Zoom

So time nak recap balik some of the fun, but hectic activities yang aku sibuk sangat last week sampai collapse bagai.

Well, up to last Thursday memang meeting bersepah bagai. Was so bogged down rushing from one location to another, with a final meeting lewat petang. Sebelum meeting rush ke Bentley kat Damansara with Amir, nak ganti tali gitar dia sebab malam ada show kat Laundry Bar for Moonshine by Reza Salleh.

Masa nak tukar tali, aku irritated sikit sebab akibat 'tak cukup staff' orang kedai kata balik in an hour.

Malasnya nak ulang alik... so actually plan nak beli dan ciao Amir nak wat sendiri. Tapi singgah la sebentar usha instruments memacam.

And one thing caught my eye.

Now, you must know - aku ni technically musically illiterate. Untuk jurusan kejuruteraan bunyi dulu, I had music theory up to Grade 4. Tapi kalau nak main instrument - haram! The only thing I know how to play with is my own organ. Matilah ko!

But who's never dreamed of being a rockstar before right?

And I always liked the guitar because I thought it had a power of its own.

My dream guitar zaman dulu - Fender Stratocaster and Flying V - salah James Hetfield nya pasai la. Tapi nak beli - wat pe kan? Main hado tau...

Until I spotted this!


Isn't she a beauty! It's a Fender Stratacoustic! Sound dia memag delicious, crisp, full bodied and with just enough weight and depth!

Sebab Amir memang akustic persembahan dia - tanpa teragak aku pon sapu la beli. Heh! Janji puas dan dia leh guna. Lagipun, sebagai pengurusan dia aku nak dia punya kelengkapan untuk membuat persembahan.

And later in the night, when he performed half hour showcase dia (terima kasih backing cajon ye Shamiel - anak Erma Fatima yang memag skang kita rekrut jadi sessionist tuk Amir) - memang sound best gila!


Aku ada upload video-video persembahan dia kat Youtube, so pepandai la korang skodeng. Malas lak aku nak tempek satu-satu.

Dah lah balik lewat malam tu, dan letih, dan gak KO sebab telan ubat - esoknya tengahari gegas ke Duchess Place tuk soundcheck bersama Amir untuk persandingan Yasmin Hani.

Persembahan Amir hadiah dari aku buat Hani, and setiba nya aku kat lokasi sanding (petang akad nikah sana gak), aku kagum! I mean biasa kalau artis kahwin nak jadi sarkas siap lengkap memacam badut dan sebagainya... but this was so beautifully simple and yet elegant!






Tema English garden wedding tak la original sangat. Tapi aku suka execution nih. Memang malam tu bila kita balik tuk majlis (lepas redah ujan dan jam yang tak masuk akal), memang the atmosphere was amazing.

Jarang aku ke wedding yang aku rasa so beautiful. And this was one of the rare few.


Tapi lagi satu yang best nya memang majlis dia intimate and cozy, takde la sampai ribu raban orang. I think there was about 300 guests tops jek.


Anyway, Hani, all the best to you and Sha'arin - aku doakan korang bahagia ke anak cucu!

I guess you could say for me, it was a nice way to end the week going into the weekend.

Eh da la.. nanti aku update agik. Lenguh tangan nak taip banyak sangat (padahal kalau update Twitter tak hengat sampai asik kena limit je sebab over quota - matilah)

Will update more ASAP!

Read More

Fair & Lovely

Gituh... title entry yang sebenarnya takde kena mengena sangat pon. Well except the fair part.

Ni reaksi aku after reading artikel dalam mstar yang (KLIK SINI) and tergelak sikit la.

Mana taknya... ok camni. Sapa yang malas klik link tuh, ni quote from Norman aku nak share.

"Persembahan pentas mereka lebih matang, seperti yang semua maklum, ini bukan pertandingan nyanyian semata-mata. Saya menganggap mereka seperti berlakon teater.

"Dalam satu masa mereka perlu menyanyi sambil melakukan gerakan-gerakan badan dan tarian yang telah diajar. Sedangkan baju mereka sendiri juga bukan pilihan mereka.

"Jadi, saya rasa tidak adil jika mereka terus dikritik terutamanya di blog-blog. Kritikan biarlah adil, saya rasa masyarakat luar masih ramai yang menyokong dan mempunyai pandangan positif," jelasnya.

Ok. Pada press conference malam Debaran, memang aku stuju ngan Norman. All the dramatics atas pentas is part of the show, necessary or otherwise and it is in fact quite theatrical kalao banding ngan performance yang sebenarnya. Walaopon itu tak semestinya memerlukan pergerakan pose vogue ala ala Karam Singh Walia tangan angkat sana sini bagai.

But this is a fact - every year, Akademi Fantasia sama je. The requirements are the same. Routine ke baju-baju ke apa ke.. sama je. That is merely cosmetic. What is judged, is their ability. And the final result.

You don't get real points for effort - kalao tak ada hasil yang memuaskan. Trying alone isn't enough.

When you say there should be fair comment, do you understand what fair means? It means free from bias, dishonesty or injustice.

Bias? Aku rasa first person bias adalah pengetua. Ni anak-anak didik, so of course things will look different.

Camni je la. Tanya la artis mana pon. Da berejam, berhari, berminggu, berbulan rekod album, last-last bila kuar orang tak kuasa nak beli ke atau haukkan, or course sang artis akan rasa teramat teraniaya. Their opinion that makes it good - is biased because they are considering the labour put into the work. Not the final result.

In the entertainment industry - what matters is RESULT. Not just effort alone.

And the fact remains. Halfway through AF8, prestasi, tahap growth level bebudak, does not match up to previous seasons. Bab tuh, you can deny it till the cows come home, but in terms of talent and likeability, they are so far apart from their predecessors that it's not even funny.

We all judge based on what we see.

Kenapa Norman rasa tidak adil hanya kerana luahan peminat (termasuk aku as I write in a personal capacity in my blog)?

Lupakah? Akademi Fantasia is ALL about the fans. The ones who keep the sponsors coming is because fans invest heavily into the show, not just through AFUNDI but also the immense support through the years through websites, blogs and forums.

The online presence of Akademi Fantasia has repeatedly TRIED to be recreated by other shows tapi tak penah sampai. So somehow, I think this boils down to the fact, that no one in production or channel realizes or recognizes this.

Dishonesty? Injustice. Let me tell you what is fair and unjust.

Giving false hope, janji palsu kat bebudak nih that they're the best ever, making them think they have a brighter future than bebudak Akademi Fantasia musim-musim lepas. Berapa ramai dapat survive? Pikir balik tujuh musim lepas.

Almost a hundred 'graduates' dari Akademi Fantasia. Berapa ramai yang betul-betul menyinar bintang mereka?

The percentage of success REALISTICALLY is low.

Lain la kalao nak kata context competition alone.

The fact is, lagi kejam dan zalim mereka yang menipu, dalam sedar atau tidak, mengatakan bebudak ni bagus sangat when realiti hakikatnya akan amat berbeza.

They should be prepared for the hardship of the real industry, not continue to be surrounded by the fantasy which will last at most another less than five weeks.

Bab aku highlight di mana Norman kata dia merasa TIDAK ADIL dikritik kat dalam blog dan sebagainya... aku nak je soal balik. Mampu ke that critic-free zone tuh bertahan lepas lima minggu lagi.

Sedangkan artis sebenar tidak lepas dari kritikan sesiapa. The fact is when you put out a piece of work to be evaluated, it will be rightfully done so. Takkan nak kata takleh hanya kerana kata-kata itu tidak dipersetujui secara peribadi?

Artis dan bintang camna nih nak dilahirkan? Yang takleh terima kritikan?

Aku terpikir bila tengok Idol, mampu tak bebudak ni hidup kalao berdepan dengan juri yang lebih professional? Dengan pengkritik sedia ada pon, dianggap kasar dan tidak adil pon... aduh.

Reality is going to be such a shocker when the kids come out.

Apapon, hakikat kebenaran akan kelihatan dalam masa tiga hingga enam bulan dari sekarang. We see how many of these fabulous kids will get ahead.

Dari nak menyangkal pendapat orang lain atau sentap, I think it would have been better for the production to work towards improving the show and the many weaknesses. NOT blame others for them - especially when the success of their show depends on the support of all untuk nak naikkan balik Akademi Fantasia.

Kalao betul mereka kata in so many ways this is the best Akademi Fantasia ever - senang je nak tally up things kalao betul meka yang asik kata ada orang cakap bagus dan sebagainya. See the volume.

Meka leh kata la jumlah penonton meningkat bagai. Tiap tahun subscriber base Astro increases, does that not mean an increase in penonton Akademi Fantasia as well? BUT is the percentage growth in tandem with that of the subscriber base? This is the question I keep asking.

Dari segi AFUNDI pulak... boleh tak meka tunjuk AUDITED numbers (bukan angka-angka diumumkan yang takleh verified on the standing of the AFUNDI through the years?)

Musim pertama did about 5 juta SMSes sent, while musim kedua did more than 15 million. Musim ketiga tak silap aku about 10 million.

Dengan tiap musim selepas itu, dengan pertambahan konsert (musim ni siap ada pra-konsert dalam Tirai) we should expect an increase kan? Dah capai ke?

Kejam kan nak compare numbers... but tuh based on their arguments of using numbers. Kalao by support? Again aku katakan, sapa yang sokong AF dari dulu tau dulu lagik meriah. Masuk musim je, forum Cari akan kecoh bagai... blogs AF tumbuh cam cendawan after a downpour and moderator @15 sampai kelam kabut nak clear messages sampai karpet kat channel tuh bergerak at the speed of light.

Sekarang?

Bottomline is - remember this la pada semua.

Berbeza pendapat - tidak semestinya bermaksud tidak sokong.

But the end of support is coming to an end with all these needless justification of how successful AF8 is... walaopon hakikatnya... erm... korang pon tau.

I for one, minggu ni tak kuasa nak layan konsert Akademi Fantasia, Aku gi layan Kelly Clarkson lagik better. Happening lagik. AF? Layan kat Youtube je kang.

These are songs I won't be hearing massacred this week.

Pelajar Lelaki
Maulana – Bila Rindu (Ruffedge)

Shahir – Kau Yang Satu (Ramli Sarip)
Iwan – Aku Cinta Kau Dan Dia (Dewa)
Daus – Selamat Malam (Faizal Tahir)

Pelajar Wanita
Nad – Jikalau Aku (Ezlynn)
Adira – My All (Mariah Carey)
Ain – Jujur Takkan Melupakanmu (Ella)
Farina – Mainan Jiwa (Rini)

Lagu Bonus
Konsert – Pak Balik Pak (Melati)
Debaran – Perpisahan Terasing (KRU)

Erm... ada lagu recycle dah penah wat dalam AF again... and ada lagu KRU.. again... Adira doing Mariah Carey? Nad jadik Ezlynn je aku rasa sesuai. Heh!

Moving on...

Saja nak share pic ni.

Ni pic comel those gorgeous ladies, Atilia, Sazzy, Yasmin, Aishah, Dynas and Daphne as well as Serena C masa shooting video clip lagu baru Atilia - Indah last week. Amik ko.. dalam video tuh gak ada Ning, Ida Nerina, mama Atilia iaitu Salamiah Hassan and Yasmin Yussoff. Me likey!

Sekian! Heh... banyak keja nak abih.

Read More

Snooze time

Oh have mercy. Ngantuk gila nih...

Tadik siang gi lepak ngan group Celepets.

Who are the Celepets? Bukan group pop pompuan yang baru ok.

These are the Celepets. Part of the group anyway, short of two members masa memula lepak. Takde Dynas Mokhtar and Serena C saja.

So we have, from left, Atilia Haron, Sazzy Falak, Aishah Sinclair, Daphne Iking and Yasmin Hani.

The Celepets are kind of like a sorority kinda thing. All these beautiful actresses and singer (Atilia sorang) and model/emcee/numerous other talents are a bunch of real friends in a very fake industry.

Suka sangat tengok meka bersama, and kaki layan aku gak on Twitter and Blackberry Messenger (but Daphne jerk pakai Onyx while Sazzy tak kisah sebab obsessed ngan iPad)

They into causes, from environmental to kids to everything you can think of, and salute aku kat meka nih.

Anyway hajat jumpa meka tadik ada la... tapi takleh cita skang. Dynas joined us later after Aishah left sebab ada hal. By the way, all the best to Dynas on her coming baby - two months to go, and we're sure it's a girl!

Prayers for a safe and healthy baby coming your way, babe.

Baru nak wrap session ada lak familiar faces masuk Alexis where we chilled for like over five hours! Abih la makan minum je keja bloated (tapi still lapar and nak melantak some more at the end of it).

Hah ni menarik sikit. Kiri skali sapa tak kenal Ramli MS. The dude in blue is Fadzli from TV3 and the lady sapa lagik kalao bukan Rozina the head honcho of Astro Awani.

Aiks... weird combo kan. Sampai berbisik benda. Ni leh wat gosip. Kelas... wakil Media Prima dan wakil Astro dok semeja. Er... korek!

So dari nak balik dok le layan agik.

Pastuh move lak ke Rasta layan minum borak jap ada informal meeting. The last of an early day that started out at the bank (yang best time nak Raya nih, utang semua orang da bayar, so sapa ada utang with anyone celebrating Chinese New Year, mesti bayar kalao tak suwey!)

Bumped into Alyah and friends. Layan lagik borak ...

Aku da ngantuk tahap gaban da at this point. But had one more meeting to go. Big, big plans for 2010.

But for now, I have a packed few days ahead. Later today, ada dua event kat TV3, one being signing of MOU between TV3 and promoters for Rossa's concert here coming up and the other being a cheque presentation for winners of Anugerah Juara Lagu.

Sabtu nak bawak orang tua lak gi beli belah sikit nak prepare for Chinese New Year.

Sunday I have Anugerah Industri Muzik punya judging session round one. Dua minggu kemudian lak aku masuk round two. Tahun ni all the way aku judging... praying for quality stuff to judge kalao tak... berdarah la telinga.

Monday there's Kris Allen (yeay!) and Tuesday ada press conference pengumuman pengetua, tenaga pengajar and hos Akademi Fantasia 8. Bab tuh nanti aku speku, but for those of you following my column in The Malay Mail pretty much can guess the names involved dah kan... tapi tatau la ada perubahan ke tak sebab biasa la Astro semua akan sign contract last minute (walaopon sesi fotografi rahsia semua for publicity shots, Aksi, and interview Astro Awani da wat sana).

So... me swamped! Aku kena abihkan stok story by Saturday gak... so pening gila nih. Right now.. I just seriously need SLEEP!

Read More

Snip snip

More choreography sessions into the middle of the night... pening.

Tapi at least siang tadi best. In the evening went for the launch of A Cut Above at BSC. They launched their biggest outlet yang one stop beauty center, which is like major celeb-junkie rehab plot sebab kalao korang nak sangat tengok artis - gi wat rambut sana, mesti dapat tengok muka muka familiar.

The launch was uber fun cause so many friends there.

Tapi dapat la reconnect ngan yang lama tak jumpa. Ning was there, so caught up a bit. Nikki wat show, and she's improved on her vocals and her performance.

Sesi borak ngan Hani, Atilia dan Noryn yang ketiga-tiganya ting tong.

And the best thing is - all the ladies are headed for the Beyonce concert too, so yes, they are going to be part of the flashmob as well. Yes!! Meka akan join our training session sebab they don't have the time or will gituh nak practise with the instrutional video kang.

Atilia siap kata hyped on All The Single Ladies, merasalah down bila aku kata we changed our performance tune. Heh.... korang layan pics dulu ek.

Potong riben agik bagus dari potong kek, kan?




Hah tu bab potong riben tuh. Owh by the way... ramai agik there apart from mentioned names. Syafinaz, Tony, Aishah Sinclair... erm.. sapa lagik ek. Slipped my mind lak sebab sibuk men-GRO-kan diri ke hulu hilir borak je (sambil carik bahan tulis)

Owh yes, kak Nita and abang Mahathir were there too. Nice to see abang Mahathir da sihat. Sempat borak ngan meka jap.

Sesi borak


The single and not so single ladies


Abang Mahathir and kak Nita...


Dayang pon ada!


Tony Eusoffe


The two divas!

Tiring day, mad and dashing about as usual, tapi happy sikit sebab banyak things clear. Now on to another day packed with... oh well... wait for the next entry jer la. Hilang semangat cita hari akan datang. Da tau it's going to be mad... again.

Read More

Quickie

Ok aku nak fast entry sebab sibuk esok so nak tidur sangat. Selain kerja, esok ulangtahun bonda aku yang tersayang, so kalao leh nak celebrate kalao sempat.

Siang tadi lari ke Akademi seperti biasa. Selepas memastikan everything ok yang mana memerlukan aku, aku pun lari ke sidang akhbar pelancaran rancangan realiti baru Astro yang akan ditayangkan melalui saluran Astro Ria dan Prima. Camna tuh?

Well, rancangan yang di berikan nama Anak Wayang, akan fokus pada pencarian anak seni dalam bidang lakonan. Seperti konsep Akademi Fantasia, rancangan diari harian, yang di panggil Sesi, dan rancangan result akan di beri nama Pentas Anak Wayang. Bahagian rancangan realiti tuh, akan ditayangkan melalui Astro Ria, dan drama yang akan menampilkan peserta akan di tayangkan melalui Astro Prima.

Audition da nak mula in just over a week, beginning from Johor Bahru, followed by Penang and then Kuala Lumpur. Korang just keep an eye out for the announcements.

Kenapa aku ke sidang akhbar tuh? Sebab... teka dapa korang dapat layan tiap-tiap hari melalui Sesi?

Cantik ok rambut Faz skang... meletop!


Yeap. This was the announcement aku nak sampaikan pada peminat Fazura. She will be the host for diari harian peserta melalui Sesi. Yeay! Rusdi Ramli akan menjadi hos tuk Pentas Anak Wayang lak.

Here are some other pics from the event.

Pentas pelancaran anak wayang


Sketsa kelakar Faz dan Rusdi


Rusdi, Faz dan orang orang kuat Astro


Rusdi and his wife, Sharon... my old college mate. Bakal menimang cahaya mata bulan lapan ni... besh!


Pas abih, aku dan Faz, gerak skali ke Bandar Utama to make our way to Cineleisure for the gala premiere of Talentime, the latest movie from Yasmin Ahmad.

Tuh dia Faz jadik model!


Salah satu pelakon Talentime - Jac, with her mom


Also in the cast - Pam Chong


With her mom. Also in the movie.


Snappy snappy!


The cast and the people behind Talentime


Mawi dan Ekin as well as Nasser pon ada nak nonton


Jac and Nani


Along with Yana and Sazzy


Aizat and adik dia, Alif (eh... tol kan dude.. or did I get your name wrong?)


Oh my God!!! All I have to say about Talentime is.. YOU MUST WATCH IT!!!!

If there is one Malaysian made movie in your life you have to watch - it's Talentime.

Kalao korang nak tengok filem yang bebetul melambangkan semua cultural, social and religious beliefs that we have in our diverse melting pot of a nation called Malaysia - watch Talentime.

Kalao korang nak filem yang bebetul realistik in documenting what all of us have at one time of another faced...watch Talentime!!!

Aku tatau camna nak cakap agik. Aku tanak review at all. Cukup aku cakap (tanpa perasaan bangga at all malah melarikan diri sembunyi) aku nangis gila babiks!!! Malu siot! Abih je, kuar kredit aku larikan diri takot orang nampak mata aku bengkak! Merasalah!

Go alone kalao nak bebetul feel. Then bak yang tersayang kalao nak add feel. Then bak family so leh feel bersama. Besh gila! Pendek kata, wajib tengok ok! Rugi kalao tak.

I think this is Yasmin's most accessible movie yet, and ramai akan suka for sure. Yang pasti, aku warning dulu! Bak tisu lebih sikit. Faz seb baik ada tisu sekotak! Yang penting tiga panggung abih time gala premiere tuh, ramai yang kuar mata bengkak ok!

Yang pentingnya, pastuh meet kak Vee gi minom kat Rasta. Tapi syukur, mungkin rezeki bakal datang, kami dijoin oleh seorang CEO yang set up meeting tuk aku. Adalah benda nak bincangkan, yang sebenarnya aku da patah semangat tapi kini diberikan nafas baru kot.

Sampai rumah, layan Diari. Alamak... cam banyak isi kan Diari ari nih. Layan.... tapi ampun sapa nak carot sora aku tuh. Aduh... tapi kelakar kan. Aku suka Yazid ngaku dia mampu nitis airmata da skang walaopon dia tak feeling memula. Sebenarnya dia kata dulu dia heran orang nangis nangis ni dalam Akademi. Skali dok dalam... hambik ko! Heh... tu la. Bebudak nangis korang carot.

Korang tatau perasaan to be housed in quarantine with strangers yang memacam perangai dan peel away from your loved ones. The stress gets to you ok. Yang penting aku tengok bebudak sorang sorang da mula show their true personalities. Tunggu seminggu agik... ko tengok la diri meka yang sebenar.

Ok la.. sapa lom layan Diari... ni dia. Aku nak membuta da. Goodnight...


PS - Esok besh kat Akademi!!!

Read More