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Written by George of the jungle
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Wednesday, 27 February 2008 |
Closing the show with a slow and remarkable rendition of Imagine by John Lennon... the voice of this american idol contestant really rocks!
Very, very risky to do a John Lennon song, particularly that one, but it worked. There are 19 very miserable contestants sitting here tonight. Trust me. Youre the one to beat.
He has the eyes of Bambi, only darker and perhaps 11 percent more earnest. When the camera catches his broad, open, guileless grin, you can kind of understand how a mother feels the first time her baby looks up at her and smiles. And when he sings oh, that voice! grandpas (and Paula) grab their handkerchiefs and dab the corners of their eyes, remembering simpler days when ''nice boys and girls'' were the toast of the airwaves.
The judges adore him. The tweens in the audience can't stop screaming for him. And, perhaps most remarkable of all, he doesn't give off that whiff of creepiness that too often clings to youthful performers you know, the forced maturity, the soulless ambition, the ability to come up with a polished but uninteresting sound bite the minute the cameras start rolling.
In fact, as David Archuleta closed tonight's episode of American Idol with a beautiful, slowed-down rendition of ''Imagine,'' I jotted a single word on my notepad: ''Inevitable.'' And while that's an adjective I hate to use only halfway through the second week of the season 7 semifinals, it's one I cannot ignore, either. So, what the heck, let's confront it:
Is David Archuleta's season 7 Idol victory simply inevitable?
Maybe, but I sure as hell hope not!
It's not that Little David and we'll call him Little David for now to distinguish him from the other two Davids left in the competition doesn't seem like a genuinely nice kid, or that he didn't offer a unique, pitch-perfect arrangement of a John Lennon classic, or that he hasn't shown more star quality and stage presence in two weeks of performances than all the other male contestants combined.
It's just that a 13-week victory march isn't going to make for a very compelling season of my favorite television program. In other words, just because the waiter is pushing the Archuleta special with every fiber of his being doesn't mean I don't want to look at the entire menu. And let's not forget, this time last year, Idol's sixth season looked like an epic showdown between Melinda Doolittle and LaKisha Jones, and they wound up finishing third and fourth respectively.
So while it's true that none of the nine other dudes matched Little David's ''Imagine'' tonight, a few of them performed well enough to keep themselves in (distant) striking range of the adorable front-runner. Now all David Hernandez and David Cook (and maybe Jason Castro, Danny Noriega, and Michael Johns) have to do is hope that Little David's voice isn't quite finished changing (and for the worse) or that TMZ is about to reveal the kid is secretly managed by Dina Lohan.
And anyway, even if it's going to be the season of Archuleta, let's just be thankful that there's a real race heating up for the five other spots reserved for male finalists. After his uninspired and rote ''In the Midnight Hour'' kicked off last week's show, tonight we got a very special edition of How David H. Got His Soul Back which he provided by covering the night's coolest number, ''Papa Was a Rollin' Stone,'' with a vigor and intensity that managed to convert even Simon into a fan. Okay, it's true, there were a couple of rough patches, especially in David H.'s lower register, but the growling, dramatic way he ended the number was a nice (and rather grown-up) contrast to the teen-dreaminess that seems to be defining the season. If there's a workmanlike, Elliott Yamin-ish contestant in the field who might outlast some of his more buzzed-about rivals, I'd put my money on David H. Plus, bonus points to the guy for choosing funky, up-tempo numbers two weeks running.
Michael Slezak |
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Written by George of the jungle
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Tuesday, 22 January 2008 |
Academy Award nominee Heath Ledger, 28, has died of a possible drug overdose involving sleeping pills in New York, police have confirmed.
Ledger was found dead in his bed at his apartment on Broome Street, Soho, in Manhattan, by his housekeeper about 3.35pm local time, the TMZ website said.
Ledger's body has been removed from his New York apartment and wheeled into the back of a medical examiner's van.
A huge crowd of news photographers gathered outside the apartment in the Soho building lit up the scene with flashes as authorities wheeled his body on a trolley from the complex into the van.
A police spokesman told smh.com.au the cause of death was unknown, despite the presence of drugs.
"We don't have that [the cause of death] yet. The matter is still under investigation," the spokesman said.
He was pronounced dead at 3.45pm (7.45am AEDT) by a medical examiner who went to the apartment.
Naked and unconscious
Ledger was naked and unconscious, The New York Times reported.
New York police officer Martin Brown said investigators would most likely not know the cause of death until an autopsy was held on the body.
Asked if foul play had been ruled out, Officer Brown said it had not.
"That's what needs to be investigated," Brown told AAP.
"It takes a while. The medical examiner will do an autopsy and they will determine the cause of death."
Pills found
US television network NBC reported his body was found surrounded by pills.
The New York Times reported Ledger was discovered by a masseuse who arrived at his apartment for an appointment.
The masseuse was let in to the home by a housekeeper, who then knocked on the door of Ledger's bedroom, The New York Times reported.
When no one answered, the housekeeper and the masseuse opened the bedroom and found Ledger unconscious.
They shook him, but he did not respond. They immediately called the authorities.
"It's all preliminary at this stage," Officer Brown said.
"We had a call for an unconscious male at 421 Broome Street.
"At 3.26pm [New York time] we got to the scene and there was an unconscious male.
"We called EMS [ambulance] to the scene and EMS pronounced the unconscious male dead.
"Preliminarily, it is believed it is the actor Heath Ledger."
Police officers stood guard at the Soho apartment building as a crowd of photographers gathered outside.
Asked about reports of the pills in Ledger's apartment, Brown said: "I can't confirm that but I've heard the same thing."
Ledger was taking sleeping pills after completing I'm Not There, in which he played one of the many incarnations of singer Bob Dylan.
He told The New York Times in a November interview that he "stressed out a little too much'' during the Dylan film, and had trouble sleeping while portraying the Joker, whom he called a "psychopathic, mass-murdering, schizophrenic clown with zero empathy".
"Last week I probably slept an average of two hours a night," Ledger told the Times.
"I couldn't stop thinking. My body was exhausted, and my mind was still going."
He said he took two Ambien pills, which only worked for an hour, the paper said.
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Written by George of the jungle
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Thursday, 10 January 2008 |
"Virtual Reality" column of Tony Lopez
Tue, June 12, 2007 Issue of The Manila Times
Just how bad dynasties are to the economy and the country can be gleaned from the
amount of taxpayers' money these people have access to.
Take the Senate. There will be siblings - Pia and Alan Cayetano. In addition,Alan's
wife, Laarni, took his old congressional seat from Taguig. There will probably be a
father-and-son senator - Nene Pimentel and Koko Pimentel. The No.2 most popular
senator, Chiz Escudero, has his father, Sonny, as congressman from Sorsogon,
his son's old turf. Ed Angara is senator; his son and namesake is a congressman.
A senator draws P200 million in pork barrel; a congressman, P70 million. Therefore,
Pia, Alan and Laarni will rake in P470 million a year, or P1.4 billion in three years.
Nene and Koko will have P400 million between themselves yearly, or P1.3 billion in
three years. Chiz and Sonny will enjoy P270 million per year, or P810 million in three
years, just like the Angara father-and-son tandem.
How much does the average poor make a day? A third of the 85 million population,
or 25.5 million of the people of this country make less than $1 a day, or P365
(or P17,155) a year.
According to Ping Lacson, the P200-million pork barrel of a senator is just a starting
figure. If a senator sponsors a Cabinet department during the budget hearings and
sessions, he/she is given access to P350 million in the line budget of that department.
So P200 million plus P350 million, that's P550 million.
What do the Filipino people get in return for electing these people? Very little, if any.
In the last 100 years since Filipinos began electing their representatives, the Philippines
degenerated from being the No. 1 economy, trading and commercial power in Asia to
No. 73 least compe-titive country in the world. Today,the Philippines is less free than
it was a century ago. Did you know that the Philippines used to be Asia 's industrial power?
As late as the 19th century, the Philippines was already one of Asia 's premier industrialized
countries and was the center of culture and education. The country was producing iron-ore
sheets, refined iron ore, liquor from molasses using then unheard-of boilers, fine textiles
for export, and was using steam engines and steamships. It established the first bank in
Asia , made the first typhoon forecast in Asia , and set up the first European-style
universities in Asia .
Manila had a street car system, just like San Francisco ; and had a ferrocarril line from the
city to Dagupan in the north and from Manila to Batangas and Bicol in the south. By 1895,
Manila had an electric light system. The first taxi fleet, the first airline, the first modern
newspapers, the first conglomerate were established by Filipino tycoons. What happened
after that?
During the last 100 years, Japan became a military power and the world's No. 2 economic
power next to the United States.
During the last 50 years, Taiwan , South Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore became economic
miracles. Taiwan , Malaysia and Singapore became nation states (they used to be unknown
islands while Filipinos were already conducting diplomatic relations with Europe and China ).
In fact, at one time, the Sultan of Sulu was a frequent visitor in China because he liked it
there. He stayed there for three months, but died of syphilis. The Chinese erected a
monument in his honor.
In the last 30 years, the Philippines became the slowest growing economy per capita in Asia,
bar none. During that time, Congress produced 15,000 laws and law schools 30,000 lawyers,
half of whom are active. So two lawyers for every one law. Yet, the Philippines has a very
poor human rights and economic rights record.
We got our priorities wrong. We gave the people the power to vote even before the people
and those they elect learned how to govern properly, or at the very least, prepare or educate
themselves to have a modicum of competency and honesty.
These days, people kill people just to be able to serve the people. People bribe people just
to be able to serve the people. That is the meaning of a heated electoral contest. And of
fraudulent elections.
Should our politicians be blamed for the nadir we have fallen into? I will say No if those
families mentioned in the first part of this column will return their pork barrel and declare,
"from now on, I will truly serve the people." C'mon, give the money to the 12-million school-
age children who are out of school because of extreme poverty. You don't deserve so much
money.
You didn't earn it.
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