Lock, stock.. and 10,000 reasons to be happy

Ok, this is going to be quite a loaded entry, so sit back, relax, dan korek pusat ketika membaca entry nih.

Malam tadi pengumuman pengetua, pengacara dan tenaga pengajar Akademi Fantasia.

As I share the announcements, ni beberapa komen aku sebagai peminat Akademi Fantasia dari musim pertama. Bear with me.

Let's start with pengetua untuk AF8.

Norman Abdul Halim. Otherwise big boss man of KRU and the businessman. Also the person I said would head Akademi Fantasia from the end of December da - for those of you who read my column in the The Malay Mail.

Aku sebenarnya tak nak komen panjang sangat Norman ni. He has the skills, but my only concern is he will stress to much on the need for for the necessary commercial appeal sampai lupa how to guide these kids into being artistes in all sense of the word.

Still... giving him benefit of the doubt.. mana tau kan. He couldn't do worse than what we've seen in eight seasons, so let's hope he exceeds expectations.

Next - guru vokal teknikal, Siti Hajar.

Da enam musim Siti Hajar da ajar... perlu ke pertikaikan. Undoubtedly a regular for a reason - simply being she gets the job done, plus it is interesting to always follow her classes. Cuma sayang takde geng in Syafie this year. Mintak mintak tahun ni takde la bangang yang start speku kata tenaga pengajar bias cam dia dan kak Fati kena last year. Bodoh tol... gosip beragenda sangat.

Moving on... guru vokal persembahan, Adnan Abu Hassan.

Tak silap aku da lima musim. Abang Dee memang has the ears for it. Berapa ramai diva hari ni yang discovery dia, so again, tak perlu dipertikaikan.

Moving on guru drama baru, Que Haidar dan guru tari, Linda Jasmine.

Merasalah 2 for 1 package. Takde maknanya... they're only the second couple to be in the Akademi together and I think Que deserves a break.

Dia memang a good dramatic character actor and I am kind of interested to see how he will teach. Just because he hasn't done it doesn't mean he can't.

As for Linda, tiga bulan pas bersalin dia da menyandang tugasan nih, kena puji la. Hope she brings something new and fresh to the performances and makes it more interesting that ever.

Next, counsellor and English teacher, Fatimah Abu Bakar.

Kak Fati kira sesuai la for this post, and like Linda, da tujuh musim in total wat Akademi Fantasia. Memang veteran abih bab AF nih. No questions need be asked about her ability.

And then there's the pengacara.

Of course happiness and applause all round sebab as I said, the two new hosts will be Sarimah Ibrahim (alamak.. tak sempat snappy pic sebab dok gosip je... sorry babe, kang kita lepak I snappy), and Jimmy Shanley.

Bab Sarimah memang happy gila sebab dia more than layak, in fact we've been waiting for her to get the job since Aznil stepped out.

As for Jimmy, dia ni untested so don't know how he'll do. And besides dia tak penah live hosting so kena tengok.

Ok, so it's going to be a shared responsibility. How? Here are more changes.

Sarimah akan start by hosting Tirai Akademi Fantasia. Jimmy akan hos kan Diari Akademi Fantasia. Konsert lak akan menjadi tugas dikongsi mereka berdua, dan Debaran Akademi Fantasia akan di jaga oleh Sarimah.

What is Debaran.... kejap ek dik non. I'll get to that in a while.

Konsep tahun ni, 2 in 1, so kongsi tugas. I don't really see the need for it, and I think ni da lari dari konsep Akademi Fantasia - as we know it, so I'm not favourable to the idea.

Why don't they trust a woman to be in charge of the show? Too risky ke? We've seen Sarimah do The Biggest Loser Asia and it's no problem for her. We've also seen her handle two years of Diari Akademi Fantasia and many awards shows - no problem there either.

So why? Demi perubahan? Entahlah... tapi memang aku tak setuju. Some things about Akademi Fantasia TAK PATUT diubah.

It's not about resisting changes, just some changes are not necessary for the sake of changes.

Period.

And here's how Akademi Fantasia will be presented.

Pada 13hb Mac, Tirai Akademi Fantasia pada jam 9 malam, Tirai akan memperkenalkan barisan pelajar as a sort of prelude. Don't know how they'll do it, but dalam sejam setengah, both Sarimah dan Jimmy akan hos.

Diari AF lak akan dihos oleh Jimmy, bermula 15hb Mac.

Ni yang pening sikit. Diari akan ditayangkan jam 7.30pm. Erm... don't people have things to do then? Waktu tak kena sangat. Nak early dinner, nak semayang, nak tuisyen, nak balik rumah dari kerja. Banyak alasan kenapa time slot ni tak kena.

Pastu setengah jam je tiap hari. Erm... boring! Kalao editing meletop ok la.. which will be left to be seen.

Moving on...

Konsert AF akan ada dua pengacara in Sarimah dan Jimmy kongsi tugas. Tiap Sabtu bermula 9 malam dari Stadium Putra Bukit Jalil, bermula 20hb Mac.

Ok.. ni perubahan yang aku rasa tak perlu gak.

Pada penghujung konsert, undian TAK AKAN ditutup, dan tiada penyingkiran.

Instead, konsep feeling fotostat Idol, hari Ahad esoknya, akan ada Debaran Akademi Fantasia jam 9 malam nak umumkan siapa yang tersingkir yang akan di hoskan oleh Sarimah. I hate this most - the fact they split the program in two.

Idol started this, and I don't see why Akademi Fantasia kena ikut. Peminat AF ni lain... kenapa nak tiru? Feeling Sehati Berdansa? Perlu ke? Aku serious rasa cam ni soal rating sangat plus soal perah undian gila-gila. Kononnya memberikan masa orang nak evaluate.. but seriously.

And setengah jam je... so cam no build up or suspense on Saturday, pastu Ahad , ala ala quickie and it's over (very the get it over quick).

As a fan of Akademi Fantasia, I think this sucks... but entah la. Program orang biarlah. Kalao tak suka jangan tengok. Tapi serious, aku rasa cam perah sangat. Chances are, I'm not going to vote sebab it comes across as a lame effort to capitalise on votes sangat.

So there you have it. Aku kurang rasa debaran Akademi Fantasia kali ni, unlike every year, and it's simply because aku rasa da lari sangat AF dari asal usul ketika program ni diperkenalkan. Again, changes for the sake of changes are not worth it... but entah la.. tengok je la camna.

Anyway, since tahun ni aku tak terlibat - dan bebudak bukan anak murid aku cam musim lepas, rasanya patut tak aku all out carot agik. Ke nak maintain polite gituh. Let me know.

Ok la.. nanti aku story lebih pasal Akademi Fantasia.

Ni cita lain. Remember I told you guys about the Power Over Cervical Cancer Campaign a week or so ago? You ladies da amik the online risk assessment test tak? Kalao lom - then do your bit for yourself and others. It takes only seminit dua for you to take the test, find out how much you know about cervical cancer. KLIK SINI tuk amik ujian mudah nih.

Sarimah is also duta tuk kempen ni.. along with someone else familiar. Aku la... This is from The Star on Monday (click on the pic to enlarge it and to read).

And guess who was on the cover of the Utusan pull out semalam? Sekali with other blog ambassadors? Again, klik pada gambar tuk besarkan.

Bangga aku for such a worthy cause. Aku dan kak Mah serta kengkawan lain memang sokong kempen ni tuk tujuan menyedarkan kaum Hawa tuk realise the threat of cervical cancer and to hopefully spread the word so korang leh equip yourself with the power of knowledge to prevent yourself from being a statistic.

Remember... everyone always thinks it's someone else. That someone could be you.

So CLICK HERE to find out more. To the ladies, do it, and spread the word. To the guys, pass it on to a relative, a friend... you may just help them from going through a lot of unnecessary suffering.. or worse.

Ok la.. esok blog agik. Aku nak sambung tido. baru abih keja sikit nih. Night (or morning) to all of you.

PS - Got a few more pics of Kris Allen to share. Next entry je la ek.

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Especially for fans for Kris Allen

It's not often I get an artiste that I will go ga-ga about, and honestly I am rarely starstruck by. And being in the line of work where it is my job to interview celebs, seriously... I am not awestruck most times and it really is a job.

Check out the list of people I've interviewed in the About Me section on my sidebar and you'll see I've met more than a few in my years working as an entertainment journalist.

I think the only people I felt like fainting were Jewel, Pink, Kelly Clarkson, Ricky Martin and Slipknot. And the Black Eyed Peas too.

REAL people who have an abundance of talent in the sound of their choice.

And now I add one more name to that list. Kris Allen.

Semalam ketika interview he was so laid back. And plus, despite some people who had gone in before told me he was monosyllabic in his answers, especially when it had anything to do with Adam Lambert - it the furthest thing from the truth.

In fact, most times benda camni mesti kena salah anggap bila orang malas nak cakap pasal something they've talked about thousands of times.

But one question I asked about Adam - he responded funnily (saving it for the article I'm writing).

I hope at the end of the day, he goes the way of Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood, and not Ruben Studdard, Fantasia Barrino (what a waste!), Taylor Hicks (another big waste), Jordin Sparks and even David Cook who seems to be losing momentum.

Got home so tired, I crashed into bed terus. Memang tak larat dah nak update ke haper. But hope you guys like these pics. These were from the press conference at the beginning of it all. And dig that picture of Adrian from Sony Music presenting Kris - with a keris. Heh! Rich!

For friends abroad, the 'keris' is a dagger in this region, which has a wavy blade.

Anyhoo, enjoy the pics, guys. And for those of you in Singapore, enjoy what we did next up cause Kris is heading your way! Except you have to pay S$99 for it.

Before I forget, thanks to friends from Fox/Star World in Shamel especially and Nini for being such gracious hosts, and also the lovely people from Sony Music Malaysia for their hospitality. You guys rock.

Ok.. now here are some pics from the showcase. I have to say, Kris has improved a lot since Idol where he seems so much more confident and able on stage.

My favourite performance of the night was Come Together which was his final encore number.

Also the mash-up of Heartless and Gangsta's Paradise at the start, though I have to say that was rather an odd choice though.

Note that I didn't want to squish myself among some Ah Lians who just looked blur at what Kris was singing (so obvious got passes from someone who knew someone). I was nearer to the back of the VIP area near the REAL fans who basically caused permanent damage to my ear drums.

But I did move forward to try and get a few good pics with my dinky digital camera.

For those who follow me on Twitter, you would have gotten quite a few updates throughout the night, also with pics - so remember for those of you who haven't, follow me on Twitter at @klubbkiddkl.

Ah... despite the dramas for the day, Kris gave a good end to the stupid episodes which made me want to bitch slap someone yesterday.

Since I got enough sleep, am in a happy mood today.

Got press conference for Akademi Fantasia hari ni where they will announce hos, pengetua dan tenaga pengajar.

Aku bakal dikejutkan ke?

Bab tenaga pengajar tak penting sangat la sebab too random, but bab hos aku da pon before this katakan - Sarimah Ibrahim and Jimmy Shanley will team up. As for pengetua, Norman KRU. So ada ke kejutan tuk aku malam ni when they announce?

I doubt.

Ok... now to do some work before I run some errands and do some shopping (before the malls get choked up for the pre-Chinese New Year last minute rush).

Have a good day all!

Live like we're dying!

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Akademi Fantasia 8

Auditions are beginning.

It's open to Malaysians and Singaporeans.

The age limit is the same.

Norman Abdul Halim of KRU may be the next principal. Eh???

Ni la berita aku dapat semalam. Here's the full article which you can read by CLICKING HERE.

Aku dapat dua agik nama selain nama Norman, tapi dengar memang dia favourite wat skang la.

Dengar gak, KRU tengah deal ngan Astro Entertainment Sdn Bhd, kisahnya tuk jaga kerjaya bebudak Akademi Fantasia dari segi kelolaan rakaman and everything related. How true is that?

Again, read the full story I got, by CLICKING HERE and check back for more updates.

Anyway, sapa nak tau pasal ujibakat, can check out the full details in the same story.

Aduh... nak abihkan keja agik. Badan letih pas work out pagik tadi. Ngantuk pon ada. Be posting more soon.

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