A For Akon

February 18, 2006 |
Akon shines brighter in his second Malaysian gig
by Chew Wan Ying (Showbiz, Flip 29)

Say what you want about Akon, but there’s no denying the fact that the man knows how to please his fans.

Judging by his sizzling performance in MTV presents: Akon Live at Ruums earlier this year, the bar was set very high for the Senegalese American singer when he came in to perform at Perdana Lakeview East, Cyberjaya, last Sunday night.

Once again, Aliaune Thiam, or more famously known as Akon, did not let his fans down. He gave us a great gig that was filled with infectious numbers, solid vocal performance and most importantly, up close and personal interaction with the audience.

By 9pm , Hitz.FM’s JJ and Rudy and the opening acts, the station’s DJs Jakeman, Skeletor and DJ Fuzz appeared on the stage.

Things really heated up when Akon’s won DJ Benny D took the stage.

When the mohawked DJ bounced onto the stage, the atmosphere took a distinctive turn for the better. Wowing the crowd with his disc-spinning skills and showmanship, the turntablist warmed up the stage for the main event.

The crowd had to wait for more than 45 minutes for his to appear, but it was all worthwhile when the star showed up in all-black attire complete with a bling necklace to belt out his first song of the night, Shake Down.

A string of stadium-friendly singles, including DJ Khaled’s We Takin’ Over (of which Akon is one of the featured artisters), followed.

Next, the singer eased the crowd into a more sentimental mood by singing his heart out inGhetto Story. Akon gave more reason for his fans to love him when he insisted fans who bought the RM97 tickets are granted access to the VIP area.

After Soul Survivor – his collaboration with Young Jeezy – Akon pushed the envelope further with all-time favorites I Wanna Love You and Smack That.

He kept the grooves going with T-Pain’s Bartender and by the time he sang Don’t Matter, he was right in the crowd, riding on someone’s shoulder and even carried a boy with him when he sang Mama Africa. The sound system was perfect. The crowd was ecstatic while the performer was in top form.

But there was some drama that night.

A commotion in the crowd resulted in Akon stopping the music and urging the crowd to give way to a screaming little girl – who was apparently driven to tears by the chaos surrounding her – and her family.

Just when you thought that was it for the night, Akon suddenly reappeared in the middle of the crowd, riding high on someone’s shoulder again and singing his smash hit The Sweet Escape

Apparently, the incident did not deter the singer in having fun as he continued with Bananza (Belly Dancer) and another chart-topping hit Lonely.

As the last song of the night, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony I Tried featuring Akon himself, came to a close, the artiste ended his second performance in Malaysia on a nice, fulfilling note.

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