KUALA LUMPUR: Asmawi “Mawi” Ani, who became a brief pop phenomenon 13 years ago, has lots of fond memories of the TV programme that discovered him.
The Kulai-born singer and actor, who was dubbed “Tsumawi” for his popularity and landslide victory in the Season 3 of reality talent show Akademi Fantasia (AF) remembers having only a couple of hours of sleep while preparing for his weekly elimination concert, and angering his principal Datuk M. Nasir for “not singing right”.
“I recorded the song Aduh Saleha for 16 hours at Nasir’s Luncai Emas Studio in Sungai Buloh, from midnight until it was almost sunrise. And from time to time, I sang out of tune, and earned a sound scolding from him,” said Mawi in a recent news report.
Mawi who recently celebrated his 13th anniversary as an artiste, worked hard and improved his singing, impressing Nasir with his work ethic. After he won the reality show, they recorded the hit duet Lagu Jiwa Lagu Cinta.
Persatuan Karyawan Malaysia president Datuk Freddie Fernandez, who managed Mawi as chief operating officer of Maestro Talent And Management Sdn Bhd at the time, said the singer showed 100 per cent commitment to his career from Day One.
“Mawi had a concert in Johor where he entertained the crowd for five hours until 2am. He only had two hours of sleep that night, because we had to go back to the Klang Valley for a 9am press conference. Despite feeling tired, he showed professionalism and arrived punctually for the morning event,” he said.
Thanking his mentors and fans for “making him a star”, Mawi said his “phenomenal” days might be over, but his passion for music remained the same.
The 37-year-old artiste will star in award-winning director and actor Syamsul Yusof’s thriller Munafik 2non Aug 30.
BHe and Syamsul have recorded a duet Kerana Dunia as its theme song.
Mawi has three albums to his credit, and has starred in the films Jin Nottinand Magika.
He has also won Most Popular Artiste at Anugerah Bintang Popular Berita Harian from 2005 to 2007.