You made Mr. C mad. Very mad.

Very interesting night on Idol this rainy Saturday night. First notable change is that the idol logo is no longer distorted. See? It makes a difference if you hold the shift key when resizing. But that's only a minor thing. Cause what's more important tonight is the fact that Ryan Cayabyab dropped out of the Paula Abdul school of Idol Judging and decided to grow some fangs. There could be two reasons why we saw the new Mr. C. First, Tony Boy hired writers to write some spiels. Or second, he's really pissed about the voting results last week.

Given Mr. C's musical credibilty and seeing the horrors of last week's results show again on Ryan Agoncillo's video recap, I'm 99.9% sure that it's the second reason.

Ok, they are live again at the SM Megamall Idol theater and Ryan on his distracting white headset introduces the 12 girls who are fighting it out for the four top posts. Four positions that can only be given to people rich enough to buy prepaid cards finalists with the best mix of vocal talent and idol-worthy personality. HEY HEY HEY. Is that Ms. Trias I see? And is that Mikey Bustos right beside Ms. Trias? Then Ryan introduces the three judges who all came from their respective shrink sessions (complaining because they feel nobody's listening to them). And Mr. Cayabyab really just have to say it. He scolds the voters for voting for the wrong people. He begs for the voters to please listen to him.

ADVISORY: I am not equipped with any screencapping thingamajig so don't expect any screencap. But don't worry, I'll give you clues on what they look like so you'll remember who they all are all right? But if someone out there wants to donate screencaps, I'll be glad.

And now the rundown.

GAIL BLANCO (What's Love Got To Do With It)
LOOKS LIKE: This is not gonna help. She looks like my former officemate Sharon.
The Star in a Million season 1 minor player sings a Tina Turner song that leaves her gasping for air. For a first perfromance however, this is pretty decent cause we haven't seen the others (except of course if you follow them closely at I HEART Philippine Idol with no less than the apple of my eye, Heart). They still don't have voting instructions being flashed during the performance but they managed to invite families of the girls. I forgot FM's comments and Pilita being Pilita mentions something irrelevant. Mr. C who's still angry over Robert's semi-loss says the song ate lovely Gail up. Gail says Daghang Salamat and Ryan Agoncillo says he doesn't understand it making Juday retract her statement that Ryan Agoncillo is the most intelligent boyfriend she has ever had.
MY RATING: B for the song choice and for trying to start things up with a lively performance.

TING OTERO (Come In From The Rain)
LOOKS LIKE: Bituin Escalante
She didn't pass the fast tracks on her first attempt and she's ready to give the Diana Ross song an RNB twist. Very unfamiliar song, at least to me. Well she says thats exactly why she picked the song. But honestly, the girls seem to be better when it comes to giving [logical] explanations on why they picked their songs. Anyway, Ting screamed here and there, showed some vocal calesthenics. Scrap my first sentence. This episode seem to lack the spark that the guys generated during their performance night. Very boring night so far. But FM disagrees saying Ting should already have a contract. Pilita being Pilita praises her for being Bisaya and Mr. C wants Ting to join The Swan or Born Diva. Haha. Why do the girls all have these huge heavy earrings and necklaces?
MY RATING: B for the very jumpy personality and the spelling joke.

YNAH PANGAN (Halik)
LOOKS LIKE: A mime because of the white facial make up or whatever it's called. When she reaches the high notes, she tends to look like Gladys Guevarra.
Yehey! An AEGIS song. She says she picked this song for the masa. I think she's sincere cause changing your name from RINA to YNAH is very masa-loving. I'm sorry Ynah. You are out of tune for most parts. You didn't give the song justice, a song, which my friend said, can only be sung by mutants with 4 lungs like - the AEGIS vocalists. Oh God Ynah can't breath! But it must be different hearing the song live cause people seem to like it tremendously. FM likes Ynah for championing OPM. Pilita likes her too of course, dissing Kuya Germs and flirting with Ryan on the side. Mr. C says the song choice is a gamble but she wins. Ryan Agoncillo asks the people to vote for her and Ynah mentions the masa word for the 4th time.
MY RATING: B-. Nothing beats the real thing.

APPLE CHIU (Rhythm of the Street)
LOOKS LIKE: If there's a Gladys Guevarra, there must be a K Brosas
Who are you? Oh, it's Cherry. Why did you change your name? Cherry Chiu sounds better in my opinion. Is it uso? Did Cherrie Pie change her name already to Apple Pie Picache? She starts singing in the aisle right where SM Cinema guards light you up with a flashlight when you're carrying buckets of pop corn and you cant find a seat. Ok now Apple is one fo my favorites right from the auditions cause she's fun, different and she has a nice deep soulful voice. But personally, I don't like this very repititious song. Apple dances with camera-hogging Gian and Ken Ken slaps Gian. Gian in turn taps Ken Ken on his head. Apple gets confused and leaves the guys for the stage which she loves very much. FM says she doesn't like the song which is understandable cause it isn't rap. Pilita says the performance is very sexy and I agree with that. Mr. C doesn't like the song either. Apple says she picked the song because she likes the groove. I feel you. I like the groove of it too. But try to be more fun again next time.
MY RATING: A-. You are better than that.

JELLI MATEO (Bridges)
LOOKS LIKE: Donna Cruz/Miriam Quiambao
Very pretty and articulate Jelli explains eloquently why she picked the song. At first my expectations of Jelli weren't too high cause I thought they just placed her there to be the show's eye candy. But when she stars the song. she kinda emitted a Katharine McPhee vibe. Stunning presence, soothing voice. Her voice sounds beautiful when she's calm and focused. But the same McPhee quality messed everything up when she began hitting the high notes. After her song, Jelli's family hides behind the Jelli banner. Are they ashamed? Are they shy? FM mentions Jelli's shifting of languages and I didn't notice that there were Portuguese parts pala. Pilita, once again praises Jelli for something elese other than her singing and flirts with Ryan Agoncillo. Maybe they think this worked for the first time so they're doing it over and over again. Enough already. Not just because chairman Laguardia is busy watching encamped singers over there at Mother Ignacia doesn't mean you can just do that all the time. Think of something else. Mr. C notices Jelli's pitch problems. And Jelli says something very Miss Universe about her, owning the song for her country.
MY RATING: B. Practice pa.

IRA MARASIGAN (Mr. Melody, to Jasmine's delight)
LOOKS LIKE: Lea Salonga and her (Ira's) Mom
She wants something playful. Maybe singing while doing some hula hoops or piko on stage. Channeling Lea Salonga, the usually pretty Ira (who now looks very old) works the stage with her innate jazz flair...wait a minute. Not so much of the jazz flair because her scatting comes of as weak and slow. Then she performs a magic trick by singing on stage and sitting with the audience at the same time. Oh wait, that's her mom with the audience. Camera-hogging Gian flirts with the camera and Ms. Marasigan's operatic voice is on the verge of losing control. FM says somehting about Ira being cultured. Pilita notices Ira's blossoming. And Mr. C says Ira adds some class to Idol (and Ynah breaks down in tears. Kidding!) Ryan A. mentions Ira'a laryngitis, a very famous illness among Idol contestants around the world. Then Ryan says something about catching the IRA FEVER. Hmm Ok.
MY RATING: B. No need for Jasmine to be nervous.

THEN ABC LEAVES THE AIR TO SHIFT TO NORMAL CITY POWER.

And it's back.

POW CHAVEZ (Ikaw Lamang, Piolo version)
LOOKS LIKE: Spencer Reyes
So it's spelled POW as in the POW that kills all enemies on Super Mario Brothers 2. Pilita wants Pow to dress up to become Paula Tricia but Pow doesn't want to submit to Mamita's demands. Pow sings and wow, the competiton starts. Pow delivers the first performance with the spark. The wow factor. Pow's voice is full of emotions and it has a nice timbre to it and the people are going crazy. Juday is in tears (either because she was moved by Pow's post-performance crying or she's reminded that her teleserye just ended and she's jobless at the moment). The judges say nice things basicallay revolving around wanting Pow to wear girlier outfits.
MY RATING: A. Because.

STEF LAZARO (Home)
LOOKS LIKE: Missy Elliott
Nice deep voice. I'm a fan of female vocalists with deep smokey and sometimes raspy voices. The first contestant to successfully finish the song without sabits. If there were sabits, they're negligible. Hmmm. The energy kinda falls after Pow's performance though. So it's a powerful, yet lazy, "just-to-get-by" performance from somebody you're expecting more from. FM gives lukewarm comments. Pilita says she's seen her in Australia (She must be doing well at the Paula Abdul school of judging) and Mr. C serves her a very cold, "Nothing new."
MY RATING: A-. Good delivery but nothing new. (See Mr. C? I listen to you but don't force me to vote for Robert)

MAU MARCELO (Sweet Love)
LOOKS LIKE: Jinky Oda
Maureen Marcelo has seen Better Days. Now she's ready to try to kick Sarah Geronimo in the butt and grab the Jollibee YUM burgers she very much deserves in the process. At first I got confused caused I thought I heard she let go of her father's competition for Idol. Only after Ryan's post-performance pep talk did I realize that she'as actually talking about a petition. Anyway, eternally black-clad Mau is scorching hot with her pasionate and effortless singing which is not annoyingly overdone. FM says Mau is better than Fantasia and Jasmine reacts. Should she feel bad about that comment? Because Fantasia>Jasmine (ranking-wise) and If Mau>Fantasia, then Mau>Jasmine. Pilita says Mau is sexy. Then Mr. C dishes out one of his "you voters are so dumb" statement and gives Mau a standing ovation just so voters would notice that he wants Mau. Then Mau weeps.
MY RATING: A+, The first iPod-dable PI performance.

Patrick Dela Rosa is watching. So is Beth Tamayo.

EJ BAUTISTA (Paalam Na)
LOOKS LIKE: Giselle Sanchez in yellow curtain dress
The trouble with being put next to a nice performance is that you tend to lower the bar instead of raising it further. This is what exactly happened to EJ, an amalgam of AI finalists. Hearing-impaired (Elliott) EJ sings one of the immortal OPM love ballads and sadly, she didn't deliver. No wow. No chills. Just so so. Nothing spectacular. She looks stiff too. Maybe she practiced too much? Too controlled and staged. Lacks spontaneity and no element of surprise. But she can sing and I agree with FM that the singing is clean. Pilita brings up her being hearing-impaired again and Mr. C says the performance didn't excite him. EJ spells her name through sign language (Jim Verraros). Then everything could have been ok between sweet EJ and me until... she delivers her final message - in a song! (Paris Bennett) And her message is about Idol, being "Iba" and all those ABC-5 taglines. Annoying.
MY RATING: B-. Don't do the final message-singing again. Ever.

SUEY MEDINA (Almost Over You)
LOOKS LIKE: Juday/Jaboom Twins/Lyn Ching
She picks the Sheena E. song because many will relate to it. Nice. The Silk singer starts of very shaky and very nervous. Almost losing grip of her key especially when she moves, which is all the time cause she moves around a lot. (Then Gian manages to show himself on camera again.) But the good thing is, she took the song and made it her own (c) Paula Abdul. FM says she killed the song. Pilita says it's very good. Mr. C notices the great improvement and Jasmine is bored to tears.
MY RATING: B+ Kinda powerful but wobbly.

ARMS CRUZ (Superwoman)
LOOKS LIKE: A gypsy/Mara Clara's Lagring/Diana De Garmo
When Arms Cruz said she's singing Superwoman and she'd like to do the song justice, I laughed. you know. "Superwoman" and "justice" in one paragraph. I felt the song was too low for her. And her voice doesn't suit her personality. She's difficult to watch with all those movements and facial expressions. She points to the audience and finishes her song. FM says it's the best performance of the night. Pilita says Arms is a Superwoman and Mr. C says Arms delivered a solid professional performance. Jasmine's boredom meter crashes. And she probably likes to attack Arms now for looking like her old foe Diana.
MY RATING: B. Too old fashioned for me.

Recap and then the signal to vote. I'm voting for MAU, POW, STEF and APPLE. All of them gather on stage. Jasmine and Mikey discuss something about the contestants or maybe Jasmine's fingers. End credits roll. No predictions from the judges this time. They learned already.

And that's it for tonight's show brought to you by Angel Locsin-endorsed products.