Football and fiesta in Shah Alam

The Star : Monday July 7, 2008

By LIM CHIA YING

SHAH ALAM: Crowd-pullers David Arumugam of Alleycats, dangdut singer Mas Idayu and rock queen Ella entertained the early birds at the Sultan of Selangor’s Cup yesterday during a live concert to kick-off the tournament.

Fans started to arrive in as early as 5pm. The crowd grew excited when the familiar song Sampaikan Salam blared out and the man in his trademark Afro stepped out onto the pitch with a microphone.

David Arumugam, the lead vocalist of the local group, had fans clapping and singing along with him as he performed two more of the group’s famous tunes, Hingga Ke Akhir Nanti and Andainya Aku Pergi Dulu.

In between songs, he urged the crowd to show their support for Selangor in the match between the home team and Singapore.

“Selangor must bring back the Cup!” he yelled to the crowd.

Dangdut singer Mas Idayu, who performed next, entertained fans as she gyrated her hips to her danceable dangdut tunes. Dressed in an all-black outfit, she got the crowd moving along with her as she urged them to dance along.

Performing five songs, Mas also showcased two new songs, Dengar-dengarkan and Goda-godaan, from her latest album Seribu Satu.

Rock queen Ella showed why she is such a favourite as she mingled with the fans and on two or three occasions, went up to the bench of the Singaporean team to sit with them while still singing.
Fans from both sides of the stadium screamed her name hysterically and waved for her to come to them for photographs.

She also posed for photographers and bobbed around the track and field, singing songs like Rama-rama, Jujur and Standing in the Eyes of the World.

By then, it was past 7pm and droves of people were seen driving into the stadium car park. Besides the concert, other activities held were parachuting displays and fireworks. There were also lucky draws, where fans won five TVs and five handphones.

The Sultan of Selangor Cup 2008 is organised and managed by an organising committee personally appointed by the Sultan and headed by Datuk Abdul Karim Munisar.

The cup was initiated in 2001 to foster better relations between Selangor and Singapore and also to relive the glory moments of football.

Following the concert, the curtain-raiser was the match between Selangor Veterans and Singapore Veterans.

Then it was the game between the Selangor Selection and Singapore League Selection. Gracing the event were the Sultan of Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, Raja Muda of Selangor Tengku Amir Shah, Abdul Karim, Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim and the Singapore delegation.