So far, I know four acts which have qualified themselves for the final of Britain’s Got Talents. Two of them are dance groups and the other two are singing acts. I can’t say much about the dance acts; I’m not a big fan of dancing.
Susan Boyle was first to qualify after a soulful and stunning rendition of Memory for the musical Cats. It was even much better than ‘I Dream a Dream’ from Le Miserables, which she sang during the audition round.
Click here for Susan’s rendition of ‘Memory’ and here for ‘I Dream a Dream’. Did you notice the audition video has attracted more than 63 million viewings on Youtube? And that does not include the viewings from other sites and it was reported that hundreds of million of viewings took place, which is apparently an internet record.
Shaun Smith qualified from the second semi-final show, after being saved by the judges. He sang ‘With or Without You” by U2. I thought his audition was much better than this.
Click here for Shaun’s version of ‘With or Without You’ and here for ‘Ain’t No Sunshine’.
Jamie Pugh, who impressed the judges during his audition with the story of his stage fright, could not help himself to go to the finals. He was even told by Simon Cowell that he should realise that show business might not be for him.
I really hope a singing act wins the talent show. I would think there could only be so far that a dancing acts could go to.
I was bitterly disappointed with the game last night. There are a few things that bugged me:
1. Manchester United dominated the opening 10 minutes, but could not find the net. Yet, FC Barcelona scored on their first shot at the goals after 10 minutes.
2. Perhaps the players were marked doggedly and could not find much space to move, but the players were looking tired and performed well below par. Perhaps, some of them could have benefited from playing the last league game against Hull City?
3. When Manchester United were one goal down, they were playing defensively; which would have been fine if they were protecting their own lead, and played behind the ball all the time. There was no urgency to attack.
4. Many passes were wayward and inaccurate.
5. The defensive line of Manchester United were shaky all the time. Gone were the days of rock-solid defence. The defence last night reminded me of the blip that Manchester United had when they were beaten back-to-back by Liverpool and Fulham. The two Barcelona goals were the results of defensive lapses; no body marked and challenged Messi for that headed goal.
Without taking away much of the hardwork put in by Manchester United in the 56-odd matches season, it was still a season to remember. Put as a favourite to win the league in December, then had a blip in March, giving hope to other teams to catch up, and then the final run-in that saw them lifting the English Premier League trophy for the record-equalling 18th time, Manchester United still proved that they are the dominant side in English football. With many youg players coming through and the more senior players providing guidance, the team could only get better. And get better it will. Here’s for another title.
And, if I am asked to choose between a team that win the domestic league and lost in the Champions League final, and a team with a manager who is a sore and an ungraceful loser, I would still choose that the former.
And to those people who support the other teams and hurled abuse as Manchester United lost to Barcelona, please ask yourself where your team ended up at the final league table. It can’t be above Manchester United, can they?
In the early hours of the morning, the Champions of England and the Champions of Spain will meet at the Champions League Final at the Stadio Olimpic in Rome. Kicking off at 2.45am Brunei time, I shall be hitting the sack soon (it’s only 8.45pm now!) and I have set my alarm clock for later.
VS
Manchester United is hoping to defend the Champions of Europe title which they earned after beating Chelsea last year in Moscow. If they do, they will become the first side to win back-to-back European title.
Manchester United has been drawn as the away team and has opted for the white jersey. The last time these two sides met at the 1991 European Cup Winners’ Cup Final, Manchester United beat Barcelona 2-1.
They are going to be many great battles in this match, but none will be greater than the Messi vs Ronaldo battle. Will Ronaldo prove that he is the worthy World Player of the Year? Will Messi prove that he should have won that World Player of the year title?
Go on Manchester United. Go on to greater glory! Glory, glory Manchester United!
We received the N95-rated facemask a while ago, which was supposed to be used in case the Influenza A (H1N1 strain) spread in Brunei. So I guess I will use it one day for the haze.
During lunch today, we initially sat outside and we could actually see the ashes from the nearby forest fire floating about in the air. And air quality was definitely not good, so outdoor sports may not be a good idea. I’m sure if the forest fire gets worse, the Lumut-by-pass road might get closed. And if it does, it’s going to be a headache to commuters.
So whatever you do, please do not burn outdoors indiscriminately. The Earth is fragile enough as it is.
Many congratulations to a brother and his wife on the birth of their second child (who is also a boy!). He’s sharing his birthday with one of his aunts.
Facebook now has a nifty new ‘language’ that you might want to dabble with. Go and try use English Pirate. It is quite interesting to see how it changes your Facebook page.
Bulgemeister 