Hot off the press!

Consiparacy theories fire up forums
Amir Hafizi & Adly Syairi Ramly

KUALA LUMPUR , August 4: One thing for sure. Akademi Fantasia fans are a passionate lot. The recent decision by show producers Astro not to reveal the percentage of votes of the final four students only added fuel to the fire for conspiracy theories.

Just a simple surf of Akademi Fantasia-related sites and forums revealed a certain perception that the results and direction of the popular reality show has been manipulated since the beginning.

One of the interesting comments that might sum up the whole show came from Cari.com.my forum member SyD: "You think this is all coincidence? I think not. Malaysian TV stations still are not brave enough to let their reality programmes have a life of its own. They are still dependent on script and deliberate video editing."

Most comments on the Internet forums, however, were about ringgit and sen. They believe that Astro is trying to squeeze as much money as possible from viewers and staunch followers of Akademi Fantasia.

Every time a 'controversy' develops, comments will pour into Astro@15 channel via SMS — which is certainly a profit-generating venture.

CONSPIRACY THEORIES
On the recent decision not to reveal the percentage of votes of the final four students: "Since the Conspiracy to oust Mawi during the ninth concert was foiled, is this Astro's last move, if not, the safest move to stop Mawi from winning? I can't wait for the final result." — Alovera posted on Cari.com.my

"I don't think it's a conspiracy. It's more like a strategy to ensure that active voters would send in more votes. The more votes sent, the more money Astro makes." — Babybueno posted on Cari.com.my

"Astro is treating Akademi Fantasia like a game and not a competition. The students are treated like video game characters." — defeduck posted on cari.com.my

On the alleged conspiracy by Astro against popular contestant Asmawi Ani (Mawi)

"Based on how Mawi has been leading the pack since day one, it's pretty obvious who's going to be the winner. To spice things up and to ensure that it's going to be a fair competition, hence the conspiracy." — SyD posted on cari.com.my.

Apart from the 'conspiracy', we also came across some other interesting discussions related to Akademi Fantasia 3 contestants, instructors, critics during the weekly concerts and the overall flow of the programme. Below are some interesting observations. For details, visit Cari.com.my.

"Astro has decided on the final four beforehand." "Why Kudsia Kahar (the permanent critic for Akademi Fantasia 3 weekly concert) was never critical of the contestants."

"Is M. Nasir taking advantage of Mawi's popularity?"

"What are the inappropriate things that host Aznil Nawawi did and said that might have offended people?"

"Will there be a bloodbath at Akademi Fantasia 3 final concert?"

"Watch out! Mawi FC and Felix FC set to battle it out"

"Poll: Who's stupider? Mawi fans or Felix fans?"

"Is it necessary for Marlia Musa (one of the instructors) to hug male students?"

Apa lagi, gi usha The Malay Mail ari ni. Ada gambar committee members Mawi FC skali. Nama forummers yang quoted tu cam jer ada yang familiar (tergelak sorang-sorang!)

Ok ler semua. Banyak keja nak buat. Takde semangat nak wat anything special for my blog in the lead-up for the finals. Maybe esok kalau ada masa maybe lah.

By the way - dah haircut baru. Mawi style!

Tapi tetap ala punk ler rambut aku. Amik ko! Fashion for the finals!