Anugerah 2009 Review : Episode One

First, a big thank you to Suria for bringing back Anugerah to the screen this year. Personally, its the best reality show for the Malay community ever. Every time trying to improve on flaws but aiming for perfection is what Suria has to do every season. This year with 1000+ contestants for audition, I feel we can at least find gems in the rough so here comes the Top 20 tonight doing their best to impress voters with 42-45 seconds of opportunity only. (Thank you Maman for timing and taking note of this).

I would have preferred a longer timing for each Anugerettes (that’s what Suria label the contestants) since 45 seconds don’t really give an impact or enough time for the viewer to evaluate on who to vote. Furthermore the voting time is shorter for this episode so it would be great to have a longer show but I don’t think Suria has that slot so we have to make do with what they have to offer.

The show started with an opening them song ‘Bintang Anugerahku’ sang by the previous champions of Anugerah, Aliff Aziz, Hyrul Anuar and Eka Mairina. A catchy song which had been playing countless times on Suria. During the opening song, the Top 20 came in dancing to the song a simple choreography but only Kamsani and Kunjung excelled in this part. (Note: I was watching on TV so my view is limited to where the camera is pointing at that moment).

This year judges are a good selection with Ann Hussin and Gani Karim called to give knowledgeable comments. As for the invited judge, I feel its not necessary since he/she will be clueless on the 1st episode since Adil Hussein only had 42-45 seconds to evaluate each Anugerettes.

Enough about the show and the judges now is my review on the Anugerettes short performances. I myself have trouble to evaluate them haha! A super long post. So please bare with me from this point on.

Anugerah 2009 Review : Kumpulan A

First group, ‘Kumpulan A’ consists of Sarah, Hydir, Mel and Sein.
Sarah did well vocally, she was in pitch for her song. She also has a nice tone to her voice that I like. A confident performance by this young lady. One vote for her.

Then its Hydir’s turn, heard this boy sang on YouTube and has some experience in other singing competition so my expectation was higher for him but he was off key on the first note for his song, but he got better as he became more confident. Has a good manly tone for his voice. One vote for him.

Mel is next, a tall beautiful lady. She was a little pitchy in her performance and she looked a little nervous too. So I didn’t vote for her. Sorry Mel.

Sein performing next, he’s an Anugerah recycle. Recycle is a good word meaning you should be better the next time so my expectation for him is higher too. He did just enough for me this time. Whole performance not too bad but lots of room for improvement. One vote for him.

Group performance was not really impressive. Sein kept forgetting his dance steps and it shows in his facial expression. Most of them were out trying to harmonize. A performance I wish to forget fast and they would want that too.

Anugerah 2009 Review : Kumpulan B

Second group, ‘Kumpulan B’ consists of Kunjung, Azhar, Hafizah and Wawan.
Kunjung came on stage with full of confidence that blow you away. Some people might think its over the top but that’s what make a performer. Vocally she had good dynamics, you can feel her singing her song. Two votes for her.

Azhar is next, he has a good range and vocally good performance. Stage presence can be worked on because he has this rockstar look. One vote for him.

Then it’s Hafizah’s turn, her low notes were beautiful and vocally she’s quite good. Only a little pitchy on the high notes for me. Pretty confident performance overall. Two votes for her.

Wawan was a little pitchy too but maybe because he sang with better feelings than the rest. He’s good overall and hope he improves more in the next episode. One vote for him.

Group performance was much better than the previous group. Wawan felt more confident in this performance. Harmony was good, all did pretty well.

Anugerah 2009 Review : Kumpulan C

Third group, ‘Kumpulan C’ consists of Shera, Ize, Asila and Afyq.
Shera has a beautiful tone. Vocally she’s pretty good for this song but her performance lack confidence for me. Still one vote for her.

Ize is next and he’s a seasoned performer in my opinion so my expectation is quiet high for him. He delivered though tonight. He gave a heartfelt performance and was confident on stage. Two votes for him.

Asila didn’t impress me much early because she was pitchy at the start but had a better ending. Maybe she’s nervous so her performance was lacking stage presence. Sorry no votes for her.

Next came Afyq, a young boy who looks very nervous and he was a little pitchy here and there. Not the best performance. Sorry no votes for him as well.

Group performance was same as the first group, would like to forget it too. They didn’t manage to harmonize well and blend together. Lack of practice as a group I suspect.

Anugerah 2009 Review : Kumpulan D

Fourth group, ‘Kumpulan D’ consists of Izam, Catty, Ain and Yanie.
Izam, I had seen him around before so I expect something good from this guy also. He did just enough in my opinion he could have done much better too if he has a longer time to perform. Looks nervous but that’s just me. One vote for him.

Catty came up next and I simply love her projection and clear voice. If only she feel the song with better dynamics it would be the perfect vocal performance for the night. Stage presence though was lacking she has to learn to be more confident on stage. Two votes for her.

Ain didn’t impress me much, he was doing fine at the start but once the high notes came up he didn’t do well. Not a confident performance by him. Sorry, no votes for him.

Yanie was doing well too until she hits the higher notes she went a little off. She looked nervous on stage too so no votes for her as well.

Group performance was surprisingly good. They harmonize and blended well. Yanie was a little pitchy but overall its good group performance.

Anugerah 2009 Review : Kumpulan E

Last group, ‘Kumpulan E’ consists of Chirul, Nani, Kamsani and Nora.
Chirul has powerful voice, good projection but lack of feel, dynamics. It gets boring even in the short performance. Nevertheless a confident performance by this young boy. No votes for him though.

Nani is next, vocally good performance for her song but I didn’t take much notice of her yet. Pretty confident but didn’t impress me so no votes for her also.

Kamsani, I have heard this boy sing before and he has pretty good experience performing so expectations are higher. He did well just that his nasal or is it naturally his way of singing that irritates me a little. Confident performance which was expected of him. One vote for him.

Nora the last performer, she did just enough but I feel she needs to improve more to impress next episode. Pretty confident on stage. One vote for her.

Group performance, Chirul was struggling with the low notes in this song which was pretty obvious. This in turn made the harmonizing not good and affecting the others. Very pitchy ending for all of them.

This season the results are made known on the same night so it’s called the Result Show. Obviously. A wonderful performance by Rancour. Sadly to say, Shera was out with Mel, Afyq and Ain. As for the rest of the Anugerettes, congrats to them. Hope they will improve as the week goes on.

As for the double F hosts (Fauzie Laily & Fiza O), you guys have some hiccups here and there and you know it too, it’s just the 1st episode so I’m sure it would improve as the weeks goes by. All the best to the both of you. As for the judges, comment are good so far by Ann and Gani, feels like you all are rushing to say your comments though. The guest judge Adil, I feel sorry for him being in that situation.

This season Anugerah had implemented performance and grooming training for the Anugerettes every week. This is a vast improvement by Suria showing their aim in wanting to produce a champion worthy to be called champion. Congrats to Suria.

Fuhh! Super long review this is! Thank you for reading till the end and hope to see you visiting here again soon!

Anugerah 2009 Top 7 Anugerettes (Episode One)
1. Catty
2. Wawan
3. Chirul
4. Nora
5. Kunjung
6. Ize
7. Sarah (Thanks to Luk for this last name!)

Credits: Suria.sg & Gumbira.com

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