Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Saya pernah punya(e-mail), tapi sudah dijual

This is so shameful. Standar, banyak orang omongnya lancar kemana-mana biar terdengar sophisticated, tapi isinya.. yahh.. gitu deh.

ANGGOTA DPRD Samarinda ternyata tergolong ketinggalan kemajuan dan gagap teknologi, khususnya dalam pemanfaatan surat elektronik (electronic mail atau e-mail) dalam berkomunikasi. Teknologi yang memanfaatkan komputer dan jaringan internet dan sudah dikenal bahkan oleh pelajar SMM ini bahkan tidak dikenal sebagian anggota Dewan. Sehingga ketika ditanya sudahkah punya e-mail, jawabannya justru mengundang tawa.

"Saya pernah punya, tapi sudah dijual," ujar Didik Sugiarto, anggota Komisi D dari Fraksi AKU dengan gaya meyakinkan seolah-olah e-mail adalah barang berwujud fisik yang bisa dipindahtangankan. Wakil Ketua Dewan, Hairul Anwar setali tiga uang. Awalnya jawabannya terasa wajar, namun belakangan sama sekali tidak 'nyambung.

"Secara pribadi saya belum memilikinya. Bukannya saya tidak mampu untuk memilikinya, namun saya masih cinta produk dalam negeri," katanya seolah-seolah e-mail adalah barang dari luar negeri. "Buat apa kita membanggakan produk luar, lihat saja HP (handphone) saya masih model lama," tuturnya sok yakin.


Baca selanjutnya di Kaltimpost.web.id

Monday, March 26, 2007

American Idol 6: Top 10

Lakisha - Diamonds Are Forever
She is a great singer. But like I was saying previously, she's just going so so week after week without no surprising factor. But this week, I found out that she's terrible with low range in this song. Sounds like 'suara yang dijepit2', lost her resonance. I don't know. And one more thing, she lost her magic when she's doing the repetition part of the phrase "Diamonds are forever". You know, it's not wise to do repetition part without any change in dynamic, or style, or else it will be boring. Her voice is still one of the best in the competition though.

Jordin - I Who Have Nothing
Oh my God!! This girl really attracts me. Her singing on the Top 11 was GREAT! I think she really got the emotion right and delivered the message. Vocally, she sounds great. Musically, she has great technique and able to use it for the style of the song. Performically (again :p), she get in the right mood and she made me believe her.
Let me sum up on her performance so far: Top 24 she showed that diva quality. Top 20 surprisingly she showed a so so pop performance. Top 16 she showed that rocking girl side which is good. Top 12 she showed well-controlled Diana-Ross performance. And lately top 11 she showed an emotional and soulful ballad. I love her!! (I'm sorry Steph. Since you're eliminated, I choose Jordin as my fave, besides Melinda from the female side and Chris and Blake from the male side)

Haley - Tell Him
Wow, she's great on the top 11. Keep up the good work Haley! I do believe and hope that you're gonna prove that you deserve to be in the top 12. And this night, you satisfy me :D I'm happy that Lulu pointed out that there really are big voices in the competition and that Haley is not one of them. But then Lulu said to Haley, "Big voices are great. But there is a place for everybody in the competition. You have a place in the competition." She also said later about Haley,"She has to be who she is. And not trying to be someone she really isn't" Oww, love it Lulu. Ooh, Lulu really gave great advice for Haley on how to sing Tell Him. Really fit her.
That night, Haley seemed like enjoying the stage. Great stage presence though in the middle of the song it sounded like she's out of breath and barely could catch up with the tempo from that running-around the stage (huff huff.. This long sentence also wastes my breath :p). She looked young and fresh. Waiting for more great performance of you, Haley!

Ohh, Melinda. I love it when you sang "As Long As He Needs Me". I don't agree with Randy saying that she's the best vocal of the night. She's one of the great one, but tonight I love Jordin more. I love it when she did the ritardando bringing the feeling of expectation of the part to come. And I love the fact that she's still in the mood of the song until the end of the instrument part, though her singing part was over and she's silent. That's a good one.

Phil - Tobacco Road
He surely was having fun on the stage. I like it when he was playing with his falsetto, middle voice, and playful lower voice. Great control over his vocal too =D> The last part of the song was superb! A showcase of his range and vocal control. Ahh, and that part with backing vocal, I love the harmony. Good collaboration of him and his backing vocal. Good stage act too, I think.

Sanjaya - You Really Got Me
Ahahaha, he tried something new. Shocking it was like Randy said. It's not the usual-mild-voice Sanjaya. Didn't like it because the song is so full of repetition. He didn't do much (if not any) variation on that, which was boring. But okay, I'll give him credit for his effort :D

I couldn't review the others because I didn't got their clips yet or the clips are not in good quality.


Quotes of the day:
Lulu : "There is a place for everybody and you don't have to be someone that you really are not."

Saturday, March 24, 2007

Hwaa.. My Stephanie Edwards..!

NOOOOOO!!! My lovely Stephanie Edwards!! Hwaaaaa... :((:((:((
See the article here..

I'm just gonna go to my room and cry my eyes out.. :(( (Now, that's what we call hyperbolic :P)

Based on what I saw in YouTube, she didn't perform very good indeed. Just adequate vocal performance for me, except that I love her face expression. Oh, but her delivering the song is not convincing though. I mean, face expression is okay, but what I heard was not touching. I didn't really feel her emotion. Hwaaa, Steph..

Eh, anyway, by the way, busway, zimbabwe.. I don't usually write about AI before it's aired in RCTI. But since I'm in Kuala Lumpur and couldn't watch RCTI, luckily get fast internet connection, I watch the clip from YouTube. I can't help writing about Steph's elimination before it's aired in Indonesia.

But then again, I really am upset that Stephanie got eliminated..! She was the person I've always been waiting for in each episode since top 24. She did not always deliver great performances, I know. But I think she has the potential and can be superb and I can't wait to see her grow in every episode.. But now I think I can only see her growing in real life, not reality show. Go make it big, girl! I mean BIG so that your success will also be reported in Indonesia :D

Here's the last song she sang on Idol:

You Don't Have To Say You Love Me

When I said I needed you
You said you would always stay
It wasnt me who changed but you
And now youve gone away

Dont you see
That now youve gone
And Im left here on my own
That I have to follow you
And beg you to come home?

You dont have to say you love me
Just be close at hand
You dont have to stay forever
I will understand
Believe me, believe me
I cant help but love you
But believe me
Ill never tie you down

Left alone with just a memory
Life seems dead and so unreal
All thats left is loneliness
Theres nothing left to feel

You dont have to say you love me
Just be close at hand
You dont have to stay forever
I will understand
Believe me, believe me

You dont have to say you love me
Just be close at hand
You dont have to stay forever
I will understand
Believe me, believe me, believe me

Sunday, March 18, 2007

American Idol 6: Top 12

Let's make this as a quick one.

Brandon Rogers - You Can't Hurry Love: bad enough. He forgot his lyric. Just like Melissa McGhee with her 'lately' last season. Eliminated first, she was. And he was too, this episode.

Melinda Doolitle - Home: A song titled 'home' that I don't know. I think the melody is not special, the lyric's good though. Though I didn't really like the earlier part of the song, Melinda sang it well. And she ended the song with a high long note and I feel hope there. The feeling the song supposed to deliver, I guess. On the interview with Ryan, she seemed very nice and funny :D

Chris Sligh - Endless Love: Humm, the new arrangement could be a good one actually. But the song is too loved the way it is originally (or a covered by Luther Vandross & Mariah Carey). I found that I didn't get the beauty of the song with this new arrangement.

Gina Glocksen - Love Child: Not impressive. Just okay for me. As I recall, she was pitchy.

Sanjaya Malakar - Ain't No Mountain High Enough: Gosh, Sanjaya!! Give more power and spirit to your song. Lemas kali pun kau!! (keluar deh aslinya :P). You're trying to convince me about the mountain, but I got the feeling that you're only kidding me. His pitch is okay though, if my memory didn't trick me.

Haley Scarnato - Missing You: Also forgetting her lyrics. Still not showing her skill vocally, but she looked somewhat interesting that night. Very beautiful. And those looks when she's getting comments from judges, aww.. I felt sorry for her and felt like I wanna hug her just to ease her discomfort hehehe.. She's lovely that night.

Phil Stacey - Make You Love Me: I don't know why, but I think his performance was very good. I liked it. The first performance of his that I like. Oh, maybe because he didn't force himself to sound 'rock' too hard..

Lakisha Jones - God Bless The Child: Umm, good vocally. But so so performically (again, I use this made-up-not-known-to-be-existing-word :P)

Blake Lewis - You Keep Me Hanging On: I remember it as a good one. I didn't remember the details :P

Stephanie Edwards - Love Hangover: I think this one's pretty good. Better than what she did last week. Additionally, the song is the type that usually is her thing.

Chris Richardson - The Boss: His performance was one of the best performance this night.

Jordin Sparks - If We Hold On Together: Woww! Jordin, though the song is not the kind of a festive song (that was usually picked by singers to show their skill off), you sang the song the way it should be, and delivered beautifully. You got my eyes and ears paying attention to you and your voice even at the early part of the song.. right until the end. After your interesting performance last week, I still found this one interesting. Well done!!

Those talking between Ryan and Simon about high heels, I like it :D Witty!

And I'm sorry.. This post turned out to be not-a-quick-one :P

Monday, March 12, 2007

American Idol 6: Top 16

Hmm.. I wasn't happy last saturday when watching American Idol top 16. I mean, I had this bad day at the choir rehearsal at the afternoon. Though previously on the same afternoon, I had one of the best moment in my life :D

So, the show started with the guys..

Blake Lewis, great. He again did some beatboxing. I liked it. He's one of few contestants who gave a full performance. I mean, not only singing. Though I wonder, what if he didn't do the beatboxing for the next performance (Surely he will make it to top 12).

Sanjaya.. uhm.. Despite all the criticism he got, I think his voice is likable, though powerless I would say. His performance of “Waiting On The World To Change” was so so. Nothing special so that people would remember him (Maybe the hula thing? I don't know. His dancing reminded me of Charles, a friend of mine though.. Hi Charles :D). Cute guy for teenager? I don't think so. Ask those America teenagers.

Sundance Head with "Jeremy". Don't know the song and he's terrible. Pitchy all the way to the end of the song, I barely caught what the melody should be. Bad day for him I guess.. Since he delivered a great performance the week before.

Chris Richardson sang "Tonight I Wanna Cry". He's as good as before. And indeed he sounded like Justin Timberlake, K'Bie You're right on that! :D He deserved a spot in the top twelve.

Jared Cotter with "If You Really Love Me". When and where have I heard this song, I wonder. I like it when he sing the high-range of the song. But the reffrain a.k.a the most important part of the song was in low range (The "If you really love me.." part). It didn't came out as good performance because of that.

Brandon Rogers sang "I Just Want To Celebrate". His stage act attracted me. It seemed like he's enjoying it. His voice was okay too. The song was okay. So, everything was okay. As in nothing much to say about. I didn't get any great performance from him so far. Uhm, maybe on his top 20 show, I didn't watch it though. So I'll wait for Joey to offer me the record :D

Whoaaa.. Ryan said that someone would sing "I Need You". I have no idea that Phil Stacey would do that. I really love LeAnn Rimes singing the song. And it was terrible to hear Phil singing the song the way he did that night.. sigh. He hit the high note of "rain" and "gate" of the reffrain by screaming. It's not impressive.. At all. Though his falsetto on some parts(or was it "one part"? The "I need youuuuuuu...") was good enough. Should gave him some points for daring singing the song that is not his style anyway. What style is his? I think Chris Daughtry's style as he performed lately, but still not as good.

Chris Sligh wanted to be loved with "Just Wanna Be Loved". Good voice I think. Alas I can't recall his performance other than the moment he asked for Ryan's hug.

Result: Jared and Sundance was eliminated. Based on performance, I do not really care about the guys other than Chris Richardson and Blake. Jared, well I'd like him to perform more actually, because I like the type of his voice. Sundance, I also wanted him to stay since he was great the other week and he had a different singing style contrast to the great-girls'.

Still hoping on Sanjaya to surprise me. If he doesn't, he will be like Kellie Pickler to me on the previous season.

The show with the girls performing...

Jordin Sparks sang "Heartbreaker". At first I was hoping for Mariah Carey's, hehehe.. Wow, Jordin.. You're also good in rocking. Yes, it's not always on the right pitch, but really interesting to see you do different style. After "Reflection" that you did earlier. At first I categorized her with the kind of Lakisha, Melinda, Stephanie, and Sabrina. The weakest, along with Sabrina, compared to Lakisha, Melinda, and Stephanie. But she's now somewhat different and interesting.

Sabrina Sloane's "Don’t Let Go" turned out to be just the same thing she did previously. A song fitted her style, with a festive ending (by that I mean an increasingly high-long notes). But that's it, same thing. Still good for me though.

Antonella Barba with "Put Your Records On". Still not good. Her voice on high note is unique though. But her whole performance was.. yeahh.. Will be happy if she's out.

Haley Scarnato sang "If My Heart Had Wings". Not great. I forget how she sang it. Obviously a worse perfomance than the one she did previously.

Stephanie Edwards.. Ahh, my sweetheart.. Your "Sweet Thing" was not a good one for me. Your voice is obviously a great one. Love your timbre, love your technique, but your performance wasn't good enough for me. I didn't get what you're singing. There's an awkward moment in your song, the feel that you didn't do it right. I felt sorry for you that night. Hwaaa.. I read that Stephanie got low votes on some polls on the internet . I hope it's not happening in the real AI vote :-ss I'd like her to be in the top 5 :D

Lakisha Jones sang "I Have Nothing". Heard this song many times and watched different singer performed it. And Lakisha's was not a special one. No surprising aspect. Very usual and came out as expected. Still good voice though, and beautifully delivered the "If I don't have youuu.." part.

Gina Glocksen sang "Call Me When You’re Sober". Ever heard the title but never heard the song :p Wow, She's great that night. Not always on the right pitch but very energetic and lively. She obviously is on a different singing style of the other girls (Jordin just showed that she could do this style too though :D). Glad to saw her that night.

Melinda Doolittle declared "I’m A Woman" and she really is a sweet woman. Not her best, vocally.. but surely one of her best performically (D'oh, I'm making up words :p). She really entertained me as a performer. She started to have a plus compared to Lakisha for me. And watching her expression while singing and while facing the judges is a fun thing too :D

Result: Antonella and Sabrina out. No wonder about Antonella. Sad for Sabrina. But if I had to remove one singer out of the five-similar-style-singers (Lakisha, Melinda, Stephanie, Jordin, Sabrina), I would indeed pick Sabrina.

And for the top 16 AI show, I watched it at a friend's house. I was having a sleep over at a Toghie's house because B'Re came from Bekasi and Fery would be leaving for Jakarta soon. So, we gathered at Toghie's house. It's fun to watched AI with friends :D You could always make fun of a contestant together or have a fight(read: argumentation) over contestants' performance :D

Bapak "Panduan" Suara Indonesia

Di berita detik berjudul Benyamin Sueb Segera Raih Piala Metronom disebutkan nama-nama peraih penghargaan dari PAPRI (Persatuan Artis Penyanyi, Pencipta Lagu, dan Penata Musik Rekaman Indonesia):
Peraih piala metronom 2007:

Violis Legendaris - Idris Sardi
Musisi Betawi Legendaris - Benyamin Sueb (alm)
Pemandu Bakat Musik Legendaris - Deni Sabri (alm)
Bapak Panduan Suara Indonesia - N. Simanung Khalid
Pengembang Musik Tradisional Sunda - Tan Deseng
Aku heran sama penulis beritanya. Okelah, "Paduan Suara" tertulis sebagai "Panduan Suara" sangat wajar adalah kesalahan ketik. Tapi nama peraih penghargaannya: "N. Simanung Khalid" itu..
Sejak kapan saudaranya Suami Siti Nurhaliza jadi Bapak Paduan Suara Indonesia..
Sabar ya, Amangboru N. Simanungkalit. Si penulis berita mungkin ga terlalu menghargai para peraih penghargaan yang diberitakannya. Ato emang ngerjain tulisan berita itu untuk sekedar kejar tayang.

Monday, March 05, 2007

American Idol 6: Top 20

Hwaa.. I got a busy saturday last week. Hmm, reminding me of my busy singing saturday
Coming home late, around 23.35 and should be satisfied with only 2 last performances of AI guys. And I AM satisfied with Chris Richardson and Sundance Head's performances.

Chris is good with his "Geek in the pink". I'm not familiar with the song. Then Sundance, I was glad to know the reason why he could go far in the competition. Though his singing style is not my style, but he did a great job that night and seemed to be enjoying the singing.

I can only watched the other guys' performances by the quick recap at the end of the show. From the clips of their performance, Blake was performing great that night. I'm not familiar with 'beatboxing' that was attached to his profile but now I've got a bit idea of that 'thing'.

Chris Sligh seemed to be amazing too. I think the other guys was kinda good that nite. In that some-second-clip, Sanjaya sounded good, though still weak I guess (Updated: K'Rino said he's powerless and monotone the whole song). But really, I can't tell much just based on some-seconds-clip.
Joey! I'll be waiting for your collection!

Nick Pedro was announced eliminated. But his last performance was kinda good for me. Humm.. Go on with your singing career, dude.

A.J. Tabaldo! Gosh, he was announced eliminated too. He's a good one and his last performance showed that too! I've been worried about him since Ryan Seacrest mentioned judges comments on both him and Sanjaya. Expressing good comments to AJ and the opposites to Sanjaya. I was worried that 'this' would be a shocking result. And YES IT IS! Good bye AJ. And Sanjaya, since you're also shocked about that result, you better sing well on the next round. No, not well. You ought to be GREAT!

The girls show!
They're all still great, I'm happy.

Gina Glocksen with "Alone" was good. Not great for me because she was kinda unstable on her notes. Kinda *goyang-goyang* shaky.

Alaina Alexander was not good. I could see that she's trying. Her stage act was like pushing herself too hard on making it look great. But it didn't. I guessed she's going home. And yes, she did leave the competition.

Lakisha Jones, with "Midnight Train to Georgia" (Hey, you're right when saying that there are many repeated songs in AI). I like her performances. She sounded good, yeah no doubt. But what I like is that she showed another side of her. Her first performance that I saw (top 24), she looked like 'mamak-mamak' with an introverted looks, with song "And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going", she was very 'dark' for me (I'm not talking about her skin). But that night she showed the fun side of her. I liked it, though Simon didn't.

Ahh, Melinda Doolittle. She's great that night And I noticed that she had a unique pose in her singing. When hitting high long notes, she would do that 'kuda-kuda', lowering her body, with one foot in front, the other supporting her body that declined backwards (I don't know whether I described it good enough or not Go watch it by yourself).

Antonella Barba, with "Because You Loved Me". I liked her singing the first two lines. The rest was ooh-please... Ohh, let's talk about the highest note. I'm talking about the part:"Because of Youuuuuuu..." (Hoping that you guys got my point). She hit it pretty surprisingly good.

Jordin Sparks sang "Reflection", my favourite Disney's song. I got Christina Aguilera, Coco Lee, and Lea Salonga's version of the song. Umm, kinda ordinary for me. Nothing's really special, apart from the last part of the song. Jordin's good, but that night I noted that she's breathy when singing low notes.

Yayy! Stephanie Edwards!! You sang "Dangerously In Love" and I'm dangerously in love with you right now :x I'm not agree with Randy. Beyonce's song is not easy and Stephanie sang it greatly. The earlier part showed that Stephanie could sing it as good as Beyonce and the last part showed that she could sing the song in her own way, an amazing way. She dressed smartly also Many people root for Lakisha and Melinda. I like them too, but Sthepanie is my favourite! I hope America will keep her around based on her performance.

Leslie Hunt sang "Feeling Good". At this point I started to like her and her thick voice. But she's then eliminated.

For me Haley Scarnato had a good performance that nite. At least much better than last week. I think she sang "Queen of The Night" well. I don't know how Whitney sings it(as the judges comparing her performance to Whitney's as not good enough) but for me Haley did good.

Sabrina Sloan and her "All The Man That I Need" was also a good performance. Her voice sounded thicker than before. She could also hit a high note with good technique. Though the last long note that she sang was not produced well. Maybe she's tired or too tensed after the previous highest note.

I hope they sing even better on next show.