Me and My Television Idols

It's true that I idolize some of these singers at their time in these reality singing competitions. I still enjoy listening to them until now even the competition has ended for a long time. Here's my super talented girls:

Diamond White from X Factor USA 2012

Angie Miller from American Idol 2013

Khaya Cohen from X Factor USA 2013

It's really a pleasure to support them from the beginning. Though none of them ended up as the winner, they surely do have the star quality. I called them 'the rising stars'. They have their own style of singing and a 

My highlights from their performances are listed below in order:

15. Diamond White's "I Have Nothing"

 

The first challenge of boot camp is to ... SING A SONG in front of each other. Diamond White is up first, with Whitney Houston’s “I Have Nothing,” a song that is kind of a drag and is also way too old for her. But she sings the shit out of it. And, maaaan.. she intimidated the rest of the contestants. All of whom were sitting on the floor of the stage surrounding Diamond, were collectively terrified of her apparent musical prowess. Their faces were like, "WTF! I have to compete with THAT~". No kidding, this spunky and confident 13-year-old girl, who dressed like a hipster and who had the swagger of a trained professional, gave a really strong impression and sensation. One contestant even mouthed that she did not want to follow that particular act, indicating that if that was the case then Diamond just might make her look bad because Diamond was that good.

14. Diamond White's "Sorry Seems To Be Hardest Word"

 

Diamond White had many memorable moments throughout the season that made this countdown.  Her first memorable moment was her first “Save-Me” song, Elton John's "Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word", that she performed during the first live show. Diamond’s vocals were spot on and this was a sign of things to come.

13. Angie Miller's "Halo"

Angie is definitely on the right track to be a diva like the fallen star. She did Beyonce's "Halo" great and her presentation was flawless. A note up or down where there wasn't one before and a soulful sound toward the end I have never heard from Angie before. Great song, great song choice, listen to it with headphones and it is incredible. Although I prefer the softer version of the song, Angie's version sure won't be easy to cover. She owned it!

12. Khaya Cohen's "Distant Dreamer"

Khaya sang Duffy’s "Distant Dreamer", another song I do not know but that I will download as soon as I finish writing this recap. She can sing for sure, and she builds up towards the emotional parts with big belting,a downswell, another big belt, a few catches, a few Winehouse yelps, etc.. Her teary eyes made this performance even more emotional. She was so connected with the song. Do you realize that this is the song in tapped in her audition video (when she sang "I Put a Spell on You")? What a nostalgic feeling I had while watching this. Also, I think her hairstyle suited her well. She was beautiful, wasn't she? ;)

11. Khaya Cohen's "Locked Out Heaven"

Her eyes are radiant

In the so-called-cruel Four Chair Challenge this year, Khaya Cohen has succeeded to make me dropped my jaw. She came on the stage with her hair undone, a simple cobalt blue t-shirt and floral mini skirt. The minute she opened up her mouth, I knew that she's a natural, a heaven-sent-child singer. Her rendition of Bruno Mars' "Locked Out Heaven" made Bree look very nervous, and when she hit one note the audience leapt to their feet, as Simon punched the air in delight. The slowed down arrangement was simply addicting and so unpredictable. The crowd love her, Simon loves her, I am crazy about her! She's unique!

10. Khaya Cohen's "Borderline" 

Khaya's rendition of the Madonna's "Borderline" was pure fun. I think this was Khaya at her finest effort on trying to step out of her 'comfort zone'. And you know what? She's making it the highlight of the night. It was a worthy top 13 performance. Her soulful twist and self confidence allowed her to shine from beginning to end. She brought not only her beautiful vocals out, but she also worked the crowd --including the oft-grumpy Simon Cowell-- with apparent ease. This girl may have lost control of a note or two near the end of the performance, but she was also one of the few performers to really engage the audience in a way that didn’t feel automatonic.

9. Diamond White's "A Man's World"
After a pretty hilarious montage of auditions that weren’t exactly up to ‘X Factor‘ standards, two girls graced the stage to prepare for their auditions. I knew we were in for something good here.

First, there was Adrianna, who sang ‘Rumor Has It’ by Adele, leaving Simon Cowell to announce under his breath that “I hate this song.” She flopped. Up next was a cute 13-year-old named Diamond White: a name you won’t want to/can’t forget.

Standing on the stage in jeans, a t-shirt, vest, and her hair pulled back into a low side ponytail, she dressed exactly how a 13-year-old should dress. Horraaay! Getting ready to announce what song she would be singing, Simon said, “Please don’t say Adele.” It’s like Simon ninja’d our brains, because the Adele auditions are growing very tiresome.

Flustered, White chose to sing the James Brown classic ‘It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World,’ a pretty — no, very ambitious song for anyone to take on, let alone a 13-year-old girl whose vocal cords probably aren’t fully developed yet. But… the girl rocked the song and had amazing vocals, and walked away with four yes’s from the ‘X Factor’ judges.

8. Angie Miller's "Who You Are"

Every Angie Miller performance feels like life and death and that night was no different. Out of all the performances that night, I saw the most fiery eyes from Angie, who has really perfected that sideways smolder from her perch at the piano. Every line in Jessie J's "Who You Are" seemed personal and yet communal. If felt like Angie was singing to herself, trying to encourage herself to stay strong through this competition. And yet, as we all shared in her struggles we took those lyrics into our own fears.  

When she hit her low register, it was ethereal. At times Angie appeared to be drowning in agony amidst the alternating blue and red plasma -- very convincing. That was a show stopping, heart breaking, tear jerker of a moment.



7. Khaya Cohen's "Let It Be" 

Khaya handily sang a good version of The Beatles' "Let It Be". The gospel singers on stage with her really also helped set the mood. Her strength was building a song to an emotional climax. Someone said this was a so-so performance. I laughed because her so-so performance was still other contestant's great performance. To me, she always shows a great focus and control of her voice, like in this one. Her emotion was showcased beautifully, as in I can see how deep her gaze was. Cool outfit anyway! Remembering that this was her last performance on X Factor, I think she has done more than enough to make her stellar Amy Winehouse-meets-Duffy vocal memorable in X Factor history.

6. Angie Miller's "Love Came Down" 

I love the fact that Angie Miller truly is a valuable artist. In my opinion, it is proved by her appreciation to the music and lyrics that she believes. She incorporates messages of spirituality into many of the songs that she writes or chooses to perform. Her song choice for top 6 performance said it all. I can relate to the meaning in Kari Jobe's "Love Came Down" even if I'm not a christian. And I admire this believable side of her. Angie was back to her piano (where she belongs!) and continued to impress me with her stunning voice. Oh, how I miss that angelic atmosphere that is lacking in nowadays shows. 

Gosh, her eyes were so beautiful.

5. Diamond White's "I Was Here"

Diamond White chose to sing Beyonce Knowles' "I Was Here" for her life or death performance. I have to admit it was amazing. This 13-year-old has a huge, powerful voice but in the same time her desperation to stay on the competition sounds so live. She looked nothing but elegant in that style. Not to mention her dramatic final pose as she ends the song with a sorrowful "I was.. here..!!" Thankfully, it was convincing enough to let all the judges except L.A. Reid (Vino Alan's mentor) to keep her advancing to the top 6.

4. Angie Miller and Candice Glover's Duet on "Stay"

Candice Glover and Angie Miller were two great singers wailing away this song. They took care of each other and supported each other in the duet but they also drove each other higher and higher to an amazing peak for the show. Candice was her normal, amazing self. I think that top 4 night was Angie's best singing night of American Idol Season 12 and this duet was the best example of that. Sometimes I giggled noticing how it was so visually absurd with all that purple smoke and drama-queen tics from the those two. I had the exact same thought with Randy Jackson about Angie, "I didn't know you had those twists and turns. It made you even stronger!" Yaaaay.. the top 4 night was definitely for Angie!!! *o*

The smokes :P

Now this is a clearer view of them :D

3. Diamond White's "Because You Loved Me"

A touching story about always asking her mother about the father that wasn’t there from ages 3-7 and then how Diamond just gave up on him - See more at: http://blogs.leaderpost.com/2012/11/22/the-x-factor-tate-stevens-diamond-white-fifth-harmony-beatrice-miller-vino-alan-carly-rose-sonenclar-continue-to-impress-on-stage/#sthash.cnSAADmh.dpuf

A touching story about always asking her mother about the father that wasn’t there from ages 3-7 and then how Diamond just gave up on him - See more at: http://blogs.leaderpost.com/2012/11/22/the-x-factor-tate-stevens-diamond-white-fifth-harmony-beatrice-miller-vino-alan-carly-rose-sonenclar-continue-to-impress-on-stage/#sthash.cnSAADmh.dpuf

Diamond picked a perfect song to dedicate to her mother, who she said “gave her life for her.” Plus there was the touching story about always asking her mother about the father that wasn’t there from ages 3-7 and then how she just gave up on him. It was a genuine performance as she sang Celine Dion‘s “Because You Loved Me” with her trademark powerhouse vocals and emotion. Despite being so young, she was able to pull off a mature song. This is what I like from Diamond best, even though she was just standing behind the mic, she cared to let out expressive and appealing gestures that stood out brilliantly with every single words. After this performance I can’t believe she was kicked out in the first place. And she looked adorable in her little metallic dress! I was bawling through most of it. Demi and Britney were in tears and I didn’t blame them. Flawless!

2. Khaya Cohen's "Don't Give Up On Me"

Khaya went very literal with her mature, nuanced rendition of a classic, pouring her heart into Joe Cocker's "Don't Give Up One Me". At first I was like, "Wat?! There's no way the pitch-perfect Khaya deserved to be in the bottom two this early!" The next thing I know Khaya shushed my rant right away. Then, I wasn't breathing when I watched that glorious, heartfeltm and soulful performance. It was a great not-so-subtle message to the judges. It's slow, which was perfect to highlight her unbelievable tone and runs. And may I remind you she's sixteen. You should listen to her beyond-her-years vocal range and strength yourself! She's really getting better and better, and I think that was the best she's ever been. By the time she reached the end, she had a full control of the song and killed it. Hands down!

1. Angie Miller's "You Set Me Free"
Though Angie came in third on American Idol's twelfth season she has caused an indelible mark on the minds and hearts of her judges and the American public. She was the first contestant that year to receive a standing ovation. Refusing to be caricatured to be just a karaoke singer, Angie premiered her own self-penned song "You Set Me Free" on the show.

 

Her "You Set Me Free" was a gorgeous piano piece that featured soaring vocals. The lyrics were so alluring, especially, "When I was haunted and alone, with this baggage on my back, dragging me down.." There was an unexplainable wonderful and graceful aura from her ♥ The judges were visibly blown away and kept making exclamations during her performance about how impressed they were. You can see the tears in the judges’ eyes. So much power and passion. When she's behind the piano, no one compares to her. The caliber of that performance was BEYOND!

Me and Music

I love music. I love singing and playing my key board!!! X3

But the truth is..
When I was a kid, I didn't have any interests in music. I listened to my friend's music, even if I didn't understand the meaning of the songs. I wondered why my friend would write down all the lyrics they know on their note books, unlike me whose memories were full of my school things. They talked fun facts about their idols, while I didn't have ANY favorites. My life's so plain...

And after that I joined a vocal course near my house, I kind of get used to singing. Slowly but surely I know about notes, intonation, articulation, harmony, and all stuffs about being a singer, but I was taking it too seriously until I forgot that music can be enjoyable. I became so nervous when it's time to perform. I'm thinking too much about perfection.

Then, I came across some singing competitions on the television. All of the contestants were really.. really.. confident. And some of them were truly talented. I'm impressed! 8D

Start from that moment, I began to express myself by listening to music, my own music! I got interested in tons of singers, mostly female singers :D even boybands =B I did a cover of "Fifteen" by Taylor Swift in my fifteenth birthday with my best friend. I watched the video of my first boyband, which is happened to be BEAST (a boyband from Southeast Asia), for too many times. I'm fangirling over the adorable Yang Yoseob (still an Asian idol) and the cute Niall Horan from One Direction! XD

The best singer and song writer. She made songs about my life ^^

Cute guys in my life!

More importantly, now I sing when or where I want to. No need to have special talents. I'm just one of the girls who passionately loves singing to bits ♥

Ahahaa.. these birdie~ :3

Bangtan Boys, My New Favorite

I fell into this completely by accident. While thumbing through the channels one Monday evening in July 2013, I came across a music video of this Korean boyband I never heard of.

Out of curosity, I searched this boyband's name from the title of the music video I've just watched. Now, I'm here.. swooning over this year hip hop rookie from Hit Big Entertainment, BANGTAN BOYS! The even-cooler name is BULLETPROOF BOY SCOUTS! Henceforth, let's just call them BTS! (°∀°)b

The sight of one cute vocalist, one sexy dancer, non stop rap, forceful choreography, one cute vocalist.. (wait.. I've mentioned that :p) really had me actually falling.


They just debuted like 2 months ago, released 2 official MV, and I've only seen them once on TV and two-three times on youtube.. but I've seen enough to know all their special traits. I will introduce the seven of them one by one (◕‿◕) 
From now on, take my inner fangirl side to be your guide. Let the BTS member tour begin!!! (ﾉ> ヮ<)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

From left to right: V, Suga, Jin, Jung Kook, Rap Monster, Jimin and J-Hope

1. Rap Monster
He's the first member I notice on No More Dreams MV. A leader and a charismatic rapper. He has the deepest voice in BTS. He's in love with sunglasses.

This photo is cool.. We can also see the photographer from the reflection on his glasses (⁰▿⁰)

Futuristic boy ヾ(⌐■_■)ノ♪

（★ｏ★） LOL =D

There you go, faux hawk leader! (☆^ー^☆)

2. Jin
Everything about him is visually perfect. That's why he's the visual. I love him cause he's the oldest member, the one who has the big brother charm.

Now this..is the perfect photo to describe how manly he is with that leather jacket and dark brown hair *O*

You know how I feel about men with hat (≧ω≦)

Known as the selca king! He looks surprisingly great on brown reddish hair (~▽~*)

Triiiing.. another selca! Who's the one in hoodie next to Jin? It's Jung Kook! (Don't worry, we'll get to him later (^_−)☆) The oldest and the youngest member in one photo.. hee.. (⌒▽⌒)

3. V

He is one of the vocalist. I can tell him from his light brown-blonde hair. 

He got the least singing part, caused him to be infrequently seen on air. But it doesn't mean I got no moment from him (^_-)

The "shoot the Harry Potter looking boy!" is one of my highlights from No More Dream MV.. LOL (*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)

Off air, his adorableness is irresistible, you agree? (^～^)

See that..? Him and Jin have a specialty in mimicking frowny face （＾ω＾）

Dorky brothers ♡

4. Suga

A rapper with a fun-loving personality. I always love his smiling eyes, a precious identity to Korean guy （＞ｙ＜）

Sooo.. charming with the beanie~

I've seen him in different hats. Never bored with his smile （‐＾▽＾‐）

 

Suga is often shown wearing skirt on his trousers. Hmm.. skirt boy (￣▽ ￣*)

5. J-Hope

Another funny rapper. He also has sooo many different styles. Let's list them off. Wearing a hat with some type of rag. Check!

Wearing a mask. Check!

Wearing gloves with his nick name on. Check!

J-Hope is a frantic person in real life and member with the longest face in BTS

o(≧▽≦)o

 ( ◎ヮ◎)ﾉｼ))

A selca with Rap Monster (＾Д＾)

6. Jimin

Who we got here? He's Jimin, the sexy dancer I told earlier.

I see Jimin as the bad boy in sleeveless shirt ♥～(‘▽^人)

Don't forget the snapback cap (≡^∇^≡)

Being the sexy dancer isn't just a bull. His dance stands out from the rest, thanks to this (｡・//ε//・｡)

(＞Д＜) *All fangirls scream..!!!*

6. Jung Kook

At last, we get to my favorite member. I have sooo much to say about him o(〃＾▽＾〃)o

First of all, he was born in September 1^st 1997. Are you kidding?! He's 5 months younger than me. I'm a noona to him Σ(꒪ ロ꒪ ;)

He's the one who caught my eyes from the very beginning. There was a cute boy rapping, singing and dancing so fiercely--trying to look like a wild punk boy, but somehow he still looked as cute as ever to me. That was hard to miss. After that, I dug into all things about BTS. I'm a wee bit impressed with rappers now. If "wee bit" means completely （´ω｀♡%）

Back to Jung Kook, wanna see some of his photos? I have a plenty! (Hey, I'm biased to Jung Kook. This post was intently made to talk about him only) (≧ω≦)

He likes peace ｖ（＾＿＾ｖ）

Full shot of him in serious mode ☆~￢o(￣-￣ﾒ)

His favorite color is red ★

Doesn't he look great in red jacket? (●ゝω)ノヽ(∀＜●)

Aww.. look at those puffy cheeks! （＾ω＾）

His innocence is a fangirl magnet ♡(*´∀｀*)人(*´∀｀*)♡

Seriously, what's wrong with his cheeks?! ヽ(*≧ω≦)ﾉ

And his tongue *dirty thoughts* (X∀X)

Along with his priceless shocked expression (*≧▽≦)

Maybe you wanna help him to scratch his itchy back :P

He laughs like this (*≧▽≦)ﾉｼ))

Like I said before, smiling eyes are precious identity to Korean guy （⌒▽⌒）

Ufufu.. Jung Kook has big teeth (*´艸`*) Say cheese! (●⌒∇⌒●)

 

I called this the most awkward moment when your idol caught you staring at him (｡ >艸<)

BA-DUMP! Omg~ (°◇°;) He smiles gently back to us! (●´□`)♡

Tongue out! (´ڡ`)

 

More cuteness..

He looks cuter than the cat plushie on his head (≡^∇^≡)

Aegyo (─‿‿─)

（☆＾3＾）chuu~

 But, this baby can be so hot sometimes! (>///<).。ｏ♡

Sweats are evil! ( ｡♥‿♥)=3

His stare~ (*¬*)

Quick! How much you can take from Jung Kook with cap and hoodie? I can't answer 'cause I'm already in heaven (♡∀♡)

WANTED

Jung Kook, the Dangerous Idol

If you find him, please take a good care of him and bring him to me （○゜ε＾○）

I feel like Jung Kook already becomes the favorite little brother to all of his hyungs in BTS
(*´∀`*)

Look at where he stands in this photo. I can imagine the other members were telling Jung Kook to step forward and stand in the front because he's the youngest. Aww.. they spoil little Kookie. Hahaa.. I love the name they gave to Jung Kook (>ω<)

And Jimin.. he looks like he was saying, "I got you, little brother." (•‿•)
A guy who can be a protective big brother is definitely my type ♥

He's the golden maknae. His role was everything but the leader 'cause he is too good at everything: singing, rapping, dancing, hat-tricking and drawing.  I'm sure that there are a lot more talent coming from him for us to discover (^_−)☆

 

Well.. that's all from me. I hope I've shown you enough charm from BTS. It would be so nice if you get interested to this new potential boyband in Kpop world after reading my post (☆^ー^☆)ノ

I saved the best for the last. Have a great Kpop time, everyone! ~ヾ(＾∇＾)