Britney Spears / March 11, 2009/ Long Island, NY/ Nassau Coliseum
M. Tye Comer, N.Y.

Britney Spears must make other pop stars angry.

Beyonce, Pink, Justin … none of them would dare use pre-recorded vocals during their live shows, despite the complex choreography of their performances. Madonna and Janet are guilty of using backing tracks to carry some of vocal weight, but certainly not all of it. Hell, even the Pussycat Dolls sing live.

But Britney? She is, and always has been, about blatant, unapologetic lip-syncing. Case in point: at the New York stop of her anticipated comeback tour, Spears used her actual vocal chords only three times – twice to thank the crowd, and once to sing a ballad (though the vocals during that number were questionable, as well). Even the spoken bits in the songs came from a DAT. Somewhere, Ashlee Simpson has a dartboard with Brit's face square in the bull's-eye.

Of course, none of this bothered the 16,000 fans that turned up to cheer the resurrected icon at Nassau Coliseum Wednesday night. Britney merely paid lip service to her songs, but the audience members screamed the words to every hit at the top of their collective lungs – even if it was obvious they were the only ones really singing.

Why does Britney get a pass when so many other pop stars keep it real? Has her audience become more forgiving after watching their heroine publicly wrestle with her personal demons over the last few years? Perhaps, but sympathy alone doesn't fill arenas to the rafters.

The truth is that vocal prowess has never been the fuel that powers the Britney Machine. Singing simply isn't the point. Spears is an entertainer; a put-on-a-show kind of girl. And despite what happens behind the curtain, Britney's Circus tour is indeed quite a show.

Focusing largely on material from her last three albums, Spears' first outing in five years is a dazzling, racy, in-the-round spectacle that's a little Cirque de Soliel, a little Skinemax, but all Britney at its core. Designed to play up her biggest strengths (i.e. her well-honed dance skills) and distract from her shortcomings, the highly choreographed show features an over-the-top array of acrobats, magicians, clowns, and no less 12 dancers on stage at any given time. The scale of the concert is so massive, in fact, it at times threatens to eclipse its star. Still, despite all of the smoke and mirrors, the most alluring aspect of the show remains Britney herself.

Looking more lively (and more fit) than she has in half a decade, Spears donned 12 different costumes as she shimmed and shook her way through a 17-song set that featured some of her biggest hits, including "Piece of Me," "Toxic," "Womanizer," and funky new remixes of "Slave 4 U" and "…Baby One More Time."

After years of studying the playbooks of Madonna and Janet Jackson, Britney has learned a thing or two about showmanship. When not strutting her scantily-clad stuff from one end of the arena to the other, Spears had plenty of other tantalizing ways to keep the crowd captivated. One minute, she was being sawed in half. The next, she was a straddling dancer suspended 20 feet in the air. If she wasn't writhing around in a gilded cage, she was giving a center-stage lap dance to one very lucky audience member.

But entertainment wasn't Britney's only goal. More than anything, she wants this tour to prove to the world that she's stronger than yesterday, and that she's back in control of her own circus. Her assortment of authoritative costumes (Sexy Ringleader! Sexy drill sergeant! Sexy policewoman!) helped to drive the point home, but the biggest evidence of Spears' rebirth was simply the confidence and vigor behind her performance. For the first time in ages, she actually worked for the applause – and, like the Britney we once knew, she seemed to have a great time doing it.

Thanks to her infectious enthusiasm, Spears managed to pull off the biggest magic trick of all – she erased the image of the sad, wayward diva that has been plastered across the tabloids for the last few years. And for many fans, that alone was cause for ovation.

1:53 AM
sadikin

- Saturday, March 14, 2009

if. you. seek. amy.

Kelly's Court (America's Newsroom)
- If You Seek Amy: Profane?

okay, though i must admit that she does (somewhat) have a point there, Megyn Kelly has got to stop repeating it over and over again, and forcing it into her interviewers and the viewers. SO annoying omg. but seriously, it's an unfortunate state of today's popular culture, with sexism and obscenity ever present in the mass media. still, she's only attacking one of the many, possibly millions, of "profane" and "offensive" content exposed to the public.

regardless, the official video has finally been released:

Britney Spears - If You Seek Amy

haha, commendable effort at careful pronunciation of each and every one of those four words there anchorwoman! xD



anyway, in other news, my dear genius of a brother is featured on Berita Harian today to promote the OCBC scholarship:

Singapura : 14 Mac 2009

BIASISWA BEBAS BON DALAM GENGGAMAN
Oleh Norhaiza Hashim

SELEPAS mendapat keputusan peperiksaan Sijil Am Pelajaran (GCE) peringkat 'A' yang cemerlang tahun lalu, Muhammad Iskhandar Muhamad Jailani sibuk mencari biasiswa sesuai bagi membiayai pengajiannya di universiti untuk meringankan beban kewangan keluarganya.

Bekas pelajar Maktab Rendah Raffles itu terbaca mengenai biasiswa bebas bon yang ditawarkan oleh bank setempat, OCBC, dan begitu tertarik untuk memohon mendapatkannya.

Setelah melalui proses pemilihan, termasuk temu duga dengan para pegawai kanan OCBC, Iskhandar berjaya mendapat biasiswa bernilai $9,000 setahun atau $36,000 untuk empat tahun bagi membiayai pengajiannya dengan sepenuhnya selama empat tahun di Universiti Nasional Singapura (NUS) dalam bidang Kejuruteraan Kimia.

'Oleh kerana ia bebas bon, ia memberi kelonggaran kepada pelajar seperti saya untuk memilih kerjaya yang sesuai selepas saya lulus dari universiti kelak. Saya amat terbuka untuk bekerja dalam bidang kejuruteraan ataupun di dalam bank,' kata Iskhandar, 21 tahun, anak kedua empat beradik. Bapanya seorang pegawai keselamatan dan ibunya seorang suri rumah tangga.

Ketua Perancangan Sumber Manusia (HR) dan Komunikasi Kakitangan OCBC, Cik Jacinta Low, berkata: 'Memahami bahawa para belia kini mempunyai aspirasi selepas lulus dari universiti, biasiswa kami ditawarkan tanpa syarat yang terikat agar mereka dapat mengikuti pengajian di universiti yang mereka inginkan. Dengan memberikan bon bebas, ia bermakna para penerima biasiswa kami tidak perlu terikat memenuhi bon mereka dengan kami.'

Sebaliknya, OCBC memberikan latihan sambil belajar agar para penerima biasiswa dapat merasai kerjaya di OCBC.

Seperti Iskhandar, walaupun beliau mengikuti pengajian kejuruteraan kimia, beliau amat terbuka untuk bekerja di OCBC selepas lulus kelak.

Menurut OCBC, bakal penerima biasiswa akan dipilih berdasarkan beberapa kriteria termasuk rekod akademik dan kegiatan luar darjah.

Iskhandar mendapat keputusan cemerlang iaitu empat A bagi mata pelajaran Kimia, Fizik, Biologi dan Matematik serta B3 bagi Kertas Am peperiksaan GCE peringkat 'A'. Beliau juga aktif dalam kegiatan luar darjah - menjadi bendahari Persatuan Biologi dan anggota Badminton Rekreasi.

Tahun lalu, OCBC memberikan 34 biasiswa bebas bon di peringkat sejagat.

Biasiswa bebas bon itu kini dibuka untuk para pelajar yang baru lulus peperiksaan GCE peringkat 'A' yang keputusannya diumumkan baru-baru ini. Bagi sesiapa yang berminat memohon biasiswa bebas bon itu tahun ini, sila lungsuri laman web www.ocbc.com.

GAH, genius siblings bring so much pressure and expectations to live up to. oh brother (oh bother!), why must you be so smart! =X

but ohwell, we're all so proud of you! (((:

1:33 PM
sadikin

-

(yesterday was) friday the 13th

as with every first day of the hols, today felt really un-typical. even more so since it's not the weekend as most hols usually begin with. it strangely felt like a sunday. but haha, albeit with friday prayers. =D and as with all sunday mornings, it was wasted away just like that. -.-" ohwell.

oh, i had quite an interesting dream last night. to cut to the chase, in the dream, i basically saw my dearest maternal grandma, who passed on close to three years back, sitting in the living room. she was simply seated looking forward and doing nothing much. but the second i turned away, she was gone.

well, when i thought back about the dream, it struck me that perhaps, it was really my grandma's soul, especially since she didn't say anything. else, like traditional/religious beliefs have it, it's probably a devil/evil spirit. and my mum furthered my suspicions by informing me that it was malam jumaat, when all unexplainable things dealing with the other realm tend to happen. so i guess it could indeed have been my grandma's soul visiting her beloved family members.

okay, my point is that i miss her. and yes, as they always say, you only learn to cherish things (and persons) when they are gone. =/ humans are such complex beings ohmy.



anyway, yesterday was day out with angie and hazel! (:

hazel and angie! (:

well, we had initially planned to watch He's Just Not That Into You at Vivocity before going to the chorale concert. but myohmy, everyone was just too free on a friday afternoon such that half an hour before the 3.30pm show, tickets were selling fast and only individual seats were left. =/ so, no luck there. hazel and i were kinda disappointed ah, but angie wasn't too affected. and there weren't any other nice movies to catch, other than Departures (the Oscar winner for Best Foreign Film) which was also selling fast. so again, no luck there. =/

and so, being such lost and aimless souls, we decided that we shall just simply walk around the (rather) mega huge Vivocity. firstly, we drowned in our misery at Ben&Jerry's, followed by mindless window shopping wherever our legs could bring us. and ohmy, how we lose track of time oh-so-easily when we're with awesome company. the only time i took a glance at my watch, it was already 6.15pm.

so we hurried to get flowers, and took 93 which was a 45minute journey or so to RI(JC). hence, we were late by 5 minutes. and yes, we didn't even watch a movie. -.-"

oh, and Vocal Expoits didn't disappoint as usual! =D well done Raffles Chorale!

us with chunling! =D
(a blurry and grainy photo though!)

in front of the econs noticeboard! xD

and we finally had our dinner at Coffee Bean after that, haha! xD where we all had hazelnut ice blended. oh the pun!

alright, it was a good day. and like what hazel said, i really didn't want it to end cos it meant that the mugfest HAS to begin.

oh dear! =/

2:27 AM
sadikin

- Thursday, March 12, 2009

cos this space could really do with an update

haha, like finally right! xD

well, today's officially the last day of term 1, since tmr's a school holiday in view of the outstanding A-levels results by the class of 2008. (if you haven't already known, read about it here) ohya, WELL DONE CLASS OF 2008! (:

if i were a J1, i'd totally be rejoicing and all that jazz cos after all, it is the HOLIDAYS. but unfortunately, reality's a bitch and being in J2 means that your march hols is effectively meant as a self-study week for the looming Common Test right after the so-called hols. so yeah, tough luck for us! =/

which brings me to another major point - COMMON TEST IS IN 10 DAYS!

okay, time to panic everybody!!!! =X

BUT actually, not yet lah, right. there's still like, TEN days. still got time ah, no worries! (and i wonder how i'm ever gonna get my straight As...)

[ okay, this is such an incoherent post. -.-" ]

and yes, as i've mentioned time and again, really, how time flies. i can still remember my secondary three and four years rather vividly, and how then, i had thought that A-levels and NS were a good three/four years away. and now, it's only a matter of months! =O

but, life still goes on...



anyway, as you can see below, the term rounded off pretty awesomely for the House.

BUCKLE-BUCKLEY
IHC AESTHETICS 2009 CHAMPIONS

the trophy's ours to keep for now =D

oh, and of course, not forgetting - BB Drama Fest - Blame it on the Moon! BEST SCRIPT WORXXX HANNAH AND YAO GUANG. xD

well done directors/scriptwriters/cast/crew! (((: we are just too awesome! xP

Blame it on the Moon Production Team =D

at 1.17am outside Serangoon Gardens Macs

actually, i've got more photos that i've been wanting to post, but never did get round to doing so. i'll save it for another time when i'm less lazy lah, i guess.

okay, that's it for now.



oh, and seriously, Rihanna should heed the wise words of big ol' Oprah Winfrey. what's up with that girl! o.O

oh, and attention all FB users - SPF has a Facebook page yo!


you may want to become a fan? haha, whoa, the government is really making use of technology to get to the people. interesting.

alright, nights! (:

10:21 PM
sadikin