Tuaran lass wins state-level Sugandoi Kaamatan contest
Published on: Tuesday, May 26, 2015
Kota Kinabalu: It has been a 20-year wait but when Aprillissa Sue Ann took the stage last Saturday it was music to the ears of Tuaran folks, in particular, the Kadazandusun-Murut community celebrating Kaamatan this month.The 26-year-old made short work of nine other contestants to win the State-level Sugandoi Kaamatan competition, which, though does not attract as much mileage as the Unduk Ngadau beauty pageant, is nevertheless held in high esteem by the community.She won the hearts of the judging panel with her rendition of Unduk Ngadau, which she sang as an appreciation to the spirit of Huminodun, and Pitongkizadan, which deals with the subject of a relationship breaking up.
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Success won her RM6,000 besides other prizes and, more importantly, brought the honour back to Tuaran district which last lifted the title 20 years ago.The singing competition which is held in the various districts in the month of May culminated in the State-level finals at the Hongkod Koisaan hall in Penampang.Ahead of the competition, which drew a capacity crowd, State Kaamatan Festival Main Committee Chairman, Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan underscored its importance as a heritage of the community."Sugandoi is a rich heritage of art. The talents borne out of the Sugandoi Kaamatan need to be harnessed not solely for the individuals but for the development of the general people and nation," he said.
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On her part Aprillissa conceded she found the whole thing daunting given that she had never entered a competition previously."I was nervous before I got onto the stage but the moment I was there, I just wanted to have fun (because) I realised this doesn't come every day.
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"You don't get to have this type of audience, this type of sound system, this type of band and this type of focus from a group of people honestly cheering for you – so I am very grateful and I was enjoying every second of it."Actually I did not expect to win because I felt I made some mistakes while singing and that made me cry when I got backstag," she confided."But I wasn't crying because it affected my chances of winning. I felt I let my supporters down for not giving my best performance."But as things turned out Aprillissa did more than enough to sway the judges and will soon be busy cutting her new single as it is also part of her prize for winning the competition.Penampang's, Lyron Felix came second and the Federal Territory of Labuan's Sugandoi winner, Heidi Vanessa Maruning finished third.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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