Good morning all!

Well it is a pretty good morning isn't it... after the splendid results of Anugerah Juara Lagu 24. Walaopon aku tau ada yang mesti merungut... sebab their favourites didn't win.

Boo to you then.. sebab I think the jury did a splendid job.

For those of you who missed the results - nih dia.

Juara Lagu : Pergi (Aizat/Pete Teo/Amran Omar)
(RM35,000 and trophy)

Runner-up : Dan Sebenarnya (Yuna/Yuna/Yuna)
(RM15,000 and trophy)

Third place : Bencinta (Faizal Tahir/Audi Mok/Faizal Tahir)
(RM12,000 and trophy)

Best Vocal Performance : Black (Aku Rindu Sayang Kamu)
(RM10,000 and trophy)

Best Performance : Aizat (Kau Aku)
(RM10,000 and trophy)

So my prediction of Pergi memang betul.. as was my prediction of Bencinta in the top three pon being in second. My wildcard possibility of being in top three in Dan Sebenarnya made it beating Kau Aku, tapi prediction aku for Best Performance in Stacy was wrong when Aizat won for Kau Aku - which I mentioned masa dry run (check a couple of entries ago) that it had the possibility of a win after watching preparations.

As for Best Vocal - Black was nowhere in my list. That much I have to admit. So that was the only one aku tersasar gila babas punya.

Now before anything.. layan pic ni jap.

Nampak tak apa apa yang pelik?

Ni time masa Aizat tengah perform Kau Aku. Nampak tak benda putih wrapped in white.. erm... kalao iut watermark aku atas the second 'B'. Scary!

Tapi aku rasa ni antara penari terbang Faizal sebab pastuh dia perform Bencinta. Tapi erm.. yang ni cam dibalut kain putih. Argh!!! Horror! Mungkinkah... JANGAN TEGUR!

Apapon... kan aku da kata opening MELETOP! Aku menjerit cam orang gila. Siti and Lan... FANTASTIC! Best opening EVER in an awards show to date and it will be VERY DIFFICULT to top this collaboration.

Apapon... for those yang nak bitch about the results. Aku hanya leh explain the best I can for those yang tak paham jury choices.

By the way, sebelom apa-apa mai aku explain sapa jury and what they did.

Syed Ahmad Faisal Al-Attas atau lebih dikenali sebagai Pacai dan Hazami yang bertanggungjawab score for composition manakala Dr Wan Zawawi dan Fatimah Abu Bakar on lyrics, sementara Datuk Siti Nurhaliza, Zainal Abidin and Media Prima Television Networks group chief executive officer Datuk Seri Farid Ridzuan yang score for performances along with the other judges to make up for the 30% of the score untuk dicampurkan pada previous pre-judging by the assigned judges. Paham?

Ok... Pergi... berkali aku explain why this choice of my Juara Lagu - and the eventual winner was the best composition.

Memang lagu lain sedap - tapi Pergi ni lain. Lagu nih simple, but again like I always maintained, is COMPLEX in all its simplicity. From structure of the composition, to the simple but lyrics yang mendalam, Pergi memang kelainan. Plus on top of that, walaopon lagu ni senang dan ramai mampu nyanyi - but only someone like Aizat yang dapat menyelam ke dalam jiwa, and pull out those emotions could bring out the emotions of the song to make it an even more superb masterpiece!

And plus the AWESOME arrangement, with Linda doing the Indian style vocalization... dia start je aku da nitis airmata. It would take a heart of stone not to melt when you hear Pergi... especially this version.

Thank you Aizat for the experience... and for delivering the emotions. I'm sure... many are proud, and some would have been proud if they had been able to hear it...

Bencinta? I've always liked Bencinta. It's not run of the mill rock. And ramai biased sebab tak minat Faizal Tahir mostly kalao kata tak suka Bencinta, or perhaps not a fan of his style. But this is a song composition contest, and Bencinta is a unique and rather experimental piece of mainstream rock-flavoured pop.

And I sort of like the tribute to Michael Jackson. It was inspired by, and not an Adam Lambert meets Michael Jackson doused with Mad Max affair like Bengang became with horrible conceptualization.

Dan Sebenarnya, so may argue is the best sebab lyrical content dia. I don't doubt it is good, and deservedly among the winners, tapi I think it's not strong to go against Pergi, but again, layak to be in the best three.

Best Performance may not be expected - but neither did I. But Aizat did well with Kau Aku. Walaopon ramai bawak tiga empat kampung, and kids especially, Kau Aku worked well with it. There was a certain element of genuine honesty with the performance and I guess that's why the jury awarded it that. Admit it.. you felt like dancing with the kids too. A little Laskar Pelangi flavoured.

Best Vocal Performance. Well... ok.. I expected Misha technically, though she wasn't perfect. Or Stacy for her ability to hold her own despite the moves. But Black, according to Fauzi Marzuki, which I have to agree with, did something impressive from the lowest note to the highest, showing off his range, especially when he started outside the stadium. That I have to give credit to Black walaupon aku mencik lagu dia.

So anyway.. congrats to the winners. No matter what anyone says... you guys deserve the wins. And kengkawan kat TV3 especially to Gbam and Su and Co. - congratulations for the best show ever in AJL history. Walaopon camera angle kekadang gila... dan tak sheshuai!!! Still a lot of Astro productions can learn a lot from you.

And now a couple of very random pics that don't fit in anywhere else in this entry.

Audi Mok - the BEST producer and composer and booger collector in the business!

Doa tuk bersyukur...

So that's it... I think Anugerah Juara Lagu 24 has been the best ever. What do you guys think?

PS - Tak paham sebilangan kecil yang otak sempit tak puas hati speku bagai hanya kerana bukan pilihan cliche yang menang. Rata rata kemenangan Pergi disambut baik penggiat seni - and fans of music, so this loud minority nak bising sebab something cliche tak menang. Sodih perangai. Educate yourself, bitches.

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And here it comes

It's been a little hectic with all the drama, plus my lack of sleep sebab running about. Bayangkan smalam tak tidur pas berinai ngan kak Vee, had to go to the masjid by 8am. Tak tido dowh!

On top of that, abih tuh, gegas to the office because of the chaos in the stupid church burning! Still pissed about idiots being that dumb to do stuff like that.

For those yang tunggu pics akad nikah Nor Aliah Lee, or otherwise known as Vee, and her handsome hubby, Zekri.. ni pics nya. Sorry it took so long... plus aku cuba nak letak high quality pics sikit kali nih... nak try for 2010 banyakkan pics lebih cantik.

Bila da cantik kena watermark lebih cantik gak kan... so here it is..

Tengah update entry nih, dapat lagik berita one more church was firebombed late last night or early this morning.

The Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Petaling Jaya has become the latest victim.

Where is the justice?

Our Prime Minister says they will hand out RM500,000 to help rebuil the Metro Tabernacle which was the hardest hit.

While appreciative - they seem to be missing the point. It's not about the building.

It's about the harmony, the trust and the mutual respect of all in the country. That has been robbed from a lot of us, along with our sense of security.

Everyone, regardless of your religion (unless you're atheist), please do pray for our country. At this moment, prayers are the only thing that can help us.

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Puking Versace

Went to Rootz just now at the rooftop of Lot 10 for the Anugerah Juara Lagu press conference. It was jammed going into KL something really bad. But yang kelakar nya, got to the city je, it was ok.

Apparently everyone stayed away from the Golden Triangle area sebab of all the announcements mentioning the road closures there because of the the marching band championships or other... which was majorly delayed. But while they were supposed to close the roads at 6pm on, the rain caused them to push the start time, I guess, so the roads were empty.

Which was good for me. Got there at 8pm sharp.



Never been into Rootz before, and I must say the decor was...well... different.





At the entrance was a whole bunch of angled mirrors and changing LEDs that went from white to red. Would have thought of it as a techno club if I hadn't gone in. Once inside, it was pseudo luxury.

It looked like someone threw up Versace prints and nothing went well with anything else. It was nice in a weird sort of way. Really weird...

On to the opening and it was time for the main event. The draw to see sapa akan perform dulu and in what order and all.

Ni turutan persembahan malam Anugerah Juara Lagu nanti.



Tak sempat amik semua orang nya pics sebab keja nya pasal nak interview bagai. But this is the pics aku sempat.







Just some very basic info. Faizal Ismail, Ally Iskandar and Cheryl Samsd will host the night, dan selain Juara Lagu dan naib juara, the prizes up for grabs will be Persembahan Terbaik dan Persembahan Vokal Terbaik.

The theme is 'Music Unfolds' and the stage is very origami inspired. Literal translation.

This is how the stage is going to look like.




Lepak kejap ngan kengkawan after it was over. Ni sempat cam whore ngan Michelle. Da lama menggila ngan dia.



Pas abih, gi Hartamas Square melantak ngan kengkawan. Si Aishah dan Aril ada, so join borak. Tak lak aku amik pic. Nanti nanti je la... ni letih. Nak tidur dulu. Esok full day.

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Umie gets a ring on it

I wanted to update earlier, but balik pon da lewat sangat so tak sempat. Still rushing about tomorrow as usual, so aku bagi korang pics je la.

Oh by the way, something very exciting is happening. I'm going to Shibuya, Japan next year!!! Adalah... kalao korang nak pon leh ikut. But of course you got to do something lah.

Had two events to cover, first was the launch of the Golden Awards by ntv7. They're doing local Chinese version of the Emmy Awards next year. Felt so lost at the event.

I mean everyone was speaking Cantonese and I had no freaking clue. And there was so much tlk it gave me a headache because I had no idea what was going on for most of the time. Heh. I feel like such a banana!

Later in the night, there was Umie's engagement. Suka sangat majlis pertunangan dia. Kengkawan ramai, and it was between the families of both side, as well as friends. Tapi in the duplex (penthouse kot) just near my place in Mont Kiara, it was a little cramped.

Aku malas nak type pepanjang. So many emails to send out. Korang layan pics kang aku story panjang sikit.

Thanks anyway Umie for personally inviting me. Hugs luv. And congratulations!!!

Simple


So many people


Umie looked stunning


Zahida and Erra were her 'sidekicks'


Dengan bakal mother-in-law








Tengok Erra tuh.. emo! Amik ko! Matilah aku kena carut Erra pasni!



The rest of the majlis


Paparazzi!


The hantaran



Erra... she loves happy moments like this


Nasha sibuk amik pic semua orang


Umie and her lovely boys


With my big sis Nasha


Fugly picture - but Nora looks so cute as always


Lisa... wind in hair moment


Cupcakes! I like!


With the soon to be bride!


Yes, in case you're wondering... my hair IS platinum now. Nak putihkan sampai ala uban. Saja je nak menggila. Da lama tak wat.

By the way, Umie's engagement ring is a Chopard. I like! Nice and simple and not over the top. Ok lah... nanti je post entry baru.

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