by JOE LEE

“WE had nothing to do with why she pulled out of the show.”

So said Akademi Fantasia 5 contestant Adyana Khalid on fellow contestant Zana’s surprise withdrawal from the competition.

Zana, whose real name is Wan Nurul Zahan Wan Mohd Hanizan, had cited personal problems and stress as the reason for her dropping out.

Zana’s personal accounts on last week’s edition of Diari Akademi Fantasia as well as comments from production members had suggested that she was upset at being isolated by the other female contestants.



Adyana, better known as Diya, however, dismissed such claims.

Diya, who was the first contestant to be eliminated from the show following this season’s debut concert on Saturday, claimed that the others had been nothing but nice to her.

“I think it was just an excuse,” she said with a shrug.



“She blamed herself, she isolated herself and we just don’t like her saying things like that.”

“I tried getting close to her and was comfortable with her.

But she tried to distinguish herself as someone more experienced although we never regarded her any differently,” she said.

Diya claimed the other contestants did not know of Zana’s decision to quit until later.

“We only knew midway through rehearsals on Friday.

When we were in the MPV on the way to the venue, we realised that she was missing.

“We saw her when we got there but she was on her way out.

She only told us that she had some things to take care of and we never saw her again.”

Diya, 21, who hails from Kuala Lumpur, said the stories surrounding the latter’s withdrawal from the show was “shocking”.

“All I know is that she had been crying.

Her eyes were red and swollen for the last couple of days.

“Her excuse was that she missed her cat, Bubu.

She was already going on about that even before we entered the academy.”

She admitted there had been a misunderstanding between Zana and 18-year-old Sabahan contestant Nonny Nadirah Zainuddin (Noni).

“It was sorted out.

You know how it is ...

she had no intention of hurting Zana’s feelings,” said Diya.

“We tried to make her understand that it was nothing and that we treated everyone like family.

“No one isolated Zana.”

On the fans’ feedback that last Saturday’s concert was the worst in the programme’s history, Diya merely shrugged.

She admitted that the students struggled with the musical arrangements from AF principal and music director Roslan Aziz.

“It would have been more fun if the arrangements had been more true to the original music.

But he’s so fierce and we didn’t dare say a word.

“Dekna (Aryanna Najwa Ahmad) had problems with the music for her song, and we worked hard to make it better.

Despite our efforts, people still thought it was horrible.

“I’m not saying that we didn’t like the arrangement ...

but what could we do, right? Roslan Aziz has his own way, many things were set in stone and we have no say.”

Diya was, however, less than pleased with Astro’s allegedly ham-fisted attempts at ‘surprising’ her about her acceptance into AF.

In AF’s curtain-raiser show Tirai Akademi Fantasia, Diya was shown arguing with a man, supposedly her boyfriend, about her being involved with another man.

“He’s my ex-boyfriend and he’s since apologised.

He shouldn’t have done what he did, and he should have worked out a more appropriate ‘surprise’ with Astro.

“I didn’t get to see how it was played out as I was already isolated to enter the academy at that point.

“But I was surprised and taken aback at being ‘cheated’ into talking about my current boyfriend on camera when prodded to find out who I was dating.”

She put the blame on her ex and said Astro should have understood the audience’s sensitivities.

“I had told the production team to make it clear that he was not my boyfriend.

I didn’t want people to think that I was having a relationship with two men.”

Diya, however has no regrets over her ‘attached’ status being made public.

“I prefer to be honest rather than hide the fact that I have a boyfriend and be found out later.”

She will be under Maestro Talent & Management for six months as their artiste and may get a three-year extension.

source