It's time to choose the champion!

Earlier on in the day yesterday, before the concert, I wanted to write about who I think should be eliminated at last night’s concert. My argument would be based on who I think has got the right attitude and the package to be a champion. Not only do you need the voice, not necessarily a great voice though, but pleasant to hear and unique, you also need the look, as in pleasant to look at, not necessarily drop dead gorgeous or hulky handsome *grin* but you also need the champion to have the right attitude and confident in one’s own capabilities.

Based on those arguments, I felt that Yazid should be eliminated because, despite being in the Akademi for 9 weeks already, he still have yet to have confidence in himself, he is whiny and always seems to be complaining about his own lack of self esteem (He knows it [lacking in self-worth], but does not seem to be doing anything about it).

I sometimes feel that he is trying to win the hearts of the voters by making them take pity on him rather than vote for his talents. Mas of AF2 won the hearts of voters when it was revealed that she is a single mum. Aswad’s votes jumped up immediately after it was revealed that he is an orphan. There have been many ‘Kodak Moments’ and sob stories in the Akademi when tears have successfully pushed up the votes.

But, after watching all the four kids perform last night, though I still think that Yazid just won’t make a good champion (he will just be another Faizal of AF4, I am afraid. Sorry, fans of Yazid, but this is my blog and this is my personal opinion) – remember, he fumbled even to introduce his own song where as, he himself said that his communication skills have improved since joining in the Akademi? – when it was time for AC Mizal to announce who will be eliminated, I took pity on all four kids and felt that all four of them have worked so hard and have come this far, that they deserve to at least be in the finals, but not necessarily to be the champion. So, I was quite relieved, and I am sure it was also a huge relief to all the fans of AF, when Yazid himself announced that there will be no elimination last night. *smile*

In the finals, there will be five kids performing, which included Aril, who back got in via a week long AFMASUK. The bitching and condemning started almost immediately after it was announced that Aril got in. Apalah dosa dia kepada pengutuk-pengutuk semua sehingga dikutuk dan dikeji sebegitu rupa? What sins has he done to those people who are critically condemning him? He does not even know who they are.

Kritikan boleh diberi, tetapi kritikan yang objektif, dan bukannya kritikan yang boleh menjatuhkan maruah seseorang. Setiap kali ada komen yang mengutuk mana-mana pelajar, saya akan terfikir apakah perasaan keluarga pelajar yang dikutuk teruk itu. Pastinya sedih dan terluka.

Fikirkanlah, sekiranya pelajar itu kaum keluarga kita sendiri, pasti kita juga akan merasa sedih dan terluka. Apakah dosa pelajar tersebut sehingga dikutuk dengan begitu hina sekali, itu yang kadang-kadang bermain difikiran saya.

Have patience, Aril. It is said that the more people criticize you for something you did not do, for they have sinned, the more pahala you will get. Hopefully, the pahala will be in the form of winning the champion title. *wink*

If Aril does become the champion, I can already almost imagine that many more will criticize him, but, never mind; that means Aril will make even more money (bertambah rezeki) from their ‘sins’ (for condemning him). LOL! *wink* Then, we shall see who will actually be laughing all the way to the bank! LOL! *grin*

Out of the five that are going into the finals, as of before the concert, Yazid was at the top. Hmm…why doesn’t that surprise me, since he has been asking for pity all week long?

Hafiz came in second, which is also of no surprise to me. He has got the voice, though I must agree with the Edrie and Adlin last night that though he has been constantly good since the first concert, he has not progressed much. If you were charting his progress on a chart, it will actually be almost flat. I am not saying that this is necessarily bad, but, the tagline did say “TRANSFORMASI’, so, has Hafiz actually been transformed? Even his hair has pretty much remained the same, just to quote a simple example. *wink*

Opps! I can already see fanatic fans of Hafiz turning red and about to come after me with that statement! LOL! Whoa! Calm down, people! LOL! *wink*

I am not a fan of Akim, but my 9 year old son is. In my humble opinion, Akim has shown quite a lot of improvement from the first day he stepped into the Akademi, though it would have been better if he showed even much more progress. He has, after all, been in the Akademi for 9 weeks already. Maybe he will spring in a surprise in the finals?

I have the same to say of Isma like what I have said of Hafiz. She has the voice, the looks and the right attitude, and she too, has been constantly good since the first concert, but she has not progressed much. Like Hafiz, her progress chart will also be almost flat. She has yet to be transformed, though I must agree with AC Mizal that she is looking less like a mum with 5 kids nowadays. She looks like she is only in her early twenties with her short skirt and tight pants or whatchamacolic that she was wearing last night. She looks good!

Hmm….I don’t want to make any more comments on Aril this time around because I have already said what I wanted to say about him in my Saturday, April 25, 2009 entry titled “Shocking, unbelievable, and sad….”

I only wish him the best of luck. My only other wish is for everyone to stop critically criticizing and condemning him. I am not a favour of AFMASUK either, but I like him (for his talent, of course, but he is also cute! LOL! *wink*) and since he got in via AFMASUK with a huge margin in percentage, I hope that those who have been critical of him will just stop condemning him, and just concentrate on making the kids of their choice a champion.

It will be almost near impossible for him to be champion with fans of Hafiz and Isma fearlessly voting for them. It will be a huge bonus if Aril gets even second placing. He will most probably be a ‘threat’ to Akim and Yazid, but then again, Akim might just surpass him in position as of late, Akim is showing huge signs of improvement. Aril has been out of practice for 2 weeks. I am just happy that Aril is in the Finals, and that I get to see him sing his own original song.

BTW, if there is one person who really needs to be transformed, it has to be AC Mizal. Can ASTRO please transform AC Mizal? *wink* I believe that a lot of the surprise gimmicks could not be carried out because of AC Mizal’s lack of talent to carry it through with drama like the way Aznil did.

Most of the time, I find the elimination round kind of an anti-climax. I have a feeling that probably ASTRO had to rope in Principal Tiara to announce the AFMASUK because AC Mizal just couldn’t inject enough drama into it. If only Aznil would replace AC Mizal for the final concert……

Anyway, all the best to Aril, Akim, Isma, Hafiz and Yazid! I am looking forward to a highly charged final concert next Saturday!

**note - photo taken from Berita Harian Online.