3,000 seated audience planned for Dama 2010

KUCHING: Dayak Artistes and Musicians Association (Dama) will be holding its version of Grammy Award, called Dayak Music Award 2010 (Dama 2010) in October.

Snowdan Lawan

According to its chairman Snowdan Lawan, Dama 2010 is expected to elevate Dayak music industry to a more respected level.

He said Dama 2010 will be grander than the inaugural one in 2008 as the association will be adopting the concept of Anugerah Industri Musik (AIM), Malaysia’s most popular and successful Grammy Award.

He said Dama 2010 will have a ‘theatrical flavour’ to make it outstanding “or at least different from the first one”.

He said his committee is considering a venue capable of accommodating a 3,000 seated audience.

“Dama 2010 will be held in October. The exact date will be made known later on. The venue can either be at the Stadium Perpaduan or the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching,” he said.

“We will bring in as many Dama supporters from all over the state and it will not only be members of the Dayak community but for all Malaysians. It will have that 1Malaysia feel,” he said, adding that the aim of such event is to popularise Dayak music among all races.

“I strongly believe there are Malays and Chinese who can sing and understand Iban songs. They may not be many but these few listeners can help to promote Dayak music among their respective community,” he said.

Snowdan, who is Balai Ringin assemblyman, said the tickets to Dama 2010 will be sold at “affordable price because there is no dinner to pay for”.

“What we want to see is a big crowd enjoying our music. We want more people to come to Dama 2010. For this we’ll go as affordable as we can,” he said.

Snowdan went on to introduce one of the committee members, Vernon Kedit, as a household name in the AIM circle.

He said the association is lucky to be able to rope in Vernon who will be Dama 2010 production and stage manager.

He said some of Dama committee members will be attending AIM in Kuala Lumpur on May 2. They will depart for Kuala Lumpur on April 30, the day AIM staff will be busy making preparations.

“That will be an opportune time to learn one or two things from AIM to make Dama 2010 presentable. This year’s Dama should be better than the inaugural event two years ago,” he said.

Dama 2010 will see contest in 20 categories and 25 prizes up for grabs.

The three grand prizes will be for Anugerah Bintang Kenyalang.

“All the three communities namely Iban, Bidayuh and Orang Ulu will be represented in the event. Each community will be asked to send its best singer, composer and lyricist in the open category” he said.

Five top winners will be decided by SMS voting system and prizes will be sponsored by a telco.

Snowdan said The Borneo Post and Utusan Borneo, the two largest dailies in Borneo, will be the official media for Dama 2010.

He said his committee will be getting the professional assistance of Ernst and Young to audit the judges’ markings.

Snowdan also said his committee will be collaborating with a popular production house and several Dayak recording companies for Dama 2010.

On another development, he said he supported Information, Communication and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Rais Yatim’s recent suggestion that all new songs must be aired for a certain period of time, meaning all new songs must be given a chance to be heard over the radio.

Snowdan said he hoped Dayak music would be included in Rais’ proposal.

He said he would be proposing to the minister and the relevant authorities for Dayak songs to be given more TV air time.

He said his proposal for more TV and radio time for Dayak music is in line with the 1Malaysia concept initiated by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.