KUALA LUMPUR, February 17 — It was a testament of dedication at the 39th edition of Malaysia’s annual pop song competition, the Anugerah Juara Lagu (AJL39), when Sabahan singer Marsha Milan was crowned champion.
The 39-year-old captivated both the audience and jury with an emotional performance of her song ‘Hening Rindu’, composed by Ikhwan Fatanna and Wan Saleh with lyrics written by Ikhwan.
This is the first time Marsha has won the AJL, after 20 gruelling years in the local music industry.
“First of all, alhamdulillah, I still don’t know what to say but to everyone here who has been with me for the last 20 years until now where I finally won an AJL, I’m extremely grateful for all of your support.
“To be honest, the ‘Hening Rindu’ song actually reminds me of all the people that I loved who are no longer here and it became difficult for me because I’ve become attached to it.
“This trophy really means a lot to me because I’ve been trying to make a name for myself in the industry for the past 20 years and I think a lot of people saw my struggle in the industry and, alhamdulillah, this just means a lot to me,” she said.
Marsha, who began her career as a contestant in the third season of local popular singing competition Akademi Fantasia, also received a RM100,000 cash prize along with a trophy.
Aside from Marsha, AJL39 that took place at Axiata Arena Bukit Jalil last night also saw singer Nadeera Zaini clinching the second place for her song ‘Bukan Lagi Kita’, which was written and composed by fellow contestant Hael Husaini and Iqie Hugh.
Despite having been in the music industry since 2012, this is Nadeera’s first time competing in AJL.
The 32-year-old secured a RM50,000 cash prize along with a trophy.
Third place went to local band Akim & The Majistret who brought home a total of RM30,000 prize along with a trophy after giving a clean and energetic performance of their song ‘Saksama’ which was composed and written by the band themselves and Bunga Cantik.
Meanwhile, singer Aina Abdul obtaned a RM12,000 cash prize and a trophy after winning the Best Performance award through her song ‘Puas Sudah’ while Ernie Zakri also brought home a trophy and the same amount of cash reward after being awarded the Best Vocal Award for her performance of ‘Aura’.
AJL39 has a total of nine juries which consists of local industry experts including Fauziah Latif, Datuk Fauziah Nawi, Datuk Hattan, Datuk Ahmad Izham Omar, Ad Samad, LY, Edrie Hashim, Siti Hajar and Edry Abdul Halim as head of juries.
According to Edry, Marsha’s ‘Hening Rindu’, in terms of its technicality, had a lot of musical elements in it that ticked all the right boxes including in song progression, chords and arrangement as well as Marsha’s vocal performance which gave the song an edge.
“Each of us (juries) has our own preference but I did advise them to just do the right thing.
“We need your experience to properly judge the artistic value of each song and for Marsha, she scored a lot in terms of technical points.
“So, we need to judge based on those extra points as well,” Edry said.
This year’s AJL saw 10 finalists taking the centre stage and giving their best performances in front of 8,000 live audiences.
Other AJL39 finalists includes local band Masdo (featuring Aisyah Aziz), singers Hael Husaini, Hafiz Suip, Amir Masdi as well as rappers Benzooloo, Ghidd Isobahtos, Meerfly, Tuju and MK from K-Clique.
