Content area
Full Text
IT'S the festive season and you are throwing a dinner party for your friends and family. Being in a generous and expansive mood, you want top entertainment. SHUIB TAIB goes undercover to "book" the big names for your party.
DATUK SITI NURHALIZA
* RM45,000 for a 30-minute show
* RM70,000 for a one-hour show
SINCE winning the Bintang HMI more than a decade ago, Siti has remained as one of the strongest, most versatile and richest artistes the industry has ever known. Her vocal prowess is legendary. Her awards speak for themselves. Her influence is huge.
Her popularity is not only felt in Malaysia, but also in Indonesia, Singapore and Brunei. She is also the first Southeast Asian artiste to have held a solo concert at the Royal Albert Hall, London.
Siti's career defies showbiz logic, if we could call it that. Married artistes have a tough time keeping their fans but not in the case of Siti.
Siti does not accept many single singing engagements now that she is married, but when she was single, she was known to have five shows a week.
"That is how I get my vocal practice because I do serious singing almost every day," she once said.
Having released her latest album Tahajjud Cinta, Siti - who is also adept at tackling irama Malaysia, pop, soft rock, pop rock, R&B and dance-pop as well as English numbers - is expected to dominate the airwaves, too.
She has released 14 studio albums, nine video albums, seven concert albums, DVDs, compilations (both solo and otherwise) and live albums, making her the most active and saleable local artiste.
DATUK SHEILA MAJID
* RM35,000 for a 30-minute show
* RM55,000 for a one-hour show
WITH her trademark pop music mixed with jazz and R&B, Sheila is among the few who broke into the impenetrable Indonesian market.
The release of her album Emosi in Indonesia only further endeared her to the fans there.
Her popularity in Indonesia was boosted when she went on a nationwide tour there in 1988 that received overwhelming response.
From Indonesia Sheila spread her wings to Japan where she performed at the Tokyo Music Festival in 1989.
She left such an impression at the Okinawa Music Pageant in 1990...