Crowd favourite Shahir wins Akademi Fantasia

KUALA LUMPUR: Ahmad Shahir Zawawi or Shahir, 22, outshone four other contestants to become the new champion of the popular reality show Akademi Fantasia season eight (AF8).

Shahir garnered the most votes at 43% compared with Siti Adira Suhaimi (25%) and Muhd Shahril Firdaus Eli Daus (12%).

He impressed the judges with his moving renditions of – Kebahagiaan dan Perpisahan – a new song written by Edry KRU and Wings’ Biru Mata Hitamku at the finals held at the Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil last night.

Shahir took home more than RM200,000 worth of prizes in cash and in kind, which included a Peugeot 207 car, a holiday package to Hong Kong Disneyland and two return tickets to New York.

Second place went to Siti Adira, 19, from Ranau, Sabah, while the third prize winner was Muhd Shahril, 22.

The fourth and fifth placing went to Muhd Firdaus Maulana Mohamed, 22, and Emirza Azwan Zulazrin Chew, 20, respectively.

Hosted by Sarimah Ibrahim and Jimmy Shanley, the three-hour event was held before a packed audience at the 6,000-seat stadium.

Each of the five finalists performed two songs - a cover version and a new song.

AF8 was headed by principal Norman Abdul Halim of the KRU brothers fame, assisted by performance/music instructor Adnan Abu Hassan, vocal coach Siti Hajar Ismail, dance instructor Linda Jasmine Hashim, acting instructor Que Haidar and motivational and English language instructor Fatimah Abu Bakar.