Managed to score tickets to the Konsert Amal Diraja (Royal Charity Concert Gala) that was held at KLCC's Plenary Hall yesterday. The concert was organized by the Alzheimer's Disease Foundation Malaysia (ADFM) to raise funds for the foundation. And oh my, was it some concert!
I went with my sister again, and we reached just about in the nick of time. Went to collect the tickets according to instructions from the SMS I received, but ended up being tossed from one counter to the other...>.<" Thank goodness in the end, we managed to get the tickets, and off we went to watch the concert. Seats were again quite far off, but it's to be expected (the tickets were priced from RM100 to RM1200, can you imagine??!)
The concert that night was attended by some royalties as well, but they were 'fashionably late' as usual. Sometimes I wonder if our 'tidak apa' attitude was because of the examples set by leaders....since they can be late, it shouldn't be a big deal if WE'RE late right? We're not VVIPs like them...*sigh* Vicious cycle. Anyways, I digressed...
The theme for the night - Unforgettable!
The orchestra...a 66-piece one at that too! The orchestra was named the KL International Festival Orchestra, and yet I think about 90% of the musicians are not Malaysian. (Go figure) Conductor for the night was Maestro Eugene Pook, a Malaysian conductor based in New York.
They played songs from Phantom of The Opera to start off the night...lovely medley of All I Ask Of You, Phantom Of The Opera, Music Of The Night and Think Of Me, to name just a few. I loved the lush, full sound of the strings and trumpets, but somehow it was kind of marred by the weak sounds of a drum middle of it. >.<" It contrasted a lot with the full sound of the orchestra, but thankfully it's only certain parts of the medley. I still enjoyed it loads though!
Next were a couple of songs with a solo violinist, Ms. Jessica Lee from the US. One of it was the beautiful 'Cinema Paradiso'! It was breathtaking watching her play...even from my distance, the way she moved and swayed with the music was so inspiring! I wish I could play and emote like that, but alas...my music skills are kind of sad. LOLL!
After that, there were a few numbers by multilingual singer, Ms. Estee Pook. I didn't manage to get good enough photos of her (I blame the distance and my not-so-good camera. LOL!), but she had a great voice. She sang the Frank Sinatra song, "New York, New York" and a Chinese number. Okay, I'm no great singer, but I can't help hearing her Malaysian/Chinese accent when she sings "New York, New York"...it kind of grates a little, but she more than made up for it with her strong voice. (Psst...I wonder if it's a coincidence that the artiste and the conductor share the same surname!)
During the intermission, my sis and I managed to snag better seats since there weren't many people up at the top tier seats...heh! This was much better *grins*
After playing a medley of the famous John Williams' songs (including theme songs from Star Wars, Super Man, and Indiana Jones), in walked Sean Ghazi! Sorry, the photo was too far away...but he was superb! I actually have not heard him sing before, but I've heard of him and his achievements in the local scene.
Sean sang songs from P. Ramlee, a couple of cover songs like "Bridge Over Troubled Water" as well as songs from his album, "Semalam". I think my favourite song from him would be the song "Semalam"...written by him and a co-writer, it was a song harking back to the days of old beautifully blended with contemporary styles of today. Couple that with his nice theatrical voice, his funny banter with the audience and (quite) slick dance moves, it's a joy to watch and listen =) Oh, and it also helped that he cut quite a dashing figure in his suit *wink*
After Sean, there was another surprise guest: Datuk Rahzam Hashim (I hope I got the spelling right!), a corporate figure who serenaded us with a few swing-y numbers...it was a really pleasant surprise to see a corporate figure who knows how to have fun, and doing it so well!
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After the concert ended, I noticed a counter selling Sean Ghazi's albums, so I went to grab a copy...only to see a few minutes later:
The performers of the night signing autographs! The queue wasn't a long one, so I jumped in also, clutching my program...*grins* Seated here from the front was Ms. Estee Pook, Ms. Jessica Lee and Sean (standing). They were later joined by Maestro Eugene Pook, whom I managed to talk to and congratulate him on his great conducting *grins* He was really nice...saying thank you to everyone =)
Ms. Jessica Lee...she was really sweet. =)
And Sean Ghazi...who knew he's already 40 years old right? He SO doesn't look his age! He was really nice too...asking fans for their names before personalizing it with his autograph =) I asked for a photo, and he acted sad when I said I wanted to take a photo of him alone...LOL! But he jovially posed for one *grins*
After taking a photo of him, someone offered to take a photo of us together, so in a spur (or maybe a silly) moment, I said yes. Result? Eep! Ignore the fugly person next to Sean...hahaha! Thinking back on it, I think I must have flummoxed Sean by acting like such groupie. LOLL!
After getting both our programs signed, my sis and I headed back to Suria KLCC (where we parked the car) through the park and by gosh, I didn't want to pass up the chance to take this photo...it was SOOO pretty at night!
My 'stash' of the night...signed program book, ticket stubs and album! *grins*
Yes, I've had my 'head in the clouds' for a while...it's not every day we meet someone famous, right? But I'm really glad that there's someone who will always be my biggest fan...someone who will love me regardless of how I look or how crappy I felt every other day; his handsome face, ever-jovial personality and waggy tail whenever he sees me: Scottie. *grins* This little happy piece of reality I will always treasure =)
Stay tuned for videos! Yes, I managed to snag some videos too...hehehe!
Stay tuned for videos! Yes, I managed to snag some videos too...hehehe!
