Thursday, January 18, 2007

IL DIVO WHO??


Last week, Aliah was breathing down my neck, urging me to conjur up a winning slogan to grab a balcony ticket to see the Il Divo concert. Being me, my mind works best under duress (read: last minute effort), upon which, torrential ideas would flow ceaselessly. However, I am afraid, this last minute effort was a tad tardy to merit a winning prize for Aliah! Poor her.

"Accountant wins Il Divo concert grand prize" was the news few days after the dateline. And his slogan was nice. But mine was just as nice, I thought. Anyway, Aliah didn't win. Not even the consolation tickets. But her lucky friend won the RM 1K seat! She sent in 100 entries and Aliah sent one, so we don't need a genius to calculate the odds of winning, do we?

"Aku cuba pujuk abang aku beri tiket tu kat ko, ok?" said her guilty friend trying to persuade her brother to impart with the accompanying winning ticket. "Pujuk la. Abang ko pon bukan minat Il Divo. Dia mesti tidor bila masuk lagu ke dua" Alas, who would want to let go a RM 1K balcony seat to watch a singing pop-opera quartet? Never mind that you've never found their music genre pleasant to your ears before!

And so Aliah awaited patiently for her friend to return and amuse her with the luxurious once in a life-time experience. She was green with envy needless to say. For days she went moping and sulking around the house and praying for a good samaritan to buy her even the cheapest ticket which by the way is a whopping RM 500!

"Siti Nurhaliza and her step-sons were a few seats away from me". "Chef Wan was a few rows in front" "Even my 1K seat was not good enough to view the singers clearly" laments her friend. "I bought you this picture book about them. It costs 60 bucks mind you!" Well, at least she remembered Aliah and brought her back a memento.


So who is this Il Divo quartet you ask. Why is this sudden frenzy about them? Well, Il Divo is a group of 4 handsome, hunky, male classical singers whose songs are classified as pop-opera crossover. Meaning that they are pop songs, sang in the classical voice. The irony of it all is the fact that the group was initiated by Simon Cowell, the infamous American Idol judge. Looking at the group's great international success, we now know that Simon do have substance despite his outrageous and cynical comments on the AI show.

Not all can appreciate classical singing. Frankly, I never find classic tenors my cup of tea. But with Il Divo it's so much different because their songs are more contemporary and familiar. Listening to their effortless crooning performed in a distinctive stylish manner, one just warms up to their songs.

But pay at least RM 500 for their concert? Not in my life! Thus when Aliah had lost all hopes to attend the concert, she tried stretching her 'luck' further by persuading me to allow her to use her savings. My answer? "Awak nak habiskan duit tabung haji awak semata2 nak dengar dua jam orang melalak?" The question was a clear cynical answer from me, enough to make her stop whining! :p



Dearest Aliah,

I am sorry I was unable to fulfill your dream of watching the concert. I am dedicating the above beautiful song to you!
Love, Mak

24 comments:

pycnogenol said...

You are right there DITH. Il Divo have a great ability to express emotion through their songs. Their voices blend well together and it does not sound as if they are competing with each other.

And this is what Simon Cowell has to say of them:

"Il Divo have taught me more than I have taught them. I am actually intimidated and slightly in awe of their talent! I am more proud of this album than anything else I've ever been involved with, they are going to be huge." --Simon Cowell

I just wonder though, how Simon has taught them? Has anyone heard him sing?

dith said...

Another huge fan, I see, :p. You were there too at the concert eh?

pycnogenol said...

Yes I am indeed a great fan of the quartet and I wished I was there at their live concert, but I just couldnt bring myself to misappropriate my childrens' money at Tabung Haji too. ;)

And for you Aliah, I've posted another great song from Il Divo at my site. Enjoy.......

pycnogenol said...

I read the news in the Star about the winning slogan too. It was indeed nice. Care to share yours? I'm pretty sure yours must be equally good. Let us all be the unbiased Judges.

Anonymous said...

hohohoh.. nanti il divo kat indonesia aliah pergi ok..

Mama Sarah said...

DITH, when I was still in school, I was just too scared to even ask for RM10 from my parents! Let alone RM500 to watch a concert.

I'm sure Aliah is more sensible than that.

I can so imagine my own children trying to wind me up in the future, Mama, can I have RMXXXX? school project - after school activity - shopping spree - beauty parlour -

Although I'm sure they ask just to crack you up!

oh dear children... oh dear. must go read your Oh my dear children blog lah to wind down.

dith said...

Pycno- *gulp* Hehe..I was being a sour grape actually. Anyway I'll divulge my slogan soon but dont be disappointed tho!

Aliah- you dont give up do you?

Nisak- I've got 5 kids and each give me different headaches! :p but I pray they become anak yg solih...each and everyone!

Anonymous said...

headaches if you expect too much from them, beyond reality. they have weaknesses, so do we during our childhood and even adult life.

take all the problems as challenges and a test from God and we will be more content. Surah Ad-Dhuha and An-Nasr with God's help had guided me during my school days until now. Wallahu 'alam.

Anonymous said...

Children nowadays. When I was her age and my old man lupa nak bagi duit saku sekolah, nak remindkan pun tak berani but I notice he`s much more generous to his grand children.

dith said...

ikelah- Yes Sir!

khin- It's Aliah not Aliyah, :p

al babu- Boogey, orang zaman dulu, nak pandang mata ibu bapa pon tak berani, tanda hormat. Sekarang, budak2 boleh tepok tampar. I think it's wrong to treat our children as friends as this will make them lose respect towards their parents eh?

Jamil said...

Must have been quite a show for the tickets to cost at least half a grand.

That's almost two months of meals for me! (Still, I'm buying that camera, aren't I? Funny)

dith said...

Pycno-

here is the non-winning slogan: ...because watching Il Divo, performing in great salvo, a musical genre of pop-opera crossover, will be a lifetime experience that I'll treasure in the years after.

Hiyoshi:

WHat camera are you getting?

Queen Of The House said...

DITH, bukan Aliah saja yang kepingin nak gi tengok Il Divo -- me too!!! But like everyone else, tak sanggup nak dole out that much for a ticket. Tengok videos kat internet pun jadilah .... I've always loved classical music, and the kind of pop songs that Il Divo has 'adopted'. Take these songs and transform them ala classical - they've got a fan in me!! (He he dah puas dah I letak lagu2 Il Divo on my blog dulu, and dok berangan nak tengok concert ....)

Anonymous said...

patutla aliah nak pergi.. great song great music very soothing to the ear.Kalau dapat tiket free memang pergi,tapi kalau kena bayor, beli cd ajelah..hari-hari boleh dengar.

dith said...

QOTH-

Aliah asked me, would I still buy the ticket if I were filthy rich? I answered no, :p

easylady-

You are just like me, cheapskates! hehe. Semalam baru saya beli buku Amy Tan, Opposite of Fate, hard cover. I ve been eyeing that book since it came out few yrs ago. Semalam 3 copies of it were tagged at 14.90 at popular (the only big bookstore here). Apa lagi, I grabbed it like I've been given a free Il Divo ticket la! haha

Mama Sarah said...

Doc, what abou0t the pilates ball? have you managed to get it yet? What's the size? 65cm ke?

dith said...

Nisak:

Belum beli lagi laa....kat Kuantan susah sikit nak cari benda gini. I dont know what is the suitable size for me. They say they follow your height. SO I thot whenever I wanna buy, I'll tell my height and they'll know what's my ball size. I think I am still 5 ft 1 inch, unless I have grown taller since I last measured, hehe...btw, if only our weight stays put too, eh? hehe

Queen Of The House said...

Hee hee DITH, we can grow shorter at our age but definitely not taller!! (looks like I tinggi sikiiiit dari you lah!)

Aliah doesn't let up, does she? Kesian dia. My daughter told me Il Divo is having a second concert here after their Singapore concert. Entah betul tak? Kalau ye, you'd better be prepared for a second round of pleadings :-)

Mama Sarah said...

Once I bought a 60cm one (for Mynn), but I thought it was quite small. The one they provide me during labour was definitely bigger. (i'm guessing 65 or 75cm)

I'm sure you will do your research before purchasing it - although benda tu boleh dikatakan 'murah' je (brand apa, do you know?). TAkut jadi 'perhiasan' je nanti sebab malas nak pam bola tu.

Oh, the weight bit - I'm sure a healthy doctor like you does not weigh more than 120kg right. (that's the max user body weight for the one i'm looking at)

dith said...

QOTH-
shhh!!....jgn cakap kuat2. Kang dgr budak tu, payah kawe! :p

Nisak-
Nauzubillah 120kg!! :p. Tapi berat kawe memang tidak memberansangkan sekarang sbb tu kena exercise bagai nak rak.(tapi dah berhari2 tak exercise sbb tak sihat) Brand apa? Entah. Kawe ni tak kira. Asal bole pakai jadi le. Tak payah ler branded, macam ada org tu kena Nike ke, haha kononnya tahan lama, :p. Cap ayam pon jadi le, hehe. Nanti pergi KL nak cari.

Mama Sarah said...

Doc, I can get you from here. Birthday present. Cuma, 'postage/shipping' postpone sampai kita balik Msia boleh ke? but you need a pump to inflate the ball. Nak?

dith said...

Nisak,

Thanks! Birthday present eh? Pantang di offer! Bila nak balik ni?

HCI said...

Your statement: My answer? "Awak nak habiskan duit tabung haji awak semata2 nak dengar dua jam orang melalak?" The question was a clear cynical answer from me, enough to make her stop whining! :p

Masyaallah; menyegak betul kamu.
Biarlah dia pergi, kalau dia anak yang baik, dia tetap akan pergi Haji bila tiba waktunya.

dith said...

Has-

Menyegak tu apa? :p

Insyalah dia memang anak yang baik.


Bukit Tinggi 2008

Great Wall 2009

Followers

 

ReMiNiScEnCe....as the garden of memory grows arid... | Creative Commons Attribution- Noncommercial License | Dandy Dandilion Designed by Simply Fabulous Blogger Templates