Sunday, March 30, 2008

Malaysian Dreamgirl - Ep 8



Episode 8 is out and the girls have to do a photo shoot that shows them being fun and happy in the company of their friends.

Before that, they also had a catwalk in Genting for 3 different brands. From what I could see from their catwalk styles:

Adeline - she isn't centred enough. By moving and swaying her shoulders too much, her walk became a little sloppy!

Cindy - her walk in the sportswear is pretty laid back. I would think that it needs to be strong and vibrant for sportswear to bring out the life of the outfit. In the dress outfit, she tried to put on an air of sophistication but it just came out with her looking arrogant! Sigh~ she needs to figure out that holding her chin up all the time just makes her look stuck up!

Eyna - she always captures attention but her sportswear walk was looking a little too casual.

Hanis - Not a bad walk in the dress but could see her mind thinking and concentrating during the sportswear bit.

Jay - she needs to SMILE!

Nadia - love it! She exudes an aura.

Ringo - her personality shines through her catwalk and you can tell that she is friendly and a cutie!

(Disclaimer: As I could only see seconds of what was shown in the website, their walk could have been different in reality! Haha~ as we all know what editing can do!)

Now, on to the photo shoot.

Ringo

The first picture looks great and really cute. Second picture looks a little weird (the hair messed it up!). 3rd and 4th are ok! The photos are good overall but not special enough.


Nadia

Love the 1st and 4th picture. Overall, good but doesn't stand out.


Jay

She doesn't have the most feminine or cute face so she really needs to push this to make it work. Her photos this week isn't good. Especially the second one, her face looks like it's contorted to side. Her smile and eyes doesn't reflect happiness and enjoyment either!


Hanis

LOVE this! Fun, friendly, happy and young! She got the look and feel of it. Her second picture is the best, it is simply amazing and definitely makes people stop for more than 5 seconds! She nearly took "winning photo" of the week but her jagged teeth just spoiled it a little.


Fiqa

Love this girl but sadly, her photos came out looking just ordinary. She needs to show more personality.


Eyna

This is a tough photo shoot for her as she is naturally quiet and not the smiley outgoing type. For someone who takes FAB photos, this one doesn't work.

I still forgive her, one bad photo week is expected but as she has consistently been in the bottom 5, not sure if she can survive. Please VOTE people!


Cindy

What can I say! She takes "winning photo" of the week.

Amazing, amazing! Her second picture wins it for me. Great eye contact and smile. She did the whole slight turn to the side angle which worked brilliantly for her. Jay did the same thing but it ended up looking more like a smirk. Everything about it is just perfect, her smile, her make up! I can't help but keep staring at the picture.

Kudos to her!

Adeline

Cute but not special enough!

That's my take on Episode 8. Till next time.

Malaysian Dreamgirl - Ep 7


Episode 7 was about the girls going for a day session on applying make up. Other than that, it seems to be a b*tching session on Cindy by almost all the girls.

Seriously, If you're on TV, you don't want to be bitching about someone else. Doesn't look good and it will come back to haunt you. I mean, after all the hoopla on what Ringo did, you gals are doing it again!



Oh well, this episode ended up being giving a MAJOR spotlight to Cindy AND people love interesting characters like that when it comes to reality shows. I think that Cindy might be in MDG for quite some time yet.

Funniest bit on this episode was when Cindy called home to talk to her dad. She didn't like how her dad kept going on about asking her not to cry soo much and just went, "I'm not talking now, I'll call you again tomorrow". Haha!

Another thing that annoyed me a little was when it was mentioned that Cindy puts on an accent when the cameras are around. Well, it annoys me too when someone is faking it, but there are also people out there who are overseas that do have to change their accent a little when they speak to say the angmohs! If not, there is no way that those angmohs can understand what we are saying.

I know that I do that too and my Malaysian accent becomes stronger when I am speaking to Malaysians. So, without really knowing Cindy too well, I'll give her the benefit of the doubt on that (although the accent that she used for her video profile definitely sounds fake)!

Friday, March 28, 2008

The end of a chapter

Today is my last day at a place known fondly as the "green dot" where I have worked for the past few years. It's quite surreal and it hit me after the farewell party that I am no longer an employee there.

Thank you to all you guys out there who gave me presents and well wishes at the farewell party and throughout the day. It was truly memorable.

I will now begin a new chapter by being officially unemployed!

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Bedz of the Future!

Once in a while, I like to dream and check out furniture and home decor. It's nice to sometimes dream of what you want in a home of your own. Came across some extremely amazing beds at fresh home. Check out their description on the beds. Simply amazing!



A bed combined with a book house that looks like a house of its own.

A bed that you store on the ceiling and pull down when you want to sleep. It looks really elegant!


A rocking bed?

A bed in the office? I like!


A nice centrepiece in the living?

Love this...

Swinging bed?

Is that a pie?

Worried about falling off the bed?


Floating on air!

Monday, March 24, 2008

Malaysian Dreamgirl - Episode 6

After the first elimination, reality seemed to have hit the girls a little more that this show is ultimately still based on viewers' votes. You can see that they are all making a concerted effort now to engage the camera.


From what I can tell, there seems to be 1 or 2 girls that are not well liked by the rest. It seems that they show a different personality when the camera is around or are being two-faced? This is expected in a reality show but it is always interesting to see who they are.

I could be entirely wrong here but from the bits and pieces of information given out by the girls, I think that they could be talking about Natasha and Cindy.




Natasha and Alison were eliminated in the last round. With Natasha, even though she takes good photos, I don't think she necessarily have the looks to be a successful one. From her post elimination chat, I get the impression that she isn't fully interested in becoming a model. It seems to be more of her aunt's idea than hers. I guess then that others who put their hearts into this should deserve a better chance.

With Alison, she didn't really stand out much at the times that the camera was on her, that could perhaps explain why she might not leave as much of an impression as the others. With reality shows like this, you really need to show your personality and stand out to be remembered. Most Malaysian girls tend to be really polite which doesn't reflect your personality on screen. You need to remember to show people who you are, being quiet and giving "lembut" answers isn't going to work and get people to vote for you.

Hence, even though I am not a huge fan of Cindy but she talks and she shows her presence on screen (whether you like it or not)!

With this week, the girls had to do a photo shoot that runs through the night. It is titled "precinct" and is meant to display a masculine look and feel. I am going to start something new and will choose a photo from each shoot that I think is the "Winning Photo" or "Photo of the week".


Adeline

Totally disappointed with this shot of Adeline. The pose that she chose does not flatter her at all and doesn't show off the clothes and what the shoot is trying to achieve. You can tell that her eyes are strong and it would have been better if she was looking straight at the camera. It would have made a better photo.

Cindy

This one isn't working either. The angle of her face just doesn't seem right. If she turned her face slightly more to face the camera and perhaps extend her pose more to the front than to the side, it would look more masculine. I ended up looking more at the background instead of her (which should have been the focus)!

Eyna

Totally love this photo. It just grabs your attention for more than 5 seconds when you look at it. She has a questioning look but it works for her. She also manages to place her face at an angle that flatters her and with a pose that accentuates her body line and figure. Her pose also brings out an understated sexiness to the masculine clothes that she's wearing. Thus, she manages to pull off the masculine look while showing a feminine sexiness at the same time. All attention is definitely on her instead of the background in the photo.

Was a close call to getting the "Winning Photo" for the week.

Fiqa

Good photo but it lacks something. Her expression and her eyes just needs to be a little stronger. At the moment, I can't tell what direction is she trying to go with: sultry? cool? confused?

Hanis

Good pose and look but it's not standing out. She needs to come out a little stronger in the photo. Assert a little more aggressiveness. Modeling requires a little acting and even though she has a softer, feminine personality, she needs to portray something different for this shot to work.

Jay

This works! The pose is good, she's displaying the clothes well. Even though there isn't a masculine feel to it but you can sense a feeling of angst coming from her which works too. It's probably coming from the after effects of the elimination where she just lost Alison.


Nadia

I like what she said about acting to bring out what the clothes and aim of the shoot is. She spoke well and is beginning to show her competitive side which is a good change to the crying that was shown of her in the previous episode.

This shoot displays her in a side profile but has a laid back feel to it which works for her. Even though it's a side profile and she has a hat which could have potentially covered her face, she angled her face in such a way that you can still see her whole face (very important as you want people to know who you are) and the photo and her personality still comes out strong but not too intimidating. Funny how it takes a photo which doesn't show her eyes to result in a photo that isn't too fierce.

Ringo

She takes the "Winning Photo" title this week.

Why? The entire focus of this photo is on her. She seems to have improved as well and is able to bring a different side to her into this shoot that is different from her own personality.

The photo comes out strong, she looks totally different and is totally selling the outfit and shoes. I immediately feel like buying whatever that she is wearing. Even though her clothes are more feminine that the other girls, she still manages to bring a masculine feel to it while keeping it sexy in a modern preppy way.

The fact that I couldn't recognise her straightaway shows that she is growing and improving and able to bring different looks. My surge to want to buy whatever she is wearing has just fulfilled the advertiser's dream, her photo wins it.

Valerie

Really disappointed with this shot. I love Valerie but this photo just doesn't work. Her leg is at a weird angle, she is slouching and she seems lost in thought or in another world. Where is your focus? If she straightens her back more and just shows off the clothes proudly, this pose would have worked for her.

Click here to watch Episode 6.

Till next time, adios.

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Fancy a house in Newcastle?

During my recent trip to Newcastle, I came across some interesting information and just had to check it out. So after work, I convinced my colleague to do a little scouting with me.

We found ourselves at this suburb and it was just amazing! The sea at your doorstep and you can see people hang gliding.


Even the birds are hang gliding. TeeHee!

Even though it was a hot summer's day, the breeze from the sea is strong and cool! It's literally 5 minutes away from the city centre and you can enjoy the sun, sea and surf. It was amazing, I see people walking their dogs, jogging, having all sorts of water sports and it just felt really relaxing!


The houses are huge and modern.



Well, expect to pay at least $2 million for a house here. I just couldn't believe it. Newcastle is like 3 hours away from Sydney and yet the houses can costs as much as those in Sydney.

Now, I can see why after checking out the suburb, but is the price tag worth it? You pay to same price but in terms of amenities and entertainment, Sydney definitely offers more.

Friday, March 21, 2008

Malaysian Dreamgirl - Episode 5

We're up to Episode 5 of Malaysian Dreamgirl. It's starting to get interesting with a dash of drama, tears and eliminations thrown in. The girls had their second photo shoot which was a lingerie shoot.

We were shown the conversations of some girls that they have when they get to call home. Something I noticed from the episodes watched thus far, some of it just seems to be fillers and it does drag at times. Something that the editing team and producers need to ponder on.

Adeline

I like her. She has the height, the bone structure and can take really good photos. Only non plus thing about this photo is the way she placed her legs, not too glamour-ish!


Alison

This is not a good photo and the particular posture that she chose is hiding the clothes. If you're modeling the lingerie, you shouldn't be hiding it? Food for thought!


Cindy


This came out really well (better than expected after her crying fit about how badly she went). Didn't understand why she was crying after the photo shoot though, in fact she seems to be crying a lot in the show. She looks a little expressionless though - where is the sexy?



Eyna

Her makeover makes her stand out even more! It really emphasises her features and her presence. She is definitely a dark horse. She is starting to catch my attention as the show progresses. A quiet one, but when she walks on the runway like the fashion show they did at 1 Utama, she just grabs attention. Definitely one of my favourites, although she was in the bottom 5 during the eliminations! Oh no...


Fiqa

She's another one that is sort of half hiding the clothes. Her new hair cut really shows off the slenderness of her neck.


Hanis

Too safe, too boring!


Jay

Some of the girls all seem to be doing this pose.

Jean

I absolutely love this girl. She's so sweet and yet she can change and look sexy when needed. She's articulate and speaks well. Not just some "lembut" comment that others say. I was rooting for her. Why did she have to leave the show!
You'll definitely be sorely missed!



Nadia

Strong is what I can say about her. She understands her body and knows how to use it well in photoshoots. As said in the show, she just needs to control her facial expressions and tone it down a bit. Sweet girl who loves her boyfriend very much from the few minutes that was shown of her speaking to her boyfriend. Didn't think we as the audience needed to see those few minutes though.

Natasha

Good photoshoot. Hers is one of the few that uses a side profile and yet shows off the clothes to its fullest while showing her body proportions in a positive light.


Ringo

What can I say? She definitely caused a bit of controversy with the post she did on her blog. She shows off the lingerie well (including her own assets) while giving the photo a slightly sweet look which suits her personality.

Valerie

She has this sweet and quirky personality that is just really endearing and it shows in the photos. With her new haircut, it really emphasises her large eyes.

The last 10 minutes was on the elimination. There was only Sazzy Falak and the girls. While she was talking about the photos of each girl, you can't actually see it. That is just bad! And where were the judges? It would be good to hear what the judges have to say as well.

We now have 3 girls gone. Two of my favourites, one being Jean has left and another Eyna is on shaky ground. Hopefully, she starts showing more of her personality and gets to stay longer.

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Malaysian Dreamgirl



I am a HUGE fan of reality TV and who hasn't heard of America's Next Top Model! Malaysia has decided to come up with their own version known as 'Malaysian Dreamgirl". The twist to it is that this will be shown entirely online. Yes, that's right, online and not on TV.

I was extremely impressed and proud that such an innovation was made in Malaysia. Being aware of the fact that most people have internet and possibly surf the net more than they do with the TV. Showing it online also expands it to a wider audience rather than just in Malaysia. It also allows the watchers to watch it anytime in their own time.



I was happily watching the 3rd episode where the Top 12 girls are getting a makeover. Imagine my surprise when I noticed that the hairstylist happened to be none other than Shawn, the hairstylist that I have been with since I was in high school! He is fantastic and I have been a loyal customer for at least 13 years!

Check out Malaysian Dreamgirl, it's worth the watch!