Sunday May 31, 2009
You’re the inspiration
By TIARA JACQUELINA
Tiara Jacquelina, first female principal of Akademi Fantasia, is proud of how her ward rose to the challenges of the hit reality TV talent show.
LAST February, two enthusiastic gentlemen asked to meet me in private in my changing room backstage on Astro Ria’s AC di Sini show: “We’re the producers of Akademi Fantasia, and we’d like you to be our next principal.” I was asked to speak in a hushed voice, and to keep the matter confidential even though I hadn’t said yes.
I was highly sceptical at first, for I knew that much as the show was loved, it was also heavily criticised by the media, online users, observers and fans alike.
However, having concluded a very significant phase of my career playing Puteri Gunung Ledang, this came at a most interesting time. It also fit in nicely with my plans to set up a performing arts academy.
Principal Tiara with AF7 champion Hafiz, who overcame every challenge and obstacle to succeed. “Give me three reasons why I should say yes,” I asked Sooraj Nair, the show’s executive producer, and Jayaseelan, the weekly concert TV director. They launched into a myriad of rather convincing reasons. “We felt that after six seasons, it’s time for a change. Besides introducing you as our first female principal, we have other new ideas for the show. Most of all, we have to prove that our new team can live up to the Transformasi (Transformation) tagline set by our management. But to us, impossible is nothing, and like Obama says, YES WE CAN!”
That kind of talk always gets my adrenalin going and energises me.
And then they left the room, stealthily, one at a time. Gosh, what drama, I thought. Well, this was TV after all, and Malaysia’s top reality TV show thrived on high drama, high emotions and high volumes of SMS votes.
Fast forward one month and I found myself as the head of Malaysia’s most-watched talent search reality show. I had caught parts of the last six seasons, but never enough to faithfully support anyone in particular or to cry when anyone got eliminated.
My first day on the job kicked off with high drama. I arrived at the Academy in an “undercover” car, wearing dark glasses, a black Arabic abaya and headscarf over my leather jacket and skirt, before I was “revealed” to the half a million or so Malaysians tuning in to Astro Ria that evening. Up till then, this appointment remained top secret.
I was nervous that morning. Fortunately, I was greeted with comforting warmth by the teaching faculty whom I would be working with for the first time. Fatimah Abu Bakar, Syafizah Shariff and Siti Hajar Ismail were AF stalwarts, whereas Ida Nerina, Aris Kadir and the show’s musical director Acis were part of Astro’s “transformation” plan for the season.
Then I was introduced to 14 eager, nervous, excited young people with very different cultural and social backgrounds and upbringing. Claudia, Rubisa, Adila, Aishah, Isma, Rini, Zizi, Yazid, Akim, Obri, Aril, Sidi, Qhaud and Hafiz were chosen amongst 9,000 applicants from all over the country. They all had two things in common: hopes and dreams.
After 20 years of being in this industry, I could spot that glint, that inner glow, the “rawness” of pure talent waiting to be unleashed. There was a feeling of déjà vu in that first meeting that I could so relate to, of dreaming impossible dreams and having the passion to reach the stars and change the world.
We began by talking about their dreams and hopes, where they came from, what they knew about the industry, what they expected, where they saw themselves in five years. I found out one thing: some of them had never heard of Facebook, Google or YouTube.
Many of them were fresh out of school and had never performed in any significant way before. I had to get my own expectations right before I could assess our journey ahead. This was going to be quite a bumpy ride....
Tiara Jacquelina with all 14 students and Cikgu Aris (standing, third from right) backstage just before the opening of the first Akademi Fantasia 7 concert. – Photos by Chedd Eddie Yusoff for Enfiniti Productions We talked about targets and ideals. To all of them, their previous idea of excellence was only what they’d seen on local TV. By the end of our first day together, we agreed on one thing: our new target for excellence was going to be in the direction of the Justin Timberlakes, Beyonces, Celine Dions, Josh Grobans and Madonnas of the world. I challenged them to raise the bar for our industry by setting the world’s best as their new benchmark. We agreed that Malaysia needed movers and shakers, inspiring icons to take the entertainment industry to new heights.
Over the next few weeks, the students underwent a series of intensive “zero-to-hero” training programmes. They tried to grasp concepts of internalising, interpreting and expressing feelings as well as creating characters for each performance in Ida’s class.
They grappled with technical terms completely alien to them in Siti and Syafi’s vocal classes such as bubbling, dropping your jaw, singing “forward”, supporting notes with your diaphragm and so on.
They tried their best to learn dance techniques and memorise new dance sequences in Aris’s classes. It was definitely a far cry from freestyle, shuffling, street dance or merely bopping along to your favourite dance song.
And in front of more than a million TV viewers every Saturday, right from their first week in the Academy, these 14 dreamers would be put to the test and judged by a panel of three regular critics. Malaysia would vote to either sympathise with a struggling underdog or support their favourite student. And every week, one, or sometimes two students would be robbed of their dream of touching the stars.
In 10 weeks, I have watched these kids achieve what initially seemed impossible. Astro’s production team would give them a weekly assignment of at least two new songs: to memorise their lyrics, melody and choreography in only four days.
I give you the story of Hafiz, the newly-crowned champ, as an example. He struggled to memorise three A4 pages full of lyrics to a rap song. I had my fingers crossed for him every day as I watched him stutter and struggle to digest every tongue-twisting syllable at incredible speed whilst trying to stay in tempo. But with every challenge and obstacle, Hafiz was pushed beyond his perception of his personal best.
Knowing that he could now overcome any challenge by staying focused, determined, persevering, and to practise, practise, practise, Hafiz now discovered how “impossible” could be conquered once you apply your biggest inner gift – your mind and your will.
This season, the students were also challenged to present a segment of musical theatre in week eight, which required them to act, sing and dance within four days. This was the most trying week for both the teaching faculty as well as the students, as musical theatre is considered the most challenging form of performing arts – and a completely foreign concept to them.
Akim, who emerged second runner-up during the finals three Saturdays ago, was given a song that required full choreography for his performance as the Malacca Sultan within four days, something that takes an actor several months to perfect. Again, I saw how overcoming this hurdle pushed everybody several notches higher. And the students gained much confidence by going beyond their previous best.
The transformation of the AF students that took place before our eyes was simply amazing. We saw how a bunch of students with raw skills and very little knowledge performed so impressively every week onstage.
The dramatic arc of the show hit a high point when one of the favourites, Aril, was eliminated and then voted back in by the public. Aril showed us how a young Malaysian with an unbeatable fighting spirit could rise from the ashes and bounce back. He put on such a great performance during the finals and finished next to the winner.
Hafiz, the courageous champion from Kuching, Sarawak, Aril the fighter, Akim the undeterred underdog from Johor, and their friends in the Academy overcame the impossible by daring to dream. They are a reminder to all of us that whatever capacity we are in, whatever level we are at, we can always do much better than we’ve been programmed to believe.
Whilst I have your attention, let’s transpose this to the bigger picture of Malaysia today as we build our nation.
What these young people in Akademi Fantasia have shown us is that people of different cultural, religious and social backgrounds can live and work together, and support each other in pursuit of their dreams.
They have shown us that we can benchmark ourselves against the world’s best to be a greater nation than we are today.
They have also shown us that no matter what challenges we may face, they can be overcome by staying focused, by having a fierce determination and perseverance, and knowing that there is always room to rise and reach new limits.
As you read this, the acid test would be whether your mind is saying “YES WE CAN!” or “NO WE CAN’T ...”
Every nation has its share of those pessimistic cries of “No, we can’t”. I’m hoping for my beloved Malaysia that the confident, the determined, the dare-to-try “Yes, we can!” majority will prevail.
This is my take on my 10 weeks of interaction with these inspiring young Malaysians from Akademi Fantasia.
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