Concert 7 - Goodbye Ekin.

Ok, keriangan ini di bawa secara langsung from my bedroom! *hehe*

The show starts with Aznil doing the usual greetings. Thanks for welcoming us Buneians Nil.

The 8 students came out as usual. This time military style. Captain Mawi reporting calling out his troops. Marching out bringing out the Malaysian flags. Good touch, I like it. Aznil got into the act giving commands too. Maju dada was good! The sexy kan diri even hilarious! Especially Felix & Mawi - posing habis! I guess they've got time to kill and it was fun to watch them introducing themselves that way. The only bit that wasnt quite right (to me) was Akma & Kefli doing it in Japanese tone while holding the Malaysian flags. Amusing but probably not for those who experinced the Japanese occupation of Malaya back then.

The standings are as follows;

Mawi 28%, Felix 21%, Marsha 10%, Amylea 10%, Akma 9%, Yazer 8%, Ekin 8% & Kefli 7%

No suprise.

Kudsia is back in her usual seat. Zainal Alam Kader & S Atan joining her on the critics seat. Clip of Fuad wishing his pals the best was shown before we went into a break.

On with the show;

Kefli - Baby pics of his colleague were shown and he was asked to guess. He did badly. It was Ekin but I guess it wasnt easy to guess. Ekin is just so cute as a baby! And then Kefli started. It was a week one. I dont wanna touch about diction but his voice is just too soft and he is being too careful. Just got an SMS from my bestfriend, she said Kefli just destroyed her song. And rightly so, he is almost out of breathe and forgetting his lyrics too. I think this his worst performance so far. Kudsia highlighted his pitching despite weeks being in the Akademi. Alam said Kefli seems to enjoy the show but is saved by his cuteness (?). S Atan said he is mumbling and at times monotonous. 2/5.

Akma- Teased by Aznil if she's had any "vibes" with any of the guys, especially Mawi & Felix. She denied so. Clips of them makan2 were shown. Didnt quite get it. Akma is looking excellent as usual. The mood is set. Stage darkened and the spot light on her. But somehow it fails to be captivating. Felix comes into frame backing her up. Her vocals are as usual crispy and clear. Not much of a challenge this song is. I think the bridge saved the performance, she holding Felixs' hand and then him gettng on his knees got cheered a lot. Kudsia said she is slowly getting her X-factor. Alam said Akma should take risk and not to play so safe. S Atan said her performance was dashyat (read: outstanding) and coming from someone who is an established figure in the music industry, Akma should feel proud. 4/5.

Clip of Idayu saying that she supports Felix & Akma was shown before the break. I'd like to know the necessity of this clips now, somehow it aint looking so good.

Amylea - She looks so cute in the Kebaya, she would fit in the 60's era movies just nicely. She was asked to guess another baby pics. She guessed right, its Kefli. Datin Orkid is in the audience, a lil pressure on her maybe. She started off good. Her voice is just so right for the song. Her vocals lenggok was just nice but she seemed a bit stiff staying in one spot and only occasionally doing her dance routine. But otherwise, she sounded really good and her consistency shows. Kudsia says shes a pleasure to watch, theres nothing she can see wrong. Alam said gazal is his bread and butter and was doubtful if she could handle but he admitted said she pulled it off well and added that the only person she is competiting with now is herself. S Atan said her performance is like a pro, not a student and only told her to be more adventerous with her vocals. 4.3/5.

Yazer - New haircut. Aznil asked why a person with a rock persona would go for a dangdut person like Ekin. Then Aznil said he has some pure rockers to introduce to him. Some bikers came in and one went on stage, she is obviously a girl. It was a good kezutan, when she took off her helmet, it was MAS of AF2! Then Mas & Yazer exchanged some words and also about dueting for a song. Ok his performance - as usual his stage presence is good. Confidence level is not quite an issue with him. It was an enjoyable performance, it must've sounded good live. Mas joined during the music break headbanging in her own style. I think Yazer will be a good live performer, he just needs some stamina. The crowd gave a good cheer. And the best kezutan of the night is obviously for him. All along the guy dancing on stage wearing a helmet was his dad! Father & son screaming out "Rock steady!" was just cool. And then Yazers' dad gave a letter to Aznil which was actually for Ekin! Oooooo nice! Kudsia asked if that was his best performance? He said he wasnt satisfied but Kudsia said she is. Alam said Yazer dad is much more handsome than Yazer, kiddingly. He like his performance. S Atan said a rock number aint easy to handle but he said Yazer should learn to control the mic Overall he did good. 4/5.

Reza next saying Kefli & Amylea is his choice to be in the finals. Oh man, just stop those clips! Break time.

Ekin - She looks adorable! Aznil gave her the letter that was handed to him by Yazer's dad. She is asked to guess another baby pic, it is obviously Akma. Then the letter was read by Aznil. It was basically from Yazers' mum asking Ekin to take good care of her son! Sweet! More on it later. Didnt started out so tidy but then that big voice came out and her voice control became steady a bit. Ekin needs more training on handling the lower notes because at times those bits seemed pitchy. Its not such a wow performance but was quite captivating in some ways. The backing vocals were excellent too. I think this is the most we've heard of Ekin's big voice since her song in the prelude concert. I just dont like the title, too haunting. Kudsia said her low tone was good, so merdu. Alam said she started shaky and didnt agree with Kudsia with her low tone. S Atan said she's almost perfect and very good tonight! Wow! another high compliment. It worries me when I hear all this things, I hope history doesnt repeat itself again. 4/5.

Mawi - That clip of him saying he was actually just hoping to be a security guard at Astro will surely wins the heart of many again. Shows even more how much a humble person he is huh? Ok Mawi needs more dancing lessons. He looks funny standing still with his head bobbing a lil bit fast. And why is he standing still on one spot for almost the first bit of the song? He moved a bit during the music break but then assumed back the position. His vocals are the usual, I still fail to see why everyone see it as unique. It was a safe and average performance really. Kudsia said he can joget so he should venture more, his best performance yet, I agree. Alam said Mawi did good and has the scent of "world". S Atan said he should better his performance to justify his fans adoration. 3.75/5.

Amy supports Marsha & Akma. No comment. Break.

Felix - He walks weird with the tight pants *hehe*. Pics of chimpanzees were shown. How cruel. And then clip of Marsha cari kutu on his head! Hilarious! The arrangement of the music is orchestrical. Good call as this would let people focus on his vocals. But on certain bits it sounded quite awkward and makes as if Felix is out of tune. The chorus bit was particularly untidy and he seemd to be struggling to control his vocals. Its almost like an operatic version. I take back about the good call for the arrangements. Kudsia said he is playing safe inspite a good performance. Alam said he is one of the most talented as he has good voice control but he shouldnt control too much. S Atan sampaikan salam of his kids before commenting. He said too many falsetto in his voice but the control was good. 4/5.

Marsha - *sigh* She simply takes my breathe away! *hehe* The VE clip doing her Pokok Klapa song is just hilarious! I really laughed my head off! I will have that VE version on Mp3 for download from this blog tomorrow! Accompanied with real kedazan dancers, the pop-ish version is simply uplifting. Definately in her element, her voice was crystal clear with the mandatory lenggok that the song required. She even managed to slot in her usual sultry look. Aznil also joined her performance, tak mau rugi lah cik abang sorang tu! *hehe* As expected, parts of the song was in Bahasa and it sounded real good and fitting. Kudsia said she always manages to make an unsexy song sexy. Alam said he wants to hear more of her voice, this song is simply wasting her vocals. S Atan said something of the same manner, the song is not suitable for competition and its no challenge to her vocals and performance. Ditto! 4.3/5.

Bonus song - Probably the most anticipated performance tonight. And it was well worth the wait. The only glitch was with Felixs' & Mawis' mic, the sound tech guys fault obviously. It wasnt so much of a fluid performance. They still need to work on their coordination vocal wise. Good ending though. Kudsia was suprised to be asked to comment for the song. She said they all did much better than when they perform Menuju Puncak. Alam said it shows unity amongst them and it doesnt matter who wins or lose, they have all done well. S Atan said they are all good songers and performers. Then Aznil announced that the voting is closed. 4.5/5.

Aidil - Amylea & Felix.

We're back, Aznil is seated amongst those already eliminated. We also see Liza Fitri Linda Edlin & Nurul.

Menuju Puncak - AF3 version 8. Extra punchy with more clear vocals. I guess everyone is finally singing? *hehe* EE should be happy with it I guess. They sounded good, this is proabably the best version so far for this season and its only done by 8 sudents! They all looks so out of breathe though after that, lack the stamina huh?

Ok Aznil has started his usual talk to built the suspense and inject some intensity into the air. He highlighted the girls mostly as most of the guesses were on the girls to leave tonight. The dreaded bag made an appearance and Aznil has a look at the bag tag. He said its one of the girls. They are all already in a group hug and crying while giving words of encouragements amongst themselves. And then, the most heartbreaking news, to the people of Labuan, her fans and also definately for some Bruneians here. Ekin has to leave. I'm speechless. How ironic things are at times. The title of her song seemed to say it all. Kefli rides his luck again. She said her goodbyes to all and it was a tearfull one especially with the girls. Inspite of all the adversity we see amongst them, we can see how close they all are. Before she left, all the students had a chance to say their goodbyes. Some manages to bring smiles to the sombre mood, whoelse but Felix. Ekin was tearful inspite of her laughter thanking the audience for their support all this while.

I guess ya'll know how much I disagree with the results tonight. But its useless for me to rant & rave about it. I somehow had the feeling Kefli would be safe again. And I wouldnt be suprise if he is gonna be one of the finalist! And why not right? Oh well. I think I'll end my review here. A rather dull concert with another really disappointing result. I shall be back later to sharpen this review and also comments for Imbasan.

Imbasan
Ok I wont so much go into details. Cikgu Fati & Asrul was first to be interviewed and basically talked about the difference between AF1, 2 & 3. They talked about personality of the students and Cikgu Fati said that the audience shouldnt judge or preceive a students character from the 30mins Diari. True.

Then Ekin made her appearance. She talked about how she had a feeling that she would be leaving from the very moment she assigned the Maaf Kepergianku song. She also answered some calls. A lady said she saw in the Diari Ekin wasting time doing nothing instead of practising. I think during that clip it was their break time. And plus Ekin said, she needs a tutor to go through the songs so that she could handle the song properly. Theres also a call from Brunei which I rather wished didnt get through. Buat malu saja kalau takde proper comment or question lah. Then Ekins' sister call from Labuan. That was surely a tearfull moment.

One of the audience asked if theres anything between her and Yazer. She said none. So I guess all this while its just the normal Astro tease. Ekin doesnt seem to be able to talk properly throughout the ordeal. I think shes uncomfy and not so good with her bahasa. I think its because the Labuan slang is quite different. I bet Ekin probably could talk the Bruneian better, I'm saying so by the way she handled that rather awkward Bruneian caller.

This is how the standings were when voting was closed tonight;

Mawi 24%, Felix 20%, Amylea 11%, Marsha 10%, Kefli 9%, Yazer 9%,Akma 8% & Ekin 8%.

But as I checked on AF main site just as the Imbasan ends, this how the standing looks like as we move into new week;

Mawi 34%, Felix 20%, Marsha 13%, Kefli 12%, Amylea 9%, Akma 6% & Yazer 6%.

So anyone still doubting Mawi running away with the title or that Kefli seemed likely to be in the finals rather the likes of Akma, Amylea or Yazer?

Anyways, the show closes with Ekin singing Erti Cinta. She said she has forgotten the lyrics. She managed quite ok despite the skipping cd background. So teruk lah Astro not properly checking that disc, so unprofessional of them. Anyway, thats about all for Concert 7. Hope you guys had fun with it. Screencaps and songs from tonights performance will be uploaded hopefully in a few hours time.

Thanks for tunning in folks!

VOTE for DahDemam