And as far as I can remember, I've always made music as a part of my daily. In the MRT, the bus, mugging for exams or even as I am typing right now. Back in the "good old days", music can only be heard only if the musician is right in front of you, playing "live" to an audience. And speaking about "live", I've only managed to go to a couple concerts throughout my entire life. I'll never forget my very first "live" concert that I went to. It was @ sentosa and the ol' school rock outfit known as Loudness was playing there! I was a "matrock" at one point of my life ("matrock" is a malay term for a rock music fan) thanks to my elder brother's influence, not to mention bands like Loudness, Metallica, Iron Maiden, Wings, May, SYJ, Bloodshed, Search and some others which I have forgotten.. Back to the concert thingy, the whole thing was a blast.. I also saw Metallica "live" at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, Fugazi at Bukit Batok CC, Pearl Jam & Mudhoney at the Singapore Indoor Stadium ( I still remember it was the first day of Hari Raya on that day) and Blur at the Harbour Pavilion.. hearing them "live" was definitely an experience that I'll hardly forget...

And as a music fan myself, I've been loyal to a couple of "marathon" bands and singers like U2, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Dr Dre and Sting just to name a few. More of the underground bands like Sepultura, Earth Crisis, and Shelter are also on my track list. These bands and singer have endured years of surviving in the cut-throat enviroment and often scandalous nature of the music industry. Maybe the reason why local Singaporean bands or singers are not getting the exposure (I mean talented ones) they deserve, is that we don't have the type of scandals or newsworthy crap that foreign musicians has. hhhmmmm...

And now there's Taufik. Our very first Singapore Idol. Somehow, I still can't get over the euphoria and excitement of last wednesday's final showdown. The way Taufik swooned his way through his rendition of "Me & Mrs Jones" really had the crowd melting. Now that is talent! Not many artists or singers can actually do that mind you. However, I seriously couldn't say the same for Slyvester though. I actually cringed when He belted out Bon Jovi's "It's My Life" for his opening act.

What's the industry without scandals right? Well, the producers decided that the runner-up "deserves" the same contract as the winner on the press conference right after the finals. Huh? THEN WHAT THE HELL DID WE VOTE FOR!?!??! I definitely feel cheated. I mean, really, if the the runner-up recieves the same grand prize as the winner, why hold the finals in the first place?!?! Well, being business-minded as I often try to be, it's obvious that the producers of the show had already laid out plans for the Bon Jovi wannabe and cash in on the big audience in Singapore, Taiwan, HongKong and maybe even China. And the plan backfired. Taufik won.

One question, why can't the producers invest in REAL TALENT and market him in an even bigger market like Europe and even the States? Then we'll really have a Singaporean to be proud of! I read in some of our local forums that one independent producer had actually sent tapes of Taufik singing "Me & Mrs Jones" to US, UK, Canada and Belgium and they were totally blown away by his voice!

Well, those who makes the game, controls the rules. It's in nobody's hands 'cept for the producers to decide on who to be marketed and how. Anyway, with all the hoo-haa that's been going on about the idols, I'm just really glad and happy that MY idol won.

And what did Taufik actually win? No one knows for sure except for the recording contract (btw, American Idols and Malaysian Idols won cash and car. Guess who got the car? Gurmit. What the F*** did he do to win the car???) and 1 thing's for sure, Taufik won my support and my re-newed faith in the local music industry. Taufik, if you're reading this, start your own game BoiYY!

So what are your views? Comment laa..