KUALA LUMPUR: Despite all the hype surrounding the Met10 Awards 2016, the event was met with a lukewarm response.
The StarXpo Centre @KWC Fashion Mall in Kuala Lumpur, where the event was held last night, was barely filled.
Returning for its third edition, Met10 (Malaysian English Top 10) Awards is held to honour top talents in the local English music scene.
When approached organisers Hitzfm, for comments after the event, Network Content Manager (of Hitzfm and Era FM) Raqeem Brian said: "There could be a number of reasons for the lukewarm response... it could be the weather or the venue. To be honest, I have no expectation at all for tonight's event. I just wanted to see everyone having fun. For me, I see this as a stepping stone and hope it will only get better in time."
"But to do a show this scale, it requires a lot of support. Fortunately, we have Tune Talk coming onboard this year and said 'let's do this'. If possible, I want to do this every year.
"We want to have this platform for our local artistes to showcase their talents and celebrate their hard work" he said, adding that he was glad to see the artistes performing at Met 10, rocked the stage.
A total of eight awards were given out including Best Male/Female Artiste, Best Live Performer, Best Music Video and Best Breakthrough Act. This year's nominees included Paperplane Pursuits, Kyoto Protocol, Elizabeth Tan, Jin Hackman, Resh, Dasha Logan, Tres Empre, De Fam, Goldfish & Blink, Balan Kashmir, Karmal, OJ Law, Roshan Jamrock, Eunice Hoo, Talitha Tan, Froya, Pastel Lite, GTXperiment, Jon Liddel, Ali Aiman and +2DB.
British-born singer and songwriter OJ Law won Best Male Artiste Award, while YouTube sensation whose tune Knock Knock is in the finals of Anugerah Juara Lagu 30, Elizabeth Tan was crowned Best Female Artiste. The all-girl group DeFam took home Best Breakthrough Act as well as Best Song award.
The event was co-hosted by Jake Abdullah, Jason Lo, Arnold Loh and Ryan Matjeraie.
With the theme "Back In Time", the three-hour event paid tribute to the weekly Met10 chart toppers on Hitz FM throughout last year.
For the complete winners' list, visit Met10Awards.com