14th ANUGERAH INDUSTRI MUZIK > Newcomers gaining in on veterans

By JOE LEE and NUR AQIDAH AZIZI

THE 14th Anugerah Industri Muzik was a happy night with wins evenly distributed among newcomers and seasoned campaigners.
Crooner Sean Ghazi, who had eight nominations; M. Nasir, six; and Datuk Siti Nurhaliza, four, all went home with two awards each.

Sean took home the Best New Artiste and Best Musical Arrangement In An Album awards for the song, Hujan Di Tengahari.

M. Nasir’s Sang Pencinta won the Best Pop Rock Album award while one of the album’s songs, Juwita … Citra Terindah, bagged Song of the Year award.

Jaclyn Victor broke Siti’s dominance in the Best Vocal Performance In An Album (female) when she won the category with her second album, Inilah … Jac.

Siti has been the winner in that category since 1999.

It was, however, all smiles for Siti, as she not only avenged her defeat and the loss of one of the longest winning streaks in AIM history, she also managed to do it in style, bagging the Best Pop Album by beating Jac, as well as winning the night’s main award in Album of the Year for Transkripsi.

“I’m not upset over being beaten by Jac. The trophy is not mine to keep and it’s up to the jury to award it to whoever they feel is deserving.

“It’s nice to see her win. She deserves it as she is a vocal talent to be reckoned with.

“It was a night of surprises, and pleasant ones too, as this is the fi rst album produced by my own company.

“With such strong competition, it’s almost unbelievable that I won,” she said, adding that M. Nasir was her strongest competition.

As for Jac, she felt the honours were evenly divided between her and Siti.

“I won the best vocal which was hers in the past, and she (Siti) won the Best Pop Album which I won last year with Gemilang. I guess it’s fair enough,” said Jac.

“I’m over the moon. I did hope to win but I didn’t expect to.

“Siti’s vocal ability is no doubt, unsurpassed and I look up to her.

I just want to give my best and feel honoured that who I am as a singer has been established a step further,” she said.

Despite losing to Reshmonu in Best Vocal Performance in an Album (male), M. Nasir was still a happy man when his album, Sang Pencinta, grabbed the Best Pop Rock Album category.

“The album is very personal to me as it was completed with a lot of sacrifi ce. Many things happened during its production,” he said.

Satisfi ed with the outcome of the night, M. Nasir added it was more than enough when the album managed to win the category.

“I’m happy with the result. I was not devastated that I lost to Reshmonu. He has a distinct style of singing that guarantees him the award,” he said.