Who is Simon Phillip Cowell? What does American Idol and Nasty have in common?

Brutal honesty comes to mind.

He is known as Mr. Nasty or Judge Dread in England. Mr. Cowell was born in Brighton, England. He is as short as you have heard it. It is true he stands only 5′ 9″ (1.75 m) tall as so many contestants have said on Americas American Idol.

For a high school drop out at the age of 16 he sure learned some smarts in the business savvy sectors of the Entertainment industry. Working his way up the latter as a mail boy at EMI.

He is　most recently noticed as one of the judges on American Idol and is quoted after being asked if he feels guilty about his harsh criticisms towards the contestants’? Conwell said, “No, what I am doing is kind by telling people who are useless ‘Do something that you’re good at’. So I would only feel guilt if I misled somebody who was terrible.” “We’ve done three seasons of American Idol and by now it is safe to assume that most people know that you have to be able to sing.

But people turn up who can’t sing a note and yet they believe they are the Second Coming.” “Sit in these auditions for three weeks and hear “I Believe I Can Fly” out of tune for the millionth time, YOU try and be nice”

When I first saw Mr. Foul on American Idol I had the same perception of his demeanor at first glance as well but lets be honesty here for a moment; do you remember the iniquitous Keith who sang the dreadful depiction of ‘Like a Virgin’ last year?

Well Mr. Cowell said, “Keith, last year I described someone as being the worst singer in America. I think you’re possibly the worst singer in the world … I’ve never, ever heard anything like that in my life, ever.”

True, and true again. So what does this say when shows like American Idol make untalented nobody’s into somebody’s?

Just imagine as a judge you are induced by untalented, fashion victims, make-up whores, and those working straight out of a vacuum bag sing a song that needs a serious tune-up. I get why he is short tempered and caste as the Meany, but if you want to be taking seriously these contestants need to really work on presenting themselves as a serious artist. Most of them are really in denial and deluding themselves.

With that said, still over exposed contestant’s untalented and talented gather their sleep bags and head back for more and more mockery. Last week’s episode in Chicago took a spin for some unleashing diabolical, explosive attitudes on the judges.

What’s worse is the untalented nobody turned somebody Keith (the Like a Virgin singer last year) and William Hung is only sending a message to Limelight the untalented. This will do nothing and you are only destined to open more doors and statements by Mr. Cowell.

He said, “When you celebrate awfulness it puts you in a slightly uncomfortable position,” then, adding he was nervous “that we’re going to get people coming on the show next year that want to be bad.”

Yes Mr. Cowell, you are right, and right on! Perhaps a bit presumptuous but again I pegged that his demeanor won him a spot on American idol for mere Entertainment. It is as sad as that sounds, because Americans love to watch those plummet down the drain. Absolutely yes, that is TV, and that is Entertainment today; but isn’t that sad? Isn’t it sad that we seek entertainment by someone else’s demise, embarrassment, hurt, and ridicule?

In last week’s Chicago audition, a BBW (Big Beautiful Woman) with an outstanding voice got a thumbs-up from the judges and then the paramount provocateur Simon Cowell suggested the show might consider a bigger stage. Shame on you Simon! She had the looks but some deem she needed a total body work-out for this industry. Mr. Cowell have you heard of Aretha Franklin? Would he have said the same insult behind her back only to be aired and seen by millions? Is this the industries perception of being “All Over talented”?

Also in Chicago, a man with a girly type voice got Conwell’s vicious recommendation: Cowell said, “Shave your beard and try wearing a dress “. Sorry, but I really have to agree with Cowell again. What the heck was he thinking, this show is American Idol, meaning must sell records to those tinny boppers, and I am sorry but I seriously doubt that a cross dresser would be the next American Idol. To add insult to injury his voice needed some serious tweaking, and I am being nice. My advice to him is doing drag, you can make money and not let your talent go to waste, but for the next American idolNOT!

Let’s be fair and give Mr. Nasty, I mean Mr. Cowell the benefit of the doubt. American Idol is pure entertainment. To sit and judge talent takes patience and juicy bias. It’s obvious that many couch potatoes gulp down the idiotic stratagem.

V

Tags: American Idol. Paula Abdul, Chicago, Idol, Mr. Nasty, Simon, sing. entertainment, talent, womenAmerican Idol. Paula Abdul, Chicago, Idol, Mr. Nasty, Simon, sing. entertainment, talent, women

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Pakistan is blessed with talent and when we talk about Pakistani Music, you can never stop picking up one of the best Pakistani pop song uptill now because there are number of such hit songs nobody can judge the best one in past decades such as “Dil Dil Pakistan” , “Huwa Huwa”, “Mehndi ki Raat”, “Na Kaho”, “Dil Haray”, “Ankhain Milanay Walay”, “Wakt”, “Neeli Neeli Ankhain”, “Jaisay Chao Jeo”, “Garuj Burus”, “No More”, “Ankhoun ki Sagar”, “Na Tu Aigi”, “Addat” left the audience agape and many more. Our artists’ are popular all over the world. Many new talented artists in Pakistan are still working hard to bring quality Pakistani music.

We can easily judge Alamgir as the pioneer of music industry who’s first big hit was “DEKHA NA THA KABHI HUM NAY YEH SUMMA”, and remains the song he is still most identified with, though later songs such as “Yeh Shaam Aur Tera Naam” and “Mein Ne Tumhare Gagar Se Kabhi Pani” continued to add to his composition. Alamgir, it must be said, laid the groundwork that countless others used to break into the music industry. He not only sang well, he was a performer in the true sense of the word. There is no denying Alamgir’s contribution to the evolution of the pop music genre in Pakistan.

NAZIA HASSAN was the first one to cross the forbidden Pakistan-India border to sing in an Indian film called “Qurbani” which was “APP JAISA KOI”. And later this song became a youth anthem in both India and Pakistan. And next NAZIA, ZOHAIB and BIDDU (an Indian composer) teamed up to release “DISCO DEEWANE” which became the biggest pop selling album till then in Pakistan. The Hasan siblings released one more album, “Boom Boom”, in 1984. This second collaboration with Biddu, the undisputed king of Indian filmi disco music, was also a huge success. Their success marked a turning point in the pop history.

And later Vital Sign ventured on to Pakistani television screens with their guitars and a catchy, patriotic song named “Dil Dil Pakistan” in 1986. Their album released in 1987 with gems like “Yeh Shaam” and funky “Goray Rung Ka Zamana”.

Then came Jupitars with their evergreen hit songs “Yaroun Yehi Dosti Hai”, continued with Hassan Jehangir’s “Hawa Hawa” in 1990, “Sanwali Saloni” by Vital Signs in 1991, “Sar Kiye Yeh Pahar” in 1992 by the Strings, Sajjad Ali’s “Didi” ripoff “Babia” in 1993, Najam Shiraz’s “In Se Nain” in 1995, Junoon’s “Saeein” in 1996 or Awaz’s “Mr. Fraudiye” in 1997. Junoon came into the race with their World Cup Hit song “Jazaba-e-Junoon Tou Himat na Har”. This is only to be expected in a growing industry.

Perhaps the biggest unexpected success of an experimental song, however, was Sajjad Ali’s street-wise 1995 hit “Chief Saab”. Full of Karachi slang and tough imagery, “Chief Saab”, perhaps more than anything else signified the coming age of pop music. It showed that one did not necessarily have to remain within pre-determined saccharine-sweet boundaries to be popular, and that people liked hearing of issues other than puppy love. Partly, as a result of this expansion of the pop market, established musicians from non-pop genres such as qawwali maestro Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan were also drawn towards experimenting within it. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan gave numerous hit one after another and he gave the music for Hollywood movies and as well as for many Bollywood movies too.

The pop band that most successfully seized upon this idea was, of course, Junoon, which used its success with the haunting “Saeein” to recast itself as a completely different sort of band. Here we saw pop again intersecting with folk and vice versa.

In 1994, FM radio brought about another mini-revolution in Pakistani music. From Landhi in Karachi to Krishan Nagar in Lahore, names like female vocalist Hadiqa Kiyani and young Shehzad Roy suddenly became household names. Even iconoclastic recluse virtuosos like guitarist Amir Zaki (whose almost purely instrumental album “Signature” did well in the market) were receiving the kind of airplay the big bands of the ’80s could only have dreamed of.

Pop industry had big turnaround when private channels came into the scene, Like IM which became the medium to introduce young talents in the pop industry names like Fuzon, Aaroh, noori, Aks, Ahmad Jehanzaib, Mizraab, Karavan, Ali Zafar, Jal which not only rock the Pakistani pop music but also made their names worldwide. The new arrivals made their presence felt through remarkable individual songs, even though full albums for now seemed beyond most new acts. Ahmad Jehanzaib’s Ek Bar Kaho, Fuzon’s Ankhon Ke Saagar and Schehzad Mughal’s Bas Yunheen were each excellent. The first two were carried by soulful, ardent vocals and the last shone through affecting lyrics. Hot on their heels, honourable mentions must also go to Aks stunningly understated Neela Aasman, noori’s jangle-pop perfection Tum Hans Diyae, Junoon’s excellent Garaj Baras, Sajjad Ali with Teri Yaad, Aamir Zaki’s insightful and incisive People Are People, EP’s piledriving Hum Ko Aazma, Najam’s infinitely catchy !

Jaisay Chaho Jiyo and Aao Wahan Chalain, Ali Zafar’s startling Chanoo ki Ankh, Jal’s splendid addat and yes even Ali Haider’s insipid but still memorably melodic Chandi Ratain. Abrar’s Preeto was the novelty hit of the year. The Pepsi Battle of the Bands did a great job in throwing up a wealth of talent. EP, Aaroh, Brain Massala, Messiah, Schahzad Hameed and others all have Pepsi to thank. The Pepsi Battle of the Bands got all these fledgling bands great exposure.

Recently, a team of talented Pakistani musicians and artists took the long road to Mumbai, via Dubai, possibly to make history, for this was the first time in recent memory that Pakistanis had gone to India to create the background score for a Bollywood film. The film in question is Pooja Bhatt’s Paap, and former Vital Sign Shehzad ‘Shahi’ Hasan, cinematographer Faisal Rafi, singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and studio session player and keyboardist Faiz Ali Naqvi, were the foursome representing the world of Pakistani music in India.

Strings enjoyed considerable success with Dhaani. Probably the most hyped album of the year, with lead single Chaaye Chaaye being the standout favourite. String gave the soundtrack for Spiderman 2 which was a remarkable effort.

Junaid Jamshed’s Dil Ki Baat was understated but assured and notwithstanding JJ’s quite public and tortured ruminations over religion and music, the album showed that JJ is still competent at middle of the road pop and that Shoaib Mansoor still has the magic touch. Shahzad Roy’s Rab Jane was hobbled by his illness and yet catches the fire while Karavan’s Gardish seems to have suddenly picked up and was sold like hot-cakes. Schahzad Mughal’s Jhoom Lay was one of the most pleasant of surprises of the year.

So this proves that our music industry has dared to move forward with hope rather than skepticism.

About The Author

Faiza Kamal

Hi, i am a student of BS Software Engineering in first year from Karachi University and i am 19 years old.

siddiqi_fai@hotmail.com

Tags: arts, entertainment, music, pakistan, pakistani music, performers, pop, pop song, song, tunesarts, entertainment, music, pakistan, pakistani music, performers, pop, pop song, song, tunes

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It is amazing to think about how the Harry Potter craze has captured the imagination of people all over the world. It doesn’t matter if you’re struggling with the business of living in some Third World country or happily ensconced in your glitzy Park Avenue penthouse in the Upper East Side of New York, chances are the Harry Potter craze has captured you and your ilk.

Harry Potter’s appeal transcends race or income bracket, culture and religion, sex and sexual orientation. The great majority of people simply love it. The appeal of powerful wizards and supernatural evils is certainly heady stuff. It’s like one big rollercoaster ride where no one knows what’s going to happen next. Perhaps the one sure this about this whole Harry Potter craze is that there will be a next installment of the series coming soon to a theater near you. And probably another one after that, and another, and another

For the more perceptive ones around us, the Harry Potter craze is no surprise. The books were great fiction (J.K. Rowling must be laughing himself silly now, all the way to the bank). Admittedly, the first of the series of books did not make a huge impact right away, but children across the world quickly caught on. Soon enough, kids couldn’t stop talking about Harry Potter and were constantly in a frantic search for all the Harry Potter material that they could get their hands on. And, expectedly, parents soon got into the act and started looking into the newest buzz among their kids. They began reading the books and may of them hooked into Harry Potter craze. That the book series was transformed into a series of films was only inevitable. But one still has to take their hats off to the film’s producers and creators, because they have been able to translate the magic of the book into the big screen, making Harry Potter and his dazzling adventures even more larger than life.

Admittedly, some adults don’t fancy the movies as exactly their cup of tea. But others did fall in love with the series much like they fell in love with the Star Wars epic before that. There’s nothing like breath-taking sorcery and the battle of good versus evil on a grand scale to make us forget the price of theater admission. Among kids, however, one would be hard pressed to find a single one who wasn’t crazy about the whole thing from the very beginning.

It doesn’t matter if you’ve read the books or not. In fact, it hardly matters if you’ve seen any of the previous Harry Potter films. All you have to do is catch one of them (or the very next one) and you will be thrilled to the core. The worldwide web and your favorite DVD store (or Amazon.com) are other good places where you can pick up on the Harry Potter magic.

Philip Culver is the owner of My Entertainment Web, a website dedicated to providing arts and entertainment information.

Tags: entertainment, Harry Potter, moviesentertainment, Harry Potter, movies

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