Saturday, December 06, 2008

What can I say...

So the results of the Balada punya separuh akhir has been announced.

What more can I say.

I left Sri Pentas 2 a little bitter over the selections.

Aku sebelum ni ada katakan, I didn't really mind who qualified, as most of the songs were really good.

I retract that statement.

The result semalam was bullshit. Plainly, short and sweet... merepek tol keputusan untuk separuh akhir Balada Muzik-Muzik kali nih.

I'd already guessed at least one of Audi's songs would get in. Both, Sampai Syurga dan Cuba layak, which is fine by me, because memang they're among the strongest in the competition. So no argument there. Walaupun ada yang katakan takyah la bagi dua lagu masuk.. satu da cukup, I disagree with that strongly sebab tuk aku, ni competition for compositions.. da kalao lagu bagus, masuk keduanya pon apa salah? Da tu yang antara terbaik. Both songs were fresh, different from the current crop and encompassed everything about a good song, from the structure of the composition to the lyrics.

Lagu Aizat, Lagu Kita was deserving too. I say that sebab tuk aku, Aizat ni wakil one of the new generation of songwriters and composers yang deserve to be noted. Lagu Kita is a breath of fresh air, and memang layak pun, no matter what anyone says.

But how about the other two songs yang layak ke Anugerah Juara Lagu?

First of all, Bila Nak Saksi. Nothing personal against Spider, but this is NOT one of their best songs. It's a weak tune compared ngan lagu lagu lain. Leh anggap lemau kalao banding ngan lagu lagu yang lain. Honestly.... I know Spider are favourites with the Anugerah Juara Lagu series, but this is ridiculous. Lagu ni dated nak mampos.. ketinggalan zaman and there is absolutely nothing great about this song to justify it being selected for the final.

Kalao lagu Mabuk tuk kategori Pop Rock aku anggap kuat, Bila Nak Saksi dalam kategori Balada is so salah! Lom masuk kategori Pop Rock pon ada yang mabuk da nak select lagu ni tu represent kategori Balada.

And the final song yang layak, which is the first song called and the most controversial for a lot of people out there. Lagu Aubrey Suwito, dengan lirik dari Habsah Hassan, Hanya Di Mercu yang dinyanyikan Ayu.

All I can say is... what the #$%^&*???!!!!

Spekulasi mengatakan pihak penganjur meletakkan lagu ni dalam final tuk promosi Ayu yang nan ado.

Ayu is a sweet girl with potential. But this song does NOT deserve to be in, just like Bila Nak Saksi.

I mean, are you seriously saying these two songs are better than Teman Terulung, Dingin and Cinta Terhalang among so many of the better songs performed malam semalam?

Honestly... how do some people sleep at night. Busuk tau camni....

Kalau sebelum ni aku katakan kategori Balada akan hasilkan juara for this event, skang nampak goyah sebab this is not the best representation of the ballads.

But you know what.. ni event orang. So suka hati la meka nak pilih sapa. The public knows what's actually better... so it just looks $%^& pathetic for selections to end up like this.

From the entry of lagu Tanpa dari 6ixth Sense which is so salah (sebab patut Pop Rock tuh), to the mic glitches like with Ziana's performance... the competition is by year, becoming irrelavant.

There was a glimmer of hope when Itu Kamu won... but now all that seems to be fading.

At the end of the day, it's true what has always been whispered backstage. Tengok je juri sapa. Orang leh tangkap apa personal preference meka and from there guess whether the results are going to be good or not.

Thank you to Johan Nawawi, Adam Salleh, Yasin Sulaiman, Amran Omar, Fauzi Marzuki and Azhar Borhan for the results. Semua memang hebat... just I think that so many people forget the relevancy of what makes a good composition is also the freshness of a tune - especially when a category cam Balada ni banyak sangat yang strong and IT DOES boil down to approach and direction of the song in terms of freshness.

You reap what you sow... so this year's Anugerah Juara Lagu is going to be SO exciting (note the sarcasm)

Dah... apapon... thank you to production TV3, korang memang besh (the production memang besh pon... and they have nothing to do with the results) So to kak Kelly, kak Huda, Boboy... and all you people yang aku tak sempat list hingga ke Mommeh yang hostess with the mostest gituh, thank you for making it memorable for the RIGHT reasons.

Now on to the pics... none of performance. Backstage and before and after event je.

Pria terhebat aka penjantan tangguh - from left - Aizat, Adi, Gjie, Ayooi, Sarol and Faizal


Production family


Akak security, kak Habsah tak silap nama dia.. lama kenal da. Lama wo khidmat ngan TV3


Atan dan Wan 6ixth Sense lepaking


The crowd lining up...


...all the way out


Kak Kelly demonstrates how to have a cuppa the right way with pinky entended


Like... whateverrrrr... Cheryl goes Valley Girl in this pose


Ni bukan pesen Feminin ok. Ni Dina tengah siap.


Shorts and Crocs. Dafi channels my lazy fashion sense. Heh!


Aizat!!! Shading kurang sket! Heh!


Kak Ziana undergoing the transformation to a glossier diva


Adi 6ixth Sense... new hair


Alamak.. Joe amik pic... pecah lobang tak wat pe pe


Cover line semua wat keja sat


Selipar jamban is so salah.. heh


Bang Nuar getting ready relaxed je


Syuib manager Bob multi tasking ok!


The best vocals of the night Bob, Ziana Zain and Anuar Zain (Dina pon patut)


Aku ngan bapak jin dan raja toyol Ramli MS


Aizat and Faizal... something so wrong with this pose la Superman


That's better! The two WORTHY contenders for Anugerah Juara Lagu


Nih apa lak nih


The last pic actually pas kami ke Pelita as usual. Ngan Bob, bebudak 6ixth Sense and our 'families and friend' (cam promosi DiGi lak). I think there were about thirty of us in total.

It had been a good night, though not the ending we hoped for... tapi takpe. Rezeki kat mana-mana... so what to do lor.

Apapon, congrats to Aizat on Lagu Kita and Audi Mok and Faizal Tahir for Sampai Syurga and Cuba.

Lain? Takyah la...

Friday, December 05, 2008

Katanya... walaupun...

Aizat ajuk gaya nyanyian Nubhan?
Oleh Normah Becok

SEBAIK saja Cik Normah mengangkat telefon yang berdering di tengah kesunyian malam, Cik Normah terdengar nada suara sebak dan teresak-esak daripada pemanggil di hujung talian. Si pemanggil ini hanya dikenali sebagai `Miss Bling Bling'.

Walaupun sebenarnya Cik Normah waktu itu sedang ingin melelapkan mata,namun kerana `Miss Bling Bling' ini hendak menyampaikan sebuah cerita sensasi, jadi Cik Normah gagahkan diri melayan panggilan itu.

Kata si wanita ini, dia sudah menyaksikan sebuah kejadian yang sepatutnya tidak berlaku untuk acara seperti itu.

Dalam nada penuh emosi, Miss Bling Bling berkata bintang program realiti yang kini semakin kurus, Aizat sudah memalukan seorang lagi bintang realiti iaitu Nubhan sewaktu sesi soundcheck untuk kategori Balada yang akan dipertandingkan malam ini.

Katanya, Aizat diminta untuk menggantikan Nubhan memandangkan penyanyi dari Kuala Pilah itu tidak dapat hadir kerana mempunyai urusan kerja di tempat lain dan perkara itu sudah pun mendapat persetujuan penganjur.

Sebelum itu, pihak pengurusan Nubhan sudah pun menyediakan penyanyi stand in, yang juga ahli kelab peminat Nubhan. Namun disebabkan pihak produksi mahukan pengganti yang boleh menyanyi, maka mereka meminta Aizat untuk menyampaikan lagu Ada Untukmu itu.

Masalahnya, sewaktu menyanyikan lagu itu, Aizat kedengaran mengubah suaranya menjadi suara `angsa', suara yang sering dikaitkan dengan Nubhan sewaktu dia masih dalam AF.

Ketika ditanya mengapa dia berbuat begitu, cerita `Miss Bling Bling', Aizat membalas pertanyaan itu dengan ketawa.

"Sedih aku Cik Normah, bila Aizat buat begitu. Seolah-olah dia memang sengaja hendak memperli Nubhan," luah `Miss Bling Bling' sambil menangis.

Terdiam Cik Normah, tak tahu nak cakap apa bila mendengarkan Miss Bling Bling terus menangis tersedu-sedu mengenangkan artis kesayangannya itu dimalukan di khalayak ramai. Nantilah, kalau Cik Normah berkesempatan jumpa dengan Aizat, Cik Normah akan tanya mengenai perkara ini kepada dia ya, `Miss Bling Bling'.

Dipetik dari Berita Harian hari ini.

Ok this is just f***ing bullshit. I was there during the third dry run masa Aizat stood in for Nubhan.

He did NOT do anything to humiliate or memalukan Nubhan, through mimicking Nubhan's performance, and that's a fact.

I have a video of his performance, and while I did not want to upload this, I have done it now to prove that no such thing happened to help clear Aizat's name.

This is just so unfair. Sapa yang 'informer' which there are some guesses, is just wrong. The management and artistes involved have agreed no such thing happened as TV3's production pun da clarify no such thing took place.

So sapa mulot p*****k sangat nak aibkan orang nih ngan fitnah.

Here's the video of Aizat's performance. This video has not been edited and remains in my mobile phone. No one laughed or made jokes about Nubhan, and we were all there having fun only in the spirit of the competition. Nothing more.

To Aizat.. sabar je la dik oi!




PS - Tahniah to Rich and Velvet kerana akhirnya mendirikan rumahtangga, sekaligus menjadi pasangan kedua dari keluarga Akademi Fantasia untuk hidup bersama pas Rosma dan Khai

Thursday, December 04, 2008

Up next!

The big day is tomorrow. Yeay for the semifinal of Muzik-Muzik in the Balada category besok.

Been having so much fun with everyone that memang tak sabar tuk besok at the actual event.

Entah kenapa tapi this time aku rasa excited. Maybe because ramai yang perform member, plus some of the tunes are the best in the series of the competition in some time, added with the fact this time competition walaupon sengit, tapi everyne just doing their best while having fun.

Aku sampai semua aku nak sokong.... walaopon ada personal favourites.

Hari ni Anuar ada sekali, so making it more whoopie backstage. Ngan Ziana, and then a side crew of fun people in Aizat, Bob, Faizal, bebudak 6ixth Sense... pecah perot la jawabnya sepanjang preparations and finally the full dress rehearsal.

You guys just enjoy some of the pics I took the whole night.

Serious je bebudak 6ixth Sense


Tuh dia Anne masuk je pose gila semua


Backstage waiting for Dina and Bob with some of the production guys and gals


Faizal and Cheryl on set


Anuar Zain - pleasantly sweet as always


Aizat during the full dress rehearsal


Bebudak 6ixth Sense lak


Adik beradik meletop!


Tiga anak teruna (eh jap... Faizal mana teruna lagik)


View from the back of the stage during the mock announcements


From the front lak


Faizal, Aizat and 6ixth Sense. Pose Adi tu kenapa? Heh!


Briefing for artistes and managers. Sempat borak lak Anuar, Bob dan Lisa


Another view. Wan kenapa amik pic aku tuh?


Lisa, manager Ziana borak ngan kak Kelly - executive producer TV3 yang vogue meletop! (bodek nih!)


Group photo - sapa yang sempat


Helmi from Monkeybone, Faizal and enter frame lak kak Kelly


Bob and kak Huda


Korang esok jangan lupa tau. The semifinal begins 9pm, over TV3. Aku nak tido... tak larat. Esok nak bangun awal.

Wednesday, December 03, 2008

Fun and laughs

Hari ni memang besh gila lepak kat Sri Pentas 2 tuk dry run for the separuh akhir Muzik-Muzik kategori Balada yang akan diadakan Jumaat nih.

Of course geng KEPITA ada in Bob and bebudak 6ixth Sense. Tapi ramai lagik skali ada like Faizal Tahir, Dina, Ziana, Aizat... everyone nominated for the semifinal round. Only ones missing, due to I think prior engagements were Dafi, Nubhan and Anuar Zain.

So they had I think three run throughs, and I sampai just before the third and last for the day.

Nothing much to do, since just helping Bob and Syuib out. But had a ball. Everyone performed damn good. Pening siot this Friday camni.

First let me get several pics I took out of the way.

Sharon, my former college mate at Ocean Institutde of Audio Technology (241B holler y'all!), the blushing bride (tahniah and hope Rusdi Ramli is the man for you forever, babe) and also composer of Sejauh Ini to be performed by Dina, as well as Cinta Terhalang performed by Bob


Bebudak 6ixth Sense lepak tunggu turn


Ayu, Dina and Bob


Cheryl giving a strict classroom teacher pose along with Ahmad Fedtri


Yeay! Geng KEPITA performing! Hope Tanpa akan masuk Juara Lagu


Faizal and Ayau - gila tol dua orang nih!


Kak Ziana caught candid!


KEPITA members Bob and 6ixth Sense sekali ngan the crazy but absolutely lovely TV3 production crew


Things really look hot now. Every song is sounding stronger and stronger and I think the competition is going to be absolutely crazy this Friday.

Aku malas nak post pepanjang. But here are the snippets of the rehearsal today. Memang semua power gila. Bukan nak promo, tapi seriously, do tune into TV3 this Friday for the semifinal, atau kalao korang sekitar Shah Alam, come on over to Sri Pentas 2 for the show cause it's going to be awesome, with virtually every song having proven it's right for a place in the Anugerah Juara Lagu.

Ni the first video, of Faizal, 6ixth Sense as well as Ziana Zain. These are among my favourites. I think I made known who I think should go on ahead in the competition. Tapi serious hari nih, even though I stand by my choices, it could be anyone's game.



The second is for Bob's fans. Ni full performance of Cinta Terhalang, live! So korang bayangkan vocal dia on that day ok camna kang. No surprises that he's gonna rock the socks off everyone with his voice.



I have two more videos from the rehearsals tadik. Of Faizal and Aizat, tapi aku rasa baik aku tak posting sini. Kang jadik isu lain lak. But memang pecah perot gelak. Will not say anymore. Esok lak ada rehearsal, so we'll see if I can post that here. Heh..

Ok guys, got some stuff to do first. Catch you guys tomorrow.

Tuesday, December 02, 2008

When...

Couldn't sleep in yesterday. For some reason... went out later to celebrate Juan's birthday.

Geng Pelita (semua kecuali Faz) were in attendance, including ahli KEPITA (Kelab Pelita) yang bakal buat persembahan Jumaat ini dalam kategori Balada, iaitu bebudak 6ixth Sense as well as Bob.

Patut plan jumpa kol 11 malam, semua wat bodoh, and then scream "Happy Birthday!" to Juan at midnight.

In true Juan fashion, he arrived late and it was well past midnight by the time he joined all of us. I swear....

I think they cleared the table about four times - and still we had this much left


Got up this morning and had to do a little running about. Which ended up Plaza Alam Sentral for a quick soundcheck for mereka yang akan membuat persembahan dalam kategori Balada Jumaat ni.

Temankan Bob and Shuib to KL to pick up some stuff and discussed a little here and there about stuff for Bob's performance.

Jalan-jalan Bukit Bintang area. Sungai Wang and BB Plaza mostly. Came across this shop with a very ... erm.. fascinating display of accessories for both men and women. But what caught my eye were the weird handbags.

Car bags are normal...


Crown bags are just... erm.. different. And green heart shaped ones are just strange


A snail bag is just plain horrific


And a bejeweled swan with a crown bag - is just nutters


But this takes the cake - a panda bag!


But that wasn't as weird as what I spotted pas makan dinner with Bob and Shuib. Have you guys ever heard of the Gold Man?




Ok so he doesn't really do anything. He's an elderly Chinese gentleman, who douses himself head to toe in gold dust, wears a matching outfit complete with top hat and gloves and shoes to match.

He accepts contributions for those who want to take a pic with him. Interesting, I have to say...

Just bloody weird. But props to the guy sebab berani gila. And ingenious too, making a spectacle of yourself for a few Ringgit. Definitely bukan senang ok, walaupun keja dia posing tuk pics, cause I couldn't even begin to imagin how uncomfortable it must be.

Tengah makan tu, spotted a friend. Si Mas! My Lord... lama gila tak nampak dia da...




Sempat borak jap, and then had to rush off for a meeting here.



Abis letih gila.. but sempat minum ngan bebudak lain sat.

Then balik teros. Tired satu... nak watch abih this series I just became hooked on. Hotel Babylon. It's a BBC series da masuk enam musim tak silap. Aku baru nak watch season two after discovering it baru baru nih.

Ok la.. nak rehat jap and then nak tido. Faz just called to say she was enjoying her holiday - am so jealous of her. Esok kena gi Plaza Alam Sentral for the dry run of the semifinals at Sri Pentas 2. Night guys...

Monday, December 01, 2008

World Aids Day 2008

Yes, I am feeling a little lazy to update today as I just need time to rest. But more importantly, I want to to use this opportunity to get a message to about a thousand of you reading this.

Today is World Aids Day.

I won't go into details, but please, if you don't know what this simple little red ribbon means, please find out.

And for those of you who know, educate another person today.

Much of the topics related are taboo in our society, so please, open up. Don't think someone else akan menghadapinya. Disseminate, not discriminate. Ignorance kills.

Whoever you are, no matter what part of the demographic pie you're in, this affects all of us.




PS - For those of you who need discreet testing, or just want to ask more questions and have no one to turn to, not only about HIV/AIDS prevention or anything at all related, or just need counelling of any sort, including on sexuality, CLICK HERE and get more info on people you can talk to, and are ready to listen at Pink Triangle Malaysia.

No matter who you are. You're not alone.