There are a couple of things I really want to say and recollect of the past day...tapi entah kenapa...Dreamy is on my mind.
Setelah dapat tau Dreamy ni da jadik milik orang....cam tension sikit...adus....always bad timing aku ni! Yang aku suka mesti da jadik milik orang.
But tatau la...tu mengikut member aku yang kata da jumpa dia dengan orang rumah dia.
I'm hoping it's wrong because some other friends insist dia single mingle lagik.
It's been some time since I've had a massive crush on someone like this...and it feels almost sadistically good, to pine for someone this way. Weird huh...
Anyway...hari ni aku ada renewed interest sikit sebab balik je office pas assignment, aku serempak ngan dia. So buat ler nak isap rokok...memang dah janji ngan member sorang ni nak gi smoking section anyway...but decided gerak sendiri dulu so leh erm...'bump' into Dreamy.Hoping...and hoping that an opportunity would materialise to talk with Dreamy.
And it happened! Aku spend dekat 20 minutes just talking ngan dia about this and that....ada ler yang mengacau sikit...sibuk je bila bebudak tau aku minat someone, nak hover and listen in on what I have to say. Kurang asam!
And it's great sebab the past few days I've struck out a couple of times with some potential targets.
Enough of my oozing...Dreamy will still be around. I can catch up on more tentang dia as it proceeds (confident proceed!) Cuma sentap masa dia tanya aku gi Anugerah Bintang Popular ke tak...entahlah...seolah ajak nak gi bersama lak (perasan lak) Aku lak cuma jawab...pergi....
That's the second potential invitation I could have turned down! Damn!
Hope to cover up tomorrow...mana tau kalao dapat gi ABP ngan dia...erm...besh!
Anyway, tadik baru balik dari press conference for Konsert Kemanusiaan Remaja Perihatin anjuran Persatuan Bulan Sabit Merah, Maestro dan Astro.

Yang akan terlibat ramai ler anggota keluarga Akademi Fantasia dari ketiga-tiga musim, termasuk Zahid, Mawi dan Bob. Kalau yang bukan tu...erm...ada Hazami, ada Ning, ada Nikki, Dayang Nurfaizah, Fauziah Latiff, Sierra...dan tak silap aku ada Nurul dan Ajai serta Shazzy.
The concert held to raise funds for the PBSM will be held on 17 March at 8.30pm at Stadium Putra, Bukit Jalil.
Kalau berminat, tiket akan dijual pada harga RM10 dan RM15. Kalau taks empat gi, konsert tu akan ditayangkan secara langsung kat Astro RIA.
Kalau nak info, there'll probably update soon over Astro's website.
Masa PC yang start lambat sampai aku tak jadi jumpa travelling salesman yang datang melawat kat opis...aku memang boring gila sebab ramai artis tak muncul.
Yang ada aku amik ler pics kat bawah ni for posterity.
Aduh...smart gak si Zahid pakai suit ni. Salute, bro! tapi entah ngapa laa wat pose mata terbeliak camtuh. Takkan dok sebelah Dayang jer da naik juling. Yang lain yang hadir Dayang (of course), Farah (tak sempat lak amik gambar si ligat ni walaoppon dok gossip ngan dia), Anding (ni pon tak sempat amik...sibok kaco Farah punya pasal), Edlin, Mas dan Rosma.
Artis lain memasing da ada prior engagement katanya. Tu la lain kali organiser rajin-rajin ler booking awal-awal yer tuk bagitau pasai PC. Jangan kelam kabut tuk carik artis hanya bila masa da dekat....but overall the event was trailed...and aku rasa the MC petang tu...si Helmi Gimik memang got on my nerves. Sampai kalao ikotkan ati nak campak jer garpu ala ala dart tengok kena ke tak dia. I had lots of silverware at my disposal, you see. I don't know...but he just irritates the crap out of me.
Anyways...tuk melayan bosan aku dok amik pics budak-budak candid ler cam masa tour Akademi Fantasia tahun lepas.
Si Rosma pandai tanak bagik aku amik pic dia tengah makan, cover mulot je keja. Nuts!
These are three of the pictures I can share ler.

   

Yang pentingnya...esok rilek jer keja...sebab ada warning kat opis mengatakan esok ada demonstrasi ke...mogok ke...piket ke entah haper kat Balai Berita, so selepas 1.30pm semua tak dapat keluar atau masuk opis. Ala...entah ler pas semayang Jumaat ramai-ramai dengar nak kumpul kat sini nak protest NSTP sebab bab kartun tuh...erm...aku no komen...but all I know is...keja esok rilek jer akibat tuh because no real movement about that time. Polis pun akan cordon off access points nak masuk Jalan Riong sementara semua jalan masuk ofis akan di kunci! Suspen!
Very dramatic! But extremely cool!!!
My office is going into lockdown! (gelak sat!) 
Sah aku akan dok rooftop je lepak tengok bebudak memekak kat bawah...kang aku posting ler pics tuk dikongsikan semua.
Okler...nak carik something to do...isi masa...sebab takleh tido.

Tengah semangat rock ni!
Yes, today aku tengok Garasi at the press preview. Aku da dengar pasal Indonesian movie ni, and it's supposedly quite impressive so bila pra-tayangan ni diadakan, lari kerja sat gi tengok camna the movie for myself.
So here's my very occasional...and comes only when I feel like it movie review.
Garasi, was released earlier this year in Indonesia.
The setting for the story begins with the meeting of the three central characters in Gaia, Aga, Awan, who start a band in Bandung, West Java. 
A little bit of background, the production by Miles Films established their reputation selepas two successful released in Petualangan Sherina and Ada Apa Dengan Cinta.
It starts out a little too Empire Records, but somehow along the way runs a little too akin with That Thing You Do.
Throw in a couple of personal dramas, some really loud music with a line that goes, "Shut the f**k up!" (that one thankfully lepas Censorship Board ok! - which proves a theory of mine those old fogies don't understand English! *hik* *hik*), great cinematography, and yet take out that last cliche in the ending to avoid it from being overswamped, and you've got - a teen angst movie!
Ok lah...so the script is not all that original, but it does work pretty well.
The whole thing starts with Aga who bumps into Gaia and then recruits her for a band.
Joined by Aga's best friend, Awan, they churn out what is obvious with the first two minutes of them whacking out the tune, that it is undoubtedly a hit to be.
They cut a deal with a trio of slackers who run a local music store to record their debut, and is soon on the road to gaining mainstream popularity
Masa ni ler start drama swasta. See if you can keep up...it's not that complicated.
Aga goes ga-ga over Gaia, she starts having feelings too. Awan somehow is suspected of digging Gaia and Aga pon naik bengang.
All this while Aga is embroiled in an unspoken and underplayed conflict with Sena, abang dia pasal pondok musik that they run.
Aga (who seems to be the catalyst for drama most of the plot), during their rise to fame vents his anger on a trashy tabloid journalist on invasion of privacy, and as a result, Gaia di exposekan sebagai anak luar nikah, which gives us another dose of more drama.
After the drama of dissent over the assumption that Gaia leads the band, Aga catches Gaia in Awan's arms, though doesn't know the reasons.
The ending? Cliched success for the band, though not overworked for a stamp of approval for a happy ending.
What did I think?
The movie is stunningly, beautifully shot, and the cinematography...camerawork memang meletop! Impressive even by the high Indonesian standards.
It's captivating enough, that if any eventuality you feel bored, the shots amaze you enough to keep your eyes glued on the screen. They tried to ensure that the MTV glossiness of it all was dispelled with to provide a more accurate representation of the scenes...so I guess that was one up for their effort.
The script however is mediocre, memang nampak ler the influence of sinetron on the use of the plot devices. Still...to some extent, the storyline is well told....takder ler lengthy or draggy sangat. And the ending, while some may feel abrupt, for me, is something that works.
The music? Quite poppishly interesting. Not quite credible enough for the underground, independent sound they are supposed to represent. It is after all a music movie right.
What a waste to model the band after the sound of Cokelat, padahal I think the lead vocals in Gaia sounds more credible than Kikan, vocally presenting shades of Alanis Morrissette.
Okler ada ler this on and off musical reference to my fave band Smashing Pumpkins...a little bit of Rammstein and odds and ends which seem to form their influences.
It's not very strange however is to discover that the trio of Garasi, really did compose and performed their own songs for the movie.
And quite brilliantly, while reality TV has launched many a career, movies may just be the new medium to promote new talents as interest in the soundtrack has shown.
Garasi aku dengar on tour as a band. Background meka pun enough to prove that they were not just actors 
Gaia, is acted by Ayu Ratna, yang dahulunya finalist for Indonesian Idol.
Aris Budiman atau Awan sememangnya a real drummer yang memang terkenal manakala Fedi Nuril iatau Aga, is a musician as well.
Anyway...I think it's more a youngster's movie, so the crowd watching it will be below 30 (I know some people were sleeping in the audience)
Personally, the movie will definitely appeal to former Generation Xers here (your 25-35 age group...yang lebih umo tu like someone I know buat-buat je suka kot sebab nak feel muda - matilah aku kena carut!) because the indie music culture here is mirrored in the movie.
Teringat ler zaman-zaman start up band cari vocalist, then kemudian nak cari gig...the exclusivity of the community and its elitist cliques.
Perhaps, ten years ago, Garasi woud have emerged a cult movie that would mark the era of its release, as it indicated the rise of the indie and underground local music scene. It definitely would have been more significant to cinemagoers here then,.
The relevance today however is how much pop culture has infiltrated every nook and cranny of the music industry and taken over every single facet of every known genre.Though I suppose...the ease with which they dealt with for their musical opportunities proves me wrong there.
Lari topik jap...if older folks see this movie, hopefully it serves as an eye opener, how much music really serves to provide a sanctuary for youths, and how it becomes a language that is used not just to vent, but also to communicate and congregate with their peers.
When I was about 18 or 19, port lepak aku kat Bukit Rajah Shopping Centre kat Klang. Well not really...but it's where our band would hang out for our creative sessions. Everyone was an artiste then. You did it for the expression, not for the fame.
When our band, Sean Olsens was put together and eventually started venturing out in the underground scene throughout KL, Damansara and Subang in the late Nineties, it was never a concern to get a mainstream record.
And two of our peers back then - will bear testimony of that. 18SGG and Disagree were bands that arrived on the scene when Sean Olsens was in its infancy and today they've managed to bring their sounds to a wider audience.
In this respect - Garasi has failed. There is no semblance of reality of the suipposed dark, artistic touches to the artistry of musicianship that they boast of throughout the whole movie. The very facade of the movie, which practically brags an elite understanding of the music scene is betrayed by poppy touches to the influences to the sound of the band.
Moving on...if you are like some of my friends at the preview yang leh tertidur, then the fun time you could have is by spotting the cameo!
Kalao kat sini kita bukan tau atau kenal sangat Pas (an alternative rock band from Bandung tau...bukan Parti Islam Semalaysia), or known music critic Denny Sakrie.
The three music store owners in the D'Lawas trio acted by radio talkshow hosts Desta and Arie Dagienkz, and indie rock promoter David Tarigan pun tak ring a bell
Aku nak spot the cameo pun yang fun, tengok Kikan and gang from the band Cokelat.
My verdict at the end of it all?
No matter who you are, it's definitely worth the price of the ticket to watch the movie. To watch it a second time, you'd either have to be a technical film person who loves those outstanding shots, or an oid Gen Xer like moi. However...you may choose to stay away from it if you don't like extended music videos, cause this tends to feel like one at times. Still...give it a chance. You might just like it.
And if you don't like the ending?
The story is still going on with the band touring for real...so that's your story still in progress. The movie was only an introduction of sorts.

Garasi  (115 minutes)
Starring Fedi Nuril, Ayu Ratna, Aries Budiman, Syaharani.
Directed by Agung Sentausa. 
Official website : Garasi The Movie
Garasi akan mula ditayangkan di panggung-panggung mulai 2 Mac 2006 seluruh Malaysia.
*The cast of Garasi will be in Malaysia from 28 February for promotion of the film.

Aku nak update my blog semalam, tapi malas semacam walaupun online pas balik dari Astro (again tengah malam past midnight).
Supposedly, this time around lepas singgah kat Astro nak observe again what was going on for my report tuk article aku, patutnya gi Planet Hollywood for M. Nasir punya show lepak ngan tokei funfair...tetapi apakan daya....kemalasan menguasai diri ala Garfield. Yerlah...tambah lagi hujan turun ngan lebat...suasana sejuk, so it was quite comfortable to have a snooze. Lagikpun...SPF 6.5 pun tak gi sebab abih gi tengok Puteri Gunung Ledang - The Musical sekali lagik so malas ler kalao tak cukup korum. Erm...iklan sat ek...

Sambung lak...another reason why I wanted to hang around was because bangga sebab ada member yang aku kenal, bekas anggota kumpulan 'anak didik' vocal yang berjaya lepas stage 3, so aku nak tengok ler lepas ke tak last stage. Tu aku cita later.
Anyway, again for this round...haus gak. Campor dua ari punya audition, sejumlah 1,005 yang menjalani ujibakat. Quite a few folks isi borang gak, tapi sebab aku dengar Astro limit jumlah penyertaan dalam sehari kali ni, nasib korang ler kena go for the next audition sebab tak sempat.
Tu lah...lain kali kalao nak audition, bersungguh ler bangun awal. Jangan bila orang nak tutup kedai, nak close shop jer baru nak terburu-buru nak register. Perlu ke.
No surprise, tapi geng rempit tetap menguasai hari ni .
Horror tul! Sampai je Astro da agak mesti tengah break sebab da 7.45pm, so aku head ke cafeteria where bumped into abang Adi, Aman, Syafinaz, Ajai, Deja dan Umi tengah berehat have a bite before resuming the auditions.
Aiyo! Bermacam cerita horror lagik aku dengar pasal contestants yang  memacam perangai.
It's extremely scary to think that no matter what happened the first day, the second day reflected a truth that was inevitable. That rempit akan terus menguasai audition Akademi Fantasia.
Mintak-mintak laa apa pun faktor yang menjadi pendorong warga rempit audition, tidak akan menghampakan mereka yang betul-betul berbakat datang untuk mencuba nasib, cause I really wanna see some real talent audition.
By the way...aku letak posting yang terakhir tu mengenai how to face the auditions tu untuk membantu sesiapa saja yang ingin mempersiapkan diri untuk menghadapi proses ujibakat....so I hope for those who are really keen to try out...they take my advice as it will indeed help them.
Contohnya cam adik sorang ni yang aku jumpa. Si Araf...(jangan marah ek dik jadik test case abang nak sebut kat sini).
Nampak dia kat stage 3, tapi dia gagal masuk stage 4. Sembang ngan dia automatically aku da dapat tangkap apa kelemahan dia. Sembang cam tak bermaya tak makan...and memang ler dia letih dan lapar. But still...personality tu penting!
You have to maintain your composure no matter how you feel, cause this is one chance for you to prove you're worth it.
Lagik skali aku cakap...kalo ko rasa ko letih tak larat...bagaimana laa rasanya juri yang mengadili audition berejam terpaksa tahan sampai  berdarah telinga tapi tetap maintain professionalism.
Anyway, Araf...aku really hope you try again.
budak lepak tunggu giliran kat stage 3, aku perasan bekas ahli kumpulan anak didik aku, si Nobi. Dok lepak-lepak sembang ngan dia, aku yakin dia mesti lepas kerana confidence dia memang impeccable.
I don't know how far he will go, but I know his singing ability quite good, so bangga ler bila finally dia muncul ngan borang tuk diisikan...iaitu berjayanya dia masuk short list! Ni pic sebelah tu Nobi (tu nama timangan dia) yang aku curi dari blog Juan, yang rajin menjadi paparaazzi malam tu. Kalau dia layak...jangan lupa AFUNDI dia ek! Aku skang doa bagik dia dan Najeeb je qualify as I think they have the complete package to make it.
Siang tadi masuk keja, dengan semangatnya habihkan keja sikit sebab entah kenapa keletihan melarat. I really feel beat and want to get some sleep for tonight. So no activities to keep me up!
Lagik pun nak conserve energy sikit sebab ujung minggu ni banyak yang aku kena wat. Selain kena wat liputan Anugerah Bintang Popular-Berita Harian hari Ahad kang, Sabtu aku kena rush ke Danga Bay, Johor bak Nikki tuk show Kosmo!.
So I definitely akan keletihan gila babas kang...better conserve energy!
Ni nak tidur da ni. Mata da berat...tapi tanggungjawab nak memblog ni (nak ilangkan malas and get in shape for bermulanya Akademi Fantasia nanti) memang kena dilaksanakan.
Anyway...sebelum aku mengundurkan diri for this posting...ni ada pesanan penaja sekejap...sapa nak gi apply, kalao dapat nanti bagik aku komisen ek!

ASTRO akan mengadakan ujibakat untuk mencari usherettes (pengiring) bagi program Anugerah Seri Angkasa 2005 yang akan berlangsung di Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre pada 100 & 11 Mac 2006.
Kepada yang berminat, sila datang untuk ujibakat :
Pada : 26 Februari 2006 (Ahad)
Masa : 10 pagi hingga 6 petang
Di : North Lobby, Pusat Penyiaran Asia (Astro), Bukit Jalil.
*Terbuka untuk wanita sahaja (yang ori dan tulen jer kot)
Jangan lepaskan peluang anda untuk bersama-sama memeriahkan majlis anugerah yang hebat ini!

Until tomorrow kiddos...

Letih gila babas...baru lepas habis makan, after the end of the first day of auditions untuk ujibakat Akademi Fantasia IV.
And so how did it go? Not too good if you ask me.
Kalau nak dibandingkan dengan tahun-tahun sebelumnya, haus ler!
If before this, out of a group of 20 people, ada at least tiga empat orang yang aku leh dengar ada basic talent, kali ni...kalau dapat seorang yang kira cukup syarat pun dah bagus!
This time around, a lot of people who showed up, nampaknya suka-suka jer, and didn't take things seriously...and for me this is the biggest insult to an opportunity...kerana ini satu peluang untuk betul-betul bakat anda untuk dinilai secara profesional.
Memang ler setiap orang berhak nak mencuba...tapi aku rasa ramai orang perlu nilaikan diri sendiri...but deep down inside you know whether you can sing or not. The funny thing about chances like this, biasanya yang leh nyanyi ler yang susah nak pujuk mai audition. Yang pekak badak punya tone deaf lak....takyah ajak beriya-iya nak mencuba nasib.
On to how my day was for today.
Mula-mula cadang kul 11.30 ler paling lewat nak ada kat Astro da. But sebab bangun lambat, aku arrived there about two hours later than planned.
Kesian aku nya taiko tunggu nak jumpa!
Lepak punya lepak...terserempak lak ngan ramai member-member yang memang vocal power yang audition sekali. Ada beberapa orang member aku memang tahun lepas pun dah short list tapi takde rezeki masuk yang mencuba nasib lagi...termasuk Najeeb dan Adi.
Diana yang layak Konsert Prelude dulu tapi tak berjaya masuk Akademi ada gak skali...dia lepas stage 4...kira shortlist. Melihatnya, aku teringat lak si Isa SMS aku tanya patut ke dia masuk. Pada mereka yang minat sora Isa (dia ler first person kenalkan Kata dari Hazami pada ramai orang), doa ler mamat tu dapat kali ni.
Selain tu...erm...awal-awal tu...ada ler beberapa orang kengkawan pembaca blog yang tegur...tima kasih ek...and walaupun aku tatau nasib korang...I wish you guys the best ler!
Yang penting...ari ni pakai uniform (apa lah!) t-shirt with three quarter sleeves yang chest dia embossed with a purple (with pink outlike) K. Ala ala short for klubbkidd ler...tapi sebenarnya baju Kipling yang aku entah berkurun tak pakai (yang diendorse Kris Dayanti ok!)
Aku lepak dari tengahari sampai skang! Amik ko!
So sesiapa yang dapat masuk Akademi Fantasia nanti, nak carut aku kata usaha meka blah blah blah...pengorbanan meka...etc aku tak paham...gi mampos ler.
Aku last year pun masa audition kat Astro aku turun dua hari. First day start petang je....lepak sampai habis, while second day aku dari pagi temankan kengkawan yang audition. Member-member semua yang daftar 10 pagi habis pun sampai 11 malam. Masa siap temankan mama dan papa Zahid tunggu adik Zahid si An masuk audition, yang stage 2 baru start kul 12.30. Haiyo!
This year, there was a noticeable increase in perserta laki (faktor Mawi ni). Dari lebih kurang 150 orang, hampir 90 yang pilih lagu Aduh Saliha.
Understandably, majoriti yang muncul ari ni adalah rempit yang memang aku memang rasa vocal...ADUH!
A total of 500 audition siang tadi...sebab jumlah limited by Astro...so bayangkan ler berdarah bernanahnya telinga juri yang terpaksa berdepan meka yang perform lagu sama. Bukan nak kutuk lagu tu...cuma ramai yang pilih lagu tu, memang tak sesuai ngan lagu tu, tambah lagi....ramai yang pilih Aduh Saliha nak cuba tiru gaya Mawi...siap ada yang opening silat. Tak caya tengok kang @15.
Orang nak cakap Mawi camna...tapi jangan samakan je sebab background sebab at least dia leh nyanyi. Pening the Mawi wannabes. Original ler sikit beb!
Which means lagu paling popular kat audition ialah Aduh Saliha, diikuti ngan Pupus (faktor Mawi gak!)
Tahun ni tak azab sangat ler sebab aku wat hal aku je kehulu hilir satu Astro perhatikan proses ujibakat.
Yang penting, untuk lebih memahami proses kali ni...aku ada partner in crime yang temankan aku lepak sampai habis (tapi dia sampai pun about kul 5 lebih)
Siapa lagi kalau bukan Mr SPF 6.5!
Selang-selang tu...ada member lelain yang muncul tuk lepak ngan kita seperti Botak, Huzaifa...Reza pun ada sekali belah malam.
Anyway...ni aku ada beberapa things aku nak kongsi dengan mereka yang nak gi audition (kalau bukan ari ni...hari Ahad - kat lokasi lain-lain.
Sebelum apa-apa...ni ler peringkat yang korang kena lalui untuk peringkat ujibakat. Ada four levels to the audition and here's my breakdown and explaination of what the levels are.

Stage 1
Peringkat ni simple...dan confirm ramai yang lepas kecuali memang bangap!
Kalau nak senang....print out borang dan bak sekali supaya takyah leceh berejam nak isi borang. Kat sana pun leh...but better if you download the form HERE and get it done earlier. Preparing for things earlier is always good!
Jangan lupa gambar berukuran 3R dan kad pengenalan. Please...please make sure you are between 18 and 27 by 1 January 2006. Pastikan anda warganegara Malaysia...and please oh please be able to speak English dan juga Bahasa Malaysia.
Hah...kan senang...kira layak da ke peringkat seterusnya.

Stage 2
Here's where it gets tricky.
Peringkat kedua...peserta akan dibahagikan kepada dua kumpulan, Team A dan Team B.
Juri Team A adalah Ajai dan Syafinaz manakala Team B akan diadili oleh Sham Kamikaze dan Deja Moss.
Disini, vocal, presence dan kebolehan memberikan persembahan yang menarik secara keseluruhan penting.
Tapi kalau anda mampu membuktikan anda mempunya vocal yang bukan sahaja menarik dari segi tone suara, tapi juga kebolehan basic mengawal pitching dan tempo...dan TAK SUMBANG, then you're in. Pada mereka yang serious, sila sediakan pilihan lagu sendiri kalau-kalau pengadil mahu mendengar sesuatu kelainan dari anda untuk lebih menilai your vocals secara acapella, atau tanpa music, untuk lebih meyakinkan mereka.
Please take this stage seriously sebab aku perasan ramai yang main-main jer time ni. Takkan untuk tak sampai seminit takleh wat preparation betul-betul kan?
Sila ingat video yang diamik tu bukan setakat tayangan kat @15 tau, tapi akan digunakan untuk penilaian juri kemudia kalau anda lepas stage 4 untuk decide whether or not anda akan jadi pelajar Akademi Fantasia.

Stage 3
If you've made it this far, congratulations. It means there is something about your voice that people do bother with, and you're more than just penyanyi longkang bertemankan kapok.
Cabaran seterusnya diadili oleh dua lagi set pengadil.
Team A akan diadili oleh executive producer Akademi Fantasia abang Adi, head of talent untuk Maestro Talents & Management Aman Ali dan Fatimah Abu Bakar (seb baik korang ada dia sebab dia rilek sikit)
Team B lak akan diadili oleh producer Akademi Fantasia iaitu abang Adnan, Osman dari Maestro (semalam, tapi setakat mengganti Baha dari Maestro) dan juga Fauziah Nawi (umi ni baik...tapi jangan menjawab, kalau tak naya je!)
Peringkat ni melibatkan interview untuk discover your personality. Peringkat ni, selain dari tu, anda mungkin diminta menyanyi lagi, ataupun menari untuk menyakinkan juri anda layak.
Seperti mana stage 2, please note that sesi ni juga divideokan, walaupun bukan untuk tayangan, tapi untuk tontonan juri sebagai sebahagian proses evaluasi.

Stage 4
Semakin ler cerah masa depan anda (sial jer statement ni) kalao da sampai peringkat ni kerana anda telah dishortlistkan.
Kalau ikutkan tahun lepas, kurang dari 200 orang je dari beribu yang sampai ketahap ni.
Pada mereka yang lepas stage 3....samaada anda akan diberitahu...terima kasih...apa apa nanti we call you...dan ditunjuk pintu keluar...ataupun anda akan mendapat borang.
Mengisi borang tu adalah peringkat seterusnya. Jangan perlekehkan peringkat ni walaupun nampak simple.
Apa yang anda isi dalam borang tu, akan memainkan peranan juga dalam bab pemilihan.

And then what? Kalau anda da berjaya sampai tahap isi borang...the only thing you can do is wait, and hopefully, the sessions videotaped will have something that will yakinkan para juri anda layak menjadi pelajar Akademi Fantasia.
Untuk membantu korang...ni aku wat guide tuk korang supaya korang lebih bersedia menghadapi ujibakat. Print this out if you have to, and make a check list, untuk pastikan anda ikut guide ni.
This will really help you...so laugh if you must, but take it seriously if you are going for the audition.

*Pastikan anda membawa segala dokumen dan gambar yang diperlukan. Also bring along a CD player tuk nak layan lagu yang anda akan perform during the audition. Practise makes perfect...and daripada anda membuang masa termenung...baik berlatih. Bring along a book too in case the waiting takes too long, and bekalan minuman (ataupun member atau ahli keluarga yang leh jadi 'runner' tuk dapatkan bekalan makanan dan minuman seandainya lapar atau haus. Persiapan ni akan memastikan anda tak lari-lari kemana, takut nombor dipanggil lak entah kemana...it doesn't give a good impression to be late for your audition.

*Pastikan you're dressed to be impressed. Takyah terlampau fashionable, sebab kalao packaging meletop tapi isi tarak pun tak guna. It's only one of the ingredients...looking good... Dress to impress, but don't overdo it. Make sure you look as good as you sound. Choose a look that goes with your personality, tapi pastikan pada masa yang sama anda selesa, ok, as the audition process could take very long. Kalau baju ke seluar baru, kang gatal-gatal ke tak selesa lak kang...but it's always worth investing in doing something to your hair, like getting a cut. Guys, pastikan jangan rupa serabai jer while girls...don't look like hookers...make up sampai kalahkan opera Cina. Like I said, preparations help. Kalau anda bukan antara batch yang awal, you may have to wait for up to 12 hours, based on my experience.

*Tunjukkan minat anda. You're one of thousands, dan naya je bukak mulot je, juri da kata tima kasih leh cuba tahun depan. Jangan terlampau bodek...kang nampak bodoh lak bakat tak sampai tapi yer yer nak butter up the judges. It will NOT work...trust me. Say what is necessary while maintaining an honest representation of yourself. Jangan lak nak tipu ngan berlakon menjadi something else nak impress. Professionals can see through your acting. I mean it. Dan control your nervousness. Jangan membebel atau meracau. Taking a breath before you say anything. It'll calm you down. No chewing gum ke apa apa. Nampak kurang ajor da.

*Anda tidak akan didiskriminasikan. So jangan ingat ada apa pun pasal diri anda yang akan menjadi bahan tuk juri memandang serong at you. As long as you're decent in every way, you'll get the same respect from the judges.

*Panik? Buang masa...baik takyah audition. Pada yang beragama Islam...erm...tauler what you have to do kan. Yang other religions pun can say a short prayer before you start. Calm yourself down, and jangan stress. Fokuskan your energy of being afraid yo prepare yourself. Jangan torture diri sendiri. Kalau anda cukup bersedia, anda takkan menghadapi sebarang masaalah, so kenapa nak risau?

*Bayangkan kenapa anda audition in the first place. Kalao ko takde sebab...padan muka ler. Kalao ko cuba nasib sebab yakin anda ada bakat...then you will have no problems. Focus on making it. Maintain keyakinan anda dan sentiasa pastikan diri anda tenang, supaya tak affect persembahan anda. Pastikan ada keseimbangan dalam personalii dan suara anda. Don't let one outshadow the other.

*Pilih lagu yang sesuai untuk anda. INI TERAMAT PENTING! Jangan pilih lagu cam Aduh Saliha hanya kerana minat Mawi, kerana anda bukan Mawi. Pilih lagu yang bersesuaian ngan suara anda. Juga yang mampu anda persembahkan tanpa sora ke laut. Interpretasi adalah penting. Jangan nak fotostat lak! Tak guna kalao lenggok sebijik nak ikut CD. Wat pe? Kalau anda klon terhebat sekalipun, peluang anda immediately kurang da.

*Kalau suara power, jangan lak sampai menjerit nak robohkan Astro. Impress with your vocals, tapi jangan sampai berserabut sehingga melody pun da takde. Pada mereka yang tak mampu, jangan ler nak melalak. Suara yang kuat, lantang atau nada tinggi tak semestinya sedap! Banyak lagi faktor yang menjadi pertikaian. Show what you have....but remember...don't overdo it...dan ikut kemampuan...

*Paham tak apa tu emosi? Kalau bak lagu sedih, jangan sengih cam kerang busuk! If it's an upbeat song you're singing, look happy, have some energy. If you're crooning a love ballad, do it with feeling so you embody the words coming out of your mouth. Kalau tak mampu nak hiburkan setakat dua anggota juri dan teman teman seperjuangan...camna nak menghiburkan Malaysia?

*Body language is important too. Jangan lak tengah nyanyi tu, tangan tergantung cam mayat je...ataupun nak wat aksi garu tempat tak patut. Choreography is not just about dancing. You already chose your song awal-awal. Jadi persembahan anda dari segi gerakan anda patut dirancang juga supaya ko tak dok setempat sambil tenung spotlight, ataupun jalan kehulu hilir nak merentas desa sebab gementar tatau nak wat apa.

*Be honest. The judges want to see you! Bukan lakonan semula video clip mana ko tengok yang ko nak over-over lak nak tiru. Feel the song and concentrate on delivering it.

*Dalam menunggu giliran (kecuali nasib ko ler jadik yang first) sembang ngan teman-teman sekeliling. Find out what they're singing. Pastu, kalao ada yang nyanyi lagu sama, compare notes. Mana tau, ada idea ko leh curi sana sini to adapt to your presentation.

*Your attitude is important. Samaada ko leh wat perangai yang elok, dan memikat hati juri, atau wat perangai yang bagi orang meluat atau menyampah dimana juri akan terus mintak ko berambos! Lack of confidence is another thing yang sering menjadi penyebab kegagalan. Yakin pada diri anda dan kebolehan anda (masaalahnya ada lak yang terlebih confidence tapi kekurangan bakat!)

*Pada saat anda akan membuat persembahan, cari sesuatu dalam diri anda sebagai motivasi! *Don't let anything or anyone intimidate you. Kalau takut sebab tak penah nyanyi pakai mic ke apa, buat-buat je cam ko kat karaoke (tapi nyanyi jangan ler camtuh...style sambil lewa!) Kalau takut judges...wat pe...meka bukan nak marah ke nak gigit ke. Kalao ada contestant yang ko dengar sora power, so what? Rilek and do your best. The best voice is not the only thing necessary and just think that the person might not have something you do.

*Ini adalah rancangan televisyen. X-factor adalah penting. Find out what is yours, or if it is too late, confidence will be enough to fake it for the moment. *Your best-selling point has to be something in you. And if you try too hard it will always work against you. You want to be yourself, but at the same time, you want to have something that distinguishes you from someone else. Jangan jadi sesiapa kecuali diri anda sendiri. Be yourself.

*Which brings us to...be honest. Jangan nak kelentong kata pandai wat lenggok asli ke R&B kalau it's not your thing. Admit your kelemahan so the judges know and you don't make a fool out of yourself.

*Be patient. Kalao ko ingat dok 12 jam baru dapat nyanyi 30 saat stressful sangat...dok rumah je ek. Ramai lagi sanggup. Jangan terbawak your impatience or your unwillingness tuk bersabar into the audition. It makes you look really ugly. Lagipun kalao ko ingat tension dok tunggu berejam...bayangkan ler pening dan stressful nya tuk juri nak layan lalakan meka yang pekak badak!

*Kalau anda mempunyai banyak masa, jangan habiskannya ngan melalak. Practise is fine. Tapi aku perhatikan yang datang satu group mai lalak tak abih-abih...tapi masuk studio ilang sora. Ko datang tuk ujibakat...bukan sesi jamming.

*Jangan skali wat alasan tuk your lack of ability to sing. It turns the judges off. Alasan paling original aku dengar dari one of the judges yang told by one of those yang ujibakat, "Saya takleh nyanyi sebab da malam. Saya malam memang takde sora." Kepala hotak ko!

*I cannot stress enough the need to be confident! Tapi...kekadang...untuk sesetengah yang aku tengok....aku kena gak cakap...jangan lak overconfident!!!

*Have fun! That's the first thing before you can have confidence, and also the much needed ingradient that will make you look more like a pro (doesn't make you sound like a pro, but at least it won't affect your voice if you're nervous)

Based on my experiences...this are the best tips I can think of to help you. So...apa lagi. Start working on it if you are going for auditions after today. Tapi meka yang wat audition siang ni....work on it anyway, ok.
Aku akan ke Astro kang tuk hari kedua ujibakat, so kalao korang nampak aku...tegur je kalao ada apa-apa nak tanya. Just call me and said I offered you the help in my blog. I understand how memeningkan kekadang auditions ni, and I don't mind helping out by giving a little advice here and there.
Anyway....at the end of Day 1, I'd like to wish congratulation pada mereka yang lepas stage 4, and I wish korang all the best!
However, if you ask me...so far...lum ada yang impress aku...the best is yet to come!
Apapun...congratulations Najeeb sebab lepas stage 4, buddy! Ni aku letak pic dia as a tribute to your second time masuk short list. Hope kali ni ko ada rezeki beb!
Alamak...SPF pun enter frame masuk pic! (Mampos aku kena maki pas ni!)
See you guys tomorrow kat Astro!
Dan ingat...
Satu harapan....satu impian....satu destinasi....(terdengar lak sora Juwita Suwito ngan iringan piano..."pasti berjaya....di Akademi Fantasia)

Yes!!! TGIF!!!
Thank God it's Friday!!!
Couldn't wait for the week to end....cam hectic abih minggu ni. Even though aku esok lusa ada kerja...tapi janji, dah hujung minggu....even though aku tak dapat jumpa Dreamy over the weekend...
Hari ni...jumpa dia...sempat ler senyum ngan dia say a few words...tapi sebab dia sibuk sangat, malas nak tarik dia ketepi for my first ever conversation ngan dia. One day...
Just that aku rasa dia ngan aku ni...setakat crush jer ler....nothing more. Though I may fantasise about nak date ngan dia (ada je...hish!)
Anyway...semalam masa gi xfresh, jumpa si Juan kat sana tengah amik pics. AKu gi ngan practical student UiTM yang tengah training kat tempat kerja aku, si Zubir.
Sampai sana...lalu ERA, nampak si Reza. Nampaknya da mula tugas solo dah, tak bawah jagaan lagi. My, how they grow up so quickly!
Singgah jap kat konti just to say hi, before moved on to xfresh jumpa Adi dan Julia. Lama tak jumpa si Julia gak. Sempat ler catch up gossip later when we all went for a drink.
They had an earlier interview with Azwan Ali, tapi masa aku sampai, lepak jap je, si Nurul dan Ajai lak tiba for the next interview.
Tengah selang seli on air, and dan wat lawak off air, si Zarina lak sampai. Biasalah...penyampai baru nak training kan! Ke ada sebab lain...oops!
Anyway...one thing that we did masa kat konti (aku dan Zarina ler) was to browse through my blog. Dia one of the few bebudak kuarga Akademi Fantasia yang tak pernah jenguk blog aku.
Nak gak rasanya nitis air mata aku tengok dia tompang aku nostalgia tengok pics lama dan cita lama masa musim kedua time meka dulu.
Banyak sangat kenangan Akademi Fantasia II...and of the Akademi Fantasia punya graduates...walaupun semua da cam adik beradik (well...almost all ler...), bebudak musim kedua ler betul-betul aku sayang.
Apart from that, takder ler banyak sangat cita...tapi ni some pics I wanted to share with you guys...

   

    

Ok...I guess...that's all the update for today. Aku nak hit the town nak enjoy...malam ni malam bersukaria! Yeah! Sebab esok awal pagi aku akan ada kat Astro untuk first round ujibakat Akademi Fantasia musim keempat! So siapa yang gi esok...all I can say is...good luck...God bless...and do your best. And here's hoping I'll be seeing you guys soon as contestants. Apapun...kalau ada yang kenal aku mengenai blog ni tereserempak ngan aku esok, tegur je ek! Kalau nak tips apa-apa...maybe I can help. Until tomorrow...ciao. Oh...one more thing...sapa nak tengok pics audition esok...aku akan try amik gambar esok ok!

Sebenarnya aku ada beberapa sebab not to blog this week.
Kalau ikut kiraan, I blogged for five days last week, and this is only my second entry for this week...tu pun lepas amik kira posting tangkap muat.
Satu sebab sibuk...another reason is because aku malas tahap dewa dewi ni nak update ngan seribu satu benda occupying my time and my thoughts.
But basically ni aku nak recall what I did since last Friday.
Jumaat lepas, went to Hard Rock Cafe to catch the showcase Prelude Kemuncak AIM ke 13. Yang ada Zahid, Sarah, Ezlynn and V.E.
It was ok, but hardly interesting cause how setakat satu dua lagu each. And then takde ambience lak sebab tak ramai orang...but I suppose it will get better in the later weeks when they finally announce the finalists of the contested categories and the showcases become like a preview of the nominees.
Malam ni ingat nak gi, tapi kurang minat sikit sebab tak silap aku malam ni Ani Mayuni, Syura dan Noraniza Idris. Erm...I support the local music industry, but I think it's kinda weird to see that trio in Hard Rock Cafe, don't you?
Still, it wasn't a total waste of a Friday night, though it's definitely not the most eventful that I've had in quite a long time now. In my current state of affairs however...it's probably as exciting as it gets! Sad!!!
Forward that to Saturday, decided nak break the monotony and go clubbing after a prior scheduled event.
Seriously last week, my off work hours were spent in a massive daze, sebab nak clear my thoughts, layan ngan just getting totally wasted.
And in true me fashion, I decided to continue the trend sebab da lama sangat trying to play responsible and all...I just wanted to let my hair down (figure of speech) and enjoy like I used to.
Saturday, after so long...betul-betul aku layan nari jer berapa lama sebab layan pala ala cucuk langit.
The night started with the 'party' we had for Rocky to say goodbye as he was leaving us. Cam tanak nostalgic or sedih colleagues moving on, so minum...erm...Coke...(paham jer ler) bebanyak. Ramai ler yang show up at the National Press Club where we held it...well actually my whole office muncul. Alam, Meor, Amir (partner in crime dia si Adly tak ada sebab gi New York cover Grammys - makan ati!!!), Terrina dan tunang dia, si Emmet (mamat Butterfingers tuh), Irwan and Shuhaida...in short semua orang ler dari opis. Malas sebenarnya amik pic...tapi last-last naik gila taking photos sebab everyone was doing that.
The horror of the night?
Karaoke session!!!
Ada ler colleague aku beberapa orang yang memang would make American Idol rejects fodder look like pros, decided to go onstage and virtually hog the mic with their...ehem...talents!

  

  

  

It was all kinda sad sebab ada makeover for the paper and it was almost like a farewell for everyone even though most of us will still be together.
Ni aku nak abadikan caricature yang jadik hadiah from us yang dilukiskan oleh Irwan.
And of course it gave me reason to...erm...indulge in intoxicating fluids.
But if I was merely smiling then, later in the night aku went all out to party, though I must say because of age, batteries aku (and I don't mean the one for my LED lighted t shirt) tak tahan cam dulu...umo ningkat biasalah...
And Sunday was that rest day yang supposed to recuperate, but of course didn't ler. Probably another factor of age...slow recuperation...
And basically that's cutting a long story short.
Drama after drama ngan developments with my working as well as private life...aku deal with Monday, typically expected...recovering from a weeklong hangover.
Aku dah ler kena bangun awal time tu sebab scheduled 10 pagi ada one on one interview with Jericho Rosales (yes! a Monday well spent!)
Aku rushing, ingat nak lambat da sebab 10.30am da time tu, turns out the interview had been rescheduled to 11am. And in true Malaysian style, sampai kul 12.30pm baru jalan. Still the waiting (walaupon ngantuk cipan) was worth it, because I spent a good hour with Jericho and Co. tuk interview.
Seronok gak...especially since he recalled the last interview we had on the phone. Now...this is one guy who is seriously loaded with not just looks but also personality and brains.
After the interview had lunch at Pan Pacific jer, before the main listening session. Sempat gak jumpa wakil-wakil fan club dia...so just to say - for fans of Jericho Rosales, ni...dah ada kelab peminat Echo Malaysia!
For more info (walaupon on construction lagi, bookmark usha balik lain kali) remember, the Jericho Fan Club is at http://www.jerichofc.com/
Lepas pre-listening of album dia dan band dia, Jeans (nama album Loose Fit which akan release Malaysia dulu then Philippines), lepak sat agik before finally decided to adjourn tuk gi Actors Studio kat Bangsar Shopping Centre tuk media night.
It was a night of senseless bitching (just to cover the discomfort because I've never looked at myself as one of those artsy fartsy folk)...before cabut gi KL Tower, this time tuk event birthday Azwan Ali yang ke 40 (haiyo...kertu).
Ramai ler kawan-kawan kat sana, sekali budak-budak Akademi Fantasia berapa orang. Seronok gak tak notice time pass.
On the way back, got blightly upset, sebab sepatutnya had an early Valentine's Day yang tak jadi. And expectedly the next day was nothing to shout about for me.
In true fashion, Valentine's Day got to me and I felt unwell and decided not to show up work calling in sick.
I hate Valentine's Day. Seumur hidup aku, aku cuma sekali je enjoy masa Valentine, tu pun two years ago when I was in Singapore for MTV, and then on the morning of the 15th, flew to Jakarta to meet my ex for the first time. Masa tu sampai je airport, dia ler yang jemput aku (that's why aku drama queen sangat bila tengok Eiffel...I'm In Love - sebab lokasi dan scene nostalgic gitu) before we checked into our hotel, and then made our way to catch Mariah Carey's concert kat sana.
Seriously...Vision of Love became a much more special song since then.
Anyway, Wednesday passed without much drama except for meeting this person, aku adore habis dari jauh.
Takleh ler nak reveal identity dia, tapi aku finally dapat ler talk with this person who I will henceforth name as Dreamy...sebab dia memang dreamy gila cara dia.
Tapi yang aku sakit ati tu...with myself...sebab as typically, while aku ni loud gila dan senang layan je...ngan orang aku suka mesti aku terkedu!
Masa aku nak gi Bangsar nak have dinner ngan abang Badrul dan Muzaffar lak...aku tengah jalan ke car park nak amik keta, dia tegur aku (oh joy! dia sedar gak aku ni wujud!) tanya kearah mana carpark.
Aku dapat rasakan (perasan!) yang dia memang cam nak cari gak sebab nak tegur aku...so we walked together nak amik keta.
On the way, dia tanya, "Do you drive?" and aku gagap wat lawak bodoh! It was seriously embarassing!
I didn't know what to say after that (you usually don't after you say the wrong thing) and aku nak cover ngan wat lawak...again this time tak jadik gak.
Aiyak! Damn! Made a fool out of myself twice in a row!
And today, with two bloody cover stories to rush (tu laa asik nak procrastinate...akibatnya) and one column....pening jadinya.
Lum lagi nak layan drama queen sorang ni yang chat ngan aku kat Yahoo! Messenger yang tiba-tiba tak puas ati kena sound ngan aku sebab aku malas layan agi, terus ungkit lak masaalah aku aku and this person yang kononnya suka aku.
Aduh! Malasnya!
Bodoh tul orang camni! Malas layan! I seriously think kan...people definitely need a license to breed. Kalau tak ni laa akibatnya! Anak yang lahir bangap nak mampos samader sebab genetik ke ataupun tak cukup didikan!
Again bumped into my Dreamy one more time. This time we didn't get to speak tapi dia senyum kat aku. Mimpi indah lagi le malam ni...
For now...two stories completed, and column da hampir siap. Still, letih lak lepas rushing habis-habisan, that actually tak semangat nak update blog.
Ni nak gi xfresh ngan member nak layan sat interview kat sana malam ni, nak kumpul gosip sekali untuk column aku (last minute additions)
Anyway...MSJBOX is back online, so you guys can chat or just leave your messages for me there, and I will reply ASAP, but pepandai ek jaga bahasa.
IP korang direcordkan and trust my psychoticness when I say I will use that against any idiots who are dumb enough nak wat hal.
Ok...aku update pics dan cita lanjutan malam ni later after I get back from xfresh (nak singgah ERA lepas sekali jenguk Nila dan Reza)
ABBB akan disambung at a later date (oh...but trust me, it will habiskan sepuluh concerts gak...make no mistake of that...revenge IS sweet! It's not like those idiots have the brains nak apologise) So pada dua ekor yang nak cabar aku ingat aku tak berani buat, merasalah kang! Lagipun, nak update info pasal seorang peserta yang pekerja gomen kontrak memandangkan da dapat big boss baru ngan reshuffle Cabinet kan!!!
Ok ler...dah lambat ni...nak ciao gi Astro sat. Blog later...

Aku memang sibuk sangat berapa hari ni...but aku janji malam ni aku wat posting panjang lebar ala novel.
For the moment though, ni tangkap muat nya posting yang nak aku sharekan sikit.
Kira promotion for the community sikit.
Their repackaged V.E Specially For You – Platinum Edition berada dipasaran pada 16th Februari 2006 which is today. Get the album dengan harga RM 29.90 CD dan RM16.90 kaset.
The other promo is for Jac for Sunday Nite Live kat Planet Hollywood next month.
Be back later for more postings...

By the way...  my album of the week (walaupun aku tengah dengar kompilasi Zaiton Sameon vs Adam Ahmad - Bersamamu sambil wat keja ni) is Dewa 19's Republik Cinta. Aku dengar the first day of release ini sold 20,000 copies, though aku rasa ni shipped out copies.
Still...generally Indonesian albums memang sell phenomenal figures anyway...
Now back to work...

Ni laa website Akademi Fantasia yang baru. Sebab aku postkan? Malas nak wat entry hari ni - sambungan ABBB tangguh sat. A lot of work to finish.
Ni sat agik nak gerak gi Hard Rock Cafe tuk showcase Prelude Kemuncak AIM ke 13.
Be posting tomorrow kiddies. Apapun yang rajin nak gi audition tu...apa agik...gi download borang sana ek.

Dalam kesibukan ABBB, pandainya Astro mencelah nak wat announcement. Suka tau nak tumpang hype ABBB....(matilah aku gelak sorang)
So ABBB memberi laluan wat sementara ke postring akan datang untuk pesanan penaja.
Yes...you heard it here first!
Akademi Fantasia IV is now officially on!
Hari ni, aku terima pengumuman tarikh dan lokasi audition untuk musim keempat program realiti terpopular kat negara kita.
Disertakan juga, senarai lagu yang menjadi pilihan nyanyian wajib.
So...cepat-cepat print out info dibawah!

Dapatkan borang permohonan untuk menyertai ujibakat dari balai pengawal Astro di laluan masuk uatara atau di pejabat Astro negeri or download and print out the form sendiri from the Astro website.
Borang permohonan untuk menyertai ujibakat mesti diisi dan gambar berwarna berukuran 3R mesti dihantar ke alamat : Unit Penyelaras Peserta Akademi Fantasia, Tingkat 1, Pusat Penyiaran Asia, Taman Teknologi Malaysia, Lebuhraya Puchong-Sungai Besi, Bukit Jalil, 57000 Kuala Lumpur.
Hanya mereka yang layak akan dihubungi untuk menjalani ujibakat. Peserta mestilah berumur diantara 18 - 27 tahun pada 1 Januari 2006 dan warganegara Malaysia.
Anyway....selain dari pengumuman Akademi Fantasia IV, ABBB berehat wat satu posting tuk mini review Puteri Gunung Ledang - The Musical aku selepas media preview semalam yang aku gi ngan my guardian angel, the manifestation of my evil side, the overexcited pom pom girl, the brooding writer, the housemate of evil (ni takde blog)...and a couple of their mates, which sorry yer guys...tak ingat semua nama...pening kalao nak recall. Dahler the musical was nothing to scream about kan....I am not exactly this avid theatre-goer but I have watched quite a few musicals, and it's safe to suffice that my observations were very fair evaluations that are unbiased.
I met the guys at the entrace just about 7.30pm, dan selepas sorang-sorang da mula sampai, we filed masuk dewan, berdebar ni....confident we were about to witness this grand spectacle.
And boy...was I disappointed.
Aku expectation takder ler tinggi sangat...after all sedangkan the movie pun aku tak larat nak tengok habis because it just didn't hold me...what more the musical ler punya fate.
Tapi ala ala grand opening scene dia...in the sense that it prepared me for a grand spectacle. The moment the curtains were raised...I was all hyped over what the night's performance was going to be like.
Tapi the first few opening scenes...aku da squirming sikit. The songs were kinda familiar and sounded like a million and one other things I've previously heard before. And checking the program, only then I realised Dick Lee was responsible for composing the songs. Hence the typical fare ler...
Takpe...tahan agi. Brace myself for the scene Stephen Rahman Hughes kuar...ye laa...nak tengok ler hero Melayu punya character camna. Dia bukak mulot je (sorry, tapi aku tak penah tengok dia nya performance sbeelum ni, let alone jumpa) aku tergelak. Lidah pendek lak...he speaks with a lisp...which is quite pronounced more often that not, spoiling the character.
It was like watching Daffy Duck in the lead role!
And it got worse...clear sangat ler mamat ni fail bab bahasa Melayu...sebab asik tersasul...and while pronounciation was ok, he really ada masaalah ngan penghayatan. It was as if dia hafal the whole script phonetically...dan tak paham haram sepatah pon yang diucapkan. Forget the charisma...the romance...Hang Tuah was a cold....dead...fish!
And then...it just took a big dip from there, sebab everything about the musical just turned me off.
Lighting was only decent at best, the set was bagus gila...or could have been...if they hadn't decided to overuse it in every other scene while the istana Melaka backdrop which was really grand muncul kejap je (really stupid!). The technical side was simply loose in execution from every aspect. While in most musicals the set changes were seamless and smooth (take Chang & Eng for example which utilised every stage mechanism of Istana Budaya), ni tengah masuk scene orang tolak tu sana orang tolak tu sini...I mean, they really should realise it looks messy as hell! Masa ada satu time meka bentangkan kain, and they were waving it to form ombak...aku yang dok dekat center pun nampak orang yang dok pegang kain at the wings of the stage. So amateurish!
Banyak benda camtu ler...minah backing dancer sorang ni pun sampai tanggal mic pack tergantung kat belakang masa menari ler...sound horrible gila most of the time. This included masa scene Hang Tuah menyanyi, bunyi sampai nak meletop je telinga rasanya! Time Tiara nak nyanyi tu seb baik ler sempat repair sat by disappearing offstage. Tapi tu pun nampak mamat yang tolong betulkan mic set dia.
It was horrendous to think that especially on the media preview night, they could afford so many mistakes. I really had to rely heavily on the subtitles to know what's going on sebab tak dengar habuk pon most of the time dari the muffled sound system.
Lakonan lak...Tiara biasa je. Stephen was fine singing...but sucked at everything else because you just couldn't feel that this was the pahlawan Melayu that is so legendary.
Memang very the Mat Salleh celup kayu yang haram paham sepatah pun sebab very the reciting the Rukunegara.
Adlin sebagai Sultan Melaka was ok....tapi aku blame the lame script on portraying Adlin as a circus act. Aku suka babak dia menyanyi and menari ala ala gadis kabaret, memang kelakar. Problem is...we are supposed to hate the sultan. He's supposed to be a figure of commanding authority. Instead...I found myself liking his character.
But the surprise...and I have to say this...is AC Mizal yang selama ni memang aku tak gemar! he acted and sang the best of the lot (which is not saying much actually). credit where it's due, aku rasa AC sorang je betul-betul pulled off the character assigned, selain dari Sukania Venugopal as Bayan dan Afif, budak kecik yang memainkan watak putera pada Sultan Melaka.
So should you watch it?
Only if you have the money and patience to spare. If it's your first time for a musical theatre production, you may enjoy it...that and if you're a fan of Tiara ke...Adlin ke...AC ke...Stephen ke....
But seriously...kisah cinta agung tu...didn't do jack for me, as the only emotion I got was to laugh at all the mistakes and listing them down. Sampai Fiebie hit the nail on the head by asking me, "Bila nak nangis ni?!!" out of frustration.
Memang susah ler nak feel anything at all...and emotional involvement is zero.
It's not all too bad seriously, and I agree with the sentiment of most people that it is quite impressive for LOCAL theatre.
Problem is...why do we have to degrade ourselves to feel good? I think that's a common problem with a lot of local products...mana kalau kureng sikit standard je...the consolation is, "ok la tu...for a Malaysian (insert type of product here)".
It's a lame excuse that will never get us further than we are right now. We need to start drawing comparisons with the best to push our efforts further.
So as far as local theatre goes...this can be considered a step...not momentous, but a miniscule pace, which should be improved upon.
Kalau nak baca ulasan lain, try these for size : SultanMuzaffar (daulat Tuanku), Patrick Teoh and Fiebie. These are the most honest reviews though their ratings differ from mine.
Will be adding more soon if I find any worth reading.
Meanwhile...don't trust everything else you read proclaiming it as great - after all...isn't that what they said about the movie?

Ye...
Kehangatan dah mula dirasakan...dan ramai mesti tertanya-tanya apa kah siri baru yang diperkenalkan ni.
So Konsert Prelude akan bagi intro into what this whole siri realiti yang baru ni about... and menceritakan mengenai perangai dua ekor binatang berupa manusia sebagai pengenalan bagi mereka yang tak kenal dan motif siri ini.
Sudah tentunya I have to do that...sebab walaupon lembu perasan betina ni tapi  berloceng dua ekor ni tak glamer pun...perasan je diri sendiri star sangat.
Dunia blogging semestinya dipenuhi ngan bangsa langau...a term used to describe idiots who hide behind the anonymity, sambil syok sendiri declaring themselves to be everything they're not in an attempt to validate their pathetic existence.
Well...dalam dunia kaum ketiga (bahasa sopan)....dua peserta kami ni memang tak asing lagik sebab takde ler orang (da sah bukan manusia...so memang takder ler orang) seperti mereka.
Yang berkenaan, yang tak bersalah, yang senyap....semua akan menjadi mangsa mereka.
Cara modus operandi haiwan liar dua ekor ni adalah untuk mengeji sesama kengkawan, more often than not menghina orang untuk merasakan diri mereka ni adalah penting sangat.
Padahal, one wanks at home sebab no social life, while the other tries oh so hard to have some semblance of a woman tapi ya ampun...itam satu hal...shading pon takleh bantu muka!
While dulu Internet ni membolehkan orang berselindung disebalik identiti...kini teknologi pelbagai telah membenarkan kita merisik ala CSI untuk pinpoint...binatang manakah yang sibuk mencarut orang...
So wujudnya bangsat puaka Imah dan anak buangan yang dikutip tepi Sungai Klang (kilometer ke lapan, belakang semak) yang bernama Nory ni...memang telah lama memberikan seribu satu masaalah yang membelenggu dunia blogging PLU dimana mereka bermaharajalela, systematically cari gaduh ngan one blogger at a time.
The operate ngan ganging up on one person, and kononnya bertopengkan sincerity, attempt nak get people on their side. Meanwhile, nothing is sacred...and everything is open to being bitched about.
Anyway...beberapa hari lepas...ilham untuk production ABBB datang daripada carutan dua babi liar ni terhadap aku tak pasal-pasal. Alasannya? Sebab rasakan they could take me on too. Well...big mistake.
Carutan tu dari dalam sebuah tagboard dalam sebuah blog yang baru-baru ni aku sebut. Tapi yang datang ke perhatian saya melalui kengkawan dari the blogging community yang mengadu pasal mulot-mulot puaka penjilat bontot khinzir ni.
Buktinya diabadikan dalam blog seseorang yang tidak beridentiti bernama Blogwatcher.
Dalam cut and paste entry Blogwatcher - jelas terbukti betapa lahanatnya binatang dua ekor ni dengan mencarut aku...hanya kerana spekulasi yang melampau diatas kebencian ramai terhadap mereka. Bermacam kutukan yang tak diundang dilemparkan.
Dengan itu...timbullah idea....
Let's see who's up for a good bitch fight.
So....instead of hiding behind an unknown identity....ABBB akan menentukan...just how much of these two hanjengs we can find out.
I never throw off a good challenge...and hanya berbekalkan basic info, penyiasatan da bermula.
Dalam konsert-konsert (konsert pertama da next entry akan datang ni...) coming soon ni..expect information on these two to enlighten you on who they are - seandainya you come across two slags like these...you know how to hunt them down...like they inadvertedly will be...
So pada mereka yang tak faham apa yang berlaku...baca jer laa...layan!!!
Kalao tak entry biasa tetap akan diteruskan gak (malam ni nak gi preview Puteri Gunung Ledang - The Musical) and you guys will still get all the latest info as usual.
Tapi yang pastinya....update ABBB will come fast and furiously.
The series will only end in two ways....full disclosure of their total identities OR the two freaks kneeling before me begging for mercy (which they might just end up doing anyway when this series is over)
So...sebagai penutup Konsert Prelude ABBB yang ala intro ni...mari kita lihat....apa hadiah yang bakal mereka menang hasil penaja bersama kami...kita berjumpa lagi dalam konsert pertama (bersedia for really ugly pictures of how they look like!)!!!