Lihatlah...di sebalik...

Aku mintak ampun sekali lagi pada semua for not updating my blog for the past few days. It's been absolutely HECTIC ngan preparation untuk Anugerah ERA sebab kes nak handle tuh nih kan.

After all, this is all for my future too... so... no details on that here.

Apapun, banyak sangat sebenarnya aku nak ceritakan, tapi aku start out slow slow ler ek, sebab kalau aku start gushing out everything, I'm just going to lose focus of what I what to share.

Let's see... Wednesday dan Thursday memang antara selit between work and also running for rehearsals untuk persiapan Ning, Nikki dan Yanie untuk lagu Drama. Tidur memang tak cukup sebab nak pastikan Hatta siapkan baju segalanya. Seb baik ada back-up orang gila untuk bergilir shift ngan aku tuk pastikan bebudak tuh wat keja (keji tau korang...cuba hardworking sikit!... takyah aku jadik gila sekali)

Practices went well, and aku tak nyesal pujuk the native from Harlem tuk amik Boboy jadik choreographer, walaupun memula ada ler gak risau pasal soal commitment.

Terharu hari tu bila Haziq call... mula mula tatau dia sebab Private Number flashing kat skrin of my Nokia. Tengok tengok dia yang call. Merasalah angkat seronok lak aku sebab tak jumpa sejak Konsert Reunion. Eh... merasalah kena marah sebab tak keep in touch. Keji tau... aku bukan artis taulah... tapi aku pun sibuk banyak keja. Rupanya dia da kat Muar sibuk nak prepare Marhaban.

Thanks Haziq for thinking of me and being a friend. And for finally nak add aku kat myspace ko... keji tunggu bertahun nak mesej and add me. Dah approve dah pun.

Moving on, kalau you guys loved Drama... it was the work of non-professionals... for the moment. It was different because of the creativity each party brought in. And I congratulate the team sebab managed to help out with conceptualization, make-up, hair, wardrobe and choreography.

That's what the music industry needs... new blood... fresh enthusiasm and an infusion of creativity.

And an artiste like Ning Baizura is what the industry needs too. Someone yang berani mencuba something different and experimement with changes and makeovers.

Pada sapa yang terkejut aku terlibat dalam persiapan Drama, then you really don't know me.

Unlike some who play critic (especially yang tak bertauliah tapi perasan enough to think they're qualified to make it a day job because they can string two words together), I believe in creating as well. The process of creation will aloow you to lebih faham what it takes in the process of producting something.

And every step of the way, the adrenaline rush of helping put together Drama was something that I would love to do more regularly... and given time, it will soon become a reality.
Thursday ler start gi Stadium Putra, sebab kena choreograph ikut stage. Yerlah step camna pun, kena sesuaikan with the layout of the stage. Banyak yang tak kena ngan production... lighting cam $%^&*... tu lum agik sebut pasal yang cordless mic packs tuh yang tak disiapkan lagik.

Friday didn't make things much better cause dah pasang-pasang headset semua, hanya suara Ning saja ada. Lighting cam pasang lampu suluh and aim ala Blair Witch Project. Keji sangat!

Tapi hari tu something special happened. And most of you should read about this.

Aku selalu talk about fanaticism among people who idolise certain artistes, and some people yang gila glamer ni... tak dapat dikesan punya.

And in my case, ada ler binatang keji ni, membuat memacam ler 'berita' mengenai aku dan Faizal, konon Faizal keji kutuk aku tuh nih.... aku pun ok jer. Bukan cam orang tuh yang terkejar-kejar nak mintak perhatian bebudak Akademi Fantasia, aku wat biasa je.

Sampai terserempak ngan Faizal backstage kat tempat makan, area loading bay.. Dia tegur, aku buat tak dengar mula-mula. Last-last dia datang belakang aku, patted me on the back and tegur. So we talked... and talked.

I spent about more than half an hour ngan dia alone talking. Pasal apa? Mengenai binatang keji gila glamer yang baru nak melangkah dalam industri ni tapi tatau per per pun.

Yerlaa... tau ler kalao ko taste ngan Faizal tuh, jangan ler keji menyampai ngata tuh nih, hanya sebab dengki orang tuh ok ngan aku. Bodohkan diri sendiri jer at the end of the day....

Faizal sumpah ngan aku tak penah cakap seperti yang disampaikan yang berupa orang tapi perangai cam anak ungka yang mampus blog tuh, malah bila sebut nama anak haram yang pembawa mulot tuh, pun dia tak dapat cam. Kena tunjuk muka tenuk tuh baru Faizal kenal kot...walaupun binatang molot poaka tak sedar diri ni feeling kat blog dia yang dia nih star beramah mesra pelbagai ngan bebudak ni. What a joke!

Sedih ler sometimes how delusional some people get when they're star struck and try and weasel their way into the limelight. You're nobody...so get used to it.

Faizal pun cakap ler... patut ler aku tak keep in touch ngan dia seminggu ni... tak SMS atau call.

Aku pun kata yerlah... what for ler kan. Selagi lum bersemuka and talk, biar jer lah... malas nanti cita dipanjangkan. Aduh... dia lak kecik ati ngan aku, kata aku sanggup percaya semua cita karut ni. Bukan kes caya ke tak... tapi aku jenis bukan heran pun bab nak tergilakan nak kawan orang. If the person proves so, ok jer... kan?

At least finally the truth comes out. Amik ko... tunggu tindakan seterusnya. Every action has an equal reaction. Tapi in my case like I always say... mess with me.. memang mengundang malapetaka. And trust me, it's coming. Already you say no social life and no friends, feeling nak gi post party pun takde orang nak dekat ko sampai nak menyendeng kengkawan aku... how pathetic.

And you wonder why you don't have a social life and no one invites you for anything? (Matilah except kalau ada function feeling-feeling dia blogger star nak gi mabuk pree)

Well, at least hati aku senang Faizal mintak maap, walaupun bukan salah dia, but he just didn't want me to be upset about the whole incident. I wasn't really.. amused ler. But Faizal camner pun promise, friends tetap friends. Spent most of the free time at rehearsal (which wasn't much after that) nak talk to him about a lot of things.

First time aku nampak Faizal marah bila bercerita pasal molot binatang sorang ni yang 'minat' sampai takleh tengok orang lain rapat. Dia sampai nak confront dua nama yang terlibat dalam kes ni, tapi aku pun cakap lantak ler...dia pun artis, kena belajar supaya jangan cepat melatah molot poaka orang. So biarkan jer ler lobang taik yang bernama molot tuh tetap wat apa ia nak... kan? Kita tunggu je pembalasannya.

He insisted a few times, and then later chilled on that and we changed the subject and laughed a bit about this and that. Perbualan diselitkan kemunculan Diddy yang dok perli aku pasal RAHSIA aku, as well as abang Badrul. Don't worry Faizal.. apapun aku support korang semua.

Merasalah kesibukan kemudiannya take over sampai tak sedar dah tengah malam.

Yerlah, selain drama tuh, ada lak aku hampir ngamuk ngan sorang binatang yang bertanggungjawab for those ugly outfits we all love to hate.

Ada hati tapi tak berani... nak halau aku dari backstage sebab kata aku merempuh. Nak gelak je aku member aku datang bisik kat aku kata nenek kebayan sorang ni meroyan. Aku pun rilek je.

Tau ler tua bangka... tapi aku pakai tag ngan tulisan besar-besar ARTIS tuh tak nampak ke?

Aku hadir time tuh dalam capacity kerja lain bodoh! Sedangkan pala-pala production semua tahu mengenai kehadiran aku, dan siap dok ngan aku bersembang... susah ler kat Astro ni banyak spesis kuli yang feeling power trip gitu.

Aku gelak je... nampaknya list aku tambah nama ler mereka yang mengundang malapetaka.

Still, after Ning, Nikki dan Yanie naik pentas, kepuasan segala keletihan berbaloi. Hasil kerja nampak....walaupun ada complications dari segi teknikal.

Dalam tuh puas kenangkan kebodohan orang berangan dua ekor ni. Ngan explanation Faizal dan kesungguhan dia nak memastikan tak ada salah faham atas inisiatif dia sendiri, aku pun tidur lena malam tuh.

That and the semangat given by kak Fati dan Nani when we had a little chat about some miscellaneous items. Thanks a bunch.

Ok... ok... so there was a Xanax thrown in the mix to make sure I got enough sleep rather than continue playing insomniac.

The next day was chaos!

Dah ler bangun tengahari sebab balik pun da lewat, rush gi rumah Hatta, dia da gerak KL ngan baju Ning, Nikki dan Yanie. Aku pun temankan Wanie ke PKNS Shah Alam tuk last minute touch up work on baju Reza yang dia buat. Selain dari erm.. urusan barang-barang aku sendiri.

Reza lak call kena lak si Wanie rush ke stadium, so aku kena pick up seluar-seluar yang di touch up kan. Matilah kena RM70 just for some simple work. Keji kedai tuh.

Celah tuh, this panicky person called me up and katakan memerlukan boots Yanie sebab kasut dia bak tak kena ngan baju red carpet Jovian.

By the way kalau korang tatau... baju Ning, Nikki dan Yanie disponsored Jovian Mandagie.
Dia ler mamat yang wat the look for Rossa dan Ratu. Amik ko! Bukan calang-calang ok. For more pics, aku rasa tuan pengurus punya blog banyak pics.

Anyway... back to the panic, aku kata tak mungkin ler nak sampai sebab da kul berapa da.

Last-last aku sampai kat stadium pun, dah kul 8. Matilah... tukar baju kat kereta je, in the middle of which nampak ler mamat sorang ni pakai leather jacket mai ke arah aku. Adi Fashla rupanya. Dia temankan aku sat, and then gerak masuk backstage ngan aku... rupanya dia datang ngan Farish - Durian Runtuh.

Beberapa kawan termasuk Shahila and friends joined us, and I headed for wardrobe tuk pass kan barang Wanie.

Bergegas lak nak passing boots Nikki dan Yanie, Ning's whip, Nikki's hat and Yanie's cane kat bilik persalinan kami.

Leh ler rehat sat sebab meka semua tengah sibuk red carpet.

Faizal... Mawi... Zahid...semua berkeliaran at some point or other. Faizal nyanyikan Lihatlah sikit tuk aku jadikan message tone... sorry I don't do illegal MP3s for ring tones (feeling tul...)
Sempat ler amik pics sana sini. Of two days, banyak pics aku amik (tapi takler sekeji seseorang tuh yang sampai lupa keja sebab sibuk jadik photographer tak bertauliah nak isikan blog dia)
Yazer... Lotter... Yasmin Hani... Erra... Betty...family ERA... ramai sangat sempat amik pcis throughout the two days of hectic preparation, especially time aku cigarette break nak release stress. But aku tengokkan mana yang sesuai aja aku letak sini.

Got through the early part of the night ok. But rush between sebab kena pastikan tukar kasut Nikki tuk show awal-awal, risau tak sempat tukar baju dia time tuk persembahan sebab kena stand by setiap kali umum kategori dia tercalon. Budget Mawi pun sapu... tapi just in case ler katakan.

And bila diumumkan, Nikki dan juga Zahid berjaya dalam kategori Vokal Duo Pilihan, aku menjerit cam pontianak kena cobit bontot dalam bas mini sesak (leh ker aku pakai bayangan camtuh?) di back-up vocal kan oleh Juan yang dok sebelah aku naik gila.
Bangga!!!

Yerlah... kat tag board ada orang tanya, aku promote Nikki kenapa... ada apa-apa ke. Sejarah aku ngan Nikki selama lebih setahun... hampir dua... from the moment dia jejak KL untuk Top 100 Malaysian Idol. Aku yakin ngan bakat dia, sampai diketemukan jodoh dia ngan Artistes United, bawah Vernon, Michael and of course Ning.

She's been my baby sister throughout and I am proud of her. Apa bezanya ngan Zahid who has been my baby brother (that's a big baby... matilah aku kena bunoh Zahid kang... ampunnnn!!!) since days when he left Akademi Fantasia as the champion. I was so proud that the two shared a win! It's like a reward for my belief in both of them. Walaupun kat Anugerah Planet Muzik, aku mengalir airmata saat nama Nikki diumumkan, there was no time for tears this time. Just an overwhelming sense of pride in both of them!

Tak sempat celebrate... tarik Nikki untuk siapkan dia tuk Drama which was supposed to go on shortly. Bila da siap, temankan Ning to get miked up. Then Yanie. And when Nikki pun da standby, aku gi isap rokok, serempak Zahid, aku terus pogo stick lompat-lompat pelok dia. Bangga!

Thanks to all fans of both Nikki and Zahid who made the effort! Keep it up! You guys made it happen even though everyone thought it was impossible!

By the way - congratulations to Mawi sebab hampir clean sweep. Proud of him too that he's able to maintain the momentum despite everything. Faizal... sabar ek... giliran awak akan tiba kang.

And then it was Drama. Aku rush to the front nak tengok. Steps... ok. Vocals ok. Lega. Even placing kena when the fireworks went off. Puas. Cuma sentap sikit sebab sound bangap and the levels were all over the place.

Irked a little bit more later when got SMSes telling me that camera angle, lighting dan sound kat TV cam #$%^&*. Well... we can't win 'em all.

But at least bangga ramai orang suka.

One thing's for sure... it was a memorable performance.

The only other performance I loved was the parade of champions with Vince, Zahid, Mawi and Faizal. Kenangan banyak. Thanks to someone great for this oicture of the four of them on the red carpet.

I think this is definitely a special take for the album.

Melihat pic ni kan... aku teringat dari saat tengok Vince dinobatkan juara kat Menara PGRM... Zahid and Faizal at Stadium Putra while Mawi kat Stadium Malawati... each time they won, and the whole season of experiences before their win. Banyak sangat kenangan. Tu lah the role Akademi Fantasia has played in my life. It's been there for the past four years. Is there any wonder why my blog is so AF based?

It's given me family and friends... and also taught me to be wiser of idiots and posers who know shit yet think they can play critic when they know nothing of vocals, performance, stage art...etc
Abih da Drama, banyak lepak ngan Faizal dan sedara mara dia selain Mawi. Lots to catch up on. After it was over, the hectic thing of running to do my other job, nak gi press conference lak.
Abih tuh jer, it was time to relax. Post party!!!

Tahun ni post party location.. set-up besh sekali! Sayang ramai tak hadir... cam kosong jer. Kureng artis. Yang ada celah-celah lak muka-muka groupie yang takde orang layan... you know who you are as you read this (keji aku gelak knowing)

Faizal signal kat aku dan bagitau dia kena ciao cepat sebab kena gegas nak join the rest of them in Muar for Marhaban... aiseh... tak besh la...

Layan gila Nana and Yasmin Hani je ler selain geng seksyen 16 Shah Alam yang in full force.

Maha gaban punya keseronokan sebab the past few weeks of planning and running around like a headless chicken had paid off.

Tompang bangga kejayaan Nikki dan Zahid.. persembahan Ning, Nikki dan Yanie.. as well as perhatian Hatta dapat.

Hatta Dolmat malam tuh menjadi designer paling sought after. Selain baju Ning, Nikki dan Yanie tuk Drama, dia juga wat fashion show dia yang enam models, and then selain tuh dressed up Diddy, Pushpa and also Nabila. Dare I forget juga manager yang pushy dan garang (tapi loveable - matilah tambah last part takut kena hamun!)

Hatta... for all your hard work... this is my tribute to you. Merasalah lain kali set rambut dulu ek uols sebelum naik pentas... shampoo pun ntah ntah tak sempar sebab kelam kabut... but wasn't it all worth it?

Wanie pun cantik baju-baju dia tuk Reza. Cuma keji Reza tak bagi kredit bila da orang sponsor antara semua penyampai ERA.

Famee gets credit for Nikki and Yanie's make-up and hair while Ted for being the multi-purpose worker. Vernon gets credit for believing in these amazing young talents like I did.

Fiebie for playing caretaker on and off... (merasalah amah kata ganti Ted). Tak lupa Juan yang jadik inspirasi adding the tongkat for Yanie (gelak gaban! - merasalah Miss Olympia OKU)
And the result?

Of course, lagu ni da naik sampai nombor dua kat Carta ERA, so keep requesting it so it'll naik nombor satu!

Apapun, as a tribute to Caramu sebab menang, here's the video. By the way, for those of you yang tak tahu... here's something else to celebrate!

Caramu tercalon for Muzik-Muzik dalam kategori Pop Rock, and immediately shot to NUMBER ONE sebaik je tercalon. If that isn't amazing enough, the song has remained at the TOP for three weeks now. Keep requesting for Caramu ok by CLICKING HERE!

Er... picking up where I left off...lepas tuh balik lepak for post-mortem of the team's efforts kat rumah meka kat Shah Alam.

Sunday masuk office abihkan keja sorang diri sebab budak stringer masih tak paham konsep nak wat tuh ni. Sentap.

Abih jer ciao...singgah konsert Gemilang AE sat, cukup after Caramu with Nikki and Zahid, and then gerak. Eh.. Amirul pun ada selain Rich together with Estranged. Lotter pun ada. Gila laa dak ni... teringat YY call aku Friday night sebab Lotter MIA entah balik ngan sapa and tak dapat dikesan managers Maestro. Lupa lak tanya Lotter sapa hantar dia balik.

Monday was nose back on the grinding wheel nak a abihkan column for Thursday, fashion spread for Thursday dan juga a news piece yang tak settle kerana orang nak di interview tak dapek-dapek. Berkenaan kes khalwat dua artis tuh (nak tahu sapa ke?... takleh cakap sini.. kang kena saman sebab kes lum masuk court).

Lega... terus isi borang leave.. yes.. leave.

Aku annual leave aku berlambak agik!

Aku amik cuti empat hari, so plus the weekend, I will be back on Monday at work. Kalau leh nak extend panjang agik sebab I can actually have almost two months off on my remaining days (merasalah last year baru empat hari aku pakai).

Hari ni naik gila. First day cuti da bosan, gi kedai kak long tambah lak blonde streaks in my hair. Keji.. rasa tak cukup je. Aku nak ala Dilana... leh? Kak long lak jenis degil bila mintak wat camni camtuh ada je.. (matilah no more discounts after this).

Balik singgah melantak with the geng kat Seksyen 7 and then mai Internet cafe sebab feeling guilty nak tunaikan kewajipan updatekan blog. Gambar tak sempat banyak, but I promise I will maintainence ler sikit tomorrow (today ler sebab da pass midnight)

Esok kena gi Astro hantar benda nak settle benda payment tuk aku for something. Dapat agi duit dari Astro (berbaloi ler subscribe tapi dapat gak money from them sebab appear sana sini bukan free ok) Pastu ada meeting illegal pasal something...

Kalau aku naik gila, nak gi cuti seorang diri dua tiga hari... tengok angin. Apapun, I will update my blog before I do.

Just in case tak dapat Astro kat tempat aku nak gi... sebab nak cita pasal Rockstar : Supernova yang nak masuk final minggu ni. Hope Dilana wins. Paling busuk pun Lukas ler.

Ok ler guys... thanks for reading this maha gaban panjang punya posting. Lega dapat put everything down in writing. Time to close my little diary for now. Good night...

For more reviews on Anugerah ERA 06, try these links :
Mr Manager - slave driver yang berangan vogue
badrulaftersix - for fans of ERA and Diddy
Budiey - love his blog... selain blog orang gila, Fiebie.
maddox24 - bukan peminat Mawi (matilah aku kena keji pasni)
*Sapa yang nak included for Anugerah ERA punya reference, leave it in the comments section kang aku add ok.

PS - More pictures will be uploaded later today... so banyak bersabar ek. Esok penuh program terpaksa menjana malapetaka. Tungguuu...