It's a 'yes' for the Shahabuddin sisters.
By Steven Patrick
Looks aren’t everything…
At least, that’s what the producers of new TV3 programme Vokal: Bukan Sekadar Rupa, feel.
Executive producer and judge Muhd Sufian Isa says, “Most vocal competitions are not about ‘just the vocals’ but also the looks and the package.”
“On this programme, we are looking for the voice, pure and simple. You know…we would like to find our version of Susan Boyle…” he adds.
The plain looking Susan Boyle skyrocketed to fame purely on the strength of her vocals after being discovered on Britain's Got Talent programme, in 2009.
600 'aesthetically challenged' participants attended the first round of the Vokal audition sessions, in the hopes of being discovered.
Of that, 14 participants were selected to proceed to the second stage and get a chance of competing for the grand prize of RM50,000.
Among those selected for the second stage of the competition were sisters Isra and Irmiza Shahabuddin.
Isra, 24, said she had tried out for the Mentor competition before but was turned down because she sang old songs.
“That was last year. I only knew songs like those of P.Ramlee and Saloma and I was rejected. So I spent a year learning new songs by people like Alicia Keys,” said the classical voice student.
At the audition for Vokal: Bukan Sekadar Rupa, she impressed the judges with her vocal technique but they told her to put more soul into it.
“Soul and feel is what I have to work on and I will!” she says.
Her younger sister, Irmiza, 21, who is a business student, learnt to sing from her.
Irmiza also impressed the judges with a version of Beyonce’s If I Were A Boy.
"I had to. They told me that if I couldn't sing like my sister, I could just leave..."
However, there were many hopefuls who left the judges unimpressed too.
“We need people to sing 12 notes, not one!” quipped judge and music producer Ajai to a hopeful.
Vokal: Bukan Sekadar Rupa will air on Oct 16 at 9pm on TV3. Singer/actress Erra Fazira will be one of the judges.
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