Words Zurien Onn Photography courtesy of Shilala HK
Shila Amzah
/ Homegrown
China’s Darling Malaysian entertainer Shila Amzah climbs the ladder to success in China.
competitions, but now, 27-year-old Malaysian Shahila Amzah, better known as Shila, is being awarded accolades for success in the entertainment industry of the world’s most populous country. Considering that Shila is neither an ethnic Chinese nor a citizen of China, her record is impressive. She is the first Malaysian artist of Malay descent to break through the Chinese music market in a big way. Her wins have included awards for Most Popular Female Artist, Best Female Singer (Hong Kong and Taiwan) and Song of the Year (Hong Kong and Taiwan) for her single Goodbye at the 2016 Music Pioneer Awards and Most Popular Female Artist (Hong Kong and Taiwan) and Best Female Artist (Hong Kong and Taiwan) at the 2015 Guangzhou Music Awards.
Starting out as a child performer in Malaysia, encouraged by her father, ND Lala, a Malaysian pop singer popular in the 1980s and 1990s, Shila started performing when she was ten. She took second place in a reality singing programme, Bintang Kecil RTM, and won the award for Child Artist of the Year at the 2000 Anugerah Bintang Popular organised by local newspaper Berita Harian. But as no recording company dared to sign on child artists back then, her first album was produced in 2000 using her father’s own money. She later signed with record label EMI and released her second album, ShaHila, in 2005. A natural performer with a uniquely husky voice, the album and her pop ballad Yang Teristimewa were well-received and boosted her popularity. However, she wasn’t yet in the league of contemporary Malaysian divas such as Dato’ Sri Siti Nurhaliza, Dayang Nurfaizah or Jaclyn Victor.
goingplacesmagazine.com / 43 / December 2017
SHE STARTED HER CAREER IN CHINA by entering and winning singing