And The Winner Is...

The annual Anugerah Juara Lagu had always had a special spot in my heart. I guess, even when the likes of Francesca Peters, Zaiton Sameon and Ramlah Ram dominated the airways; it was truly one of those events that defined the year.

I remember preparing to run (with a band of girls, of course) from our classroom at the end of the preparatory class all the way to our designated Common Room. Lengan baju kurung dah singsing, kain dah tarik baeekkk punya. As soon as that bell rang, off we went. Masa kecik-kecik tu, terima je la kalau kakak-kakak senior dah conquer the centre stage. Bukan untuk dia sorang.. No sir-ree! Untuk mereka dan keluarga mafia mereka. There we were, left standing near the door, at the end of the rooms, some ceruk-ceruk or worse still peering into the Common Room through the Nako glass. Oh those were the days.... What we would have done for a glimpse of the reigning Kings and Queens of those times..

Just for my own reference and peningkatan ilmu pengetahuan in general, the following is the list of past winners of Anugerah Juara Lagu or what was formerly known as Muzik-Muzik: (Oh, I am sounding so much like an auditor right now)

1. Sekadar di Pinggiran - Francesca Peters - 1986
   
2. Menaruh Harapan - Zaiton Sameon - 1987
   
3. Kau Kunci Cintaku di dalam Hatimu - Ramlah Ram - 1988
   
4. Isabella - Search -1989
   
5. Janji Manismu - Aishah - 1990
   
6. Takdir dan Waktu - Mega - 1991
   
7. Pada Syurga di Wajahmu - Nash - 1992
   
8. Teratai Layu di Tasik Madu - Fauziah Latiff - 1993
   
9. Tanya Sama itu Hud-Hud - M.Nasir - 1994
   
10. Cinta Beralih Arah - Aishah - 1995
    
11. Jerat Percintaan - Siti Nurhaliza - 1996
    
12. Ghazal untuk Rabiah - M.Nasir & Jamal Abdillah - 1997
    
13. Cindai - Siti Nurhaliza - 1998
    
14. Andalusia - M.Nasir -1999
    
15. Balqis - Siti Nurhaliza - 2000
    
16. Mimpi Laila - Yassin - 2001
    
17. Keliru - Nurul & Ajai - 2002
    
18. Bunga-bunga Cinta - Misha Omar - 2003
    
19. Relaku Pujuk - Spider -2004
    
20. Gemilang - Jaclyn Victor - 2005
21. Terlalu Istimewa - Adibah Noor -2006
    
22. Itu Kamu - Estranged - 2007
23. Lagu Untukmu - Meet Uncle Hussein - 2008

Looking back through the list, I have realized that I kinda lost interest in the local music scene somewhere between Aishah's Cinta Beralih Arah in 1995 right through Adibah Noor's Terlalu Istimewa in 2006. There were a variety of reasons, of course.

One: I was away from the country for a while. The LIVE show did not broadcast to our lonely boarding school / college thus resulting to having to wait for the VHS copy of the stuff that came much much later and was subject to a relative / friend coming over from Malaysia. (Mana ada youtube and live streaming masa tu)

Two: I was too engrossed in having to study and redeem myself for my past failure that it felt very irrelevant to my life. Apa kes tengok Muzik-Muzik?? Study lagi berfaedah, kan?

Three: I was enjoying my freedom and independence and I had other things to do than watch Juara Lagu. In any case, asyik lagu lemah gemalai and Siti je menang, kan? Boring...

Now that I am older and wiser and mellow-er.. We (my husband and I) watched the said event from start to finish last night. (after the kids have gone to sleep, of course). Suffice to say that I was very impressed. :)

The performances this year were of, dare I say it, world class. Sangat impressive. Previously, only those contending in the Ethnik Kreatif / Irama Malaysia would go all out with their band of dancers filling up the stage, kan? Tidak lagi. They went category-less this year, and I could see that each performer took the extra effort to win the best performance award.

Did you notice the influx of reality series born entertainers? Akademi Fantasia, Mentor, Malaysian Idol, what-have-yous. So, I guess these series are also adding flavour to the local music industries, no?

Only that, I just had had had to comment on Misha Omar's costume, though. What was that monstrosity? So unflattering on her body, lah. She looked more like a dugong than a duyong! :( Dato' Siti, on the other hand was so chic in her tight-pants, boots and tudung. (OK, that somehow did not come out right) But still, stylolah Dato' - macam anime character. :) I loike.

So, anyhoots, for AJL 24, the winners were:

He's the guy who was in Mentor, the reality show by TV3. His mentor was Mas Idayu. (Notice the cheek kissing when he was announced the winner, yo!) One thing I can say about that guy, "Man, you can really reach those high notes, bro!" Truly a rock kapak King in the making. Watch out brother Amy! *He also sang with Meet-Uncle-Hussein-minus-Lan for the finale later*

At the end of the night, the RM10,000 loot for the Best Performance title was won by Aizat with his rendition of Kau dan Aku with a group of school going kids. That chubby lad that mirrored him was especially cute. :)

Oh, the drama that went along with this lad... He was substituted by Shila during the Semi-Finals due to a lung infection *or something* but turned up in all his glory gory for the Finals last night. Donned in a somewhat creepy Micheal Jackson lookalike outfit complete with the initials FT at the collars. Apakah? Adoiiiai!! The song itself was so-so only, I thought. But since the judging was 70% based on previous stages (Preliminary, Quarter and Semi) , I guess that's why he managed to bag the title. With that , he brought home RM12,000 to be split with the composer, Audi Mok. Since he wrote the lyrics himself, he'd be getting two-thirds of the winnings, I guess.

What can I say about this soon to be lawyer? Another singing lawyer in the making, you think? Well, she definitely has all the potentials! The arrangement was heavenly. She started playing on a mini piano that most of us have while we were kids, and add to that an intro of Dan Sebenarnya which echoes on and on before the band kicks in. Aahhh.. sooo sedap!!! She truly is magicallah that kid. :) Good on you, Yuna! So sempoi with her tudung and such a like-able persona. Me likey! Likey! Likey! Tahun depan masuk lagi, ya dik? She brought home RM15,000 that she'd have to split (not necessarily 4-ways) with Paan, Efry and Adil.

The winner for this year is Aizat with Pergi. It's actually the soundtrack for the movie Talentime (which I have yet to watch!) and his rendition last night was truly 1Malaysia. There was an Indian lady doing the intro with some classical Indian adlibs , Aizat singing in both Malay and English as well as a tudung-clad girl playing a classical Chinese instrument. It couldn't get any more majmuk than that! :) They took it as a tribute to the Malaysian legends we have lost throughout the years. I caught a glimpse of Yasmin Ahmad, Sudirman and Mokhtar Dahari in the clip that was running at the background. Aptly, also , the Peter Teo representative dedicated the win to Allahyarhamah Yasmin Ahmad. The loot is bigger here, with RM35,000 to split between Aizat, Peter Teo and Amran Omar.

(Pictures from: here)

So, congratulations winners.. Here's to the local music industry! Can't wait for next years AJL!

-dillz blogging out-