SINGAPORE - Home-grown singer and songwriter Aisyah Aziz was the biggest winner at regional Malay music awards show Anugerah Planet Muzik (APM) on Saturday (Oct 14).
The 23-year-old won three awards from her nine nominations, and is the first Singapore artist to pick up Best APM Song for Senyum Saja, her duet with fellow Singaporean singer Haikal Ali. The tune also won for Best Song (Singapore).
APM is organised by Mediacorp's Malay television station Suria and radio stations Warna 94.2FM and Ria 89.7FM and was held this year at MES Theatre. Its nominations include artists and music industry professionals from Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.
Another single from Aisyah, Tanda Tanya, also won Best Collaboration, a category for songs sung and composed by talents from more than one country.
Malaysian R&B stalwart Dayang Nurfaizah won two awards from her four nominations - Best Female Artiste and Best Song (Malaysia) for her song Lelaki Teragung. Fellow Malaysian singer Anuar Zain won Best Artiste (Male).
There were several first-time APM winners, including Gloria Jessica for Best New Artiste (Female) and Virgoun for Best New Artiste (male). Both are from Indonesia.
Hosted by Singapore radio presenter Dzar Ismail, Malaysian actress Nabila Huda and Indonesian actor-musician Desta, the show also featured several awards decided by fan votes.
Despite being a relatively new name in the Malay music scene, Malaysian singer Khai Bahar won two of the fan-driven awards, APM Most Popular Artiste and APM Most Popular Song for his song Bayang.
Singapore singer Sufi Rashid was nominated for six awards and won one, Most Popular Song (Singapore), for his tune Aku Sanggup.
The fans also helped Malaysian singer-actress Ayda Jebat retain the Social Media Icon award which she also won last year.
The show featured performances by artists such as Malaysian rock veteran Ella, who picked up the Planet Music Special Award in recognition of her three-decade long music career, and Swedish singer Maher Zain, who was honoured with an International Breakthru Artiste Award.
