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I mean Fiona MacDonald, yeah...she was a veteran singer, part of a band...etc... Jackie Clarke...ok. To be honest I do not know much about Jackie Clarke but I do know that she's been performing for a while and occassionally appearing at "Christmas in the Park" concerts and of course Lotto commercials. But Megan Alatini?! Yes she was part of True Bliss - acclaimed to be a platinum-sale music group. Lemme tell you something about what I learnt from the way they rate music sales...I was told by a former radio industry DJ that music companies record the number of WHOLESALE sales of CDs and albums and count that towards the rating (whether gold or platinum, etc). What's wrong with it? What if the music shops don't actually sell the whole lot that was purchased? What if they were sold for 75% off a month later? What if they were given away as promos? I do not think that counts, does it?
Another thing, True Bliss was a one-hit wonder (if you can call them a hit just like Hear say - who?) As a judge, I do not think Megan Alatini is right for the job. I am willing to bet she will use the phrase "You made it your own." which seems to be the trademark phrase of NZ Idol. If they are going to choose a former True Bliss member, then it should be Carly Binding 9who's had several pretty good hits) or, if they have to, Joe Cotton who until still has a band called Mermaids.
I suppose NZ doesn't have many music talents they can use and any talent that do pop up tend to go overseas.
Some comments from idol fans: http://www.idolblog.com/node/2008053
The first part was or seemed long however, it wasn't draggy as some parts of King Kong the Movie (Peter Jackson Version). It was enjoyable was lots of funny bits all throughout. The singing and dancing were all very good; I didn't spot any mistakes at all - like the ones I saw in the last Sleeping Beauty ice skating show I went to. (Don't ask about this one. I fell asleep half way). But I guess dancing on ice is a lot different.
The main actress Kym Valentine (above) was very good and entertaining. She does have that very familiar face abd as I later found out, she is Australian and appear regularly on TV, etc...
The stage and props were very good I thought. The employed a giant turntable for switching between scenes which added to the character of the show. The use of lights and projectors were very good too. It is like watching a movie in 3D almost. The way they do background pauses to focus your attention to the current dialogue was unique, or at least to me.
There were lots of kids in the show. I felt that this show was not appropriate for kids. There were lots of "Dirty Dancing", a few bed scenes, talk about sex, and swearing even. I am very surprised kids were allowed in (some looked as young as 8yo) and even more surprised parents would bring their kids.
The second half of the show went pretty fast. It was resolution after resolution and BAM! It was the end. Maybe the second half was more enjoyable than the first?...
The final scene was quite lively with everyone in the theatre swaying and clapping away. There is one I didn't quite get and that was the signature line "Nobody puts baby in the corner". I just don't get it...cheesy and meaningless I thought. It is not like "You can't handle the truth!" from "A Fed Good Men" or "Live Long and Prosper" from "Star Trek". But everyone seem to know it and applauded when the line was executed. Those are probably those women who watch the movie over and over again and use the remote to rewind that scene over and over and over...
After the grand finale (and several signature poses), Kym yelled and ask everyone in the audience to dance. Only some people at the front row stood up and perhaps a dozen around us. There was this annoying wiggling hippo in front of me. I had to move my head two seats to the left to see the stage again.
Overall, it was a good show. Jiggasaurus rated it 7/10 compared to 9/10 for Mamma Mia. I did not see Mamma Mia but I would rate this 7-8/10. And I did not fall asleep!
Jiggasaurus, feel free to add a few comments since you very very seldom post entries. :)
Would I recommend it? I'd say yes especially if you are into theatre stuff.
Finally, I thought it only happens in the Philippines but who the heck would nick name their daughters "Baby"?!?!
To cook: Simmer for 20 mins (dp not boil) or microwave in bag for approx 1.5Seeing as I am quite hungry, I decided I'd follow the nuke procedure. I was about to put the bag in the microwave oven when I noticed this silvery bit at the end of the sausage...they are pieces of metal that hold the ends shut! WTF? Am I suppose to microwave this with the metal? It did say "...microwave in bag..." What if I didn't see it? I would have caused some explosions! Didn't the sausage maker "Verkerks" think of that?
mins.
Registering will give you priority access inside the bus over others who have not registered, however, registration will not guarantee you access inside the bus. Access is subject to availability of the bus on the day and numbers are limited. Microsoft reserves the right to close off registrations at any time. Please note the final admission to the bus each day is at 8.45 PM. The bus will hold 40 people at a time and each session on the bus will last for 15 min. You must register at least 1 day prior to the day you wish to attend the Roadtrip.Good if there was plenty of people however, this was not the case on the day. We got there around 2-3pm and there was hardly any people queuing up.
Problem is (see above), there is hardly enough room to fit two people per display to fit anyone older than 11 yrs old and the games they feature above are all R16! What the?! Each display uses an LCD screen which was impressive.
The consoles are cased inside a clear plastic display with no venting so behind each display is an exhaust fan (above) to vent all the hot air out of the xbox units. Also inside the bus is 19 degrees C as indicated in the A/C controls. It was very cold. The three of us had to leave at least twice to warm ourselves up. We concluded that the A/C was not for the comfort of the visitors but to prevent the xbox 360 from overheating - one of the faults discovered so far by xbox 360 users overseas.
At the back of the bus there is in very impressive screen showing some video. The video was very pixelated :)
The reflection on the screen features a silhouette of ... how did they put it... the "sizzling Joanna Dark". Trust me...nothing sizzling there...We were all frozen. In fact, This guy chatting to her is one of the staff. Everyone was more focussed on playing the games. There was one time I saw "Dark" sitting in front of the bus reading Brass magazine.
What games did we play? Well there was Perfect Dark Zero which was quite good - controls take a bit of getting use to. There was also Quake 4 (ok), DOA 4 (ok - ernie would enjoy), Project Gotham 3 (nothing new), NFS MW, Kameo, Call of Duty 2, Fight Night, Some skateboard game, and a soccer game. The bus would have been a disappointment to kids as there are only 4 games for them to see.
Not everything is a disappointment though. They were giving away lanyards, caps (which looked gay), rubber bands, and tennis bands.
Anything free can brighten up your day. :)))
We stayed for a couple of hours. Got bored and my back was aching. The displays were not ergonomic. We also got real cold.
Overall, it was an ok but sub-standard experience. Wich they would give away more things like FREE XBOX 360s!!!!
I spoke to one of the staff and The turn out on friday wasn't so big. I was told they attracted about 200 people on friday at the domain. Well what do you expect I guess...parents are working and children are in school. When they get there, they'll find that most of the bus is R16 anyway.
I'll leave the rest of the comments to B0log3r if he's got any.
One evening, deep inside the compound, something went drastically wrong ... read the rest of the story here.
I thought the house was better than the forest. Althought the forest's Jason dude was quite believable. In the house, the best parts were: the psycho pipe guy, the guy in the cage who is obsessed with getting the keys, and the nurse with the eardrum-piercing scream. Freddy was good too although he is more funny than scary.
Over all it was an excellent spookers night.
Maybe it's just me but I thought this was funny
I went to buy some taro a few days ago at Countdown.
This chick at the counter was processing my groceries until she got to the taro.
She asked "Is this Swede?"
I said "No. It is Taro."
She turns around to the supervisor and said "I do not know the code for Taro."
The supervisor yelled out and asked "Is it pink or white Taro?"
The cashier said "It's brown?!"
Vital research has just found the little known Indian version of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody!!
(guitar solo)
(A vindaloo loo loo loo)
(No, no, no, no, no, no, NO)
(Guitar solo)
(Guitar solo)
(slow bit)