Another singer bites the dust

Though I’m not familiar with her, I do know the name Amy Winehouse. As much as she’s been in the press, news of her death comes as a real shocker. Not as much as Michael Jackson to me, but enough to wonder what was the cause of it.

News sources say she was found in her apartment in the afternoon from drug overdose. Reading more on the news, apparently Amy was also booed at one of her concerts.

Well, it’s sad losing another artiste in the world. One female which many believe was making lots of headline and would’ve gone far. One of her famous songs you would’ve heard played on Malaysian radio; rehab.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LTPRJqt2z4]

Though I didn’t know you Amy, we’ll miss your presence and I hope you’re in a very good place, singing along side Kurt Cobain.

Credits: Amywinehouse.com

She was 27 and she left us on July 23, 2011.

My meeting with Zee Avi

Well, I definitely wasn’t happy forking out RM15 for parking to KL Life Centre at Zee Avi’s concert. But paying for her performance and her debut album; Zee Avi, was every penny well spent.

And the pennies were lucky ones. I won an invitation to the exclusive Meet & Greet session with the sultry voiced artiste; Zee Avi. 😀

Okay. I know most of you are not here to read what I thought of the Meet & greet session. So I’ll save it for later. Here are the selected photos taken by me on the day. Oh, photos have larger (800×600 ratio) versions so click ’em to view ’em. Enjoy!

rock corner
Rock Corner
staff
Making last minute arrangements
universal staff
Hawt Universal lady, no?

staff
Getting everything in order
staff
Signing in for the event
people
Someone got his guitar signed
brother sister
Brother waiting with his little sister
fans
Fans taking every opportunity to photograph Zee
zee adjusting her hair
Slowly having a space to photograph Zee
zee smiling
Zee was very happy to see a very young fan
zee's coffee
Even Zee Avi drinks Starbucks 😛
zee shaking hands
Zee enjoyed meeting a father and his very young daughter
Zee looking at poster
I'm not sure what were they looking at but must have been interesting
shot of the day
I'd say this was the best shot of the day

The event was suppose to start at 8pm but it only began around 8:30pm. There were actually 2 sessions because one of the fans I met the day told me, there was a newspaper advertisement saying anyone with a Zee Avi album may come to get an autograph too.

Because of this, the sessions were split into an autograph session followed by the meet & greet session. I’d say it was pretty well organized though weird because we queued on the right to sign in then moved to the left to enter for autographs later.

This was my first ever autograph session in my life. So embarrassing moment came when Zee Avi stared at me, waiting for me to tell her my name so she could write it on the cover. Though I was glad she did ask me:

What’s your name, luv?

*swoon* 🙂 LOL!

Once I got the autograph, I joined the rest of the non-media photographers gathered at the middle entrance trying our best to snap a photo of Zee Avi. Before the event, I did ask the hot Universal lady if photos were permitted during the meet & greet. She apologized and said personal photographs weren’t allowed.

However, can’t blame me if I joined the revolution which started. All I wanted were photos for this blog and spread word to people who still hasn’t heard of Zee Avi.

And I was really lucky to have grabbed these photos first. Because moments later, non-media were disallowed to get near the middle entrance to snap any photos of Zee Avi. Alas, some just stood further away. 😛

Once the autograph session was done, the invitees were asked to form lines of 10 people to go in and meet Zee Avi. We shook her hand and chatted for less than a minute before we were asked to huddle together like a school yearbook photo. No personal photos were taken here because of time shortage and it wasn’t allowed.

The group photos were going to be emailed to us and posted to the Universal Music Malaysia Facebook page later. However, I’m still waiting for the photo.

And I just had a thought, how will they identify which group we belonged to if there was more than 1 group photo with Zee Avi. Uh-oh.

Well, I’ll share the photo here once it’s been distributed. In the meantime, I’ve published the full album of Zee Avi photos on my photoblog and here’s the video again of the concert night. 🙂

See you when you came back home again, Zee. 🙂

Updated: March 25, 2010 – 8:35pm

Universal Music finally uploaded the photo to their Facebook. This was the photo from the album. Though I did some minor touch up.

group photo
Zee Avi and Us

Meeting Zee Avi in person

Today was the Meet & Greet organized by Universal Records. It was hosted at Rock Corner, Gardens. There was quite good a turnout of fans. Some I saw at the concert and some who wanted to meet her cause she was there.

Anyway, here’s a teaser photo for you.

photo of fans

The full writeup will come, soon. Just need to process the photos.

By the way, Zee is flying off to tour Australia this Thursday (I think). God speed, Zee.

Welcome home, Zee.

Last night was a concert by Zee Avi. And I know, I know, you may be asking; who is she? Well, trust me. My Dad could give the most random of answers when I told him I was going for her concert.

Zee Ar Vee? (CRV)

He was joking. But I do know, he’d definitely enjoy her music because he likes the blues and jazz too. I went to watch the concert with Ariel and we were a bit kiasu. Reached the KL Life Centre by 6pm. And already, some people were lining up. No surprise, huh.

Here’s a pictorial experience of the concert. 🙂

poster
Heading up the lift
photo
Joining the queue forming
photo
Seats and standing spots filling up
photo
Simple backdrop for the stage

photo
Emcee comes on
photo
Air Asia contest to fly to Bali for 2
photo
Guy versus Chic
photo
Girl goes first
photo
Guy pours his heart out for the win
photo
Guy walks away with prize - stewardess not included
photo
Zee Avi comes on

photo
Zee Avi strumming on the guitar
photo
Zee Avi giving the crowd their favourite - ukulele
photo
Zee Avi having a good time dancing
photo
Zee Avi's Dad joins her on stage
photo
Zee Avi thanks her Dad with a big hug
photo
Zee Avi gives her Dad the Gold Label award she won

And that was what the concert was like. What? Not feeling it? Okay, fine. Here’s a YouTube video for the less imaginative.

P.S.: Did you catch the blooper at the end of the video? 😉

The crowd was pretty decent. The main hall was filled while some strayed further to the sides so they could stand on higher ground to catch a glimpse of Zee Avi. The upper deck looked full with everyone sitting on benches you find in a basketball arena.

There was also a VIP area. And Ariel told me she saw Marina Mahathir too. When I turned to look, she was there with her daughter and husband. Then, I also noticed none other than Mr.Tony seated on the sofas.

Security was very well managed by Fat Boyz. Not only were you frisked for any weapons but while leaving, I noticed many DSLR handlers had to claim their batteries back at a table. Good try people.

During the concert, JessicaT was also asked by a security near the stage to handover her camera. However, she flashed the guy her crew tag and was left alone after that. Though there was 1 girl who managed to smuggle her camera in, as she pushed people aside to come center front – where I was standing.

Besides that, the performance was superb. Me and Ariel really love artistes who sound like themselves in real life compared to CDs. To me, that’s true talent and being yourself.

I was so impressed with Zee Avi, I bought her original CD as my support to her. I love her voice, her music and her personality. Definitely looking forward to the next album or when she’s down again.

If you didn’t know, Zee Avi was picked up by the record label; Monotone/Brushfire Records and is now in US. Her next tour stop is Australia.

But if you want to catch this petite artiste before that, she’ll be at a Meet and Greet session at Rock Corner, Gardens on Tuesday, 8pm. Though I think pre-requisite was you need to have her CD.

Oh, I’ve got but 1 dissatisfaction. The big momma standing beside me with her daughter was drowning me with her perfume. It was musky and strong. *blech*

Anyway, welcome home, Zee.

Zee Avi Live in Kuala Lumpur at KL Life Centre

I just got back from the Zee Avi concert after having to satisfy my temperament hunger. It was pure sultry sounds and she was simply awesome. I’ll leave you with a teaser for now.

photo

Coming up are more photos during the performance. And some videos of her and the Malaysian crowd giving their full support by singing along. It was excellent I tell you.

Thank God I’m not a football-holic. 😛

The full concert coverage with photos and videos has been published; welcome home, Zee.