite teams. Well, it might be because season 15's premiere was a two hour premiere covering the first two legs. Plus, there was an unnecessary (IMHO) twist there. Tho it was infamous but still, somehow it's memorable (and it's a good thing that stupid twist wasn't applied in season 16). My thought about season 15's premiere can be read here.

::: all teams of TAR season 16.

Anyway, in the first leg, all teams went to Chile, South America. The tasks were actually pretty interesting and kinda challenging. However, somehow, the episode turned to be just okay for me. It was not boring at all, but it wasn't great nor exciting either. Maybe this is because there wasn't any major conflict, yet, between the teams. So, we will see...

About the first episode, I am kinda curious about Jet and Cord, the cowboy brothers, who exchanged their dollars with Brazilian money after acknowledging they were about to go to Chile!! Well, it's true that geographically, Chile is close to Brazil. However, I think it's more logical to exchange their money to Chilean money, when they don't know the local currency of Chile, right? I mean, I think they should have asked for Chilean money in the money exchange rather than Brazilian money. Anyway, this might have been edited tho, to make the cowboys look "dumb". Even so, if the money exchange didn't have Chilean money, then why did they bother to exchange their money to Brazilian anyway? I wouldn't have done that...

Anyway, let's talk about my favorite teams. So far, only two teams have grabbed my attention:

1. Jordan and Jeff (newly dating)

Well, apparently, these two were also the cast of one season of another American reality show, The Big Brother. Jordan even won that season. That's why I guess we can assume that they know how to play reality show. Hopefully they can bring those knowledge in TAR, making this season interesting! Well, somehow they kinda had proven it by winning the first leg.

::: Jordan and Jeff

Anyway, Jordan kinda "tickled" me by saying "China" instead of "Chile" in the airport. Well, lucky it was in LAX, the starting point, so the ticket officer knew exactly where they were heading. Had the ticket officer not known the real destination, it would have been "funny" (sarcastic mode on :D) to see them flying to China while their actual destination is Chile, in the other part of the world, hahaha....

2. Monique and Shawne (Moms/Attorneys)

::: Monique and Shawne

Well, I dunno, I think I just like this team. Perhaps I like the energy they brought to the race as they seemed to be cheerful and enjoying every moment. We will see....

Well, the only two teams, as for now, I consider as potential favorite teams are

3. Jet and Cord (Brothers/Cowboys)

::: Jet and Cord

I think they are unique. Even though I totally hate their decision to exchange their dollars to Brazilian money, I think they can be interesting to watch, we will see...

4. Carol and Brandy (Dating)

::: Carol and Brandy

Well, I think they can be the "sneaky" team this season and I like sneaky team. Hopefully the can be strategic to help them overcome all the challenges.

Actually, team Brent and Caite is a wildcard for me. They can be favorite but also hated team, hahaha. I just don't like Brent's expression during the race based on leg 1. I think his face was, well I dunno whether this word can fully describe what I mean or not but let's hope it's close enough LOL, inexpressive or kinda "plain". With that face, I think people who watched him would like to punch him in the face, hahaha. Just Kidding :-) But yeah, I think he needs to be much more expressive.

::: Caite and Brent

Anyway, a new season has started. Let's hope it's gonnabe another interesting and exciting season of TAR.

note: all pictures are taken from the official website. Link above

#779 - The Amazing Race 15

note : this entry will only be written in English :-)

Last week, the fifteenth season of The Amazing Race was concluded. In the end, after twelve legs, Meghan & Cheyne won the race. Well, this is not really surprising because they had been domination this season with four streak victories in the last four legs along with two other victories.

Apparently, some guesses I made this time were correct. I was correct in predicting Meghan & Cheyne to be the strongest team this season. I was also correct predicting Mika & Canaan would last long till the end. Well, they survived pretty long tho. Plus, three of the teams I liked at that time made it to the top three!! Wow!! That one factor makes this season to be one of the best :-)

::: Meghan & Cheyne

Overall, I think season 15 was one of the strongest seasons of all. The competition was pretty furious and the castings were really strong. The diversity of the contestants was really interesting. However, it doesn't mean this season is perfect. In fact, I feel there were several downsides made by the producer.

The first downside was the two new twists. I don't think both twists were interesting to watch nor effective. "Early Elimination" was a "stupid" twist in my opinion. It only brought early tension in the first 15 minutes but after that there was barely any effect left. It would not bring any spice further on the rest of the race. By doing that, in fact, they just rose their production cost by having to pay for all the accommodations (and cost) for that one "extra" team, while they only filmed exactly the same amount of episodes (and legs) as other previous seasons. The extra cost is okay if it brings more "profit" to the show itself, but I don't think there is any good side of it aside from the tense 15 first minutes of the race. After that, people would not even care about this early elimination or the eliminated team. The twist was also "bad" for the eliminated team, in this case Eric & Lisa. They finally beat all other thousands applicants to be on TAR, one of the greatest TV shows ever, but they didn't even leave the US and only survived the first 15 minutes of the leg. How suck is that? The second twist was the "Switchback". It was actually ONLY a roadblock but it had been done before in one previous season (season 6). Hello?? Okay, it was a tough roadblock, but so what??

The second downside, which makes the first one look even worse, is the elimination of YIELD/U-TURN. I personally think Yield and U-Turn are the best twists in TAR(A). It is so interesting to see how team decides to or not to yield/u-turn other team and how the yielded/u-turned team copes with that. It reflects their strategy and personality. This twist also stimulates (or triggers) further conflict(s) between teams, and conflict is money for a show, right? It makes the show much more interesting to watch. This mistake even makes the first one worse because it seems that the producer traded yield/u-turned for early elimination/switchback, which IMO are not great twists.

The third downside was the lame final task. The season finale was so cool and great up to the poker chips task. However, after that they had to meet Mr. Vegas, and after that, finish line. Well, for me, one great task TAR had on their several previous final legs was the "review" task, where team had to complete task which involved all the journey they had travelled. Eliminating this task, for me, was a bad decision :-(

The other downside, not a major one and it was out of the producer's hand to control, was the domination of Meghan & Cheyne. Well, don't get me wrong, they are my most favorite team this season, I like this team so much. However, watching a team dominates a season so much is kinda boring :-) This is like what happened at TARA 2 and TAR 13 where Mark & Rovilson and Nick & Starr dominated the seasons, respectively.

::: Meghan & Cheyne won season 15 of TAR.

Anyway, aside from those weaknesses I thinkl, I think season 15 had been a great season. This season was helped by the great castings of teams, that's really important to make people enjoy the show no matter what weaknesses appear. I personally still think this season was one of the best season ever even though had those weaknesses not appeared, it would have been even more perfect :-)

::: A great casting of season 15 which helped this season to overcome the weaknesses.

Finally, kudos to the producer!! Hopefully they will make an even better season 16 (I heard they have started filming season 16)!! Long live TAR!! :-) And yeah, congratulations to Meghan & Cheyne, the most competitive team this season and my most fave team!! Note : I also love the other two teams in the top three :-)

ps : all photos taken from the official website, link above

#771 - Current TV Shows

note: currently being lazy in writing bilingual, again, this is a single-language entry ;)

Lately, especially after my last midterm last Thursday, and this week is still the second midterm week in my campus, I haven't really done anything much. I am having my off days tho, at least until next Sunday (tho I will have my written IELTS test this Saturday). It's just that I made a pretty good progress in my thesis. Hopefully I still can keep it up to achieve my personal deadline target, middle of November ;)

Anyway, as I have plain days, I have nothing much to write right now. It came up to my mind to write about my favorite TV Shows lately. Some new series have been aired within the last month, tying to my TV for some days during the week.

On Monday, my favorite TV Show is clearly The Amazing Race 15, no question about it. Anyway, about it, finally this week Brian & Ericka are one of my top favorite team. I really like the way they raced, nice, and Ericka was smart ;) So, my top four teams are Meghan & Cheyne, Brian & Ericka, Maria & Tiffany, and Mika & Canaan. Back to topic, unfortunately, Star World also airs what they call "Monday Night Laughs", a pack of six sitcoms it premiers from 7 PM to 10 PM, and for this session, I follow FIVE of them. The schedule is in conflict with TAR's schedule and of course I gotta make TAR my first priority since it's kinda a live show ;) Lucky enough, Star World airs the rerun of "Monday Night Laughs" every late Saturday and Sunday afternoon. So, I still can catch up with the program on the same week ;)

Tuesday is also my favorite day this week. Some weeks ago, when I was back in Yogyakarta for Lebaran holiday, Star World premiered a new TV show titled Royal Pains. At first, I wasn't really interested, honestly, but starting episode 3, I somehow stertaed liking this show. Now, I think this show is great and worth watched! :) The night is followed by Desperate Housewives (season 5), of course, the show which is really enjoyable to watch. I know, Tuesday is a drama day, LOL.

There's nothing really interesting on Wednesday so I'll just skip it to Thursday. I love Reaper Season 2 on Thursday. It's really unfortunate I think that the show is now officially canceled and will not be renewed for a third season :(. I think this show is actually really great, funny, and interesting!! :( Then, I watch Ace, a tennis news show aired on Star Sports later on the evening.

That's actually pretty much it. Friday is an off TV day (lol), and I usually catch up the sitcoms I miss on Monday on late Saturday or Sunday afternoon. O yea, and now I also like The Simpsons as Star World airs two episodes each day five times a week. I think it's really funny, smart, and witty :)

Oh, and one show is almost forgotten. I really like Psych, I think it's really funny and enjoyable :) It's about a detective which possessed an eidetic memory and great observational skill which made people believed he was a psychic :)

#767 - The Amazing Race 15

note: this entry will only be written in English as now I'm quite lazy to write bilingual, hehe

This week, the fifteenth cycle of The Amazing Race was premiered with a special 2 hours first episode. TAR has always been one of my most favorite reality show and it really rocks!!

There were 12 teams this season, and a new twist was introduced: One of the twelve team wouldn't even pass the starting line as there were tickets available for 11 teams to get to their first destination, Tokyo, Japan. Eric & Lisa were the unfortunate team as they got eliminated after losing the first challenge, finding correct Shinigawa license plate.

::: TAR 15 all 12 teams

I think, the new twist was surprising BUT really unnecessary and over the top. Well, I think, the twist has no major effect to the race itself. Usually, the first few eliminated teams will be forgotten quite easily as the show airs. Because of that, why should they add the number of early-eliminated team, even before they left the US? People will forget about them more easily now as we don't watch much of them. We don't even know not get their personality and style. Plus, unfortunately for Eric & Lisa, they had applied for the race, finally beat thousands (I guess?) of applicants to make it to the top 12, but in the end, their dream of racing crushed as they didn't even leave the US. I think they have become somewhat unnecessary "extras" in the show itself.

Anyway, the first leg was also a bit disappointing as there weren't many tasks in Tokyo. They just went to a TV studio, played a game, lead a group of Japanese women to find a shrine, and pitstop. That's it? Hmm, I think that's too short for a "LEG" in TAR.

Even so, the rest of the premier was so GREAT!! I think the race was still really exciting and entertaining, especially the second leg in Vietnam (lucky it was a 2 legs episode, as if it had been only 1 leg premier, it would have been super boring and might have lost some viewers :) ). I like the drama especially around Maria & Tiffany, how they lied about their job (professional poker players). The tasks in Vietnam were also pretty cool to watch.

For now, based on the first two legs, I have three most favorite teams and two potential favorite teams.

1. Megan & Cheyne (dating)

::: Megan & Cheyne. I like the color of their outfits tho, hehehe

I think based on the first two legs, they are the most competitive team this season. They are fit, strategic, and I think they have what it takes to stay long enough in the race. I like the way how they supported each other, that really makes them a good team.

2. Maria & Tiffany (professional poker players)

::: Maria & Tiffany, two professional poker players.

As I said, I think this team is really smart and strategic, and I always like smart and strategic team. That factor could make them a bit devilish at time, and every show needs a villain, right? As their lie (about their jobs as they said the worked for a non-profit organization in LA which helped homeless kids, quite "far" from professional poker players, LOL) had been revealed, some other teams might have plotted them as enemy, that's interesting. I hope they stayed long, hehe.

3. Mika & Canaan (newly dating)

::: Mika & Canaan. Apparently Mika is a singer and Canaan is a song-writer.

I think this team is interesting, plus they will (probably) be the bickering team of the season. However, based on the first two episodes, it seems that they weren't that strong and might got eliminated quite soon tho, hmmm... .

Two potential favorite teams:

1. Brian & Ericka (married)

::: Brian & Ericka.

Ericka is a former Miss USA. It's always be interesting to see how beauty queens handle TAR(A). Would she be like the super competitive Dustin & Kandice (TAR 10, TAR 11), or be like the quite spoiled Natalie Glebova (TARA 3)? Plus, on the second leg, it's quite interesting to see some little fights between her and her husband. It's not that I like seeing couple fighting, no, but it's interesting to see how the effect of the fight interferes their placings on TAR.

2. Sam & Dan (brothers)

::: Sam & Dan

I think they are quite interesting, as they developed what might be a good friendship with Maria & Tifanny. We will see...

The rest of the teams haven't made quite an impression on me, but hey, it has just been one episode, still many to come and they might change my mind!

Anyway, TAR rocks!! hehe

#719 - Congratulations Kris Allen !!!

Kris Allen

ENGLISH

Continuing my tradition of dedicating an entry to congratulate the winner of American Idol each year, like four years ago for Carrie Underwood, three years ago for Taylor Hicks, two years ago for Jordin Sparks, and last year for David Cook, this time I'm gonna dedicate this entry for the winner of American Idol 2009: Kris Allen!!

Kris Allen has been the dark horse this season, performing in the shadow of Adam Lambert (runner up) and Danny Gokey (third place). Fourteen weeks ago when I first saw him on the second group of top 36's performance, I had a feeling he could do well and last long in the competition, but NOT winning the show. At that time, Danny Gokey and Adam Lambert were still too 'dominating', haha....

However, as the show rolled, his performances were peaking. Some of his performances were in the same league with Adam's and Danny's, sometimes even outperformed theirs, in my opinion. Well, the strengths of Kris Allen were his artistry and his humbleness. True that his voice isn't as big as Adam's or Danny's, but his artistry could make every performance touching and interesting. That's why I think he is strong in his own way. His humbleness is the strength and charisma. Adam Lambert is also very strong, no doubt about it, but not in the same way as Kris is. Both should be the winners (because of the differences) but only one can be. That's why this year it's interesting to see who the winner is.

Actually this morning I planned to watch the result show LIVE, just like last year and two years ago. However, I didn't get up early as I planned, damnit!! haha...

Anyway, congratulations Kris Allen for winning this season after nearly 100 million votes, another record!! Congratulations also for Adam Lambert. I'm sure they both will success, of course in their own ways, hehe...

BAHASA INDONESIA

Melanjutkan tradisi mempersembahkan sebuah posting untuk menyelamati pemenang American Idol setiap tahun, seperti empat tahun lalu untuk Carrie Underwood, tiga tahun lalu untuk Taylor Hicks, dua tahun lalu untuk Jordin Sparks, dan tahun lalu untuk David Cook, kali ini aku akan menyelamati pemenang American Idol 2009: Kris Allen!!

Kris Allen benar2 kuda hitam musim ini, tampil dalam bayang-bayang Adam Lambert (runner up) dan Danny Gokey (posisi ketiga). Empat belas minggu yang lalu ketika aku pertama melihatnya di performance top 36 grup 2, aku ada feeling dia akan bertahan lama di kompetisi ini, tapi TIDAK memenangkan show-nya. Waktu itu sih, Danny Gokey dan Adam Lambert masih mendominasi, haha...

Namun, dengan mengalirnya pertunjukkan, penampilannya dia terus meningkat. Beberapa penampilannya jadi selevel dengan penampilannya Adam dan Danny, bahkan kadang menurutku lebih bagus dari mereka lho. Hmm, kekuatannya Kris Allen ada pada keartisannya dan kerendah-hatiannya. Benar bahwa suaranya tidak setinggi atau sebesar Adam dan Danny, tapi keartisannya mampu membuat tiap penampilan menyentuh dan menarik. Makanya aku rasa dia itu kuat dengan caranya sendiri. Kerendah-hatiannya adalah kekuatan sekaligus karismanya. Adam Lambert juga kuat tuh, nggak ada sanggahan, tetapi dengan cara yang berbeda dengan Kris. Keduanya harusnya menang sih (karena perbedaan itu) tetapi ya memang cuma harus ada 1 sih yang menang. Makanya menarik untuk melihat siapa yang menang tahun ini.

Sebenernya pagi ini aku berencana nonton finalnya LANGSUNG lagi, kaya tahun lalu dan dua tahun lalu. Sayang, aku gak bangun pagi kaya yang direncanakan, sial!! haha...

Ngomong2, selamat untuk Kris Allen yang sudah memenangkan season ini setelah hampir 100 juta suara yang masuk, rekor lagi tuh!! Selamat juga untuk Adam Lambert. Yakin deh mereka berdua akan sukses, dengan cara mereka masing-masing, hehe...


Adam Lambert

#706 - Great TV Season

ENGLISH

Hmm, I think it has been a while since I posted something about TV Show, haha... . Well, I really love the TV Season right now. It is simply because some programs are really fascinating.

American Idol 8

I think this season of American Idol is one of the bestest season ever. Most of the contestants are talented and so diverse. So far the voting also have been satisfying. The lowest votes getter usually is the weakest of the week. Hmm, that's good!! Well, in about four weeks it's gonna end tho, hmmm...

Anyway, for now I want to see Adam Lambert vs Kris Allen in the top 2. Danny Gokey is kinda boring right now, he has never given an outstanding performance thru this week, for me.

The Amazing Race 14

This season is also one of the best seasons ever. I really like the castings, the dramas, the legs, the destinations, the tasks, etc. I gotta say this season is a lot better and more interesting than the previous one, haha... .

Anyway, talking about the tension between Margie & Luke and Kisha & Jen, I think I gotta put myself on Kisha & Jen's side. I think Margie & Luke were just oversensitive and even kinda dramatized it. Hey, I can understand why Jen said b*tch, it's just a reflex thing. When someone suddenly pull you away like that, it's understandable why Jen reacted that way. But then, Luke kinda over-reacted with it. He said b*tch several times to Jen, and it's on purpose, hmm... . Then, Margie accused Kisha to laugh at her son (while she didn't). Kisha already apologized and tried to clear things up that it was misunderstanding. But Margie didn't accept it, even after Phil also tried to explain to her it's just a misunderstanding, hmmm... . I kinda lost respect of Margie & Luke right now tho. Anyway, it's just my opinion tho, based on the episodes I watched, who knows what really happened? haha

HEROES Season 3 Part 2 : fugitives

Well, this series is getting more and more interesting for me, haha...

====

Well, there actually some more TV Shows that I like but now I only have short amount of time before lecture at 1 PM, so I have to cut this entry here, haha...

BAHASA INDONESIA

Hmm, aku rasa sudah lumayan lama ya sejak aku nulis tentang acara TV, haha... . Hmm, aku benar2 suka Musim Acara TV yang sekarang nih. Ya gampang aja, karena banyak banget acaranya yang bagus.

American Idol 8

Aku rasa musim American Idol ini adalah salah satu musim yang paling bagus deh. Banyak kotestan yang berbakat dan juga berbeda2 gitu. Sejauh ini votingnya juga memuaskan tuh. Yang mendapat voting paling rendah biasanya memang yang terlemah minhhu itu. Hmm, bagus kan!! Hmm, dalam empat minggu akan beres nih acaranya.

Ngomong2, sekarang sih aku pengennya ngelihat adam Lambert vs Kris Allen deh di final. Danny Gokey koq lama2 membosankan yah, dia juga ga pernah dah menunjukkan penampilan yang bagus sekali sejau ini, untuk aku.

The Amazing Race 14

Musim ini juga salah satu yang terkeren neh. Aku suka castingnya, dramanya, babak2nya, tujuan2nya, tugas2nya, dll. Aku juga harus bilang kalo musim ini jauh lebih baik dan menarik dari yang sebelumnya, haha... .

Ngomong2, tentang tensi antara Margie & Luke dan Kisha & Jen, aku rasa aku harus membela Kisha & Jen deh. Yah, aku rasa sih Margie & Luke th hanya terlalu sensitif dan mendramatisir keadaan saja. Hey, aku bisa memahami kenapa Jen mengeluarkan kata b*tch, itu kan refleks saja. Misalnya seorang tiba2 mendorong kita tentu saja rasanya masuk akal Jen bereaksi seperti itu. Namun kemudian, berbeda dengan Luke yang sepertinya berlebihan menanggapinya. Dia bialng b*tch beberapa kali ke Jen, dan itu jelas sekali disengaja, hmm... . Trus, Margie juga menuduh Kisha menertawakan anaknya (padahal engga). Kisha sudah meminta maaf dan mecoba menjelaskan permasalahan bahwa itu hanya kesalahpahaman saja. Namun, Margie tidak menerimanya bahkan setelah Phil mencoba menjelaskan kesalahpahaman itu, hmmm... . Aku agak hilang respek terhadap Margie & Luke nehsekarang. Ngomong2, ini hanya pendapat sok tahuku sih, berdasar episode yang aku tonton, siapa yang tahu kejadian sebenarnya kan?

HEROES Season 3 Part 2 : fugitives

Hmm, seri ini jga menjadi makin menarik dan seru neh, haha...

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Yah, sebenernya ada beberapa acara lain yang juga keren sih, tapi aku cuma ada sedikit waktu neh sebelum kuliah jam 1 siang nanti. Makanya posting ini harus aku potong disini, haha...

#682 - American Idol 8 Top 13

ENGLISH

I actually had many things going on today which could be written here in my blog, but I'm gonna put those aside and write about the top 13 show of this season American Idol instead, since it's so exciting, haha...

So, this week's theme was Michael Jackson. I was really excited with this theme since I really like some of Michael Jackson's songs. Thanks to my parents for keeping on playing them when I was a kid, about 9 or 10 years old, haha... . Probably that kinda influenced me to like those songs. Well anyway, this theme rocks.

There are new twists on this show, one was revealed that (as predicted), this week is a Double Elimination Week. One twist will be revealed on The Result Show, whatever that is.

Anyway, after watching the performance, here's what I think:

IDOLS-01 : Lil Rounds. She did great, she has a great voice which she can control. That's good. However, I kinda expected more from her, she could have done better, hmmm... . Score: 8

IDOLS-02 : Scott MacIntyre. I always think that he's not that good. Tonight, I think it's proven. He's not that good for me. His performance was kinda plain. Score: 6.5

IDOLS-03 : Danny Gokey. Yeah, he definitely has a great and distinguished voice. He sang well. The good thing is that he didn't bring his wife's death anymore, haha... . Score: 8.25

IDOLS-04 : Michael Sarver. Wow, he performed better than I expected, haha. Good job. Score: 7.25

IDOLS-05 : Jasmine Murray. Hmmm, kinda plain, 'old', and a bit boring. She didn't do really well. I think she should have picked another song tho. Score: 6

IDOLS-06 : Kris Allen. Wow, this guy really got my attention. He did really good. He really mastered Michale Jackson's songs, after also goodly performing 'Man in the Mirror' on his semifinal round, he also did great this week. Sure his voice isn't the best (but still it's good) but I think singing is not only about having good voice, rite? haha. Somehow, there's something in him that makes me like him more than Danny Gokey, hmmm. I think it's his character and personality, haha. Way to go!! Score: 8.25

IDOLS-07 : Allison Iraheta. Okay, she's a rocker. However, I just think she didn't "click" to the theme this week, hmmm. Score: 7.5

IDOLS-08 : Anoop Desai. Well, "Beat It" is one of Michael Jackson's songs that I really recognize. He really picked the wrong song. His voice really is not 'strong' enough for this song. Bad for him. Score: 5.5

IDOLS-09 : Jorge Nunez. Hmm, another boring performance. I think he picked the wrong song. For me, he was the worst for the night, sad to say. Score: 5

IDOLS-10 : Megan Joy. I like this girl. However, I had never heard the song before, and I think it was really 80s, and I just didn't like it as I like her two performances before on the semifinal and wildcard, hmmm... . Score : 6.75

IDOLS-11 : Adam Lambert. Well, for me he was the best of the night. He did really good I think. Score: 9

IDOLS-12 : Matt Giraud. He did well. It just happens that his genre is not 'clicked' to me, so I'm kinda okay with his performance. Score: 7

IDOLS-36 : Alexis Grace. Whatta stranger number, wkwkwkw. Anyway, I think it was over the top tho. She has great voice and I kinda like it now, but still, not my fave. Score: 7.5

So, my top three:
1. Adam Lambert
2. Kris Allen
3. Danny Gokey

My bottom four (since two are out this week)
10. Scott MacIntyre
11. Jasmine Murray
12. Anoop Desai (OUT)
13. Jorge Nunez (OUT)

Anyway, about the unrevealed twist, I can make a guess based on what Simon said. Before that, I think the bottom four will be announced as unsafe this week (even if it's gonnabe the bottom three, it's still not a problem tho). Then, from here on, there are two possibilities:
(1) from this bottom four, the judges will pick TWO contestants to go home, regardless their actual position based on the votes.
(2) from this bottom four, the lowest vote-getter will be voted off. Then, the judges will eliminate ONE other contestant, regardless the position.

It's just my guess tho, we will see, haha

BAHASA INDONESIA

Sebenarnya aku ada beberapa hal terjadi hari ini dan harusnya sih jadi bahan posting kali ini. Namun, aku akan menundanya dulu dan nulis tentang show 13 besar nya American Idol aja ah, soalnya memang menarik sekali sih, haha...

Jadi, tema minggu ini adalah Michael Jackson. Aku sangat senang dengan tema ini karena aku sangat suka beberapa lagunya Michael Jackson. Yah, trims buat orangtuaku yang sering mainin tu lagu waktu aku kecil, sekitar 9 atau 10 tahun, haha... . Mungkin itu ya yang bikin aku suka sama lagu2 itu. Ya gitu lah, tema minggu ini keren dah.

Nah, ada beberapa 'twists' baru di show ini kini, salah satunya adalah (seperti yang sudah diprediksi), minggu ini adalah Double Elimination Week. Satu twist akan diungkapkan di Result Show, apa pun itu.

Nah, habis melihat penampilan minggu ini, ini dia pendapatku:

IDOLS-01 : Lil Rounds. Dia bagus seh, dengan suara yang bagus dan bisa dia kontrol. Bagus tuh. Ya namun aku agak berharap lebih dari dia deh, dia bisa lebih baik sebenarnya, hmmm... . Skor: 8

IDOLS-02 : Scott MacIntyre. Aku selalu berpendapat kalau dia itu tidak sebagus itu. Malam ini, terbukti deh. Penampilannya menurutku agak datar. Untukku, dia nggak sebagus itu. Skor: 6,5

IDOLS-03 : Danny Gokey. Ya, dia jelas punya suara yang bagus dan beda. Dia nyanyi dengan baik pula. Yang bagusnya lagi dia gak bawa2 kematian istrinya lagi, haha... . Nilai: 8,25

IDOLS-04 : Michael Sarver. Wow, dia tampil lebih baik dari dugaanku. Bagus deh. Skor: 7,25

IDOLS-05 : Jasmine Murray. Hmm, koq agak datar, 'kuno', dan agak membosankan yah. Gak terlalu istimewa kalau menurutku. Seharusnya dia memilih lagu lain dah. Skor: 6

IDOLS-06 : Kris Allen. Wow, ni orang benar2 menarik perhatianku. Dia bagus juga ternyata. Dia juga kayanya memang menguasai lagu2nya Michael Jackson dah, setelah juga menyanyikan 'Man in the Mirror' dengan bagus banget di semifinal-nya, dia juga tampil bagus minggu ini.Memang sih suaranya bukanlah yang terbaik (tapi ini bukan berarti suaranya jelek, suaranya bagus koq) tetapi nyanyi kan gak cuma sekadar punya suara bagus saja kan? Oya, entah mengapa ada sesuatu di dia yang membuatku lebih suka dia daripada Danny Gokey. Rasanya sih karakter dan kepribadiannya deh, haha. Bagusss!! Skor: 8,25

IDOLS-07 : Allison Iraheta. Oke, dia adalah rocker. Namun, koq dia agak gak "cocok" aja sama tema minggu ini yah, hmmm. Skor: 7,5

IDOLS-08 : Anoop Desai. Yah, "Beat It" adalah salah satu lagu Michael Jackson yang aku bener2 kenal. Rasanya dia salah pilih lagu. Suaranya gak sekuat itu untuk nyanyi lagu ini. Sayang aja. Skor: 5,5

IDOLS-09 : Jorge Nunez. Hmm, penampilan yang membosankan lagi. Rasanya salah pilih lagu juga. Untuk aku, dia yang terburuk malam ini, sayang sekali. Skor : 5

IDOLS-10 : Megan Joy. Aku suka ni cewe. Namun, lagunya aku belum pernah dengar, dan kedengaran sangat 80an, dan aku gak sesuka penampilan ini kaya aku suka dua penampilannya sebelumnya di semifinal dan wildcard deh, hmmm... . Skor: 6,75

IDOLS-11 : Adam Lambert. Yah, untuk aku dia yang paling bagus malam ini dah. Dia bener2 bagus. Skor: 9

IDOLS-12 : Matt Giraud. Nyanyinya bagus juga. Cuma masalahnya kebetulan aja genre-nya gak cocok dengan saya, makanya aku agak biasa2 saja dengan penampilannya. Skor: 7

IDOLS-36 : Alexis Grace. Nomernya aneh ya, wkwkwkw. Ngomong2, bener2 agak terlalu berlebihan dah penampilannya. Suaranya bagus dan aku lumayan suka, cuma masih aja belum menjadi favoritku. Skor : 7,5

Jadi, tiga teratasku:
1. Adam Lambert
2. Kris Allen
3. Danny Gokey

Empat terbawahku (karena akan ada dua yang keluar minggu ini)
10. Scott MacIntyre
11. Jasmine Murray
12. Anoop Desai (KELUAR)
13. Jorge Nunez (KELUAR)

Ngomong2, tentang twist yang belum disebutkan, rasanya aku bisa membuat tebakan deh berdasarkan apa yang dibilang Simon. Sebelumnya, rasanya empat terendah akan diumumkan sebagai tidak aman minggu ini (walaupun kalo cuma tiga terendah pun rasanya juga tidak masalah). Nah, dari sini, ada dua kemungkinan:
(1) dari empat terendah ini, juri akan memilih DUA orang langsung untuk tereliminasi, gak peduli posisi sebenarnya berdasarkan voting.
(2) dari empat terendah ini, yang dapat suara terendah langsung tereliminasi. Kemudian, juri akan mengeliminasi SATU peserta lagi, ga peduli posisi sebenarnya.

Hanya tebakanku seh, akan kita lihat nanti, haha

#675 - AI S08 SF Week 2

ENGLISH

Okay, I just watched the second week of this season's American Idol's semifinal. Here is what I think: I think, my picks for the top twelve this week are: Adam Lambert (he sang The Rolling Stone's 'Satisfaction'), Allison Iraheta (she sang Heart's 'Alone'), and Kris Allen (he sang Michael Jackson's 'Man in the Mirror').Hopefully all of them get thru.

Megan Corkrey is also pretty good, but for me she wasn't in the top three. However, there's still a chance for her thru the Wildcard tho. Jasmine Murray was so disappointing. She is so promising and good actually (based on her Hollywood Week Round), but she didn't deliver this week, hmmm.... .

Anyhow, the most entertaining performance was definitely Nick Mithcell's (Norman Gentle) performance when he sang 'And I'm Telling You I'm not Going'. It was so entertaining (and different) that I couldn't help not to smile during his performance. The thing is that he can sing actually, not just another crazy-tuneless singer. However, I can see the judges' problem with him. He's a stage performer and not really a recording artist. He's good on stage, but on recording, I dun think he will do well. Hmmm... .

::: Nick "Norman Gentle" Mitchell's 'And I'm Telling You I'm not Going'

BAHASA INDONESIA

Ya, aku baru saha menonton minggu kedua dari semifinal American Idol musim ini. Ini pendapatku: Menurutku neh, pilihanku untuk tiga peserta yang lolos ke 12 besar adalah: Adam Lambert (dia nyanyi 'Satisfaction'-nya The Rollingstones), Allison Iraheta (dia nyanyi 'Alone'-nya Heart), dan Kris Allen (dia nyanyi 'Man in the Mirror'-nya Michael Jackson). Mudah2an mereka semua lolos.

Megan Corkrey juga lumayan seh sebenernya, tapi dia gak di tiga besarku. Namun, masih ada kesempatan sih untuk dia di wildcard. Jasmine Murray mengecewakan banget minggu ini. Dia kan sebenernya bagus tuh (berdasarkan Babak Minggu Hollywood), tapi dia nggak bagus dah minggu ini, hmmm.... .

Bagaimanapun juga, penampilan paling menghibur adalah penampilannya Nick Mithcell (Norman Gentle) tuh ketika dia nyanyi 'And I'm Telling You I'm not Going'. Benar2 menghibur (dan berbeda) sampe aku gak bisa gak tersenyum sepanjang penampilannya. Poinnya adalah dia tuh bisa nyanyi loh, gak sekedar peserta gila-tapi-gak-bisa-nyanyi. Namun, aku ngerti sih masalah yang dilihat jurinya akan dia. Dia itu stage performer dan bukan artis rekaman. Dia bagus di panggung, tapi kalau di bidang rekaman, rasanya sih kurang pas. Hmmm... .

#670 - The Amazing Race 14

ENGLISH

Well, today The Amazing Race 14 was premiered. It is the newest season of this series. Hmm, for the third time in a row, the race started in a place around Los Angeles, I wonder why, hmmm...

Anyway, all teams went from LA to Locarno, Switzerland. In the end, it was literally a footrace between Preston & Jennifer and Christie & Jodi but in the end the all female team won the footrace saving them from the very first elimination. Well, the task was so cool, bungee jumping on a dam on the first leg, plus the cheese task which was obviously so tough (200 pounds of cheese and brought them down the steep hill? Nuts).

About the team, some attracted me. They are Tammy & Victor, Christie & Jodi, Amanda & Kris, and probably Margie & Luke. Luke is a deaf contestant, the first in the US series, and the second in the overall The Amazing Race version (the first one was Adrian from TARA 2).

Anyway, this season the producers changed the show a bit. They remixed the intro (you can watch it below), changed the fonts, and I think the image a bit (now we have split scenes, etc), hmm... . Overall, it was so cool and I think it's gonna bring positive effects.

Well, overall, the premiere of TAR 14 was a blast for me, so awesome and cool! :) Even Phil Keoghan also said: "You are team number .. ONE!!" in American Sign Language because Luke, the winner of this leg, is deaf. Hmm!! For me, that's so cool and totally unexpected! :) GREAT

::: Christie & Jodi with the cheese, they're huge

::: the new intro (opening sequence) of TAR 14

note: photo is taken from the official website of TAR 14, video is taken from Youtube

BAHASA INDONESIA

Hmm, hari ini The Amazing Race 14 mulai ditayangkan. Ini adalah season terbaru dari acara ini. Hmm, untuk ketigakalinya berurutan, race-nya dimulai di deketnya Los Angeles, kenapa yah, hmmm...

Ngomong2, semua tim pergi dari LA ke Locarno, Swiss. Di akhir babak pertama, beneran deh merupakan adu lari (secara harafiah) antara Preston & Jennifer dan Christie & Jodi tapi akhirnya tim semua wanita yang menang dan menyelamatkan mereka dari eliminasi pertama. Hmm, tugas2nya keren tuh, bungee jumping di sebuah bendungan di leg pertama, trus tugas keju beneran berat tuh (keju seberat 200 pon harus dibawa menuruni bukit yang terjal? Gila).

Tentang timnya, beberapa menarik perhatianku. Mereka adalah Tammy & Victor, Christie & Jodi, Amanda & Kris, dan mungkin Margie & Luke. Luke adalah kontestan yang tulis, yang pertama di Seri Amerika dan yang kedua di antara semua seri The Amazing Race (Adrian dari TARA 2 adalah yang pertama tuh).

Ngomong2, season ini produsernya sedikit mengubah acaranya. Mereka me-remix intronya (bisa dilihat di atas), mengubah fonts, dan gambarnya sedikit juga kayanya (sekarang ada split scenes, dll), hmm... . Secara keseluruhan bener2 keren dan aku rasa ini akan membawa efek yang baik.

Yah, secara keseluruhan, premier TAR 14 bener2 heboh, dan keren banget dah!! :) Bahkan Phil Keoghan juga bilang: "You are team number .. ONE!!" (Kalian tim nomor .. SATU) dalam Bahasa Isyarat Tangan Amerika karena Luke, pemenang leg ini, tuli. Hmm!! Untuk aku itu keren dan tak terduga sama sekali!! :) HEBAT

#669 - American Idol S08

ENGLISH

Well, starting about one month ago, the newest season of American Idol has started. This week, we are left with the top 36 contestants (wow, new system. About this new system will be written on the next paragraph), 18 male and 18 female contestants. Well, just based on some episodes throughout the audition and Hollywood Weeks, I think probably this year the winner will be another male contestant. It's simply because I think there are more male singers who are better while there are only fewer female contestants who are great, hmmm... . But we will see, we can't never judge before they actually perform, haha

Anyway, about the system change this year, it's back to the old system where contestants are split into several groups, and the top vote-getters of each groups automatically enter the top 12. There are also three wildcard seats this year. All contestants are split into three groups of twelve. Each week, the male top vote-getter, female top vote-getter, and the next top vote-getter contestant regardless their gender of each groups will secure seats on the top 12. On the fourth week, the judges will pick three more contestants as wildcard to also be on the top 12.

Hmm, me persoally prefer the system they used throughout season 4 to season 7 where there were top 24 contestants (12 male and 12 female) and each week we eliminated 4 of them (all contestants performed every week). I dunno why but this way, I think it's kinda more fair for the contestants, hmmm... . Maybe they are back to the old system to save more budget??

Next week is gonnabe the first group week.

BAHASA INDONESIA

Hmm, mulai sekitar sebulan lalu, season baru dari American Idol udah mulai neh. Minggu ini, akhirnya didapatkan 36 besar kontestan (wah, sistem yang baru neh. Tentang sistem baru ni akan dibahas di paragraf selanjutnya), 18 laki2 dan 18 perempuan. Hmm, berdasar beberapa episodes selama minggu audisi dan minggu Hollywood, rasanya pemenang tahun ini akan laki2 lagi deh. Ya gampang aja, karena rasanya sih lebih banyak kontestan laki2 yang bagus daripada yang perempuan, hmmm... . Tapi nanti deh dilihat, kan gabisa men-judge sebelum mereka beneran tampil, haha

Ngomong2, tentang perubahan sistem tahun ini, sebenarnya ini balik lagi ke sistem lama dimana kontestan dibagi ke dalam beberapa grup, dan yang mendapat voting tertinggi dari tiap grup masuk ke 12 besar. Tahun ini juga ada tiga kursi wildcard. Semua kontestan dibagi ke dalam tiga grup, duabelas kontestan masing2. Setiap minggu, laki2 dengan voting tertinggi, perempuan dengan voting tertinggi, dan kontestan dengan suara tertinggi setelahnya (ga peduli laki2 atau perempuan), akan masuk ke top 12. Di minggu keempat, juri akan memilih tiga kontestan lagi untuk memenuhi sisa kursi di top 12.

Hmm, kalau aku pribadi koq malah lebih suka sama sistem yang dipake di season 4 sampe 7 ya dimana ada 24 besar (12 laki2 dan 12 perempuan) dan setiap minggu dieliminasi 4 orang (semua kontestan tampil tiap minggu). Gatau kenapa tapi kalo pake cara ini, rasanya lebih adil aja untuk kontestannya, hmmm... . Mungkin satu alasan kenapa koq sistemnya balik jadi yang lama lagi adalah untuk penghematan biaya??

Minggu depan adalah minggu grup pertama ne.

#624 - The Amazing Race Asia 3 (Finale)

ENGLISH

On the finale episode of The Amazing Race Asia 3, all teams left the pitstart in Oman 12 hours after they reached the pitstop (where A.D & Fuzzie got eliminated). First of all they had some tasks in Oman including moving ten camels. There were some route infos and one Roadblock. The roadblock was similar with some tasks which had previously been done on TAR, they gotta locate key buried in the desert with some metalic censor device. After that they gotta go to their final destination, Phuket, Thailand. On this first part of the finale, the tension wasn't really on. On some parts Geoff & Tisha were kinda neck to neck with Ida & Tania.

This flight to Phuket became a big equalizer. But then, Geoff & Tisha and Sam & Vince took the flight to Phuket via Dubai and Bangkok, while Ida & Tania took a risk by taking flight via Dubai and Singapore. Unfortunately this didn't go their way when they missed the connection flight in Dubai. Now, the race was between Geoff & Tisha and Sam & Vince.

In Phuket, Thailand, Geoff & Tisha managed to leave the airport first but then got lost because of the taxi driver. It's kinda funny when Geoff said: "You live and die by your taxi driver", Marc & Rovilson's (of season 2) motto. Then, there came the Detour. The choices were PULL or PLUNGE. In PULL they gotta pull ropes of oysters' shells to find one marked shell. In PLUNGE they gotta snorkel to find a giant pearl oyster shell and took one big pearl. SV chose PLUNGE at first then decided to change to PULL, GT chose PULL, and IT chose PLUNGE.

After that they gotta do their last task, sand digging to find the treasure box. The treasure box is probably the best thing on the finale, hmm... . Once they got it they gotta walk to the finish line. On the finish line, all eliminated team (Neena & Amit, William & Isaac, Natalie & Pailin, Niroo & Kapil, Mai & Oliver, Henry & Bernie, and A.D & Fuzzie) were waiting for the winner. The winner of TARA 3 is: Sam & Vince from Hong Kong!! Then, Geoff & Tisha came in second and Ida & Tania came in third.

Well, for me, the result is NOT surprising at all. About one and a half month ago, AXN started to air the Sony HD Ad which featured Sam & Vince as 'The Amazing HK Team'. Well, looking at what happened to Adrian & Collin on season 2, I'm sure SV was the winner. Then, after that ad and some speculations on TARA Forum, the producer tried to spread some decoys, hahaha... :) For sure, they're not working against me. I have some clues that indicate SV was the winner.

One decoy even saying that twas not only SV who were invited to be in the ad. I was like: "WHAT??". That's so lame. Do you think it's possible to make and ad featuring all racers and not airing them? Such a waste of money, time, and energy. Something that doesn't make sense for TARA. They seemed to tighten their budget on the race this season and they wasted money on the ad? It doesn't make any sense. You gotta come up with a better decoy, hahaha...

Overall, it was an okay season. Since the beginning (when TARA 3 was started to be promoted), I hadn't been really sure with the tagline, "The toughest race ever", since I always believe, toughness doesn't guarantee a better and great show. You see? Too many racers gave up this season, it might be too tough or simply lack of determination. Hmmm... . I'm also disappointed with the destination this season. They didn't leave Asia. I mean, at least on season 1 they visited Australia and New Zealand for 3 legs. C'Mon. I kinda miss the 'excited' expression just like the one some racers had on TAR 13 when they found out they gotta go to New Zealand, hahaha....

Anyway, one team surprised me very much, which is Ida & Tania. At first I didn't really like this team, but as the show aired, I liked this team even more, hmmm!! They're cool, not spoiled, funny, and enjoyed themselves. Cool!! :) I was hoping they would win the show out of the final three tho, but because of that Sony Ad, I know they didn't win, hahaha...

Ah, hopefully, TARA 4 will be a lot better. Not saying that this season is really bad, since I think the teams placings is a lot better this season then the so-predictable placings as in season 2, hahaha... :)

::: Tania at the Roadblock

::: Sam & Vince became the winner of TARA 3

note: pictures are courtesy of the official website. I dunno what happened but the quality of most pictures this season is really poor and pathetic. Hmmm....

BAHASA INDONESIA

Di episode final dari The Amazing Race Asia 3, semua tim meninggalkan pitstop di Oman 12 jam setelah mereka tiba di pitstop (di mana A.D & Fuzzie tereliminasi). Pertama-tamanya mereka harus melakukan beberapa tugas di Oman termasuk memindahkan 10 ekor unta. Kemudian ada beberapa route infos dan satu Roadblock. Roadblock-nya ternyata mirip sama beberapa tugas yang pernah dilakukan di TAR, mereka harus mencari kunci yang terkubur di gurun pasir dengan alat sensor metal gitu. Habis itu mereka harus pergi ke tujuan akhir mereka, Phuket, Thailand. Pada bagian pertama final ini, tensinya nggak tinggi-tinggi amat. Cuma di beberapa bagian aja Geoff & Tisha cukup bersaing sama Ida & Tania.

Penerbangan ke Phuket ini jelas menjadi equalizer yang besar. Tapi kemudian, Geoff & Tisha dan Sam & Vince naik penerbangan ke Phuket via Dubai dan bangkok, sementara Ida & Tania naik penerbangan ke Phuket via Dubai dan Singapore. Sayangnya ini tidak berjalan sesuai rencana dan mereka ketinggalan penerbangan lanjutan di Dubai. Sekarang race nya tinggal antara Geoff & Tisha dan Sam & Vince deh.

Di Phuket, Thailand, Geoff & Tisha berhasil keluar dari bandaranya duluan namun mereka tersesat gara-gara supir taksi mereka. Lucu juga ketika Geoff bilang: "You live and die by your taxi driver", motto-nya Marc & Rovilson (dari season 2). Kemudian, sampailah mereka pada tugas Detour. Pilihannya adalah PULL atau PLUNGE. Di PULL mereka harus narik beberapa tali yg terikat dengan kulit kerang untuk menemukan satu kulit kerang bertanda. Di PLUNGE mereka harus snorkel dan menemukan kulit kerang mutiara raksasa dan ngambil satu mutiara. SV milih PLUNGE pertamanya trus ganti jadi PULL, GT pilih PULL, dan IT pilih PLUNGE.

Habis itu mereka harus melakukan tugas terakhir, yaitu menggali pasir untuk menemukan kotak harta karun. Kota harta karun ini mungkin hal terbagus deh dari finalnya, hmm... . Begitu mendapatkannya mereka harus jalan ke garis finis. Di garis finis, semua tim yang tereliminasi (Neena & Amit, William & Isaac, Natalie & Pailin, Niroo & Kapil, Mai & Oliver, Henry & Bernie, dan A.D & Fuzzie) menunggu pemenangnya. Pemenang dari TARA 3: Sam & Vince dari Hong Kong!! Trus, Geoff & Tisha menjadi yang kedua dan Ida & Tania yang ketiga.

Hmm, untuk aku hasil ini sangat TIDAK mengejutkan sama sekali. Sekitar sebulan setengah yang lalu, AXN mulai menayangkan Iklan Sony HD yang menampilkan Sam & Vince sebagai 'The Amazing HK Team'. Hmm, melihat apa yang terjadi pada Adrian & Collin dari season 2, aku yakin SV adalah pemenangnya. Kemudian, setelah iklan itu dan beberapa spekulasi di Forum TARA, produsernya berusaha menyebar beberapa pengecoh, hahaha... :) Tentu saja pengecoh-pengecoh itu ga ngefek lah untuk aku. Aku memiliki beberapa petunjuk yang mengindikasikan SV adalah pemenangnya.

Satu pengecoh bahkan mengatakan kalau nggak cuma SV yang diundang untuk dibikinin iklan itu. Reaksiku: "APA??". Jelek banget alasan pengecohnya. Masa iya gitu produsernya membuat iklan yang menampilkan semua racers dan tidak menayangkannya? Bener-bener pemborosan uang, waktu, dan energi. Sesuatu yang amat mustahil untuk TARA. Mereka keliatan banget menekan pengeluaran untuk race-nya season ini kemudian ada argumen mereka membuang-buang uang di iklan? Nampak sangat tidak masuk akal. Ayolah, pengecohnya yang bagusan dikit napa, hahaha....

Secara keseluruhan, menurutku ini season yang biasa saja. Sejak awal (ketika TARA 3 mulai dipromosikan), aku sudah nggak sreg sama motto-nya, "The toughest race ever", karena aku percaya, kalau ke-tough-an tidak menjamin sebuah show yang bagus dan menarik. Lihat kan? Banyak banget racers yang menyerah di tengah jalan, memang mungkin karena terlalu tough atau kurang determinasi dari para racers saja sih. Hmmm... . Aku juga kecewa sama destinasi dari season ini. Mereka nggak meninggalkan Asia. Maksudku, paling ga di season 1 mereka pergi ke Australia dan New Zealand selama 3 legs. Ayolah. Aku merasa rindu untuk melihat ekspresi 'bersemangat' dari para racers kaya ekspresi beberapa racers TAR 13 ketika mereka mengetahui mereka harus pergi ke New Zealand, hahaha....

Ngomong2, satu tim mengejutkan aku loh, yaitu Ida & Tania. Pada awalnya aku nggak suka tim ini, tapi seiring berjalannya show, aku makin suka aja, hmm!! Mereka keren aja, gak manja, dan menikmati diri mereka sendiri. Keren deh!! :) Aku sih sebenernya berharap mereka yang menang, tapi karena Iklan Sony aku tahu mereka nggak menang, hahaha...

Ah, semoga TARA 4 menjadi makin baik lah. Season ini bukannya sangat amat jelek sekali, soalnya setidaknya posisi akhir racers-nya lebih baik daripada season lalu yang sangat amat mudah diprediksi, hahaha... :)