Akademi Fantasia
Akademi Fantasia is
Malaysia's first
reality show, which brought big changes to Malaysian entertainment scene in the year 2003, when the first season of the show aired by
Astro's Ria.
At the beginning, 12 contestants (called students) will stay in a house called "Akademi" and spend their whole time practicing songs, acting and other activities that are related to performing arts. The classes are held by professional trainers (called teachers) that form part of a faculty
The host of the show is Aznil Hj Nawawi, a popular Malaysian TV host. He is known for adding humour to the proceedings. The academy is lead by the "Principal". For the past 3 seasons of the show, the principal has changed every year. Astro Ria is currently showing season 4 of the show with 12 new contestants, a new principal but the host of the show is still the same.
The format of the show is taken from "
La Academia", which originated in Mexico. Malaysia is the first country in Southeast Asia to have its own version of this show, and it has subsequently been followed by Indonesia and Thailand, all of which have been received better than the regional reach of the Idol series.
Winners of the series have all gone on to become the biggest selling music acts in the sountry, with even former contestants making themselves a permanent fixture in the local music industry.
The winners of the four seasons have been
Vince,
Zahid,
Mawi who are among the biggest names in the business as well as the more recent winner, Faizal.
The contestants for Akademi Fantasia are selected through auditions nationwide. Sometimes, there are some additional contestants selected via a special prelude concert right before the beginning of a season, for example
Mawi of Akademi Fantasia 3. The contestants will undergo special classes such as vocal and choreography trained by professionals (usually Malaysian singers or composers). They will train everyday for weekly concerts which are usually held in Saturday.
The judgement system is solely depending on audiences'
SMS votes and Astro decoder votes (Astro users may need to connect their decoders to the phone line to vote) which costs RM0.50 per vote, where the contestants with the lowest SMS votes will be eliminated every week. There are about 10 weeks for each season and the final contestant who are survived during the 10-week period will make it to the final concert.
The main controversy during Akademi Fantasia season is about the judging system which is solely depending on SMS and Astro decoder votes. The judging system is heavily criticized because many audience only vote their favorite contestants based on their looks and not their talents.
*Principal: Freddie Fernandez
*Champions:
Vince*Second Place:
Khai*Third Place:
Azizi*Principal: Ramli M.S
*Champions:
Zahid*Second Place:
Linda*Third Place:
Adam*Principal:
M Nasir*Champions:
Mawi*Second Place:
Felix*Third Place: Amylea
*Principal:
Ramli Sarip*Champions:
Faizal*Second Place:
Lotter*Third Place:
Farhan*
The official website
