SHAH ALAM: Rock singer Rahmad Tohak of Mega, the "protege" of award-winning singer-songwriter Hael Husaini Razmi bagged the grand prize of RM100,000 at the finals of reality talent show Terpaling Juara here tonight.
Rahmad sang Hafiz Suip's hit song Ku Akui beautifully and a powerful duet with Hael, Di Penjara Janji made popular by Datuk Awie.
"Thank you so much, Hael. We make a great team, and it was an exciting and inspirational eight weeks we have had together. I will always have fond memories of our partnership which is a two-way learning process," said Rahmad when he was announced as the winner.
The second prize of RM50,000 went to Aqmal Ramadan, 25, the protege of award-winning singer-actor Naim Daniel while the third prize of RM30,000 went to veteran singer Hazami, who was chosen as the "protege" of the show's third "captain", singer-actor Akim Ahmad.
The fourth-placed contestant, 26-year-old Shazreen Shaharum was Hael's other "protege".
Aqmal performed Faizal Tahir's hit song Sampai Syurga and a duet with Naim, Di Amaran Mama made popular by Hazama & The Penglipur Lara.
Hazami performed Khai Bahar's hit song Luluh and a duet with Akim, Joget Angan Tak Sudah made popular by Jay Jay.
Shazreen sang a cover version of Liza Hanim's hit song Gelisah Mimpi and a duet with Hael, Hati which was his hit song. She won RM10,000.
The eighth and final weekly episode of Terpaling Juara was broadcast live on TV3 from Sri Pentas 2, Plaza Alam Sentral here at 9pm.
With veteran rock singer and actor Datuk Hattan and veteran singer-actress Fauziah Latiff as the permanent judges and Datuk Seri Siti Nurhaliza as the guest judge, the two-hour reality show was co-hosted by singer-actress Shiha Zikir and television host Haziq Hussni.
Terpaling Juara began broadcasting on Aug 21, and it sees three established singers serve as "captains" of their respective teams. Each "captain" has two "proteges" comprising a veteran singer and a newcomer.
The "proteges", one of whom gets eliminated after scoring the lowest weekly marks determined by the judges, are required to perform the hit songs from the Anugerah Juara Lagu (AJL) music awards show's playlist.
A total of 70 per cent of the contestants' marks were awarded by the judges and the remaining 30 per cent by the audiences' votes.
Besides Hazami, Shazreen, Aqmal and Rahmad, the other "proteges" were Aqeesh Aleeya (Akim) and Ifa Raziah (Naim).