JUICE DJ Quest Regional Finals

By Kevin Yeoh  •  in Reports
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Text Muna Noor

They came, they saw, they conquered. We just read out the results. Yup, it was five years in the making and after 2006’s cross border battle between Singapore and Malaysia, the gauntlet was hurled down and the ante was upped as Hong Kong, Indonesia, our Southern neighbour and ourselves hunkered down for a tough fight for supremacy on local soil.

Flying in with judges in tow (editors from JUICE Hong Kong, Indonesia and Singapore) the all male-competition were chomping at the bit to meet our Nikki, the first female DJ Quest winner. Sadly, homegirl drew the short straw and opened first and though Nikki put on a stongkingly good show (we love you Nikki!) and drew the numbers out onto the floor early, it was clear that she was out of her league tonight.

Call it confidence or cajones, but Hong Kong’s Forrest and Indonesia’s Maliki had it in spades. Even Dalley from Singapore, who turned out a progressive house set that big room promoters would kill for, couldn’t hold a glowstick to the cheeky upstarts who commanded the decks like they’d been crowned already.

Hardened hacks for judges were reduced into a dribbling pool of excited sweat after Maliki lifted the bar with a solar driven attitude and a house set so sublime it wasn’t just for the feet. Swaggering in like an “ape on steroids”, Forrest returned fire, with a string of cocky intros, upfront electro breaks and sub-terranean bass with a bluster that was undeniable.

Our calculators strained under the weight of the tight fight but in end Maliki exited visibly disappointed as runner up, and in their first year of DJ Quest (like Indonesia), the Hong Kong contingent went home to celebrate, while the rest of us fought over who gets to play host next year.

The only bugbear that night was the lackluster response from the gathered masses. Given the unique opportunity to show JUICE readers across the region just how hard Malaysia parties, instead it witnessed reluctant floor fillers and a less than sportsmanly emotional displays. It must have broken Dalley’s heart especially, he came ready to rock it having heard fantastic things about our local club scene and its up-for-it crowds.

This report was published in the January 2008 issue of JUICE.