Still reeling from the excitement of the MTV Asia Awards this past weekend.

Although I did not get to watch the show inside the live arena, there are still plenty of moments of highlights for me. The MTV Asia Awards definitely tops the list of the most memorable events I attended this year.
Here are some more photos I did not managed to post up during my 7-hour-long live blogging on Saturday.

Apparently there were two Red Carpets. One for VIPs to go front of house, and the other for artistes that goes backstage.
We were waiting at the VIP Red Carpet for over an hour before we realised that it was unusually quiet for an international awards show, so I rushed to the correct Red Carpet 15 minutes after it started.

The Jabberwockeez. I got their name wrong the first time because to be honest, I’ve never even heard of them!
They’re a dance crew from the US who won a dance contest, and now they get to travel the world attending awards shows like these.

VJ Mike doing the Red Carpet with two lovelies. Oh how I wish to be in his shoes one day.

Without a doubt, the biggest name on the Red Carpet is The Pussycat Dolls.

They received the biggest cheer from the crowd, and deservingly so.
No, the police makcik on the left is NOT a Pussycat Doll.

The lead Pussycat Nicole Scherzinger pimping it for MTV.

Immediately following the five-member all-female band from the US, is Super Junior, the eight-member all-boy band from Korea.
The girls are all going nuts over them. Why lah do girls like pretty boys so much.

This is Super Junior, grabbing an imaginary boob.

I wonder, when Super Junior eventually get to like, 70 years old, are they gonna change their name to Super Seniors?
Hmmm.

MTV fans on the other side of the barricade. You guys really made my day lah.
I was there to snap photos for kennysia.com, but these guys spotted me and started chanting my name! It was an awesomely kick-ass moment for me, because I don’t get acknowledged like that very often. Somemore so many stars were there to outshine me.
One reader even caught me doing the live-blogging thing on my HP Mini.

It was a highlight of my evening but also kinda awkward because I don’t know how to react to that.

The Click Five came out next.
That’s when the fans bastardised their hit song Jenny and instead sang, “Kenny, what’s the problem?”

I know what’s the problem.
Me not being able to get into the show, that’s the problem!

HK superstar Karen Mok and US superstar Jared Leto spent at least 20 minutes on the Red Carpet, taking photos and shaking hands with fans.
The two hosts received the biggest reaction from the crowd after the Pussycat Dolls.

I’ve always been a fan of 30 Seconds To Mars, the band fronted by Jared Leto, so to be able to watch him in person was a major “fanboy” moment for me.

I have always imagined him to be more cool, mysterious and reclusive, suited to the type of angry rock music that he plays.
Surprisingly Jared Leto was warm, friendly and very charismatic. No wonder the girls love him.

Hong Kong superstar Karen Mok spoke exceptionally good English without that annoying accent that plagued most actors from Hong Kong.

She is surprisingly petite. And also very skinny.
She is so skinny, she made Cheesie look fat.

The most elegantly dressed star on the Red Carpet is British sensation, Leona Lewis.
I don’t think I remember seeing her at the after party. I think she took the award and left.

Irish band The Script was definitely at the after party. Too bad they didn’t pick up any award.

The Script is not very well-known here, but whilst everyone else were behaving a little full of themselves, The Script vocalist Danny is possibly the most down-to-Earth person among all the international artistes attending the awards.
You shall see why later. 😉

Singapore’s Favourite Artist Stefanie Sun, came bopping down with band Electrico.

She also signed my autograph!

Panic At The Disco came along with that big bald burly bodyguard of theirs.
The bodyguard made his presence felt at the after party, stopping people from getting anywhere close to the stars.

Favourite Chinese Artist Lee Yu Chun came, took her award and left.

My ex-CHMS No 1 schoolmate Nicholas Teo also came, took his Favourite Malaysian Artist award and left.

To be honest, I’m kind upset Nicholas Teo did not acknowledge me eventhough I attempted to speak to him twice. First on the Red Carpet, thenin the Media Room afterwards.
I’m not sure if he’s pretending not to recognise me or if he really does not remember me, but I think that’s the kinda overprotective attitude most Taiwan-based pop artists are expected to have.
That’s very unfortunate, because it seems to insinuate that pop artists are on one level higher than than normal folks.

It’s unlike OneRepublic, who have no qualms acting goofy and poking fun at themselves.
Personally, I thought the awards show was kinda short. Security stopped checking for passes halfway through and I could sneak in if I want to. I was ready to pack my bags and leave the Media Room, but just when I was about to do so, they abruptly announced the end of the show!
It was only 2.5 hours long from start to end!

Heck, it was boring as hell being stuck in the Media Room the whole evening while the live show was going elsewhere.
Thanks to a certain mythical winged creature, I was lucky enough to get passes to the official after party.
There I met beauty queens Adelaine Chin and Levy Li.

One is Miss Malaysia Universe 2007 and the other is Miss Malaysia Universe 2008.
Since I’m in the middle, does that mean I’m Miss Malaysia Universe 2007.5?

I managed to slip into the VVIP lounge.
There, I took a photo with Jared Leto, who had a hard time trying to enjoy the party because too many damn people was trying to take photos with him.
I spent the rest of the evening pretty much mingling with the usual bunch of people I mingle with in KL.

Now, something very juicy happened at the party.
See, I’ve always heard that rock stars always get groupie action whenever they travel abroad, but I never really believe any of that is true. That was, until last Saturday night.
I’m not gonna reveal any names because: (a) that girl is a friend of a friend, and (b) I don’t wanna jeapordise my chances of going to exclusive parties in the future.
Suffice to say, there was some hot and heavy action inside the VVIP lounge at The Coffee Terrace involving a leading member of an overseas band and one of our local chicks! And not just any chick – this one is a pretty damn hot chick!

This was what I saw.
First, they were sitting on the couch together. They were talking. She was flirtingy stroking his leg with her foot. Then they kissed.
Next moment, she was throwing one leg him and they kissed further, passionately, licking her tongue all over him like he’s a 7-Eleven Slurpee.
Then came the eye-popping moment.
This girl literally climbed on top of our international rock star, straddled across his lap and proceeded to suck his brains out!

Not them, but you get the idea of how it’s like

Bear in mind, this was in full view of people around them. Whoever said Malaysian girls are conservative have obviously never been to an MTV Asia Awards after party. 😉 I don’t think I need to second guess what happened afterwards.
All I can say is, I’m sure my eyes are not the only thing that “popped out” that evening.
But enough about them. Here’s something a lot milder, a lot less scandalous, but still a highlight of the event for me.
Earlier I wrote that Danny, vocalist from The Script, is the most down-to-Earth international artiste at the MTV Asia Awards.
This is why.

I’ve been kissed, BY A MAN!

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9:35pm – Show is over! Stefanie Sun won Favourite Singapore Artist. Linkin Park won favourite international artist. Party now. Blog later!

9:15pm – Finally, they’re presenting the award for Favourite Artist Malaysia. The nominees are…
Faizal Tahir
Nicholas Teo
Pop Shuvit
Dato Siti Nurhaliza
And the winner is…

NICHOLAS TEO!
Kuching pride man, Kuching pride! You did us proud Nicholas.
For creating a whole new style of their own, now presenting The Innovation Award . The nominees are…
Kayne West
Goldfrapp
Gwen Stefani
Radiohead
The winner is… RADIOHEAD!
Presenting Breakthrough Artist . The nominees are…
Daughtry
Leona Lewis
Mika
OneRepublic

The winner is… LEONA LEWIS!

8:50pm – OneRepublic just came and have their photo taken.

Now presenting the award for Favourite Artist Indonesia. The nominees are…
Andra & The Backbone, Mulan Jameela, Nidji, Yovie & Nuno.

And the winner is… Yovie & Nuno!
Too bad I never heard of them. NEXT!
Presenting Favourite Artist Taiwan. The nominees are…
Jolin Tsai
Mayday
S.H.E
Show Lo
And the winner is…

Show Lo! What a name.
To reward the artist with the best music video, presenting Video Star award. The nominees are…
30 Seconds to Mars – A Beautiful Lie
Fergie – Clumsy
Justice – D.A.N.C.E
Panic at the Disco – Nine in the Afternoon
And the winner is…

30 Seconds To Mars!

8:20pm – They’re presenting the award for Favourite Artist Thailand. The nominees are…
Bodyslam
Groove Riders
K-OTIC
TOR+ Saksit

And the winner is… TOR+ Saksit!
Now they’re presenting the award for Favourite Artist Hong Kong. The nominees are…
Andy Lau
Eason Chan
Joey Yung
Leo Ku

And the winner is… LEO KU!
They’re presenting the award to recognise best collaboration between two artistes. For Best Hook-up, the nominees are…
Avril Lavigne feat. Lil Mama – Girlfriend
Beyonce feat. Shakira – Beautiful Liar
Rihanna feat. Jay-Z – Umbrella
Timbaland feat. OneRepublic – Apologize

And the winner is… Timbaland feat. OneRepublic – Apologize!

The Script is now performing “The Man Who Can’t Be Moved” live. I wish I were in that arena!

7:55pm – Karen Mok was presented with the MTV Asia Inspiration Award to recognise her humanitarian efforts.

Ok, I’m sitting here at the designated Photo Room watched the live award show on television for the past one hour.
We were told that the winners will come to the Photo Room after they won their award, but so far only the Favourite Artist Mainland China has turned up to have her photo taken.

And she doesn’t even look happy receiving the award!

7:48pm – They’re presenting the award for Favourite Artist Mainland China. The nominees are…
The Flowers
Lee Yu Chun
Wang Feng
Yang Kun
And the winner is…

LEE YU CHUN!
Award for the best live concert, Bring Da House Down – The nominees are…
Christina Aguilera – Back To Basics Asia Tour
Linkin Park – Linkin Park Asia Tour
Muse – Asia Tour
Black Eyed Peas – Black Blue and You Tour
And the winner is… MUSE!
Panic At The Disco grabbed the edc Style Award.

7:43pm – Presenting Favourite Artist Korea. The nominees are…
Big Bang
Girls Generation
Super Junior
Wonder Girls
And the winner is…

SUPER JUNIOR!

The Click Five has also won The Knockout Award. I’m guessing it’s some sorta appreciation award.

7:20pm – These ones are for you Diana!

Panic At The Disco, led by frontman Brendon Urine Urie.

The Script, known for the song “The Man Who Can’t Be Moved.”

7:00pm – Finally I got a breather from the crowd! The main event is about the start, and I’m having lunch in the press lounge right now.
A few more photos from the red carpet that has just ended.

One Republic stopped and stared.

Kuching’s very own Nicholas Teo.
So ironic. Fifteen years ago, if I wanted to see Nicholas Teo, all I gotta do is walk across the next classroom.
Now if I want to see Nicholas Teo, I have to squeeze among the press to get to the red carpet.

Stefanie Sun, nominated for favourite Singapore artiste.

Karen Mok and Jared Leto, the two hosts for the evening.

6:00pm – Nicole Scherzinger signing an autograph for me.

And here’s her autograph!

The scribbling underneath her is by another Pussycat Doll. Neh, the less famous one.

5:58pm – The Pussycat Dolls!

5:47pm – Leona Lewis in the house!

4:38pm – The Jabbawookiez has arrived the Red Carpet.

3:38pm – The red carpet area, before the invasion of media, screaming fans and glamourous celebs.

I’m a little upset because I am denied access to the actual awards show.

I only managed to get access to the red carpet and photo room, which on the bright side, is better than nothing I guess.
Caught a glimpse of OneRepublic rehearsing “Stop And Stare” in the Arena of Stars.

Security promptly chased me out 2 minutes later.

2:34pm – The media and mosh-pitters are gathering right now to collect their passes.

JoyceTheFairy, Jason Goh, Michael Yip and Liang are here as well. The mosh pitters are practising their cheering, screaming their lungs out.
Rumour has it that there was a mass walkout staged by the local media during the press conference yesterday due to unfair treatment by the organisers.

1:24pm – I’m here at Genting to attend the MTV Asia Awards 2008.

I will be trying something new tonight. During the MTV Asia Awards, I will be blogging LIVE from the scene.
This is how my equipment is hooked up for the job: the HP Mini connected to the HTC Touch Diamond, accessing the world wide web with Maxis 3G.

Beginning 6pm tonight, kennysia.com will be updated regularly with photos from the scene and winner announcements every few minutes. It is my first attempt at live blogging. If all goes well, you’ll be reading exclusive live coverage on what is going on at the awards ceremony, right here on kennysia.com, before they’re even being published anywhere else.
This is not the end of my entry. Check back regularly for updates later. 🙂

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So Chelsea F.C. pretty much came, kicked our boys’ asses and left.

Without boring you with too much text, here’s a quick review of their time here in Malaysia.
On Monday, I interviewed Chelsea’s reserve goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini.

It was an nerve-wrecking experience for me, because I was only told last minute about the interview and didn’t have much time to prepare for any questions.
Security was extremely tight. I was shoved into a room together with three journalists from other media.
Carlo’s publicist accompanied him and instructed us to take turns asking him one question each.

I’m guessing the other journalists present were serious people from serious sports magazines, because throughout the whole interview, they kept asking him boring questions that everybody know the answers to.
Questions like “What are your aims this season?” (to win), or “If given a chance, would you play for other clubs?” (yes, if the money is right)
I was sitting there thinking, “Why so serious?”

After some initial easy-going questions to warm up, I decided to lighten the mood by asking him a slightly more fun question.
This was given to me by a kennysia.com reader. I asked Carlo, “Is it true that footballers are banned from having sex before a big match?”

He shook his head and refused to answer.
Carlo Cudicini snubbed me!
Never mind, so I asked him another question. “In your long career, have you ever been offered a bribe to throw away a match?”
SNUBBED. AGAIN.

Watch how the Chelsea goalkeeper reacted to my inappropriate questions

So that was my lousy interview with Carlo Cudicini.
I suck big time interviewing famous people.

Later in the afternoon, I hopped over to the adidas store in Pavilion where a yet-to-be-known football player was to make an in-store appearance and sign autographs.
It was meant to be an exclusive event reserved for invited guests only. But of course, word got around easily and before you know it, there was CHAOS outside of the adidas store.

Something funny happened here while I was there.
A kennysia.com reader in the crowd spotted me and asked me to sign him an autograph. I obliged.
Thinking I was some kinda big shot, the girl next to him also asked me for an autograph. Then, just as she was passing her pen to me, I overheard her asking loudly, “Actually who is this Kenny Sia har?”
Before you knew it, close to 20 people who most likely don’t even know who the hell Kenny Sia is were shoving their pens in my face, frantically asking me to sign autographs.
I promptly walked away as fast as I could. But it was so nice pretending to be a celebrity for just one second.

Here are the real local celebs: Christien New, Ninie and Kevin Zahri.
After my initial disappointment with Carlo, I was surprised when the mysterious Chelsea F.C. player who turned up at adidas was none other than…

MICHAEL BALLACK!

“What’s the fuss?”

“Blueh.”

Finally, a superstar footballer!
Too bad, security was once again as tight as a fish’s arse. We queued up like schoolchildren, moving quickly and was awarded with Michael Ballack’s holy scribbling.

This is Lavin Seow holding up her Ballack autograph. And that is Daphne Iking in the background.
I know they’re hot, but don’t even think about it guys.
Those two are married moms!

Immediately after Ballack’s in-store appearance at adidas, we headed off to the official Chelsea training session.
David drove me from Pavilion in Bukit Bintang to Shah Alam Stadium, which took us nearly TWO freaking hours thanks to KL’s peak-hour traffic.

It’s interesting to watch the waay professional footballers train. They closed off half the pitch, split into the team into two and played a regular match.
Despite it being just training, them footballers were totally into it.

“Where’s the ball?”

Halfway through Chelsea’s football training, suddenly it looks as if they were dancing.

“Yea baby, I think I can dance.”

“May I have this dance?”

“He hits the floor!”
“Next thing you know!”
“Shawty got low, low… very low.”

The training session was one of the rare chances I get to take photos of the Chelsea players really close.

Ivanovic tackles Ben Sahar Di Santo.

Frank Lampard playing with his ball.

The players after their training.

29 July 2008, the main event: Chelsea F.C. vs Malaysian Selection.
It was pretty clear from the start who is gonna win this match.
This is Chelsea Football Club’s super-long bench.

And this, is Malaysia’s bench.

*cues cricket sounds*
Where the hell is everyone? What ever happened to Malaysia Boleh!

The match was not quite the walkover everyone had expected.
Considering Chelsea’s previous matches in the Asian tour was 4-0 and 7-0, I think our boys put up a damn good fight against The Blues.

Deco trying to find an opening in Malaysia’s strong defence.

Joe Cole attempting a goal for Chelsea.

Our boy shocked at the size of Lampard’s Lam Pa.

At the end of the first half, the score was Chelsea 1 – Malaysia 0.

Deco heading back to the locker room during half-time.
Luckily Deco is not from Kuching. In Hokkien, “Deco” means “underwear”.

It was half-time. Unfortunately, we did not have sexy cheerleaders or Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson entertaining us during this interval.

Instead, we were treated to the beautiful views of footballers doing their stretching.

Holy cow, that’s Super Mario!


Have you called Mohan yet?

At the opening of the second-half of the match, things started to get pretty rough.

There were a lot of aggressive tackling, shirt-tugging, “accidental” punchs in the face and various other fouls committed.

All in all, I must say my first live football match was an entertaining one.
The energy being part of over 55,000 screaming fans was just unbelievable. As one, we collectively cheered when someone scored a goal, and drew a heavy sigh when someone narrowly missed. It was definitely an experience not to forget.

Sadly, at the end of the 90th minute, our team has to face the reality of losing 2-0 to Chelsea.
I shall conclude this photo essay with a topless photo of captain John Terry.
This, my friend, is the difference between someone who plays football.

And two people who don’t.

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Finally, Chelsea Football Club has arrived in Malaysia!

A lot of readers have been anxiously awaiting for my interview with Luiz Felipe Scolari.

The thing is, I have been unable to get on the phone with Chelsea coach, and he has yet to even reply my e-mail interview! Bugger Scolari, kennysia.com too small fry for you is it!?
Doesn’t matter, because there are still plenty of things to get excited about.

Earlier today, 24 players from Chelsea’s first team took the chartered MAS flight from Macau to KL.
Among the elite 24 are Chelsea and England captain John Terry.

Scolari’s first catch for Stamford Bridge, Deco.

German national captain, Michael Ballack.

Star midfielder, Frank Lampard, one of England’s highest-paid football players.

Also in town are of course, Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech, winger Joe Cole and defender Ashley Cole.

Notably missing from the 24 is notorious troublemaker Didier Drogba.

Maybe he already got a red card before he even boarded the plane to KL.
The Blues are here to play against Malaysia in Shah Alam Stadium this coming Tuesday at 8:45pm.

It’s a rare oppportunity for us to witness one of EPL’s Big Four in action before the official EPL season starts next month.
Word has it that exclusive official merchandise will be specially flown in for sale on match day. 😉

Today (Monday) from 4pm to 5pm, the team will be at the adidas store in Pavilion KL for autograph signing session.
Later in the evening at 6:30pm, the team will move to Shah Alam Stadium where they’ll be doing their warm up for their upcoming match. Those with the training passes I gave out earlier will be able to meet and greet the players after they have finished.

And of course, tomorrow night is Chelsea’s match day against Malaysia.
Somehow I get the feeling that there will be more blue shirts in the audience than yellow. Poor Malaysian footballers.

kennysia.com is one of the official media partners for the Samsung Chelsea Asia Tour 2008.
Last night, I attended the press conference at the Palace of the Golden Horses.

Luiz Felipe Scolari was there, and he fielded questions from the hundreds of journalists from various news media in attendance.
Most of the journalists there asked football-related questions, like “What’s your strategy against Malaysia F.C.?” or “Why do you pick this player over that player?”

When I finally managed to grab hold of the mic, I seized the opportunity and asked Scolari a non-football related question.

“Mr Scolari, I noticed that you speak many different languages. Have you picked up the Malaysian language and can you say to us a few words?”
This was how he responded.

Next, I’m gonna teach him say KNNCCB.

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