Meet The New RTM - Same Like The Old RTM!

So in case you didn’t know, RTM rebranded both its channels and debuted them this past New Year’s Day. TV1 is all about news and info, while TV2 is dubbed the “Dunia Ria” channel, airing more of the entertainment stuff including movies, dramas and musicals.

Both channels now have nifty new logos and by golly, TV2 has even aired quality (and expensive) movies like “X-Men” and “The Matrix”. BUT just as I was about to be turned into a believer, I caught an entertainment special called “Fiesta” something.

Big mistake.

The show features a few local singers (won’t be naming names here), covering international and local hit songs. In the first place, it’s rather funny that these established stars were asked to sing other people’s songs. As hard as I tried, I could not see the point.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the worst thing about it. Think about video clips from 25 years ago and what made them grossly cheesy – this show had them all. It’s like one day, the producers decide to drive around the artists and conveniently stop wherever they think might be a good location, slap on some clothes on the artistes and make them sing there and then.

The result - you’ll see these people pouting and singing in the middle of Bangsar, LRT stations and roads with adequate lighting.

And of course, taman-taman bunga with nice colourful flowers and trimmed lalang.

And it wouldn’t be complete without some back-up dancers, would it? The kind who forget the choreography and decked in clothes from the Uji Rashid & Hail Amir bundle sale.

I won’t go into the details of the song selection, but I do have to mention that for the finale, where all the artistes congregate at Dataran Merdeka (but of course), the song of choice was…. “The Final Countdown” by Europe.

‘Cos you know, the tune is hip and happening… and this is 1988.