Sunday, July 24, 2005
*smilez*
The passage below is extracted from an online website. Enjoy!
NINE years ago, Siti Nurhaliza won her first award when she was named Best Newcomer at the Singapore-initiated Anugerah Planet Muzik.
Now, the Malaysian singer, who has over 150 awards to her credit, is one of the top artistes in the region and is well on her way to breaking into the international market.
During her sold-out concert at the Singapore Indoor Stadium last night, Siti took the opportunity to thank her Singapore fans here for helping her gain a foothold in the music scene.
She told the 7,000-strong crowd: 'I got noticed after winning the award. Thank you for believing in me.'
Despite the big scale, her two-hour gig came across as a rather intimate affair. Siti alternated between her hit songs and
casual banter.
The audience, ranging from teenagers to yuppies and makciks, lapped up every note sung by the 26-year-old, who was born in Kuala Lipis, Pahang.
Siti showed she's a kampung girl as much as she is a city slicker during the concert. It was apparently a reprisal of what she had put on at London's Royal Albert Hall two months ago.
Her performance here last night showcased traditional Malay music, which is something close to Siti's heart.
While singing a medley of folk songs and her ethnic hits such as Nirmala and Cindai, she danced along with a costumed Malaysian dance troupe, never missing a step.
But Siti also proved that she has the potential to go farther than her home when she belted out Get Here by American singer Elita Adams and Conquer by Chinese singer Na Ying.
Even though her diction for the latter was questionable, her powerhouse vocals were crystal-clear.
Siti, who was wearing a glittering number by Malaysian designer Michael Ong, was the polished entertainer.
Halfway through her song Bukan Cinta Biasa, she stopped to tease the audience and asked with a dazzling smile: 'What are
you waiting for? Waiting to get married?'
Perhaps Siti was poking fun at her eligible bachelerotte status (which she has often been quizzed about) because after that, the singer, who once said she believes in fate, pointed heavenwards and warbled: 'Waiting for its answer'.
Yes, if fate decrees it, Siti will strike international
stardom pretty soon.
- Eri Akbar
SINGAPORE Idol finalist Maia Lee is the self-professed No 1 non-Malay fan of Malaysian pop princess Siti Nurhaliza.
Maia is so smitten with her idol that she even joined a Siti Nurhaliza contest two years ago, wearing a kebaya and singing one of Siti's songs in Malay.
On Monday , she put on the all-yellow outfit again to meet Siti at a press conference at Grand Mercure Roxy Hotel.
The New Paper had arranged the meeting, knowing of Maia's admiration for Siti.
Braving a downpour on the way to the event, Maia sent this reporter an SMS, saying: 'I'm tripping all over the kebaya!'
The usually-sexy Maia was almost unrecognisably demure in the modest outfit, which she had bought in
Geylang Serai for about $100.
Siti, on the other hand, had ditched tradition in favour
of a trim pants suit.
When she was introduced to Maia, she said with a smile:
'Oh, so pretty.'
Then, she turned to this reporter and asked in mock protest:
'Who coerced her to wear this?'
Once they were seated on a sofa for a casual chat, Maia quickly whipped out a plaque which she got for her participation in the semi-finals of the Siti sing-a-like contest.
She asked Siti to sign on it.
Siti asked: 'You can sing in Malay?'
Maia had sung Cindai, one of Siti's greatest hits, at the contest.
But this reporter still had to act as a translator during their 10-minute conversation.
Siti tried replying in English, but expressed herself better in Malay, while a few times, Maia interposed with 'tak faham (don't understand)'.
Read more of it from website:
http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/show/story/0,4136,91932,00.html?
