Wednesday, May 02, 2007

An unwise move........

Each time I put up comments in my blog about the Akademi Fantasia concert, some friends would tell me that I am such a fanatic fan! LOL! Err...... am I really? *wink* Anyway, I did not put up any comments last week for two reasons - one, there was nothing really to comment about the 6th concert, and two, I was busy cooking up a storm for my son's 7th birthday party! LOL!

Am I planning to put one up today, and risked being labeled a fanatic again? LOL! Heck, it is just my opinion, and what I feel like saying! LOL! Anyway, here is just a little of what I want to say......I need to get it off my chest, right? LOL! *wink*

I think it is very insensitive, in fact, I feel it was rather unwise, of Astro to show clippings of the kids passing gas, or, to put it bluntly, farting. The malay says, "menjatuhkan air muka orang", literally translated to mean, to put down someone's face, or to embarass a person, by showing those video clippings.

Why did Astro do it? Has Astro ran out of gimmicks to show to attract its audiences? There are so many gimmicks that Astro could have come up with, but to show the kids passing gas is simply unacceptable, insensitive, embarassing, and simply ridiculous, especially in a culture that supposed to be polite and well mananered! Is Astro up to something? Another strategy by Astro to embarass some kids while it garners votes for the others? Really, Astro, it is always just about money?

The last concert saw Aizat having to leave for the lack of enough votes. Astro played the emotions of the audiences by bringing in the parents of all the other kids, except Aswad, whose parents have passed away. That scene of the kids crying as they met their parents, leaving Aswad looking very sad, pulled at the heart strings of many, I supposed, since Aswad's position was pushed to number one at the end of the concert, inadvertently, pushing Aizat to the last position, from a comfortable position in the middle before the concert.

Many in the audience were surprised by the announcement that Aizat had to go. Many felt that it was premature, him leaving in the 7th concert. Many expected him to make it to the finals. Even though I am no fan of Aizat, and yes, some said that his personality does not impress many `voters', but I do agree that he is more talented than Aswad. I am not saying that Aswad is not talented, but, by comparison, anyone who appreciates real talent could tell you that among the eight kids that were left, he was the least talented. But, Astro played a gimmick. Two wrong gimmicks, in my opinion - one, about the passing of gas by the other kids, making them look bad, embarassing them, in fact, and two, about Aswad being an orphan. Don't get me wrong. I do feel sad for him and I sympathize him for his loss, but, again I ask, is this a talent competition, or a competition to win by gaining pity and sympathy? *sigh*

It's hard to understand the mentally of the Malaysian majority who judges talents using their emotions. But then again, a blog I read said that if Astro had wanted a competition based solely on talent alone, and not make the viewers judge the characters and personality of the kids, then Astro shouldn't have the Diaries that show the personality of the kids when they let their hair down.

I guess AF will always be a competition of who wins the most sympathy. Didn't Faizal win because of his humble background more than for his talent? I am sure many would agree with me that Farhan is the more talented one in AF Season 4. Mawi did it too, though I must say that at least Mawi has very strong fan base that buys his albums, pushing it to be the most saleable album in years. Zahid is talented, but, his success in the music industry is nowhere compared to Farah and Adam's successes. Vince is only now making his mark, after already 4 years in the industry.

Are we going to end up having another mediocre talent coming out of AF this season? If that happens, it would be another sad day for the music industry.

*Note: all photos were taken from Akademi Fantasia's official website at http://www.astro.com.my/akademi_fantasia/v5/

No comments: