PETALING JAYA, Sept 24 — The singing competition for the world’s aspiring singers, i-Sing World, has crowned a Malaysian champion in its final last night in the French capital.
Syafeek Ikhwan clinched the victory with a cover of Datuk Seri Siti Nurhaliza’s Kau Kekasihku in the solo category.
The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) education officer took home a cash prize of US$2,500 (RM10,333) along with a trophy and flight tickets to Spain to perform at the i-Sing World finals next year.
The singer took to Instagram to express his gratitude, saying that he choked back tears when the Malaysian national anthem Negaraku was played.
Syafeek won i-Sing Malaysia in July which qualified him to compete at the international leg of the worldwide competition.
“With the grace of God and my prayers answered, this is the least I can give the country. Only God knows how I held back tears when Negaraku was played in a hall filled with various nationalities in the middle of the City of Love.
Watch him belt out Frank Sinatra’s My Way at the semi-finals below:
“Thank you for the words of encouragement. This is for Malaysia,” he wrote.
The Tanpa Arah and Teka Teki singer is an alumnus of the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis in the south of France.
He told Harian Metro the main challenge was adjusting to the time difference and dealing with jetlag.
“The competition lasted from 1am to 5am (Malaysian time) and every contestant was amazing,” he told the Malay language daily.
“When they announced I got into the finals, I was happy.”
The four-day event, held from September 18 to September 23, saw 44 hopefuls from more than 30 nations compete in three qualifying rounds before 18 finalists were shortlisted for the final round.
