Sigh

Sigh.

Sigh.

Sigh.

It took me a really long time to get into the mood to write on this blog again. It's just so crappy when you know you have to deliver bad news.

But I guess by now you guys heard about the Rentak Juara results. Superfriends did not come back with the RM200,000 loot. They got third place, but there's not much in store for third placing.

That part I'm not so bummed about. After all it is a competition and we can only do and hope for the best.

The part I'm truly tension-nak-mampus about is when Superfriends told me that they knew ahead (like nearly a week ahead) that they're not gonna win.

Here's what happened. It was less than one week to final when the band got an SMS saying, "You guys won't win but Zham will receive the best guitarist award."

At first they didn't believe it. But the person who sent them the text said that he found out from RTM folks themselves.

So the band decided, no matter what the outcome will be, they're not about to go down sounding like shit. So they brought their best ammo on stage, and as I watched them on telly that night, they did sound good, if not the best that night.

Of course there's the part where Syawal's hailer mic was not working initially and suddenly it burst out loud, same goes for Siti's melodian. I could not hear much of Nadzir's bass, but I was happy to see him move around in sync with Zham, Najuib and Syawal. Sabar ye Abang Roslan Aziz, kitorang kat rumah dengar boleh la tahan tak tau pulak kat dewan RTM yang baru dan hebat tu lagi teruk bunyinya.

I love their freepop song, Cerita Cita, though I did prefer their rockin' version of Takkan Ku Berundur better. But I did not expect a Feminin song could sound that current and concert-material-like. I bet the KRU boys knew deep down that their song really do have the potential to sound different given a few twists in the arrangement.

Of course there were other bands that sounded good as well. I mean the eventual winner, E-6's Gipsi Terakhir and Car Crash Heart's song were quite something to listen to as well. Enava also played a song from their album, which was OK but the first thing on my mind was, "Hey I've heard this song before."

The gang told me though they were in Seremban for four days, they did not get to do a proper soundcheck at all. Everyone simply bang away the shooed off the stage by RTM team so practically none of them got the chance to really do any adjustment to suit their performance.

I think the band who got the worse deal that night was Alternature, who went on first. What to do, with RTM I think it is always a case of "Let the first band play and we use them to adjust whatever. Who cares if they sound sucky on TV or in the hall!" which I think is so unfair for them. There goes the tidak-apa and nasib-engkau-la attitude government servants are always being associated with.

And who ever took care of the stage really did not do their job. I mean why was Pol lurking onstage when Anthem was still finishing off their performance gimmick? Is it a way to cut short their time? If it is, then that particular trick suck OK. It just killed their end note in a very perplexing manner. The same too happened when Muaz too did the same mistake minutes after another performance.

Another perplexing element was having the guest stars perform IN THE MIDDLE OF THE COMPETITION. Whaddaheck?

To top it all, Fenomena's vocalist could not be heard for a good several minutes! Who was the sound guy there? What? The guy did the sound for Usher's concert? Tipu kot....

As for the best keyboardist award, I believe the guy from D'Rough Mixture should've gotten the award. It's got nothing to do with his state, more of the guy is a damn good player la. My pick for best drummer was E6's drummer who had to sing to relief the main vocalist who was sick. I supposed that was also the reason why their first song was sang straight, hardly any new element added into the arrangement. Er Helen Yap tak kisah pulak?

Best song? Penyesalan. Seriously? I thought the song sounded quite familiar, can't believe someone like Helen Yap could not detect it there and then. Oh wait. Didn't everyone who got a band and did an album back in the 1990s have a tune that sound something like that? But have to give it to the vocalist - he really can scream the right notes. Maybe Malaysians still dig those kind of tunes... or it just sounded sort of fresh given the influx of Indonesian music in the scene.

Anyway. Prize giving ceremony bla bla bla. Afterwards, apparently Man Felda and Man Kidal went to band and told them that the both of them gave highest marks to Superfriends, but the judges did not get a chance to get together and discuss their marks - who would if the guest stars have performed in between the competition when the norm is they should play after all contestants have come out to give judges some time to coordinate.

Well thanks very much Mister Producer. It was one hell of a show.

Superfriends + RM200,000!

Let's pray for the RM200,000 success for our favourite band, Superfriends. Come 17 July, 2010, we'll know for sure if this time it is their rezeki to win the big bounty.

Tune in to TV2's Rentak Juara 2010 at 8.30PM that Saturday, and see the band perform live from RTM's newest auditorium located in Seremban. Even better, be there! Not that you have to be carrying banners and wearing mascot outfits, a thunderous applause will do.

So if any of you guys do end up in Seremban on the 17th, catch me a photo or two and a lil video too. I'd be happy to feature it in my next entry and credit you guys for your hard work.

Semoga Superfriends berjaya menang RM200,000 and more at this upcoming RJ finals. Aminnnn...