Gegar Vaganza

Malam tadi buat pertama kalinya aku menonton rancangan terbaru Astro Ria, Gegar Vaganza. Konsert ketiga itu menampilkan 11 artis (menurut Mak aku ada 12 penyanyi semuanya, di mana Hasnol telah terkeluar pada minggu kedua) yang pernah mewarnai industri seni suara suatu ketika dahulu untuk membuat "comeback".

Rata-rata penyanyi yang mengambil bahagian tiada daya juang yang tinggi. Malah kreativiti yang cuba diketengahkan agar hambar dan ketinggalan zaman. Pendek kata, masing-masing tiada aura yang memukau.

Jangan salah anggap. Kebanyakan mereka masih boleh menyanyi dengan baik, cuma mereka hanya setakat menyanyi. Yang lebih menyedihkan, ada yang terikut-ikut gaya penyanyi asal.

Tiada usaha-usaha improvasi langsung!

Setidak-tidaknya kita mahu "kelahiran semula" seperti mana Tomok lakukan dalam rancangan One In A Million! Daripada seorang penyanyi yang agak nasal kepada penyanyi yang beraura baharu dan segar.

Mungkin format rancangan ini boleh diperkemas dengan memasukkan kerjasama daripada komposer/penerbit yang prolifik untuk membantu penyanyi-penyanyi ini "berkarya".

The child inside me

Although I'm still NOT over of the vacation mood, I guess it's timely to stop bragging about my travelling for a while and start writing about other important stuff. Like what? How about Amy Winehouse and her baby mice awful dedication to her hubby (have they married?) or Sharon Stone's untasteful remark about the earthquake in China was a karma for China's mistreatment to Tibet.

Guys... initially, I was supposed to join another trip with friends - Dini, Fendy, Fir & Ayap, from yesterday to 8 June 2008. A trip to 4 cities of Italy, namely, Venice, Florence, Naples & Rome. Due to other crucial commitment, my friends only made the decision at the very last minute and during that time I was away (if I'm not mistaken, in Barcelona) with Nurul and Wan on my part II of Europe Tour. By the time I was informed about the decision (I was in Glasgow that time), the flight tickets were almost 200 pound sterling for outbound flight from Liverpool and inbound flight from Rome. After a careful consideration, I decided NOT to join the trip, but to buy some time to plan properly for my next part of Europe Tour.

So, now I'm in Manchester, in my room NOT knowing what to do besides improvise my dissertation outline and plan.

Last night, I went to my friends' place in Rusholme with the intention to catch the live telecast of Britain's Got Talent 2. Before knocking on their door, I stopped at the nearest pizza take away to get myself a 12-inch pizza with 3 toppings - chicken tikka, pepperoni & pineapples. To my surprise, the show had started at 6ish and by the time I reached the house, it's almost time for result. All of my friends missed all the acts of the finalists since they've just returned from a barbecue party in Old Trafford.

I'm sure some of you have already known the result by now, the winner of the season 2 of Britain's Got Talent is...






George Sampson performed in front of Arndale Shopping Centre, Manchester

What I'm impressed the most about last night final is the fact that it's the kids who stole the show with their professionalism despite of their raw and unpolished talents. They handled the crowd and most importantly, the critism from the judges, extremely well! According to Simon Cowell, they, especially the Checky Monkeys, behaved much better than the adults. In addition, they didn't look nervous (if they were, they managed to hide it wonderfully) at all.

Talent-wise, all the finalists were not comparable with last year's winner, Paul Potts who's exceptionally great. Anyhow, from showbiz perspective, a couple of acts this year are amazingly commercial and filled with likeable factor. And these acts I'm talking about are from kids with wonderful stories attached to them.

From busking in Manchester city centre, George Sampson's never give up attitude although he'd been rejected in last year's contest, proved worthwhile of all the struggle

I wonder if those emotional rendition of Pie Jesu were a true reflection of Andrew Johnston's pain of being bullied at school

I wish I have the cheekiness and full of confidence shown by Charlie and Krista

The 12 year old Faryl Smith really makes some of the current artistes amateur


Note: The above 4 pictures were taken from the official website of Britain's Got Talent.

Hanya Di Mercu

I don't know what's going on but I was shocked to find out that there was no coverage about the finale of the One In A Million 2 by Joe Lee on his blog. Well, I know it's his blog and it is his sole right to write whatever he likes on his blog. It is just weird for me that a well-versed entertainment journalist like him opted to ignore one of the better singing competitions in Malaysia. Unless, there is something going on which escaped from my limited observation of local music industry.

Or he might too busy with the more glamorous, Akademi Fantasia 6. And, I was also told by a friend of mine, there is no coverage from Vernon too. Hmmm...



I personally think that last night finale had the best top 2 finalists, after the legendary top 2 - Jac and Dina, in so many ways. And I hope it's not too much to say that it was a fight between better vocal and attractive package. Thank God, the one with better vocal won the competition at last! To me, 8TV almost lost its credibility after two mediocre contestants won its last two competitions - Malaysian Idol 2 and OIAM. Hello, Daniel! Hola, Suki! Where are you now?



It was a pity that Sarah was voted off at the beginnng of the show and I guess it would be more interesting to see Ayu competes with Sarah rather than Shila. No offence to you, Shila because I really think you're a promising singer, it is just that you lack of originality and like what Paul said before, it is a bit difficult to take you seriously.

While I really, really like Sarah's rendition of Fantasia Bulan Madu, I was not that impressive with the new single specially composed for her by Audi Mok. I don't know, was it because the song or her performance or the song is the still new, and it requires more time to grow in me. I hope it is the latter.

On the other hand, I like both compositions by Aubrey Suwito and I believe both will do well in the local Pop charts. I tried to download Ayu's single on Bluehyppo, but unfortunately I can't find it on the said website as per Awal's announcement last night. Apa ni, Awal! Hehehe.

A snapshot of last night performance:

In the first round, Ayu sang the song picked by the judges i.e. Samudera with full of emotion. Vocally, it was better than her previous performance, if I'm not mistaken in top 12, however, her high note was still raw and rough to me. Shila on the other hand, sang the Spanish song which impressed us all in the top 4 episode, only this time it didn't do the same wonder as it did before. I don't know, may be because it was exactly the same as the previous one which might not be suitable on a bigger stage.
Verdict: Ayu 1 - Shila 0

In the second round, I was so touched with Ayu's rendition of Ceritera Cinta (a duet by Jac and Rio) and I really, really think that performance is much better than the previous one in top 8. It showcased her range effectively and again, she connected with the audience with an emotional singing. Shila, however, was a bit struggled with the new single composed by Aubrey. It turned out to be a dragging song.
Verdict: Ayu 2 - Shila 0

It's Ayu's time to showcase the new song composed by Aubrey for her in the third round. Although she started quite well, similar to Shila, she was a bit struggled too. Shila decided to finish the night with a creative medley of Stuck and Ops... I Did It Again. The performance was very entertaining and showed the real Shila is. However, it also proved one of her disadvantages, which lacks of originality.
Verdict: Ayu 3 - Shila 1

Congratulations to Ayu and welcome to the Malaysian music scene. Yes, Syafinaz... Malaysians are ready for new talents like Ayu.


Note: Pictures taken from gua.com.my and oneinamillion.bluehyppo.com