Round of 7: Dance Night finds Jan, Apple sizzling

It’s another exciting evening of Philippine Idol, and it kicks off in grand style with a pumped-up rendition of Sumayaw Sumunod. Ryan Agoncillo introduces us to the theme of the evening – dance music – then the guest judge, Regine Tolentino, who sashays onto the judge’s seat to Lady Marmalade. She says she’ll be commenting on the overall package – confidence – because she’d rather leave the singing comments to Ryan and Mamita. Oi vey, to add to the tacky, we’re introduced to the G Force Dancers, who are set to dance with the Idol finalists.

“Hunky Idol” Jan Nieto runs us through his slumbook, and we learn he’s into sports, ice cream, and a rendition of Ricky Martin’s Living La Vida Loca. He starts it out fully clothed, and ends the song sans jacket and sunglasses (at night), revealing a black sleeveless body-hugging shirt (Pilita’s eyes popped out of their sockets). Jan doesn’t seem to bring anything new to the song, copying Martin’s favorite song-ending pose. Vocally, he sings in tune, but there’s no heart to it – it’s singing by numbers. On the bright side, kudos to Jan for keeping himself in pitch and tune despite the moves; the tendency to go off-pitch rises significantly as a person gets more and more out of breath, and it’s a testament to Nieto’s fitness that he pulls off the song without a bum note.
Pilita: Ang galing-galing mo, Jan Nieto! Gusto ko sanang pumuta dyan at sumayaw. (At this point, Pilita runs up to dance for a while with Jan). Very good! Do something different, something they haven’t done before, and
Regine: Alam ko kinakabahan ka and you blew me away. I love you! Powerful, sexy, and you really delivered.
Ryan: Tonight, I knew it was gonna be this noisy and fun. What I did was ask the producers to give me a CD of your rehearsals. Jan, nakakaloka. Very unexpected, keep up the surprises.

“Power Idol” Pow Chavez likes badminton, Justin Timberlake, and Anne Hathaway. She plunges straight into Cheryl Lynn’s Got To Be Real. Pow, wearing a funky outfit featuring a leopard-skin polo and leather jacket, rips into the 70s chestnut with a lot of bravado, and despite a few bum notes, pulls this one off decently.
Regine: I’m glad you listen. You were awesome. That wasn’t my favorite song before, but it is now because of you.
Pilita: I knew that Pow could dance. I think the skirt is getting longer.
Ryan: You have to start reinventing yourself. There’s nothing new, nothing better tonight. It’s getting to be pretty old. I think you gotta do something else next time.

“Idol Heartthrob” Miguel Mendoza’s favorite color is apple-green (hmm!), and enjoys skydiving and scuba-diving. He sings the Pasadena’s Make It With You, a swing favorite, and he takes it to town with a sparkly blue jacket on top of a blue shirt and jeans. Miguel’s energy and enthusiasm is quite high, but his pitch is waaaaaaaay off tonight.
Pilita: Are you nervous? You were shaking. For me, you feel more comfortable singing a ballad, am I right? It’s nice to see him doing something different, but mas gusto ko when he’s singing something different.
Regine: He’s feeling it now, unlike with rehearsals. Ang galing! For me, when I saw the overall performance, I think everything was okay, but I think there were some moments na medyo pa-girl, medyo hindi macho ang movement na iyon.
Ryan: It was a bad song choice. You saw what the others have done, what they could do. You saw how hard they worked. The song choice didn’t do much for you. It was neither here nor there, nothing interesting. Miguel, you have to choose better songs.

“R&B Idol” Ken Dingle tells us that he was born in the year of the pig, is fond of chocolate, and admits he’s emotional. He decides to work on Stevie Wonder’s Signed Sealed Delivered - one of my personal favorites – and I didn’t have high hopes for Ken, especially after seeing the ridiculous purple boa and black/white horizontally striped pants. He certainly ripped into the song with a lot of energy, and, save for the horrific outfit and some kulotations , it was a more-than-decent performance – his second straight.
Regine: I had fun dancing. I would’ve wanted to see more dancing. I’m not so sure, overall performance, kasama dyan ang outfit. I don’t get the outfit. Overall, I think it was a lot of fun.
Pilita: I enjoyed it very much. It seems this is the type of song he would love to sing and make kulot. I liked it.
Ryan: From last week’s performance, you gathered tremendous confidence. That’s what I want to see. I don’t want a brooding personality whenever he performs; I want somebody whenever he/she performs, and I liked it.

“Disco Idol” Mau Marcelo likes adobo, Jericho Rosales, and Queen Latifah. Lau picks Diana King’s Shy Guy, a favorite show band song, and for once, poor Mau gets swallowed by the song, and not in a good way. We can’t understand her words, she reused some of her moves from the Beyonce song she did in Round 2, and, well, it was just a forgettable performance.
Regine: I encouraged her to reinvent herself. When you’re on the stage, you’re like a diva, your moves are there, your face has that ex-factor. Overall, if you look the part. When you’re at the diva level, you don’t laugh at yourself. Be a diva!
Pilita: I want to congratulate the dancers, they’re so wonderful! Mau, that song should be sang by someone who is sexy, slim, and tall. I’m still trying to find out if you would really like to become the Philippine Idol. If you want to be Philippine Idol, help your body!
Ryan: Mau, ikaw na yung pinakamagaling na singer ditto. Many of your fans like you the way you are, but I tell you – they’re right – if you want to be idol, you have to take your craft seriously, take movement seriously. It’s total performance.

Gian Magdangal (sorry, didn't get his idol nick) likes Robbie Williams, Garfield, and strawberry ice cream. Gian selects Williams’ Rock DJ, and, for a change, limits his dance moves, opting instead to go with the ‘cool rock star’ moves a la Williams, which works until he takes off his jacket and whirls it up above his head and grinds his hips like some stripper in a white polo shirt and a rosary. Ick. Vocally, pretty solid, as usual.
Regine: I expected you to dance more, and you use the whole stage, but this time, you didn’t do that. I liked your performance.
Pilita: I appreciated the fact that it was cool. The song, bagay sa iyo, the moves, you were just so comfortable. For me, your performance was the best of the night. Para sa akin lang. Good, nice, nice.
Ryan: Your performance was the counterpoint to everyone else’s. You were trying to be cool and small when everyone was trying to be big and energetic. For me, it was just okay.

“Sultry Idol” Apple Chiu likes Barbra Streisand, Chicken Little, and Miss Piggy. Apple rips into Lady Marmalade, using a wedding veil and tiara, which makes me think, actually, that someone got confused backstage at wardrobe, because the wedding shtick comes from Aguilera’s little fling with Britney and Madonna at the VMA’s, singing Hollywood. She ain’t no Aguilera, but her voice is as strong as ever.
Regine: I remember when we were in the studio, I said do everything fullout. Practice in your heels and outfit. Mas tingin ako as backup dancers mo. Don’t get me wrong, it was right on. I just wish I had seen more moves.
Pilita: Definitely, Apple has the look, the height, the body. You should have just let the pants fall. I enjoyed your singing.
Ryan: We are watching you, Apple, surprise us every week. That was a strong performance, very good. So, surprise us next week.

The judges pick Jan, Apple, and Gian as standouts.