My vote (and maybe 6 or 7 calls) goes to Gayle Nerva.

Yes, yes, admittedly, my favourite contestants from both AmIdol and SgIdol (i.e. Diana Degarmo, Jasmine Trias, Maia Lee) have never really made it all the way in the final rounds, but I’m going to back Gayle Nerva for as far as she can go. For a 17-year-old, she’s got the attitude of a rock star, the voice of a jazz singer and the look of… well… a 17-year-old Eurasian. Who is hot. Like pimentos.

(The fact that she reminds me of Izzy has nothing to do with this.)

If I were to be really objective, though, I’d say Jonathan Leong and/or Paul Twohill would have the real chance of making it to the finals. I think they both have the charisma to bring out the best of their performances. Which brings me to the whole duh-ness of the situation. Tonight’s “Piano Show” will feature 7 guys competing for Singapore’s votes. Of these 7, only two can make it to the final rounds. Of these 7, two are Jonathan Leong and Paul Twohill. What gives? Add that to the fact that clean-cut Terence Tay (of Living with Lydia fame) is also among the 7, and you have some of the stiffest competition ever seen in an Idol group. All I can say is, I hope Singapore Idol is going to play the Wildcard, and have the judges each choose a favourite from those remaining. There is no way that any of those three guys deserve to go out at this stage.

So it seems that the first production from WWE Films starring one of my favourite wrestlers Kane has been released and grossed over 8 million US dollars since opening two weeks ago. I knew the horror genre was lucrative, as evidenced by the financial success of Kelvin Tong’s The Maid, but who knew something this cult-like could still draw so much money?

Ah well, nonetheless, I’ve decided to ‘film’ my first horror flick using “The Movies”. It’s called “The Evil Within”. Check it out at The Movies website.

… not writing for so long.

Really, it’s been over a week since my last post and a LOT has happened. Even if this blog is read by all of 5 people (maybe more), one of the other reasons why I blog is because I’m a hopeless romantic sentimentalist who needs to recount what he’s been through for the sake of posterity.

Well, let’s just summarise them quickly, since I’m not feeling verbose today.

Life in the Spirit Camp 2006 - NTU CSA’s annual event that features the standard series of sessions leading up to and including the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. Last year I was a participant. This year I served as a facilitator, a worship leader and as part of the prayer team. It was a unique experience to be on the other side of the fence, as it were, but definitely one that I am grateful for.

The Movies - One of my favourite games of all time because of the movie making engine. You can literally create any movie you like, even to the point of creating voice-overs and subtitles. I’ve just completed the “story mode” and now I’m looking forward to making my own movies. Anyone wants to be my voice actors?

Over the Hedge - This latest offering by Dreamworks doesn’t feature the big names that its previous creations did… (40 Year Old Virgin’s Steve Carrell notwithstanding) but it nonetheless delivers just as well, if not better, in my opinion. Where Shrek was more a dig at Disney and Madagascar a zany, crazy adventure, Over the Hedge has a substantial amount of morality running through the movie… making a wonderful family movie and a worthy watch for all ages.

Lunch with En - Went out yesterday to the Menotti for spaghetti and enjoyed myself. En’s someone with whom conversations are easy and I was subconciously slipping into my judgmental, overbearing self without suffering immediate consequences. Of course, the second I realise I’ve been pig-headed, I apologised, and was absolved from my iniquity. Perhaps its because we don’t meet up that often, but I dare say I’ve enjoyed every single time we’ve gone out together, something that’s going to get rarer now that she’s gainfully employed.

Well, that’s more or less the update of my time since the last post. Maybe when I stumble onto some philosophical nirvana then I’ll update again.

It’s nice to know that despite not having a computer at home (both PC and laptop have gone to the dogs in the past week - Mac users can smirk in silence), I’m not really suffering from cold turkey syndromes. Sure, I haven’t been totally bereft of Internet use, thanks to certain trips to NTU, but it must be said that I am rather pleased with my ability to appreciate life away from the PC.

Since the last post, several pretty cool things have happened. The gang went out to watch Mirrormask over a week ago on Sunday. I absolutely enjoyed the movie, and despite criticisms from a couple of the others for its overtly simple plot, it was probably the fairytale story that I liked best. kakita bob derided its use of the “it was all a dream” plot device and to be fair, it was probably because as children, we were specifically told never to use it for our compositions. I dunno. After all, Alice in Wonderland and the Wizard of Oz were just two of a dozen examples of classic childrens’ tales that use the “dream” device wonderfully. I guess I just saw Mirromask as an updating of the Wizard of Oz - balancing between being a spoof/tribute and an original work in itself. I’m content with knowing I loved it.

Another wonderful experience that I had that Sunday was attending my first Faith Community Baptist Church service at the Expo. I guess I could say I felt called to attend it, but really, it was more of a snap decision and the fact that I was relatively free that afternoon. Nonetheless, I was really moved by the whole service. It’s easy to see why teens all over Singapore are attracted to such mega-churches. The message was easy to remember (Perception, Purity and Power) and touched the teenage heart in an intimate and powerful way. I myself was overcome with emotion when I saw a whole group of youth down on their knees at the altar call. This is what the Catholic Church needs - a clear and present sign to hard-hearted teenage hearts that God is Wonderful, Almighty and Eternal. I think what brought me to tears, though, was being prayed over by Direcow - a friend who’s only beginning to discover his faith ministering to me who’s made the Catholic faith his trademark. It was a humbling experience, to say the least.

In other news, I bought the VCD version of Mario Puzo’s The Godfather on Monday, deciding not to wait to save up for the DVD collection. Whoa. It’s easy to see why users on IMDb consider it the best movie of all time. There’s depth, pathos and sheer machismo in abundance with each second. The pace is steady without feeling rushed or draggy. While I do think Marlon Brando’s Oscar win is only due to the fact that Al Pacino, James Caan and Robert Duvall were relative unknowns back in 1972, nonetheless, the acting prowess of all four men is a combination that was unfortunately never to be repeated again. True, it did glorify organised crime, but that is a small setback in an otherwise intrinsically crafted masterpiece. I’m thinking a “Godfather”-themed wedding might sit a little better with my friends and family than a “Star Trek”-themed one. Not that I’m ever going to get married at the rate I’m going… heh.