IN an effort to ensure its continued relevance, the Muzik Muzik series has enjoyed a ‘facelift’ this year.

Gone are the mandatory, and often confusing (as well as completely wrong) classification of genres which has resulted in many good songs not qualifying.

This is all good as Anugerah Juara Lagu (AJL) - the show's grand finale - is now in its 24th year, making it one of Malaysia’s top song competitions which includes categories for composition and lyrics. All bugs should have been ironed out already.

TV3 should indeed be commended for being sensitive to the grouses through the years on how the format has been too restrictive and deviated from the initial aim of the show - to promote good work by local maestros.

Ironically enough, though, it had to pull something from its past and reinstate the genre-free formula to get back on track. For the first Muzik Muzik semi-final held last Friday, there was an immediate display of the potential
of the new ruling, when fresher sounds dominated the top placings by the end of the night.

To sustain suspense over who will actually make the cut for the finals this time, a total of 14 songs with the highest scores will be selected from three semi-finals where a total of 30 songs will be competing.

With the end of the first round, five songs were announced in random order of being in the top five so far.

Worthy of mention were young performers who penned their own tunes — namely Aizat with Kau Aku, Yuna and Dan Sebenarnya as well as Hujan with Aku Skandal, composed and written by frontman, Noh.

While all three admittedly deserve a spot in the final, Mirage by Pesawat did not make the cut for the top five, slimming its chances to be performed at the final, which is indeed a shame. Especially since Raja Gelek — performed by One Nation Emcees, who co-composed the tune with Damien Mikhail — took up a spot along with Tak Mungkin Kerna Sayang (composed by Ajai with lyrics by Habsah Hassan) to complete the top five as determined by the judges' scores.

One Nation Emcees has been a source for speculative rumours of being a shoo-in, by virtue of being in-house talents.

While such talk can be dismissed with reputable names helming the judging process, it has to be acknowledged that their contrived attempt at a mash-up of fresh beats with localised elements just doesn’t stand up to the rest of the competition, and belonged in the same sampled soundscape as Enjut (performed
by Noraniza Idris).

Still, at least the act was worth a watch. Having more experience on stage showed through, staying far away from a bottom-of-the-barrel acts like Mila, who was nowhere to be seen when it comes to the competition. The petite little popstar just failed in about every aspect, and everyone just had to wonder if she had been included
just to make the numbers.

Her song Gila, is undoubtedly one of pop genius Audi Mok’s lesser creations (especially with her delivering it).
Back to one more song to make the top five in Tak Mungkin Kerna Sayang.

The tune was dated, and would have been at home in any local pop catalog from the early 90s.

Then again, so was Anjang’s Bertemu Di Kalbu performed by Jaclyn Victor and Eddie Hamid. That could also be said of Ahmad Fedtri Yahya’s Dia, Aku Dan Kamu, performed by Nadia and Indonesian band Red Peanut.
Still, Tak Mungkin Kerna Sayang’s possible inclusion is debatable, due to weak competition for the night.

Furthermore, to Alyah’s credit, her performance was strong enough to take out the weak fare served by the rest of the contenders.

Despite her inexperience at the Muzik Muzik stage, Alyah allowed her time spent waiting in the wings all those years to build up to this moment.

She was the first powerhouse performance of the night.

Like Alyah, Jaclyn’s performance was — as expected — the saving grace for a borderline mediocre tune. In fact, if there had been an award for Best Performance, Jac would be the undisputed champ for the night, trumping everyone else with the magical vocalisation of her soul.

Missing out for whatever reason, was Reshmonu performing Farasha Osman’s immensely enjoyable Oh Anok Anok.

Still, with no one being a definite shoo-in for the AJL finale, it will be interesting to see how competition shapes up with two more weeks to go.

At this point, it’s too soon to size-up the competition. One thing’s for sure though, it’s possibly a very green AJL this time around with the young ‘uns almost guaranteed to stamp their dominance on the competition.

Which is a good thing as finally, amidst inadequate formulaic tunes championed by radio, hope is in the process of being restored - that Malaysian music lovers are witnessing a renaissance of Malay pop.

 

MUZIK Muzik will be back this Friday at 10pm over TV3 with the second round of the semi-finals which will feature performances by Estranged, Nubhan, Jinbara, Riz and Alyah, Aizat, 6ixth Sense, Akim, Black, Grey Sky Morning, Adam and Hafiz. They will compete for more places in Anugerah Juara Lagu.