Konsert Akademi Fantasia - minggu pertama (Part 2)

Aiyo.. tak penah aku wat review balik selewat nih. So sorry guys. Fell asleep masa edit dan upload pic dan lagu. Leh? Matilah aku dok ngadap laptop, tetiba bangun ngan keypad embossed kat moka aku da.

Anyway, yesterday punya show, first of all, let me get down to pics aku amik of the surroundings. Merasalah get the trivial bits out of the way first.

Team Era... ado?


Me likey the critics seating


The critics for week one


The blog critics for week one (meraslaah berangan)


Kak Mah cantik siottttt... flawless!


The kids masa pas abih. My own cam nih. So you can imagine betapa dekatnya aku sampai takyah zoom sambil dok leh amik pic ni


And kedudukan pelajar ketika tutup undian


Ok, the first things I liked about the first concert sebab the stage. Walaupun pun ada yang tak minat, I prefer the layout sebab minimalistic and not two dimensional ala konsert sekolah. This is one break from the usual presentation yang aku rasa dapat berikan bebudak training nak biasakan diri ngan dunia sebenar. I mean... when was the last awards show or concert that had a simple stage yang gituh gituh jer kan in terms of layout. It allows freedom of movement, and the kids really need the skills nak navigate themselves through their performance. Kalao pandai, memang menonjol abih.

Apapon the stage design for me, mungkin akan appear berserabut to some... cause it's an idea you have to get used to. Think every major anugerah or show in the country. No one uses a two dimensional layout anymore. So bab ni aku stuju.

The FANTAStics, peminat yang dok dalam mosh pit tu, is an idea I like. sebab tu membenarkan fan club semua mempunyai ruang lebih dekat ngan pelajar kesayangan mereka. Oh ye.... ni pengumuman gak bagi semua fan club official (yang feeling official tak main ok!). Please contact me supaya the production can get you guys in the mosh pit. Ruang tu khas buat kelab peminat ok.

The lighting was nice and not too garish. Sebab sebelom ni semua warna pelangi on skali, kali ni there was more thought put into lighting. Bab house sound - macam down sikit... hopefully benda ni akan rectified soon. But this is a TV production, so sound quality for the home audience is a priority. Heh... aku dok dewan tatau la masa live broadcast camna. Nanti aku catch repeat.

In terms of production, kudos to the concert team for the good job. Aku personally puas aspek ni sebab aku rasa ni kelainan yang boleh diterima. It may take time to adapt, as it doesn't look like anything Akademi Fantasia concerts have been like before, tapi ni kira facelift yang makes the show more relevant to the actual industry in terms of menonjolkan performance.

Return of Adlin Aman Ramlie sebagai pengkritik aku suka, sebab he is one of the few people yang dipanggil who alwys does a good job. You just can't go wrong with him. But Edrie Hashim I think bias sikit pada mereka yang dia pilih ketika ujibakat (ampun bro!) and less forgiving to those yang not his choices. Datuk Khatijah Ibrahim monotonous sangat cara cakap. Jap... hidangkan Brands Innershine sebotol (uwaa... product placement nih) Heh....

Wardrobe? Minggu ni kisahnya personal style bebudak sebelum transformasi bermula kata Principal.

The location I like! Grand! Tapi panas siot!!! Peloh tujuh baldi! Dah lah tempat aku dok second row stage centre ada spotlight hala direct kat aku! Azab!!!

But because the show was more fluid with some changes, leh la aku enjoy cause tak draggy.

I also don't mind the taglines being gone cause it only worked for season two and three. Pastu cam ngada lak...

But one thing yang aku rasa susah aku nak terima perubahan, seperti peminat tegar Akaemi Fantasia yang lain, semestinya, ketiadaan persembahan lagu Menuju Puncak. That is the isi of the karipap, the beef patty in the burger, the sambal in the belacan (motif???)
Anyway, mungkin perubahan Datin Seri Tiara Jacquelina ingin membawa mempunya tujuan tertentu, so we'll just have to see. She has made some drastic changes to the show dari segi aplikasi beberapa perkara - and the fans akan tentukan whether these changes will be good or not.

Bak kata Principal ketika sidang akhbar - "I want to break every tradition in Akademi Fantasia".
Setiap transformasi mesti mempunyai sebab. And permulaan transformasi Tiara memang mendadak yang peminat harus akur, inilah Akademi Fantasia hari ini mengikut visi dan misi Puteri Gunung Ledang, all the way from her first transformation yang dia sebut ketika PC tu ialah menetapkan yang "kasut mesti dipakai ketika di Akademi sebab itu adalah sekolah."

But with her vast experience, Tiara must know what she's doing, so peminat kena tunggu je tuk lihat hasilnya nanti. Dia telah berjanji untuk membawa perubahan yang mendadak by changing everything that is familiar about Akademi Fantasia. Merasalah Optimus Prime - Transformasi!

Merasalah.

Anyway, ni part korang tunggu. Review of student's performance.

Sadly enough, aku da wat keputusan... tiada pam jamban kali nih. Matilah korang carut aku lak kan.

Dengar dulu sebabnya. Matilah... dengar lak.. maksud aku baca ok!

Tahun sebelum sebelum ni, ramai tuduh aku bias when I pick based on performance, ability and their potential. Dan walaupun usually I'm proven right... it makes me look like I'm siding certain contestants, walaopon aku base on professional judgement.

Tahun ni aku diberi peluang untuk berkongsi ilmu untuk mengajar pelajar Akademi Fantasia about media communications. Peluang ni akan digunakan untuk directly advice the kids on what I think they're doing wrong, and teach them the tricks of the trade.

And since Akademi Fantasia is bigger than any of us - and it's about the fans - with respect to everyone out there, aku akan lebih memberikan constructive criticism here. Aku tanak sesiapa salah anggap, atau manipulasikan kritikan aku tuk pertikaikan my credibility and professionalism berkaitan kerja aku.

Betul kan?

So terima transformasi review aku tahun ni... and I hope you guys still stick with me.

Please note sesiapa nak pakai these pics below JANGAN CROP dan JANGAN EDIT my watermark out, atau azab la hidup ko kena sumpah tujuh generasi. Fan clubs especially can use there pics in their blogs or sites, tapi sila CREDIT and LINK me. It's only polite...

ADILA - Di Bawah Pohon Asmara
Rating : **
Kelebihan si Adila ni is her confidence. Sampai technical issues with her mic at the start pun, dia tak thrown off. So that's good. Sebab some of the other students seem to lack what she has in abundance.

Tapi banyak lagi Adila kena belajar dari segi teknik vocal as well as in terms of stage movements. She appeared contrived at times, and aku rasa pergerakan dia atas pentas should come more from her understanding of the song, and not as she thinks how it should be. More focus on her performance and finding her personal style would help a lot.

SIDI - Terima Kasih Cinta
Rating : -
I think the song was a little too big for Sidi. Kekurangan dia he has to learn how to deliver within limitations of his current range.

Sebenarnya basic idea dan keinginan untuk tonjolkan kelainan ada pada dia, which is good. However hope he pays more attention in class, as I think his weaknesses have been identified by the tenaga pengajar da selama ni. Tweak things here and there and he may be interesting to listen to.

ZIZI - Molek
Rating : ***
The show for the night really started with Zizi's performance. Kecuali dengan sikit isu stamina, which can be dealt with proper handling of breathing techniques, Zizi ni the first tuk aku, to earn recognition on stage sebagai a serious contender for the finals kalao dia teruskan prestasi dia.

YAZID - Penghujung Rindu
Rating : **
Sayang nervousness dia melampau sangat sampai affect performance dia. Honestly, I think Yazid has one of the most interesting voices in the competition. Kalao dia leh oversome that and work more on his vocals, he definitely can be one of the best.



ISMA - Sepi
Rating : **
I think she did a decent job. The only problem I have with Isma is she needs to discover more of herself through her voice.

Buat sekarang, aku belum sepenuhnya yakin dia mampu break away from penyakit klon. Gaya persembahan dan lenggok dia terlalu mengikut Datuk Siti Nurhaliza dan dia perlu mencari identiti dia dalam lagu.

She's another serious contender if she can avoid being labelled as trying to be someone else and bring out her unique expression of the tune she performs.



AKIM - Hatiku Kau Luka
Rating : **
Sayang.... Akim performed better than I expected, but not up to par with his potential. Kalao ikutkan, dia nih easily can be one of the best boys in the competition dengan pakej yang ada pada diri dia.

Kalao dia lebih fokus pada pembelajaran, aku yakin persembahan dia sudah lebih menyengat. All in all he did well enough.



CLAUDIA - Sempurna
Rating : ***
I'm impressed! Kerisauan aku dia tak mampu nak menonjolkan more of this song since it's very safe in comparison to the other songs that have more punch.

But apart from some issues with the low notes, Claudia, like Zizi, made the first concert memorable in comparison to the previous seasons of Akademi Fantasia at this early stage.

I have great expectations for her, so mintak mintak dia deal with her vocals to deliver a better. Unlike what many say of her as being a Dayang clone, I don't see that as I think she has a different tone, walaopun aku rasa make up dia bagi dia menyerupai Nandung.



HAFIZ - Lagu Kita
Rating : ****
This was undoubtedly the highlight of the night. Hafiz is a strange subject. Kalao dalam Diari dia langsung nampak colourless, and without character, onstage, he manages to bring out a whole new vibe to who he is.

Merasalah ni baru transformasi!!! Dari Herman Tino jadik Guy Sebastian ok! My only concern with him is sama macam dengan Isma, that he needs to cultivate his own unique approach any song he takes on.

Promising, and awal awal da booking minat orang tuk AFUNDI dia untuk ke minggu terakhir.



RINI - Elegi Sepi
Rating : *
Wrong song. It did nothing to showcase her vocals, but I think this is simply the case that a lot of the kids face. Meka masih tidak cukup arif untuk memilih lagu yang mampu menunjukkan segala kemampuan mereka.

Hard to judge her based on this performance and I think she would do much better on another song.



OBRI - Jeritan Batinku
Rating : *
Am very disappointed with Obri. For the best among the boys dari segi usaha dia sepanjang minggu pertama dalam Akademi, hasilnya tak seperti yang diharapkan.

He was one of the weakest of the boys, simply because I assume he allowed nerves to get in the way. Memandangkan minggu-minggu seterusnya ada elimination, Obri has to buck up a lot more to stay in the competition.

His case is simply one that reflects that it doesn't matter how much you try - at the end of the day, hasil atas pentas for that one song lebih penting anytime. Mintak mintak dia berusaha lebih in terms of gaining confidence onstage as well applying things he learns when it counts when it comes to movements onstage.

And hope it's pointed out that it's pointed out his voice is too thin for certain songs, and he needs the right tunes to showcase his ability.



AISHAH - Dan Sebenarnya
Rating : ***
I had fun with Aishah's version of the song. It was a good choice, and despite it not being one of those lagu yang nak melalak note setinggi gunung Everest - she did something great onstage.

She is one of the few pelajar yang aku nampak ada identiti sendiri walaopon sebelum ni aku tak nampak dia menyerlah langsung.

I think Aishah adalah salah satu pelajar yang paling kuat dalam Akademi Fantasia kali ni. It'll be interesting nak tengok apa dia akan lakukan minggu depan.



QHAUD - Phoenix Bangkit Dari Abu
Rating : **
I don't know... there's just something wrong with his performance. It was contrived.. macam di paksa paksa dan terikut suatu gaya yang dia da associate dengan lagu ini.

I hope dia mampu nak apply himself to a song. Sebab nyanyi lagu M. Nasir terikut, aku tak terbayang dia dalam tugasan lain bagaimana hasilnya.

Dari sudut vocal he has a lot to brush up - and sebab dia bukan cam Akim yang main main pun mampu 'lulus ujian', he has to work harder untuk minggu kedua untuk understand what is wrong with his performance.



RUBISA - Matahariku
Rating : **
Rubisa ni menghadapi masaalah sama dengan Qhaud. Entah kenapa aku rasakan persembahan dia kurang ikhlas dari segi penghayatan. It's a show, with the dramatics and all, but I hardly feel there's any attention to the essence of the tunes.

Banyak yang perlu diperbaiki lagi, but she undoubtedly has a good voice. Cuma dia kena faham aplikasi teknik yang perlu, dan bukan ikut suka sahaja dalam her execution. I have to puji her however she seems to have taken on some of the advice of the tenaga pengajar.

A little more attention to details and I think she can be serious competition



ARIL - Rahasia Perempuan
Rating : **
Kelemahan Aril ada penekanan dia pada aspek persembahan. Vocal wise he didn't seem to pay too much care, and disebabkan fokus dia pada persembahan gerak geri atas pentas tuh, it became a little comic.

With a unqiue tone to his voice, I think Aril needs to tone down (walaupon student lain kena up kan). He's got a lot fo energy which is good, tapi dia kena cut down sikit sebab terlalu hyper sampai benda tuh nampak kelam kabut dan trying too hard.


So that's my honest evaluation of the kids minus carutan. Sebenarnya kalao ikutkan aku rasa persembahan konsert minggu pertama impressive gak lah banding ngan musim musim lepas. There were hits and misses in terms of the kids' performance tapi overall not bad at all.

Kalao ikutkan, pilihan peribadi aku tak berapa jauh dari kedudukan AFUNDI ketika tutup, which you guys can see kat atas.

My personal choice based on performance? This is how I ranked them.

1. Hafiz
2. Claudia
3. Aishah
4. Zizi
5. Yazid
6. Rubisa
7. Akim
8. Isma
9. Adila
10. Aril
11. Rini
12. Obri
13. Qhaud
14. Sidi

Aduh.. letih la guys panjang sangat proses nak wat pics, lagu dan video. Ni nak lari ke Akademi da. Be back soon with more entries.

Apapon, setuju ke tidak pandangan aku, hope you guys Comment and tell me what you think.


PS - Check out links to other commentators on Akademi Fantasia yang leh caya. Katanya.. walaupun (matilah aku!)
sultanmuzaffar
MrManager