A ball with AIM

By : SHUIB TAIB

Feathers and frills for M. Nasir!

SHUIB TAIB felt the fresh new vibes from the latest instalment of the Anugerah Industri Muzik awards show held on Saturday.

Dragon Red, which won Best New Local English artiste, will be heading to Pennsylvania, USA in August for a music festival.
HAVING watched Anugerah Industri Muzik “live” several times before, I had come to expect the same run of things from the awards show on Saturday night. AIM in previous years has had its share of hits and misses.

But what do you know? When you least expect it to be good, it turns out to be better!

The 14th edition of AIM held at Putra World Trade Centre, Kuala Lumpur was one of the best in a long time … thanks to the fantastic sound system, brief “thank-you” speeches, the a la Las Vegas opening gambit courtesy of M. Nasir, and also the contributions of the other three hosts — Afdlin Shauki, Bob Lokman and Adibah Noor.

If Afdlin and Bob were deadpan or selamba, Adibah was effortlessly natural and funny.
You would have been tickled by Adibah’s little antics onstage, especially when the commercials came on. A little “shaken” by the whole experience of having to host a show “live” for the first time, Adibah tried to keep herself calm and composed by whistling and talking to herself.

But the excitement, or rather surprise, really began with M. Nasir who opened the show with Juwita …Citra Terindah.

Okay, we have heard Nasir sing before and he does so pretty well but to see him dance in synchronicity with the dancers?

Mind you, the dancers (by the way if only they could have danced with more heart) were a cabaret, complete with feathers and frills!

Bob summed it well when he said “Dunia nak kiamat … M. Nasir menari! (The world is coming to an end M. Nasir dances!) Throughout his singing career, I have never seen him dance like that. Dahsyat ….” I say refreshing.

From Las Vegas to Tokyo. AIM continued to inject international flavours — the hosts came on dressed in kimono.

Thanking the sponsors in a song but done so with a Japanese inflections, Adibah was cute.

There were great performances by Anuar Zain in Perpisahan — he was backed by a 30-piece orchestra conducted by Ramli M.S. — and rock legend Ramli Sarip and Mawi belted out Iqra with a wonderful back-up group.

Reshmonu gave a fiery performance where he rendered Where There Is Love There Is You, featuring Miz Nina.

Siti Nurhaliza, Aishah, Jaclyn Victor and Noryn Aziz showed why they were still very much sought after when they collaborated in Mulanya Di Sini, a special tribute to the late Seha, who was instrumental in the inception of AIM.

Then Search and Wings showed all the rocker-wannabes how to sing, dress and act like rock superstars when you are over 40. The organiser was also smart in putting the three Faizals together to present an award. Although they all had their own style of delivery, Faizal the DJ has a more audible “emcee/presenter” voice compared to Faizal from One-In-A-Million and Faizal from AF4.

Often, in the past, surprise winners went up on stage to receive their awards and had no clue as to what to say, and therefore, tended to drag. So when such things seemed about to recur, the musicians cued in.

The organiser should exercise some flexibility though and stay alert to allow the winners to say a bit more, like in the case of singer Ahmadi Hassan who took home the Best Nasyid Album award.

Apparently, the album was to be Ahmadi’s swan song so perhaps he should have been given a bit more time to speak. Indeed, after lying low for the last 25 years, Ahmadi finally cut his last album which won the Best Nasyid album category.

“This was not my comeback album, but more of a goodbye album. After this, I shall retire,” said Ahmadi.

The segment featuring nominees for Best New Artiste showcased what the industry had in store for the future.

The finalists were Fazli Zainal, who sang Harapan; Bob (Pengalaman Cinta); Farhan AF4 (Aku Saja Yang Tahu); Izwan Pilus (Indah Lelapku); and Sean Ghazi (Ku Impikan Bintang) did a decent job although the singing was at times pitchy.

My only question is, how did Bob make it to this category? Wasn’t he a product of AF2 some three years ago…?

As far as the results were concerned, there weren’t many upsets. Perhaps the biggest was Jaclyn’s victory over Datuk Siti Nurhaliza in the Best Vocal In An Album (Female) category.

Then again, no offence to Siti but it was about time someone ended her eight-year-reign as the Princess of Vocals. And who better to do that than the talented Jaclyn. Siti was graceful in her defeat.

“Please don’t make an issue out of this because Jaclyn is such a great singer. She deserves it. I’m just glad that I had won something because, honestly, I thought tonight I might go home empty-handed,” said Siti, who has never gone home without any wins at any awards show!

Siti Nurhaliza, M. Nasir bag top music awards

M. Nasir won the Best Song and Best Pop Rock Album awards.

KUALA LUMPUR: Except for a few surprises, the Anugerah Industri Muzik at the Putra World Trade Centre last night went according to script.

Datuk Siti Nurhaliza won the Best Pop and Best Album awards.
Datuk Siti Nurhaliza and M. Nasir were the big winners, each taking home two main awards.

Siti Nurhaliza won the Best Pop Album and Best Album awards for Transkripsi while Nasir triumphed in the Best Song category for Juwita (Citra Terindah) and Best Pop Rock Album for Sang Pencinta.

Hosted by Bob Lokman, Afdlin Shauki and the versatile Adibah Noor, the awards night, telecast live over ntv7, honoured Freddie Fernandez with the Anugerah Sri Wirama for his contributions to the music industry.

Other winners included Jaclyn Victor who broke Siti Nuhaliza’s eight-year domination when she took home the award for Best Vocal Performance in an album (female).
Reshmonu won in the male category.

Pete Teo was the surprise winner last night when he bagged the Best Music Video and Best Local English Album.

Sean Ghazi took home three awards for Best Engineered Album, Best Musical Arrangement in a Song and Best New Artiste.

There were performances by Ramli Sarip and Mawi as well as a special tribute segment to the late Seha, performed by Jaclyn, Siti Nurhaliza, Aishah and Noryn Aziz.

Legends in melody

By : Faridul Anwar Farinordin

A night of P. Ramlee songs and memories, in the company of the diva of present times, Siti Nurhaliza. FARIDUL ANWAR FARINORDIN joined others for a walk down memory lane.

YOU can tell when you have a good time at a concert — the time really flies.

At the recent Konsert Istana Cinta Nostalgia Tan Sri P. Ramlee And Puan Sri Saloma by Datuk Siti Nurhaliza at Istana Budaya, Kuala Lumpur, that’s exactly what happened.

It really felt as if the show had just started — it began with the National Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Eddie Marzuki giving a rousing overture of Getaran Jiwa — and then, too soon, it was already curtain call.

What happened in between, is a blur, and I mean this in a good way. It was like mass hypnotism — of the musical kind. The combination of a legendary composer like P. Ramlee and a great artiste like Siti proved to be a potent formula.
Of course, other people too saw great potential in further marketing this partnership.

At a Press conference later, Siti confirmed that the show would soon be released as a “live” concert CD album.

Back to the show, it was an unforgettable evening of songs most knew by heart. Many were from the movies we grew up with — from drama to romantic comedy, thriller to fantasy.

It must have been difficult to put the show together, considering the numerous great songs that the late composer had released.

Siti, together with the show’s artistic director Pak Ngah (Suhaimi Mohd Zain) cleverly divided the songs, according to themes and musical styles, into medley segments. For stand-alone songs, the most identifiable ones with soaring melodies were picked.

The medleys were the twist-and-shout show tunes (Bila Larut Malam, Pesta Muda Mudi, Bunyi Gitar), joget songs (Sekapur Sireh, Tari Silat Melayu and Joget Pinang Muda) and cha-cha numbers (Jikalau Abang Merindu, Jalan Bersama and Sejak Ku Bertemu Padamu).

Some of the cabaret-styled performances were backed by dancers, which at times seemed to look like too much of a crowd on stage. The very bright 1960s-inspired costumes and thick make-up and big hair set the mood.

Glamorous backup dancers aside, the songs performed whole were mostly the powerful ballads much performed even by singers of today. Except for Istana Cinta, delivered in a danceable upbeat tempo instead of the slow heart-wrenching manner as in the movie Anakku Sazali, the other songs were showcased in their original forms. They included Putus Sudah Kasih Sayang, Tunggu Sekejap, Hujan di Tengahari, Berkorban Apa Saja, Airmata di Kuala Lumpur and Di Mana Kan Ku Cari Ganti.

At a concert such as this, P. Ramlee’s incomparable artistry, with songs covering a wide gamut of topics and musical styles, was evident.

Another interesting feature of the show was the multimedia element. Although the screens in the background were used mainly for video footage playbacks, i.e. clips and stills of P. Ramlee’s movies, and old photographs and interviews with fans, they added a nice touch to the concert.

The show also deserved credit for incorporating P. Ramlee in a scene from the comedy Masam Masam Manis with Siti on stage, as Cikgu Norkiah (originally played by Sharifah Hanim in the movie). The scene, according to Siti after the show, was among her favourites of all P. Ramlee’s movies.

It would have been even more interesting to see Siti performing a “duet” with P. Ramlee, just like what the group KRU did with Getaran Jiwa. International singers have done it too.

Siti’s favourite singer, Celine Dion, once sang a “duet” with Frank Sinatra (All the Way); so has Natalie Cole with her late father, Nat King Cole (Unforgettable).

Siti’s actual duet performances, unfortunately, lacked the romantic spark and overwhelming joy that should have come with the songs.

Maybe she needed a male vocalist with a solid lower register powerful enough to carry the songs.

For her duets, she had two male singers. One was Musly Amir Mohamed Ramli for Dalam Air Ku Terbayangmu, Di Mana Suara Burung Kenari and Gelora, the male vocalist popular for his ability to imitate P. Ramlee’s speaking and singing voices. But much was inaudible.

When it was Fazli’s turn, he was struggling with the low notes (P. Ramlee was a bass-baritone), except when he was singing the solo Hujan di Tengahari, delivered in such operatic manner that it came across sounding like a patriotic number. He also seemed nervous around the songstress, making him look rather stiff.

From a total of 30 songs performed at the concert, three were delivered by Siti’s guest artistes.

Apart from Fazli and Musly, there was Saloma’s sister Mimi Loma (for Bawah Rumpun Bambu).

Comedy group Isketambola gave a hilarious parody of a scene from Nasib Si Labu Labi, where Labu and Labi visit an old man on behalf of their employer Haji Bakhil to ask for his daughter’s hand in marriage. It left the audience in stitches.

Together with Musly who played P. Ramlee (Labi), members Ghazali Shahbuddin (or S. Azli), Rahim Dalmia (Mamu) and Tamrin Ibrahim were unmistakable carbon copies of the original cast — Udo Omar, M. Zain, and Tamrin’s late father, popular comedian Ibrahim Pendek.