American Idol 10: The Top 11 (Recap)

I used to get so excited on Thursday but now not so much. The judges could do more than just complimenting on the performances as if they are one of the viewers. Constructive criticism please. I'm missing Simon!! Bring back you sounded like a karaoke singer or a broadway singer, utter rubbish, self-indulgent, total mess, kinda remarks. I'm not gonna hold my breath for the change though. Anyhow, moving along in this Elton John themed week.

Scotty Mc Creery - He's brave enough to stick to his country songs and I don't see any problem with that at all. You don't see Metallica doing country, do you? At this point in time, he's my favorite.

Naima Adedapo - While I respect the fact that she wants to stay true to her roots, she needs to remember that she's in American Idol and not in African one. I like the reggae rendition of "I'm Still Standing"but her voice was weak.

Paul McDonald - Do not wear that suit ever again! Paul is the kinda singer that I don't think could win American Idol but could gather enough flock to do a mini concert once in a while. Please don't take his guitar from him or we have to endure his gawky moves again.

Pia Toscano - Enough with the ballad alreadylah! Last week you promised to give something different, this week you said sorry to Randy because you have decided to do Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me. After the show you promised again to show something different.. how leh?

James Durbin - He is not as good as he thinks he is. What he did so far is normal. which you can see in many rock performances. I miss Glambert so much!

Stefano Langone - He sounds like a girl when he talks. Don't think of his tonight's performance is good but I don't think he's going to end up in the bottom three.

Thia Megia - Yawn!  Enough alreadylah this girl, send her back to her parents please, she looks sad all the time.

Jacob Lusk - He might be thinking that he had done a good job with Sorry Seems to Be The Hardest Word. But I'm sorry that I listened to him, really. He made my ears bleed....

Lauren - The gedikness has been toned down and the singing has improved but still I think she's holding back a bit. I think she can do better than this and please refrain from making any long comments when Ryan asked you onstage.

Casey Abrams - He is the guy who can be crazy at any time of the day unless you forced him to tame it down. And that's what he was told to do after his escape from elimination last week. He did pretty well last night with Your Song.

Haley - This is the best performance of the night for her, for me. You are in it, to win it! Yo! Yo! Or perhaps not. Anyhow, it's nice to hear her sing good.

My pick for the bottom three: Thia (long shot but yawn.. please take her out), Naima (need to improve on her vocal, a LOT!) , Jacob (Long shot but I so want him to go)


Two eliminations:
Thia & Naima

5 Things I Can't Live Without

I must have a cup of coffee to kick start my day. My choice is black Nescafe Classic. Some coffee lovers look down on instant coffee drinker like myself but in my defense.. there's no Starbucks around to get my cup of Caramel Macchiato!  (A cup of that now would be super awesome. Haha!) The truth is, I live and die for Nescafe classic.  I love my coffee just like I love my man. Dark is definitely my choice! :)

Who can say 'no' to cupcakes?? Definitely not me, lah. Every weekend I would beg my husband to stop by Wondermilk in Uptown for my dose of cupcakes. The best cupcake I've ever tasted is from Slice of Heaven. Awesome caramel creme on top. Aaaahhh... craving for it right now. 

It's so hard to find a lipstick to match my lips. I've found this Lip Glass by M.A.C, Viva Glam VI. Very subtle yet very gorgeous, I'm telling you. Definitely a must-have. I have two, one at home, one in my handbag. No other lipstick fulfills my need. Many have come after Viva but no one stays. This one is mine until I die. Hope M.A.C is not planning to shut down operation. 

This camera is so important in my life. I carry it around in my handbag at all times. My husband loves it too because we can snap photos anytime we like and the quality is closed to DSLR. My husband likes to do food reviews and the pictures turn out to look so succulent. I wouldn't trade this for anything though one day I might have enough money to buy a better one. Promise.

This blusher named Margin by M.A.C makes me look better everyday. The color is so natural, you feel energized when you apply it on your cheeks. I only keep this blusher in my make up bag and the rests I don't really care about. 


What are the 5 things you can't live without?

Ugly

Went to Johor last week and found this book, Beyond Ugly by Constance Briscoe. Read the first book entitled Ugly by the same author a few years back and it moved me. I felt compelled to pick the book though it's twice the price of any regular titles. The book is about a person who has to battle her own insecurities caused by her own family members particularly her mother. She's told that she's ugly since the day she could remember. Throughout her adulthood, she looked for ways to tackle her ugliness issue though she's never ugly to begin with. She went under the knife several times to 'correct' her flaws but the hardest thing to repair was the damage that's done to her inner self and strength. 

People are mean. When I was in school, I was told that my nostrils' shape was triangle and that I have a round nose. Everyday I would look in the mirror and tried to figure out how to make my nose sharper. We don't have any Caucasian genes in the family, how to get a nose that can open a bottle cap? My late mum told me I had too much bulu roma. It's kinda funny because she asked me a few times to shave the hair. I was lost for words but at the same time I wondered what would happen if I shaved it all clean. I was lucky to have a zitless teenager decade but when I entered my 20s, pimples decided to set up a village and staged a circus on my face. The thing which I couldn't comprehend is when people think I don't have my own mirror. If you don't like seeing pimples on my face, you think I do? Idiot. 

I'm lucky to have a very understanding man in my life. Since the day I met him, never once he highlights any of my flaws. Never at all. Not on the days that I have bloated tummy or on the days when my pimples wanted to play Burlesque. He would never say anything that would hurt me. When I asked him of my most outstanding feature, he said my cheekbones. I was surprised by the reply because all these while I thought it was my nose that's pretty obvious. Then I realized that my mom had those cheekbones too, which made her looked so pretty when she smiled. And my nose, he thinks that it is a cute one (don't puke please :P) We are entitled to feel good about ourselves and nobody is entitled to make us feel bad about our body. 

Lesson to learn -- If you don't have anything good to say, please don't say anything at all, you'll make the world a better place. Trust me. 

American Idol 10: The Top 12 (Recap)

Last night American Idol was B to the O to the R to the ING! What's to be excited about? Nobody performed like a winner. The theme was to sing the song from the year you were born, and I don't know why the theme's relevant. If you can't sing the song from that year, you are doomed!! How about to sing a song when you were 16 years old. So for Naima, I'd be the year 2000 and that time, those tunes should have been in their CD player or something. 

Naima (1984) - What's love gotta do with it. I didn't think that she delivered. Pitchy, pitchy, pitchy but as usual it's beautiful for uncle Steven. She's got the look, she's got the style but she needs to work on her vocal. Not that bad if you are in a karaoke joint. I say bring back the african costume!

Paul (1984) - The little Paul was so cute but the older Paul has balancing issue! We know that he had flu but was it too giddy for him? Look like it. He chose The Blues by Elton John and JLo thought he sounded good, that he has so much soul. I think he'd sound good in album, I'd love to listen to his record but not so much his concert.

Thia (1995) - Colors of the Wind. Only now the judges realized that this kid is so zzzz i could doze off just looking at her. Come on kiddo! We need you to start moving on stage and act like your age. If you don't know how to calculate, 2011-1995, that's how old you are. Act like one. Taylor Swift's number might be a good choice.

James (1989) - I'll Be There For You. Thanks but no thanks for butchering this song for me. I am a Bon Jovi's fan and I don't like the way you sing Bon Jovi's song! JLo loves it and Randy thought it was tastefully done and I thought... Really?? My husband sings better-lah!

Haley (1990) - I'm Your Baby Tonight. First, don't wear your mum's vintage top and a fully covered attire if you understand the lyrics of the song. Randy was a little confused because of that and Steven questioned her song choice. She might be in danger tonight. 

Stefano (1989) - If You Don't Know Me By Now. Yes!!! The competition just started when Stefano's done with his performance. The voice was crazy beautiful. Randy got it right when he said that was the best performance of the night so far. And Steven, as usual, over the top beautiful, which is a different level of beautiful in his beautiful dictionary. 

Pia (1988) - Where the Broken Hearts Go. I was really distracted by the jumpsuit and didn't really concentrate on her performance. Now, my question is, can she move on stage? So far, not yet. 

Scotty (1993) - Can I Trust You With My Heart. And a lot of country chicks voted yes, yes, yes!!!!!! He looked so charming on stage and asking people that question...of course, he's safe!

Karen (1989) - Love Will Lead Your Back. Yeah baby, love will lead you back to your home town. The outfit was terrible, like a cheap version of JLo. If you wanna wear a wig, find one that matches your hair color please. Randy loved it when she broke into Latin. Translation: Maybe you are not an American Idol, love. 

Casey (1991) - Smells Like Teen Spirit. I love the fact that he did his thing but JLo thought that he's screamy screechy.. unlike Cobain. Randy loved that he took risks. Singing Cobain's song is definitely a risk but at least he's not boring like Thia.

Lauren (1994) - I'm The Only One - She's super gedik! Everything she did yesterday onstage screamed fake to me. I think she's not gonna be long but she's not gonna be out this week either. 

Jacob (1987) - Alone. Lusky screamy screetchy scary over the top bursting your lung type of performance and somehow JLo thought that he is in it to win it. What's with your ears Jenny? Go see a doctor, please. 

Bottom three: Haley, Karen and Thia - Haley will go home. 

Bag Review: Long Champ Arbre de Vie

On our way back to JB, my husband asked me one question, nonchalantly.  He wanted to know what other color of Le Pliage that I think is nice. That question was translated to "he is going to buy me another one!" And of course, yours truly can't wait for the surprise to happen so she (kinda) chased for the surprise.  

 Surprise!!... we are going to LongChamp in Pavillion today! He had the plan to buy one for me through his friend who's going to Paris next month but since I insisted to go to the shop, he didn't reluctant at all to make me happy.

 Thanks, love! 

There're many to choose from but of course my choice is...... the much talk about limited edition Arbre de Vie, the tree of life. It's a bit more expensive than the normal ones but I think it's so worth it. Don't you? 

Fresh catch from the shop. I choose long/medium in white. The Arbre de vie is available in dark blue and white only

The size is just nice, you can put almost all your things inside with a bit more space to spare

The button and zip are silver plated 

The embroidery on the canvas is exquisite, subtle, not overwhelming

The bird is gorgeous, isn't it?

It's gonna be her bag one day. :)