The 16th edition of Anugerah Planet Muzik (APM) announced its 2017 winners on Saturday night with two outstanding awards, Planet Muzik Special Award and International Breakthru Artiste Award, presented to Malaysia’s Queen of Rock, Ella, and international artiste, Maher Zain respectively.
Organised by Mediacorp Suria, Warna 94.2FM and Ria 89.7FM, APM is the only regional awards show that honours and recognises outstanding artistes, talents and professionals in the Malay music industry.
The Planet Muzik Special Award celebrates performers who have made outstanding contributions of artistic significance to the field of recording, while International Breakthru Artiste Award honours performers who are successful in the international music scene.
Widely recognised as one of the most influential female rock stars of all time, Nor Zila Aminuddin or Ella, 51, has twelve studio albums, two video albums, several compilations and hit singles such as ‘Layar Impian’, ‘Sembilu’ and ‘Kitalah Bintang’ that remain evergreen till today. During the span of 30 years in the music industry, Ella has performed in Japan, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei, China, Hong Kong, United States and Russia. Ella also worked closely with Slash of Guns N’ Roses for her album, El.
Swedish R&B singer, songwriter and music producer, Maher Zain, 36, has had the most commercial success in Malaysia and Indonesia with his first album certified multiple platinum by Warner Music Malaysia and Sony Music Indonesia. His influential music not only inspires many of his followers, Maher also continues to reach out to as many fans by singing his popular numbers in different languages – English, French, Arabic, Turkish, Urdu, Malay and Bahasa Indonesia. Besides numerous music accolades, Maher Zain also contributes to humanitarian efforts around the world.
Headlining the night was Singapore’s singer and songwriter, Aisyah Aziz, who bagged three awards, including Best Song (Singapore) and Best APM Song for her duet single with fellow Singaporean Haikal Ali, Senyum Saja. This is a first time for a Singapore song to win the overall Best APM Song category. Malaysia’s Queen of R&B, Dayang Nurfaizah won two awards through Best Female Artiste and Best Song (Malaysia) award categories.
For popular awards, Malaysia’s sweetheart Ayda Jebat reigned the Social Media Icon top spot for two consecutive years while newcomer Khai Bahar, also from Malaysia, won APM Most Popular Song and APM Most Popular Artiste for the first time. Other first-time winners include Singapore’s Hannah Delisha and Indonesia’s pride Gloria Jessica, Isyana Sarasvati, Virgoun as well as popular band, Armada.
APM 2017 was hosted by Dzar Ismail, Nabila Huda and Desta, and dazzled with a stellar line-up featuring Ella, Maher Zain, Afgan, Aisyah Aziz, Isyana Sarasvati, Virgoun, Gloria Jessica, Ayda Jebat, Haikal Ali and Hael Husaini.