Mai kita mulakan entry ni ngan tekaria light light. Artis mana yang pakai Gucci nih?
Sementara korang sibuk teka meneka, mai si Heliza hiburkan korang.
Sebenarnya ni kat event Murai malam tadi. Yok Sahur as usual everytime fasting month, tuk sahur ngan anak yatim. Seronok. Tapi seperti biasa, ada je warga tak diundang yang gatecrash. Hish.. tak paham la. Event charity camni pon ada yang nak melangut. Feel glamour la tuh. Sedih kan, adik-adik skang.
Hah...anyway... da dapat jawapan sapa artis tu? Ni jawapannya.
Matilah saingan aku tuk jadi duta Gucci tak berbayar! Sentap!
Mmm... where do I start on Akademi Fantasia tonight?
Went for the show with low expectations, but kept a clear mind on without bias of the ridiculous runnings of programming (soal Diari time Maghrib, soal pecahan Konsert ke dua bahagian ke Konsert dan Debaran), as well as some other reservations I had (like Brands being the main sponsor instead of Hotlink - which is crap).
Thought maybe the kids could prove me wrong.
Especially since production janji musim ni takde yang tone deaf, everyone has individuality that will shine out etc.
So erased any harapan I had, and pretended I was going for a show that I never ever watched in my life (and not one where I have dedicated seven years following).
And so... where do I start.
Masuk je, greeted by the stage. Aku took some time to ponder over what I thought about it.
For some reason, kalao korang umur 30 ke atas, maybe korang penah nampak something like this. It looks like some retro-futuristic set. You know like watching the 70s version of Star Trek and having a console panel with blinking lights and believing those doodads worked.
It wasn't horrifyingly scary. In fact, I have to say in a way, this was better than Planetarium Negara yang menjadi set tahun lepas. You know.. with the hanging ions and stuff.
Tapi kan... I don't know. It just looked kind of gimmicky and cheap. Not to mention the circular stage and seating positions are very Idol derived - again, I don't want to see any references o Idol, especially memandangkan Akademi Fantasia skang banyak 'pinjam' idea daripada siri Idol and aku rasa Akademi Fantasia patut mempunyai imej sendiri, seperti tika mulanya dulu in 2003.
It looked very Xanadu inspired (it was a musical film in 1980 with Olivia Newton John having a it with the theme song, thank you - for those yang tatau their music). Watch below for the video.
The lights... the feel... I don't know. This is like a jazzed up, reworked version of Xanadu 1980 in 2010.
Either that or rupa cam hiasan lampu taman tema memana, with those light towers looking a lot like the Solaris Shot (tatau la nama skang.. kowser nak gi Genting)
So anyway the show... erm.. what did I think of it?
Jimmy was a nervous wreck, which I understand. And he didn't do as bad as I thought, though it was painfully obvious dia terlalu tertekan sampai aku tengok Sarimah pon tertekan nak berlumba sebab Jimmy seolah baca skrip tanpa intonasi atau perasaan.
Sarimah did well under the conditions... but even she found it hard to make the show any better.
Thans to the kids.
Erm.. daripada rupa, aku da kata awal-awal. Takde sorang pon yang ada aura star langsung.
Harus faham ye.. semua orang mampu nyanyi. Dan kebanyakan mampu nyanyi dengan baik. Tapi untuk menjadi seorang penyanyi in all essence of the word - it's not something you learn. A performer, an artiste, a singer - whether recording or live - is born, not made.
You just have to find that diamond, that's lurking under the facade of a diamond, and work your way into uncovering the beauty of it.
These kids?
Ada tiga orang je kalao ikutkan show malam tadi yang ada potential to be marketable (tak kisah la kalao ada peminat karat skang ke pas ni nak kata apa). Hakikatnya in this business, kalao da takleh jual, ko tolak camna pon, paling kuat you can make it, is to be a one off hit.
You can rely on gimmicks or outer presentation, but that will only get you so far if you don't have the substance.
And most of these kids nan hado bila perform. Kebanyakan mereka tahap penyanyi karaoke yang bersepah kat Red Box, Green Box dan Warong Pak Su kat Bentong, ok!
Even the best vocal work, choreography onstage and the best outfits (which you'll never see on the Akademi Fantasia stage), won't help them become stars in all essence of the word. Flash in the pan wit a shelf life of six months perhaps.
Am I being too harsh? Perhaps....
You see, Akademi Fantasia da lapan tahun. Evolution is inescapable. Tapi kan, perubahan itu bukan dari segi kosmetik saja. Yang perlu memang seleksi pelajar yang betul. Ramai bakat kat luar tu yang mempunyai that natural talent to be deserving to be onstage.
Instead, semalam, I saw a lot of wannabes and posuers yang cuba nak tiru gaya artis jerk.
Aku nak review performance semalam cam kejam lak kan... sebab bebudak ni kira not even first concert. So takyah la nak uar berus jamban ke apa nak bagi rating.
Kira aku bagi peluang one concert to see what they're made of. But untuk aku setakat ini, hanya tiga orang saja yang nampak kemampuan dari dalam diri mereka untuk be stars. Potential ada.
Pilihan aku? Farina dari Bintulu, Sarawak. Ema dari Ranau, Sabah. Dan Ain dari Sandakan, Sabah. Bebudak pompuan lain? Erm... not even a hope nak jadik the next tier one superstar. They just don't have it inside them. The three girls aku rasa yang stand out in competition have a lot of work to do to improve themselves, but I see something inside them that tells me they will make it big.
The boys? Shah? Too many handicaps stand in his way, and his gift is not enough. That's the harsh reality. He doesn't have a package - and missing an outstanding voice or personality to offset it all walaopon kira ok antara bebudak lelaki yang lain yang haus (Haus macam Daus tuh - azab! Mintak mintak minggu pertama bebetul Bye Bye Bye)
Iwan? Nice tone, tapi takde range langsung. Aku da agak masuk je chorus mesti da start shaky. By the bridge, tajuk albumnya nan hado. Shahir yang paling ada pakej antara bebudak laki - but seriously nampak wannabe sangat.
Kalao musim-musim sebelom ni we've seen these type of contestants... doesn't the production want to break the mold?
Every musim, kita nampak.. bebudak camni... masuk.. memang stakat program ada la peminat, tapi realitinya lepas enam bulan - HAUS!
I'm sure the kids are all nice and all... and it's nothing personal. But I think production shouldn't have given them false hope in selecting them to make them think they had a hope in chance to make it in the real business.
Most of them will go the way of Adam and Dafi. You tell me if that's genuinely a good thing.
I prefer artistes yang leh tahan apa saja yang mai - ups and downs. Think quality acts like Ning, Ziana, Siti... Anuar... you know what I mean.
And generasi skang, dengan stok cam Yuna, Najwa, Aizat, Bunkface, Lan and the Typewriter and so many more new talents yang AMAZING and non conventional from the traditional manufactured molds - peserta camnih.. erm.. entahlah...
Like I said. Nothing is concrete right now. I may change my mind. One more concert and another song before I can see clearer.
But stakat ni da at least enam tujuh yang aku memang bajet nan hado da.
But in case any of you still want to know what I thought of the show by the kids... I will say it in pictures. Korang pepandai la decipher these pictures to get an image of what I felt when I saw them performing.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words... so here's your lengthy entry.
Jangan salah tafsir ek... but sesapa leh teka maksud aku sebalik these pics tahniah. Some are pretty straightforward.. some are more complex and some ada double meaning. And orang cam Alif tuh aku bagi dua pic... heh!
Now that we're done with that.. dah.. malas nak ulas panjang agik pasal Tirai Akademi Fantasia! Letih!
Pada kengkawan yang seberang laut ke takde Astro, korang layan la sendiri. Your opinions may differ from mine - tapi kalao tak suka apa cakap sini, senang je... jangan baca ek!
Apapon just hit play and all 14 parts of the Tirai will play. Thanks Crystle!
Ok.. so else do I have to share on this Sunday morning. Owh... ada benda ni. Masa nak gi stadium aku perasan this signboard.
Ladies and gentleman - this is what happens when you cut back on advertising costs and get a very bad copywriter. Hasilnya - English marvellous!
Yes, I think people would desire me as a baby, thank you. Sapa yang tak paham salah ayat di atas ni 'Are You Desired For A Baby' - no komen. Very the salah translation ok!
And one more pic to share. Baru kuar kat Twitter from Umie Aida. She just tweeted about a minute or two ago.
TAHNIAH!!! Dah selamat menikah di Tanah Suci. Syukur. Congratulations gal! Looking forward meeting up with you bila balik kang. Hugs.
Ah... now for a lazy Sunday. Rasa cam nak usha keta baru ari ni... da sampai masa.
PS - Thanks everyone for tweeting with me live masa konsert. Tak sakit ati sangat layan ngan borak ngan korang. Heh... sapa tak add, cepat ek. My ID is klubbkiddkl or hit the Twitter link above!
Ok... so the start of the day was pretty shitty - no thanks to the stupid ass event that was called The Biggest Loser Asia finale.
Dahla nak gi sana da sekian hal. Please note kebijaksanaan sapa entah yang pilih to do contruction on a very busy stretch on the LDP on a freaking Tuesday morning.
Will go on about that later (about program lahar tuh... not the traffic situation). Malas nak meroyan skang... kang banyak result bagai aku bagitau sebelom tayang kol 9 malam kang. Ala... tayang tuuuu... yang kononnya live bagai tapi sebenarnya rakaman hanjeng belaka. Nanti je la aku carot kenapa.
Abih event puaka tuh, aku gi pengenalan 12 pelajar untuk Akademi Fantasia musim ke lapan.
Nampaknya, benar ek tilikan aku. Heh... no komen. Sapa yang da baca whether in chat ke on my fan page ke column aku, da tau seminggu dua lepas kan?
Anyway kali ni aku rasa hampeh dot com sikit la suasana AF8. Tatau la... bak kata juri tertentu dulu, I deserve my comment (matilah aku!) Kita tunggu je betol ke tak janji produksi kononnya takde sekor pon tone deaf ek! baru start carotan panjang berjela.
Tak kuasa aku nak biodata penoh bagai so here it is.
Pelajar perempuan - empat orang dari Sabah (berlakon pengsan terkejut) dan adalah Nadiawati Ainul Basir (Ain) - 23, Dayang Nor Anum Arjuna Aharun (Anum) - 19, serta sepasang adik beradik (is this even realistic???) Erma Suhaimi - 21 (Ema) dan Siti Adira Suhaimi - 19 (Adira).
Selebihnya peserta perempuan, seorang dari Sarawak iaitu Zafarina Jamhari (Farina), 28, dan Nadia Emilia Roselan (Nad), 21. Nad ni dak Klang... budak kampung aku nih... awas la carotan lebih tiga bakul dari peserta lain kalao malukan kampung halaman kita yang traffic jam tiap pagi cam armageddon lahar itu.
Skang sila cuci mata atas wajah-wajah kaum Hawa dalam Akademi Fantasia musim kelapan.
Please note - HAVE SOME RESPECT for the owners of the copyright of these pictures. Credit should be given to Astro and Akademi Fantasia, dan jangan pandai-pandai watermark gambar-gambar ni ngan URL atau logo blog atau website korang yang nan hado. Honestly... that is infringement of the owners' rights. Beretika sikit ketika nak melayari Internet (ramai sangat bangsat pandai on PC tapi tak pandai baca kat luar tuh)
Ain
Anum
Ema
Adira
Farina
Nad
Bebudak laki reverse lak... as I revealed much earlier. Hanya seorang dari East Malaysia iaitu Muhd Shahril Firdaus El (Daus) - 22 dari Sarawak.
Ni sorang agik dak Klang iaitu Muhammed Shahril Mohd Saleh Hussein (Shah) 26. Harap awas ye... jangan malukan orang Klang.
Remainder are Muhammad Alif Kadim (Alif - berapa banyak Alif da nih... ni kedua dalam AF, pastuh keluar pakai nama Alif agik tambah pening la semua bersepah yang bernama Alif) - 18 dari Kuala Lumpur, Ahmad Shahir Zawawi (Shahir) - 21 dari Perak, Emirza Awan Zulazrin Chew (Iwan - panggil je Emi kan better... heh!) - 20 dari Negeri Sembilan dan Muhd Firdaus Maulana Mohamed (Maulana) - 22 dari Johor.
And here are how the boys look like.
Daus
Shah
Alif
Shahir
Iwan
Maulana
So are you guys convinced?
Buat kali pertama dalam aku ikut Akademi Fantasia sejak permulaan lagi di musim pertama... I am not in the least excited.
I like the Sarimah and Jimmy combination. Tapis selain itu, soal programming, cast list bebudak ni... langsung tak meyakinkan aku sebagai peminat that it will be... well.. interesting to watch.
In fact, I have this impending feeling of doom which I had masa AF4... only worse.
Apapon aku tanak komen lebih (walaopon rasa berbakul nak carot da - dan sebab aku tak terlibat tahun ni dan bebudak ni bukan student aku cam musim lepas, aku leh bagi teguran - abih la blog aku ni kena serang karats lagik pasni). To be fair, aku tunggu first show - tu pun kalao aku rasa nak gi sebab tak kuasa ada konsert pastuh results show lak feeling Idol. Aduh!!!!
Some people just don't understand what is sacred to Akademi Fantasia.
AF8 bermula dengan Tirai AF Sabtu ini 13 Mac 2010 at 9 pm di Astro Ria. Diari bermula the the following Monday pada jam 7.30 malam (solat Maghrib tak nih?).
Apapon kita wait and see je.
PS - Aku ada sorang kawan dalam Akademi antara bebudak ni, tapi memang sah takde bias. Tapi untuk elakkan binatang-binatang bakal menyerang aku diam kan sapa dan hanya akan bagitau ujung musim atau bila orang itu sudah tersingkir.
PPS - Kongsi sikit pendapat korang pasal bebudak ni dan programming. Nak tengok apa pendapat korang.
Siang-siang da keluar ke Sungai Buloh atas urusan peribadi.
Finish at noon, terus head to venue launch album Hafiz. Well, supposed to be album Hafiz, but lagu Hafiz baru lima - including Masih Jelas. Empat lagik 'bonus track' kesemua lagu final yang lain.
Aduh... apa malas ke kedekut nih. Da lagu dalam Masih Jelas memang ok! Worth the buy - but awat empat lagu baru je (ketepikan Masih Jelas). Wat la album bebetul!
Honestly, I think fans are being well... shortchanged. Sebagai peminat Hafiz, mesti ada yang terasa. Yerlah.. nama album dia, pastuh kongsi ngan orang lain. Bukan like it's collaborations ke apa. Apa la salah AESB wat album mini dia je kalao budget tak mengizinkan full album. Apa main tumpang tumpang nih?
And then peminat bebudak lain cam Aril, Akim, Isma dan Yazid camna? Adakah mereka patut beli album yang takde nama orang meka support? Yang cuma menampilkan lagu yang da memang circulating on the Internet via free download.
Sapa yang untung? Bebudak ni untung ke, pihak lain?
Oh well... tu korang sebagai peminat... ingat pesan Nabil je. Lu fikir la sendiri! It's your money. I'm not saying the album is not worth it - because it is. But pihak pengurusan pikir la panjang sikit lain kali dan bukan tuk kaut keuntungan buta camnih.
Me personally think that Masih Jelas should be an album of its own. It deserves to be! Kalao nak wat mini album, jangan la malas studio version Masih Jelas plus four new songs je and then nak main sumbat tangkap mat sumbat semua lagu final lain kat dalam - dan harapkan peminat beli lak. Kalao malas camni baik single.
And then kalao nak alasan muatkan lagu bebudak lain, wat la album ala ala album EVO series dulu yang menampilkan studio recording and lagu baru non-finalists.
Kalao tidak pon, jangan la tipu peminat. Album Ratu dulu yang menampilkan lagu orang lain - digelar album 'Ratu And Friends'. Apek punya album pun pakai Apek and Family. Oh well... things people do. Ingat Maestro da takde, elok lagik perjalanan masa depan bebudak nih. Ado?
Apapon, happy to see the kids. Miss all of them. Aku tak snap banyak sangat pics masa event. Just a few before, and some after. Before tuh bebudak lain bersiap, Hafiz tengah rehearse, so sorry kalao starting tak banyak pics Hafiz. Masa lepak after tuh ada lah.
Anyway by the end of it, spoke to Hafiz's mom. Glad we had that talk ma'am. Heh! Matilah aku kan ting tong.
Ok la... korang layan pics. Banyak ni. Balas dendam lama tak bagi korang banyak camnih.
First batch ni masa Hafiz rehearse bebudak tengah get ready. By the way, Reza dok touch up sebab dia pengacara majlis.
Aku warning awal-awal dulu, kalao nak kebas pics kat sini - aku izinkan HANYA KALAO korang nak simpan dalam PC wat koleksi peribadi! Tapi kalao nak republish kat forum lain, atau blog ke website lain, anda sama sekali DILARANG - membuang, crop, edit watermark aku, dan mesti MESTI kredit DAN link klubbkidd.com! Kalao tak awas hidup korang! And I'm not joking!
Ni some of the guests. M Nasir, Aidit and Ad were among those who worked on the album. Eh Acis pon ada. Heh. Tapi yang best Ad bukan datang sorang. Biasalah. Pengantin baru. Berkepit je. Matilah aku Suria ko jangan carut aku... gurau je!
And these last photos, were of bebudak layan gila. Saja nak amik candid gila gila pose. Tapi yang pentingnya, blur banyak sebab bebudak ni tak koser nak pose. Asik gerak je. Merasalah cam ulat bulu semua, tak reti dok diam.
In the end joined them for a few photos, sambil kita buli Isma. Kesian lak dia kena tarik rambut, kena cubit pipi. Sabar ek Isma. Skali skala adik beradik buli si akak, apa salahnya. Buli manja tuh!
Pas abih, rush back again to Sungai Buloh nak settlekan hal sana again. Finish about 9pm, gi lak layan pra tonton filem Setem.
Featuring a stellar cast in Rashidi Ishak, Vanida Imran, Bront Palare, Afdlin Shauki, Que Haidar, Sathia, Harun Salim Bachik, Aziz Sattar, Jalalludin Hassan, Corrie, Diana Danielle, Kanchana Devi... ramai gila lah.
My verdict? Worth the RM10 for sure.
It was ok, but kalao ko nak aku describe, this would be the type of movie I would spend RM10 on without regretting, but tak feeling hype nak kompang semua kengkawan tuk tengok.
The good parts, it was funny in some parts (cue Afdlin as sheikh going "Fatimaaaa!!!") Also some good acting from a few characters. Loved Que, Afdlin, Bront, Sathia (walaopon kekadang irritating lak).
There were also some good visual effects.
The bad parts?
Cliched and trying too hard in some parts. And check out time Bront nya character si Burn nak kena bakar tuh bab final tuh. Is it me or masa api merebak ke arah dia, you can see his feet and he's already in a fire suit? Matilah!
Also boo to the editor, who has no idea of storytelling for most parts making it lengthy and overdrawn here and there, dan too many one liners sumbat sana sini at times, and too little actual development of principal characters, so in the end, you really couldn't give a toss about what happened to them (which like the whole plot - is so unlikely and far fetched even for a fictitious piece of work)
Anyhoo, go check out the movie la. Kalao korang nak aku describe, imagine Baik Punya Cilok, with a touch of Los and Foun, and then campor ngan Melayu nya take of the 'Oceans' series (11, 12 and 13).
I would give it a three and a half stars out of five. Kalao nak banding Razak Mohaideen punya usual stuff, this is in the five star league dah in comparison. I still think Kabir Bhatia should stick to melancholic drama as that's his forte, though this is a decent effort.
For more on Setem - CLICK HERE for the official website.
Heh.. ok la... aku nak tidur. Kaki terliuh siang tadik. Dah bengkak ni. It'll take a day or two to heal...
Need rest. Esok ada meeting and all. Tak larat kot... see how.
