PETALING JAYA: An engineer by day and busker by night. Malaysian Jeffri Ramli (pic) calls himself a singing engineer, who hits the stage every other night after his day job as graduate representative at the Institution of Civil Engineers in Britain.
However, 35-year-old Jeffri recently set foot on a much bigger stage, namely on The Voice UK.
Jeffri was a crowd favourite during the “blind auditions” for The Voice UK, that aired on Saturday.
Not only did he serenade the audience with his rendition of Amy Winehouse’s Valerie, Jeffri managed to give the judges an impromptu poco-poco dance session.
This was after Will.I.Am asked Jeffri if he knew the “traditional Malaysian dance” that he likened to the “Electric Slide” dance move.
All four judges, namely Will.I.Am, Ricky Wilson, Paloma Faith and Boy George, then got up on stage, much to the audience’s delight, to have Jeffri teach them the steps to poco-poco, a dance originating from Indonesia.
But unfortunately, Jeffri did not snag the last remaining spot in Will.I.am’s team.
“It feels great to be able to promote a piece of Malaysian culture,” Jeffri told The Star in a telephone interview.
“Even though I have been living in the UK for many years, I still remember my Malaysian roots. And I want to share the knowledge with everyone else,” he said.
Jeffri, who has been living in Newcastle for 14 years, grew up in Kuala Lumpur after he was adopted by a Malay family.
He revealed that his love for music started when his foster father bought him Disney cassettes.
“My adoptive parents had a food stall near Central Market and I remember approaching the band in front of the market to ask them if I can sing,” he said, adding that he was six at the time.
“It was my first public performance, and I sang La Bamba to a big crowd outside Central Market,” said Jeffri.
Since then, Jeffri said he had many performances and joined many singing competitions, including Britain’s X Factor.
“I had no proper musical training. It is all self-taught, I learnt to sing from listening to artistes and practising by myself,” said Jeffri.
But Jeffri’s natural talent has caught the eyes (and ears) of many.
He has been invited by the Malaysian High Commission to perform in front of the King and the Queen of Malaysia during their visit to London in August 2014. He also performed at Malaysia Night at Trafalgar Square in London in 2014 and 2015.
Jeffri said that he would perform genres such as Pop, Soul, R&B, Blues and Jazz.
“I enjoy performing powerful songs. I admire Pharrell Williams, Mariah Carey, Boyz II Men and OneRepublic,” he said.
Jeffri does not only sing in English, but in Malay, Bahasa Indonesia, Hindi, Tagalog, Korean and German.
“I have been mastering my skills in K-Pop. It is a very unique style of music with a lot of dancing. You basically just go crazy,” he said.
His efforts has won him the grand prize at the biggest British K-Pop competitions – the KBS K-Pop World Festival in 2014.
When asked about his future plans, Jeffri said that he hopes to start writing his own songs and launch his own album.
“I would like to use this momentum right after The Voice UK to start working on my own stuff. I am also hoping to include some two or three Malay songs,” he said.
“I may also try get into Britain’s Got Talent, or try for The Voice UK or X Factor again,” he added.
“I am so humbled by all my opportunities and experiences. It has been very memorable and a great experience. I know that it’s not easy to get this kind of chance,” said Jeffri.-thestar
