Excerpt from the Star yesterday:
Malaysia’s pop princess aims for international stardom with London gig
LONDON: Besides reaching the pinnacle of her dreams, singing sensation Siti Nurhaliza will carry the hopes of Malaysia’s music industry when she makes history with her debut at the Royal Albert Hall on Friday.
I’m not a fan of Siti (not by a million light years…), our local ‘pop princess’ (I’ll scream if I hear that cliché again), but I have to admit, getting to perform at the Royal Albert Hall is some achievement for a Malaysian. Skeptics would say that the gomen would have lobbied and pushed for this event to promote Malaysia at the world stage as part of the globalization campaign, meaning Siti was virtually ‘at the right place at the right time’.
Reading the article made me wonder (and that would mean a blog entry…) What about other Malaysian music stars? Surely they deserve a chance to be given 100% support by our gomen. Here are some past and present stars, along with my opinion of their chances to appear in the London Royal Albert Hall. (Five stars means ‘sure thing‘; one star means ‘cold day in hell‘)
The Alleycats – These seasoned pub performers from Penang are pros at performing live. I can imagine David Arumugam and Loga (with their huge Afros) going “Terima KaSIH!†in London. Plus they had a guitarist named Ah Hock. But on the downside, their kind of ‘neither here nor there’ music were suited just for, well, pubs and hotel lounges. (Chances = ***)
Sudirman Hj. Arshad – He would have been a sure thing, too bad he isn’t around anymore. (Chances = *****)
Reshmonu – Can’t stand this R&B celup wannabe, but he seems popular these days. But why would the gomen promote sub-par American R&B as Malaysian music? (Chances = ***)
The whole Akademi Fantasia gang – Look, I said real talent, not second-rate kenduri kahwin singers, OK? All twelve of them added up wouldn’t get half a star. (Chances = negative)
Amelina / Mas Idayu – Now this would be interesting. If the gomen were to promote dangdut to the world, these two ‘puteri dangdut’ would be top of the list. I would pay good money to see the expression on the faces of Londoners when they see Amelina shaking her grove thang, going “Mari kita, oh-ah-ah†or “cinta aku seratus-peratus halal…â€(Chances = **)
Silent Death / Sil-Khannaz / Suffercation / Cromok reunion gig – Oh, yeah sure. The chances of these local guys appearing in London would be slightly better than Iron Maiden appearing in Putra Stadium. (Chances = 0)
A.A. Govindasamy and the Pasar Sentul Dalam Raaga Raaga Tabla Gang – Sure thing, man! (Chances = **********)
12 Comments
Halian
I thought Sudirman had appeared before in Royal Albert Hall, although just for one song “One Thousand Million Smile”.
fashionasia
yup, was gonna say that Sudirman performed before ledi wey…..So far only 3 Msians if not mistaken have performed in Royal Albert Hall. Anyway, im not a big fan of local singers but ive gotta admit that Siti is really one of the best we have so far. And i love her humility,It’ll take her far.
Others that i believe should be given a chance are like Sheila Majid….and…erm…cant think of anymore..hehe…
Adam
Yes she is not the first one to perform at the hall but it is speial because she will be the first Malaysian and the 3rd asian to perform solo in the hall. I am not much of a fan but I have to admit she has an amazing voice.
Theroadie
The govt didnt do jack.
RAH is like any other hall. U can rent it out. Meaning anybody can perform there.
Well usually they would if they can sell tix and not make a lost.
most of the audience e.g. 99% would be malaysians. There r many malaysians in london. n not just students.
i think sheila might have performed there.
Simon
halian, adam & fashionasia – yeah i remember sudirman performing there… it was an asian song festival, i think. but siti’s got a solo gig.
theroadie – yeah, sheila would hv been good…
farisi
siti sucks!
naZareth
there should be more singers like siti. polite, talented, decent, embraced asian values, and do not dress vulgarly.i see it as a liberalisation of human morality.im glad i went to the concert and made all my european friends gasps/proud. she is a national icon/treasure. keep up the good work,siti. another thing is, in order for an individual artist to perform in royal albert hall,he/she must prove their achievements in respective country of origin or region which she clearly has. well done and wait for more to come…..
Zana
Look, I said real talent, not second-rate kenduri kahwin singers, OK?
Dude, you just made my day. LOL
But yeah, to be truth, although I was a bit sick of the whole Siti fandom thingy, and now, *sigh* Mawi, I *still* developed a hint of pride that she was like the 2nd M’sian after Sudirman to perform in Royal Albert Hall.
I feel like Malaysian artists should excel academically first before getting it real ace in music industry. We have only a small amount of Malaysian artists who did very well both academically and in music industry, and the others, well, some of the young ones dropped school to like, sing ? It was so typical to read the headline, “Aisha (made-up name) lebih pentingkan pelajaran daripada menyanyi” WEEKS before the ‘wise’ decision made.
simon
nazareth – i think it says something when she’s successful in indonesia, when so far malaysians can make it big…
zana- hahaha… sometimes i wonder if this mawi thing has run its course, but of course not… he’s everywhere now…
dean ismail
I was there..Siti was great. Shame the promotion for it was pitiful. I did not even know about the concert until the day before..! And I am a Malaysian, who loves pop music. What chance is for others to have heard of it.
Sudirman performed two songs – Big Spender (I think) and 1000 million Smiles at the Best Asian Performer contest (or something to that effect), winning it, in the process beating Leslie Cheung who was hotly tipped to win.
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