You believe in Hadi Mirza?
Oh yes.
And you coached him?
Yes.
For the Asian Idol finals that he won?
No, I didn't.
Okay.
Which one do you coach him for?
For which one do you coach him for?
Okay.
I basically I just coached him as a performer.
Hi everyone.
Welcome to episode 8 of season 3 of the Chris Hansen conversation.
Oh wow.
It's been a great Chinese New Year break.
Yep, this is all pre-recorded but nothing ever censored.
I can tell you today on our tribute show to SG's music icon I've got with me.
I've got with me a true icon.
We call her a diva.
I want to read to you what I found.
Someone wrote this in an article and it says, she sings, she dances, she hosts.
A combination of a stunning beauty and talent portrays this star every bit really like a
star.
It is no surprise that a half Indian Portuguese songstress keeps people coming back for more
after seeing her exhilarating performance.
Welcome to the studio Alia D.
Thank you so much.
And I call her madam by the way.
I don't see any other way to call her but call her madam.
But I want to clear a muddle up.
I also don't know why you call me madam.
Respect lah.
Oh respect ah.
I think if I call Anne Hussein madam she'd be quite angry.
I never call her madam though.
I want to clear a muddle up.
People know you and I really want to find out really.
Your name as when it's been announced for a show.
Do people announce you as Alia, Alia Sharma, Alia D.
Melda Sharma or Alia D.
Is there something I don't know?
Oh okay.
When I started long time ago lah.
Wait wait don't run away from this kind of things.
Long time ago is how long ago?
Long time.
Very long.
Too long.
I can't even remember the year.
How long?
I don't give a shit.
How long ago?
Okay when I say nineteen something already is long lah.
Nineteen...
Nineteen ninety...
Five?
Ninety five, ninety six?
Something like that.
That's not long.
Not long ah?
Not.
Okay lah.
But yeah okay.
They used to call me Alia, Alia, Alia.
But actually my name is pronounced Alia.
Right.
Okay.
So it's Alia and then...
And you never corrected people about that?
Yeah.
Why?
Cause...
I don't know.
Actually you're right.
I don't realize it until you actually ask me.
Me right now?
Me asking you now?
So only in the later years of my career, I wanted to be known as Alia Dee.
Okay.
Um it has always been Alia and then after that it was Alia Sharma.
Okay.
And then it became um Alia Dee with a apostrophe.
Melda.
Okay.
And then my goodness there's so many identity changes there man.
Yeah.
Okay.
And then I just wanted to be called Alia Dee.
Okay and that is the case till today?
Till today.
But people still announce you...
As Alia.
No.
People still announce you as Alia.
Alia yes.
As in ginger.
Yeah Alia.
Actually to be honest, to be honest ah, that's the most easiest way for people to be honest
is to ask people to remember my name.
But it's not right isn't it?
Yeah but you know as long as I'm on stage nothing else matters you know.
I'm like that you know.
I'm gonna do you a favor.
Of course like it's a bit uncomfortable you know when they say like...
Of course it's uncomfortable.
They will say like eh what's your name?
Alia.
Oh okay whatever rocks your boat you know.
Oh man no I'm gonna do you a favor man.
Once and for all, once for freaking all, everybody, any one of you out there who do work closely
with Alia, it is pronounced as Alia and please for goodness sake stop calling her Alia.
Alia.
Because that one really is ginger lah.
Okay and it's so funny you know madam you know why because I'm having people that got
something to do with ginger in my studio.
Really why?
Eh ginger is very good to you.
No no no no no.
I mean I've got the good people from Gingerbread that were here in season 2.
Then I had, that was Ann and Jason, then I had Dudley Nones here also from Gingerbread
you know and then I really got a ginger here.
You got a real ginger here see.
But seriously I mean to me right, I mean come on, if you feel, any artists feel uncomfortable
the way the names are being pronounced, they ought to correct people.
Even if it's Alia, then it's Alia.
So let me get this straight again, once and for all, right now, today and moving forward,
your stage name, should I ever have another time where I as a host of a show have to announce
you it is Alia Dee.
That's right.
Okay good then I got it right.
Alia Dee.
I want to just go to this particular question that I ask of all of my guests, almost all.
And this one is going to be a very common one.
In your own words and in your own mind, can you tell everyone, tell me who, just who is
Alia Dee?
Who am I?
I'm everlasting, always changing.
Always changing that's for sure.
What do you mean by changing?
Changing in terms of everything.
The way I look in life, my taste of music, my fashion sense.
And I always want to evolve you know.
So if people were to say, Alia is okay we're talking about music here for example.
For music people will say, oh Alia is an R&B singer.
I like R&B music but I'm not an R&B singer.
Alia is a rock singer.
I love rock music but I'm not a rock singer.
Alia is a pop singer.
I would relate more to pop.
So you actually would once and for all, state it for a matter of fact that what you are
truly you're a pop singer.
I'm a pop singer.
Okay but not that you cannot do rock.
I can do whatever you give me.
You do jazz as well.
I do jazz music, I do R&B, I do hip hop, I rap, you give me anything I'll do.
Okay.
I'll do it you know.
So quintessentially you are truly a diva.
Wow.
Yeah why?
That's a very big role to play.
No that's the title of this show.
The tribute to you.
Really?
Is that you're a diva.
Wow I'm so honored.
Because I've heard, come on, come on, I've heard you sing and not everyone, smart fact
I've never thought there was anyone for that matter throughout my entire life and career
that have sung not just once, several times with me there in the audience and actually
made me tear.
Really?
Yeah.
You have.
The only person that's done that to me was James Ingram.
Yeah.
You know we went for the James Ingram concert right and when that guy start from big, from
the start of his concert to the end, I was literally in tears.
That's how, that's how artists, you know singers if they can do that, they, it's like osmosis,
they get that emotion out of you.
Yes.
You know that's brilliant, that's a brilliant singer.
Yeah.
Like what you said to me earlier on today, there's got to be some feeling to the song
right?
Yeah, most definitely.
There you go.
And, and you do that and a diva is what?
Someone who can really go at any genre.
Like what you just said, you're a diva.
Thank you Chris.
Yeah and, and as I've said also to the rest of the guests that I've brought on the show
for this tribute series, that I do not treat this tribute series likely, not likely at
all because I really want to make sure that the people I bring on are people who truly
are deserving of this and you're here and I'm very, I'm actually very chuffed and very
proud the fact that you're seated next to me.
Oh wow.
Really, really I am and you said that you want to evolve, just like Madonna.
Evolve through the times right?
And I think I've seen part of that where you were concerned, but I want to bring up this
interesting picture.
Oh my gosh.
So you're going back to almost the very beginning.
I'm assuming that this is the very beginning.
Kai, can we put out there you go.
Oh my gosh.
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Aliyah D from God knows when.
How old is this picture?
How long ago is this?
What year?
Not that long.
Really?
It's not that long.
You're shitting me.
Come on.
Okay.
If you were to say this, no really this was 2014.
Hello?
10 years ago.
Yeah.
How can you say that wasn't long ago?
Wasn't that long?
2014.
Look at that face though.
I'm just want to ask you.
It's 14.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Is that you're talking?
No, no, no.
Okay.
My brother is a powder.
Cause I've known this lips.
Okay, I want to try that.
How do you do that?
You just chin down.
Okay.
Chin down.
eyes on the camera.
Okay.
Pout a little bit.
Yes.
No, not that's too much.
Just let your lips go.
Um.
Yeah.
There you go.
Don't um.
Um.
Yeah.
Shucks. Okay, okay, okay.
Kai, I'm sending this to you, Kai.
Kai, I'm sending this to you.
Hang on a second.
Really, really, really, really.
I prepared all that stuff that you saw on screen, right?
And you know what?
I've been asking, why is this woman,
why does she have that pouty lip thing?
And I've been trying to do that shit.
And unsuccessfully so.
So I've just sent this to Kai.
Let's put this up side by side.
Oh, my God.
Let's put it up side by side.
Let me see whether I succeeded.
No, no, no. I'm not going to pressure Kai
because Kai is just going crazy doing this to me.
Kai, if you see anything different,
then I think you should edit it a little bit.
Okay?
Oh, my God.
I was looking at that picture.
But that's 10 years ago.
Well, I got to admit though,
when I saw that picture, I had to blink a few times
because it didn't look like the Aaliyah I know.
It doesn't at all.
And if you say 10 years is not a long time,
then really, there is a stark difference.
Of course.
I'm not saying you look worse now.
I'm not saying that.
I had to really decipher, is that a leo-dee?
And that's why I picked that picture.
Then of course I noticed.
See? See?
It was my picture.
Pull my picture up.
Almost there, bruh.
What do you mean?
Almost there.
If you have thicker lips, then you know,
you've got that angle.
The angle a little bit.
Your picture is up. Kai is...
See? You know what I mean?
The angle is there.
Right? Look at the camera straight.
And then you pout your lips,
you go, um...
There you go. See?
So do you still do that kind of thing now?
Yeah, of course. Especially if I want something
from my husband.
Like...
It works all the time.
Please don't teach my wife that.
So when you...
When you started...
Let's go back to the very beginning,
shall we? What year was...
I mean, don't fuck the year.
How old were you really?
Your very first time that...
Okay, my career started
when I entered Asia Bagus.
That was in the year
God knows in heaven.
I don't know.
Whatever year it was.
But it was a long time ago.
I've always wanted to be a singer
since I was a little girl.
How old were you then for Asia Bagus?
Asia Bagus, I was 15.
Wow.
15 years old. And...
I got into the
weekly champion.
And then after that, the monthly champion.
And then I went on to
the grand finale, finals.
But I lost on the grand finals.
Who did you lose to?
A Malaysian
singer.
Well, it's very
Sayang that one, you know.
Because...
So Sayang.
I could have won it, man.
No, I mean...
My ideas was fresh.
Right.
It's just that if I were to
had
more guidance
or somebody to guided me through
the competition,
and advised me accordingly,
I think I would have gone a little bit more further.
Did that Malaysian winner,
did he or she, was it he or she?
He. Did he have any guidance
that you're aware of?
His performance
was good and simple.
And it was a
very acceptable song.
I think if I wasn't...
If I'm not mistaken, he sang Heaven Knows.
Everybody loved Heaven Knows.
Yeah. So you know,
a competition, okay.
A singing competition.
The most...
Not the most, but the one of the important
thing to do in a competition
is picking the right song.
For you.
For your voice.
For you. And not just because it's popular
at that moment. And you think, you know,
you're like, oh my god, this is like my favorite song.
And then you want to sing for a competition.
Can you do that again? Oh my god, this is like my favorite song.
You know?
So I did that.
I love...
So wait, the grand finals,
I sang this song called
Just One Of Them Days.
What? Never heard of it, man.
Okay. It's from a
R&B singer.
Monica.
Okay.
Now that song was very popular
amongst young girls
like me. At that time.
Oh, so you were one of those gundus who went to pick a song
that we shouldn't have picked.
That song you can sing for a show
can. But not for a competition.
But you were 15 years old. I was 15 years old.
I said, oh my god, I'm gonna nail
this song. I feel
it. Only when
later on in life, when I actually read
the song,
the lyrics to the song, then I could understand
and say, ah, no wonder I picked this song. Because
the song is basically about PMS.
You're PMSing.
I'm serious.
Just one of them days
when I wanna be on my
own. Just one of them days
when I gotta be on
my own. Don't take it
personal.
I just wanna be on
my own. There's something like that. And then the background
singers go, Kraaams, Kraaams.
No, so but
honestly, I picked that song.
I love that song.
But it was a very difficult song
to sing. Especially
the beginning, the intro to the song
is acapella. Okay.
So it just
had
I think a metronome or something
going like
Okay. So you have to know the
beat to go in.
The beat, never mind. The key also
you have to start on the correct key.
Of course. Right? Yeah.
So just imagine I came out first
when Najib and I think it was
the Japanese girl
introduced me. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
From Singapore.
Alia or something
like that.
So I came out. Terrible these people.
Mispronounced your name. Alia.
I came out. Right? Yeah.
And I wore
to me, I wore the most coolest outfit
at that time. Because
at that time TLC was
waterfalls. Yeah, yeah. Waterfalls.
So they had
their boxers showing. Right.
So that's what I had. I had baggy pants.
Okay. I had my
boxer Tommy Hilfiger boxers
showing. And like a black
and white bodysuit. And they
I had short hair, but they
actually tied my hair like very little.
Like small, small. Like
Coolio. Oh dear lord.
Okay. So at 15
you have your skin also
not so good. Because you have like
pimples popping out here and there. Right?
So Japanese is known to have
if you're at the age of 15, you don't wear
a lot of makeup. Right.
So they just make it more shinier.
Right. You're already having
oily skin. You put more
shiny. And I'm like, why do I
look like my mother's
frying pan?
You know? But okay la.
So just never mind. My hair is
all going up and down. You know, going
like that. And I said, okay, never mind.
I will woo them with my dance move.
Because before I was a singer
or got into
singing, I was also a dancer.
Is it? Yeah.
So I came
out and just
rumba. Just rumba like that. You know?
At the age of 15. Right.
And then Najib's like
wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. I can remember this
very clearly. Najib said, wait, wait, wait, wait.
Can you do that again? And then
he came in front of me. Najib's also
great. You know, his
ideas are also as
very fresh. Okay. So he liked
that idea of a 15 year old girl
trying to be very trendy.
I can feel it that he was
rooting for me as well. Right.
Right. So. Singaporean.
Yeah. Right. But I
think, no, no. He's like,
he knows a talent when he sees one.
Okay. You know? And I think he knew
that this girl can make it.
Okay. You know? Because I felt it.
Every step of the way I
felt when I get on stage, I felt it.
You know, I said, I'm gonna woo these people.
Okay. Right. So I did that, you know, thing
and he asked me to do it again and then
we did it together. I was like, whoo!
Okay. That was it. So he said, okay.
Are you ready? He says, yeah.
So before that, they interviewed me a little bit
and asking me because I have Indonesian
blood. Right. Right. And the grand
finals was in Indonesia. Right.
So
and I spoke a little bit of Bahasa.
Right. And then
after that, we started a song.
I couldn't hear
when to come in because
it was held
outdoors. Okay. Right.
Thousands of people.
And you couldn't hear the metronome. I couldn't hear.
Right. I had,
I was like, oh my god.
I can't hear it. I can't. So
I just wing it lah. Okay.
Okay. So I went, just
one of them days and I wanna
be on my own. It went the wrong
key. Oh no.
So when the beat came in, yeah.
It was not just one of
them days. It was just one of them
days. Oh dear.
And then I was trying
to adjust to the key.
But I couldn't hear it. So
it was all over the place. Right.
Right. From the beginning to the
end. So a lot of things went wrong
for you from the final. Totally wrong.
So you said,
only if you've got someone
to have mentored
you perhaps? Yes. Okay.
So this is where I
will have to ask, did
you ever, even after that,
have a mentor?
No.
But you knew. Only
when I got into singing
nightly.
Okay. Okay. And I'm a very
observant
girl. Right.
I have an eye for
performers. Okay.
Okay. Not so much of singers.
But performers.
I wanted,
I love watching people who control
the stage. Okay.
They control the audience. And that's
where I
learn. Okay. And I was
lucky that I started
with a very
established band.
And established a performer
who was my partner at that time.
And which band was this? This was
Raw Energy. Okay. Okay.
And
Raw Energy was
fronted by a male singer.
His name was Winslow.
Winslow. Okay. So Winslow is an
American singer. A black
guy. And he, oh
can I say black guy? Yes of course you can.
African American. I mean
he's a black guy.
Yeah.
So he is
the type of
performer that
when you're watching him, you're going
like this. Why?
Cause you wanna move. Oh
okay. You just wanna move. He's
like from the get
go to the end of the night.
Full of energy.
Full of energy. And it's raw energy.
Okay. Yeah. And he sings,
when he sings a song,
you can literally see
smoke
coming out from his back.
Steam? Yeah. Okay. You know?
That's how much energy
he has. Wow. He's very
disciplined. He doesn't drink.
He doesn't smoke. He
walks from home.
Well he was staying at that time I think
was at Caldecott Hill.
Not Caldecott Hill sorry. Sorry. The one
at the back of
Carpage Center.
What is it?
Oh. Kavanaugh. Kavanaugh.
Yeah. So he'll walk
from Kavanaugh Road all the way to
Papa Joe's.
That's the first place I performed. Okay.
Papa Joe's. Yeah. Which is the old
Paranakan place. Yes. Right. Yeah.
So it was
just amazing to watch him perform.
You know? So I learned
so much from him. And he was looking for
a female singer at that time. Okay.
And
I happened to know him personally
because I was his backup dancer.
Right. Right. So whenever he does
shows, he will
always be backed up by two
or three or four
dancers. Right. So I was one of his
dancers. This is more like a show band.
No. This is when he does solo.
He does a lot of events doing solo.
Right. Right. So
he was the resident
band and he was also the entertainment
manager of Papa Joe's. Okay.
Okay. So he handles all
anything to do with entertainment.
Right. So he was looking
for a female singer and
at that time
I was jamming.
Okay. Jamming. This is
this is way after Asia Baguiz.
Okay. Okay. And I was doing
little shows here and there. You know?
More to like
still stuck in that
alley where you wanna go. Yo
what's up? You know? All that
feeling, feeling. Cause I was very
I was like very into
hip hop music,
R&B music, you know? But you were
always dying to somehow
get this into your system. Yes.
Into your life. Yes. Perform.
How old were you when you first
recognized that this is what
you want?
I'm jumping a little bit.
I'm sorry. School.
School? Yeah. If you
meet any of my primary
primary school. Primary school?
Primary school. Okay. And I think that
I was before primary school so I was
still I wanted to be a singer because
I remember at 10 years old
my parents brought me to
Changi Europa.
And there's this
another club called
And they let you in? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Some Katong club.
Katong?
In Katong. Oh, Honky Tonk.
Yes.
My dad will bring me to Honky Tonk.
Put me and my sister up on stage.
And I remember we will sing this
either
I'm so young and you're so
old. This much. Yeah.
Diana because that's my mom's name. Right.
Right. Sing Diana
or dreams.
Dreams. Dreams. We were so young.
10 years old. Right?
Then Changi Europa also
I went on stage and sang Right Here
Waiting for You. Oh. You know? Richard
Marx. Yeah. And I was singing together
with who? Adam and Ben.
Oh. Okay.
I tell you the
history of all this and then when I became
an established performer
I worked with all these
people.
And I it was just
amazing and I started to like
From the time you were a small little girl
you end up working
with these guys. Working with them.
These guys were juggernauts man. Yeah.
You know and then I could
of course I cannot call them uncle anymore.
You know? I'll call them by their names.
And then of course. Next time I see
Stephen Francis I'll call him uncle.
Hahaha.
You know me and Stephen Bra
is bruh. What's up bruh?
Hahaha.
But yeah. So
yeah. So it was
at the age of 10 years old.
Because my household was
always music singing.
How so? How so? I mean I'm trying to
understand that bit.
How so? I mean in your household.
In your household. Your mom?
Dad? My dad. My dad.
My dad was
I wouldn't say muso
but he was
his younger years he was hanging
a lot with bands like
Flybates and all that. Wow.
So jamming with them and all. He's always
into music also.
So he was into music.
And then every time in the
house there had been music playing
somehow. Yes. Exactly
at 5pm.
This is the time where we have
tea time at home. Hmm.
So during tea time mom
Quite a Eurasian thing. Yes.
Eurasian household.
My father is half Eurasian right?
So my grandma will make
and my mom will prepare
coffee, tea or whatever.
All this you know. And then
dad will either take the guitar
or go to the organ.
Not piano
not keyboards. Organ.
Okay. And then he will play.
And then he say
come. And then he
will say he'll play a song
and then he will sing it and we
will listen. We will not listen to his
singing. We will listen to
the words of the song.
The lyrics. Yeah. The lyrics of
the song because every song he
always tells us, every song has a story.
If the story captures
your heart, you'll be able to
relate and you'll be able
to deliver
it well. Hmm. Hmm.
So the song that really caught
my attention was
Tommy and
the lovers
na na na na get everything
and buy flowers, presents
and most of all a wedding
ring. You know. I
would ask him to sing it over and over
right. And every time
he sings it, I love it. And every time he
sings it, I will cry. Hmm.
And then my sister and my brother
will have the kick out of watching me cry.
He says again again.
Again again. You know.
So yeah. So we were always
and then he will ask us to practice
songs. He will say okay I'll play
this song you learn okay. You know.
So then we'll always have that.
Safe to say then that
influence was your dad in the home.
Yes. Yeah. Why I asked this
and I asked this of every one of
my guests on
my tribute show. And
everyone says that.
It starts, started
from the home. Yeah. Except
for Danny Lung.
Oh really ah. Yeah. Except for
Danny. Watch the episode when it comes out.
It's really interesting. It's the only one
that's different. Okay. But
from Muso's I'm talking about. I'm not talking about the radio
DJ's because I've got radio DJ's
on the show as well. Sure. Okay.
But to be fair
one of them did
say that the influence came from the home.
And it's
always about that. I think for most
people. Yeah. It's really
I'm trying to find
out what makes a
great Muso
or entertainer tick. You know how
did it all happen. The origin
of it all. And it's
really the home. Yeah. Nine out of ten
so far. It is from the home.
You know. And I think that's
a pretty cool thing.
Also one more thing.
Besides
having lots of influence from
home. Yeah. You daydream.
Okay.
Can you daydream? Expound
on that. So when you
have music inside
it makes your heart
in a certain way. You know. And
then you just feel it. And then
also you're influenced by all this
when you
hear a song you want to know who's the singer.
You see who the singer is. You want to see them
perform. Right. And back in
the day they don't have like
you have only certain time
only certain channel TV Tiga. I think
they'll have MTV. Right.
And then you
are only able to catch a glimpse of those
performances. And then
I get the kick
of watching live shows.
You know. Live performances
from Elvis to
sometimes they have like
back in the day you know they bring
all the old songs. The retro stuff come back.
Yeah. And then you watch wow.
So amazing. You know.
So then you daydream.
Yeah. You doing it instead right?
You're like oh I want to be this person.
Yeah. Yeah. I knew it. Oh hell yeah.
When you be this person you cannot sing
also you take the microphone or
not microphone. What?
For me it was comb.
Comb. Right.
Brush. Take brush.
Stand in front of the mirror.
Just like wow. Dance
and sing. You know. You know it's so
weird. You know that thing about taking the brush
and just comb comb brush right.
I used to do stupid
things like that too. I'm sure.
And you know why. I have this
real fetish.
Fetish. No really.
I have this real fetish.
About microphones man.
It doesn't sound fucking right right.
Fetish. About microphones.
Okay.
Well this doesn't sound right.
Let me
let me qualify.
I have this thing about
microphones and that's why
I buy mics and I keep buying
mics and I even got one in the arm.
You know. I walk around
with a microphone. It's a thing.
Holding on
to a mic. Yeah. It's something
from young you want to do.
Mimic someone. You just get the mic
and then you just go like that.
You know. Yeah.
I can completely
understand that and appreciate that.
You know and to this day to
me when I see anywhere
God even on Shopee.
I see mics
on OJPO and
on this one.
Wow. You know. Yeah.
And it still gets to me man. It's a thing
that I just cannot explain.
Yes. Yeah. And I
appreciate what you just said very much.
So influence came
for you also.
From the home. Yes.
And then
did you did your
folks ever tell you
either one.
No. Don't be. Don't do this.
Never. Really.
My dad calls me my
little Madonna. Wow.
And he used. He travels
a lot. My dad. Yeah. Yeah. And he'll
always write love letters
to each and every one of us.
That's so sweet. One for mommy.
One for Angie. One for
Aliyah. One for Niko.
One for
Auntie Dinah. You know. That's really sweet.
And yeah. And then by the way
I always say this to mama which is
my grandma. Right.
So because mama couldn't read. Right.
So he has letters for us
every. When he was away for
for months.
Months. Months. You know.
He was away for months and then he'll write letters
and telling us about blah blah blah.
And he'll always sign off.
Oh he always
addressed me as
my little Madonna.
You know.
And he always says that how
are you still listening
to this this this this. You know.
And then he'll go but don't forget
your studies. Of course parents are your parents.
Right. And then he
but he always tells me I was
not very academically strong.
Right. Right. And he knew that.
You know. And he'll after he passed
away. Yeah.
My mom showed me a letter that he
wrote to her.
That said that if Aliyah
does not do well
for her studies this
year. Don't be too
hard on her.
Wow.
She has. She has
a lot of other
capabilities and abilities.
You know. And coming from
a dad means a lot. Oh yeah.
You know. Especially from dads.
Yes. I mean.
Nico and Angie which is my siblings.
Both of them. Both of them
have studied. I
you know. They kind of
I'm like no. I'm from the get go.
I'm like music. Music. Music.
Everything music. And I was always the one
who plans to
like there's birthdays. There's Christmas.
Hari Raya.
Anniversaries.
All the
celebration when we have gatherings
at home. There's always
the S5 is always performing.
S5S is for Sharma.
Okay. Which is our surname.
So it's like the Jackson 5.
Yes. We call ourselves the S5.
And
we will say
okay later
we have performance okay.
And then all the older folks
will be like okay okay okay.
We practice first.
So we go inside the room. Lock the
door. And I'll be like okay
you stand here you stand here you stand here you stand here okay.
Alright. This part okay. We move
left left.
Right. I will organize everything.
Right. Okay. And then we'll pick the song.
And then we'll perform. Wow.
Beach Boys. Beach Boys
la. Our song was Coco
Mo.
Coco Mo.
Jason Donovan and Kylie Minogue.
Especially for you.
Yeah that. It was just like
shows all the way.
So I knew that this
is really me man.
You know. So.
And you pursued it. Yeah.
It started at Papa Joe's.
Right.
And what happened from Papa Joe's
what happened I mean how did you progress on?
Okay.
I was very young right. 18.
I started 17.
17. Still underage
at that time to go into clubs. But I was
going to be 18.
But still 18 was still
for guys cannot go to clubs. Girls can.
Yes I know. Right.
So Papa Joe's
from Papa Joe's
can you just
imagine when I got into the band
of course the musicians were
not happy la.
Musicians were not happy because
this is
established
musicians. Right. They got no time
for bullshit. They have no time
for young girls
who don't know how to sing properly. Only know how to
gilet. Right. You know.
That was the assumption la. Yeah. You know.
And then
so they came to they told Winslow
straight up they said it's her
or us. Wow.
Then what happened?
And Winslow just said
I'm sorry for you all to feel that way.
You guys can leave.
So the whole band left.
So he actually made
that choice. Yeah. So obviously
people may think
this one was
giji giji
with the singer. You know that kind of thing.
Right. But I was
a young girl and I was so like you know like
and I felt hurt.
Right. I said Wins
I can go. Keep the guys.
You know keep the guys. And he says
no. And he says it's hard
to find
it's easy to find singers
but it's hard to find entertainers.
Wow. You can be an
entertainer. Right. So
would you care to
maybe you know dissect that
a little bit for the non-muso
audience watching the show? Yeah. Okay.
There's a difference between a singer and an entertainer.
Okay. A singer
they're technically
fantastic. They
pay close attention to technicality.
Right. Breathing.
Right. Okay. And
it's like
you you you they can do
like you know
and all that stuff. Okay.
But an entertainer you put that
person anywhere and everywhere
they
will be able to perform.
Any song. Right. So basically
someone who's technical
care about your scores
care about everything else that makes
up a performance. Yes.
But the entertainer is a person
that cares more about the audience.
Yes. You have to
because they are the ones who are watching you.
If they're happy you're happy.
Right. You know funny you
said you mentioned I wanted to do
this later on in this part
of the show. Okay. But since you
brought it up.
Runs.
What are runs?
What are runs? Vocal runs.
Okay stop there. Okay.
Okay. Because I have
always hated that shit.
I brought something ready. Kai
you know the whole assortment
the samples file?
I just want to ask
you the Diva
since you.. Okay. You listen to it.
Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait.
That was a premature thing.
Kai you're too young to be premature that way.
So
Okay listen to this.
Yes it shows
Okay, and then now we're going to have this one, okay? Listen to this one.
I keep on falling here
And I love with you
And then comes this one
Girl I know you really love me
You just don't realize
You've never been there before
It's only your first time
Maybe I'll give you
Maybe you'll try
We shouldn't be happy together forever
You and I
We'll be together forever
Reason why I brought this up because you said the word runs vocal runs right heart teller gives me the damn runs
And I can see you were completely sorry fucking enjoying that
It's not I'm not saying it's not nice. I'm just saying it's all over the fucking place. Yeah, everyone at that time at that time
Was doing it then it and these were the old well
Well, Mariah is not young from Mariah to Alicia Keys into of course the old old now boys to men
And then it went on to the Timberlakes into you know, and then my god, I mean and what's the name now?
There's Brittany and there's no Brittany doesn't do that. What's the other girl now? Jeannie in the bottle?
Christina Aguilera. Thank you very much. Christina Aguilera. I'm seeing getting old.
So it transcended down to these people and every time you hear a freaking song back in the day
So many runs going on man. I mean then it's a trend kind of thing
You know, but you've really got really annoying as far as I'm concerned. Right? And what technicality you talking about? I think it's so
I think I understand what you mean. Okay, but
Okay, what was your question? No, it's not a question. I'm just making a point. Okay, and I'm wondering whether or not you got anything to say about whether I share the same sentiment
Yeah. Okay for me. They do it because they can. Right. And
Don't believe I'm hearing that. Really honestly, they do it because they can. Okay. And this is the same
I asked myself, how the hell do they do that? And I try some people want it all. I can't do it.
You can't? I can't. I don't have that runs. My husband can do it. My husband's a singer. Right. He can do runs like boys to men like
You know all this. And I was telling him I've been a singer longer than he has. Right. And I said, darling, I cannot do that. He said you can. I said, I cannot. He said, no, you can. You really can't.
He tells me that I can do it when I don't realize it. When I feel it and I sing certain songs
I'll be able to do it. Okay. You know, I said, oh, okay. So my take is this. They do it not because they want to flex. Okay. Okay. They do it because they were influenced by singers who did it like gospel singers.
You know, a lot of gospel singers do that. Okay. Right. Black gospel music. Yes. Okay. So when they grow up in that kind of environment, right, it's always they follow
the singers that they hear. I just got too overbearing man because everywhere you go, you hear the same thing. Yes. For me, for me personally, if you ask me, Mariah Carey when she sings that song, you know, runs like
a
certain songs of Mariah I love. Okay. Certain songs. Whitney doesn't really do it. No. Exactly. Because she is, it's a style. It's a style that they're going for. You know, Britney Spears. She don't do it. It's because probably she can't do it. Yeah. Right. She can't do it. And she's more of, more of like,
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, it's everybody's style. Yeah, I know. Since we're still on styling, Kai, can we just play, let's move on a little bit. This is what I've realized.
Sometimes it hurts instead. Listen to instead at the end. The word instead. Okay, hang on. Here's the next one coming up soon. I think it should be. Yeah. You heard the word how she said instead now. Listen to the next one.
So now, if you, that's Billie Eilish. Yes. So Adele earlier on, there's a styling these days, especially for female vocalists, where they take that last note, it depends on the word, and they go,
What? Aide. Aide. Yeah. You know, and then there's this little, at the end, you know, of the note. And I tell you, I'm like, okay, okay. But Adele came out to me, okay, that's her style. Unique to her. Then after that, I heard, I hear Katy Perry, and she does that. And then I hear Billie Eilish, and she does that. I say, what the heck?
It's a trend. Oh gosh. You know, remember where back in, I don't know, they have this singer who sings everything like, how do they sing it? Time, flying, all the, all the, when they articulate the words, it's always like very safe. Give me a song.
Yeah, what?
Someday time and come someday. You know what I mean? I don't know what the hell I'm singing. I hear this singer a few, like a month, a couple of months later, there's another singer who sings the same thing. So it's a trend. Same thing for rap music. Back in our days.
When rap was rap. Yeah. You know, when you have like, the rap, it's, you can understand because you pronounce it correctly. Although it's like a lot of MF, MF words and all that, right? Today, they still do the MF word. But it's the way the rap music now is going like.
I'm like, huh? Yeah. You don't get it, right? I don't get it. You know, you know, that's, I tell you, you know, when my boy, when the Mrs. was expecting my son, we always did this. We had, we put headphones on her tummy.
Okay. When he was still in her tummy. Okay. And we played stuff. We played all kinds of stuff. We played from Guns N' Roses to jazz to whatever. Yeah. In my hope that of course music helps with the development of creativity, blah, blah, blah. And then when he was born and as a boos, he was growing up, especially when he was much younger.
And he would be listening to my stuff, of course, because he has no control over the music, right? Yes. And guess what? He's coming 15 now. He has come into himself. Right. And of course, naturally we let that happen as well.
Naturally. Guess who is his go-to singer and he's so nuts over him. Absolutely Gaga over this star. Make a guess.
Don't tell me.
That boy, that boy.
He hates, no, no, no, no, not the Bieber. Okay. I don't even know. He hates the Bieber. Thank God for that.
What genre? Hip hop. Oh, hip hop. Oh, not Kanye? Yes.
And I was like, what?
And then he said something a couple of days ago.
I said, my goodness, if you were not my son,
I would have strangled you.
He said, he's bigger than Elvis.
No.
He did not say.
In my house.
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.
Ay yo yo.
And he's so crazy about this.
He wants to save money on his own.
He's a great at that.
Yeah, yeah.
Otherwise, I mean, kid's a great kid, yeah.
And he says, daddy, guess what?
Anything that's got to do with Kanye will tell me,
daddy, Kanye's gonna drop his son,
latest album.
That was a couple of days ago.
And I said, he's not going to, he's just gonna,
he's just gonna.
He's just gonna drop.
Cause this guy's a bit of another.
Yeah, but daddy, that's why he sells,
cause he's a nutter.
I said, are you kidding me, man?
And then after that, it really didn't drop.
I said, I told you, I told you, I told you.
And it did the next day.
He said, guess what?
He dropped it.
Yes.
See, he does that shit all the time.
He says, he's a nutcase.
Why do you like him?
And he steals people's music, man.
He takes Chaka Khan's Suda Fire and make it his?
Are you shitting me?
That's not the only damn song he's done, right?
And he said, but his lyrics are brilliant, daddy.
I mean, he's a genius.
I, okay.
Maybe on a hip hop point of view, kids, especially,
okay, like say kids who love hip hop music,
they listen, like us, when we have,
we see us, we hear a song, we listen to the lyrics, right?
Right.
Okay.
Although hip hop has a lot of swearing
and a lot of cursing and a lot of sexual content, right?
Some rap music has got hidden meaning, right?
And these days, we have social media,
when you have what some theory of, you know,
conspiracy theory and all that, you put that all together.
And then you have it, you put a picture of this artist,
say for example, Kanye West, and then the song comes out,
people, kids, younger generation, they're like,
oh, I got what you mean, bruh.
Yeah.
You know, they suddenly understand, you know?
And I try to do the same thing when Taylor Swift,
with this Taylor Swift person, I mean,
I listen to her songs, I really genuinely want to-
Enjoy it.
I really want to, because she's a pop singer.
Yeah, she's huge now, man.
Right, she's a pop singer, I like pop music a lot, right?
So I'm like, okay, I wanna know what's so cool.
It's this draw about Taylor Swift, yeah.
Certain songs, okay, I think it's cute, you know?
Right, but it doesn't move me.
Yeah.
And these young kids are going crazy.
Yes, absolutely, they're going gaga over this, you know?
You know?
I just don't get it, I really don't get it.
You know, let's put it, for example, Lady Gaga.
Right, just the way I say gaga.
When she came out, right, a lot of people say,
this lady is crazy, her music's on.
She's a bloody genius.
Fantastic.
Freaking genius.
Fantastic, the way she thinks, the way she,
you can really feel, you know?
That this artist really deserves, you know,
all the recognition, you know, whatever that she was,
you know, this is all marketing, you know?
Marketing, when you have to wear this,
you have to do that, you have to blah, blah, blah.
So she's called, she created this whole followers.
Right.
Right, and then she knows that, okay, my time is up.
This generation that I'm doing, my followers,
they are also evolving.
So I have to change, and this is me,
because I'm changing, and my followers are changing,
and then they pop.
She does a hit song, or she does a duet with a jazz performer.
For stars, yeah.
For stars, and then people was like, wow, you know,
she's not just, she's serious.
This lady is a serious performer.
Yeah, I mean, look, I mean, we grew up in times
where we had, oh man, it's so missed, guys like Prince,
you know?
I mean, that guy is a one-man band,
and he's a one-man recording studio.
When he gets behind the guitar,
or any instrument, he cranks it away.
I mean, that guy is brilliant.
And now we look at the likes of what's happening today,
and we have Taylor Swift, and not be distilling her,
but frankly, she's all right, she's okay, you know?
She's not like, wow.
Yeah, they're saying her lyrics of a song
is relatable to the younger generation.
So that's why it doesn't move us,
because we don't understand what you mean.
Why so emo?
I mean, your emo and our emo back then
is totally different, man.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Ours was more about, let's get down this party,
let's move, let's groove, let's, you know?
And now everything is just so different.
Yeah, I just don't, I'm sorry,
but I'm finding it so hard to relate
to the current music of today.
And if you were to be asked, I mean,
I know you're no longer in nightlife, right?
No, no.
How many years has that been since you stopped?
2015 was my last, 2015, 2016.
It was almost 10 years, yeah?
So can you care to share why did you stop?
I knew there was this-
Something you love, you know?
Yeah, this was coming, and-
It's an obvious question.
A lot of people was also wondering why, you know?
Suddenly just go on, you know?
But they're still wondering.
Well, you know, when you get on stage every single night
and you love doing what you do, right?
That's the time when you know that you gotta keep on going.
But when a time where you drag yourself to work
and you look at the surroundings, your life, your family,
it's not the way it needs to be.
That you need to be present in their life
in order for things to work out.
You need to do some sacrifices.
So now you're saying that music,
since you were a young child, was so important to you.
Yes.
So much so that you really went all out there
to get you to where you've been.
Yeah.
And then now something else supersedes
that passion.
Yes.
Let's put it this way.
And that is family.
Yes. I mean, you have a dream to be a performer.
You did it, okay?
And then you have a dream to be an entertainer
and a performer. You did it.
And then you have a dream of cutting an album,
doing, you know, traveling the world,
like people watching your concert.
I never got to that.
Yeah.
Okay. I never got to that because of a lot of aspect,
a lot being in Singapore, being in,
I would say every performer
have to be lucky.
You must have, you need to have luck,
a little bit of luck, a lot of,
a little bit of luck, a little bit of talent,
a little bit of, what do you call it?
Perseverance.
Perseverance, okay.
So you have this, you'll be able to do it.
Okay.
But if you don't have that luck, right?
Then you still have this too.
And you're happy with that.
But then you also have a life to go on, right?
So look at something else.
Okay.
Right? You still got that.
God gave you that talent, you know,
but he didn't give you the opportunity
for you to become bigger.
Accept that with grace.
Okay.
All right.
Maybe it's not my, it's not my calling, you know?
Then, okay, fine.
What's next?
What should I do?
You know?
Not your calling.
Are you kidding me?
Oh God.
There's so many opportunities for me.
Sure.
But maybe we talk about a calling.
Of all people that I know in my life,
that is, you know, that,
especially in this world of music and entertainment,
I can personally say that calling,
that this is certainly a calling for a lady.
And I want to also say, say this,
I picked this up from everything you said.
You said, here in Singapore,
would you care to expand on that?
Let's really call a spade a fucking spade.
Here in Singapore, why?
Why?
Okay. Let's put it this way.
Mm.
I, I've been a singer in a club scene
all my life, all my adult life, I would say that.
This is, you know, and I never had that big opportunity
to be able to do shows,
doing an album, cutting an album or whatever,
because I need to work.
Right.
I need to, my mom was a singer mama.
Earn a living.
Yeah. I need to work.
I need to earn a living.
I need to, I, I, I need, basically I need to earn money.
And that's where-
So unless of course you're a rich kid
and you're talented and you're okay.
Yeah. Then your parents, the parents will say like,
you want to become singer?
Okay. You, you want to be a performer?
Okay. I go to a club.
Okay. I bring you to school.
You study Berkeley, you this, you take whatever,
blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
You know, for me it's old school, man.
I learned, I perform every single night, you know,
doing, that's why when I watch movies like Elvis
or Celine Dion, they work every night, you know?
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Right. Yeah.
I do exactly what I, what they do,
but they're doing their own music.
Yeah. Right.
I do their covers.
The only reason why I do that is because I have to work.
And I can't find anybody who's like, Hey, do this.
Can you write a song? I cannot write a song.
Okay. I'll get you good songwriters.
Right.
That, that person, one person that believes in you.
And they think that let's do this. You got it. Right.
You believe, but you believed in people.
I believe in people.
You believe in, you believe in Hadi Mirza.
Oh yes.
And you coached him.
Yes.
For the Asian Idol finals that he won.
No, I didn't.
Okay. Which, what do you coach?
Where for which one do you coach him for?
Okay. I, basically I just coached him as a performer.
Okay. Okay.
So he just, I think he just finished NS at that time.
So this was way before Idol.
Oh yeah.
So you were basically his mentor.
Yes.
Wow.
And until today he tells me, he says,
Aliyah, you're my mentor. You know, I said, bruh, come on, man.
I said, you are, you know, he says, no, we,
Hadi and I, we always have very deep conversations.
And I always say, bro, I, you know, what you have back then,
but you have that, you know, that fame that you have,
you know, that I don't,
I don't want to sing every night also, bro, you know?
But he tells me, he says, Aliyah,
but that's the time when you're free, right?
That's the time when you feel free when you doing, you know,
like you sing every night, that's the most happiest time.
Yeah.
You're not being controlled, right?
I say, yeah, you're right.
You know?
So, but then I helped him in terms of how to groom him
as a performer on stage, you know, how to dress.
Because when you are a performer,
you walk into the place where you perform as an artist.
Right.
Head to toe, you must look good.
You know, you must be on your, you know,
you have to have that flair.
So you've, you, you believed in people like Hardy
and you've, you didn't, nobody came up to you to say,
Aliyah, we're going to make you someone.
So many.
Okay. And what happened?
Those were opportunities, weren't they?
So many, but there are times where when you're young
and you're pretty, right?
And then they come to you and they like,
you got it.
Or doing the Bernstein thing.
Yes. You got it.
You, you, you, you, you, you don't sing at night anymore.
I pay you this amount of money.
All right.
Every month I give you this amount of money, right?
You travel to KL, you travel to whatever, blah, blah, blah,
blah, blah, you know, and be an artist, right?
To be an artist and you can't write songs, right?
You're waiting for people to give you songs, right?
Yeah.
To be in that circle, you have to be in that circle.
Okay. I'm trying to read between the lines here.
You have to be in that circle means you have to attend
dinners and with all people who are-
Influential.
Influential, people who's got the dough, you know,
and then you got to hum, hum, hum, hum, you know?
And then if, for example,
if you don't have a manager who manages you,
then you're like a, you can be like a butterfly.
Butterfly, okay.
You know what I mean?
Fluttering around.
Yeah. So you need to have that manager who really
jaga you.
My band was not my manager, but my band at that time,
so back when, when Rinsal said, you know, he picked me,
right?
And then he trained me, telling me how I should do,
what I should do, what, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
And then a year later, the same band that left came back.
Wow.
Okay. They came back, I think less than a year,
maybe about six months like that.
They came back and then I remember them,
whole band came and they said like,
how come you never perform like this?
When we were performing, I said,
because you never gave me a chance, right?
And ever since then, they never left.
It's Rinsal left.
I stick to the band, you know?
And, but they were very strict with me because I was a young
girl, right?
So they tell me I was not supposed to hang out in places
like Newton by myself.
That was very good of them actually.
They took care of you.
Yes. Want to makan, supper, they will go with me.
Right?
And they were very strict on people that I mix around with.
Right. That's pretty good of them really.
Yeah. I think that you need to be disciplined,
especially working in the nightlife.
That's like family, man.
Yes. Until today, they are like my heart.
Wow.
You know?
Wow.
So until to a point where other musicians thought I was very
so boom, you know, they thought they were stuck up, you know?
But in actual facts, because I was this,
they groom me to a point where you need to be professional,
mix around with the right people, you know?
Everything, hey Wyatt, after I left the band
and I had to control on my own, right?
Right.
That's where it's a very tough, tough thing to do.
Okay.
Okay. I think I'm going all over the place,
but because my story, my music career in the scene,
in the nightlife scene needs to be very,
very, I need to explain to all of you that being in the
nightlife as a singer, as a performer is not easy,
especially for women.
Yep.
One small mistake you do.
That's it.
Yeah. Nobody will want to hire you anymore.
No, no, they will hire you, right?
And?
For you to get up, because I've built this reputation
for myself.
I really jaga myself.
And when that was taken away from me, right?
When I'm on stage, I didn't have that confidence.
Okay.
All the years that I've done, I can just do this.
People will pay attention on my clicking, right?
It's all gone.
And that's where I know, no, I can't do this anymore.
Oh, wow.
Yeah.
When you left the nightlife and your full-time performance
and your performance, there must have been an itch
that you just have to scratch, right?
No, until today, bro.
Yeah, so you did still continue to perform somehow.
Yes.
And you're doing what, private gigs?
Yes.
Gigging?
So I only do events.
When there's an event who's like,
they call me and they say, you know,
you'll be able to do this.
Right.
And then I'll look at the schedule, my kids' schedule,
whether my husband will be able to watch the kids.
Right.
Okay.
He says, okay, go for it.
Okay.
Then I'll do it.
You've done clubs a lot when you were in the nightlife.
You've done concerts as well?
Yes.
Okay.
This is fantastic picture.
I just love this picture.
Kai, do you have that one?
The one, oh wow.
Oh my goodness.
Ali Adi, check you out.
There you go.
That was me.
My goodness.
And then of course your own private gigs, you know?
Yes.
And the concert, something.
This was probably a concert, I think.
Right.
This was a, like a fashion show.
Right.
So they had me to perform when the models were modeling.
Yeah.
Right.
Nice, simple gig,
but it was like a big, big-
It's a big set, man.
I mean, it doesn't look fucking simple to me.
I've seen the ones that you've done also for Singapore,
for tourism board.
Yeah, I did a lot back then, yes.
Wow.
And then between all these things,
clubs, concerts, and private gigs,
is there a difference in your audience?
Is there a difference in the audience?
Yeah.
Yes.
Okay.
And you adapt to all.
All.
I even had,
you see, when people come to watch my show,
they know that I like to talk also.
You know?
I like to entertain.
Because when you come to a club where I perform,
you're not watching just a band that plays covers.
Because everybody, every club you go to,
they all play covers.
What is different about you?
You know?
Every band has to have a distinctive character.
Right.
Right?
So we have Energy, who has this distinctive style.
Right.
Then you have, back then, Energy, they have Drive Talking,
you have Wendy Koh, you have all these people you know,
you see, then you know that,
okay, this band plays this, or they do this, right?
So what is Aliya?
What does she do?
So my thing was always to be able to entertain.
We especially tell jokes, be witty, be,
and I was young, I was sexy, eh?
I was young, I was sexy.
And then after that, you would drop.
I had to drop.
Young, sexy, you know?
I was spunky, I was witty,
I didn't give a rat's ass who you are, right?
If you want to guttal with me, you come, come.
Get on stage.
And then I'll make them make sure that,
you think I don't have the balls to tell this,
you know, I'll make them in the spot, you know?
But after embarrassing them a little bit, you know?
Then I will butter them up with a song,
that makes them go, ah, you know?
Then they wanna come back for that, right?
I ever performed, this bugger, this guy,
probably had a bad day, okay?
Maybe divorced or got thrown out from work or whatever.
He was at the bar, okay?
He was at the bar, I've never seen him before.
So he had a drink.
Usually when you have regulars,
they won't have a drink, they'll have a bottle, okay?
He had a drink and then he sat down
and then when I was entertaining,
because somebody's birthday or whatever,
this guy said, shut up and sing la.
Oh dear.
You know?
And then a part of me like,
oh my God, who the hell is that?
Right?
So embarrassing, that's one.
Number two, how do I cover that?
How do I, right?
So, and then I said, okay,
you gotta be ballsy to do the next thing.
So after singing birthday song, blah, blah, blah,
the person sits down and then I said,
okay, that gentleman by the bar.
Yeah.
So I'm on stage here, he's at the bar.
Okay.
And then I said, what happened?
What happened to you?
You know?
And then he was like, shut up and sing la,
you know that kind of thing, right?
So I said, okay, what does a woman have?
They have charm.
We need to charm this guy.
Okay.
Right?
So I go all the way to the bar
and I asked them to play some love song, I think.
Some love, I can't really remember what song.
I came to the bar, I sat next to him.
And then I sang, you want me to sing?
I'm singing, I forget about other people around here.
I'm singing just for you.
And I sang a love song for him.
Okay.
The guy just, he felt honored.
Right.
He felt embarrassed.
Yeah.
He felt like, oh, just go, just go, just go.
You know that kind of thing.
But I said that, I hold his hand and I said,
don't worry about whoever's around, just you and me.
And I just looked at him and I sang the song.
Yeah. Right?
And then after that, I said,
and everybody was clapping, right?
Then he said, he inches like that.
And I said, no, no, no, you owe me a bottle.
So I got it to buy a bottle.
So I said, win, win, right?
You want to make so much noise?
I sang for you, now you buy a bloody bottle.
So, but then of course he don't want to pay seh.
Pay seh, long kuih.
So he had to buy a bottle
and I made sure he buy the very good bottle.
You know.
Okay, madam, I'm gonna bring,
because we've been talking for about an hour and a half
so far and there's two more things we want to know.
Just two more things.
You left the nightlife, you're still gigging,
which I'm so glad that you are.
We cannot lose a leo D in the Singapore music,
in the music place, yeah?
Or music space.
And you started this thing.
Yes.
Started what?
Okay, people, you need to know,
there's a big starting difference.
You've seen pictures of a leo D in the earlier years, right?
And then now you have this particular look
with this turban on her head.
Head wrap.
And she's in the studio, she has that turban on her head.
And you started this thing.
Okay, so okay, fine, fine, fine.
This is a head wrap.
And you started this business.
So how did this happen, man?
Okay, you're walking around, I know now.
And this is your signature, it's been for a few years.
Everywhere you go, a leo D has got a head wrap on.
Any particular reason besides for the business?
Is there any particular reason?
Oh yeah, okay, like I said,
I'm always evolving.
Evolving, okay.
Okay, so after I stopped singing, performing nightly,
I of course became more religious.
Okay, okay.
So besides having a hijab on as a Muslim,
I told myself, I said, okay,
I still need to have my identity, ma.
Okay.
I need to create something, something.
So I know that some religious people out there
will not be able to accept the fact
that a head wrap is a hijab.
It's not a hijab, a head wrap is a head wrap.
So there will be critics in the Muslim community.
Have they been?
Yeah, of course.
Okay.
But I specifically wanted to have that
because I can't obviously,
when I'm called to do an event for a show,
firstly, I don't want to wear a wig.
Okay, because they say you have to cover your hair.
Really?
Yeah, so I don't want to wear a wig.
What's the point?
Yeah.
Right?
Okay, but I still want to perform.
They still want me to perform.
Okay, so I said, okay, let me just do something,
just create something.
So I do, I have, I've seen other Muslim performers
who does head wraps.
Oh, oh, oh, yeah, right.
And I said, okay, that's not too bad, right?
But I want to have another step up, right?
To create bold colors, bold designs,
instead of having one plain one.
And so I want to use creativity
because I'm a very creative person.
So making this, making something that is,
hopefully in your mind,
that would still adhere for religious purposes.
Yes, this is not specifically for religious purposes.
For me personally, because I am performing
and I still, I'm still performing,
but I want to make sure that I cover my hair.
So I use a head wrap.
Okay. Okay.
That's one.
Which is basically adhering to,
to, to, for religious purpose.
Yes.
I made a vow to myself that-
But you want to make it fashionable.
Yes, fashionable.
Although, like I said,
most Muslim community or some Muslim community
will disagree on what I'm doing,
what I'm portraying, portraying.
But let's not get into that.
Okay.
What I mean is when I create this, okay,
and I thought that, hey,
there are Muslim ladies who just started to wear hijab
and they're still trying to find the style.
Okay.
Like me.
Okay.
That's why, that's where they like,
Aliyah, it's so nice.
You can pull it off.
And I said, if I can pull it off,
you can pull it off too.
Okay. Okay.
Second, that's the second reason.
Third, I had a couple of my friends
when I was going through this changes in my life,
putting a hijab and all that,
I had a couple of my friends
who passed on because of cancer.
Okay.
So during this time when they were losing hair-
Due to chemotherapy.
Yes.
They had caps on, they had struggled to-
They tried to find a way to look-
Even putting on a wig also,
it's like they don't really, you know?
So, and then I dolled them with my head wraps,
you know?
And they look great, you know?
So, and I said that,
let me create this, not only-
So, regardless of race actually, is it?
Yeah.
You know?
So, I had my dancer friends,
because I had a lot of performers
who are dancers and all that.
And I said that,
hey, y'all want to go to the beach?
I give you a head wrap, okay?
You don't want to damage your hair, right?
With the sun, right?
So, wear that bikini, put on the, you know?
They look so cool in it, you know?
So, then I said, hey, this is a good-
How do you figure out how to wrap that wrap
on your head, man?
I mean, they have more than just one way of doing it, right?
Yeah, but I tell you,
in the beginning stage, it's all trial and error.
You think you're so nice, right, when you use, right?
Then a few walks later to the bus stop or whatever,
to wait taxi or whatever,
you see thing going down.
You know?
Or either that, or it's like,
oh, it's so tight, oh my God, you know?
You know what I mean?
It's circulation to the brain.
Yes, so then I said, okay, before I sell this,
let me try it on my own.
So, I tried, tried, tried.
We found this, we found this video of you, you know,
I think it's more like instructional.
Can we play that one, please, Kai?
Oh, tutorial, instruction.
Yeah, yeah, it's instructional, wow.
Yes, yes.
It is what?
Yeah.
And then you go, and what's that pretzel thing, man?
I was, why are you putting,
why are you putting these things in pretzel?
It's a buckle, it's a buckle, bruh.
It's a fucking pretzel.
It's a buckle, people use buckle, right?
So you can accessorize it with buckle.
Or so you get hungry, you take it out,
you can chew on it too.
Whatever floats your boat.
Yeah, so this is the, eh, easy?
So this is, this is called a pretzel wrap.
No.
I've just given you-
This is called a band-e wrap.
A what wrap?
A band-e wrap.
I tell you something, man.
You've changed the name of that to the pretzel wrap.
You probably get more sales happening.
I remember telling you when I wanted to start this business,
remember?
Yeah, yeah.
I told you in FD, I said,
I'm gonna start this business, blah, blah, blah.
You're like, oh yeah, madam, what are you gonna call it?
I said, I'm gonna call it, it's a wrap.
Burrito?
Both of you know, the clowns know you're telling me this.
I'm like, what burrito?
It's a wrap, what?
You think it wrap, what?
Tacos?
Burrito, tacos.
It's no shit, lah.
And oh, seriously, man, when he told us
he's gonna be called, it's a wrap.
The only thing that,
the only thing that occurred to us was,
it must be Mexican, lah.
It's a wrap.
Tacos, burritos.
See, what wrap is this?
Yeah, I remember saying, but it's a nice name, what?
Then I said, okay, cannot put, I must put,
it's a wrap by Aliadi.
Now it's us.
So Aliadi now sells burritos.
Your head?
If I know how to make burritos, probably, yeah?
Now that you've jogged my memory,
I think I remember, FD and I were laughing our heads off,
man, we nearly fell off our chairs.
Yeah, I remember, you're looking at me like,
eh, madam, what was this, your stylish, ah?
I said, yeah, I'm gonna start a business.
I'm like, oh, this is-
So all of a sudden, the Aliadi we knew
that had long hair all the time,
whoops, comes in with this thing on the head.
They're like, what's happening to,
eh, but I'm telling you honestly, ah,
I've been in this entertainment business for so long,
and then when I, how I knew you,
obviously is because through the MC Academy,
we did this together,
and then I remember I was also managing you, right?
Yeah, you were.
Yeah, and I remember going, you know,
I never had problems with dealing with anybody
in the entertainment business at all,
because visual, visual didn't look like,
wow, this girl is hot, ah, right?
And then my name is Aliya Dimal Dasharma.
I signed them an email.
You know, send them an email,
it's got Aliya Dimal Dasharma.
What is, what is, what, what is she?
Indian, grub, what?
Very curious, people must want to meet you, la.
Scarlett, when you come, one girl with a turban.
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.
I'm like, and they were like,
oh, is this same girl?
Same lady?
But, okay, something serious about this, okay?
Their perception, yeah, they look at you,
thinking that she doesn't know shit, you know?
Like, I remember accepting a check, okay?
Because I remember I said,
you want my artist or you want my MC to perform
or to do the show, you need to give a 50%.
Up front. Up front, right?
After the show, or before he gets on stage,
give me the check, right?
Okay, so I remember I had this meeting with this individual
and before we left, I says, he said, oh yeah.
She looks at me, she said, oh yeah, payment, ah?
I says, of course, I'm like, of course,
I will never forget, I need to pay,
I need to make sure everything's in check, you know?
Me and my witty self, right?
This is how she passes the check to me, okay?
This is a business that we're dealing with, okay?
And the person, but before this whole thing,
when she met, before she met me, okay?
It was all like, yes, ma'am, yes, yes, yes, okay.
No, very nice, nice, you know?
All that and, and, oh, I can't wait to meet you in person,
blah, blah, blah, blah, but she met me
because I wear this, right?
Or maybe perhaps portray as a Muslim woman, right?
This is how they treat, I don't,
I've never been treated like this before, okay?
Push the check like that.
So I give it a benefit of the doubt,
maybe this lady is probably being, you know, chummy chummy
because I'm mostly chummy chummy with her,
but there's not a way, there's not the way to be,
especially when it comes to money, right?
You give nicely, okay, oh, you give this, okay,
sign here, please, or something like that, right?
That's one.
Second, go to a shop, right, to go and get some outfit done
and spoke to the salesperson.
I spoke to the person in English, right,
how I'm talking to you right now.
And she tells me,
speak Malay, okay?
Then I'm like, and this person is Chinese,
she's probably Malaysian or whatever, you know?
But this is a boutique, okay, this is a boutique.
Speak Malay, you know?
Then I'm like, speak Malay?
I said, I said, I said-
Speak Malay means speak Malay.
And I'm wondering why?
Why am I offending you or you can't speak English?
Because all along you can speak English,
but when I talk to you even more, I says,
oh, I need this to be a little bit more tighter.
For example, I say something like that.
Speak Malay.
And I'm like, why?
You know, even get into a cab, right?
Uncle, can you take me to the-
Malay?
Then I said, and I said, no.
Okay.
Malay.
Then I said, I can speak Malay.
I said, but I'm not a Malay.
You know, stuff like that, right?
And then I understood that wherever you go-
Stereotyped.
Yes, as you try to dress in a certain way,
people stereotype you as like, you Malay, you talk Malay.
You know?
You, you-
It happens to the Chinese too, believe me.
I'm sure!
Yeah.
I'm sure.
I'm sure, I'm sure.
Chinese people will say, why do you speak to me in Chinese?
Why don't you speak to me in English?
I'm sure, I'm sure.
And I never understood that shit, frankly.
I really don't.
And yeah, you know, I really hope that that Czech incident
you've had, it doesn't do with when you were managing me
or it was my show.
It was, it was.
It was my show.
Oh dear.
Yeah, it was.
So whoever that dickhead was, oh well.
I was just, I was just blown.
I couldn't believe my eyes and my ears
and how I was treated.
You know, that's the thing, you know.
I, I, the reason why I have this tribute show earlier
is simply because to foreign musels and icons
in our music industry,
is simply because I think a lot of musicians
and entertainers in Singapore are not cherished,
not respected, even in basic respect I'm talking about.
Yeah.
And not appreciated enough by people across the board,
not just in Singapore, I think safe to say,
I think kind of global now.
Yeah.
And, but naturally here, I'm talking about here as well,
especially here in Singapore,
because it is about our local musels and entertainers, right?
And, and I mean, people don't do things for free.
People don't do things for 20 bucks.
You know what I mean?
And pay musicians and entertainers on time.
Yeah.
And then don't forget that we've really lost in my,
and I've been saying this,
and gosh, I really feel like a parrot.
We've lost our soul because we've lost our music.
Well, in the recent budget announcement,
I really hope it works, you know?
But when they say the arts,
they always leave out entertainment.
Yeah.
It's sad, you know?
Yeah.
Again, I hear it yesterday.
I mean, the budget was announced yesterday, right?
And okay, you're gonna pump money, good money,
into the arts.
Arts.
Are you talking theater?
Are you talking drama?
Are you talking dance?
You're talking about modern dance,
you're talking about ballet.
You're talking about classical music.
What happened?
How about musels?
How about entertainers?
Yeah.
You know?
I really hope that I'm wrong about this,
that it really would also go,
a portion of the budget, to entertainers.
Because our night scene now is muted, man.
Yeah.
Danny Long is on the show, watch the episode.
I'm not gonna talk too much about that because-
You know, I've never worked with him.
Really?
Never.
Well, when I, hey Danny,
I'm still waiting for that phone call,
your invitation to come to Blackbird together with you.
I'll drag Alia along.
Yeah, you gotta meet this lady, okay?
You really got to,
and that's he done in favor for you already.
And yeah, and we both agree, you know?
I mean, look, how many places do you find in Singapore,
the exception of Timber Plus and Blackbird,
where you have got really good five piece bands playing,
at least a five piece.
You see people, club owners or bar owners,
who no longer have the sufficient budget
to hire musos, let alone your own DJ.
Because why?
Rents.
Revenue and your profits going to rent, right?
So these people can't afford to get in
maybe more than one or two piece to play,
or even a DJ, yeah?
Back in the day when you were performing, man,
when I was partying as well, right?
It's, Singapore is vibrant.
Everywhere you go, you hear music, man.
You hear good bands really playing, right?
I'm not gonna go on and on about this,
because as I said,
watch the episode that I've had with Danny,
and you will hear a lot more.
But it's really sad,
the situation that we are in as a country,
as a nation, where music is considered music,
I'm talking about real music.
Yes.
Yeah.
And whatever we hear now,
the young people hearing today,
they think it's good.
You don't know what you've missed.
You know what I mean?
Yeah.
You don't know what you missed.
You know, actually, when we talk about music,
I would say that the current music singers,
people like Bruno Mars, who create songs
that has elements of soul train elements,
and all those, you know?
So that really, when he came to Singapore
a couple of years back, my husband and I,
we bought the most expensive ticket
just to watch him perform,
and try to understand why is this guy,
or his show is different.
Different, right?
Yeah.
So when we went to watch him, we can understand
because first of all, he sings from his heart.
Okay?
His musicians perform like it was their last performance.
Oh wow.
You know?
He, he's, it's just spectacular.
You know?
Simple, very simple.
It's like watching, it's like watching Jackson 5,
Boys 2 Men.
All roll into one.
Boy group, whatever, all into one.
And then you've got these elements of funk, hip hop, rock,
everything into one.
And the love songs, you know, it's just like, wow.
This guy's got it all.
It's amazing.
Filipino.
Yep, here we go.
Blood, you know?
They've got that, you know, that soul.
Look at Journey, man.
Journey is still moving on so well without Steve Perry
with Arnel, you know?
And Arnel's Filipino.
Yes.
And that guy can carry us, can carry,
can carry a performance, you know?
And can carry the notes that Steve Perry left behind
his legacy, you know, as far as I'm concerned.
It's hard to do with Steve Perry, man.
And Journey is still, I mean, the rest of the guys,
the original members are all freaking old now,
but they're still going on.
They're still going on tours.
Yes.
I mean, longevity.
But the Filipinos, the moment, you see,
that's why Dennis Fu was really clever before.
Brought in the Filipinos and gave Singapore musicians
competition.
When these guys came in, they were like serious
about their stuff.
They were, they were passionate.
Yes.
And the talent was raw.
I mean, raw in a sense that it's not technical, as you said.
They're all musical.
Yes.
It was brilliant.
Those were brilliant years.
And a lot of our own musicians grew, had no choice.
Then we had the likes of the late and great
Iskander Ismail, then we had Kay Hammett.
And our bands were made to go, we've got to really up our game.
Yes.
And they were upping the game, you know,
and which people like me on the other side was just enjoying it.
Yeah.
Because I go in and I hear good music.
I watch great performances.
It's fantastic.
And in those days, we never had the likes of Taylor Swift
coming to Singapore for concerts.
You know, U2 co-play.
No, we didn't have the luxury, man.
No.
No, we really didn't.
I was at fucking Boney M in 1978 or something like that.
Right.
And one of the concerts that we have, no, none.
Yeah.
We had nothing.
But what we did have, though, were our own.
Yes.
Music.
Yes.
In this country.
You know.
Exactly, bro.
And even playing on radio by great radio jocks, man.
Even going into any bar, you know you're going to get something
really good enough, at least.
You know, I don't know if you have ever seen this.
I think it was some New Year celebration or whatever.
OK?
It was like way back in the 90s, I think.
Right.
Is it 90s?
Singapore?
No, no, no, no.
Millennium Countdown.
No, it was on TV.
I remember watching it.
OK.
It was Anita.
OK.
It was Anita.
It was so many of this.
I think it was Rolling Good Times.
Rolling Good Times.
Reunion or something like that.
Anita Zerot never came back.
No, no.
OK.
Maybe not.
They had Douglas.
They had Anne.
Yeah, yeah.
They had Rito.
Gondz.
What's her name?
Gosh.
Gronzal.
I don't know.
Oh, Anita Grande.
Yeah.
Burung Kakak.
Yes.
And then they had so many.
But basically, they came out and did their bit.
Yeah, yeah.
That was a Rolling Good Times concert.
Was it?
Yeah.
And then they had the winners come back to perform and all
that.
No, no.
Rito.
No, no.
I don't think so.
I think it was just a New Year celebration.
Oh, really?
It was fantastic.
Oh, my god.
No, this, you will never be able to get that.
You won't.
People forget who Anita Zerot was.
Even Catherine Ong.
Remember Catherine Ong?
Yes.
Yeah.
Oh, my god.
Yeah.
Those were amazing years, man.
I mean, real live wires on stage.
People could go on TV.
People would go live on stage at a club, on stage anywhere.
Yeah.
For that matter.
There's no perception of you sing in a club,
you cannot sing for this event.
Nothing like that.
Nowadays, you have that, no?
Yeah.
But in the past, what media used to do, Channel 5, Channel 8,
you go to a club, or in those days,
you call them discos or a bar.
You hear a good band.
You invite them to the TV studio and they perform.
Yes.
That's how we knew people like Gypsy,
including Tokyo Squaredge and Jabret.
But these guys were playing in clubs.
And they were also performing for televised audience.
You know what I mean?
I mean, that was great.
Everyone was working hand in hand to promote music together
in Singapore.
Exactly.
That is what I was trying to do.
If only you have the support from every channel,
from any channel that has got to do with the media,
from the newspaper to radio.
But they're only promoting their own people now.
That is what I'm saying.
Why though?
They're promoting the news of their own artists,
their own artists in Today, or I'm saying already,
CNA, or you know.
Back then, you have so many different races.
And everybody's like, it's like watching.
The bands were such a great example of multiracialism.
When you have Singaporeans, even if they're not Singaporeans,
it doesn't matter.
There was no xenophobia involved.
You come together.
You can have an Indian.
You can have a couple of Chinese.
You've got Eurasians in there.
You've got Malays in there.
And then we were making music together.
And I think that is such an important facet of our social
compact, in my opinion.
And we cannot lose music here in Singapore.
We can't.
It really hurts me.
It really does.
Anyway, we're going to end the show in a special way.
And guys, you will enjoy this.
I hope you will.
Because not every time I get a chance to sing over Diva.
But just before we do that, just before I break into song
together with Aliyah, I want to show you this video.
Because I don't want this to be confused.
Because we're singing a love song together.
And this lady, she is so madly in love with a man she married.
And vice versa, the man who married her
is so madly in love with her.
My goodness, these two people are on my socials.
The lovey dovey things they write to each other openly
in public or online until I can die.
It's so saccharine, I get diabetes.
Before you tell, I need to explain.
Whenever we write all this lovey dovey stuff on our social
media, we mean everything.
And we like to surprise each other.
When he wakes up in the morning, he
will make coffee for me.
He'll make coffee for me, and then he opens his Instagram
and he sees something.
So sweet.
He'll be like, oh!
But you must remember, the rest of the bloody world
is reading it too.
And I go, oh my, there they go again, these two.
See?
Then they should, y'all also must do.
I tell you, it works wonders, man.
OK, OK, OK.
I'm going to be singing with her.
But you got to see, this guy, I'm like Brad Ampit.
This one's really Brad Ampit.
So you take a look at this particular video
and how these two gutter live each other on stage.
Can we play that one, please, guy?
Oh my god, what video is this?
Oh, my baby.
My baby.
You see, take a look at that guy, man.
Come on.
My baby.
You look at that.
You look at that, dude.
You just look at that, dude.
God is not fair.
My sayang.
That one.
Oh.
I know.
If I don't have to be a lady, I can fall in love with him too, man.
To be honest with you, when we're on stage,
we are like that at home.
Really?
Until today.
What I'm saying is, life is so unfair.
That guy's got everything, man.
Look at that face, look at the physique, look at the talent.
Geez, it's not fair, man.
When you're younger, so you're handsome.
When I'm younger.
Now also still handsome.
No, excuse me.
I got hit by a lorry.
This is called fugly.
No.
Rubbish.
Look at that.
That is gorgeous, man.
Yeah.
I'm a guy.
And I got to say, that man is fucking gorgeous.
Water la pour.
Don't prepare.
What's he so happy?
She's even happier, isn't she?
Say, my darling.
Darling.
Wow.
Tell me, Bodo Bodo Bodo.
Tell me, Kwando Kwando Kwando.
My darling, I miss performing for him.
I mean for him.
I mean with him.
Oh, do tell.
I want to know.
No children should be watching this show, so don't worry.
Yeah.
When will you see us too?
I tell you, really, man.
I mean, this is so damn saccharine, man.
Tell me, Lao Kuang Lao Kuang
And this is impromptu.
Impromptu.
Chill me, have never missed you.
Oh, my darling.
My darling.
OK, Kai.
I think that should suffice, man.
I'm going to lose all my teeth because of all the sugar that I'm watching on the freaking
screen that's going down my gullet at this point and get diabetes at the same time.
I'm going to have a shot of bloody insulin.
Yeah, my goodness me.
Anyway, Aliyah, I thank you so very much, really.
I hope you've enjoyed yourself today.
It's been almost two hours, man.
I cannot believe it either.
You know, I feel like it's been so long that I actually spoke about me.
Yeah.
And people should speak more about themselves.
I enjoy doing this tribute show because practically almost every one of my guests say that.
Yeah.
You know, Chris, I've not spoken about me, you know, and then people should.
You should talk about you because when we have this crazy Asian concept of about, let's
be humble, but that doesn't mean you don't have a story to tell.
Yeah.
It doesn't mean you don't have something that you've done that means something to people.
Yeah.
And if you have, then say it, right?
And we've got to learn that, man.
We've got to learn to just say, I did this.
Yeah.
And you did.
And as I said, and I'm going to repeat this now, I said this is the start of the show.
I'm going to say this to end the show.
I, no one except for James Ingram and you have made me cry when they sing.
Oh, thank you so much.
And you have so, so often on more than just one occasion when you sing, I go, oh, thank
you, Chris.
And honestly, honestly, man, I mean, if there's any diva I'm proud to say I know, besides
Anne.
Of course, Anne.
It's you, you know, and I'm proud to be your friend.
Thank you so much, Chris.
Thank you for thinking of me, for having me here to talk about my journey in this beautiful
business.
Yeah.
It is a beautiful business.
Everyone, I've had Alia D.
Alia D.
Alia D on the Chris Hansen conversation.
I hope you've been enjoying the season so far.
Four more episodes to go before season three ends.
And this is Chris Hansen.
Don't forget, subscribe.
Don't forget, hit the notification button, hit the freaking bell.
Yeah.
Like, follow, comment, say I look stupid and say, and say I look fugly too if you want.
I don't care, but say something.
This has been the Chris Hansen conversation.
I'll see you again real soon.
And really, it's been two hours.
Gotta go have my dinner.
Good night.
Oh,
tonight,
no one's gonna find us.
We'll leave the world behind us.
When I'm in love with you.
Tonight,
I celebrate my love for you.
And hope that deep inside you feel it too
Tonight our spirits will be climbing
To a sky lit up with diamonds
When I make love to you
Tonight
Tonight I'll celebrate my love for you
And the midnight sun is gonna come shine on you
Tonight there'll be no distance between us
What I will miss to do
Is to get close to you
Tonight
Tonight I'll celebrate my love for you
And hope that deep inside you feel it too
Tonight we will both discover
How friends turn into lovers
When I make love to you
Tonight I'll celebrate my love for you
And the midnight sun is gonna come shine on you
Tonight there'll be no distance between us
What I will miss to do
Is to get close to you
Tonight
What a man!
I tell you I got steam in my ears, my ears are steaming hot man!
Thank you madam.
Thank you Chris, thank you.