REVIEWS
Click Here for Letters

AUSTRALIA’S LOVE BALLAD
TAKES TOP PRIZE AT ABU SONG CONTEST
Written by Catherine Ong

KUALA LUMPUR – Australian jazz pianist, Allan Zavod, won the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union’s  (ABU) third Popular Song Contest with his love ballad “Time Can’t Keep Us Apart”, here last night.

The song, sung by Catherine Ceberano, who was voted Australia’s Most Popular Female Vocalist last year, had a few members in the audience humming along during an encore performance.

Mr Zavod, an accomplished musician who has played for such world-famous bandleaders as Frank Zappa, Woody Herman, Glenn Miller and Maynard Ferguson, won an enormous silver trophy and US$10,000 (S$21,000) in prize money. The Philippines’ Nonoy Tan won the second prize of US$5,000 with his stirring love song, Langit or Heaven, sung by Dulce who has several best performer awards to her credit.

The third prize of US$3,000 went to last year’s winner, New Zealand, for the song For composed by Geoff Cavander.

Mr Zavod, who has also taught at the prestigious Boston Berklee College, was so surprised by his win that he stood on stage seemingly lost after receiving his award and forgot that he had to conduct the orchestra for the encore.

Radio TV Malaysia’s (RTM) Music Director, Mr Ahmad Dassila Mohd Yusoff, stood in for him until Mr Zavod got a hold on himself and ran off stage to take over the conductor’s stand. After the show, Mr Zavod, who had lipstick smeared on his cheeks from having been kissed by his wife, Christine, and the singer of the winning song, Catherine, said it had been “a very close contest”.

This year’s contest, hosted by the Malaysian national broadcasting station, RTM, was held at the 2,000 seat Putra World Trade Center.

The ABU Popular Song Contest is an annual event organized by the broadcasting stations of the Asia-Pacific region to encourage the writing of pop songs. Singapore hosted the first contest. Last year’s competition was held in Wellington, New Zealand.