Konsert Satu Suara, Vol. 2

Background and development

Konsert Satu Suara, Vol. 2 was announced in October 2015 and staged in November 2015. It was Siti's contingency plan for the planned eight-day "bio-musical" theater about her life, which was postponed. The news of the postponement came to light in September 2015 when Siti was asked about its progress in an interview. On 5 October, she held a press conference at Istana Budaya to announce the news of Konsert Satu Suara, Vol. 2, her two-day concert with Hetty Koes Endang and Ramli Sarip which was to be held on 7 and 8 November at Istana Budaya. Citing the lack of sponsorship and financial constraints, she stated that the two-day concert was planned to take place as a replacement show for the same dates and venue that were rendered vacant upon the postponement of the originally planned theater. She commented on the situation, "Honestly [I am] not too disappointed when our first plan did not come to fruition. This is because we have been trying [to get a sponsorship] until late September but, unfortunately, the situation is not on our side. What [I am] sure is that there is a hikmah in all of these. Maybe I will be more prepared for the musical concert later."

Upon realizing that she and her company had to call off the theater in September, Siti only had two months to reschedule another performance to fill the vacant dates and venue. Although the concert was initially a contingency plan, both Hetty and Ramli agreed to perform with Siti for the two-day concert after she had come up with a single concept, following a single phone call to each of them. On why Hetty was chosen as one of the supporting acts, Siti explained, "I’ve always admired Hetty. In fact, I grew up appreciating her music and I still fall under the spell of her angelic and soulful voice. [...] Getting her to join me on a stage for the first time is a dream come true and I’m so looking forward to our big day." As for Ramli, Siti commented, "He is our finest rocker and his music is full of love, passion, and soul. It’s always an honour to collaborate with him as we are both perfectionists who love great music from the heart." According to Siti, both guest stars, whom she considered legends, were the right choices given the fact that their vocals and showmanship are still "on point," even if they were both over fifty years of age. Preparation for the concert also included a meeting between three of them. In choosing suitable songs to perform, Nurhaliza first had to envision how both of her guests would perform the chosen songs. This concert also marked the first time these artists shared the stage for a concert.

Konsert Satu Suara, Vol. 2 was the second installment of the Konsert Satu Suara series to be organized by Siti's company, Siti Nurhaliza Productions, with a cost of RM 500 000. The first concert, organized in 2010, also took place at Istana Budaya. Unlike the first concert, where Siti was only a guest starr for a concert by Aizat Amdan and Faizal Tahir, the second time around she took the center stage while being accompanied by two guests. The two-hour concert, featuring over 20 songs, had Aubrey Suwito as the musical director. All three artists performed a solo, duet, and trio. Most of the songs performed over the two nights of the concert were taken from their own compositions.

Fashion and stage

Siti's makeup on the first night of the concert was provided by Deqsha, while on the second night it was applied by Epie Temerloh. Her wardrobe for both nights was provided by four local designers – Rizman Ruzaini, Ezuwan Ismail, Faizel Azraf and Qudyn.

Concert synopsis

The two-hour concert began with an opening performance by Siti. She performed "Sendiri", one of the songs from her album Adiwarna, which she rarely performs live. It was followed by a performance of one of the singles from her 2013 album, Fragmen, "Terbaik Bagimu". In the next performance, she recalled the moment when she was still a shy young girl who was too scared to perform in front of a crowd. What she usually did was to sing in front of a mirror all by herself to the singing styles of Hetty Koes Endang. After the brief recollection, she performed "Hati Lebur Jadi Debu", a song by Hetty, who was also the next performer. Hetty began by performing two songs she is famous for; "Hadirlah Kasih" and "Kasih". During the performance of "Hadirlah Kasih", Hetty even riffed an air guitar while performing the song. A usually "melancholic ballad", "Kasih" was given a bossa nova touch for the two nights of the concert.

In the next part of the show, Siti returned to perform a medley of two other songs that she rarely performs live: "Bicara Manis Menghiris Kalbu" and "Kesilapanku Keegoanmu". The next four songs, "Bukan Cinta Biasa", "Pastikan", "Pedihnya Rasa", and "Rindu", were sung as duets by Siti and Hetty. "Bukan Cinta Biasa" was reworked to resemble traditional Malay music and keroncong. Siti then sang "Kamelia", a song made famous by Ramli Sarip. However, she changed the name from "Kamelia" to "Khalid Jiwa", the name of her husband. Before inviting Ramli to the stage, she recalled an incident when she was saved by Ramli when she almost fell into a pool of mud after a heavy downpour. Adding details to the story, Ramli also recalled the same incident when he signaled few men who were near Siti at that time not to touch her. The duo later performed "Dialah di Hati", "Teratai", "Doa Buat Kekasih" and "It Takes Two". Accompanied by a guest saxophonist, Jari, Ramli took the stage with his own solo performance of "Jikalau Berkasih" and "Budaya". After Ramli left the stage for his wardrobe change, Siti and Hetty performed a medley of "Kuda Hitam" and "Berdiri Bulu Romaku". For the final two songs of the night, Ramli joined Siti and Hetty on the stage to perform of "Lagu Rindu" and "Temasya Desa Gemalai".

Critical response

Overall, the concert received positive reviews from critics and reviewers. A number of critics questioned whether the collaboration would be successful, given that many of Siti's fans were relatively young, and unfamiliar with the songs of Ramli and Hetty. Izwan Mohd Isa of Kosmo commented, "Before the concert begins, there was a moment in my heart, why can't Siti alone lead the concert as a solo? Surely she will lead [the concert] flawlessly. However, [after watching the concert], those early doubts have to be cast far away."

The vocal performances of all three artists received positive reviews from the critics. Siti was praised for her vocal ability and dexterity. According to a reviewer from Utusan Malaysia, her vocals were able "to cause the body hair to stand on their ends", while "her spoken material was amusing and she sang like a prized songbird effortlessly" according to Deric Ect of Daily Seni. She was also praised for her ability to sing other artists' songs as her own. Ramlah Zainal of Harian Metro praised Ramli's vocals as "solid" and "unchanged" while Deric praised his voice as "booming, raspy vocals". Reviewers agreed that although Hetty was 58 during the concert, she showcased memorable performances. Deric Ect of Daily Seni commented, "At the age of 58, Hetty Koes Endang had the entirety of Istana Budaya eating out of her hand. Her charisma, energy and sense of humour shone brighter than ever; Hetty launched Konsert Satu Suara into the stratosphere last Sunday night." He also added "Showcasing pipes of steel, the veteran singer’s voice has gained an impressive strength after all these years." His comments were echoed by other reviewers. A reviewer from Utusan Malaysia commented, "Yes, her energy at the age of 58 is so impressive and her aura is so potent up to the point of every performance of hers was given a standing ovation [by the audience] and can be praised as a spectacular performance." Arif Nizam Abdullah of Malaysia Gazette commented that watching a duet between Siti and Hetty was like watching "a vocal showdown". He also added, at certain points of the concert, it was hard to discern to whom the notes belong, especially during the parts in the higher register. According to him, Siti personally acknowledged that she was blown away by Hetty during the concert. Many critics stated that the vocal comparisons were unfair, given how the artists differed in term of voice and experience. Zaidi Mohamad of Berita Harian stated "[...] this performance is not about a vocal war or their influences, on the contrary, all three figures have emphasized that they are united in the name of music. There was no questions on who is better or who can belts songs with high registers, because they are all [here] to entertain their beloved fans."

The choice of songs received mixed reviews. Deric Ect of Daily Seni commented that the songs performed were mostly "downtempo love songs" with "barely any upbeat numbers to help perk up sleepy audience members." Shazryn Mohd. Faizal of The Rakyat Post, on the other hand, preferred the duet between Ramli and Siti with the song "It Takes Two" was replaced with a more memorable duet song. Kamaruddin Razal of Murai, however, said that the duet of "It Takes Two" further showcased Siti's versatility as a multi-talented entertainer. Critics, however, praised the new arrangements for many of the songs that were performed during the two days of the concert.

Most of the reviewers and critics agreed that the concert, though it began as a contingency plan, left an immense impact. and generally was a success. Deric Ect of Daily Seni concluded his review with "This writer, who went to Istana Budaya merely to watch Siti Nurhaliza, ended the night with newfound interest for Malay music of the seventies, eighties and nineties. Now, if only we can get more young Malaysians to watch this sort of thing."

Set list

Source: Adapted from concert's press release.

Commercial performance

The concert was announced on 5 October 2015, and 80 percent of the tickets sold out in less than a month after they became available on 9 October. Listed from RM 78 to RM 518, the tickets were made available for online purchase from the online ticket vendor AirAsiaRedTix.com. The tickets were also available for manual pick-up from various select official physical ticket vendors. Datuk Juhari Shaarani, Istana Budaya's Director-general, commented in an interview that "Anything that involves Siti Nurhaliza, [has] never failed, especially her concerts. Siti is definitely still excellent as a crowd puller. [She can] organize any kinds of concerts at IB (Istana Budaya), [and] the results will be out of the ordinary."

In late December 2015, it was revealed that with attendance of 2500 people, Konsert Satu Suara, Vol. 2 generated more than RM 650 000 from the sale of tickets. Konsert Satu Suara, Vol. 2 was also crowned as the highest-grossing locally produced concert at Istana Budaya for 2015.

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