Di sebalik tabir AJL 22

Me: Guys, a quick smile and pose for Mr. Manager please!

Faizal: Keluar blog esok lah!

Me: Malam ni jugak.

Cheryl: Kelasss!

Last night I attended TV3's Anugerah Juara Lagu 22 at Stadium Putra, Bukit Jalil. It was, by far, one of the best produced AJL's I have ever experienced. Plenty of colour, good sound, staging was immaculate, and the production flowed well. And one of the best line up of artistes in the history of AJL. I enjoyed myself. Excellent show, TV3!

Here are some exclusive backstage and post-party pics of the night.

TV3 host and presenter and producer-in-the making and best friend Sasha Bashir, producer Huda and I. Two overdressed bloggers and a producer who always carries a bag-pack on her back.

Huda: Jom, kita tangkap gambar.

Me: Jom! I bagi free, tak berbayar. Tapi tak exclusive lah. Oopppsss!!!

Huda: No comment!

Sasha: Vern, tadi this guy asked me how come I know you. Why is it that people think we only just met?

Me: Dunno. Maybe we should tell them I knew you long before you became famous.

Sasha: Famous ke?

Me: Well, people recognise you from TV, darling. That's being famous. Yes, I think we should tell our blog readers that we have been friends since those days.

Sasha: You mean waaaay back then when I was just a backing dancer for Ning?

Me: Oooooh...that's about 4 or 5 years ago, kan?

Sasha: Something like that lah.

Rizman and Ahmad making sure Nikki looked good.

Nikki on the red carpet, wearing a fabulous Rizman Ruzaini outfit.

My boyz, The Lima.

Bonnie: Abang, album The Lima sudah siap!

Me: Tahniah! Nanti abang beli satu.

Taura: Beli? Enggak boleh! Kita hadiahkan!

Me: Abang beli tanda sokongan.

Two divas, Dato Seri Hjh. Siti and Aishah.

Duet partners Misha and Andy.

Misha: Hi V!

Me: Hello M! Datang?

Misha: Datang!

This is how artistes queue back stage before they go on stage to perform.

Fazley and his manager, Syed.

Estranged, without Rich. Cheer up guys, and break a leg.

Estranged, with Rich. Looking pretty nervous.

Hidup orang Sarawak! Dayang and Bob.

Me: Kitak duak sik datang kelak kah?

Dayang: Sik. Kamek ada show di Istana Budaya.

Bob: Kamek jua. Nun di Limbang. Tapi padah ngan Ning kamek kirim salam tek.

Sweet Maya Karin.

Maya: Is it true?

Me: What's true?

Maya: That there'll be live chickens and goats?

Wardina, Norjuma, Sasha and Maya. All their names end with 'A'. Sweet.

Botak and I, in his dressing room.

Me: Jemput datang tau!

Mawi: Aku pergi Syria besok lah, beb. Takpe, kirim salam kat Kak Ning ok.

The resplendent Ziana.

Ziana: InsyaAllah, saya akan hadir nanti.

Me: Yay!

Nikki and Hazami, two minutes before they went up on stage to sing.

Nikki: I've done this so many times before but for some reason I'm feeling just a touch nervous tonight.

Hazami: A touch nervous? Darling, with 5 million people watching at home and another 5 million in here, who wouldn't be nervous, let alone just a touch?

Caramu!

Later at the post-party... producers Arab and Farihin and the gorgeous Syafinaz, who were also the jury for the competition.

Syafinas: Can I sing a song at the wedding, my gift to Ning?

Me: Of course!

Arab: Farihin, kita bawak gitar nanti dan nyanyi, nak?

Hady and I.

Hady: Yes, of course, I'll definitely come to the wedding.

Me: The girls are going to like that. And some of the boys too.

Dafi and Cikgu Najmi.

Dafi: Kan I told you already last week, I can't come lah Vern. Got show.

Cikgu: Cancel the show. Come.

The dashingly handsome and very talented Imran Ajmain.

Imran: Did you get my mesage on Myspace?

Me: Errr...I haven't checked my Myspace in yonks!

Imran: Go check it lah. Oh, by the way...errr... I have a confession. I wrote something in my multiply pages.

Imran made me cry. Why? Read it here.

Headmaster Ramli MS.

Ramli: Mana gua punya kad jemputan???

Me: Dah hantar dah. Betul. Cuba lu check kat reception.

Ramli: Tak dapat lagi lah. Reception tu bodoh.

Me: Takpe, lu datang je. Siapa berani tahan lu kat pintu dewan?

Ramli: A'ah kan. Gua lempang sebiji kang.

Three bachelors, Dafi, Awal and I.

Me: Awal, you're coming, right?

Awal: Sure. I love Kak Ning!

Me: Dafi doesn't. *siap buat muka merajuk*

Dafi: Aku ada show!

Awal: Cancel the show. Come.

Ameen OIAM, check out the fake tattoo.

Me: Nice tattoo, Ameen! Is it real?

Ameen: No lah. I went to the Quiksilver event yesterday, and they painted tattoos on us. Cool, kan?

Yeay! They won, and they're still looking nervous.

Andy: We still can't believe it lah Vern.

Rich: *total look of shock and silence as he nods in agreement*

Me: Believe it, you guys are the champions!

ESTRANGED has a blog, a myspace page and an official website. Go take a look, and for those of you who think that Azwin Andy is delicious, there are plenty of pics you can cuci mata with at their blog, like this one of his at TopMan, who sponsored ESTRANGED's outfits for last night's show:

photo credit ESTRANGED's blog

For more backstage pics, check out Sasha Bashir's blog.