Jaclyn Victor at MTV awards

The star-studded MTV Asia Awards 2008, which made its Malaysian debut here last night, lived up to its top billing with glitz, glamour, good music and exhilarating performances.

Entering its sixth edition, the awards ceremony which saw 18 regional and international awards being presented, had previously been hosted in Singapore and Bangkok.

Held at the 6,000-capacity Arena of Stars, the regional awards show saw thrilling live performances with lively guest presenter appearances from an international cast, such as Jabbawockeez, Leona Lewis, OneRepublic, The Click Five, The Pussycat Dolls, The Script (a new pop sensation from Ireland), ably backed by our very own stars Pop Shuvit, Jaclyn Victor and Joe Flizzow.

US rockers Panic At The Disco brought the proceedings to a close with a flourish, performing two of their biggest hits - I Write Sins Not Tragedies and Nine In The Afternoon, with the latter delivered complete with a local marching band, flamenco dancers and a gymnastic team.

Playing host alongside Hong Kong actress/singer Karen Mok was Hollywood heartthrob and rock star Jared Leto, frontman for US rock band 30 Seconds To Mars.

His acting resume includes Panic Room, Fight Club and Requiem For A Dream.

The big winner of the night was Linkin Park, who swooped the coveted “Favourite International Artist In Asia” award, confirming their enduring popularity among Asian fans.

British singing sensation Leona Lewis, who is enjoying unprecedented success on both sides of the Atlantic with her blend of smooth R&B won the “Breakthrough Artist” award while her English counterparts, edgy alternative rockers Radiohead, walked away with the “Innovation” award.

Muse, another British act, also found themselves among the winners with their Asian Tour being awarded the “Bring Da House Down” award.

Flying the flag for the Asian contingent was Taiwanese pop star Show Lo who grabbed the “Favourite Artist Taiwan” award.

Korean boyband Super Junior was “Favourite Artist Korea” while Chinese pop crooner Nicholas Teo was the fans' choice for the “Favourite Artist Malaysia” award.

Host Leto was not left out with his band clinching the “Video Star” award for their song A Beautiful Lie which was shot in Greenland.

His co-host also didn’t leave empty-handed with the Hong Kong star being presented the “Inspiration” award.

The MTV Asia Awards 2008 was sponsored by Esprit, Tourism Malaysia and Genting–City of Entertainment and locally sponsored by Xpax in Malaysia.

Post-Idol career of Jaclyn Victor

Victor's album achieved gold status within weeks of going on sale. Her previously-released album Dream, sold out within days, despite the sudden increase in price. She won the "Best Newcomer Award" on Hitz. FM and "Best New Artist" in Anugerah Bintang Popular.

Since winning, Victor has appeared in numerous television and talk shows such as Pillow Talk and Muzik-Muzik. She has also performed "Gemilang" at a Tsunami Concert held to aid victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. She has performed in duets with Hazami, Taufik Batisah, Akademi Fantasia's second winner, Zahid, Delon Thamrin, and Misha Omar.

Victor emerged as the champion during the Asian Music Festival in Shanghai with her winning song, "Gemilang". On 21 January 2006, Victor walked away with RTM Hits 1 Best Song and Best Performance awards for Gemilang. Later, on 5 February the same year, the song earned her and its composer Aubrey Suwito and lyricist Azmin Mudin the "Juara Lagu" (Champion of Songs) and "Best Ballad Song" awards in TV3's 20th edition of the Anugerah Juara Lagu. She was expected to win the TV3's "Anugerah Vokal Terbaik" (Best Vocal Award). However, she lost the title to Hazami who performed "Kata". Victor grabbed the Best Female Artiste award at the Anugerah Planet Muzik (Music Planet Awards) in Singapore on 24 March.

On April 29, 2006, Victor won four of seven nominations from the Malaysian music scene's biggest night, the 13th Anugerah Industri Muzik. They are Best New Artist, Best Musical Arrangement in a Song, Best Pop Album and Best Album.

After a series of delays, Victor's second album, Inilah Jac, was launched on 25 August 2006. Around the time it was launched, she was on a trip to Australia for both leisure and business purposes, including visiting Mount Buller, and performing in two concerts in Melbourne's Australia for Christ Fellowship Church (alongside singer-songwriter Juwita Suwito), and in Adelaide's Paradise Community Church (which inaugural Australian Idol winner Guy Sebastian is a member of; though Sebastian himself did not appear). While in Australia, Victor also did an interview for gospel radio station HCJB.

In November 2006, she finally landed her first "proper" music video (previously her videos are snippets from studio recording sessions or footage from her Malaysian Idol days) when she filmed Ceritera Cinta with male crooner Rio Febrian in his homeland in Indonesia.

2007 was a very busy year for Jaclyn. She competed in the Ikon Malaysia 2007 (solo category) competition. Victor breezed through to the Semi-Finals and made it to the Final round along with Dayang Nurfaizah and Mawi. In the final, Jac sang a medley of songs which is "Impian" (hope) from her first album, "Cepat-cepat" in her second album and her third song "Gemilang", and won the title Ikon Malaysia. Later competed in Ikon Asean then to be defeated by Philippines' Vina Morales.

Later that year, she participated in Asian Idol which was won by Singapore's Hady Mirza.

At the 14th Anugerah Industri Muzik (AIM) Malaysia, on the 28th of April 2007, Jac was nominated for 4 awards - Best Vocal Performance in an Album - Female; Best Music Arrangement in a song - Inilah Masanya; Best Pop Album, Inilah Jac; Ceritera Cinta - Song of the year. Jac won the "Best Female Vocal Performance in an Album" award. Jac also received two APM nominations, all of which are attributed to Inilah Jac.

Jac was featured on the highly anticipated Special Edition of Disney studio's High School Musical 2 soundtrack. She sang the duet "You Are The Music In Me" in both English and Bahasa Malaysia with another singing reality-tv program "Akademi Fantasia" season 1 Winner, Vince Chong. A music video and nationwide mall tour followed for fans, both young and old of the High School Musical franchise. The video of their version of the song is now on the Special Edition DVD of High School Musical 2 (2008).

As part of the year-long "50 years of Malaysian Independence" celebrations, Jac was part of the "Live and Loud KL" concert series which featured international and local artists. This 10-day jam-packed music extravaganza featured a wide range of genres and over 50 of the planet’s hottest artistes, with more than 45 hours of live music. The festival was held from the 23rd of November until the 2nd of December, where each passing day gave festival-goers a different genre, a different theme, a different repertoire, a different venue and most definitely different stars. Whitney Houston, Elliot Yamin (Americal Idol), Shaggy, Project Pop, James Taylor Quartet, Joe Flizzow and Hannah Tan (Malaysia) where just some of the many acts to shine alongside Jaclyn herself.

Prior to Christmas 2007, Jac flew to Moscow, Russia for a number of tour dates there. Once again, she wowed her audiences who were constantly demanding copies of her albums. This proved that her talents can cross borders, regardless of different languages or cultures. Jac is an artiste of international standing.

Jac also performed during the 8TV (Malaysia) 4th birthday bash in January 2008 to a very large crowd of cheering fans - and her talents were a true highlight of the event.

On January 27th, 2008 the finals of the annual Anugerah Juara Lagu (Best Song) Awards in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, were held. After a long and difficult competition, Jac won the coveted Best Vocal Award (along with Lah from VE) for their rendition of Jac's beautiful duet "Ceritera Cinta" (originally with Indonesian singer, Rio Febrian). The song can be found on Jac's Second SONY BMG album - Inilah Jac.

Thus far, two of her songs have been used as opening themes for two Malaysian television series, Fara (Cepat-Cepat) and Manjalara (Satu Harapan).

Fan club

• The current official fan club of Jaclyn Victor is jaclynvictor.net, which was opened in August 2007, having taken over from Jacsville which was launched in 2004, shortly after Victor won Malaysian Idol.

Current developments

• She has also reportedly been invited to star in a film by Mamat Khalid but declined; she also landed a cameo appearance in upcoming local horror film Susuk.

Reactions on Asian Idol Results

Hady Mirza's win came as a surprise, as at least three of the judges predicted that the winner would either be Marcelo, Mohede, or Victor.

There were claims that Hady may have gotten the crucial second vote outside of his home country, wherein it is claimed that votes for strong candidates were paired with weak ones like Hady and Sawant who were trailing in Asian Idol's online survey. This voting tactic was said to avoid viewers' home Idols be beaten by their closest rivals.

In Singapore, the victory stirred hopes of a revival of the country's golden age of music during the 1960's and 70's. Taufik Batisah, first season winner of Singapore Idol, said that the win is something their country should be proud of and hopefully this would "open the eyes and ears" of listeners. However, there were viewers in Singapore who still doubt Hady's singing ability, claiming that his performance in Asian Idol was not as strong as other competitors and it was a matter of "luck over talent". Singapore Idol judge Ken Lim reiterated that "looks and voice" had won the title for Hady.

Meanwhile, Hady shrugged off speculations that he won because he was a "non-threat", but considered himself an underdog and that he did "pretty well" in terms of sincerity and connecting with the audience.

Filipino TV and movie critic Nestor U. Torre mentioned that he was not surprised about Hady's win, even lauding him for his "impressively cool yet dynamic" performances. He also appreciated Victor and Phuong Vy's performances. While Torre was also equally impressed by Marcelo and Mohede's voices, he also said that their girth worked to their disadvantage. On Sawant, Torre noted that his "balladeer" projection was "less dynamic" with his country's large voting population failing him. Despite the surprises and disappointments in the competition, Torre regarded Asian Idol a success as it produced relatively new talents in the Asian and international music scene.

Jaclyn Victor

Jaclyn A/P Joshua Thanaraj Victor or popularly known as Jac, was the winner of the first season of Malaysian Idol. Along with the title, she won a recording contract under Sony BMG Entertainment and collaborated with famous composers such as Aubrey Suwito, Azlan Abu Hassan, and Ajai.

Jac was born in Kepong, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on December 4, 1978. She is the eldest daughter with Indian descent and has 3 younger brothers. When she was 9, Jac�s father passed away, forcing her mother to take on 3 jobs simultaneously to support her four children. So to help the financial burdens of her family, Jac at the age of 18, started singing in clubs and hotel lounges.

With the support of friends and family, in 2002 Jac and her friend recorded an album, titled Dream. This self-produced album features songs co-written by Jac as well.

Her mother finally encouraged her to audition for Malaysian Idol in 2004. Jac had become the final two contestants on Malaysian Idol, and on October 16, she took the title of Malaysian Idol, earning 76% of audience votes over Dina. Her favorite activities are singing, reading, traveling, swimming, and shopping, while her most favorite artists include Aretha Franklin and Steven Tyler.

Technorati Tags: Jaclyn Victor,Malaysian Idol,Asian Idol

Asian Idol Participation

The first season was hosted by Amelia "Ata" Natasha and Daniel Mananta, both from Indonesian Idol, and Malaysian Idol's Soo Kui Jien.

Each participating country had its own system of determining its representative.

As a kickoff to Asian Idol, all six contestants were introduced through a special presentation called Road to Asian Idol on December 8, 2007. Meanwhile, fans of each contestant will be able to choose the song they want their Idol to perform before the Asian Idol performance show. The Idols performed two songs each—one in English and another in their native language.

In addition to the coverage of Asian Idol, RCTI ran a series of features called Asian Idol Extra between late November to mid-December 2007.

Every competing country sent a judge to serve as the contestants' critics, but comments from only three judges on each performer were shown due to time constraints.

Special guests in the Results Show included American Idol winner Taylor Hicks, Australian Idol winner Guy Sebastian, Indian Idol judge Alisha Chinai, and Vietnam Idol judge Siu Black. It also featured performances by Rivermaya, Peterpan, and Agnes Monica.

The production of Asian Idol was put up with the help of the production crew from Australian Idol.

Participation details

The table below lists the contenders in Asian Idol and the songs that each performed. It also lists the representative judges and the TV networks that participated in the show. Kazakhstan's franchise is also listed below because it was originally in the line-up of countries for the show. Gold background indicates the winner of the competition and the songs performed.

Asian Idol Franchise - Representative Idol - English song:

Indian Idol - Abhijeet Sawant - (Everything I Do) I Do It For You
Indonesian Idol - Mike Mohede - I Believe I Can Fly
Malaysian Idol - Jaclyn Victor - For Once in My Life
Philippine Idol - Mau Marcelo - Reach
Singapore Idol - Hady Mirza - Beautiful Day
Vietnam Idol - Phuong Vy - River Deep - Mountain High

Jac to rock at ’Asian Idol’ contest

MALAYSIAN Idol winner and recording artiste Jaclyn Victor, 29, carries the hopes of the country when she participates in the first-ever Asian Idol next week.

Jaclyn said: “The Asian Idol is a good chance to show the world that Asia has talent. Perhaps Freemantle (the organiser) would want to turn more towards Asia.”

The Asian Idol also features winners from Indonesia, India, Singapore, Vietnam and the Philippines.

The show will be broadcast live to the six countries on Saturday at 9pm (10pm Kuala Lumpur time).

Viewers will vote for the winner. The number to call will be announced later.

Jaclyn said she was excited to be among the top talents in Asia.

“The people here are talented. I am happy to be with them and I know I will learn from them. I am not going to rate my chances in the competition because it could go in any way.”

She said was nervous about the big day.

“I am going to control my nerves and turn it into positive energy in my performance next week.”

Dressed in jeans and sequinned print blouse, she looked trendy and poised when she took to the stage with the other contestants for a press preview yesterday.

She sang George Benson’s Masquerade. The reporters broke into applause.

Vietnam Idol Phuong Vy, 20, stunned the room as her voice was strong yet expressive.

Indonesian Idol Mike, 24, lost 8kg for the competition.

“I lost the weight in two months. I now weigh 112kg.

“This helps me to sing better in terms of breathing and projecting my voice.”

But Mike’s love for food is mirrored in his hospitality; he plans to take his Idol friends to taste the food here.

He said: “I want to take them to try traditional food, Sundanese food and bakso (meatballs) noodles.”

Singapore is represented by Hady Miza while the Philippines sent Mau Marcelo.

India is represented by Abhijeet, a singer with Bollywood looks.

Technorati Tags: Jaclyn Victor,Malaysian Idol,Asian Idol

The New Straits Times Online......

Meet the Asian Idol Contestants

After Indonesia has chosen their idol who is Mike Mohede last November 24, the roster of Idol competitors for the upcoming Asian Idol is now complete. The remaining five are Indian Idol Abhijeet Sawant, Malaysian Idol Jaclyn Victor, Philippine Idol Mau Marcelo, Vietnam Idol Phuong Vy and Singaporean Idol Hady Mirza.

On December 15, the Finals Performance Show will be aired (locally on ABC 5), the public will be given 24 hours to vote two Idols they want to be the first Asian Idol, and on December 16, the first Asian Idol will be proclaimed!

Asian Idol will be hosted by Indonesian Idol hosts Amelia Natasha and Daniel Mananta. Guy Sebastian, the first Australian Idol will be a guest in the said Finals.