Monday, February 27, 2006

Gusti Putri Raden Ajeng Retno Dumilah

Waahh… Berbaloinya rasa merentas lautan beribu batu semata-mata hendak menyaksikan sendiri musical ini. Oohh Kanda (kanda kah?) Stephen aka Tuah, penangan suaramu sungguh menikam kalbu dan halwa pendengaranku… bilakah rasanya lontaran suaramu dapat ku dengar dan nikmati lagi?

Phewww!!! Now that I’ve got THAT out of the way, lets get on with the nitty-gritty bits. Intonasi and feel SRH ni masih all over the place but considering dia baru jer belaja BM and his modus operandi were memorize then project rather than memorize AND comprehend, he’s very good at it. Datin Tiara, excellent in all angles whether it was emoting, expressing, singing or projecting… even her overall posture and makeup was flawless. Granted I sat 100 metres away and 50 metres up there, little imaginations here and there helped fill in the blanks. There were several moments that really got to me, the way it always did when I became so overwhelmed with some things. They are:

Scene Puteri lari-lari sekeliling Majapahit sambil di kejar dek Kanda Tuah nya sampai la depa kat atas gunung (at this point I assumed its gunung kat Majapahit, bukan gunung Ledang). Only those ‘up there’ like me can see this clearly, terasa macam nak gelak pun ye. Tuah dan Puteri dengan beraninya mendaki puncak gunung buatan ittew dan dalam hati aku kata, gunung nii lah the star of the show… ahakss!!! At that defining moment when two hearts are about to blossom triggered by Hang Tuah saying ‘Hamba lihat sebuah keindahan yang tidak ada di Melaka’ (wah! Buat dialog sendiri ni yeewww!), my own heart ikut dug-dug-dug giteww. Teruih berair mata sebab Gusti Puteri finally found her true love. Sang Laksamana masih act cool menyemburkan kata-kata manis seorang lelaki Melayu.

Ravishing in red and I do mean BOTH of them!!

Scene Laksamana kat pelabuhan Melaka, belting out his first solo. Meremang bulu roma aku tatkala sang pendekar gagah perkasa mengekspresikan kerinduannya kepada sang puteri. Waktu ni, hilang dah act cool dan macho dia, dah kekasih jauh di mata baru nak kata rindu, waktu si dia depan mata ko buat dia menduga-duga akan perasaanmu padanya, awat tak habaq kat dia awai-awai? Sebab hang tak faham kecek Melayu ke? Huhuhuhu…!!! Time ni aku dah konpom dan dengan konfiden nya declare suara Hang Tuah ni lebih umpph dan lemak berkrim daripada suara Bintang Paling Popular 2005!!!

Scene Laksamana frust sebab tak tau nak pilih sang puteri atau perintah Sultan. Antara cinta atau setia.. cinta pada sang kekasih atau kesetiaan pada seorang Raja berdaulat? And truth be told, Sang pencinta yang satu ni baru boleh emote lebih feel when he sings… the last note I dare say was SUPERBB!!!! In fact, his singing buat airmata aku meleleh keluaq tak tercontrol lagi… binawe punya kawan kat sebelah dok gelakkan aku, berdosa tau gelakkan akak yang lebih umo dari ko ni (tak rela mengaku kertu!!). Time ni aku dah bisik kat fanatik ni, ‘Jom buat Stephen-Rahman Hughes FC!!’

Horray, horray... responding to a standing ovation


Scene Laksamana berjumpa dengan Gusti Puteri kat puncak Gunung Ledang setelah sekian lama berpisah. Dasar lelaki, kenapalah kau biarkan sang Puteri mencurah rasa kerinduan sesedap rasa sedangkan kau hanya diam seribu bahasa? Mana janji-janji manismu yang kau ikrarkan dalam nyanyianmu? Kata-kata sang puteri dalam scene ni prompted me to think how its mostly the fairer sex yang lebih banyak berkorban demi cinta sejati. Scene ni juga menyaksikan 4 orang spider-men beruniformkan baju melayu, tanjak dan keris, merangkak mendaki gunung ledang dan merosakkan reunion sepasang kekasih.

‘Katakan Hadirmu Kerana Cinta’ is perhaps the most moving song of the whole production. Lirik lagu ni, walaupun ada kureng sikit ‘kepuitisan’nya, tapi it was spot on to help express kekecewaan hati sang puteri.

Tidak ku percaya, apa yang ku dengar
Dari dia kekasihku, yang didakapanku
Butakah hatimu, menatap hatiku
Yang membawa ku kemari, menagih cintamu
Pandanglah ku, dan ingati semula sumpahanmu
Yang kita akan abadi, sehidup semati
Katakanlah kepadaku
Bahawa hadirmu semata-mata cinta
Jangan ucapkan yang dikau harus berkorban
Hingga aku sanggup kau tinggalkan
Bukalah hatimu, merasa hatiku
Dan mengaku kau dan aku, kan menjadi satu
Kejamlah dirimu, andai membunuhku
Dengan kata-kata, yang bukan dari hatimu
Sebutkanlah semula, sumphamu sendiri
Disinilah akhir kita, yang kekal abadi

Ohh!! Sampai hati kau Tuah!!! Setelah dinda HINAkan diri dinda menyusul kanda ke bumi Melaka, melepaskan gelar, harta, keluarga dan darjat demi mengejar sebuah cinta yang kanda janjikan. Akhirnya, janji dimeteri tak kau kota malah merela dinda di tangan Mahmud Melaka!!
Oohhh.. kuciwanya!!! Aiseymaann… waktu Puteri nyanyi lagu ni ayoq mataku tak henti bercucuran, esakan jelas kedengaran dan sekali lagi member sebelah dok ketawakan aku lagi!!



Ohhh donia… kerana kau Tuah, Retno Dumilah puteri Majapahit yang seharusnya lemah-lembut dan baik budi pekerti, dengan amarah yang tak terhingga menjelaskan syarat-syaratnya dan teruih kata hi hi bye bye padamu Tuah!! Haaaa… merasalah kau bagaimana sakitnya di tinggal seorang Puteri seumpama Puteri Gunung Ledang… haa… baru lah tuan hamba nak menyesal teruih nyanyi ‘Kau biarkan aku sendiri menderita siksa, racun hidupku Dumilaah, kau biarkan aku sendiri meratapi nasib, racun hidupku Dumilaahhh’!!! phhuuuhhh…. Kalah Mawi yeeww!!!

Phhuuuuhhh!!! Dah… those are my favorite scenes .. banyak lagi yang best, tapi tu yang lebih memorable bagi aku. In conclusion, if they ever decide to stage this musical again, I will be the first to grab the tickets (upgrade front row lagi!). So Datin Seri Tiara Jacquelina, please name the time and place and I will be there..!!!

The duo after the performance - Steve, rambut betul ke tu?

Datin, tebalnya mekap?

Monday, February 20, 2006

American Idol ... and a little of this and that!

Top 24 has been selected you guys. Must say I have loads of favorites but below are my top faves due to various reasons.

Paris Bennett
I've liked the sound of her voice during the first round of audition itself. The fact that she's from a 'musical royalty' family did not help with her 'likeness' factor though. I sincerely believe that her lineage should've been enough to give her the edge every other wannabes could only dream of. But, and this is a HUGE BUT!!!... It absolutely saddened me to think that I'll be robbed off the golden opportunity to see her progression in the competition if she opt for a direct record deal instead. As it is, I'm rooting for her to become the next American Idol (of course unless my 'swaying' interests wander away throughout the competition!)

Chris Daughtery
A short snippet of his life was shown before his first audition and I was hooked then and there!! Can you just imagine a guy like him (stereotyping here), seemingly a rocker by heart and naturally my assumption was that he would be as far remote from the term responsible and committed young 25 year old man - especially with that drop dead FACE!!). So... I was humbled to know that he is a step-father to two girls and a good father at that!! Well... he surprised me ... and even more so when he sang with that high-pitched yet powerful male voice of his. I'm hooked... really, really hooked and predicting he would make a good American Idol too. Its about time Idol starts to produce another male Idol after Reuben don't you think?

Kevin Covais
The best manly male voice I've heard since Josh Groban and the Il Divio quartets!! Perhaps the fact that the voice came attached with THAT boyish face was a surprise factor that worked in his favour. Although I can't see him as an Idol winner but I will be anticipating his performances in the weeks to come.


Mandisa Hundley
Err... she's an epitome that I'd very much like to emulate myself. *Sigh*.. if only I'm as brave as she is to face Simon's nasty remarks and whatever other malevolence in store for her from now on. Vocal wise though, I can't find anything unique about her vocals... YET! 10 seconds of her singing in the group round really can't be taken as a basis right? So... will be looking forward to here more of her singing.

And finally... I may as well say, the next American heartthrob to grace the American music scene whether he wins the Idol or not.... ACE YOUNG!!

I went GAGAGA!!! the first time I saw him at the 1st audition, went triple GAGAGAGA!!! when he started to sing and ended up absolutely, deliriously and ecstaticly HAPPY when he went through to the top 24!! hehehe.. this is a classic case of LOOKS overcoming all others!! Anyway... what's wrong with that?? teeeheeeheee... its not as if I'm going to cotribute to him winning the Idol... I just like to LOOK what!!? hehehehe...

So.. there's my 5 favorites... I'm excited to see how they'd fare in the competition. A very good luck to Paris and Chris.. may the most TALENTED wins this time round!! hehehehe....

Other area of business...
PGL's a go ... 3 more days and I get to see what's being hyped as the most exciting musical ever to grace the floors of Istana Budaya. I'll be armed with a pair of binoculars, tissues and my brand new digital camera. Oh... O forgot to mention, I finally managed to get my hands on the new Canon Powershot S2 IS camera I've been dreaming of since last year!! hehehe... so aside from being eternally broke AND gearing up for another bout of shopping sessions at Bukit Bintang, I'm happy and content... err.. at least for now.

See you guys Thursday...

Note: All pictures are courtesy from http://www.idolonfox.com

Tuesday, January 17, 2006

Puteri Gunung Ledang

Guys!!! I'm hooked!!! I'm excited!!! And I'm ready to go!!! What the %&^%#@ am I talking about???!! PGL - The Musical of course!!!

I don't know why I'm so INTO PGL. Remember, back when I first braved the sea of new faces of the blogging world just so I could watch PGL the movie (and I can't wait for the movie to showcase in Brunei!!) None understood why I cried when Christine Hakim (what was the character she played huh?) killed herself. When PGL finally showed in Brunei and I dragged my dearest friends to watch the movie with me, they thought I went completely crazy when I cried not once, not twice but THREE times!!!

So... naturally I'm just as excited now as I was two years ago. The only musical that I've went to in recent times was 'Mama Mia' in London and my oh my!! can the actors sing!!! So of course I'll be expecting the exact same level of performance.. or would it be a disappointment? I don't care! Just the thought of seeing Tiara and Stephen Rahman frolicking all around the stage is reason enough!!! hahaha!!! WOW!!! Am I shallow or not!!!

So dearies... shall we set a date and go togeder-geder?!

Monday, January 02, 2006

The year that was, the year ahead

Its belated I know but what the hell... Happy New Masihi Year you guys!!! hahahaha.... I was told not to celebrate the 'Western' New Year because ... well... its non-islamic? Beats me but my opinion was and I hope will always be... I've been using the 'western' date every single day, so why should I not celebrate the changing year eh?

Anyway... I don't know why but I've been ready for 2006 since 6 months ago. That's when I kept on writing 2006 in my meeting notes. Thank goodness for diaries else I would not have realized it... ever!!

So... what a year it has been yes? Friendships getting stronger, weeker and in some cases, lost, was one aspect that has driven me to start this blog in the first place. I wanted to trash out and relieve my stress here... only to find out that I can't do that since I've automatically acquired a sense of responsibility, a code of conduct for those that chose to open up their mind for people to read and share. Thus I've learned to accept the differences that I've noticed in friends and acquaintances, and practice tolerance and understanding instead.

To those friends I've known and grown closer to in 2005, I hope 2006 (or AF4?? hehehe!) will witness this bond grow stronger, irrespective of clashing opinions and damaging circumstances. You know who you are guys... I do still wish though that I've grown closer to men more... but alas... 2005 was just not the year for me to get hitched!! Bugger!!

A special mention of course is my beloved nephew. My only nephew so far. My cute little rascal baby nephew!!! Witnessing him grow from a baby of 36 cm to 84 inches tall today has been pure joy, his antics now are blessings to spice up my home.... Uwa love you beri-beri much..!!!

Workwise, 2005 has proved challenging for me as well. Managing a section with limited staff and practically no succession plan has proved detrimental to my own development. Thankfully though, 2006 will bring more resources and staffs my way and I will finally be able to start doing the things that I'm suppose to do in the first place... investigative research and planning aka surfing and holiday planning... hehehehe...

Well... enough about me... tell me one little wierd thing that you just 'have' to do every new year. Mine is buying a pen and one new notebook (the book, not the computer yah!), new year will not be new year if I do not do this. Weell... not that wierd huh??