KUALA LUMPUR: More than 20 years after making her debut, Datuk Siti Nurhaliza is still going strong, dominating the Anugerah Industri Muzik (AIM) once again with five trophies.
The pop singer bagged one of the evening’s most prestigious award, Best Album, for the seventh time for Dato’ Siti Nurhaliza Unplugged.
“There is a big sense of responsibility on my shoulders. To win is one thing, but then to defend your win again and again is not easy,” Siti said at a press conference after the award ceremony.
“You can’t think, ‘OK, I’ve won, I can relax now, I don’t have to improve anymore.’ I’m always practising.”
She also took home Best Nasyid Song for Mikraj Cinta, the fan-voted Choice Malaysian Singer and her 13th Best Vocal Performance In A Song (Female) award for Menatap Dalam Mimpi. The same song also won Best Musical Arrangement.
Asked what other awards she hoped to win in the future, she replied: “Best album cover and best music video! I’ve never won these two before.”
Another big winner of the evening was Faizal Tahir whose spiritual anthem Sejati picked up Best Pop Song and the coveted Best Song.
Siti and Faizal led the AIM race with seven and five nominations respectively.
Meanwhile, rapper SonaOne, who previously made history when his debut single No More became the first English song to win Best Song, managed to clinch Best Local English Song for Firefly this time.
Other notable achievements include Yuna’s second Anugerah Kembara win, recognising the US-based Malaysian singer’s achievements abroad, and the lifetime achievement award, Anugerah Sri Wirama, awarded to Malaysia’s jazz queen Datuk Sheila Majid.
“This award is a big deal because it is an expression of the music industry’s appreciation to me,” said Sheila who has been in showbiz for 32 years.
As the last edition of the award show was in 2014, this year’s AIM was a highly-competitive one, with submissions from both this year and last year considered.
The 22nd edition of AIM received 720 submissions across all 16 categories.
Held at Dewan Merdeka, Putra World Trade Centre on Sunday night, AIM is known as the Malaysian equivalent of the Grammys.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Get 20% OFF The Star Digital Access
Cancel anytime. Ad-free. Unlimited access with perks.
