Konsert AF6 W2P5 – Stanly – Sudah Tu Sudah

Diariku #4

30th March 2008

Apabila saya diundang untuk membuat persembahan ‘Secretaries’ Week’ atau Minggu Setiausaha di hujung bulan April, dan promosi mula terlihat di akhbar dan Internet, ramai yang tertanya-tanya bolehkah Imran Ajmain dari Singapura menghibur? Bukankah dia baru lagi?

Minggu Setiausaha merupakan sebuah ‘festival’ yang mempunyai sejarah lebih dari 20 tahun dimana pemilik syarikat besar akan membawa setiausaha dan pekerja-pekerja sepejabatnya untuk makan tengah-hari sambil didendangkan oleh artis kegemaran mereka. Bulan April dipilih kerana ianya sebaik selepas tutupnya akaun cukai dan pentadbiran pejabat untuk tahun lalu. Patutlah orang tertanya-tanya tentang persembahan saya nanti, kerana ini adalah kali pertama saya! Dan acara Minggu Setiausaha biasanya ‘full house’ kerana dibintangi oleh artis-artis terkenal.

Pada bulan Mac, pengajur-pengajur akan membuat sidang akhbar untuk mengumumkan pada pihak media dan orang ramai maklumat tentang acara mereka. Tahun ini, Mawi and Mila (Juara Akademi Fantasia 6) akan menggegar Palace of the Golden Horses dengan tema mesra-alam mereka. Anita Sarawak, Khatijah Ibrahim dan Ramli Sarip juga sedang membuat persiapan untuk persembahan Minggu Setiausaha mereka. Tapi harap maklum, bukan setiausaha sahaja yang hadir, tapi orang ramai dan peminat artis tersebut juga akan turut hadir.

Mungkin bukan budaya kita di Singapura untuk berpakaian cantik waktu tengahari, duduk di meja bulat di ‘ballroom’ hotel bersama rakan sekerja, dan menonton persembahan oleh artis-artis. Harga tiket-tiket boleh menjangkau ke RM500 (S$240)!

Sebelum tahun ini, saya tidak pernah tahu tentang Minggu Setiausasa. Setahu saya, paling tidak pun, penggemar muzik di Singapura akan hadir untuk konsert di Esplanade ataupun rakaman program rangkaian muzik di Auditorium Mediacorp. Makan tengahari besrsama artis pada hari Selasa di ‘ballroom’ hotel? Tidak pernah terfikir pun! Sebab itu saya rasa pelik bahawa ia sangat popular di Malaysia.

Mungkin penganjur di Singapura boleh membuat satu perbezaan mulai tahun depan, dengan memerhatikan beberapa acara Minggu Setiausaha di KL bulan April ini. Dengan adanya konsert berkonsep seperti ini di Singapura, orang Melayu yang akan menghargai dengan lebih artis kesayangan mereka dan akan menjadi terbuka kepada artis baru yang turut ditampilkan. Ini bukan acara High Tea satu artis sahaja tau! Tiga-empat artis akan membuat persembahan dengan diiringi pemusik secara ‘live’ selama dua jam. Ia akan diselang-selikan dengan makan tengah-hari disaji, cabutan bertuah, dan kadang-kadang ‘presentation’ oleh penaja tentang produk kecantikan, atau pakej bercuti ke luar negeri. Pada pendapat saya, ini sangat menarik dan tidak biasa dilakukan di Singapura!

Saya akan menjadi pembuka tirai untuk Marcell dari Indonesia dan Dayang Nurfaizah dari Malaysia di Crowne Plaza Mutiara pada 24hb April. Saya memang penggemar muzik mereka berdua dan tarikh persembahan pula jatuh sehari sebelum hari jadi saya yang ke-27 pulak tu. Itu adalah hadiah cukup besar untuk saya! Tetapi apa saya nak hadiahkan pada setiausaha saya pula pada Minggu Setiausaha? He he.

Imran Ajmain
beatssociety@gmail.com

I was the judge for an inter-shopping centre staff karaoke competition. How cute right? It was held inside a movie theatre at Pavilion. There were 14 contestants, and I think the best one was this Chinese fella who sang over Michael Buble’s “Love”. So much for karaoke. There was an Anuar Zain impersonator and he imitated every single bit of “Keabadian Cinta” right down to the same hand gestures as the video. It was mostly the pronunciation of the English words in Diana Ross, Elton John and Robbie Williams numbers that got me tickled but heck, they were having alot of fun and so was I. I was out right after I gave the scoring, so I don’t know who won. GSC is Golden Screen Cinemas, by the way.

The trip to UTP took longer than expected especially with the traffic from highway to highway being so unpredictable. We would be chasing from tail to tail, and the cars would be packed bumper to bumper, and all of a sudden, traffic is clear. No accident, no break downs, no roadworks. I don’t understand it at all. UTP is beautiful just like what Cheryl said. She was there last year. We were given an entire guest house to stay in. It was too late at night when we got settled in, but only in the morning, I realised we were infront of a magnificent lake, facing the mosque. It’s like a city. They have a post office, a bank, car rentals (quite underground, that is) within the university compound. It’s in Tronoh, near Ipoh in Perak Darul Ridzuan, 3 hours away from KL. We were there for Euphonious Band Competition held at their marvel of an architectural piece, that is, the school auditorium. 23 bands competed that night, down to the final 5. Each did 1 compulsary piece selected by the judges, and 1 song of their own choice, in which, more than half were all Indonesian songs, let me tell you that. What is happening, already? I was probably the most poppiest act to appear, followed by my fellow guest artiste, Farah Asyikin from AF2. The crowd was great though. I told everybody to add me on Friendster and the numbers did jump! Check out www.friendster.com/imranajmain if you don’t believe me! I would go back there anytime. I suppose it is a huge consolation that their environment is beautiful considering all the students are so far away from home, for the foreigners even. UTP stands for Universiti Teknologi Petronas.

I disagreed with Aszuad when he said that we’d drive back to KL at 3 in the morning, especially after having Thai food at 2. So he said that we’d try 6am. I nodded but I know that won’t happen either. True enough, we all woke up after 9am. I was to visit my uncle’s place at Ipoh, he said was half an hour drive, but we made circles in a town called Pusing, and then Pasir Putih, and when I saw Taman Chempaka Sari, that was when it all came back to me. I was there maybe 15 years ago with my cousin Hidier, and my parents, for Kak Zarina’s wedding. I didn’t get to meet her, but I met Abang  (and wife and kids), Mak Jan, Pak Achid, and Dzack, my cousin. He is going to get married this year or next, and I still see him like a cereal-loving child that he is. He doesn’t eat rice at all, after all this time, it never changed. His father and my father are siblings, but he married a Malaysian and spent the rest of his life there in Ipoh. Mak Jan had cooked breakfast, that was, Singapore-styled gado-gado but we arrived at lunch-time so might as well. I was taking pictures with the neighbours, and the neighbours’ children, and the passerbys walked into the house to join in. It was nice lah but it would be another 3 hour drive. We had to reach Seremban in 3 hours, and it’s already 1pm. The gado-gado was fabulous, reminded me of my mom’s. (Mak Jan and my mom got the same recipe from their mother-in-law, that is my late Nenek).

Jam, jam, jam, it was jammed everywhere in Seremban. Almost an hour away from KL. I had a meet-the-fans session at this shopping mall. We came late and some folks had left. Got to meet Faliq from UIA who’ve been cheering me on for the auditions I blogged about the other time. Plus I met Dzack’s Serembanese fiancee, what are the odds kan? This rap/r&b group (I didn’t catch their name) opened for me; something I would have done in Singapore, then I sang my lungs out to 4 songs. Only at the last song I realised the stage had been decorated with my posters and styrofoam cut-outs to form my name in large fonts, very 80s. Faliq, Nadya, Aszuad and I ordered anything and everything from A&W (something I personally miss because SG does not have it anymore), and it was all FREE. I went crazy with the root beer floats and I signed a poster for them. SCTP is Seremban CentrePoint. It was off to AF for me.

KL folks are big on freebies, hook-ups and such. If you want something, you need to know somebody, and you should always make the effort to make calls to get that thing you want, at no charge to you. Like CDs, DVDs, tickets, especially tickets. When I heard (or read more like it) that Stanly was going to sing “Sudah tu Sudah”, I got excited but never had planned to actually sit in for the concert. My housemate slash part-time assistant Nizam has been following AF religiously and he said we should go. So with one fonecall or two, I’m in the frontrow, complete with the scripts of the host AC Mizal all changed to include me and my name in it. I sat next to Saerah, Siti Nurhaliza’s younger sister, whose leg-crossing and uncrossing habit made her apologize so many times to me because she kept kicking me that night. I was just more excited about my song actually. Stanly’s voice was not meant for those kinda songs lah. But I’m sure he had fun. Ning said that he tried to be me. All that was important to me is that she said my name. Fazura saw me smiling from cheek to cheek. Haha. I met Aidit Alfian for the 2nd time in my life, and we reminisced the lost years (and that lost song). AF is Akademi Fantasia and this is the 6th year, and I learnt the meaning of ‘function whores’ there; something that we might not come across in Singapore because of the lack of such activities for artistes or the likes. Artistes, usually small-time/freelancers/contest finalists/newbies who’s got nothing to do with the show will always be the one trying to steal some air-time on live television and they come in big overdressed rowdy groups, I tell you. Please do remind me not to be one of them.

Packed to spend the night at Genting, even brought my own pillow because I heard we were sharing a huge room. But come to First World Hotel for a third world experience, we were saying. The room is so small like nobody’s business. I turn left to the toilet, right to the bed. Cheryl, Jihan Miskin and I were getting ready, being rushed by everybody who’s already downstairs. My date, Amylea, who is actually my neighbour where I stay in Bukit Antarabangsa was already waiting for me. Amylea is also from AF. This would be my 2nd red carpet, right after Anugerah Juara Lagu. The place was packed with singers, actors, dramatists, veterans, newbies, their overdressed wives and assistants, and drag queens takde effort, and plentiful of friendly faces. I hung out with Liza Hanim and Atilia when I lost my gang to the currypuffs. I was not nominated, I got ousted from Top 100 to Top 60 to Top 20, I think. I was hoping to perform but no, I went to the Terrenganu roadtour with them with hopes that I’d get to, at least, present an award. Ah well. This energy-absorbing experience is already a milestone for me. My manager scored for me and Cheryl the beat seats. (She was nominated). Bob gets full score from me today, and Anuar Zain, and Siti, too. No points for Kak Engku for hurting Nora Danish’ feelings on national television, and Fasha Sandha who transpired it. I was shot on camera everytime somebody gets nominated, and they all eventually won. Apa lagi, sms dari Singapura terus masuk lah. Sempat comment pasal bow-tie batik. The theme was Batik Glamour; Shegar gave me a shock when he said he’d forgot my bow-tie. I even tried tying Nadya’s scarf around my neck. Dinner was on me, I insisted. We skipped the post-party for it. We pretended I had just won the Best Newcomer category, beating Dafi, and that my acceptance speech was one that I got to cover everybody right before the strings started to play to signal no time left. Ate to our hearts’ content at OldTown White Coffee (it’s the new Starbucks, they have it everywhere!) Invites to 2 front row seats, full fledged red carpet, cameras on me all the time, sponsored designer Ermenegildo Zegna suit, post-party, free ride to & from Genting, 1 night’s stay with breakfast, and I’m not even nominated. You hear that, sweety? Watch and learn, why don’t you. ABPBH stands for Anugerah Bintang Popular Berita Harian and it was the highlight of my week here, which wrapped up another productive weekend in Malaysia.

Before sunrise, I was out of the house for the Malaysia Hari Ini shoot where I met Mila, the AF5 champion. She is so small she could fit onto my palm. I bumped into Altimet whose hooded jacket is oh-so-hot. I have a new assistant that I get along very well with, Nadya. She sings, too, in this group called Quadrose. They have a single with VE out called “Kerana Cintamu“. Which reminds me “Kerana Cintaku Saerah” is airing on TV3 every Sunday at 5pm ya’lls. I sang offkey for “Malu” so badly that I think it’s a sign not to do the song anymore.

I had gone for the auditions of this particular musical. I have no acting background but I suppose if I loosen myself up I probably can do it, considering that I am thick-skinned sometimes and sing praises of great actors in the countless DVDs that I watch everyday. So I danced as the choreographer taught me, felt so clumsy. And I sang my heart out. And I read my part with Farah from AF2 (yeah, everybody’s from Akademi Fantasia) and she has this familiar tv drama face so maybe she stands a higher chance. I thought I did pretty okay, then he told me to come back and meet the director at 6pm. It was 12noon by now.

We’d gone to Mesjid India for this lunch-charity affair where Farhan Azizan (AF5) whose song “Moga” is so so good. She is touted to be the next Jazz phenom, she’s got this marvellous tone. Anyway, she cooked spaghetti bolognaise on stage and it was auctioned off from RM20 to RM125, and it all went to a children’s home. I sang 1 song, and let them auction off my CD whilst we ran away to the next location.

Misha Omar is the host of this new music variety called ‘Skrin Video‘ and I came to Mines for the shoot. I sang “Seribu Tahun” and “Apakah Salah” live and premiered “Malu” video. She kept calling me ‘adik‘ which felt a bit weird because she is a year younger than me. Maybe because I’m new. Hah. The shoot was a quick one in the middle of nowhere, in a shopping mall where nobody was around. I bought boxers for a steal! No salesman, no cashiers, nobody else. I might as well have just walked out with it. Hah. ‘Skrin Video‘ will air in May. I was with Ajai, Marsya (AF yet again) and Adibah Noor as well.

Went back and thought I could get a good one-hour of rest but while everybody moves really slowly here in KL, time moves quicker. Was back at the audition place for my 2nd round. I read my part with Ayu, the One in a Million champion and became her love interest in that script. I sang a bit more, and the director figured that he’s been wanting to know who sang “Seribu Tahun” all this while so there I was. But I sang “Menimbang Rasa” and “Memikat Hati” as well. My height was a big issue but I hope I get it. I really really really really really want it.

It was Cheryl’s birthday. Fazura and Shegar didn’t allow any of us to wish her til her surprise party later at night. She had a live shooting of ‘Muzik Muzik‘ where the producers had put together all her celebrity friends wishing her in a video montage and she cried! So her parents took her out for dinner and we were in her house blowing balloons. Thought we were late, was panicking when the glass door downstairs wouldn’t open. The Nepalese security guards always salute all visitors and residents. Startles me all the time. She came home, and screamed when she opened her door and we were there. We had gorgeous tiramisu from Alexis and pizza from Dominos’. We showed the “Malu” video to everybody, we had a good laugh or two, and I was on my way. I blogged this the day after, but I want you to pretend I wrote it at the end of the day so it’s a bit more genuine, that I had the longest day in KL ever and that I was thinking about Singapore the entire time.

p.s. I’m not attending APM.

Deejay-Deejay Fed Up!

“Ini kisah seorang artis yang dah rasa dirinya dah popular di seberang. Agaknya dah besar kepala sampai tergamak kata radio di sini tak siarkan lagu-lagu dia. Pada hal lagu-lagu dari album dia tu dah beberapa tahun popular kat sini. Jangan lah mentang-mentang lagu awak yang satu tu dah jadi siulan, sampai awak nak lupakan tempat di mana bumi dipijak. Menurut sumber sejak terbit single pertama dia dulu, radio kat sinilah yang siarkan lagu tu sampai naik mabuk. Kemudian, orang TV baru perasan yang dia tu wujud. Bukan itu saja, boleh dikatakan setiap deejay buat interviu dengan dia sampai ada pendengar komplen macam tak ada artis lain ke kat Singapura ni. Hai, janganlah macam tu dik oi, sejauh mana kita pergi pun sikap rendah diri tu mesti nak disematkan. Kalau orang luar dah tak nak pakai awak, orang-orang kat sini juga yang kutip.”

picture from www.budiey.com

The press conference for the Marcell show went well. I came hungry, which is a very wrong thing to do, because I knew I would be stuck with people for at least another 6 hours. And it was true. I didn’t get to eat until at least 8pm. There I was gorging down Penne Marinara, compliments of the hotel coffeehouse, while Marcell ate papayas. How silly I looked. Anyway, i love PCs. We should have more Press Conferences in Singapore, where the media keeps quiet during Q&A and asks us personally later on. So fun. I’m writing about Secretaries’ Week in this weekend’s Diariku on Berita Minggu (Singapore), hopefully the editor approves of it today or tomorrow. Then you’ll know what the hoo-hah is about. (I have uploaded the last blog in BM, click on Diariku above to read it.) Who wants to go to see Marcell on the 24th April in KL?

K-Nite on Suria was showing last night in Singapore. I was hoping somebody would put it up on Youtube but I suppose it might show up somehow or rather. I was told it was snipped. I thought that if the conversation part got snipped, that would be ok. I said I liked “teh kundur” when asked what was my favourite drink, and the hosts, Khairuddin Shamsuddin and Mastura Ahmad then asked if I’d like “kacip fatimah“, and I said I’ve never touched Fatimah’s kacip. The entire part was taken out, along with everything after 2nd verse of my song, “Malu”. Hah! I was snipped during ‘Cakap Sini Habis Sini’ too. Please lah. The limited amount of times we, Singaporean Artistes, get to appear on tv, should come with a protection order that does not allow our song to be cut short to accommodate air-time. We need it badly!

Stanly, from Akademi Fantasia, has been tasked to sing “Sudah tu Sudah” this coming Saturday for the 2nd round of the wildly famous reality tv singing competition. I hope they don’t make any comments about the song or its original singer.

This year, Suria is organizing ‘Anugerah Band’, a reality tv program on the look-out for the next big band. The auditions are in 6 days, and the finals are in July. Producers, if you’re reading this, please hook up with BayBeats or those major band showcases so that the winners will secure themselves a proper path as valid musicians in the Singapore scene! For you all who’s got a band, and think that there isn’t a platform for you, then you are wrong.

 —

http://suria.mediacorptv.sg/anugerahband

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This year, expect more jam and energy as Anugerah Band starts its journey of discovering, not individual stars – but bands and groups!

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It’s already a good 3 years since the last time I went to the zoo. I love the zoo. But please be reminded of the funky smells that you might encounter while you’re there. I will be going to the Singapore zoo with children from an orphanage, organized by the kind folks from World Harmony Day. If you’d like to come, we could get you a discount.

Chantek Akustik- Altimet, Imran Ajmain, Omar K