TV: American Idol Top 8 Performance Recap - First After a Long While

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by:Louie Ross Perez

I have not written in a while and it's a pleasure to be back and write about the performances in American Idol. I've been wanting to be a judge and kick out Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson out of their chairs. I'm not a singer nor a musician but I like watching singing competitions and listening to music as a whole.

The following are my feedback for the performances tonight of the Top 8:

Deandre Brackensick - Deandre started low and starting a promise of natural singing, and I thought that's a great idea because I'm getting sick of the falsettos. But after a few seconds he went back to his old habit then low key then falsetto again. I hope Deandre will stop doing that and concentrate on real singing. I have to to admit that this was a better performance from him than the other weeks and I understand the judges praising his performance but they tend to exaggerate things and I hate it. 2 stars for me

Elise Testone - I love her voice and I think she has the best voice in the competition but tonight when singing "I Wanna Know What Love Is" by Foreigner, I think she was lost in a street she's never been to. Steven said it's was good but the song choice wasn't great and J.Lo who sugarcoats everytime said it was good but not right in some spots. This time, I have to agree with Randy, Elise was pitchy. But she still nailed Adele's One and Only and she was the best last week so please give her a chance.I don't want her to go this week, but I think she'll be in danger. 2.5 stars

Philip Phillips - I think this guy will break hearts of some hopefuls that a girl will win this season. Philips is wearing his staple pale colored shirt and a polo and of course he brought his guitar, what's different now is he's playing with his brother.  He sang "That's All" by Genesis. What can I say, he plays and sings with his heart and you would really feel the music. I'll say that I'm surprised he obeyed his mentor's advise to stop playing the guitar when it comes to the bridge of the song and make some eye contact to the audience and it worked. I felt like he connected more with the audience. Of course the judges loved him, and this was the first good performance of the night. 3.5 stars



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 Joshua Ledet - He's really a great singer. I love how he performs with a whole lotta soul. I love his performance, so much passion and technique. The judges loved him but why am I getting this feeling it will be hard for him to win. Maybe it's how the America voted for the last few seasons. I hope they vote better this time so Joshua can score a spot in the final. Because he deserves it. 4.5 stars

Jessica Sanchez - she has shown that she got the voice, she got the swag, she got the moves. But one think she has to show...originality. No doubt she has performed every song really great technically. It's just that she's not putting her own twist to it. "How Will I Know" was sang by Whitney Houston the same as "I Will Always Love You' and Jessica sang it the way Whitney sang them. Come on, give us something new. But if I will evaluate the performance, singing after Joshua, my rating is 3.5 stars. Watch her performance below from youtube.

Hollie Cavanagh - Poor Hollie. Although she was being praised by the judges because of her big voice, but everytime I watch her I feel like she is so rehearsed. There's no feeling within the song. It's like she's thinking the next note instead of the next word, if you know what I mean. Tonight, it's awkwardess all over the place. She's like a toddler being forced by her mother to perform "Flashdance" in the talent portion of a beauty pageant at her school. 2 stars

Colton Dixon - Mr. Skinny Jeans sang "Time After Time" by Cindy Lauper. Although I didn't really like the version just the way the judges overrated it, but this is what Jessica should do next time. Change the arrangement and make it her own. Eventhough it's a bit whiny, it's still a decent job. Making him look current and saleable. And why am I getting this feeling that Ryan is flirting with Colton? Just saying. 3 stars

Skylar Laine - While I was writing this, my brother is beside me and commenting that Skylar's voice is irrirating. I agree with him sometimes, but I think that's what makes her interesting, her voice.  And performing Bette Midler's "Wind Beneath My Wings" is kinda refreshing to me. She showed that she's not just a country singer, but she has power vocals too. 3 stars

Also they performed duets tonight. Here are my thoughts:

 Colton and Skylar - not bad. But I think there's no chemistry between the two of them. They should not be paired next time. But the singing is not bad. Good cover of a Kenny Rogers' song.

Hollie and Deandre - just awful. I hope Deandre will go home. I don't want to see his hair moving anymore. I 'm tired of it. Hollie is making some awkward dance moves. It's like you're watching your two friends, singing in a karaoke,  getting rid of some hangover from a Red Horse night out. Just awful.

Elise and Philips - Elise gained herself back in this duet. I hope that voters will reconsider her after this performance. I heard that Philips is having some health problems lately and it's kinda showing in his performances. The duet was great and I think it made the night more special

Joshua and Jessica - J. Lo said it's a dream pair and she was right. The two belted the song out and it was great. The two are undeniable the best singers in the competition and I think they will get pretty far in this season.

That's it for now. My bottom three is Deandre, Hollie and either Elise or Colton. As much I would like Deandre to go home but because J.Lo is building him up so much, I think it's Hollie. Not Elise, please.

MOVIE:Praybeyt Benjamin - Too Lazy To Fight!

by Louie Ross Perez

WARNING: If you're a Vice Ganda fan and can't accept criticisms, please don't read this.

This is the kind of film wherein the producers, director and the actors have just one purpose in mind, earn money, never mind the quality! I don't know how much time they spent in writing the script, but my friends can write better. Production value is so poor and really, the film is a mess. If not for Vice Ganda, the film is unwatchable.

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Benjamin Santos VIII (Vice Ganda) carries a burden with his men. The Benjamins of the Santos clan traditionally grow up to be soldiers, fighting in whatever great conflict is occupying the country. This tradition ended with his father (Jimmy Santos), who followed his dreams to become a scientist. Benjamin has no plans of becoming a soldier, either, but circumstances soon point him in that direction. A terrorist group takes the entire country hostage, forcing the army to enact a draft. Benjamin enlists in order to take his father’s place. He leads a small band of misfits through basic training, using his unique outlook to get ahead.

There's so much going on, there's too many unnecessary characters, I can't feel that the protagonist and his team members are in danger, and the fight scenes, the ideas were just over the top lazy! The film’s humor is similarly all over the place. The best gags are grounded in the relationships of the characters.  There's this scene wherein his family visited him for the first time at camp and they just see each other in the mirror, that was funny, not original but still funny. The film is pretty ugly, too, with messy shot continuity and plenty of out of focus shots.

Vice Ganda, is undoubtedly the key to the success of this film. Need I say more about his abilities to make people laugh. Even with a clunky material, his delivery can pretty much save the day. I've got nothing much to say to the other casts, they're just too many that no one has been given significant moments to shine, with the exception of Jimmy Santos. He still got the chops of comedy that can be very adorable.

Vice Ganda said in his interviews that he and his director were amazed on how good the movie is. When I watched it, I felt that I was fooled and betrayed. I don't know what he meant by saying his movie is good, but it certainly not a good movie, it's bad! Vice Ganda is a good comedian and should be given a better material next time.

Praybeyt Benjamin still has its moments. But it's far from "Septic Tank" and "Zombadings" when it comes to quality. I heard that this movie is now earning almost 200million and I'm sure a lot of people will still watch it. But in my opinion, the movie should not have been made in the first place. The movie is just too bad for my taste. No Part 2 please!


Rating: 1.5 stars

MOVIE REVIEW: Zombadings 1: Patayin sa Shokot si REMINGTON - It's more than just ZOMBIES!

I expected to laugh my heart out and have fun and I did and I really did, but I was surprised that this film has more into it than its very striking title. The film was brave. Tackled a sensitive topic with much sensitivity and depth.

As a young boy, Remington (Mart Escudero) would regularly make fun of gay people, yelling at them on the street, derisively calling them bakla. One day he happens to do this to a gay man (Roderick Paulate) in the cemetery and decides to place a curse on the boy. Years later, much to his horror, the curse starts taking effect. Every night, he has strange dreams of being assaulted by a demon, and he wakes up to find that he’s slowly changing into that which he hates the most. His speech and manner all change, and he’s becoming attracted to his best friend. To make things worse, there appears to be a serial killer in their town targeting gay people.

Actually the film didn't need the zombies to be great and funny. But the thought put into it is very clever. Showing us what other people think about homosexuals that it's unnatural and something to be feared. You would hear a lot of gay lingos once Remington begins his transformation. People are laughing really loud that sometimes I couldn't hear the dialogues but putting subtitles into it is genious.

Aside from the film being really funny, it tackles homosexuality with much sensitivity and depth. The scene where Remington is already willing to be gay and he finds nothing wrong about it while Hannah (Lauren Young) told him that gay people do not give up is something remarkable. Also the scene of John Regala with Remington when he already agreed to be gay for his son.

When they told me that the name of the lead star is Mart Escudero, I said "who?". I don't know him really. But after millions of Filipinos watched this movie, he will not be forgotten. He is really good. He is so convincing as Remington. You would know that he studied the character really well and executed it with so much confidence. His scene in the toilet was really funny, especially his stairway scene with his bestfriend Jigs.  In that scene I heard people screaming with kilig, diri and laughter. It was so funny I must say, He should win best actor, really.=) Watch his audition video here:

                                                              (video from you tube)

Supporting cast was pretty solid. Should I say more about Eugene Domingo and Roderick Paulate. Their roles were short but sweet. Lauren Young is simply not a good actress and I must say her role is also the downside of the movie.  Her character came from Manila but didn't even had a hint that Remington is gay even with the tight shirt and the gay lingo. Don't know Kerbie Zamora until now, but Mart and him have great chemistry. Janice de Belen and her assistant were good too.

Zombadings is a subversive film. I've never seen a Filipino film like this before. I honestly didn't like the scenes with the zombies because I don't think they're needed, but it will not demerit the film to be great. It's brave and well made. It's smart and takes on a revolutionary approach in what Filipinos think of gay people. Some people may not understand, but this film and "Ang Babae sa Septic Tank" took the indie films into another level. A must watch for movie lovers.

Rating: 4.5 stars