Votes are in
Fans have decided the outcome of Anugerah Pilihan Online 2016.
ANUGERAH Pilihan Online 2016 ( APO2016) was truly meant to represent the voice of the fans. When the awards show was introduced in March, there were over 120,000 personalities to choose from to make the list of nominees. Fans cast their votes and narrowed down the list to top five names for 17 categories.
At the APO2016 awards night on Saturday, the fans had the final say. APO2016 is the first “people’s choice awards” by Star Media Group, jointly organised by the group’s Bahasa Malaysia- language portal mStar Online and Suria FM.
mStar Online executive editor Rozaid Abdul Rahman shared that he’s happy with the warm reception APO2016 received. “I was just targeting around 400,000 online votes; this went beyond my expectation,” he said commenting on the 775,161 votes APO2016 garnered in total. A majority of the votes went to rock band Akim & The Majistret who bested industry heavyweights like Datuk Siti Nurhaliza, Zizan Razak and Ayda Jebat to take home the evening’s biggest title, APO2016 Ultimate Celebrity.
The band won the award based on the most online votes received across all categories contested at the event.
“The veteran artistes are the ones who inspired us to form Akim & The Majistret actually,” said lead d vocalist Akim Ahmad, who could no ot attend the event, in a separate inte erview.
Asked if he felt pressured d by the title “Ultimate Celebrity”, Ak kim, 25, responded: “Having that pr essure forces us to think more crea atively and also brings us closer tog gether as a band.”
His bandmates Zimi ( guitairist) and Safwan Hasnan ( drummer) were at t the event in Angkasapuri Kuala Lumpur to receive th he award. They also won Onlin ne Choice Group.
“This honour was a comp plete surprise for us. When we st tarted this band, we took a hug ge risk because some of us are e members of other groups. A Akim & The Majistret is our secon nd attempt at making a name f for ourselves in the industry. We’reW happy to say that it has paidd off and Safwanwe havesaid. the fans to thank,”
For Mia Ahmad, who won Best Online Choice Actress and Dnars Choice Most Elegant Female, bagging the two trophies also came as a surprise, especially since her Instagram account was hacked twice in the lead- up to APO2016.
The 28- year- old actress originally had 1.3 million Instagram followers before the account was hacked. She then started a second account which drew about 10,000 followers within a week. The account was also hacked. She created her most recent account with 6,000 followers a day before the award ceremony.
While Mia admitted there were times she felt like shutting down her Instagram account for good, she values the importance of social media. “The second time ( I got hacked), I felt like I needed a break. I felt bothered by it because that’s part of my work. But I realised I can’t. The reason why my name has been on the rise is because of these social media followers. I can’t just quit like that.”
Mia, who rose to prominence after playing the lead role in the TV drama Hati Perempuan last year, added the incident had cost her quite a bit in terms of promoting her dramas and landing sponsorships. Despite it all, Mia said she’s grateful to her fans for the win. “This is my first award after being in the industry for over a year. I see this as an appreciation from my fans. In return, I will work harder.” It’s a winning combination for the Hati Perempuan lead actors as Mia’s co- star Saharul Ridzwan emerged as another big winner of the night. The 27- year- old actor beat out established names such as Aaron Aziz, Shaheizy Sam, Adi Putra and Zizan for the Best Online Choice Actor title. “I don’t feel like I’m at their level yet,” said Saharul humbly. “They’re all my idols. There’s a lot more I need to learn in order to be in the same league as them.” Saharul first came into the spotlight through the 2013 series Love You Mr Arrogant. After having his popularity solidified through his wins at APO2016, Saharul now has his eyes set on gaining recognition for his acting chops. Saharul, who was also named Dnars Choice Most Handsome Male, showed up at the award show with a newly shaved head as pa art of his preparation for an upcom ming role. “I don’t want to be stereo otyped. Like ( Shaheizy) Sam, I wantw to be able to play different ch haracters,” he said. While newcomers se eemed to be dominating the vario ous award categories at APO2016, SitiS Nurhaliza, who just celeb brated her 20th year in the industryry recently, remains a force to be reckoned with.