hey peeps...
today we are on MalayMail...we found this article very intriguing...nice write up from Mr. Joe Lee
thanks for the article...ya..we do hope to get a better slot next time. ...
kalau korang nak baca leh gi
sini ....atau baca je kt bawah....
Submitted by pekwan on Thursday, July 23rd, 2009
Thursday, July 23rd, 2009 03:27:00
NEW STARS: Bunkface won the Rockstar Awards
EVEN with Zen-like positivity, it helps to take the first ever
Shout! Awards held last Friday with a strong sense of irony.
The pitch of the event was an alternative awards show to mainstream
fare, to cater to the the rebel-rousing bastion of youthful freedom,
that champions the philosophy of 1Malaysia.
Hence the nice mix of names who went up onstage to represent the
cultural diversity of our nation through its many talents in different
fields. A closer look however, reveals it as more of a textbook
example of the level of corporate synergy and common cross-promotion,
where every move is calculated to appear somewhat hip and relevant
while at the same time being easy to digest for the average boob tube
viewer.
Perhaps the show would be better re-angled as 8TV's recognition of all that is cool to its viewers and not the
potrayal that was constantly lauded in "celebrating Malaysia's breakthrough in music, film, TV and radio".
Like the intentions of the event, the show itself was a mixed bag
of, well, goodies and moldies presented in the biggest - and loudest -
imitation of all things MTV. Bunkface picked up the first Rockstar
Awards before going on to pick up the Break Out Award for music, and
the overall title of the Ultimate Shout Award.
Here's where things seemed to have gone wrong. Despite the strong showing of the boys, it was rather
premature
to celebrate the still-green band as anything ‘ultimate' when, going by
hype and credibility, the bad boys of rock Hujan appeared more
deserving of the accolades.
Of the total 16 awards presented at the Shout! Awards, it was laughable that while some awards were handed out to the deserving, some of the inane practically won by default.
It was nice to see that while non in-house talents were few and far
between among those who made up the winner's list, 8TV were open enough
to be credible in allowing wins from beyond the station's ‘realm', such
as Akademi Fantasia's Stacy, who picked up the Popstar Award.
Last year's AF champion completed the list of music category winners
along with Jaclyn Victor, who picked up the Power Vocal Award and Joe
Flizzow, who picked up the Flava Award. Then there was JJ from Hitz FM
who claimed the Coolest Radio Announcer award, while Fly FM's
Pagi Show won Favourite Radio Show for the radio category.
The biggest applause, however, went to animated characters Upin and
Ipin, for Best On Screen Chemistry (pair), while the rest in the TV
categories were won by Naz from The Breakfast Show for Favourite TV Host, Ghost for Fresh TV Series and Field Trip USA scored for Favourite TV Programme (non drama).
THE ONE: Naz picked up the Favourite TV Host Award
Overall, the awards were nothing to shout about, and the performances remained ‘iffy' that night.
While Jin Hackman put on a decent representation of hip hop sounds,
Caprice, despite the hype and preparations, came off as an amateur who
just tried too hard, and it was a wonder why the producers paired him
with Rahim Maarof in the first place.
Caprice wasn't the only one to prove that not all urban acts deserve
a bigger stage. Thanks to One Buck Short - who induced pain through
mindless desecration of the song Shout - some members of the audience and invited guests were seen filing for the exit.
Korupsi was just as painful and had as much entertainment value as your toenail being slowly pulled with a pair of rusty pliers.
And if all that wasn't enough, the entertainment continued with Shila, who opened for Nikki with Ada Ada Saja.
Her delivery wasn't that bad, but her screaming couldn't hold a candle to Nikki's rendition of Cantik which had the crowd roaring with her strong vocals and tight choreography.
Then came Bunkface. You had to wonder why they decided to use
children to open for them - playing younger versions of the band -
since they're pretty much kids themselves.
It was nice to see them perform, but again, it exposed how some acts just aren't ready to cross over to the mainstream.
Nice songs and hype, but the bands who proudly fly the indie flag
are merely equivalent to an unpolished boyband with guitars, minus the
looks.
Next up were Paolo Delfino, Reza Salleh and Mia Palencia. Strangely
out of place among a teenybopper cast for the night, but they were
among the few who really appeared at home onstage.
One of the highlights of the night was Pesawat, who unfortunately had to be unnecessarily ‘introduced' by Collabor8.
Despite the minor irritation however, their pilot-getup performance
was enough rock and roll to make the whole night worth it. Too bad they
had to share the stage again, this time with Komplot, who are one of
those acts that sing in Bahasa Melayu but with that annoying
oh-so-urban ‘westernised' weird accent and slur.
CLASSY ACT: Jaclyn paid a special tribute to Michael Jackson
When Jaclyn Victor took to the stage with a special tribute to Michael Jackson, opening with
Will You Be There accompanied by Aubrey Suwito on piano and a choir, before launching into
You Are Not Alone, the audience held their lighters and mobile phones high to celebrate the moment in memory of the King of Pop.
It almost brought tears to the eyes. ‘Almost' was the operative
word, because as you were tearing up, the moment was lost when Reefa
suddenly came on stage screaming incomprehensibly Don't Stop Till You Get Enough.
By the time Jac returned to stage with Heal The World, it
was too late to recapture the moment and the audience was left high and
dry - especially since Reefa insisted on continuously interrupting with
his rantings. And perhaps with the crowd going weary with the
performances that just didn't work, when Estranged took to the stage,
they didn't get the response they deserved. Safe to say, their strings
- laden, loud rock-estra mosh heaven of In No Time was a defining moment for Malaysian rock, and a lesson for wannabes that night who didn't deliver.
If Estranged taught the young, guitar-slinging variety how to rock,
then Joe Flizzow showed the young ‘uns spitting out rhymes how to
actually do it the right way. Joe did it way better than the
much-hyped, HUGELY overrated Sean Kingston. Kingston got the crowd in
the mood to party with his hits Beautiful Girl, Fire Burning and Take You There, but huffed and puffed and only managed to utter a few lines here and there on top of his CD tracks.
Still, despite the misses, parts of the show worked, and if there's
going to be a second year for the event, perhaps the organisers ought
to look into the possibility of localising the content, and bridging
the gap between the supposed urban cred and mass appeal. As a debut,
the
Shout! Awards began not with a roar, but with a polite holler at most. Maybe next year, it'll knock everyone's socks off.
One thing for sure, just don't invite Sean Kingston again.
THANK YOU VERY GOOD mr. Joe Lee