By AZHARIAH KAMIN

C ALL me a feminist if you must. For someone who has always been proud to be on neutral ground when it comes to both #BAIK#es, I couldn’t help rooting for the only two female students at the final concert of highly popular talent show Akademi Fantasia 4 (AF4) held at Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil on Saturday night.


Faizal

Nor Farhan Azizan (or better known as Farhan), 22, and Velvet Lawrence Aduk (or Velvet), 19, had a seemingly slimmer chance to win, considering that the show in the past three seasons have crowned three male students as champions: Vince Chong (Vince, in AF1), Ahmad Zahid Baharuddin (Zahid, AF2) and Asmawi Ani (Mawi, AF3). Still I went to the stadium with an open mind.

Farhan and Velvet were up against three hugely popular male students: Mohammad Faizal Ramly (Faizal), 22, Lotter P. Edwin Edin (Lotter), 22, and 18-year-old Hazwan Haziq Rosibi (Haziq).

Most of us (in the media, at least) could have guessed the outcome of the final concert, based on the weekly votes that were dominated by charming kampung boy Faizal, who was in top spot for nine weeks straight.

As all the finalists were required to perform two songs each, one cover version and a new composition, the outcome of the night was very much left in the air.

Having watched all the performances during the two-hour concert, I was hoping that Farhan would break tradition by emerging the first female student to win the show. In my humble opinion as a mere music lover, Farhan delivered her best in the concert.

Her first song, Aku Saja Yang Tahu, was a newly composed blues-tinged ballad by Ajai, with lyrics by Fauziah Nawi. The melody was simple but somehow the song by Ajai, who was also a vocal trainer in AF4, managed to capture Farhan’s vocal range beautifully. For a blues fan like myself, Farhan’s superb rendition gave me the goosebumps.

Farhan left one of the three critics, scriptwriter-film director Mamat Khalid, lost for words. The other two critics for the night were vocal trainer Siti Hajar and theatre activist Adlin Aman Ramlee.

Farhan’s second song for the final was an almost impossible-to-deliver, tongue-twisting jazzy number entitled Spain (made popular by Al Jarreau). Farhan pulled it off beautifully.

Her powerful performances prompted critic Adlin to request Farhan to use her superb performance in Spain as a bargaining chip to demand due respect from her potential record company.


Lotter

Velvet showcased her vocal prowess in a fast-paced rendition of Kris Dayanti’s Rembulan and newly composed ballad Kini Detiknya (penned by Sharon Paul, with lyrics by Fedtri Yahya). Again, critic Mamat aptly summed it all up when he said that, in Velvet, a star was born in the local music industry.

Having watched how the crowd went wild every time Faizal’s name was mentioned, I was anticipating an outstanding performance by him in Saturday’s event.

Don’t get me wrong – I have nothing against Faizal. But somehow there were so many similarities between Faizal and last season’s champion, Mawi, that I wondered if that was the only reason why he’s so popular among AF fans.

If only he could pull it all off in his performances on Saturday to justify his popularity, then he would be able to shut up this critic.

But Faizal’s first song, a rendition of highly popular tune Hujan by the late Sudirman Haji Arshad only left me wondering.

Although it brought the house down and earned praise from the critics for his performance and vocal flexibility, somehow it did not touch my heart. In my humble opinion, I felt that there wasn’t any originality in Faizal’s vocal delivery.

There was also nothing to shout about in his second performance in the newly composed song entitled Lihatlah by M. Nasir, with lyrics by Loloq.


Farhan

Another crowd favourite, Lotter, on the other hand, did deliver his goods. In his first performance, singing In the End by Linkin’ Park, Lotter left the audience asking for more. He proved the critics wrong in his energetic performances, complete with rapping.

Lotter’s second song for the night, a new composition entitled Yang Berlalu? Tak Berulang (composed by Nerves, with lyrics from Loloq), drew praise from the critics for his originality as an entertainer.

Then came Haziq and his superb rendition of Gurindam Anak Muda (penned by Ramli Sarip who was also the principal of AF4) that floored the critics.

Haziq closed the concert with an upbeat rendition of Cubit-Cubit Sayang (made popular by Datuk M. Daud Kilau). As Mamat put it, we should all be proud of Haziq for his efforts in promoting traditional Malay songs while his peers are raving and ranting about Western musical influences, such as hip hop and rap.

At the end, despite the fact that all the finalists of AF4 have their own unique talent and no matter how much we are loathe to admit it, in the talent search which is judged purely by SMS voters, the most popular one is a sure winner and, quoting a viewer, quality tends to take a backseat.

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