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Posted: 30 Dec 2012 12:40 AM PST

The Internet age is fast connecting musicians with their listening audience, and Malaysia has ridden that crest pretty well in recent years, too.

MALAYSIAN artistes fared very well in the international scene, too. At the top of the list are Yuna Zarai and Zee Avi, two singer-songwriters who more or less got discovered via their YouTube video uploads. In 2012, Yuna played at about 50 venues in the United States, performing alongside singers like David Gray, Allen Stone and Graffiti 6. She also appeared in several music festivals, the biggest one being Lollapalooza 2012 in August, where she shared the bill with big names like Red Hot Chili Peppers, Florence And The Machine, Franz Ferdinand and The Black Keys.

In April, Yuna got a slot on Conan O'Brien's talk show, Conan, where she performed her track, Live Your Life. In November, she held two shows in Penang and Kuching, Sarawak as part of her Yuna Homecoming Concert. She also performed in Urbanscapes 2012 in Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

Meanwhile, Zee Avi also had numerous shows in the US, playing in New York's Mountain Jam Festival in June alongside artistes like The Roots, Ben Folds Five and Steve Winwood. She then followed this with the Zee Avi: Homecoming Concert 2012 tour in Malaysia in July.

Another big female star is Shila Hamzah, a 22-year-old singer with more than a decade of experience (her first album was released in 2000) and a former contestant on the local TV programme One In A Million (2007-2008). Shila, the daughter of 1980s pop star ND Lala, got the spotlight in September when she became the first champion of Asian Wave, a reality-based singing competition filmed in Shanghai, China, that pits the best singers in Asia against each other.

Shila's bold move of choosing to sing a Mandarin song in the finale – as well as her top-notch singing abilities and charming sweetness – endeared her to the millions of viewers of the show, who then voted for her. After winning the RM5mil grand prize, Shila performed as the opening act for Malaysian singer Eric Moo in a series of concerts in China. She is also slated to collaborate with Taiwanese singer Wang Leehom on his new album.

As icing on her cake, Shila is also one of the "world's best female artiste" nominees in the World Music Awards 2012. Let's hope that the coming year will see more Malaysian artistes upping their game and producing work that everyone can be proud of.

Tunes kept a-rolling

Posted: 30 Dec 2012 12:30 AM PST

While music festivals deluged Malaysian fans, one song was omnipresent throughout the year – and it came from South Korea.

WHEN it comes to music this year, only one song matters – Gangnam Style, by the talented and now world-famous South Korean rapper Psy.

Gangnam Style is a cheesy dance song that's taken the world by storm, thanks to its catchy beat, simple lyrics and humorous music video, which recently hit a billion views on YouTube.

It comes with a special galloping horse dance, too.

Since its release on July 15, Gangnam Style has not only entered (and conquered) music charts all over the globe, it also turned the charismatic Psy into an international icon, one which many Western celebrities – Madonna, Ellen DeGeneres, Tom Cruise and Britney Spears, to name a few – have endorsed in one way or another. And let's not forget the 30,000-odd video parodies of the song that's available on YouTube now, the countless flash mobs, Gangnam Style-themed apps and games, and merchandise that have sprung up in the past few months.

Earlier in the year, though, there was another unknown artiste – Carly Rae Jepsen – who hit international stardom thanks to a single hit song – Call Me Maybe. The single was actually released in September 2011, but only started gaining momentum on radio and TV sometime in February. And when the official music video was uploaded a month later, it became viral almost immediately; it now has over 350 million hits.

Just like Gangnam Style, Call Me Maybe has tons of parodies that kept popping up in the summer season, which is typically a period when a handful of dance songs are played repeatedly in the party circuit all around the world (Mr Saxobeat, anyone?).

However, unlike Psy's hit song, Call Me Maybe was considered to be a bit of a joke especially by Jepsen's peers and fellow artistes, no thanks to its ridiculous lyrics (even though it is by far a much better song than Rebecca Black's horrendous Friday from the previous year). The chorus, "Hey, I just met you and this is crazy but here's my number, so call me, maybe?" is perhaps one of 2012's most over-used and made-fun-of lines; it's like a sensational musical farce, if you will.

Speaking of sensation, have you heard of One Direction?

If a tween asks you this same question, you best be replying, "Yes."

British/Irish boy band One Direction is made up of five young lads who auditioned as solo participants on the reality TV talent show, The X-Factor. Signed under Simon Cowell's Syco Records label, One Direction has gone from strength to strength, conquering music charts and winning awards. Most importantly, the group also made it big in the United States, something that not many British artistes are able to do in such a short period of time. One Direction's award-winning single What Makes You Beautiful even made it to the Emmy Awards this year, in a skit featuring host Jimmy Kimmel and Josh Groban, who sang the song.

For some of us, One Direction brought us back to an era when British boy bands ruled the music world with their easy pop songs and boyish charms. You know, before Robbie Williams became a diva and when Justin Timberlake and friends were still relevant. Best of all, it gave us a distraction from Canada's biggest star since maple syrup, Justin Bieber, whose Grammy Awards 2013 nomination snub signals a fading dominance in the music scene.

Young pop jocks and Psy were not the only artistes who made the music headlines this year. Rock bands of "old", namely No Doubt, Stone Roses, Soundgarden, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Garbage and Black Sabbath got their fans all hot and bothered by announcing their return to the fray with either a new album, new tour or both. However, not all of the comebacks were successful as some of these acts just couldn't seem to, shall we say, keep up with the times?

Urbanscapes, Rockaway, Jennifer Lopez

This year proved to have been quite good for Malaysian music lovers as numerous festivals, concerts and showcases were held throughout the nation, featuring local and international acts. Urbanscapes 2012 brought the indie and hipster crowd together thanks to artistes like Sigur Ros, Charlie Lim, The Trees And The Wild and Tenderfist, while the Rockaway festival saw rockers getting their fill of head-banging sessions from bands like Soulfly (pic above) and MxPx. Other notable international acts who came to Malaysia this year include Jennifer Lopez, Jonas Brothers, Elton John, David Guetta and Jason Mraz.

K-Pop explosion

The Hallyu wave has hit us, and hit us hard. Countless K-Pop groups and artistes made their way to Malaysia in 2012, including big names like T-ara (pic above), Wonder Girls and Bigbang, whose concert tickets sold out in a matter of hours on the first day they became available.

Cream of the crop

This year doesn't come remotely close to finding British singing siren Adele rolling in the deep. In fact, she's flying high, becoming Billboard's top artiste of the year. Her gem of an album, the diamond record 21, released in February, is the year's most phenomenal album.

Dominating the song end of the music world spectrum were Gotye's Somebody That I Used To Know, the inane Call Me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepsen (pic left) and fun.'s anthemic We Are Young.

Adele has also kept her stock at the top by being the numero uno female artiste while her opposite sex equivalent is the irrepressible Drake. Old hacks Maroon 5 top's the year's list as best group while One Direction is the best new artiste.

After last-minute confusion, African 'Grammys' due Sunday

Posted: 29 Dec 2012 06:45 PM PST

ABIDJAN: The Kora Awards, dubbed "Africa's Grammys", will take place Sunday in Abidjan, organisers said, after confusion about when the event would happen and when its star - US rapper Chris Brown - would arrive in Ivory Coast.

"Everything will take place Sunday," Kora spokesman Ernest Adjovi said late Saturday.

The award extravaganza, which originated in South Africa in 1994, was originally to have been held Saturday in Ivory Coast's economic capital.

At the last minute, organisers claimed Brown had missed his flight and the show would be delayed until Monday.

But a source close to the ceremony said Brown "is not the real reason" the event was delayed, and blamed the postponement on organisational issues.

Past ceremonies have been attended by South African anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela and the late "King of Pop" Michael Jackson.

Brown is known as much for his virtuoso dance steps as for his tumultuous relationship with singer Rihanna, whom he has admitted assaulting.

He will arrive early Sunday on a private jet and, ahead of the award show, will perform at concert "for peace in Africa" at Abidjan's main sport stadium on Sunday, Adjovi said.

African artists including the Nigerian duo P-Square, winner of the last top Kora prize in Ouagadougou in 2010, will also take part. For Ivory Coast, which is still recovering from four months of post-election violence that ended in April 2011 after claiming some 3,000 lives, the event signals a return to normalcy.

However, it has drawn criticism over the price of admission: one million CFA francs (1,500 euros, $2,000) for those who want a seat in the luxury hotel for the ceremony, or 50,000 CFA francs (75 euros, $100) for seats outside.

These prices are far out of reach for most people in the poor west African country, the world's top cocoa producer.

Brown was sentenced to five years probation, a year-long domestic violence programme and 180 days of community labour after pleading guilty to assaulting Barbadian singer Rihanna on the eve of the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles in 2009.-AFP

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

Ahad, 30 Disember 2012

The Star Online: Entertainment: Music

The Star Online: Entertainment: Music

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