Konsert Akademi Fantasia Minggu Kedua (Part 2)

Hah... sapa nak complain pasal konsert semalam... then talk to akak Ziana kita ni. Merasalah superstar ketika ujibakat Akademi Fantasia musim nih ok, siap kuar dalam Trek Selebriti Akademi Fantasia dan juga Tirai Akademi Fantasia. Sujud!!!

Seriouly though, even though the first week's concert left some dazed and confused, aku da agak it would get better. Biasalah.... pindah rumah baru mesti ada pengubahsuaian semua kan.

Masuk je kat dewan, the first perubahan is the air-conditioning. Ah... nyaman udara. Heh... they installed lots of new ACs (air conditioning ok) around so the hall was more airy, and not sweltering like the first week. A change in the lighting also ensure some form of climate control.

Meanwhile, onstage, for some reason throughout the show, the lights seemed more better 'choreographed' than last week. It was beautifully done to highlight each performance. And the sound helped a lot too after being much improved from that aspect too.

Kudos to the band, led by Acis yang memang up the whole thing to another notch, taking it from Planet Hollywood to American Bandstand (that's a good thing), with beautiful arrangements and all.

So technically, the show memang worlds apart from last week's and if the progression continues, I can only imagine what it'll be like next week. Promising abih.

Soal lain... jury, Edrie Hashim was... erm... well, I think all of us agreed he must have been watching another show sebab komen dia pelik bebenar. Aku dok berdekatan tenaga pengajar dan juga 'pengkritik-pengkritik' bebas yang sebulat stuju komen dia tak kena most of the times. Yang sodap halwa telinga orang, dia kritik overdose. Yang tak sodap di puji. Camno tuh? Ado?

Datuk Khaty tak dapat bersama, so diganti Datuk Yusni Hamid. But meaning no disrespect, I wish that the critics selected would be more... relevant in understanding performance of difference genre, and be updated with music market trends so they don't make comments that display their discomfort and perhaps lack of understanding with the types of music performed.

Kalao nak pilih yang otai pon, someone like mama Julie Sudiro for example, who is not only an excellen performer and singer, but actually knows what she's talking about. Bab nak pilih pengkritik yang penyanyi nih bukan senang. Some can deliver the goods in their capacity as a singer or performer, but just fail in translating it to words when they deliver a critique.

Adlin was as usual, impeccably interesting.

AC? After the well done first week of not overdoing it, I think this week dia da start balik celoteh a bit too much cam musim lepas. I like him better if he keeps banter to a minimal sebab again, the star of the show is the kids, and he serves only as an intermediate of sorts to hold the show together.

And small observations. Medley is pronounced 'med-lee' not 'med-leh' and Claudia disebut 'Ke-Lo-Dia' or 'Klau-Dia' (depending) not 'Klow-Dia'.

Did you guys notice da ada bebudak wat tugas backing vocals da? I like! Musim kedua yang magic dulu pun ada... tapi I think most of the kids tak contribute sangat as backing, but ok lah tuh. Banyak tugasan mereka, so slowly ease into it. Aku mintak je meka di rotatekan supaya tak memberatkan pelajar tertentu je dengan tugas ni.



The show began explosively with Menuju Puncak. And this week, it set the tone of how the night was going to be. Simple and very preppy in their red and white outfits, the kids did well, vocally as well as their execution of the steps to fuel the passion and participation of the audience for the show. I like!!! And I think everyone felt that too. Just hope Cikgu Aris ubah step sikit bab dance break for a more frantic routine, with more attack and punch. All in all however, congratulations to him for making sure that Menuju Puncak came back with a bang.

Tapi korang perasan tak kasut bebudak? Heh... takpe. Transformasi da bermula... so big things coming....

On to the show...



AKIM
Satu/Buronan Cinta
Rating : ***
A little shaky, but overall I think Akim did quite well. He's showing more potential vocally. It helped dia dapat lagu yang kuat cam Satu, but t his credit he did well enough to impress me despite dia ni kekadang perangai main-main.
His body language masih kekok sikit like most of the kids, tapi takde la sampai apa Edrie cakap sampai tarik mic pun dia kritik unprofessional bagai until dikatakan performance tak ok pas.
Bab Yusni Hamid... aku no komen. I mean, she called him 'Afik' for crying out loud. Heh... merasalah!
Agreed more with Adlin in terms of physicality. Spot on bab pemerhatian tuh. And I think that's the keyword for this season sebab most of the pelajar are still finding body language something that's natural to them.



RUBISA
Gagap/Dingin
Rating : ***
Gagap, being a fast paced number memang bukan senang, and it displays Rubisa's lack of stamina. She has the goods, but she needs to be able to bring it. Her concern right now, is learning to use the weapon she has in her powerful vocals right, getting the boost of stamina to use it where it matters, and also pace herself during a performance so she doesn't burn out.
Commendable showing and above par - save for minor glitches here and there in terms of her pitching.
Critics comments ignored... I'm watching Konsert Akademi Fantasia minggu kedua and I think Edrie is watching Cak Cak ke haper. Cara dia komen very the salah channel...
Adlin is right on her confidence level and the variation she was able to display ketika transition between the songs.



QHAUD
Bila Nak Saksi/Lagu Untukmu
Rating : ***
Credit to Qhaud, walaupun dapat lagu yang serasi ngan suara dia, he did better than I expected. There was a natural feel to his performance. Minggu lepas aku rasa cam pergerakan dia ni amateurish and dipaksa, tapi nampak minggu ni dia lebih senang and just having fun without thinking too much of his movements... which at times cause him also to veer off to discover new notes not audible to human ears.
Improved... and patut dipuji sebab nampak lebih fokus pada minggu ni. But I think jauh lagik sebelom dia catch up ngan those like Hafiz. But on the way... just aksi kening dia ala Ziana tuh menakutkan!



AISHAH
Coba/Gila
Rating : ***
I said it once, I'll say it again. Aishah is one of the only ones with her own stamp on everything she does, performance wise. She went horribly off in the climax of Coba, I think after her ok performance of Gila - which she didn't manage to take on as well, Aishah is more suited to more poppy folk rock sounds cause that is what is best suited to her.
Adlin spot on bab sebutan dia yang jelas, which is something not every singer is able to deliver. Crisp and clean gituh.
Still, she is a serious contender for the final for sure in terms of quality.



OBRI
Akan Tiba/Ada Untukmu
Rating : **1/2
Most improved for sure. Aku rasa dia antara paling lemah last week. But his week, he did a lot better. Towards the end of the first part of Akan Tiba, I felt dia masih weak in comparison. Masuk Ada Untukmu, he showed a slight weakness in lower notes, but overall he did quite well.
So far, Obri is one of the kids yang you can listen to, but not watch sebab body language dia masih very uncomfortable. He has to work more on his visuals.
Kalau Adlin kata dia terkangkang cam katak, I think his problem is dia nih tertonggek which makes it kind of comical.
But that doesn't take away from the fact he can sing, but like Qhaud, dia banyak kena improve kalao nak catch up wih the leaders of the pack.



ZIZI
Sembilu/ Wonder Woman
Rating : ***
A slight slip masa star in Sembilu but beautifully recovered. Tapi bab end tuh terpeliot lagik. Masuk Wonder Woman , she did better, and managed to hold her own against the big sound of the song. Tapi aku rasa cam dia carried away some parts which compromised her performance a little. And I hate singers who do growling as a means to cover their weaknesses, and Zizi unfortunately did that.
Tapi all in all - she did well, just I think she's stagnant from last week.



SIDI
Selamat Ulang Tahun/Kukoo
Rating : **
While Sidi cam bebudak lain ada improvement, dia lebih jauh tertinggal. Tatau la kalao dia bagi spuluh tiang bagi bebudak lain can sikit sebelom nak pintas, but I think at this point, his improvement walau ada, yang paling slow berbanding saingan lain kat dalam Akademi.
He did better in the start despite having a brush with tempo issues.
Given that Kukoo was a tough song, I think he so underperformed and has so many issues with his performance.
But since dia tetap ada improvement, let's hope it gets better next week.



ADILA
Merawat Luka Terpendam/Asyik
Rating : **1/2
She did ok actually. Lagu Liza Hanim nih bukan semua mampu ok. I think she was wobbly sana sini, but Asyik is a fun number that she did decently and I think buang masa pengkritik kata takleh comment sebab dia dapat lagu crowd pleaser. Isn't that part of showmanship? To be able to use a tune to whip up a frenzy with the audience... belittle it if you must, but no matter what song ko dapat yang power gila, yang ko melalak camna... if you don' engage the audience it's not worth it.
And dangdut is actually a hard genre, but Edrie Hashim doesn't seem to understand that.
Still her problem was that she somehow failed to present who she is through her performances.
Maybe if she had more time. Kalau ikutkan, I don't think she deserved to be out first.



ARIL
Benar Benar/Robot
Rating : **
I think he was so out of his element ngan lagu Adam. He did ok, but memang takde feel. And that usually comes with the fact that someone performs a song they can't relate too. I think he was one of the only ones yang betul betul slide in terms of progress, which is a shame cause he has character, something some of the other kids lack. But nak wat camna... at the end of the day, it's what's performed on stage that counts.
Banyak kena improve....



RINI
Aku Sindarela/Kiblatku
Rating : **
Rini can sing. Rini got two good songs. Tapi entah kenapa semalam performance dia memang takde magic langsung. Contrived, and some parts I think she was performing th way she thought it should have performed. Issues aside, Rini ada potential, but again, no excuses for stray notes. She's also one of those who are not as lucky as Aishah to have found herself through song yet.

YAZID
Lelaki Ini/Fikirlah
Rating : *
Yazid has a nice one, a unique one that others would kill for. That said, he is one of the few yang terok abih smalam, aongside Aril dan Sidi.
Sayang... sebab dedua lagu dia dapat memang power. Tapi bab Lelaki Ini, memang sakit telinga. He seemed nervous, unsure, and totally afraid of how big the song was.
He did better in Fikirlah, but fell into the conventional thinking that a handstand would save him in terms of performance, despite the irrelevance of it all.
Apapon... I still say dia nih ada promise to be a finalist. But only kalao dia improve within a week or two.
Really disappointed.



CLAUDIA
Wanita/ Ku Mahu
Rating : ****
Underrated. Alasan ramai masih mengatakan dia macam Dayang. Come on la... in terms of tone, her vocal styling, apa Dayang nya?
I think she's got a sweet tone, with just enough weight to it that is inviting. She had little issues with pitching and all and also goinf flat on some parts. But her strengths of feeling a song coupled with her natural confidence onstage make for a potential finalist. There were beautiful moments for sure.
She however has to focus more on her craft before being a serious contender for the finals.

HAFIZ
Cinta Ini Membunuhku/Toyol
Rating : ****1/2
What else can you say. Tak pernah, selain Bob ketika AF2, yang ada yang deliver in the first and second week, yang so vocally strong.
He takes a song and just makes it magical. And with nothing much to comment on his performance except that it was impressive, including his take of Toyol (walaopon ada yang kata azab, aku da agak it'll be a crowd pleaser that he can pull off), all I can say is I see Hafiz slowly coming out of his shell, building more confidence and personality along the way. Now... this is one of the contestants yang embody the 'transformation' tagline.
Minor and very forgettable issues but kekurangan dia memang leh ignore la sebab outstanding.




ISMA
Jat Da Da Da/Hello
Rating : ***
Aku serious hanya pernah dengar lagu Jat Da Da Da (lousy title) time promo Astro je. And memang lagu ni infectious. Added with lagu Hello yang aku suka, memang patutnya performance Isma, attitude abih.
But unfortunately while she did quite ok, cam ada something yang I couldn't put my finger on.
Then I realised one thing. She appeared so matronly.
Maksud aku... tak kisah la in real life, she's a mother of five kids, tapi tu tak kisah. Just onstage, she cannot appear like someone's mom on a karaoke night trying to be funky.
Kedua lagu memerlukan attitude and she lacked that, having no punch in her performance.

All in all, thought the two bags became unnecessary sebab selepas penyingkiran Adila, takde mention of the second bag, so it was reduced to a cheap gimmick.

Also I think for many, based on voting trends, and surprises done before this, the kejutan was cliched and expected.

Bahaya wok!!!


Suspen... not!


Farewells...



Finale dalam send off Adila tuh, cam cut short, and kelam kabut sikit. Mungkin isu tu leh ditangani untuk konsert akan datang. All in all, tahniah pada tenaga produksi konsert sebab delivered what they promised.

Astro Ria channel manager Khairul Mizan Shagul dan executive producer for Akademi Fantasia Sooraj Nair - bukan bodek boss tau letak pic meka. Heh! Matilah aku!


Aku dok skali ngan blogger lain. Dok gelak sebab Juan dan sultanmuzaffar asyik dok SMS pelajar kesayangan mereka - yang sama ok pilihan meka sorang tuh. Merasalah rembesan. Panggil cleaners cepat mop! Mencapap aku sangat ek! Bias!!! AFUNDI sorang tuh je... katanya... walaopon!!! Hak toihh!!! Heh!



Abih sorang agik blogger sekor nih, yang si pengurus tuh dok sibuk carut je compare semua dak laki ngan Dafi dan Nubhan - matilah kau Vern! Very the bias. Kalao tak, dia tengah sibuk SMS (mencarut la tuh), amik pic dua ekor lagi yang sibuk SMS, sambil catit nota dalam buku pink dia yang berbulu kaler pink (ko ado???? - sanggup ke?) Matilah!!!

It's just wrong when a man in his 40s uses a pink, fluffy diary to jot notes



Had fun... did you guys? Let me know what you think. Oh by the way. Watch Diari minggu nih. Ada seorang diva (bukan yang disangkan) yang international akan jenguk Akademi! Siapa? Rahsia! But I absolutely LOVE HER!

Anyway.. nak dengar suara korang lak. Vote below sapa korang rasa besh.


PS - MP3s of performances on the way soon. And don't forget to vote below and be heard! Siapa pilihan anda?

PPS - Below the poll ada video pesanan Adila pada peminatnya.