Yuna and Bunga’s duet a long time coming

WHILE they are sisters-in-law, singers Yuna and Bunga Citra Lestari said coming up with their first single together Watak Utama (Main Character) was not a walk in the park due to their hectic schedules, Kosmo! reported.

“Actually, we had the idea to collaborate on a song in 2021.

“Because we were busy with work – me in Los Angeles and Bunga in Jakarta – the plan was postponed.

“While busy recording songs last year, my producer Pierre Jameson came up with a song which, to me, is too cute.

“I realised the song wasn’t a good fit for my image and my musical style.

“I attempted to rewrite the song, but I eventually asked permission to write it in Malay,” Yuna said.

After completing it, and getting Bunga to listen to it, Yuna said the Cinta Sejati singer agreed that the song Watak Utama should be their duet single .

“The next challenge was to come up with a lyric that appealed to the Malaysian and Indonesian markets.

“Bunga gave a lot of input on the lyrics. Due to time constraints, I recorded the song in Los Angeles while Bunga did so in Jakarta,” she said.

While it took a while since 2021, Yuna feels that launching the song on Sept 13 was the right move.

“Coincidentally, both of us were on the jury for Gimme The Mic Malaysia and Bunga came to Kuala Lumpur every week.

“It gave us the chance to work closer together and finalise aspects of the song,” Yuna said.

> Actress Ira Kazar admitted that her ex-husband, director Syamsul Yusof, had made several demands following their divorce on Sept 5, Berita Harian reported.

The matter was confirmed by her lawyer Mohammad Fadhil Abdul Razak on Wednesday.

“Yes, the other side asked for a few items to be returned but we do not agree. We don’t understand, it’s unreasonable to ask for such items back.

“That is why we have responded to the letter of demand.

“We even suggested ways to settle the matter. However, so far, the other side has not made a decision,” he said.

● The above article is compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with this ' >'sign, it denotes a separate news item.