Jon Leong takes his job seriously as celebrity judge of TNP's 100 iPod Giveaway contest.

August 5, 2007

IT was a mixture of hard work, headache and pleasure for The New Paper's 100 iPod Giveaway celebrity judge of the week.

Hype Records artist Jonathan Leong was tasked with picking 20 winners who would walk away with a 4GB silver iPod nano worth $354.

Over 700 readers e-mailed their playlists of 10 rock songs for this week's contest.

And Jonathan took his role as judge seriously.

The Singapore Idol 2 runner-up revealed that he even went online to the iTunes store to listen to samples of songs listed on some playlists which he was unfamiliar with.

Said the 25-year-old singer, laughing: 'It was a headache! There were so many songs and I don't listen to the newer punk-pop-emo-rock type bands so I had to find out what bands like Bowling For Soup and My Chemical Romance sounded like. 'I had to choose what best represents the genre so I had to make sure all the songs kept in the vein of the genre.'

Of course, it wasn't all work and no play for him.

'There were some old songs on those lists that made me dig out my CDs and listen to them again.'

A self-confessed rock fan, Jonathan said he likes the music for its 'look, groove, the whole package'.

So does he think he's a rock star?

'Far from it. I don't meet the criteria. Listen to Nickelback's Rockstar and you'd know,' he said with a laugh.

Jonathan Leong's Rock Playlist

1) AC/DC - Back In Black
2) Guns N' Roses - Welcome To The Jungle
3) Queen - The Show Must Go On
4) Nirvana - Come As You Are
5) Audioslave - Set It Off
6) Eric Clapton - Layla
7) Velvet Revolver - Slither
8) The Eagles - Hotel California
9) Aerosmith - Cryin'
10) The Rolling Stones - (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction


Here's the link:

http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/guide/0,6309,1186351140,00.html?

Edited 13 Aug 07

Thanks for sharing, Eclipse!

Hmmm, expected choices for the rock songs. Very old school haha. I guess ''old ginger will always be hotter!'' :P But so many new rock bands out on the scene now, giving them a good run for the competition ! Wooo, I dig Rockstar. There was once I played it abt 30 times in one morning! Kenna people laugh at me. Gotta stop this bad habit of listening to the same song over and over again.

So any of you sent in your choices? Or better still, anyone won the ipod???

wah.. must be a tough one then.

having so many different songs to choose from.

am sure he has a hard time picking up the best from the lot.

anyway..

glad tat he is the judge la...

at least we know he's still doing his part for the music industry :)

Really interesting – he gets the chance to have a good feel of the types of rock music people are listening to. And wow! going through 700 emails (x 10) & having to decide...hmm…, I can understand what he meant by “headache”.

Hey, did you guys notice the bloop in the cut and paste above before the editing? Didn't realise it can be a headache posting the headache. Thanks, Elle for the alert.

thanks for sharing this!
lols.. to vet through all those entries.. and to do his research and finally pick the winners.. yeah, that sounds like lots of hard work!

thanks for sharing!!
great to hear from him again :D

Hi April, hope he redefines "rockstar" according to his own terms, and not adopt Nickleback's. That would be too decadent.

Hmmm, Eclipse, didn't notice any bloop, btw. Me blur reader!

Wanna know his definition of rockstar? Go revisit his performance on Rock Nite during SI2. :P

A "Rockstar" (according to Nickleback's definition)


I'm through with standing in line
to clubs we'll never get in
It's like the bottom of the ninth
and I'm never gonna win
This life hasn't turned out
quite the way I want it to be

I want a brand new house
on an episode of Cribs
And a bathroom I can play baseball in
And a king size tub big enough
for ten plus me

I'll need a credit card that's got no limit
And a big black jet with a bedroom in it
Gonna join the mile high club
At thirty-seven thousand feet

I want a new tour bus full of old guitars
My own star on Hollywood Boulevard
Somewhere between Cher and
James Dean is fine for me

I'm gonna trade this life for fortune and fame
I'd even cut my hair and change my name

[CHORUS]
'Cause we all just wanna be big rockstars
And live in hilltop houses driving fifteen cars
The girls come easy and the drugs come cheap
We'll all stay skinny 'cause we just won't eat
And we'll hang out in the coolest bars
In the VIP with the movie stars
Every good gold digger's
Gonna wind up there
Every Playboy bunny
With her bleach blond hair

Hey hey I wanna be a rockstar
Hey hey I wanna be a rockstar

I wanna be great like Elvis without the tassels
Hire eight body guards that love to beat up assholes
Sign a couple autographs
So I can eat my meals for free

I think I'm gonna dress my ass
with the latest fashion
Get a front door key to the Playboy mansion
Gonna date a centerfold that loves to
blow my money for me

I'm gonna trade this life
For fortune and fame
I'd even cut my hair
And change my name

'Cause we all just wanna be big rockstars
And live in hilltop houses driving fifteen cars
The girls come easy and the drugs come cheap
We'll all stay skinny 'cause we just won't eat
And we'll hang out in the coolest bars
In the VIP with the movie stars
Every good gold digger's
Gonna wind up there
Every Playboy bunny
With her bleach blond hair
And we'll hide out in the private rooms
With the latest dictionary and
today's who's who
They'll get you anything
with that evil smile
Everybody's got a
drug dealer on speed dial
Hey hey I wanna be a rockstar
Hey hey I wanna be a rockstar

I'm gonna sing those songs
that offend the censors
Gonna pop my pills
from a pez dispenser
When they ask why I drink all day
I'll say because I can

I'll get washed-up singers writing all my songs
Lip sync em every night so I don't get 'em wrong
Then listen to the fans tell me how damn good I am

I'm gonna trade this life for fortune and fame
I'd even cut my hair and change my name

The Eagles "Hotel California" my favourite! :D