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.

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?

When I heard an alt-pop-rock song called “Itu Kamu” (roughly translated as That’s You) playing on the radio, I thought, man, that’s another cool Indonesian song — I wonder when Malaysian artistes will step up to that kind of quality. Wow, was I shocked during the recent Akademi Fantasia concert, to know that the band that made that song not only hails from Malaysia, but the lead singer is a tanak wagu (boy) from Sabah — AF season 4′s very own Rich! I’m so proud of him, so proud! Maybe if I’m free this weekend, I’ll run over to the music store and buy me an Estranged album! The next important thing for the group is to get very good marketing and PR teams for them to zoom up internationally. The good news for now is that they’re going to be one of the opening acts in the Good Charlotte concert this week, together with the likes of my other favourite Malaysian local English acts, LO and One Buck Short.

The lyrical concept of Itu Kamu is as universal as any other love songs — it is of a person expressing the depth and dedication of his love to his one and only. Enjoy the following YouTube clip of Estranged‘s Itu Kamu. My English-speaking friends should be able to enjoy the catchy tune even if you don’t understand the Malay language.