Asmidar’s biggest wish

Winner of Vokal Bukan Sekadar Rupa, Asmidar dreams of working with the entertainment industry’s greats, writes Bibi Nurshuhada Ramli

SOMETIMES a passion that starts young can spur one to a great future. That seems to be the case with Vokal Bukan Sekadar Rupa winner Asmidar, whose musical journey began when she was in kindergarten.

“My parents have always been very supportive. Since I was in Standard Two, they found outfits for me and even drove me all over the country so I could take part in singing competitions,” says the 26-year-old Kuala Lumpur native.

“My first appearance on TV was for Konsert Perdana when I was in Standard Two and I performed with some of the country’s biggest stars at that time.”

Since then, she has performed on bigger stages. In 2001, she took part in Bintang RTM and Sinaran Passport Kegemilangan and won second and third place respectively.

In 2009, she joined Siti Sarah Raisuddin, Bob AF2 and Tom (of Mystarz LG) to compete in World Championship of Performing Arts  in Los Angeles.

Asmidar says she did get an offer to sign a recording contract after her Bintang RTM competition, but she was still young then and her studies were her priority, so she didn’t take up the offer.

But luck was on her side and many singing opportunities came her way in the years to come. She never let go of her passion for singing and pursued her tertiary education in music at Mara University Of Technology (UiTM).

When auditions for Vokal Bukan Sekadar Rupa came around, Asmidar wasn’t exactly thrilled because she didn’t favour the reality show genre then.

“I know we can’t deny the ability of reality competitions to attract promising talents but I noticed that there was a lot of drama involved and I didn’t really like that.”

She gave Mentor Season Six a try last year but  lost the chance to be Sharifah Aini’s protege to Shiha, who later became a finalist.

“When Vokal came around, I didn’t even consider entering because of my disappointing experience on Mentor, but eventually I did because of my mother’s encouragement.”

She says if it weren’t for her mother, she wouldn’t have dreamt of joining Vokal. “You have to queue for hours to audition. I didn’t want to go through all of that,” she says, laughing.

Her initial thoughts  on reality  competitions changed when she met her fellow contestants in Vokal. Everyone didn’t have the complete package so she felt that it was fair.

“We were comfortable with each other and supported each other through tough times. There was no drama at all.”

Although she had lots of fun with other contestants, Asmidar can’t say that she had the same experience with Azmeer, a successful composer-songwriter and a member of the jury.

“Although it was an honour to work with him, he was tough with us on many occasions. He scolded us many times. I remember him commenting during a live show, ‘This is rubbish!’,” she recalls. “He was sorely disappointed in our performance that week. We were really scared!”

Winning Vokal earned her a trophy and RM50,000 which she plans to invest in the production of her debut album.

Asmidar recently joined Warner Music and plans to start on her album this month. “I’m so thankful to have been able to work with composers such as Dimas, Ajai, Azmeer, but as a singer, I have dreams of working with the greats including Datuk Ramli MS, Audi Mok, Aubrey Suwito and Datuk M. Nasir.”

Asmidar actually had done some songwriting while in UiTM.  “My uni-mates and I have our own indie band called The Wknd Sessions for which the guitarist Izaad Amir and I would compose songs,” she says.

“I know the name Asmidar is still new in this industry, but thankfully my Vokal song Biar Sampai Ke Bintang is positively received by people, so I’m only riding on its popularity,” she  says.

She is sometimes recognised when she goes out in public and she feels appreciated. “Even though I’m not as free as I was before to do certain things, this ride has been a blessing for me,” she says.

“I have many more missions in life, but so far, this start to my career is going as planned. I know there are many obstacles ahead, but I’ve decided to be  where I am now, so I hope to overcome them one at a time.”

 

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