Singer Shila Amzah capped off 2016 with a remarkable win at the Music Pioneer Awards event held in Guangzhou, China.
The event recognised excellence based on artiste performance in leading Chinese music charts from Taiwan, Hong Kong and China.
Hong Kong-based Shila won the award for Best Female Singer (Hong Kong and Taiwan) and her Mandopop single Goodbye earned a Top 10 Song award. She also received the Top Five Most Popular Female Artiste award.
Shila, who released her debut Mandarin album My Journey in April last year, described the win as a “great achievement”.
“I am really grateful and ecstatic about my win at the Music Pioneer Awards. To get three awards at the same time is wonderful. It also drives me to work harder,” she said in an interview.
For this year, the daughter of veteran folk singer ND Lala hopes to hold a series of concerts for her fans. The 26-year-old Shila is in the middle of planning a tour in Singapore, Indonesia, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan as well as Malaysia.
Never one to rest on her laurels, Shila is thinking of ways to reach out to more audiences.
“Knowing three languages these days is just not enough. I’m planning to learn more such as Spanish and Korean,” Shila offered.
Shila is also proud to see young Malaysian singers like Adinda Tasya and Jeryl Lee Pei Ling trying out for singing competitions in China. Adinda was a contestant in Let’s Sing Kids and Jeryl was a finalist in Sing! China.
“I watched their performances. I think it’s good to see them step up their game and think about a career outside Malaysia. The audiences overseas are open-minded; they want to see something unique and it doesn’t matter where you are from.”
In 2012, Shila joined reality talent singing show Asian Wave in Shanghai and emerged as champion. That was the catalyst for the singer to start a music career in China.
“If you think you can’t gain any support from local fans, then it’s fine. You can fly out there. There are no boundaries. It’s a huge market. Once you make it big out there and you come back home, you will feel more appreciated,” she added.
She also advised aspiring singers like Adinda and Jeryl to be strong and passionate about music.
“Do it wholeheartedly. Don’t just do it for the fame,” she said.
