When six idols from six different countries gather together, giving their best to earn the Asian Idol crown, you knew it from the start that this is going to be a nice treat.

If we traced back to 2003, a similar competition called World Idol was held. Eleven idols compete against each other and Kurt Nilsen from Norway managed to beat all competitions, although I would prefer either Kelly Clarkson or Will Young.

For the Asian Idol, the format for voting procedure is reasonably fair. 50% of the result will be determined through viewers’ votes and the other 50% will be based on the judges’ marks. In conclusion, this is a good way to meet the requirement of an Idol. An Idol should be commercially and critically accepted. I do not have any problem with the commercial side, though I feel that critically, the judges invited do not exceed my satisfaction. First of all, as shown on the television, I sense a lot of biasity. Not only that I doubt their decisions, but their commentaries of the performances were lousy, indeed. Apart from Paul Moss and Pilita Corrales, the other judges were like stating random opinions of which made me start to think, “Well, then what made your opinions more valid than mine? If you are going to say something, then made sure you are going to say something worth listened to, not just whether you like the performance or not. For God’s sake, you are even supposed to contribute constructive inputs. Definitely not to comment on the Indian Idol’s smiles.” Anu Malik and Indra Lesmana were mediocre and Siu Black was a poor excuse of a judge. And there is always a different side of the judge. Ken Lim was totally pretentious. He tried too hard to rip-off Simon Cowell and failed miserably. Simon Cowell is always interesting and honest while Ken Lim is a pain in the ass to watch. He criticized everyone negatively by giving out ridiculous comments. Come on, Jaclyn Victor was too technical and did not seem relaxed enough when performing? You got to be kidding me!

As the host country of the first Asian Idol, Indonesia is certainly benefited from this condition. It is time to expose Indonesian talents, right? Let us take a look at the show presenters. The show was hosted by Amelia Natasha and Daniel Mananta (both from Indonesia) and Soo Kui Jien (from Malaysia). I like Amelia Natasha and Soo Kui Jien, but that Daniel Mananta (who is also a VJ on MTV Indonesia) is downright annoying and act like he is cool while he is not. I have never liked him, anyway. The idea of replacing Irgi Ahmad Fahrezi (the original male presenter of Indonesian Idol first and second season) with Daniel Mananta was a complete mess. Ever since, I never really watched Indonesian Idol anymore.

Now move onto the choir and orchestration. They were professional, indeed. But I find them quite formulaic and lacking in resonance. From time to time, their presence seems like those cheesy MIDIs backing up the Idols singing karaoke. Come on, this is supposed to be a live performance, not just a professional but cold karaoke show.

So how about the stage itself? One word: spectacular. This is how an international-quality stage should look like. And like usual, it keeps the trademarked blue-coloured stage and lightning.

Onto the contestants. I am going to review them one by one, in a descending order of my personal preference.

Sixth position - Hady Mirza (Singapore Idol)
He gave two of my least favourite performances of the night. When he first came out singing “Berserah”, he was able to hold it properly. But the problem with his performance was that, despite he sang the song with sincerity, it was lacking in resonance and his voice is nothing special. And well, where is the charisma of an Idol, Hady? During his performance, I kept thinking, “Geez, am I watching an Asian Idol or am I watching the elimination stage of Singapore Idol?” Sure, the performance was okay. But this is Asian Idol and I was expecting for something fantastic. I was expecting for some of the best Asian singers, not some random Asian singers. Then came his second performance entitled “Beautiful Day”, of which was supposed to be edgy and rocking. But then, where was the energy? Hady really left out the essence of “Beautiful Day”. And though he tried to perform by carrying the standing microphone, it looked really spontaneous and fillerish. Well, at least it was good for him that he is blessed with such a face.

Fifth position - Abhijeet Sawant (Indian Idol)
Still suffering from the same problem with Hady Mirza, but at least Abhijeet knew how to match the right singing style and the right stage movements for the songs. His first song, “Everything I Do (I Do It For You)”, was a wrong choice of a song, though. If you want to capture people’s attention, choose a song that will make you looked standout from the rest of your competitors. This song is just so standard and cliche. There is no way you can have your vocal shines on this song. But I do like his cute accent when he sang it, though. His second performance was “Junoon”, a house music equivalent to his native country’s language. Sure, he knew how to hold people’s interest through gimmicky stage acts, but that was it. There was nothing else to be offered from his performance of this song.

Fourth position - Phương Vy (Vietnam Idol)
I actually felt sorry for her. She was instantly marked as the commercial singer ever since Ken Lim made an offensive remark on her. Geez, I manage to realize that Phương Vy is actually more than just an entertainer. She does have quality voice and charismatic stage performance. Now listen to her rendition of “River Deep - Mountain High” and tell me that her voice is not soulful. Her second performance, though, was quite disappointing. There she performed “Lúc Mới Yêu”, a song about a girl who is falling in love for the first time in her life. I felt the sweetness and the sincerity of the song, but it just failed to take me anywhere. Was it because the song was too repetitive or was it because she sang it in a way too saccharine? Either way, she picked the wrong song. Ironically, her best performance of the night was the rendition of “I Will Survive” together with Mau Marcelo at the end of the show. She sounded and looked like the Christina Aguilera of the East, really voicy and intriguing, but that performance would not be converted into scores. Too bad.

Third position - Mau Marcelo (Philippine Idol)
This is where it starts to get tough. Even though her first performance of the night, “Ako ang Nasawi, Ako ang Nagwagi”, cut a bit too far from my liking due to cultural differences and tastes, I would not deny that there was some really quality singing there. I have one problem, though. Mau Marcelo seemed a little too ambitious. The performance of “Ako ang Nasawi, Ako ang Nagwagi”, as good as it is, was a little overdone (both vocal-wise and performance-wise). It was when she came out for the second time with “Reach”, though, that I was stunned. She sang it flawlessly without seeming to overdoes it. This performance alone is worth for her getting pigeonholed into the category of vocal divas.

Second position - Mike Mohede (Indonesian Idol)
Mau is already great enough, but it takes someone like Mike Mohede to secure longetivity and international success. Be it for his down-to-earth persona or for his soothing vocalization, Mike Mohede is universally favourable. His performance of “Mengejar Matahari” was grandiose and intense. Though, at times, he pushed his vocal too much. But still, the performance was a top quality performance. His second performance “I Believe I Can Fly” was not as intense, but I would be telling a lie if I say that his rendition of “I Believe I Can Fly” is nothing great. There is some really quality singing there and you better admit that you like his soothing vocal.

First position - Jaclyn Victor (Malaysian Idol)
Out of all the contestants, Jaclyn Victor has a complete packaging. From the very first beginning when she opened the show with “For Once In My Life”, I knew that Jaclyn is not just an ordinary singer. She even set out a very high standard for other Idols to compete with, I thought that the competition was going to be filled with amazing singers since the first performance of the show itself was already that fantastic. Not only that Jaclyn is blessed with such a voicy vocal and able to handle it technically flawless, but she could also entertain us as a performer. The choreography, though simple, was very entertaining. And it was interesting to see her toying with her voice. She is ready for international career, indeed. Her next performance, “Gemilang”, was yet another magnificent delicacy. It really showcased her vocal. She is well-packaged already. Great voice, great stage act, great song selection, everything else was great. All she needed is to be internationalized. Now if only she was more fashionable with the clothes and make-up selection, she would be very successful.

Here is how I am gonna rank and rate the performances:

01. Jaclyn Victor - “For Once In My Life”
(Rating: 10/10 - OUTSTANDING)

02. Mau Marcelo - “Reach”
(Rating: 9.5/10 - TOP QUALITY)

03. Jaclyn Victor - “Gemilang”
(Rating: 9.5/10 - TOP QUALITY)

04. Mike Mohede - “Mengejar Matahari”
(Rating: 9/10 - TOP QUALITY)

05. Phương Vy - “River Deep - Mountain High”
(Rating: 8.5/10 - ENTERTAINING)

06. Mau Marcelo - “Ako Ang Nasawi, Ako Ang Nagwagi”
(Rating: 8/10 - ENTERTAINING)

07. Mike Mohede - “I Believe I Can Fly”
(Rating: 8/10 - ENTERTAINING)

08. Phương Vy - “Lúc Mới Yêu”
(Rating: 7.5/10 - MEDIOCRE)

09. Abhijeet Sawant - “Everything I Do (I Do It For You)”
(Rating: 6/10 - UNEXCEEDING EXPECTATION)

10. Abhijeet Sawant - “Junoon”
(Rating: 6/10 - UNEXCEEDING EXPECTATION)

11. Hady Mirza - “Berserah”
(Rating: 6/10 - UNEXCEEDING EXPECTATION)

12. Hady Mirza - “Beautiful Day”
(Rating: 5/10 - MISFIRED)

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