Again I caught the American Idol virus.

-- Still in the running...

Gina Glocksen (manok ko)
Looks like Roxy Spaulding (aka Freefall from Wildstorm's Gen13 comic) in the flesh. And thought her voice isn't exactly what we're all used to hearing in singing competitions, it definitely has character. I'd love to see her make it big even after the show.

Blake Lewis (manok ko)
This dude has got to be one of the freshest performers the reality show has ever discovered. First time I heard beat-boxing and a reggae song on the show. And his song choices are great! "Virtual Insanity" by Jamiroquai and "Somewhere Only We Know" by Keane. How cool is that?

Jordin Sparks (manok ko)
Amazing voice trapped in a 17-year old body. Her range is amazing and her exotic Latina/Italian/Black looks serves as eye-candy (though a little weight-loss won't hurt).
Me likee!

Chris Richardson (manok ko)

Another smooth, groove-ster (is that even a word?). His voice is smoother than huge tub of Slurpee on a sweltering day. But what really caught my attention was his rendition of "Geek In The Pink" by Jason Mraz.

Chris Sligh (manok ko)
If not for his hurrendous hairdo, he'd be the good sight to watch. I mean, he's got an awesome voice, a good sense of rhythm and and great showmanship, but as he sings his heart out and thrashes around onstage, his hair is really a big distraction. 'Nuff said.

Melinda Doolittle (manok ko)
She's got the voice, an amazing range and a passable sense of theatrics. She's a package, and she's got a pretty good chance of winning the show. Only thing I couldn't help but avoid are the facts that she looks like a black Zoraida Sanchez (can't find her online) with no neck.

Haley Scarnato
Not that I don't like her. But this girl reminds me of Champ Lui-Pio of the band Hale. Champ's eyes are too far apart. Haley's are too close together. Though I can't find anything negative about her, she's just not that unforgettable.

Sanjaya Malakar
I'm beginning to effing hate this guy. His staying power is unbelievable! He doesn't have much of a singing voice to speak of, his showmanship is so-so and yet he's still in the running! Dammit. He managed to get both AJ and Sundance booted out. Again, the Kevin "Chicken Little" Covais syndrome once again.

-- voted off...

AJ Tabaldo (sayang)
I read somewhere that he's been auditioning for American Idol for five years. He's got great voice, can't say the same for his theatrics- not much of a performer onstage. But during the eliminations for the Top16, it was down to him and Sanjaya. Curses!

Sundance Head (sayang)
I'm sincerely annoyed that Sundance didn't even get into the Top12. He's been my manok since the auditions and I believed in his voice and talents (same with AJ). But no, again it was almost talentless Sanjaya who passed into the next level. I hope to see more of these two soon.

-- Getting recognized...

Matthew Rogers
- He wasn't exactly the most memorable contestant in Season3. But now he's hosting Discovery Channel's Really Big Things with Matt Rogers.

Mario Vasquez
- Despite his withdrawing from the show during his run on Season4 and his current sex scandal, he has released an album. Well, he released one song in English and Spanish version. That's it. Wonder what his second single would sound like.

Chris Daughtry
- He just released his first single and have done his TV tour, including Leno and Conan. Now, he only goes by the name DAUGHTRY. His song, "It's Not Over" is currently getting huge airplay locally and it's nice that the song really fit both mainstream and rock stations here.

Elliot Yamin
- He's one of my original manok from season 5. It's pretty amazing that he's actually deaf in one ear but his lack of onstage presence, mass appeal and star-qualities got him voted off. But now he's back. Only I couldn't recognize him after he got his teeth fixed and after he grew his hair. I'm waiting for his album and I want to know how he'd translate to recording.

Katharine McPhee
- She was nothing more than eyecandy to me during Season5. Maybe it was because I was really cheering for Elliot, Chris, Taylor and Becky. I just heard her song, and I'm sure she's gonna get popular...although she does sound like Jojo at some parts of the song.

Kelly Pickler
- She's definitely popular with her America's sweetheart-thing going, and I'm sure she's gonna boom into fame, but I just couldn't bring myself to like country music. She now bears the Marilyn Monroe short hair, and she's grown into quite a pretty woman.

NEW SHOW
March 24, 2007

-- Having stayed over at my brother's condo for a couple of months, I discovered shows that I now cannot live without. Here are three of them.

• Really Big Things with Matt Rogers
  This is a fairly new show that started just this year premiered last week. It's a very interesting show that features obscenely large machines and sci-fi-esque tools that keep various industries running.

It's hosted by American Idol season3 alum Matt Rogers who is surprisingly funny. And for a guy a huge as he is (wide and tall), he's easily very childish.

• Miami Ink
  Here's an awesome show (in a subtle way) being distributed locally by Discovery Channel.

This show follows the artistry of four tattoo artists Ami, Nuñez, Garver, Darren and Yoji. Later on they were joined by the amazingly talented Kat.

And it's nice to see that the art form being scowled at here is presented in a very positive way; that there are deeper emotional stories behind each line and color in every tainted skin.

• Heroes
  After so long, I finally saw the first episode! And that shows how much of a loser I am! It took one episode to get me effing hooked!

So it's a group of people who discovered that they have superhuman abilities.

So i don't think I need to say anything more. Oh yeah!


-- I miss: