Note: This write-up is orginally posted in the BlueHyppo Forum 2 days ago. Just decided to repost it here in Rentak Sejuta but I couldn't find a suitable thread.. perhaps this is the best spot I can find to share to share my views with all of you in Rentak Sejuta who always have brilliant opinions! What’s Going On?[/u]
Over the past 2 days, the temperature in the BlueHyppo forum has been boiling. Talks about Syafinaz Selamat, the well-know singer, vocal trainer and One in a Million’s judge are all over. More than 10 threads are created and specially dedicated to this confident and outspoken lady. Believe it or not… it seems like this is a record setting phenomena in this forum.
Looks like Syafinaz is not in a position where she is Selamat anymore. The judge who gained so much respect from the contestants, fans and tv viewers has just put herself in hot soup… but what happened? I have yet to say a word about this... and it’s about time… So, allow me to share my views here…
The good old days[/u]
Well, well… Syafinaz came into the show as a judge who is likable and respectable. With good reviews and comments by the insiders, I already looked forward to see how good Syafinaz is even before the show started. After watching the first few episodes, I am convinced that Syafinaz is indeed a very good judge. She is knowledgeable, give constructive comments and not afraid to speak up.
I was impressed with her confidence and ability to put up good arguments with Paul Moss. As much as people might dislike and disagree with Uncle Paul, we can’t deny that he is an excellent judge who’s honest and always raise up good points. However, Paul can be nasty at times and it’s good to have a person with strong charisma like Syafinaz to tame him down a little when his ego takes over him. I see Syafinaz as a great plus to the show… Together with Paul, they put up a good balance on the judging table. She totally earned my respect!
The turning point[/u]
That good impression and my perception towards Syafinaz started to change as she slowly reveals her true colours. At first I thought I’ll be seeing “Beauty and the Beast” on the judging table… but instead, I think what I’m watching now is “Beauty turns into a Beast”!
Week after week, Syafinaz has been showing how unprofessional she is as a judge. At first, some tough critics were alright. For the sake of entertainment, I was also fine with it when she argues with Paul at times. But hey, there’s always a limit.
As time goes by, I think she went overboard. The worst of her came out last week (the top 5 episode).I wonder what got into her. Has she lost her mind? She is not being fair and rational with her comments anymore. She has shown how rude and bias she can be! We’ve lost the Syafinaz that Malaysians look up to. Just look at the forum and you’ll see how many people are not happy with her now.
Syafinaz’s Singing[/u]
NO! I’m not going to comment on her singing. I know some people brought up this issue about her singing. I agree with some forummers who said that these are irrelevant points. You don’t have to be a good singer to judge who can sing and who can’t. Can Simon Cowell or Paul Moss sing? They can’t, but they are still good at judging and people listen to them. That’s because they have the experience, knowledge and are trained to lookout for great potentials.
We, as the viewers often share our views and comments on the contestants too! We do not necessarily need to be a good singer to do all that. So, to do a little justice on Syafinaz, I think it’s unfair for us to say that she’s a pot calling the kettle black. She can comment all she wants as long as it is accurate, honest and unbiased.
I appreciate her for bringing in her knowledge into this show but lately, it doesn’t look like she’s making good use of it. In fact, she is abusing the credibility the gained. Now, THAT is the problem!
The Never-Ending Judges’ Catfights[/u]
Okie, in reality shows like this, it’s normal to see judges having their differences. It’s normal to see arguments between the judges. We have seen a lot of that in Malaysian Idol, American Idol and so on…
As expected, we have the similar drama in OIAM. Since the audition stage we’ve seen how Syafinaz and Paul always have their never-ending arguments. At first, all these drama was fun to watch… it brings life into the show and I didn’t mind at all for the sake of entertainment.
However, what we are seeing now is a different story. Things are getting too personal. The fights are getting ugly to watch. I think Syafinaz overstepped the border. She loves making fun of Paul on national tv. At first, it was all fine… people just laughed about it. I think that eventually encouraged Syafinaz to continue making fun of Paul. She became arrogant (ghairah) and thinks that she’ll look good if she keeps on trying to make Paul look silly. At first it was teasing, and then it turned into insults! It’s not right to use words like “laki gatal” and “otak kuning” on Paul. Doesn’t she have some respect for her fellow judge? Have Paul ever insulted Syafinaz in such nasty way? Paul could have easily replied to Syafinaz but being a gentleman, he chooses to save his energy and 8tv’s airtime. Why can’t Syafinaz understand that and stop picking fights out of nothing?
Syafinaz will always end up shutting Paul off in BM… come on, that’s hitting below the belt! What a way to escape when she’s nothing else better to say! The worst of her came out last Friday night.. she became more big headed than ever when she had her fellow 'sista', Ning by her side. Knowing that Ning is with her, she took the advantage to make fun of Paul again!! If she thinks that people will like her more for doing that, I say she failed terribly.
I am sure we all don’t mind the judges arguing but at least show a little respect for each other. They gotta stop arguing unnecessarily!
Power of Judging being Abused[/u]
Now, here’s the problem. It’s not that people doubt Syafinaz’s ability to judge the contestants. It’s not that people think she’s not good enough to comment. People respect her for her knowledge but she has to make good use of it. Instead, she’s abusing her power as a judge.
Any of you watched the exclusive interview with Syafinaz on the OIAM official site? When she was asked, “what is the best part of judging?”… Syafinaz answered jokingly,”it’s like I’m playing god… life is in my hands!!”
You see, it may be a joke… but somehow, the thought is there. And as we can all clearly see, this is what she is doing now. She is manipulating the voters and the show with her bias comments. Syafinaz is given the trust to take up such important responsibility… She has to do what she has to do with fairness!
Instead of just judging, she also took advantage to indirectly criticize other artist on national tv. Her comments on Dayang’s “Gemilang” sounded like an insult to Jac. However, there’s nothing much we can say about this because Syafinaz might meant it in another way. Maybe what she meant was… Dayang does not necessarily need to do Jac’s version of Gemilang to sound good.
Whatever it is, only Syafinaz herself knows what she actually meant by that. If that comment was meant to insult Jac, that’s unacceptable!
Is Syafinaz Playing Favoritism?[/u]
I always love listening to what Syafinaz has got to say. It can be educational, right? But after listening to her comments week in and week out, I see that Syafinaz already has her mind set on what she is going to say to each contestants. It picture became clearly when she continuously gives comments that the contestants don’t deserve.
She has her favorites and some unfavorable contestants in her list. So, no matter what her favorites do, they’ll get good comments. Even when they don’t do well, she will make her comments sound nice and constructive. I pity those the others because no matter what they do, Syafinaz will only point out their weaknesses and pull them down. That’s what we call bias!
Her Favorites[/u]
1.
Dayang Nurfaizah – Obviously, her good friend, Dayang is always on top of her list. She has been over-rating Dayang since day 1. No matter how Dayang perform, I realize that Syafinaz will only find good things to say about her.
Some of her bias comments that I can remember…
Top 8 show: Dayang’s performance was not memorable but Syafinaz still praised her and said that she and Faizal are the ones who show that they really want the 1 million Ringgit.
Top 6 show: Syafinaz asked the crowd to give Dayang another round of applause after her performance. “Satu lagi tepukan untuk Dayang Nurfaizah!”. That’s very nice of her but is she doing it because it was a good performance or because it’s Dayang? I’ve never seen her giving others so much credit even when others come up with a better performance.
Top 5 show: Dayang’s Gemilang was not that good but she still has something good to say about it. Dayang’s had problem with her second performance but Syafinaz created excuse for her. She told Dayang, “okie! Blame the monitor!”
2.
Faizal Tahir – Syafinaz gives me the impression that she is attracted to Faizal… physically. I personally feel that sometimes her comments are influenced by her infatuation over Faizal. Faizal is good, no doubt about it. I like that dude! But syafinaz gotta start judging his PERFORMANCES properly and don't stress too much on his s3x appeal, his 'posisi'... and so on!
On the FenceLow Sook Yee and Alif Satar - Okie, I think she has been fair to these 2 contestants. There are positive, negative and constructive comments along the way.
The Victim Farah Asyikin – I feel that the biggest victim now is Farah. I don’t know what she has against Farah… is there anything personal? Syafinaz used mean words like “pontianak” and “menyampah” to describe Farah. I don’t know what’s going to be next.
I’m not pointing this out because I am a Farahnatic.. but because this is the truth. I just want to see fairness. When Farah did “Unfaithful”, it was full of emotion and some parts were really good. Why she didn’t even have 1 good thing to say about that? She said Farah should not be nervous while she can ask Dayang to blame the monitors. She said she didn’t feel the song… She must have no feelings or choose not to feel it.
The Bottom Line[/u]
This has been the hottest topic recently. If only a handful of people are showing their dissatisfaction, then maybe it’s the people’s mistake. However, Syafinaz couldn’t be all right when there are so many people, even the most mature and rational ones are joining the talk. It shows that there’s something wrong somewhere and people could not tolerate anymore. Syafinaz may have done what she has done intentionally or unintentionally. Whatever it is, damage has been done. I hope Syafinaz realizes all these and fix the problem before it becomes worse. I conclude that the Malaysians just want to have the loveable, respectable and professional Syafinaz back! *peace*