New angles needed for AF brand

HE'S known for maintaining a poker face throughout even the most dif­ficult of Press conferences, and deftly manoeuvring his way about the most difficult of questions.

Astro Entertainment Sdn Bhd (AESB) executive director Zainir Aminullah (below) brushed off the data pointing to the failure of AF8.

He called the figures merely "raw data", and insists "we can always look at specifics." Shrewd as his answer are, however, it was indeed heartening to hear that Zainir admitted that, "AF as a brand, is tired, past its prime."

He refuses to crucify the production team which has been responsible for making the whole show a pale shad­ow of the Idol format in every sense. This includes splitting the concert into two separate shows, making the other programme strictly a results show just like American Idol. The new format did not seem to go down well with fans.
zainir
Strangely enough, however, he did go to great lengths to explain that it was the split that caused lower num­bers to tune in to Akademi Fantasia.

"People want to aim for the results. If we wanted, we could have done that again and allowed the numbers to grow, but we didn't want to do that.

"That caused the concert figures to be lower."

Zainir however did not reveal whether Debaran Akademi Fantasia did any better than previous off-shoot programming on Sundays nor did he reveal any figures.

Maintaining his stand and in de­fence of the production's eccentric choice of revamping the show, Zainir said the brand needed new angles.

"I think criticism has been fair, and it has been aggressive. But maybe next year, we'll do dif­ferent things. One thing for sure is, no­body can expect us to go back to the old formula," he said.

"The essence of Akademi Fantasia is still the training, the struggle, the self-challenges and the drama we hope to bring out, whether it's Diari or Konsert or Debaran."

There is a constant need to keep changing things up, according to Zainir.

"We have to keep making changes, and whether we do it or not, we will always have detractors. But we realise that, as a brand, it will die out if we don't (make changes). It needs accel­eration.

"And with that, we don't know what direction we will take with AF9." Not that there's any guarantee that there will be a next season, as he re­fuses to give any indication. However, word on the street is that there will be at least another season.

Zainir finds success even in the low­est of lows despite having the figures raised during the Press conference.

"The essence of why we wanted to do it this way, was to get a spread for our channel. If the slot were to enjoy more view­ership, we might move Akademi Fanta­sia elsewhere."

He explained it's a global practise and that it was nothing unusual. Zainir went on to explain how the Sunday night slot has been a success, and continued to insist that it sur­passed figures of AF7 though unable to provide the breakdown that indicated so.

"Whatever it is, it's important to note it has gone into its eighth season. It is hard to sustain, and a challenge for programming and production but it still retains its spot as number one even with the criticisms and the weaknesses which we acknowledge. "I admit it is tiring to keep up with the pace and keep things on the same pace."

Having said that, he still insists it was a great final concert that was tight and well executed. So the question now remains, is Aka­demi Fantasia still aimed at recruiting fresh new talents, or now merely a vic­tim of its own past successes in being a pawn for business?