Relunctantly, I cheered through AJL 23

I got suckered into listening and watching Anugerah Juara Lagu 23 last night, thanks to a bunch of mates I was hangin out with. Surprisingly I was entertained when:

15... when the whole AJL 23 was nicely scripted and well handled by Cheryl, FBI and Sally Iskandar. I mean Ally Iskandar.

14... when the orchestra made Aizat's simple but melodious Lagu Kita all grand and posh. One vote for Ramli M.S. and his I-love-string instruments-so-much-I-just-can't-help-myself arrangement.

13... when we all have not heard ever of this Aiman guy. But if there's a separate category for best lyrics, bets will be on Dusta Berkalang.

12... when Sofaz's pop-rocking song got "sabotaged" by the strings ensemble going slurry krocety nyetnyetnyet all over the chorus, and their best rockin' face turned all soft and bubblegummy. Sappy sounding strings like that in a pop-rock song like Sofaz's? Bukan Di Sini. One vote out for Ramli M.S. and his I-love-string instruments-so-much-I-just-can't-help-myself arrangement.

11... when Estranged got innovative with white screens. Tapi macam pernah tengok je... Macam teater Mek Mulong...

10... when everyone's got a consipiracy theory on why Ayu managed to scrape through to the finals with Hanya Di Mercu. The strongest theory also linked Ramli M.S. being choice conductor and music director again and again when there are others who can do the job just as well, well aware that when it comes to orchestra, emphasis on string instruments is not compulsory on every damn song.

9... when Zahid's performance totally outdid Mawi's. He totally owned Doa Dalam Lagu, what more with Heliza's pitching and ad-libbing splattered all over the floor. Ouch.

8... when Stacy made Aku Stacy a legittimate contender. It deserved to be there just cause she delivers it so well despite having a tacky pair of gold leotard on hahaha!

7... when Faizal Tahir got a haircut while singing Sampai Syurga and ended up with a RM10,000 refund. Now when will I get a nice haircut like that and a refund just as much?

6... when Spider showed their maturity and wisdom by choosing to deliver Bila Nak Saksi all raw, sans Ramli M.S.'s string/piano crazy arrangement. Thank you, thank you, thank you Spider. Another vote out for Ramli M.S. and his I-love-string instruments-so-much-I-just-can't-help-myself arrangement.

5... when Chinese New Year came early with Farahwahida's Persoalan Cinta and the song bagged an RM12,000 angpow. Tumpang lalu, Noraniza Idris.

4... when Elyana's mic got screwed and her split-second disappointed face nearly ruin her bersahaja performance - but she pulled through. Kalis Rindu aye, kalis screw nay.

3... when I won the bet. Ya, with songs like Cuba and Hanya Di Mercu, Meet Uncle Hussein's Lagu Untukmu will win as the song represents new generation, new idea and new sounds coming from within our music industry. Somebody still owe me RM30.

2... when songwriter Julfekar showed his happenning side singing along to Lagu Untukmu's winner encore and during chorus he looked ready to ponggo with Audi Mok.

And my most memorable AJL23 moment was...

1... when Azwan Ali happily hooted and cheered for Ziana Zain's top-of-my-lungs-or-this-is-not-Ziana-Zain-singin rendition of Dingin! (Considering he nearly dragged Ogy & Melodi to court with her naughty makan hati comment on Ziana's wedding years ago huhu!) Damn funny la wei! Now we know why Azwan is still in this business..