For those of you not tuning to AJL 25 last night, here is the list of last night's winners:
- Best performance: Faizal Tahir for Hanyut
- Best vocal: Hafiz (AF7) for Noktah Cinta
- Second runner-up: Noktah Cinta by Hafiz (AF7) (Ajai/ Sheikh Qalam)
- First runner-up: Drama King by Meet Uncle Hussein feat. Black (Taja/ Tun Teja)
- Best song of 2010: Tolong Ingatkan Aku by Ana Raffali (Ana Raffali)
YES. Faizal Tahir sang two songs last night, Hanyut and Selamat Malam and for both performances he went to the extreme to please the juries. For Selamat Malam, he got some well-known actors e.g. Nurkhiriah, Aziz Satar (& wife) and Fatimah Bakar (& daughter) to act in a short skit revolving around various individuals saying a very long good night to each other. For Hanyut he staged a David Blaine inspired escape act complete with a video showing him struggling with a straight jacket underwater and coming up wet on stage. He won this award for Hanyut but personally i think the award is for the effort he put into both of his performances.
Did Hafiz deserve to win for Best Vocal?
PROBABLY NOT. When Hazami won Best Vocal for Katakan in 2005, it got a lot of people thinking what Best Vocal really means for AJL? Despite the song being a fast number and involve a lot of dancing, Hazami manages to keep his voice under control throughout his performance. Last night, Hafiz from AF7 competed against a throng of artists who have better skill in the arts of vocal acrobats. Black from Mentor was the obvious choice for this award. The duet by Noh Hujan & Azlan (from Azlan & the Typewriter) was seemingly perfect, rivaling any other duets ever featured on AJL. Adira gave a slightly nervous but still energetic performance despite having to deliver her final note a few feet from the ground. The reason why the judges gave this award to Hafiz still eludes me to this very moment. My friend claimed that among all the contestants last night, Hafiz's vocal quality is the best i.e. the exact copy of his studio recording. I beg to differ. I feel that the vocal ability of an artist is best judged during a live performance where the artist is able to bring a varied but creative vocal delivery of the song to match the change in the song arrangements. That separates a singer from a performer and I just don't feel that Hafiz is one.
PROBABLY NOT. I have to admit that this is one of the most surprising win to me. I have my own theory why Noktah Cinta received the nod as second runner-up in last night's AJL. I believe that instead of classifying the songs in genres like before, the contending songs were categorized into three main groups i.e. the singer-songwriters, the bands and the reality show alumni. Among the reality show alumni featured last night were Adira, Stacy and Shahir from Akademi Fantasia, Black from Mentor, Tomok from OIAM and of course Hafiz also from Akademi Fantasia. Adira, Stacy and Shahir all sang songs written by Edry (of the famous KRU brothers). Hafiz sang a song written by the "great" Ajai, touted as one of the most revered names in the local music industry. Black and Tomok both sang songs written by relative unknowns. Edry have this talent to write catchy, popular sing-a-long songs but unfortunately is quite weak when it comes to writing poetic, meaningful lyrics. The songs by the unknowns were not strong enough to leave any lasting impression which leaves Ajai as the obvious choice for the winner in this category (by the way, Ajai is actively involved in various reality shows produced by TV3 ).
Is Tolong Ingatkan Aku really the best song for the year 2010?
PROBABLY YES, MAYBE NOT. I still can't decide since i'm still reeling from the shock i got from Yuna not being in the top three in last night's AJL. The battle of the singer-songwriters was fought by three very talented artists i.e. Yuna, Faizal Tahir and of course, Ana Raffali, the eventual winner of the coveted Best Song for 2010. I was really rooting for Yuna to be at least in the top three spot as I personally feel that Cinta Sempurna is stronger than Tolong Ingatkan Aku in terms of lyrics and melody. This category has the biggest, most promising talents compared to the other two and obviously, the winning party will have to bear the consequences of being criticized by loyal fans of the losers. Faizal Tahir is never disappointing when it comes to performing for AJL but the two songs he performed last night has been sang so many times in so many occasions that they come out stale and overexposed. Yuna's performance was classy, down to earth and real without all the drama and wardrobe changes in Ana's performance. Ana should have stick with her usual "sing with my kebaya and guitar" routine which suits her better.
The snob's verdict:
Would this long winded essay about last night's AJL change the fact that Ana Raffali won and Yuna wasn't even in the top three? NO. Would it serve as a consolation to my broken heart? NO. Would last night's result make me regret buying Yuna's album just one day before AJL to show my undying support for her talent? NO. Would it make me stop buying Yuna's album in the future and run to the store tomorrow to get a copy of Ana's album? NO. Will I stop being Yuna's fan? NOT in a million chance. Do I hate Ana Raffali? NO. Do I still Love Yuna? YES.
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