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14 December 2005
Short, But Worth It
The New Paper
By Sheela Narayanan
Siti Nurhaliza is the big draw at Suria's annualfund-raiser
WAS Suria's annual fund-raising show too short this year?
The Ikhlas TAA-Suria show on Sunday was about 1 1/2 hours long and had fewer performances than last year's show, which was about two hours long.
The show was held to raise money for Tabung Amal Aidilfitri (Aidilfitri Charity Fund), which helps low-income Muslim families. It is in its eighth year.
One of the show's hosts, Suzairhe Sumari, told The New Paper that he felt the show just whizzed by.
'I wasn't satisfied. It just went very quickly,' he said.
'It was a lot longer last year.'
Ikhlas TAA was shown live last Sunday night on Suria.
Besides packing in a powerhouse performance by queen of Malay pop Siti Nurhaliza (above), Suria tapped on MediaCorp's talent search winners from its four stations.
There was Singapore Idol's Taufik Batisah, Project Superstar's Kelvin Tan, Mohd Shabir from Vasantham Star and Khairul Anuar from Anugerah.
It also included the three Anugerah finalists Syed Azmir, Khairil Yusof and Fauzie Laily.
PROMOTE TALENT
The show was also meant to promote the four Anugerah performers.
Their new VCD release Bintangku (My Star) from the Anugerah competition was sold at the show.
The show included three dramatisations of TAA's case files by Suria actors.
The audience watched three skits that came on between the performances with each skit introduced by a Anugerah finalist.
Obviously, they were meant to tug at the heart and purse strings of the viewers.
Last year's show had performances from several Singapore and Malaysian artists like Liza Hanim.
However, housewife Sabariah Rahmat didn't think she was short-changed.
She paid $100 to attend the show at MediaCorp's Television Theatre.
'Yes it was longer and there were more performers last year, but this year the performances were good.
'And they had the best performer, Siti. It was short but worth it,' said the 40-year-old fan.
A TAA spokesman told The New Paper that the show brought in a little more than last year's show.
About $128,000 was made from call-in donations compared to $126,000 from last year's television event.
TAA also made about $18,000 from ticket sales.
Obviously, having Siti Nurhaliza made the difference.
If the audience's screams were any indication, the 26-year-old Malaysian chanteuse was clearly the most popular performer of the night.
She nearly brought the house down with a medley of songs from her latest album, Ceria Aidilfitri.
She also sang a ballad, Air Mata Ibu (Mother's Tears), and dedicated it to all the mothers in Singapore.
Taufik was a close second in the popularity stakes, singing a track called First, which he sang in both Malay and English.
BIRTHDAY SONG
And the audience sang a Happy Birthday song for him after comedian Ishak Ahmat told the crowd it had been his birthday the day before.
Kelvin received a very warm reception from the audience, especially after his rendition of Only Love.
The three slipped away after the show.
Meanwhile, the three Anugerah finalists were pleased that they shared the stage with Siti.
The talent-show winners sang the finale Tak Daya Menafi (Can't Deny) with her.
Said winner Khairul in Malay: 'My legs were shaking.
'And every time I came face to face with her, I would be speechless.'
Added Syed Azmir: 'During our rehearsals together, when I had to sing after her, I would just forget what I was supposed to do.'
Even Vasantham Star Mohd Shabir was taken in by Siti's charms.
'She is so glorious,' said the 21-year-old, who sang Rise And Fall for his performance.A repeat of the Ikhlas TAA show will be shown on New Year's Eve and donation phone lines will be open until 11 Jan.
