Newcomer upstages Siti Nurhaliza

BY IZUAN SHAH

NEW TALENT: Sarah acknowledging her fans after receiving the trophy for Best New Artiste during the 10th AIM awards ceremony in Kuala Lumpur Saturday night.

KUALA LUMPUR: The 10th anniversary of the Anugerah Industri Muzik (AIM) awards ceremony last night saw reigning Malaysian top queen Siti Nurhaliza being upstaged by newcomer Sarah and top male singer Anuar Zain in two of the most prestigious categories. 

Sarah, who was named the Best New Artiste, won the Best Pop Album category while Anuar, who received the Best Vocal Performance in an Album (Male) award, won in the Song of the Year category. 

However, Siti won in two categories – the Best Vocal Performance in an Album (Female) and the Best Arrangement in a Song.  

Her album Sanggar Mustika also lost the Best Ethnic Pop Album category to Yasin who received that award with his Salsabila album. 

The Most Promising Artiste award went to Ruff Edge. 

Other winners last night included Dave Andrew for the Best Local English Album, Sheila on 7 for Best Indonesian Album, Metal Asia for Best Hard Rock (Silantra ... Bermulanya Sebuah Epik) and Singapore group Urban Xchange for Best New Local English Artiste. 

The special Anugerah Kembara (for an artiste who brought Malaysian music abroad) went to local group Too Phat while Ali Bakar, a rock concert organiser since 1976, received the lifetime achievement award in the music industry, Anugerah Wirama. 

Ning Baizura and Ziana Zain sang Seribu Impian during the opening performance for the ceremony held at Dewan Merdeka at the Putra World Trade Centre. 

Performances that received the best responses were by the evergreen Alleycats, hard rock group Amuk, Metal Asia and Dayang Nurfaizah and Sheila Majid.