-Eddie Stephens
Paramount, CA, USA

Nothing I’ve seen thus far on Philippine Idol is worthy of international accolades. There is nothing uniquely Filipino about these singers. If Pilita want’s someone to represent the Philippines internationally she has to look for someone like Mariza or Cesaria or Fairuz from Lebanon. Which of course is completely the type she is not looking for.

I like it when she says things like, “I like him because he’s different.” When the contestant she is talking about is completely ordinary. Like that young guy who sung “Anak” but then later dropped out the race because his parents wanted him to stay in school. There was nothing different about him. He sang well and was handsome. This is different??? The transvestite from Cebu sang very well and yes she was different in a sense but she sang American pop tunes in the style of American r&b singers. This is not different.

I’m annoyed.

First, the PI judge MUST be first and foremost a criteria of an IDOL … hmmm… How can you tell the other to be an idol in “TOTAL PACKAGE” if you yourselves are not?

Btw, I was in Singapore for almost 3 months and I watched their SG idol version. We Filipino, agreed that SG idols are very far compare to our RP idols. We have a very good talents compared to them and this made support the PI idol show. Unfortunately, ABC-5 has less marketing arms in promoting the show compares to ABS-CBN.=(

The mere fact that you deem pilita’s flirting as inappropriate for a woman of her age is discriminatory. Discrimination is when you IMPOSE what is your definition of appropriate or acceptable to a group of people. Your statement can be taken as that women of a certain age should not openly flirt. So what should women of a certain age do? Knit? See? You have expectations from a certain sector of people; it is like you expect homosexuals to be a collective of screaming faggots waving shears and curlers. You mentioned how society frown upon a woman hitting on a man one third of her age….you see? there’s societal pressure to conform to a certain prescribed role. This is the basic ingredient of discrimination, kiddo.

About the “fat issue,” it is you who said that Gladys and Aretha “(started out thin, but being fat didn’t affect the career)”….there you go! They started out as svelte in ridiculously tight costumes, but their talent eventually shone all the way and by that time, the audience didn’t care (MUCH) that they became like spokespersons for the goodyear blimp. Roberta flack is talented, no doubt, but the abovementioned artists are singers who made it big BEFORE the massive popularity and machinery of music vidoes. It was their voices that captured fanfare.

How fickle are the viewing audience? Perfect example is Cristopher Cross. He sang the popular Arthur’s theme (Best that you can do) and he just dropped out of the radar at the early 980s. Why is this so? when MTV surged and the music fans saw how FAT he was, his music somehow did not become popular. He was seen in a televised performance and he is not exaclty Ricky Martin. He is not sexy ergo not cool. This is even acknowledged by MTV as a downside of music videos.

Furthermore, Why do they deify Elvis when he was thin and mollify him when he was fat? PLEASE!!!!!

Rubben Studdard? He’s a superstar? He’s JUST a winner of American Idol, which Clay Aiken eventually trumped in album sales. Camryn MAnehim IS NOT a superstar. She has the usual coterie of supporting roles as the fat nerd to the nurturing understanding but strong FAT (insert lawyer, sister, aunt roles here) basically, she is NOT the one who gets top-billing.

Oprah? Please! that woman has made billions of dollars talking about weight and made losing weight an industry and gym and yoga gurus and nutritonists (people dealing with weight loss) celebrities…. Kirstie Alley made a comeback in a sitcom “Fat actress” and has antics of her LOSING WEIGHT. She recently went on Oprah to show Oprah that she is thinner now and can wear a two-piece bikini. Not really supportive of fat people is it?

Ike Lozada is not a star. Ruby rodriguez in a non-entity. Give me a list of fat local singers who made it big (Big like Regine or Ogie type of big) AND say that they do not care how they look. Arnold clavio is a media personality and does not rely on album sales or concerts to make him earn. I won’t even dignify Kris Aquino, she made the act of scandal a career move.

Please, I have been fat all my life and I know that fat people have it rough. Of course I do not really believe that “thin is better” but I always stand by what I know is that perception is everything.