inspirations...

Saturday, November 13, 2004

this sounds sensible (: gonna be a loonngg one ah.
*got from SI forum. tahnks whoever u are.

There are so many issues here. I have been an observer for many weeks, and reading all the many comments in various posts just makes me want to step in and say my piece. This may be long, but they are about issues i think need addressing. If u feel its too long, just skip it, altho i think the issues are pertinent. One disclaimer: this is a GENERAL COMMENT on GENERAL ISSUES and not directed at anyone in particular.

Firstly, I kind of agree that while anti-sly fans ask for a reason why sly fans like sylvester, when they do get a reply, they usually (though not in all cases) don't accept the reason, and still say that sly supporters have given no reasons even though they have. There are and have been so many reasons given in this post and in so many others why sly-fans support him. Now whether you agree or not is a totally separate issue from what the reasons are. Are there reasons? Yes. Do you agree? Depends. Some anti-sly fans purport to be objective and fair, but the phrasing used and the tone of language does not give the air of objectivity. Some replys (for both sly fans and non-sly fans) are just asking for a rebutt from the opposing camp. If sly fans answer legitimate questions abt why they support sly and say "cos he's cute", sorry, even i will have an issue with that. If anti-sly fans just say endlessly "he ####s", it is also asking for a rebutt. Phrasing and tone of language is important here..."he ####s" vs "i don't like his singing/how he sings" are quite different. Afterall, we are expressing opinions...and yes while we are all entitled to our own opinions and strengths of convictions, some sensitivity, and definitely mounds of logic are in order - for both camps.

Secondly, the demographics of sly's supporters. I agree that there may be many teenagers supporting him. But time and again in this post and many others, and in the media and papers, people who are not in their teens are found to be supporting him. In my independent inquiry, many many non-teens support him - uni to adults and onwards. Therefore, yes, while many of his fans are teenagers, non-sly fans who continually say that his fans are immature, childish teenagers are seriously making a sweeping statement. I for one, am not a teenager, and certainly don't consider myself immature or illogical. So please be aware and take consideration before making sweeping statements.

Thirdly, why is there a disproportionately high number of anti-sly people compared to anti-whichever-other-idol people? Quite simply, the media coverage that has been heaped on him. Initially, the coverage was because sly was voted as people's choice. This makes him the perfect target of media hype and gossip because if he is the people's choice, who better to cover and make money from then sly? True enough as you have all seen, rumours galore have emerged. Pls remember that it is not by any choice of sly's that he gets the media coverage, so no one in their objective mind should criticise him for getting so much attention. As we have seen, some of it has worked against him. Realistically, its a game of dollars and cents. The media sees that he is popular, and so will use him as the centre of their stories and tabloids to make people buy magazines, etc. Also, as the media coverage develops, controversies begin to emerge, and especially because many people think that his fans are purely crazed teenagers, the rift between supporters for and against sylvester increases. It is an oft used argument that teenagers are senseless and illogical in their choices of idols and people who think themselves as beyond that stage in life or above such behaviour tend to shun idols who are supported by large contingents of teenagers. I personally have never chased or followed any idol in my life (this is very out of character for me to be writing this). However, I do think that we can just leave teenagers to do what they want, and that how they behave should not influence how we think and feel, nor should it affect our opinions on who we support. Somehow, there seems to be a taboo, a kind of social judgment, if we are known to support an idol that teenagers also support. People think that if you support an idol that teenagers adore, it makes you a bimbo, stupid, unsensible, etc. Not always true. However, probably as a result of this belief that sly has many insensible supporters and as a result of his high prominence relative to other idols making him an easy target, multitudes anti-sly fans have emerged and almost everyone has an opinion which usually lies on opposite ends of the spectrum - people tend either love him or hate him. This polarization, in my opinion, is really the result of media hype and skewed media coverage. I feel that it is quite unfortunate.

Fourth, the issue of versatility. In my opinion, it is quite clear from simple observation, that very few professional singers out there are truly versatile in the full sense of the word. Most singers tend to stick to one genre of music quite simply because everyone has preferences, and also because their voice tends to suit one type of music better than others (it doesn't mean they can't other types of music well, probably just means that relative to their pet genre, it won't sound as good). Nobody expects Norah Jones to do hiphop, nor expects 50 cent to sing smooth jazz. Everyone has a niche. And in fact you find in the music industry, those with clearly defined identities and genres (or maybe more than one genre but definitely not covering the full spectrum of genres, and usually the genres are closely related) tend to do better in the long-run, and tend to develop a large following of their own. Truly, the jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none thing applies here I feel. Therefore, I feel that while sylvester has his own musical preferences, we should not hold that against him. I believe that when the competition is over, he will stand out as the most successful, even if he loses (which..in my opinion might be to his benefit..for reasons too long to explain here).One reason why some singers are more versatile than others is really because of the type of voice they have. Some with specialised voices tend to sing more limited genres (think rock singers who's voice can have an edge, rappers, super smooth jazz vocals..-my examples may not be perfect, you can think of your own). Some singers have less specialised voices, meaning they can have nice sounding voices (really really good voices even), but because it doesnt have a quality that makes it very unique (and this is not a bad thing also..its just that some ppl's voices more unique than others) they can fit into more genres. In my opinion, I think this is why Taufik can do so many genres. He has a really good voice! I always readily admit that! But its not a voice that has a "limiting" quality (which is not bad, as I shall take great pains to repeat), so he can do many genres. But do rem, even Taufik has genre preferences - he likes r&b - just that his voice doesn't limit him to that.Therefore, it is my personal stand that in terms of SI, if the idea is for the winner to go on to World Idol and needs to have the ability to be versatile, Taufik would definitely be a good choice for the winner of SI. I do think Sylvester won't do as good a job overall. But I do think that Sylvester will make it big regardless. Its kind of an analogy between SI and AI. I have heard someone say (this may not be your opinion) that many think Ruben Studdard has the real good, smooth, solid voice - they think he is talented. That is why he ended up as the AI winner. But Clay was popular (he had many teenager followers too), and even though he lost out to Ruben, he is still very successful, and I daresay more people know who Clay is than who Ruben is.

Fifth, whether Sly is rock or not. I think that he personally, as a choice and as a preference, is a rocker. However, it may appear as if he has compromised that identity. My opinion..he has no choice he if wants to do the competition. So many different genres..to do it well you have to follow the genre and not throw in the rock element. (And i'm pretty certain that if he threw in the rock element week after week, someone will complain about that too). While I think he is trying to follow the genre, thereby appearing as if he is detracting from his rocker image, I personally believe that he can still remain true to himself within. He can do all the different types of music, but at the end of the day, still be a rocker at heart. I think you all know what i'm trying to express. I'm sure you experience it yourself in your own lives. Also, many rock bands, in fact most rock bands, sing love songs and love ballads. Rock bands have some of the greatest and most heartfelt love songs around (in my personal opinion)..think november rain, always, i'll be there for you, don't wanna close my eyes [and for the record, I can objectively say i didn't thk sly did a good job on this one], etc. So sly's singing love songs is really not so much out of character. It's very in the blood of rockers to sing love songs, along with all their other rock stuff.

Sixth, consistency. I think most of the idols have their up days and down days. And this is not true of all anti-sly people, but i sometimes find that because of his prominence, many tend to remember sly's bad performances only and not the good ones. So many still refer to "lets groove". It's over, move on, he's done some good songs since then. And if reference is going to be made to the past songs, then also rem his good (my own opinion) performances like "he ain't heavy, he's my brother", "when i look into your eyes", and "hound dog". Pls don't have selective memory. It's infuriating, because it shows inobjectivity. Also, rem that other idols have had their bad days too. They somehow don't get as much flak as sly (i think this is because of the polarized opinions that exist as explained above - sly's the one we love to hate cos he has so many followers). Seventh, the judges are not always right. Please learn to discern on your own. Sometimes they say sly is good when I don't think he did well. Other times they say he is bad when I think he did well. Similarly, sometimes they say Olinda or Taufik is bad when they were good, or good when they were bad. Honestly, i get equally irritated with the judges in all cases. I could go on but I really think it's too long now =) So i'll just end with 3 main reasons why I like sly:

1) i personally think he does have a good voice. It's smooth, and powerful - and he knows how and when to use the power, and he has a wide range. While anti-sly people may not like it, i urge that u give him a fair hearing, and if u still don't like it, so be it. As least u gave him a fair chance. But don't because you don't like him even after giving him a chance, go on to slam him endlessly. I respect ppl who respect opposing opinions.

2) I think he has a charming personality that, i feel, is unpretentious. You are free to hold you own opinions.

3) I think he is quite good in how he handles media and public attention, and I think he knows how to play his cards right - important for the music industry (i shall not elaborate specifically how here). I personally feel that people shouldn't fault him for having so many fans, or knowing how to retain them..its part of the industry. Again, you are free to hold you own opinions. As said my first point above, these are reasons. Whether non-sly supporters accept them is another thing. Don't therefore say that no reasons were presented to you.Also, I have taken great pains throughout my entire (yes long) comment to be moderate in my claims and expressions, making clear when it is my opinion. So I am not personally attacking anyone, this is a general response to a whole lot of comments I have read over the weeks in other posts and this one too. I have gotten quite irritated that many seem, in my opinion, to miss the main issues (not all of which are elaborated on here... )