SINGAPORE – Malaysia’s Jaclyn Victor pipped Singapore’s Hady Mirza to the top prize of reality television singing competition All Stars Gegar Vaganza on Dec 10, with only five points separating the two of them.
The other finalists in the 10th season of the show were Tomok, Azharina, Siti Nordiana, Liza Hanim, Naqiu and Nikki Palikat.
Victor, 45, walked away with RM200,000 (S$57,500), a vacation package to Switzerland and a trophy. The eight finalists each won RM10,000 and a trophy.
Victor, and Hady, 43, were neck and neck during the 12-week competition. Another Singaporean, 32-year-old Aliff Aziz, was eliminated in week 10.
Victor, who was beaten to the Asian Idol title by Hady in 2007, sang When You Believe and Sandarkan Pada Kenangan, a duet with Dato Jamal Abdillah. She also performed a rap battle with Siti, Tomok and Liza, singing Kill This Love.
Gegar Vaganza, the annual television show by Malaysia broadcaster Astro, is a singing competition featuring mostly contestants who are either veterans or established names in the Malay music industry.
The finals of this year’s Gegar Vaganza were held at Axiata Arena Bukit Jalil in Kuala Lumpur in front of 16,000 fans.
The winner was decided by a panel of judges comprising music industry veterans Datuk Ramli MS, Hetty Koes Endang, Datuk Syafinaz Selamat and Ella.
Hady – who was co-winner of the sixth season of Gegar Vaganza in 2019 – sang Making Love Out Of Nothing At All, followed by Seandainya Masih Ada Cinta with Dayang Nurfaizah.
He also performed a rap battle, singing the K-pop hit Sorry, Sorry, with three other finalists.
After the show, Hady thanked his supporters in a video post on Instagram, saying: “Thank you for your support... Your screams just now in Axiata were overwhelming and unbelievable. Thank you, thank you so much... For all these past 12 weeks, I really, really appreciate it. This is yours (pointing to his trophy)... I really feel that I won because I have won all of your hearts.”
The Straits Times has contacted Hady for more information.
