In my recent journey to New Zealand, I got to spend a very short period of time in Australia. It is because my flight from Manila to Queenstown was via Sydney. It was a 3 hour layover at the land down under.
While at the Sydney airport, I was ecstatic because despite the fact that chances of bumping into my favorite Aussie celebrity was like asking for the heavens to give me the greatest love life I don’t deserve, I was still positively expecting some mystic phenomenon to happen. I was not expecting to bump into Kylie Minogue or Hugh Jackman nor Cate Blanchett or Chris Hemsworth. I was not expecting Australians to bestow me a red carpet welcome. I was not expecting the mayor to hand me the key to their city. I was actually hoping to see Australia’s singing diva, Dami Im!
dami was not popular yet during my visits in sydney…
I know it’s stupid but as soon as my feet landed on the grounds of Sydney, my bizarre and inexplicable hope for Dami Im to be at the airport! And since I don’t have any photos to show, it means this longing did not transpire. I guess the heavens was smart enough not grant such a wish, otherwise, I would not have left the airport in time for my journey to fresh Queenstown.
Let me just satiate and mollify this stupid wish by posting and listening to Dami Im’s latest single “Fighting for Love”. I actually prefer Dami’s live performance during the X Factor TV show than the actual music video of the song…
I can still vividly remember the first time I owned a cassette tape of the Carpenters. My father during my elementary days brought with him from Saudi Arabia (he was an OFW starting late-70’s) a Sony cassette player. And along with the small player are cassette tapes of Tom Jones, Dianna Ross, Boney M, Don McLean, The Eagles, Carly Simon and of the Carpenters. And that was my first exposure to the beautiful songs of the Carpenters.
Three and a half decades later, I am but glad and happy to know that Dami Im, now my favorite Australian singer, has a new album. And it is her take, tribute and covers of one of everyone’s favorite, the Carpenters.
grabbed from dami im”s fb page
the next song is dedicated to myself… hahaha!
What I particularly love about the songs of the Carpenters are the tunes and melodies. Each song are simple and unpretentious. It’s unlike those grand and complex songs in which only few people could sing. And though Dami has one magnificent singing voice, her rendition of the Carpenters songs were just lovely and uncomplicated yet very sophisticated. The melody, the rendition and the tunes are easy and pleasant to the ear, I could listen to Dami Im’s Carpenters version all day.
Never did I posted anything about the new X Factor Australia winner, Marlisa Punzalan, while the show was running. It is because I don’t want to cause any sumpa (curse) or negative effect to her fate and universe.
x factor australia 2014 winner
But honestly, I have been watching this young lady ever since the X Factor Australia has started this year. I know for a fact that she is actually the first one featured during the audition segments of the show. I followed this newly concluded talent show, maybe because of the reverberating feelings of joy and my overindulgence in its 2013 version when the superlative Dami Im won.
A week before the grand finale, I already had the impression that this young lady will win. The reason is not because of her tender age, nor her looks and neither her amazing talent. Three coherent reasons rolled up into my mind right after the semi-final round.
Winning the Toughest Battle
This is because during the semi-final bout she defeated Reigan Derry, the most excellent and the most seasoned among all contestants in this series. I cannot imagine how perennial favorite Reigan Derry being beaten by the other 2 finalists, Brothers 3 and Dean Ray. Reigan with her incredible pipes would easily beat these two other finalists to smithereens in case Dean or Brothers3 would be at the bottom two and perform back-to-back with her.
best showdown of the series!
Thus, before the grand finale, Marlisa Punzalan has already successfully hurdled the hardest challenge she would be faced with during the entire run of the series. For me, the semi-final round was actually more exhilarating than the grand finale. The grand finale was just a matter of confirming Marlisa’s crown.
Australia’s Enduring Love for the Underdog
When Marlisa got into the finals, everybody thinks that she would simply end up being a third placer. Even judge/mentor Redfoo after the semi-final round immediately predicted that Dean is the one to beat. Even online betting website SportsBet predicted that Dean would be bestowed the 2014 title. Dean Ray exhales the funky rock of breath trough out the show that is why everybody expects him to win.
the three rays of sunshine…
funky rocker!
Nonetheless, the whole Australia was gearing Brothers 3 to possibly snatch the title from Dean because these “three rays of sunshine” got the ever reliable cutey-boyband formula. Also, they have been identified halfway through the live shows to have received the most number of votes. Moreover, it would have been a very good promotional angle of story in case the first ‘wild card’ contestant wins the show. Thus, Brothers3 and Dean Ray prior to the grand final were considered the un-proclaimed winners. They were simply the Goliaths of the program!
But Australians (like Filipinos) love an underdog. They would not let a simple-looking lady lacking of self confidence be simply in the side light. It is of human nature to feel that those who have less power are deemed virtuous and noble. Human beings in general love the underdogs because each of us knows what it feels like to be a loser, to be brushed aside or to be a David in a world full of Goliaths.
Let me cap this reason with Ronan Keating’s beautiful wisdom when he was commenting on Marlisa’s performance during the semi-final, which illustrates Marlisa being an underdog. That he is still faithful on the thought that not all good girls finish last. That statement I suppose struck a nerve to the whole of Australia.
Shining at the Right Moment
At the initial phase of the show, Marlisa exhibited good performances but nothing spectacular compared to other contestants. I particularly loved her performance during the boot camp portion of the program, Jessica Mauboy’s Never Be The Same. But during her performance in front of John Legend, who would assist Ronan on picking his top 3 contenders for the live shows, she faltered big time.
During the first few weeks of the live shows, she was simply sailing through. Viewers and even other judges/mentors were particularly concerned because Ronan could not seem to tap the right song that would best fit Marlisa’s age, tone and range.
She was lucky enough that other contestants gave inferior performances compared to her. She even performed the worst performance in the whole show when she sang Lady Gaga’s Paparazzi while suffering from severe illness, in which, she was nevertheless praised by the judges for her guts and professionalism. During these times, other contestants were delivering the best performances of their lives. They were peaking at those moments.
Unfortunately for these other contestants (except for the shoo-in Reigan Derry), they failed to sustain the high points in their performances while the show near its end. Fortunately for Marlisa, she seems to simply just starting to oil up. She was gaining confidence in her stage presence, she was starting to feel the mood/s of her song/s and Ronan is commencing to realize and tap the exact songs for her. She was slowly peaking up!
She only sparkled at the last four or five weeks of the entire series. I totally agreed with Danni Minogue who was stuck to her seat and would hardly stand up after every Marlisa’s performance week after week. That Marlisa’s rendition of Sia and David Guetta’s Titanium performed on the 9th week of the live shows was truly Marlisa and Ronan’s game changer. The Titanium performance of Marlisa made Danni stood up to her feet and cheered for the young lady!
All throughout the TV show, Marlisa seem to be the last contestant to shine. And what is so amazing about her shining is that she was able to sustain it and even progressed further every week! Australians then realized that something special was with this young lady.
photo grabbed from dam im’s official facebook page
Being a true blue self-imposed fellow of the Dami Army, I waited for this music video like a Gladiator. Now that it is finally released, the coming nights now seems brighter, my glass of sour wine now tastes better and the constant pit of fury in my gut now subsides.
Dami is one truly amazing talent. Another incredible song with a perfectly fitting and visually stunning music video!
Nowadays, every country seem to have their own franchise or version of The X Factor, Idol, The Voice or ‘name-a-country’ Got Talent. With the continuous popularity of these reality singing contests season after season along with the continuous diaspora of the Filipino race in every corner of the globe, it is no longer a big surprise if one or two or three of the show’s contestants are Filipinos or of Filipino descent. And because of the innate singing talent, Filipinos around the world has been wowing the planet.
And every time a Filipino joins these contests, the whole country tend to celebrate and be more than proud every time the Judges would either love, praise and exalt the talent they just heard. I actually at times gets so whacked every time I read the dog-tired “Proud To Be Pinoy” comment on Facebook or Youtube.
Anyway, because of these happenings, I along with a lot of Filipinos got to see personalities and celebrities around the world judging these reality based singing contests. Thanks to Youtube and Facebook.
Let me clarify, this write-up is not about my fellow Filipinos with killer pipes. This is about the judges of these fabulous contests. So far, via Youtube, I have seen and watched celebrity judges from Bulgaria, Italy, Great Britain, The Netherlands, Australia, USA, Israel, China, Canada, Spain, Poland, Norway, Taiwan, Ireland, Thailand, Austria and New Zealand. It is because these are some of the countries where at least one Filipino has joined.
ronan, danii, redfoo and nathalie (photo taken from au.lifestyle.yahoo.com)
Anyway, going back to the judges!
For me, the most gorgeous set of judges ever is from Australia. They are the Season 5 and presently running Season 6 of X Factor Aussie version. They are the clean cut Ronan Keating, the brunette Danii Minogue, the afro Redfoo and the blonde Nathalie Bassingthwaighte.
I have seen them throughout the whole season of season 5 and all I can say is that these four are simply oozing with gorgeousness both inside and out. If I am to join a singing contest, I would be joining the contest where all these four will be judging.
They are the only set of judges in a reality singing contest who gave a contestant more than a standing ovation. The four super impressed me when all of them stood on top of the judges’ desk to jump and applause over a contestant’s unbelievable performance!
Their comments may it be a denigration or accolades towards a performance looks and feels so sincere. They judge the performance not the person. What’s so good about their criticisms is that they express it not in a very cocky, arrogant or harsh manner. Even though a performance may turn bad, these judges always have something positive to say. Thus, rejected contestant walks out of the stage unhurt and actually goes home happy and inspired.
They’re the living example of charisma, great sense of humor, confidence and intelligence mixed into a gorgeous looking group. They got amazing bags of sex appeal and looks so comfortable with each other. They look like they are truly having fun. No drama, no palaver, no non-sense. I don’t know if it’s the differing hair but for me, they just blend perfectly.
I am happy that the music video of Dami Im has just been released today. After watching the whole super nice video, the only thing that dawned on me is that Dami Im could possibly be the next fashion icon of this planet.
Dami has never been afraid to try new things to wear. What is so impressive about her and her team of stylists (if ever she has one) are the various ornaments, hats, embellishments and head pieces she has worn and showed off. Those stuffs were simply fresh, unique, chic and fashionable.
HRH Queen Elizabeth is too old while Lady Gaga looks too tired and worn out. The freshly released video of Dami Im’s Alive simply seals her as the new Queen of Modern Headdress. Those headdresses can truly trigger a different kind of fashion buzz…
Melinda Doolittle, David Archuleta and Jessica Sanchez of American Idol, Ella Henderson of X Factor (UK), Marco Germar of So You Think You Can Dance (U.S.) and most recently Morisette Amon of The Voice (Philippines) were the awesome talents I personally rooted for in their respective contest seasons in the past. Click the name of these talents to read my posts about them for me to prove my point. I can’t seem to remember when was the last time that my chosen contender won the contest he or she is competing on TV.
Strangely, despite their breathtaking performances, no one among these brilliant and gifted contestants did won in their respective talent contests. They were beaten by other competitors as oddly voted by their respective country’s viewers. Honestly, I’d rather observe a grass growing than listen or watch these so called winners perform.
lady gaga, katy perry and rihanna has yet to perform a number as amazing as this…
Anyway, it seems that it was not America, nor the UK, nor the Philippines talent contests that has the right sagacity and discernment for what a true talent really means. Surprisingly, Australia does have the right vibe, groove and keenness on this matter. I am saying this because just tonight, Australia has voted and honored Dami Im to be this year’s X Factor (Australia) WINNER!!!
I was slightly freaked out when the host announced who this year’s winner was. I was clapping and cheering when Dami Im’s name was called. All I can say is that endearing Australia got it right in the pocket… Aussies know what exceptional talent is…
Here’s the spectacular and one-of-a-kind final number of Dami Im singing Purple Rain…
I told myself that I would only write about Dami Im when she has been proclaimed the winner of X Factor Australia this year. But with the amazing talent that Dami Im has just shown in the grand finals night tonight, I could not contain myself to not write about it anymore.
Being a self-proclaimed member of the Dami Army let this blog be a portal for dear Australia to know that one world class talent and superstar is in the person of Dami Im. It would be a crime if she won’t win the X Factor Australia 2013.
So to dear Australia, I hope you vote for Dami Im!!! Here’s her last performance that would surely seal the deal. This video I suppose also contains the best judges’ ovation of any talent show in the world.
Winner or not, I will definitely miss her when the show ends…
It’s official. I am an enlisted personnel of the army, The Dami Army that is. I have done this by pressing the Like icon button of her Facebook page and posting this article into this blog.
I followed the progress and features of this year’s X Factor Australia initially by being so mesmerized by the Jai Waetford audition, this year’s first audition feature. But during that same first day of audition-features I was equally impressed by the most awkward looking lady singing Hero by Mariah Carey as her audition piece.
But I totally became a fan when she performed during the bootcamp portion of the competition. There was a major mishap yet she rose to the occasion and performed a very beautiful number.
She actually was dropped from the competition because of this. Yet fate I guess is truly on her side to become one popular artist because she was the one who got a surprise call when one of the finalists backed out from the show. From then on, I continued looking after how Dami Im has performed in the contest.
Dami Im is the personification of “awkward” being “the new awesome”. Her inelegance and gawkiness is so fresh and captivating. What is so damn great about Dami is when she starts singing her un-polish-ness just disappears right before your eyes and transformation into a remarkable singing talent just comes into sight. You would not believe that the awesome voice is actually coming out from such an awkward, down-to-earth and naive-looking lady.
As of this writing, she just passed through the week 4 of the finals singing Roar by Katy Perry… Here is Dami Im singing a disco hit of the late ’70s, her live performance during the week 3 of the finals…
I guess her magnificent talent is coming from the pureness and sweetness of her heart. If she gets eliminated in the program, I think it is because she is too good for X Factor.
Nengkoy 