Award given, award retracted

The organisers of this year’s Anugerah Industri Muzik (AIM) awards are retracting the Best Song Award from singer-songwriter Yuna.

Yuna, whose real name is Yunalis Zara, was announced as winner of the much-coveted award for her single Penakut along with the Best Vocal Performance (Female) and Anugerah Kembara titles at the awards show organised by the Recording Industry of Malaysia (RIM) on Nov 12.

News of the award rectification leaked and set various social networking sites abuzz on Wednesday.

Still smiling: Although surprised, Yuna has accepted the retraction in good faith.

Yesterday, RIM co-chairman Rosmin Hashim announced that there was a “misinterpretation of the awards criteria” by Ernst & Young – the appointed external auditors – during the judging process.

Rosmin added that the remedial steps were necessary to ensure the integrity of the AIM franchise.

Zahirudin Abdul Rahim, a partner at Ernst & Young, also apologised for the glitch.

“Due to the misinterpretation, the winner for the Song of the Year award that was announced at the AIM Awards show this year was incorrect,” said Zahirudin.

The Best Song award will now go to pop singer Anuar Zain for his single Sedetik Lebih, which also won the Best Performance in a Song (Male) and Best Pop Song at the awards show.

Meanwhile, Yuna, 24, said that while she was surprised when she first learned of the announcement, she accepted the committee’s decision.

“It is not something I expected, but I appreciate that the AIM organisers are trying to set things right.

“All award winners are to be treated fairly and I would like to extend my heartiest congratulations to Anuar Zain,” she said.

This year’s awards show, which left its traditional home at the Putra World Trade Centre for Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil after 16 years, was fraught with controversies from the start after it was announced that the major album categories (pop, rock, hip hop, etc) would be dropped.

A media backlash ensued with boycotts over how the awards show, now in its 18th instalment, was being presented and organised.