Archive for the ‘Akademi Fantasia’ Category
Yo, History’s Cool!
This famous photo of former Prime Minister Tuanku Abdul Rahman declaring Merdeka in 1957. Spot the imaginary character seated on the chair reading a magazine.
By manipulating historical photos to give them a humorous and contemporary twist, artist Ahmad Fuad Osman hopes to captivate youths now obsessed with everything from iPods to YouTube to take an interest in their country’s past for a change, writes HIZREEN KAMAL.
Ahmad Fuad showing off one of his digital works on his computer.
An old photo of the then Prime Minister Tuanku Abdul Rahman after the bombing of the National Monument in 1975. Inserted in the photo is the imaginary character sweeping the debris.
AS an artist, Ahmad Fuad Osman is not restricted by his medium of expression, as evident in his drawings, paintings, digital prints, videos and multimedia installations.
His digital prints called Recollections of Long-Lost Memories earned him a spot among the top 10 finalists of the inaugural Asia Pacific Breweries (APB) Foundation Signature Art Prize.
He is the only Malaysian whose work has been shortlisted as one of the 34 nominated from 12 countries.
APB is a regional art prize organised by the APB Foundation and Singapore Art Museum.
Recollections of Long-Lost Memories is a slide projection of 71 images of historic photos taken between 1860 and 2003. What makes it unique is the way it is presented.
Attempting to bring history to life, Ahmad Fuad calls upon a (Malaysian) viewer’s nostalgia to complete a scene, thus invoking an emotional response to his art.
“This project has special meaning for me as it explores the history of my country,” said this 39-year-old who started his career as an abstract artist.
The Kedah-born artist conceived his idea for the work in 2005 when doing his art residency in Korea.
Koreans had asked him about Malaysia and its history, but he was unable to answer many of their questions.
“I was completely in the dark about things like the Japanese Occupation, the Malaysia-Indonesia Confrontation or the Emergency, for example. My only consolation was that many were in the same boat because we didn’t live in those times and so they’re of little interest to us,” said this fine arts graduate from Institut Teknologi MARA in Shah Alam.
Recollections of Long-Lost Memories was completed last year when the country celebrated 50 years of independence.
His art pieces were exhibited at the Petronas Gallery last year.
“I thought the timing was perfect. I was hoping that by viewing my work, Malaysians would learn about their country’s history and appreciate the progress it had made.”
To create his masterpiece, Ahmad Fuad had to look at photos from the National Archives in a different way, focusing on those that piqued his interest.
As he studied these pictures, he would imagine present-day characters in the scenes in a way that was funny, in complete contrast to the gravity of the event.
“This imaginary character is added to the photo, juxtaposing the past with the present to create a ‘dialogue’.
“It’s as if the character is journeying back to various periods in Malaysian history. He’s searching for his roots, and in the process indicting today’s aimless youth who are pre-occupied with iPods, PlayStation, YouTube, Friendster, Linkin Park, MySpace, Facebook, American Idol, Akademi Fantasia and what have you.”
Ahmad Fuad, who has had five solo exhibitions and participated in numerous group shows locally and abroad as well as a recipient of several awards and grants, said this collection of digital prints took him close to four months to complete.
It was tedious work as he had to meticulously study each picture for colour-grading and manipulation on his computer.
“It was hard work, but it was also satisfying,” added Ahmad Fuad, who founded Matahati, a group comprising artists like him.
Recollections of Long-Lost Memories is his second attempt at digital prints. His first in 2003 was entitled An Eye for an Eye Will Make the Whole World Go Blind, which won a Juror’s Choice Award at the Philip Morris Malaysia Art Award.
When told about his making it to APB’s top 10 list, he said: “I am happy my work is being recognised internationally, but shocked as well because I didn’t expect my work to be that good. This marks a turning point for me. I’m definitely motivated to come out with more creative works!”
Next month, the 10 APB finalists will be judged for five awards - three Juror’s Choice Awards of S$10,000 (RM24,000) each, a S$10,000 People’s Choice Award and the Grand Prize of S$45,000.
The People’s Choice Award is awarded to the artist who receives the most votes on an online voting website launched last month.
Voting ends at 7pm on Oct 12. To cast your vote, log on to http://www.nhb.gov.sg/sam/signatureartprize/vote.html.
New Straits Times
WORD HAS IT: Joe Flizzow’s Dreaming Of Rihanna
Will Rihanna make Joe Flizzow’s dream come true?
RAPPER-composer-producer Joe Flizzow of Too Phat has every reason to rejoice.
Joe Flizzow is working out a deal for a dream collaboration with Grammy-winner Rihanna in his latest album.
Riz of AF6 is banking on his duet with Nor Alyah to make it big in the local music industry.
Not only has he enlisted a slew of well-known local and international acts for his latest solo album President, the enterprising man is also considering featuring Grammy winner Rihanna in it.
When contacted, Joe let out a hearty laugh, saying that he’s in the midst of working out the deal.
“It has been my dream to work with Rihanna. A duet featuring Rihanna will be the icing on the cake for the album,” said Flizzow, the founding member of the multiple award-winning rap duo, Too Phat.
If everything goes as planned, it’ll cost him a whopping RM500,000.
“It’s still too early to discuss the prospect of working with her. I want to focus on the album first,” he added.
Produced by Kartel Records, President celebrates hip-hop music in diverse forms.
For starters, the self-produced album offers easy-listening sounds that fuse rap, R&B, pop and hip-hop accompanied by witty lyrics.
Joe is also collaborating with American rapper KRS-One, who contributed an upbeat hip-hop tune, Get It Done.
“I’m pretty excited about working with KRS-One who is a prominent figure in the American hip-hop landscape. For purists, it’s a bonus to have him in the album,” said Joe, adding that plans are afoot to shoot the Get It Done music video in the United States soon.
President also sees him collaborating with local rock legend Amy Search, and Asian Idol and former Singapore Idol Hady Mirza.
“Hady is a good friend and we recorded the song Mengapa Harus Kita Bercinta (Complicated) just after he won the Singapore Idol not too long ago,” said Joe.
The song featuring Amy, who just turned 50 recently, is a “knockout” according to Flizzow. “It’s an honour to work with Amy. I can’t say much about the track yet but I’m sure it’s going to be a hit,” he said.
The album’s first single Do It, Duit will hit the shelves at end of the week.
Joe is arguably one of the most influential and enterprising rappers in the local music scene.
A self-professed perfectionist, he is currently working closely with a group of fans and close friends to ensure the success of President.
“These people are my worst critics and they will be the first to preview the album before its release. I am aiming for it to be a few notches higher than my previous effort,” said Joe, who is representing the country in the Asian Hip Hop Festival in Bangkok on Oct 11.
n RIZ, the silky-voiced Perak-born lad of reality talent series Akademi Fantasia 6, is having singing offers pouring in for him after emerging first runner-up in the competition.
The most recent project involves him singing a duet with EMI artiste and former rapper outfit Fabulous Cats’ Nor Alyah in Kupinjam Satu Bintang.
The upbeat pop tune was composed by award-winning singer Ajai and written by Slenn, the editor-in-chief of entertainment portal murai.com.my.
The song was recorded at Wake the Baby studio three weeks ago.
Apparently, Riz and Nor have just returned from Jakarta after shooting the video. It was directed by Ajai with the help of an Indonesian renowned filmmaker.
RUMOUR has it that versatile superstar Anita Sarawak and her husband Mahathir are thinking of investing in property in Italy.
New Straits Times
Camp Malaysia Rocks
(From left) Shawal, Riz, Amylea, Farah and Adi.
RADIN SRI GHAZALI writes of our voiceover talents in the Bahasa Malaysia version of Camp Rock airing on Sunday.
HIT television movie Camp Rock makes its Southeast Asian debut on Sunday over the Disney Channel (Astro Channel 615), and will be aired in Bahasa Malaysia.
The musical, starring the Jonas Brothers (Joe, Kevin and Nick), Demi Lovato and Meaghan Jette Martin, features the voice talents of Akademi Fantasia’s Amylea AF3, Shawal AF5, Riz AF6, Adi AF1 and Farah AF2 in the BM version.
“This is a form of localising international content for Malaysian viewers,” said Astro’s director of brand and advertising, Mohammed Adam Wee.
“In fact since July, with our growing number of viewers, we have done a lot of such dubbing for Disney Channel shows,” he added.
Walt Disney Television International vice-president and managing director Laura E. Wendt said the project is a commitment to Malaysia.
“Your country is an important market to us, with children strongly drawn to the channel’s shows and series. Such support is crucial for us,” said Wendt, who had embarked on similar projects in the country including High School Musical 1.
“We are thrilled with those that have come on board. Since the movie is based on young and talented singers, the stars from Akademi Fantasia seem to fit the bill. This is what the spirit of Camp Rock is all about,” she added.
The graduates of Akademi Fantasia, however, were not involved in singing the movie’s tracks.
Wendt said there were other plans in the pipeline for Camp Rock in Malaysia to give opportunities to more new local talents.
Local singer Suki Lo (who won the One In A Million 1 competition) will be singing the theme song of the movie, This Is Me (included as a bonus in the soundtrack).
Meanwhile, the voice talents are overwhelmed with their involvement in the project.
“I ‘play’ Mitchie Torres, a dedicated musician who is in a journey of self-discovery. She is extremely talented, yet she feels insecure as she is surrounded by girls who come from more privileged backgrounds at the camp,” said Amylea, who lends her voice to the lead role in the movie.
“I am a lot like her - loving performing and extremely shy at times,” she said.
Riz, who voices the leading male role Shane Gray, said: “I love doing this. I have seen the movie and I am hooked to its music and performances.”
“Shane is every girl’s dream boy. He is talented but eventually loses his passion for music. He agrees to join Camp Rock after being persuaded by his band members. There he regains his love for music,” said the 22-year-old.
The local talents took a day to complete the dubbing session for the movie.
“Depending on the role, some of us had to be in for at least seven hours while others took only three hours to finish the dubbing,” said Adi, who is the voice of Jason Gray.
“Watching the movie helped us to understand the plot better. We were able to identify with our characters and thus portray them better,” said Farah, who “plays” bad girl Tess Tyler.
“At first it was tough but we managed to pull through,” added Shawal, the voice of Nate Gray.
Camp Rock is about a summer camp that launched the music careers of the youngsters who attended it.
Members of popular band Connect 3 is one of them. So too Torres, an aspiring singer and songwriter from a middle-class family, who finally gets her chance to participate in the camp.
Camp Rock airs at 7.30pm.
Since the Disney Channel is available in three languages, you can also watch Camp Rock in English (original version), Mandarin (Hong Kong) and Bahasa Malaysia.
New Straits Times