Archive for the ‘Cheryl Samad’ Category
Battle Of The Songs
Some of the artistes, composers and lyricists who will be competing at the Muzik-Muzik semi-finals.
HIZREEN KAMAL finds out more about this year’s Muzik-Muzik, the song competition that gives music fans an opportunity to vote in their favourite song.
FOR the next three consecutive Fridays (beginning this week), music buffs can look forward to the battle of the songs at the semi-finals of TV3’s weekly song contest, Muzik-Muzik.
Thirty-four songs in three main categories - ethnic creative, ballad and pop rock - are competing to advance to the finals, which will culminate in the highly anticipated, Anugerah Juara Lagu. (The annual song contest is currently in its 23rd year.)
This year’s semi-finals sees a close fight between seasoned artistes and upcoming talents of the industry.
The veterans, including Amy Search, Ziana Zain, Hattan and Anuar Zain, are a few of the strong contenders who will be competing against newbies such as One in a Million’s Ayu and Stacy and Nubhan (of Akademi Fantasia 6 fame).
The late award-winning lyricist, Loloq, has the highest number of entries. His songs include Doa Dalam Lagu, Bila Naik Saksi, Bukti, Mabuk and Aku Lebih Tahu.
It’s interesting to see how artistes manufactured from reality talent shows are continuing to make their presence felt in the industry. Fans will be excited to see favourites like Mawi, Heliza, Fazli Zainal, Faizal Tahir, Dina, Ayu, Nubhan, Dafi, Bob, Aizat, Mila, The Lima and Fiq jostling for the top spot.
Primeworks Studios Sdn Bhd’s entertainment productions manager Fadzliniza Zakaria said the songs are chosen based on the weekly votes and the show’s weekly song charts.
“From 104 songs, only one-third has made it to this stage,” he said at a Press conference recently.
He said this year’s entries are fewer than those in the previous year, particularly in the ethnic creative category.
“This may be attributed to the minimal number of songs produced this year. There have been more singles released compared to full albums. But this does not jeopardise the quality of Juara Lagu because the entries in both ballad and pop rock categories are strong,” he added.
When Muzik-Muzik was first introduced, the show was viewed as a breakthrough in entertainment programmes and till today, it has remained as one of the station’s signature shows.
TV3 Brand Management Group general manager Nurul Aini Abu Bakar said that over the years, the programme has attained increased viewership, evolving with the country’s music scene.
“How many times have you wished you could get your songs heard and reviewed by qualified music industry professionals? Or wished for a way to get recognition for your songwriting and promote your songs to publishers, producers and media? Muzik-Muzik is uniquely designed to provide these opportunities to local songwriters, lyricists and composers.
“Muzik-Muzik is also a pioneer in a sense in that it gives music lovers and fans of local artistes an opportunity to decide on each song’s fate through the weekly votes,” said Nurul Aini.
Returning as hosts are charming Cheryl Samad and quirky HotFM radio presenter, Faizal Ismail.
The semi-finals for the three categories are scheduled for Friday (ethnic creative), Dec 5 (ballad) and Dec 12 (pop rock). They will be aired “live” from Sri Pentas 2, Plaza Alam Sentral in Shah Alam from 9 to 10.30pm.
TV3 is also giving out tickets for the show. They can be collected from the main security post or the Sri Pentas 2 security desk at Sri Pentas in Damansara Utama, Petaling Jaya.
New Straits Times
Actress’s Plea Of Self-Defence Accepted
Actress Nur Fazura Sharifuddin (left) leaving the magistrate’s court yesterday with her artiste friend Cheryl Samad.
KUALA LUMPUR: Four years after being charged with hurting a housewife in a bar, actress Nur Fazura Sharifuddin is finally relieved.
Nur Fazura, who turns 25 on Saturday, was freed by the magistrate’s court yesterday.
She broke down as magistrate Aizatul Akmal Maharani read out his decision to acquit her after the defence had laid out its case.
Aizatul said Fazura’s testimony that she was trying to defend herself by hurling her high-heeled sandal towards the complainant, Geraldine Mariana Wong, 33, was supported by two other defence witnesses.
“In this case, I accept Nur Fazura’s explanation that she hurled the sandal behind her in self-defence when Geraldine pulled her hair from behind. The defence has succeeded in creating a reasonable doubt in the prosecution’s case,” Aizatul said.
Nur Fazura was charged with causing hurt to Wong, at the Luna Bar, Pacific Regency Hotel and Apartments, Jalan Kia Peng, here, about 1.20am on Dec 19, 2004. She pleaded not guilty.
The prosecution called four witnesses and the defence, three. Nur Fazura was represented by counsel Fakhrul Azman Abu Hassan while Chief Inspector R. Rukumar prosecuted.
The actress, who won the Malaysian Film Festival’s Most Promising Actress award (2004) and is best known for her role in the movie Gol & Gincu wept and hugged family members and friends who were in the courtroom.
Speaking to reporters later, Nur Fazura, accompanied by actress and presenter Cheryl Samad, said she was relieved that it was over.
“Today is the day I have been waiting for. I want to leave this behind and start a new life. It’s not easy… four years of people judging me. I lost a lot of deals and jobs,” she said, adding she was apprehensive about the judgment.
“I was ready for anything. But I am relieved that this is over,” she said wiping her tears.
On her plans for the future, Nur Fazura said she was set for work on her new project, a film called Pisau Cukur together with Maya Karin.
“I will be shooting this movie in October and I am one of the lead actresses,” she said.
New Straits Times
WordHasIt: Raining On The Budget
Yakande from Guinea at the Rainforest Music Festival.
THE 11th Rainforest World Music Festival experienced another remarkable showing. This year, the recently-concluded festival attracted 25,000 people from 36 countries including the United States, Britain, Africa, the Middle East, Singapore, Indonesia, China and Europe.
But there was a dampener.
According to a report last week, the festival organiser had “suffered” after the Tourism Ministry has reduced the funding to RM70,000 from the RM500,000 last year.
Citing the budget as “pittance”, the festival co-chairman and Sarawak Tourism Board Chief Executive Officer, Gracie Geikie, felt that the Ministry should have supported the event more to enhance its draw as a tourism magnet.
She said the organiser spent RM1.9 million to organise the event. Last year, it was RM1.6 million.
Geikie also expressed her disappointment over the “unfairness” of another festival (that recently took place in the peninsula) having received RM1.65 million this year.
Last year, a total of RM1.7 million was allocated to the Penang World Music Festival.
Apparently, the shortfall in funding had taken its toll on the advertising campaign for the World Crafts Bazaar, a fringe festival which was introduced this year for the RWMF.
Perhaps not many know the tale of the RWMF. From its humble beginnings, which saw less than 100 visitors attending the festival in 1998, the annual event has grown by leaps and bounds.
The festival is also getting tremendous support from media members from all over the world. This year, 388 electronic and print media were flown in to the city to cover the festival.
The festival took place at the Sarawak Cultural Village in Kuching. The lush virgin forest located at the foot of the mystical Mount Santubong made for a perfect setting to witness a stellar line-up of world-class music outfits, most of whom were in Malaysia for the first time.
From the sizzling Sheldon Blackman & The Love Circle of Trinidad & Tobago to the thundering Kasai Masai from Congo, world music enthusiasts ignored cloudbursts to soak in the great indigenous music.
The artistes were the Eastern musical instruments band Adel Salameh from Palestine, Japanese drum master Hiroshi Motofuji, Sarawak’s Kan’id and the contemporary-infused AkashA from Kuala Lumpur.
Rollicking folk, folk rock, jazz, reggae … almost every genre of music you could find was heard.
RWMF lived up to its name of being an open-air festival. When the rain poured down in torrents for hours on the opening and closing night, the crowd didn’t budge.
Interestingly, the event also attracted the country’s VVIPs and business magnates.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and his wife Datin Seri Jeanne Abdullah took time off from their hectic schedule to attend the event on Friday.
They were accompanied by Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud who came with his son, Deputy Minister of Tourism Datuk Seri Sulaiman Abdul Rahman Abdul Taib.
This year’s festival also attracted a slew of celebrities including Cheryl Samad, Arianna Teoh, husband Alex Yoong and Jehan Miskin.
Next year, the festival will be held from July 10-12. Hey, if you wish to attend it make your bookings now!
* ntv7 CELEBRATED its 10th anniversary on July 7 and the station has embarked on an aggressive campaign to commemorate the event.
In keeping with its “feel-good” tradition, the station is poised to bring back the old spirit of the channel. We heard that some of the station’s established names are making a comeback.
To date, a few names have cropped up including that of news presenters Wan Kamaruddin Wan Ibrahim and Datin NorAzlina Awang Had.
The former was once synonymous with the station’s Edisi Siasat while the latter has emerged as one of the most vibrant and exuberant young presenters in early 2000.
New Straits Times