A YEAR ago, talented siblings Shiha and Ieda Zikir lost a "gem of a man" who had encouraged them to reach for the stars.
He was Ieda's late husband, prominent director and veteran actor Majid Salleh, who died at the age of 65 after an illustrious, four-decade career.
Before he died, Majid encouraged Ieda to return to singing after a hiatus of more than a decade, preferably with her younger sister Shiha who has been a "shining star" in various reality shows.
DARK HORSE
Ieda, 44, teamed up with Shiha, 37, in the fourth and latest outing of TV3's popular reality contest Famili Duo which ran for eight weekly episodes until Dec 15.
Deemed the "dark horse" in the contest held at the ntv7 studio in Shah Alam, Selangor, the sisters "struck gold" in the final concert.
The Bukit Mertajam-born sisters fought stiff competition from two teams of talented cousins namely Negri Sembilan's Tomok (Shah Indrawan Ismail) and Shahrul Kamal, and Sabah's Salma Asis and Ayie Elham to win the grand prize of RM100,000 in the two-hour show broadcast live on TV3 at 9pm.
COVER
Rocker Ayie and vocal powerhouse Salma bagged the second prize of RM30,000, while 'One In A Million 3' winner Tomok and 'Akademi Fantasia 12' finalist Shahrul took home the RM20,000 third prize.
The sisters' star turn happened when they wowed judges Mas Idayu and Datuk Rosyam Nor, in their second performance, a cover version of Datuk M. Nasir's 'Mentera Semerah Padi'.
The duo had dressed up like warrior princesses and Shiha learnt basic silat over two weeks to prepare herself for the role of a Malay woman warrior.
DANCE
"I was coached by a female silat instructor who made the task a lot easier," said Shiha who shed tears of joy upon being announced as the winner.
Ieda said: "Shiha took the lead here, and truly took us out of our comfort zone. The choreography for this performance was tricky and challenging, and the process of getting made up was time-consuming.
"I was delighted to challenge myself."
Salma, 34, said that Ayie, 27, was the mastermind and adventurer of their team.
"Ayie was the ideas man from the word go and I was like his sidekick," she said.
Ayie said: "Salma held her own and contributed quite a few great ideas that made our performances magical.
"And I'm so glad my bandmates from Floor 88 gave us 100 per cent support."
Tomok said: "I love this show so much! Even if Shahrul and I did not win, we did win several weekly concerts and we did what we loved most."
Shahrul said: "All of our performances saw us put our heads together, and everything was from the heart. We just loved that it was very competitive because we thrive with challenges."
SHORT PLAY
The show's first segment saw each team perform a popular song of their choice, while the second required them to come up with a special "short play" to accompany their song.
In the first round, Tomok, 40, and Shahrul, 28, donned colourful Latin American outfits, accompanied by similarly-dressed dancers and sang a medley of 'Gadis Melayu' made popular by Datuk Jamal Abdillah and 'Lagu Jiwa Lagu Cinta' made popular by Nasir and Mawi.
Mas Idayu praised their "out of the box" effort and said that she had never imagined listening to two "wholly Malaysian" songs performed in a Latin American setting.
Salma and Ayie subsequently rocked the stage in futuristic costumes, accompanied by Floor 88.
The cousins belted out a Search medley comprising 'Mentari Merah Di Ufuk Timur' and 'Meniti Titian Usang'.
Rosyam said that the duo were always energetic on stage and often gave the most power-packed performances.
Shiha and Ieda took on Indonesian girl group Dewi Dewi's hit 'Doktor Cinta', giving it an electronic dance music sound.
Mas Idayu hailed their approach as "fresh and crisp" while Rosyam felt that their storytelling had to be "clearer".
LIVELY
In the second segment, Tomok and Shahrul got "macho" as spies fighting masked villains and zombies as they sang 'Menggegar Dunia' made popular by Adam Mat Saman and Stacy Anam, as well as 'Sang Saka Biru' made popular by Joe Flizzow.
Mas Idayu hailed their daring act which also saw them surrounded by rings of fire, while Rosyam called them a hard-working team that chose to pay tribute to the brave police and soldiers.
Salma and Ayie took a cue from hit movie 'Titanic' when they performed their second song, a medley of 'Kisah Ku Inginkan' made popular by Datuk Seri Siti Nurhaliza and Judika, and 'Haram' made popular by Dayang Nurfaizah and Hael Husaini Razmi.
Mas Idayu was impressed by the duo's performance of the medley "aboard a sinking ship", and loved their gimmick of "falling into the water" behind them.
"It's very creative, and I love that you've even taken videos of yourselves swimming in the water!" she said.
Famili Duo 4 was co-hosted by actress Janna Nick and comedian Sharif Doli of Zero.
The contestants' marks were determined by the judges (80 per cent) and the audiences' votes (20 per cent).