Zee Avi and local football-themed movie, Ola Bola, made Malaysia proud when the theme song ‘Arena Cahaya’, written and performed by Zee Avi, won Best Theme Song at the 53rd Golden Horse Awards (kind of like the Chinese version of The Oscars) last night.
The US-based singer was clearly surprised when the announcement was made at the awards show, held at the Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall in Taipei, Taiwan. Also present at the show was director of Ola Bola, Chiu Keng Guan, who was seated beside her at the ceremony, aired live on Astro Xi Yue HD (Astro Channel 300).
“I thought I was invited to give a performance of the song,” said Zee in fluent Mandarin after receiving the award on stage. “Thank you director Chiu for this incredible opportunity. This is an amazing project to be a part of because it (the movie) is about unity, diversity and harmony. This is to remind us all that we are the same. It’s incredible to be a part of a project that is based on so much love,” she said.
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Musician Alvin Wee, who took care of the recording, editing, mixing and mastering for the song, was also present at the awards show.
‘Arena Cahaya’ beat four other contenders including Faye Wong’s daughter Leah Dou’s ‘It’s Not A Crime’ and ‘It’s Just What We Do’, which was featured in Soul Mate, the film. ‘Arena Cahaya’ was composed and written by Zee with fellow Malaysian songwriter Rendra Zawawi. The soul stirring track also took home the Best Original Theme Song trophy at the 28th Malaysian Film Festival last September.
‘Arena Cahaya’ was up against China’s ‘It’s Cold Without Your Love’, from the movie Big Fish & Begonia, China’s ‘Sawadika’ (Detective Chinatown), Taiwan’s ‘Love Without Words’ (Lokah Laqi! Hang In There, Kids) and China’s ‘It’s Not A Crime’ and ‘It’s Just What We Do’ (Soul Mate).
Listen to ‘Arena Cahaya’ by Zee Avi as featured in Ola Bola here:
