Estranged wins the 22nd Anugerah Juara Lagu

One of the biggest Malaysian music awards gave us (or at least myself) a wonderful shock with the win by Estranged’s Itu Kamu despite their last night’s technical glitch (missing keyboardist?). I was certainly hoping for the best and expecting the worst with these underdogs, who ended up winning for overall Best Song and Best Song in the Pop/Rock category. Competition was stiff for all categories (Pop/Rock, Ethnic Creative, Ballad), but I believe every one of the winner in each category (even Mawi for Best Performance) deserved it.

Estranged receiving their award for Best Song at the 22nd Anugerah Juara Lagu. Photo courtesy of Gua.com.my.

The 22nd AJL looked to be doomed with the ban of Faizal Tahir and a no-show by Kaer and Rio Fabrian, but the artistes standing in for them — Fiq, Sahri, Bob and Lah — have done wonderfully. Photo gallery and coverage can be found at Gua.com.my.

I see one aspect that’s pretty obvious with this year’s AJL. The fact that a significant number of its performers — four in the winners’ line-up — were once reality show participants, particularly from Akademi Fantasia, goes to prove that Akademi Fantasia specifically is not just a feckless show trying to rob us of our texting/SMS dollars, but is showing its force as a powerful platform to boost careers of talented wanna-be stars. I hope this positive trend by reality shows can continue to spurn out fantastic artistes and give more chance for new composers and writers to impress us. Let’s continue to support our Malaysian music industry, shall we?

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Posted on 28 January, 2008 under Elsewhere and tagged with , , ,

3 comments

  1. ben says:

    Its a momentous achievement – me being me, I am analyzing its impact and will post soon…

  2. It’s amazing that Akademi Fantasia has propelled it’s participants into great careers. I read a week or two ago that no American Idols have enjoyed as much success.

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