~*~ Princess Siti Grint Welcomes You To Her World of Obsession ~*~

What's your name?
Princess Siti Grint (PSG): My name is Princess Siti Grint... okay, for real? It's Siti Hajar Bte Ahmad... You can call me Siti... I call myself Princess Siti Grint is because I'm a little cuckoo in the head... nah, cos it sounds nice, isn't it? Okay, so maybe just me...

Age?
PSG: I'm 22 years, 1 month, 20 days and blah blah blah hours and blah blah blah seconds... I'm too lazy to do the Math... I'm bad at it anyway... (laughs)

So that means?
PSG: Yeah, I'm born on 24th June 1984 at 6.00pm.

How did you know that?
PSG: Cos I look at my birth certificate, of course... like Duh!

What do you like to do?
PSG: I like to sleep... I mean, sleep has suddenly become a luxury to me... you know, working woman, busy and all… I also like to watch TV, watch movies, listen to music, read books... yes, I'm very “intellectual”... (sniggers)

What sort of books do you read?
PSG: Well, I love Harry Potter books… yeah, thanks to my friend, Arly… she introduced me to Potter… so now, I fall in love with Ron Weasley… he's my Weaselby… (looks dreamy)

Riiiiigggghhhhhtttt… so what else do you read other than Harry Potter series?
PSG: Well, anything really… I like mystery, thriller, killing-people sort of books… you know, like CSI… yeah, but I do read a bit of romance now and then… and sometimes I read those movie adaptation from books sort of books… yeah, like Brokeback Mountain, Jarhead…

Since you love to watch TV, what's your favourite TV series?
PSG: I like those sitcoms on Star World channel like “Yes, Dear”, “My Wife and Kids”, “Still Standing”… oh, and of course CSI... oh and Queer As Folk... BRIANNNNNNNN!!!!

Riiiiiggghhhhtttt... how about reality TV shows?
PSG: Nah, only Amazing Race and So You Think You Can Dance and Singapore Idol currently cos of Paul Twohill… I've boycotted American Idol after Chris Daughtry was voted out… They so need to fix those voting system of theirs… sheesh…

Ooookkkkaaaaayyyy, so what are your favourite movies then?
PSG: Harry Potter of course!

Other than Harry Potter?
PSG: (gets excited) Oooohhh, I love X-Men, Lord of the Rings, Johnny Depp's movies, Jake Gyllenhaal's movies…

Music?
PSG: I love rock… any rock will do as long as it's rock… Rock rocks my socks!!! Okay, that's lame…

Yeah… so, what are your favourite rock bands?
PSG: (staring daggers at interviewer) Don't have preference really… but I like 3 Doors Down, Nickelback, Panic! At The Disco, Franz Ferdinand, Greenday, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Coldplay, My Chemical Romance and all those classic rock bands like Guns N Roses, Scorpions, Queen…

Okay, so before we end of our interview, what do you have to say to your readers of your blog?
PSG: Thank you for voting for me…

???
PSG: What? Oh, sorry, it's not Singapore Idol… haha… okay, err, thank you for withstanding all my gushing and slamming at those haters and drooling over my obsessions… but really, what the hell do you expect from my obsession blog, eh?

Rupert Grint
Rupert Grint, or like to be known as Rupey or Rupe or Weaselby by Princess Siti Grint, was born on Wednesday 24th August 1988. That makes him 17 years, 10 months and blah blah blah days and blah blah blah hours and blah blah blah seconds. He was plunged into the world of movies and fame and stardom when he was only 11 years old acting as the very famous Ron Weasley (yes, not only Harry Potter is famous, so is his best friend Ron). After his brilliant role as Ron in the first Harry Potter movie, Philosopher's Stone, he was casted as the permed-haired young scientist wannabe in Thunderpants. As he grew up, more girls have been queuing up to propose to him (okay, so maybe just me). After rave reviews of his brilliant acting in Goblet of Fire (some said that he almost stole the limelight from Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson), he acted as Ben in Driving Lessons and the movie has been chosen to play in Tribeca Film Festival and Cannes Film Festival. Right now, he's shooting the fifth Harry Potter installment. Though Ron is very dorky and sometimes not so brave and can be quite an idiot and has an emotional range of a teaspoon, the only similarities between Rupert and Ron are fear of spiders and big family. Rupert is unique. He rode the unicycle and played the Australian aborigines instrument thingy called didgeridoo. If he's not an actor, I bet he'll be good in Cirque de Soleil. Haha! But he's like any normal teenager; he loves to build model aeroplanes and play golf (heard he's really good at it).
Famous quote from Rupert: “Being famous is wicked. But it's better to be normal.” (PSG's Note: Good on ya, Rupe!)
~ Info courtesy of Rupert Grint Fixation

Jake Gyllenhaal
You can say that Jake is one lucky chap. He's born on 19th December 1980 into a family of talented people; his father is Stephen Gyllenhaal (Director), his mother is Naomi Foner-Gyllenhaal (Screenwriter) and his sister is Maggie Gyllenhaal (Actress). His god-mother is Jamie-Lee Curtis and he was taught to drive by family friend, Paul Newman. He started as a child actor in City Slickers alongside Billy Crystal. Then he appeared in films such as Josh and S.A.M and Dangerous Woman. He then got his first starring role as Homer Hickman in the heart-warming story of an aspiring rocket scientist in October Sky (I cried my eyes out watching this movie). Later, he starred in other films opposite famous and well-respected actors like Dustin Hoffman and Susan Sarandon (Moonlight Mile); Chris Cooper (Jarhead and October Sky); Dennis Quaid (The Day After Tomorrow); Jennifer Aniston (The Good Girl); Anthony Hopkins and Gwyneth Paltrow (Proof); Jamie Foxx (Jarhead). Currently, he has done filming Zodiac as a cartoonist, Robert Graysmith who searched for an infamous serial killer in San Francisco (think Jack the Ripper). He has won accolades for his role in cult movie, Donnie Darko and Oscar-nominated movie, Brokeback Mountain where he starred as a gay cowboy named Jack Twist. He loves to cook (and good at it too!) and read. He loves Harry Potter (like me) and has named his two dogs Atticus and Boo after his favourite book, To Kill A Mockingbird.
Famous quote from Jake: “First, it's ‘Who is Jake Gyllenhaal?', then it's ‘Get me Jake Gyllenhaal!', then ‘Get me someone who looks like Jake Gyllenhaal!', and then it's ‘Who is Jake Gyllenhaal?'. Right now, I'm between ‘Who is Jake Gyllenhaal?' and ‘Get me Jake Gyllenhaal!'.” (PSG's Note: Right now, I think it's ‘Get me Jake Gyllenhaal!'. No more in betweens!)
~ Info courtesy of I Heart Jake

Paul Twohill
Paul is a 17-year-old Singapore Idol 2 contestant who has won many hearts of the young generation and also some girls with his emo-rock style and his wacky weird personality and some do like his weird wacky hairdo that is similar to Addams Family. Addams Family or not, he has the talent so much so that he's now through to the Top 12 of Singapore Idol 2. Before he stepped into the limelight, he was in Catholic High School where he was in a rock band named Ecnerret (Terrence spelled backwards) and has won Catholic High Music Awards 2004 in the rock band category. So far, in the competition, he has sang 3 Doors Down's Here Without You and made one female contestant cried and another male contestant to vote for him 3 to 4 times and not thought for one second to vote for himself. Even though he's wacky, loves to laugh at the peanut butter jar at his home and wants to rampage Toys R Us if the world ends tomorrow, his personal goal in life is quite a serious matter: “Make it big one day doing what I love.” And not just that, one of the things that will make him nervous is “when my voice is having a real bad day because I start to feel that I won't put up a show that is up to standard.” Another one thing to know about him: He has three Friendster accounts now cos two of his accounts has reached the maximum limit of 1000. That's how many friends and fans he has. And he has a fansite made for him by Arshanti at Paul Twohill Fansite.
Famous quote from Paul: “You smell pretty!” (PSG's Note: Aww, thank you Paul! I bet you smell pretty too, though you're somewhere in Singapore and I'm somewhere in Singapore too and we're both quite apart. Heheh!)
~ Info courtesy of Singapore Idol

Gale Harold
You can say that Gale is my inspiration. Unlike most actors and actresses out there, he started acting late at the age of 28. He was born on July 10, 1969 in Georgia, US of A, which makes him a Cancerian like yours truly. Whoopie! Before he started acting, he was a carpenter and loves and restores Italian motorcycles. Wahey, I love motorcycles too! When he was younger, he acquired a diploma and under a soccer scholarship to begin a Liberal Arts Degree in Romance Literature at American University in Washington , D.C. However, because of some “creative differences” with his coach, he left the capital to study Fine Arts at San Francisco Arts Institute. However, that didn't last long too cos he squandered his academic scholarship and forced to make other plans. Oh Gale! Since he loves Italian motorcycles so much, that led him to several years of restoring and pants-set mechanics with Moto Guzzi motorbikes. So, you're probably wondering: “Man, when will this guy start acting?” Well, you don't have to wait for long cos in 1997, on the brink of financial exile from San Francisco , he was urged by his compatriot Suzy Landau, producer for Francis Ford Coppola (Dracula & Tucker) to take his act to the stage. After being introduced to actor and director Joan E. Scheckel, he re-located to Los Angeles , beginning an intensive 3-year period of dramatic study and exploration. This led him to his theatrical debut as Bunny in Me and My Friend. He also made his feature debut as Booker in 36K. Then he was accepted and completed the Actor's Conservatory Program with A Noise Within classical theatre company. There he appeared in productions like Misanthrope and Cymbeline. Then, he got his breakthrough role as the unapologetic and brutally honest gay Brian Kinney in Queer As Folk which made me love him. Currently, he's acting in Vanished alongside Ming Na as Agent Graham Kelton.
Famous Quote from Gale: “You have to like your character, because if you don't, no one else will either.” (PSG's Note: Wahey, that surely works cos no matter how bitchy Brian Kinney is, I still love that guy! Other than the fact that he has nice ass and very sexy! Hahaha!)
~ Info courtesy of Brian Kinney.Net

Singapore Idol – What’s The Diff?

Singapore Idol has ended its six-month long running of, well, finding its Idol. People have shed tears for, jeered at and laughed along with all the contestants. And so, we have all known who has taken that very ‘prominent’ title – 23-year-old Taufik Batisah. He had beaten 11 other Idol wannabes, such as the likes of Jessea Thyidor, Beverly Morata and Olinda Cho. And of course, the Ah Beng rocker wannabe, Sylvester Sim in the Grand Finale.

1.1 million votes were cast within the two-hour period given to fans and viewers, which is quite a feat, I must say. I didn’t know that Singapore Idol would be given such a good reception, looking at how critics have bashed our local ‘talents’. Many Singapore Idol fans were glued to the TV set every Thursday and Friday to see who faltered at their performances and who got voted out.

But on Wednesday, December 1st 2004, everyone was glued to the black box to witness Taufik and Sylvester battled it out head-to-head, or should I say, throat-to-throat, to see who will claim that title of the first Singapore Idol. Including Apeks and Nyonyas and those who have never watched any episodes of Singapore Idol before and thought that the show was silly. For once, other than National Day Parade, Singaporeans joined together to watch the ultimate throat war between Ah Beng and Ah Mat. Who would reign? Rock or R&B? Well, you know the answer already or should I say it again? No, I don’t think so.

Taufik sang the classic Superstition by Stevie Wonder, the soulful Me & Mrs Jones by Billy Paul and original composition of I Dream for Singapore Idol. As I always do, I was blown away by his performances. I could see that Taufik put everything on the line that night. He has made Stevie Wonder proud by doing Superstition though I felt that it was a little shaky maybe because he was the first performer and it was his first time performing in front of a 7,800-strong crowd. But after the first performance, he was like a smooth charmer all over again. His R&B, gospel-like version of I Dream was so beautiful that I felt like crying and I could sense a Fantasia Barrino in the song. When I heard the song, I dreamt of hearing it on radio stations all over the nation. The soulful Me & Mrs Jones has suddenly became so sexy that female fans were all screaming for him and wished they were Mrs Jones. Well, I certainly do! Taufik has done justice to the song. His version was much, much better than American Idol’s finalist’s George Huff’s version. George Huff’s was messy and you don’t really know where the rhythm was but Taufik chill out and did really well. Like Ken Lim said, he’s not a very good performer. He’s an exceptional one! He deserved the title of Singapore Idol.

Meanwhile, Sylvester sang Bon Jovi’s It’s My Life, Jay Chou’s An Jing and the original composition of I Dream. If I was blown away by Taufik’s performances, I was smacked down by Sly’s. I don’t know if it’s me or my eyes. But did I just see Sly carrying the microphone stand all over the stage singing a terribly flat It’s My Life a la Jon Bon Jovi. I know the fans would be writing death threat letters to me by now but you can’t fool a ‘Minah Rocker’ (that would be yours truly). I love Bon Jovi although I don’t have all their CDs but I enjoy every performance they do and I certainly know how Jon Bon Jovi performed on stage and one of them is the carrying-microphone-stand-one. And the most shocking part is that the judges started throwing nice and sweet comments to him. Are they toned-deaf? Because I think they do! Don’t they hear the flat notes? Because I do! I’m not the only one. My friends too! One self-proclaimed rocker fan said it was monotonous! Where is the fire of energy that you always see in rock performances? I don’t see any! Are they trying to be good just because it was a Grand Finale? Where was the honesty? I thought they were fighting places for being Singapore’s very own Simon Cowell. I don’t think Simon Cowell will be a liar even if it’s the Finals. He doesn’t give a damn about that! Anyway, if he was trying to be Jon Bon Jovi in the first song, he was trying to be Jay Chou in the second one! I find it strange but did I just hear a hint of Jay Chou in his voice? Although I have to say that his Chinese diction was clearer than Jay Chou, as sometimes I can’t even make up what Jay Chou was saying, and I liked the song. Sly’s version of I Dream was very 5566. Compared to Taufik’s, which has more soul and bounce into it, Sly’s was more pop with arms-in-the-air-waving-side-to-side-kind-of-pop. Very Chinese and very boyband. But I sensed the honesty and sincerity in the song, which was a plus to him after all the criticisms that I had hurled before.

As a winner of Singapore Idol, Taufik has won a one-year contract with Sony-BMG and three-year contract with Hype Records Artiste’s Network. As a runner-up, Sly should have won himself a three-year contract with Hype Records Artiste’s Network. But, my oh my, if you think Jessea Thyidor’s elimination instead of Jerry Ong was a shocker, this will be a heart attack. Sly just got himself a one-year contract with Sony-BMG as well! So, now may I ask? What is the difference between Taufik and Sly? Is it just the title of Singapore Idol? What if Taufik didn’t win the title and is the runner-up instead? Would he be given the same treatment as Sly? Or would he be pushed into Suria instead just like the very talented Hazrul Nizam who, by the way, was in the audience wearing white to show his support of Taufik? What lies ahead for the soul man Taufik then? You want to know the answer? I’ll tell you the answer – NOTHING!

That’s what MediaCorp always do to non-Chinese budding stars. Not that I’m being discriminating. But somehow, Singapore Idol has not only opened my eyes to how many great talents this small nation has but skin colour being a factor in the voting. Taufik vs Sly has been dubbed as Malay vs Chinese. Almost many Chinese voted for Sly. Only a minority of them went for real talent and voted for Taufik, whom the Malay community was gunning for.

During the press conference after the Grand Finale, Sony-BMG and Hype Records Artiste’s Network gave a thorough description of what they have in store for Sylvester. But what about Taufik? What do they have planned for Taufik? Or are they just leaving him alone in the dust? This is getting really ridiculous. I know Sylvester has a mass appeal. He’s popular among the Chinese tweenies and teens. But one question: Does he have the talent? I give you an excellent example: F4. ‘Nuff said.

Singapore has chosen Taufik as its Idol. Taufik has his legion of devoted fans – whether it’s Malay, Chinese or Indian; whether it’s tweens, teens, young adults or elders. So, shouldn’t he be given the same treatment as Sly? Doesn’t he deserved the same as a Singapore Idol? Does it matter if he’s Malay?

For those who didn’t pay attention in History class, let me refresh your memory about Singapore. Singapore was known as Temasek (which is an old Malay word for lake) in the past. It is an island of Malay community with their very own royal kingdom – a Sultan (king), a Permaisuri (queen) and everyone else that is involved in the royal chain.

So, isn’t it great that you have a very talented Taufik Batisah as your Idol? He will do us proud in the world stage. Others around the world will see that Singapore does have talent – in Taufik! I believe he’s a triple threat – he can sing, dance and act. That’s something to show to the world.

Taufik is also an Idol to many young people out there. Other than being talented in singing, he’s a one smart lad too! He has a Diploma in Maritime Engineering from Singapore Polytechnic and he had topped his class in primary and secondary schools. He is always determined to do his very best in everything that he does. He pushed himself to the best of his abilities. He never faltered when criticisms were thrown at him. Instead, he took them as a stepping-stone to do better for himself. He never once gave up. Religious-wise, during the competition, he was determined to complete the month of Ramadhan even when his schedule was hectic and most people would give up on fulfilling the holy month. Only once did he not fast as illness got the better of him. He also never once not pray five times a day even though he had to hide in one corner to accomplish God’s wishes. Taufik is an Idol to many young Singaporeans – not just in singing but in everything that he is; whether it’s education or personality. We should take him as our role model. The world needs more people like him – hardworking, persistent, smart, and never gives up on his dreams. Well done Taufik for still being a humble person despite all the success that he had!

With all the blabberings that I have done above, I would like to announce to all of you out there to buy Taufik Batisah’s debut album, which will be out on December 20 2004! It’ll be a damn good one I assure you! The soul man is in the house!

Yours truly,
Siti Hajar Ahmad

Princess Siti Grint is feeling obsessed on 2004-12-04 at 10:43 p.m.

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