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From award-winning singer to rising concert organiser: Singaporean Sufie Rashid on staging concerts for Ne-Yo and more
Just 10 years ago, a fresh-faced youth named Sufie Rashid made history by being the first-ever Singaporean contestant to win the 2015 iteration of Akademi Fantasia, the highly popular Malaysian reality television show that produced artistes like Vince and Mawi.
The win put Sufie on the path to being a successful singer in the Malay music scene, with him releasing the acclaimed hit Aku Sanggup (I'm Willing) in 2016 and scoring numerous wins at award shows such as Anugerah Planet Muzik.
Now, a decade later, the 34-year-old is still making waves in the entertainment scene – just in a different way. Trading songs for spreadsheets, Sufie has been busy managing SAH Entertainment – the Singapore-based live events company he founded in 2022.
Despite its young age, SAH Entertainment has taken on monumental events, staging concerts for top regional and global acts such as Grammy Award-winning singer Ne-Yo, Malaysian music icon Siti Nurhaliza and BigBang member Daesung. This August, the company is organising hip-hop group Black Eyed Peas' concert at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
'It's always been my dream since young to organise festivals,' said Sufie when CNA Lifestyle spoke to him last month.
After the pandemic, Sufie 'took a leap of faith' and organised his first concert, a show by the popular Indonesian band Ungu. It ended up selling out within two hours, which led to Sufie adding more seats.
Following the concert, SAH Entertainment built on its success with shows by Indonesian acts Wali Band and ST 12.
The breakthrough, however, came in 2023 when the company brought in R&B legend Ne-Yo to stage his first-ever Singapore concert. Within three hours of general sales, all 5,000 seats for the show, aka the entirety of The Star Theatre, were sold out.
The success of that concert prompted Ne-Yo's return the following year for the Singapore leg of his Champagne & Roses tour, which was also organised by SAH Entertainment. This time around, tickets sold out so fast that SAH Entertainment had to add a second show.
Sufie did not go into specifics when asked how he managed to snag Ne-Yo the first time around, but he did say that it was 'not easy'.
However, he explained that positive word of mouth has helped with his following successes.
'It has always been about the connections we have with other artistes and recommendations [that come from them],' said Sufie.
In fact, it was the success of Ne-Yo's shows that prompted the American singer's side to recommend SAH Entertainment to the Black Eyed Peas' team.
Nonetheless, Sufie admitted that hosting a concert requires 'a lot of challenges, considerations and decision-making'.
'It's just not about who I want to bring or the repertoire of the artiste or their popularity,' said Sufie.
'We have to consider a lot of things like production, production cost and the requirements of the artiste.'
Before deciding to host a concert, Sufie's team will tabulate the cost of its production, the expected profit-loss and the probability of tickets selling well.
'The easiest way of saying it is 'Can the artiste sell?' This industry is a high-risk business. It requires a huge amount of capital to start and if it goes south, it can take a toll on you,' shared Sufie.
He divulged that some of the acts they hosted 'have a very huge following in other countries but unfortunately not in Singapore'.
Furthermore, Sufie revealed that there were different considerations when it comes to organising concerts in Singapore and Malaysia.
'[There are] restrictions [on] certain things that you can and cannot do as a promoter,' said Sufie.
For example, he said that in Singapore, venues will ensure that there is a certain amount of space between audiences and the stages, which can sometimes cause artistes to think that their crowd is smaller than it actually is.
With many well-performing shows under his belt, which concert was the most memorable for him?
'[Indonesian pop band] Wali Band,' replied Sufie.
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Praising the working relationship they shared, Sufie elaborated: 'They were very easy [to work with], very flexible and they [went] all out [for] the fans.'
In fact, Sufie said that he is now close with the group members and their management team, with them hanging out whenever they're in the same country.
'We have that family-like bond together.'
So whose concert does Sufie hope to host one day?
'Adele,' said Sufie, beaming.
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'I don't see her as just a singer. I see her as an entertainer. She has a personality and character that makes fans feel warm, that makes us feel like we are close to her,' continued Sufie as he proceeded to regale us with a story of how he and his wife attended Adele's show in Munich.
'Even if I'm not the one to host it, I will still definitely buy tickets for it. Everyone should really witness Adele's concert.'
For now, Sufie says SAH Entertainment is focusing on putting its customers first.
'What I can say to everybody is that whenever we get the opportunity to bring an artiste to you, we will do our best to do it,' said Sufie.
'Our team has always been accommodating to what the fans want because at the end of the day, they are the ones who are gonna save up to pay for the ticket.'
After years of staging concerts for overseas acts, this October will see SAH Entertainment organising its first-ever concert for a Singaporean artiste: The Singapore Idol himself, Taufik Batisah.
Now possessing an intimate insight into the industry on and off stage, Sufie shared his thoughts on Singapore's entertainment scene.
'I think Singapore has a lot of talented people and new artistes. It's just that they are not given sufficient platforms to showcase their talent,' he shared.
'When you see a new artiste in other countries, if they were to announce a new song today, they will then be occupied with a lot of media promos.
'But in Singapore, I don't think we have that…I think we have quite a good number of media [outlets] in Singapore. It's just a matter of whether or how they can provide these platforms to the local artistes.'
