Siti Nurhaliza

This article is about Siti Nurhaliza. For her debut self-titled album, see Siti Nurhaliza I. For her sophomore self-titled album, see Siti Nurhaliza II.

This is a Malay name; the name Tarudin is a patronymic, not a family name, and the person should be referred to by the given name, Siti Nurhaliza.

Siti Nurhaliza DIMP JSM SAP PMP AAP
Siti Nurhaliza attending the wedding of Khairul Fahmi Che Mat on 13 January 2013 at Hotel The Royale Bintang, Damansara, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Born	Siti Nurhaliza binti Tarudin (1979-01-11) 11 January 1979 Kampung Awah Temerloh, Pahang, Malaysia
Nationality	Malaysian
Occupation	Singer Songwriter Record producer Businesswoman Actress Television presenter Writer
Years active	1995–present
Spouse(s)	Khalid Mohd Jiwa (m. 2006)
Website	SimplySiti.com.my
Musical career
Genres	Irama Malaysia Pop Pop rock R&B Soft rock Dance-pop Nasheed World
Instruments	Vocals
Labels	Suria Records (1995–2005) Siti Nurhaliza Productions (2006–present) What's Up Entertainment (2011-present) Universal Music (2011-present)
Associated acts	Krisdayanti, M. Nasir, Noraniza Idris
Signature

Dato', or occasionally Datin Sri, Siti Nurhaliza binti Tarudin DIMP, JSM, SAP, PMP, AAP (Jawi: سيتي نورهاليزا بنت تارودين [ˈsiti nʊrhaˈliza ˈbinti taˈrudɪn]; born 11 January 1979) is a Malaysian singer, songwriter, record producer, television presenter and businesswoman.

Since her debut, she has won a number of international singing competitions. She had been crowned as Voice of Asia in 2002 after winning the Grand Prix Champion title at the Voice of Asia singing competition which was held in Almaty, Kazakhstan. A few years earlier, in 1999 she had won Gold Award in Asia New Singer Competition at Shanghai Asia Music Festival, held in Shanghai, People's Republic of China. Also, in the same year, she had won two awards from 'South Pacific International Song and Singing Competition 1999' held in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.

To date, she has garnered more than 200 local awards as well as international awards. She rose to fame as a multiple-platinum selling artist, since her winning of Malaysia's reality show Bintang HMI 1995 when she was only 16 where she was given offers in form of singing contracts from four different international recording companies. Her first single from her debut album, "Jerat Percintaan", won the 11th Anugerah Juara Lagu and another two awards for Best Performance and Best Ballad. The album itself as of 2005, has been sold to a total of more than 800,000 units in Malaysia alone. In her career she has recorded and sung in multiple languages, including Bahasa Malaysia, Basa Jawa, English, Mandarin, Arabic, Hindi and Japanese.

She has won an unprecedented number of music awards in Malaysia and its environs: 37 Anugerah Industri Muzik awards, 25 Anugerah Bintang Popular awards, 27 Anugerah Planet Muzik awards, 19 Anugerah Juara Lagu awards, four MTV Asia Awards, three World Music Awards, two Anugerah Musik Indonesia (Indonesian Music Awards) and the holder of two records in the Malaysia Book of Records. Backed with 16 studio albums, she is one of the most popular artistes in the Malay Archipelago and Nusantara region and she has been voted for Regional Most Popular Artiste ten times in a row beating other fellow artists from Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore in the Anugerah Planet Muzik since 2001. Currently, she has been listed as one of Malaysia's richest, most-influential, most award-winning, most single-produced artists. She's also one of Malaysia's best selling artists, for in 2000, her album sales alone contributed to 10 percent of Malaysia's total album sales. To date, she has sold more than 4.9 million in record sales.

In 1998, she was chosen amongst few Malaysian artists to perform during the closing ceremony of 1998 Commonwealth Games in front of Queen Elizabeth II and her consort, Prince Philip among other dignitaries and officials from 70 countries including those from the Commonwealth of Nations. In 2005, she became the first Southeast Asian singer, and third Asian singer to perform a solo concert at the Royal Albert Hall while being backed by the London Symphony Orchestra. In 2005 also, she was listed second by MTV Asia in Asia's Best Musical Artiste and Channel V's Biggest Asian Artiste. In 2008, she was named as one of Asia's Idol by Asia News Network. Her success in the Asian region has gained her honorific titles including "Voice of Asia" and "Asia's Celine Dion".

Early life

Early childhood (1983–1995)

Siti was born on 11 January 1979 in Berek Polis Kg. Awah, Kuala Lipis where she is the fourth child in a family of eight siblings to Tarudin Ismail, a police officer and Siti Salmah Bachik, a housewife. She comes from a musically inclined family; her brother, Saiful Bahri Tarudin, and her sisters Siti Norsaida and Siti Saerah are also singers. Her grandfather was a famous violinist, and her mother was a local traditional singer.

During her childhood, she was involved in various school activities, including sports and co-curricular activities. She attended her pre-school at the Tabika Perkep, Balai Polis Kampung Awah, Temerloh where she first showcased her early singing talent at the age of six when she sang "Sirih Pinang", a Malay traditional song, at her kindergarten's certificate-receiving event. She later attended primary school at Sekolah Rendah Kebangsaan Clifford and followed up her secondary education at Sekolah Menengah Clifford, Kuala Lipis, Pahang. In 1991, when she was 12 years old, she won one of her earliest singing competitions, with the song "Bahtera Merdeka" at the Merdeka Day Singing Contest, a local patriotic song competition. During her schooling years, she was an athlete who was active in sports especially in netball and this was evident when during the Fiesta Media Idola 2006 in Kuantan, she participated in two different sports events - netball and 5x80 meter relay. She was also chosen as one the torch bearers to light the games of the Fiesta, marking its opening alongside Malaysian actress Fasha Sandha.

Coming from a poor family, at the age of nine, she has to wake up at 4:00am to help her mother making and selling various homemade kuih in her neighbourhood, where sometimes, she also has to carry down three flights of stairs, a makeshift table to the main road to set up a small stall. She commented that all the hardships have not only helped her to be more frugal when spending, but also to be more confident when communicating with the public. She also said that the whole experience has helped to improve her vocal skills when she has to shout to call for customers' attentions. Apart from participating various local singing competitions, she also used to follow her uncle, Abdul Rahim Bachik to invitational shows like wedding ceremonies and dinner parties which have helped her giving the exposure of performing live.

Career beginnings and musical success

Early commercial success (1995–1996)

Siti Nurhaliza's family performed at many public local ceremonies in their hometown, such as weddings and public soirées. At the age of 12, Siti began to learn traditional songs from her mother and went on performing that genre of music during special occasions and events.

She also was the vocalist for 'Family Group', a small band founded by her uncle, Abdul Rahim Bachik. She started to improvise her singing skills by participating in numerous local singing competitions before ultimately at the age of 16, she finally competed in the 1995 RTM Bintang HMI competition where she auditioned with a song made famous by Ruth Sahanaya, Kaulah Segalanya. Before auditioning for Bintang HMI, she once auditioned for Asia Bagus at the age of 14 in 1993, but she failed to go through. During Bintang HMI competition, she met Adnan Abu Hassan, music composer who tutored and helped her with her vocal performance, before she finally winning the contest with the song by Aishah, Camar Yang Pulang. She was granted a contract with Suria Records after making a decision over four offers from different international recording companies, including offers from Sony Music, BMG Music and Warner Music. In 1996, Suria Records released her first self-titled album, Siti Nurhaliza, and the first single, Jerat Percintaan won the 11th Anugerah Juara Lagu and another two awards for Best Performance and Best Ballad in addition to her quadruple winnings in Anugerah Bintang Popular for Most Popular Television Entertainer, Most Popular Female Singer, Most Popular Teen Artiste and overall winner, Most Popular Star.

Career development (1997–1998)

In 1997, Siti started to become a well-known figure in Indonesia's music industry when her story appeared in one of the most popular magazines in Indonesia, POS Kota, in April 1997's edition. Siti was taken as a formidable figure because it was difficult for foreign artists to break through in Indonesian's music industry if the artist has less to offer compared to their own artists. Siti was also said to be the first Malaysian singer to hold a live concert on Indosiar, a popular television station in Indonesia and it was televised nationwide. Siti has become one of the most influential artists in Indonesia and she held a series of big scale concerts in Jakarta, Bandung, Yogyakarta and many more cities over the next few years. In the same year, she won Best New Artist and Best Song (Jerat Percintaan) from Anugerah Industri Muzik.

In 1998, at the early age of 19, she launched her own company on 12 January, Siti Nurhaliza Productions (M) Sdn. Bhd. which acts as the official management production to handle and manage her schedule. Siti made her first and biggest appearance on the international stage during the 1998 Commonwealth Games which was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia where she performed in front of Queen Elizabeth II and her consort, Prince Philip among other dignitaries and officials from 70 Commonwealth countries. She also shared the same stage with two international stars Céline Dion and Rod Stewart to entertain the crowd during the closing ceremony. The ceremony was televised in 70 nations worldwide, which led her to become known in the international arena for the first time. In November of the same year, she was invited to perform in Japan for five days at the Pop Queen Festival, also known as Saga Fiesta '98.

Early international stardom (1999–2005)

Siti Nurhaliza attending the red carpet ceremony of the MTV Asia Aid 2005 in Bangkok on 3 February 2005.

On December 1999, Siti received one of her first international winnings from an international singing competition when she took part in 'Shanghai Asia Music Festival 1999' that was held in China, where she managed to win the Gold Award for the Asia New Singer Competition. She was also invited in 2000 and 2002 for the same competition as featuring artiste. In the same year earlier in May, she took part in 'South Pacific International Song and Singing Competition 1999' held in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia where she was crowned with the first place in the category of 'Pop/Top 40 for International Song' beating contestants from all over South Pacific through her single, We'll Be As One. Siti also managed to catch the juries' attention with her vocal prowess, that finally led her to be awarded with the Best Female Vocal Performance with the same single even though the single was judged by cassette tape/compact disc sent by her recording company to the organiser and not through live performance. For the next few years, Siti took part in 'Voice of Asia 2002' which was held in Kazakhstan where she performed one of her singles from her third album, Purnama Merindu and managed to grab the Grand Prix Champion title, the ultimate prize.

In December 2003, she was invited to perform at 2003 Japan and ASEAN Pop Stars Dream Concert 2003 (J-ASEAN Pops 2003), held in Yokohama, Japan, alongside top Japan and ASEAN artists, including THE BOOM, You Hitoto, INSPi, Leonard Eto, Yuri Chika, Hiroshi Takano and Hideki Kurosawa from Japan. While ASEAN artists including Hans Anwar & Lo'Ryder (Brunei), Preap Sowat (Cambodia), AB Three (Indonesia), Alexandra (Laos), Lay Phyu & Iron Cross (Myanmar), Jolina Magdangal (Philippines), Tanya Chua (Singapore), Briohny (Thailand) and Lam Truong (Vietnam). For the concert, a special song was composed by a Japanese composer, Kazufumi Miyazawa with lyrics by a Singaporean lyricist, Dick Lee entitled, Treasure the World. The same song was also sung by each singer from each participating country in their native languages, where Siti's version which was in Malay, entitled Dunia Milik Kita was also performed for the first time during the event.

Siti was the first non-Chinese artiste to be invited to perform at the 15th Golden Melody Awards, Taiwan in 2004. Apart from performing solo with 征服 (Conquer) cover of Na Ying's single, she also sang a duet with Leehom Wang in a song called 月亮代表我的心 (The Moon Represents My Heart) which is a cover of the late Teresa Teng and as awards presenter alongside Taiwanese news anchor Patty Hou. She also appeared on a half-hour special program by Azio TV during her brief four days in Taipei. She also made her third appearance on MTV Asia Awards in 2004 held in Singapore, where she performed for the second time in a row for the ceremony with Gareth Gates, the runner up from the first series of England version of Idol, Pop Idol, in a song originally by Gareth's himself, 'Say It Isn't So'.

In 2004 also her company Siti Nurhaliza Production (M) Sdn. Bhd. (SNP) produced television programs. With the first musical program Muzikal Aidiladha (Musical of Eid Al-Adha) in conjunction with the Eid Al-Adha. After that, the company came up with the Siti Nurhaliza 3D (Siti Nurhaliza Dari Dalam Diri), a reality television series that exclusively reveal the private life of Siti Nurhaliza with 13 episodes and airing on RTM (Radio Televisyen Malaysia or Malaysian Radio Television), the Malaysian national public service radio and television company. In same year also SNP produced Sukan dan Selebriti (Sports and Celebrities) programs involving the participation of popular artists and sports personalities in various fields with 26 episodes.

In 2005, she was dubbed as The Voice of Asia, when Alicia Keys first introduced her with the title during the MTV Asia Aid in 2005 held in Bangkok, Thailand due to her powerful vocal, and her outstanding achievements locally and internationally. In the same year, Siti held a successful solo concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London in April 2005, although the majority of the audience were Malaysians living in the United Kingdom, together with the local citizens. British press compared her performance to those by Celine Dion and cited her as Asia's Celine Dion for her powerful vocal and outstanding performances. During the concert, she was backed by the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Indonesian maestro, Erwin Gutawa where the concert was even attended by the Sultan and Sultanah of Pahang and royal families from Brunei. In the same year, Channel V listed her as the Second Biggest Asian Artist for her achievements trailing behind Taiwanese singer, Jay Chou who is on the top of the list. Coincidentally, MTV Asia also rated her as the Second Asia's Best Musical Artist, also behind the same Taiwanese artiste, Jay Chou.

Datukship and Transkripsi (2006–2007)

Siti Nurhaliza (in white) with fellow Malaysian singers during Konsert Suara Hati Sudirman Arshad in 2007.

Siti's eleventh studio album, Transkripsi, was released in April 2006 and contained contributions from producers and composers from Indonesia like Erwin Gutawa, Melly Goeslaw and Glenn Fredly and Malaysians, like Aubrey Suwito, Cat Farish, Jenny Chin, Firdaus Mahmud, Mac Chew, Yasin and Damian VE. Transkripsi became the year's best album after winning the Best Pop Album and Best Album categories in the Anugerah Industri Muzik. It also received praises before by critics as one of her best albums ever produced and the album released was her debut attempt of producing an album under her own production company. On 24 October 2006, she was conferred as "Dato'" after receiving the title of Darjah Indera Mahkota Pahang (DIMP) from the Sultan of Pahang, Sultan Ahmad Shah on his 76th birthday alongside two Malaysian designers, Bernard Chandran and Dayang Tom Abang Saufi.

In 2007, She made her first appearance at the Grammy Award for the red carpet session on 11 February 2007 where she was the first Malaysian to walk the red carpet. On 20 and 21 April 2007, She performed at the Konsert Istana Cinta Nostalgia, which was a tribute concert for the late Tan Sri P. Ramlee and Puan Sri Saloma at Istana Budaya, Kuala Lumpur. The concert featured popular songs composed by Tan Sri P. Ramlee himself, performed by Siti and other invited artistes. Before this, Siti was also invited to perform a tribute concert for the late Sudirman Hj Arshad, also at Istana Budaya, Kuala Lumpur in 2002. On 30 April 2007, she garnered 4 nominations in the Anugerah Industri Muzik including Best Pop Album (Transkripsi), Best Vocal Female Performance in an Album (Transkripsi), Best Music Video (Bisakah) and Best Cover for an Album (Transkripsi). Out of the four nominations, she won two awards – Best Pop Album and Best Album for Transkripsi. She also received five nominations from Anugerah Planet Muzik 2007 for two categories that were voted by fans from Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore – Most Popular Female Artist and Most Popular Song (Biarlah Rahsia) and three categories that were judged by professional juries and judges – Best Female Artist, Best Song (Biarlah Rahsia) and Best Album. She won three out of five – Most Popular Female Artist, Best Female Artist and Best Song.

Hadiah Daripada Hati, Lentera Timur and other works (2007–2008)

Siti Nurhaliza backstage during Konsert Suara Hati Sudirman Arshad, a tribute concert in April 2007.

Siti Nurhaliza was the first Malaysian to be given the honour of walking up the red carpet meant for invited celebrities at the Grammy Awards held at Staples Centre in Los Angeles on 11 February 2007, after she won the two tickets as Best Dressed celebrity at Star World's "Breakfast With the Stars" in conjunction with the 78th Annual Academy Awards. 2007 also showed Siti's participation on soundtracks for films where she recorded two songs for two different films where she sang Menanti Pasti and Hati for Kayangan and 1957: Hati Malaya respectively. However, only the song Hati was included in her twelfth studio album, Hadiah Daripada Hati and also received the award of Best Original Theme Song from Anugerah Festival Filem Malaysia ke-21 (21st Malaysian Film Festival) in 2008. In the same year too she finally agrees to act in a production where she performed as Azizah, P. Ramlee's mysterious lover, in the musical 'Remy ... Kisah P. Ramlee (Remy ... The Story of P. Ramlee), which is a tribute to the late P. Ramlee, staged at Istana Budaya from 19 October to 3 November 2007.

On 10 December of the same year, Siti's twelfth studio album Hadiah Daripada Hati was released, with the Latin-influenced pop song Ku Mahu as the first single of this album and it was featured as the opening theme song for a local Malay drama, Spa-Q. Later, Melawan Kesepian was chosen as her second single and was the first track of this album to have a video clip. The song was a remake of a hit that was once popularised by an Indonesian band called Jikustik. Hadiah Daripada Hati came under criticism from the press when it was released. Critics said it was a moderate performance from her and was not on the same par as her previous album Transkripsi, which was touted as the best album she had ever made. But these criticisms were rebutted when Hadiah Daripada Hati received five nominations in the 15th edition of AIM including Best Pop Album, Song of The Year, Best Vocal Performance in an Album (Female), Best Arrangement and Best Album Cover making Siti the second nominee with the most nominations after newcomer Faizal Tahir. Out of five categories including three multiple nominations for Best Arrangement category, the album earned her three awards for Best Pop Album, Best Musical Arrangement in a Song (Malay) for the song Cintamu as well as her ninth Best Vocal Performance in an Album (Female) in which she had lost to Jaclyn Victor the previous year. Her acting debut in the musical 'Remy... The Story of P. Ramlee' also saw the debut of her third single Mulanya Cinta, which was composed by Dick Lee, a Singaporean composer. Siti has also become one of the most frequently searched persons on Google by Malaysian Google users, according to Google's 2007 Malaysia Year-End Zeitgeist, beating celebrities like Paris Hilton and Britney Spears.

Siti Nurhaliza performing as the opening act for the Kuala Lumpur International Film Festival 2008.

In January 2008, she was cited as one of the Asia's Idols by Asia News Network for her exemplary achievements and gaining the status as the icon of Malaysian entertainment. and on 21 March 2008, Siti held one of her first solo acoustic concert at the Esplanade Theatre in Singapore. The concert was called Diari Hati - Dato' Siti Nurhaliza's Heart (Diary of Dato' Siti Nurhaliza's Heart) where she performed numbers of her hits from her latest album, Hadiah Daripada Hati and previous albums.

26 December 2008, was the release date of her 13th album, Lentera Timur, her most recent traditional contemporary album, Irama Malaysia (her fourth Ethnic Creative album) since her third one, Sanggar Mustika in 2002. She commented that the album has more modern and contemporary songs unlike her usual traditional genre. For that album, she worked with multiple international composers like Singapore's M. Nasir and Indonesia's Katon Bagaskara. Nine out of 13 songs (which all was created and composed under three days) that have been chosen came from a songwriting workshop, Cipta Ekspress – Berirama Malaysia. The event which was organised by Malaysian Authors Copyright Protection (MACP) was specially organised to find the materials for the album. Despite of the poor sale due to the lack of promotions, the quality of the album has never been denied where it was evident when during the 16th Anugerah Industri Muzik, Lentera Timur grabbed multiple awards including Best Pop Ethnic and later on honoured as Album of the Year in AIM 16. She also took home Best Female Vocal trophy for the song 'Di Taman Teman'. She was not present at the award ceremony however as she was away to Mecca to perform Umrah with her family.

Siti has also recorded two songs for the soundtrack for an Indonesian film, Perempuan Berkalong Sorban. One of the songs recorded is a cover of Opick's Ketika Cinta and also a new song, Batasku Asaku which was written by Siti herself. Both songs were included in her fourteenth album, Tahajjud Cinta.

In the same year, her wealth is said to have reached RM 50 Million by MTV Asia and was named one of the millionaires in entertainment in South East Asia.

SATU, Tahajjud Cinta and CTKD (2009)

On 15 February, her father, Taruddin Ismail 67, died at 11.50 AM, after a heart bypass operation days before does not show any improvement, leaving seven children, and 10 grandchildren behind. She announced a 40-day state of mourning for her father and put singing activity on hold, except for Konsert Malam Sinar Maulidur Rasul 1430 Hijrah (1430 Hegira Special Mawlid Night Concert). Months after the loss, Siti's back to business where she announced her major three days concert at the Istana Budaya, SATU Konsert Eksklusif Dato' Siti Nurhaliza. It began its run on 26 June 2009 in Kuala Lumpur. The tickets were sold out weeks before the debut night. The concert received compliments from critics, and the show was attended by distinguished people such as region well-known artistes like Krisdayanti and Rossa from Indonesia to name some. A month before the concert, she won her ninth consecutive award of Most Popular Malaysian Artist of 2009 and also the Regional Most Popular Artist of 2009 from Anugerah Planet Muzik 2009, beating another 11 contestants where each country, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore has four representatives based on SMS votes.

In March, Siti revealed that she would begin work on her next album later in the year. Apparently, the idea came about while Siti was taking part in an Erma Fatima theatre production, Sirah Junjungan. She also stated that, this will be her first attempt at spiritual songs and she plans to release the album for the holy month Ramadan of 2009 known as Tahajjud Cinta. In September, she became a host to 13 episodes cooking reality series Citarasa Selebriti Bersama Dato' Siti Nurhaliza with several guest artists. Later, Siti and fellow friend, Indonesian singer, Krisdayanti have planned to produce a duet album featuring eight duets where Siti will choose four Malaysian compositions while Krisdayanti will pick the other four from Indonesia. The album was released on 28 December in Malaysia and 27 January in Indonesia, under the name CTKD where it is an abbreviation with double meaning where it stands as the acronyms for the combination of both singers names, CT and KD, and also as the whole title of the album, which is Canda (Joke), Tangis (Cry), Ketawa (Laugh) and Duka (Sad).

In July, her skill as a former ambassador for the Malaysian Red Crescent Society was put to the test when she and a panel doctor of Media Prima performed a Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on the late Yasmin Ahmad when she fell unconscious during a presentation in a meeting in TV3's headquarter and in August, Siti was given a privileged of her own channel on Astro at Channel 188, Channel Siti for 28 hours on 30 August 2009 which has broadcast her concert in June of the same year, SATU Konsert Eksklusif Dato' Siti Nurhaliza, her previous concert which was held at Bukit Jalil, the Siti's Fantasia Tour concert in 2004 and some of her music videos.

Bagaikan Sakti and SimplySiti (2010-2011)

Siti promoting SimplySiti in both Malaysia (left) and Brunei (right) markets in 2010 and 2011.

In 2010, she performed at Konsert Bagaikan Sakti which was held in Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay, Singapore alongside Malaysian producer-composer-songwriter, M. Nasir which also was broadcast live through Astro Box Office Events (Channel 955) on 1 January, and the repeat show from 2nd till 10 January. Her own company, Siti Nurhaliza Productions (M) Sdn. Bhd. has also produced a concert for two Malaysian award winning artists, Faizal Tahir and Aizat entitled Konsert Satu Suara which was accompanied by Simfoni Orkestra Kebangsaan (National Orchestra Symphony) on 12 February until 14th at Istana Budaya. On 25 March, she received her first award of the year, Anugerah Artis Contoh HIP TV 2009 (HIP TV Role Model Artist Award 2009) defeating four other candidates based on votes from viewers through short message service (SMS). On 30 March, she launched her own beauty and cosmetic products under the name SimplySiti. The products underwent research and development in Korea, and are incorporated with Nanotechnology before receiving approval of Halal status by JAKIM. 6 days later, she received her 13th consecutive award of Penyanyi Wanita Paling Popular 2009 (Most Popular Female Singer 2009) and the overall category award, Bintang Paling Popular 2009 (Most Popular Artist of 2009) from Anugerah Bintang Popular Bintang Harian 2009 with votes from over 225 300 votes from the readers of Berita Harian. The latter one is her seventh time winning the same accolade. On 21 April, Siti won herself another two awards based on popular votes through SMS service from Anugerah Pilihan Pembaca Media Hiburan (APPMH) 2009/10 (Media Hiburan Readers' Choice Awards 2009/10). She won the award for Artis Wanita Berkulit Cantik 2009/10 (Female Artist with a Flawless Skin 2009/10) and special piece of the ceremony, Anugerah Khas APPMH 2009/10 (Special Award of APPMH 2009/10). In addition, on 2 May, she won herself her sixth and seventh awards of 2010 from Anugerah Industri Muzik (AIM) ke-17 2010 (17th Malaysian Music Industry Awards 2010) where she won two vocal awards, Persembahan Vokal Terbaik Dalam Lagu (Wanita) (Best Vocal Performance in a Song (Female)) through her single, Ku Percaya Ada Cinta and Persembahan Vokal Berkumpulan Dalam Lagu (Best Group Vocal Performance in a Song) through her single, Amarah from her collaboration album with Indonesian artiste, Krisdayanti, CTKD. This is her 11th time winning Best Vocal Performance out of 17 years history of AIM, creating a record of her own. She also won another two awards from local fashion magazine, EH! voted by users through online and mail poles, Anugerah Stail EH! 2010 (EH!'s 2010 Style Awards) for the category of Selebriti Pencapaian Terbaik (Celebrity with the Best Achievements) and Selebriti Contoh (Role Model Celebrity) on 21 July.

Less than two months after being commercialised since late March, her skincare products range, SimplySiti received "The Best Halal Product" under Cosmetic category by Halal Journal Magazine. and on 11 January 2011, she received two awards from The BrandLaureate – Small and Medium Enterprises Chapter Awards (The BrandLaureate – SME's Chapter Awards), one for her SimplySiti range, for Most Promising Brand and another one for herself, first time introduced in 2011, The BrandLaureate Tun Dr. Siti Hasmah SME's Women of The Year 2010 which was presented by Tun Dr. Siti Hasmah, wife of Malaysia's fourth Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir herself. She also received Inspiration Woman Award from Association of Malaysian and Indonesian Journalists (ISWAMI) on 29 January.

SITI, All Your Love and History Channel (2011-2012)

Siti Nurhaliza with her husband, Datuk Seri Khalid and her stepson, Adib Khalid at the launching of All Your Love.

In early 2011, She hosted her own talk show programme, SITI, which with 13 episodes, encompassing four main segments – V.I.P. Siti, Sentuhan Kasih (Caring Touch), Siti's Perspective and Siti's Symphony with the first episode aired on 12 February.

In early March 2011, she announced that she is working on her first full English album, entitled All Your Love which was produced by her own stepson's production team What's Up Entertainment, with all the songs written and produced by Australian singers, Christian Alexanda and Bryan Bouro and released on 26 September with her first English single, Falling in Love debuted at a concert in UiTM where she also expressed her interest to further her study in that university. Two out of ten tracks from the album, Remember You and I Wait Forever were a duet between her and Sean Kingston and Christian Alexanda respectively.

On 16 July, she won her tenth Regional Most Popular Artiste in a row beating fellow artistes from Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore, thus setting a new record in the Anugerah Planet Muzik. However, this would be her last appearance in the category after the organiser has decided to drop her name from participating in the same category in the future. In September 2011, her company, Siti Nurhaliza Production (SNP) produced her first ever reality singing competition, I-Klon which was aired on November 2011. The aim of this show is to search for talents that not only can sing but also imitate their idol. On 17 October, she was reported to be working on her life documentary which was aired on History Channel on 11 January 2012 to coincide with her 33rd birthday.

On 28 January 2012 she received the Anugerah Ikon (Icon Award) by (APPMH) 2011/12 (Media Hiburan Readers' Choice Awards 2011/12) and on 8 April, she received a special award, Anugerah Seri Perak from Anugerah Bintang Popular Berita Harian in conjunction with the silver jubilee of the award on April 2012, which she previously had won the Anugerah Bintang Paling Popular (Most Popular Star Award) for seven times from the same ceremony. In April 2012, she accepted an offer to be featured in Sami Yusuf's latest album, Salaam for his song, You Came To Me which was recorded in three languages, Arabic, Bahasa Melayu and English. She also performed the song alongside him for his debut concert in Singapore, 'Konsert Salaam Sami Yusuf' on 8 July. A day later, on 9 July, she was given the chance to perform as the opening act and also the closing ceremonies of the 15th Malaysia Games or SUKMA XV on 16 July. Few days earlier, on 5 July, she received another award by EH! magazine for the award of Celebrity with Best Achievements for a second time since 2010.

In September, she announced a new album project with an Indonesian recording company, Virgo Records for Indonesian market where so far a number of Indonesian composers and lyricist have given their songs to Siti, including former lead vocal of Kerispatih, Samuel Simorangkir and Dewiq. The same album will also include a song written by herself and composed by a Malaysian composer, Aubrey Suwito. In the same month also, she received a special award by Anugerah Radio24 BERNAMA (BERNAMA Radio24 Awards) in the category of Entertainment Icon in conjunction with their fifth anniversary. And on 25 November, she was honoured with a special award of Anugerah Kesatria Puteri Kesenian from Puteri UMNO in their Himpunan Wanita Muda 2012 (2012 Female Youth Coalition). Two weeks earlier, on 11 November, she performed a 2-hour concert at Grand Ballroom, Bukit Gambang Resort City in Gambang, Pahang where it was attended by more than 5000 people including her fans from Indonesia and Singapore and the Sultan of Pahang, Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah. During the concert, she performed her latest single, Galau which was composed by an Indonesian composer, which will be featured in her latest project with Universal Music. After the concert, she announced that she will be start touring Indonesia from 8 December until 14 December in several major cities, including Jakarta, Pekanbaru and Banjarbaru. However, on 13 December, she has to call off her last destination tour for her husband was involved in a motorcycle accident in New Zealand. On 13 December also, she was announced as one of the finalists in World Music Awards 2012 alongside another Malaysian singer, Shila Amzah in the categories of World's Best Female Artist, World's Best Live Act and World's Best Entertainer of the Year. However, the awards ceremony was postponed from 22 December 2012 to a later date in 2013, due to logistic and immigration issues.

New image, Siti Nurhaliza in Symphony and Konsert Lentera Timur (2013)

On her 34th birthday, she has made a decision to fully observe the Islamic code of dressing for females by wearing a hijab at all times even when performing on stage. She also has commented that she will be taking a short break until April to take care of her husband who was involved in an accident in December 2012. In the same month, her company, Siti Nurhaliza Productions (SNP) was reported to be working on the second season of I-Klon, a reality singing competition, where it will be aired later this year after its debut in 2011. Later, in early February, she debuted her own 13-episode game show, Siti Ooo...Som where she co-hosted with Nabil Ahmad and Sharifah Shahira. The game show is basically divided into six main segments – Sepantas Kilat, Riuh Rendah, Siapa Hebat, Kebaboom, Siti Cabar and Huru Hara. Also, in the same month, she was revealed to be short listed for the 5th Shorty Awards in the category of Best Reality Star in Social Media where the winners were announced in New York City on 8 April 2013.

On 2 March, she won the Bella On-Stage Award, beating other nine contenders in the Bella Awards inauguration event for Malaysian women that have made tremendous achievement in the performing arts. In the same day, her cosmetic company, SimplySiti received a recognition from Malaysia Book of Records for the entry of Biggest Participation in Skin Transformation event in One Day. On 7 March, she was chosen to perform in collaboration concert between Malaysia and Indonesia, Konsert Nusantara at Istana Budaya alongside Hafiz Suip, Rossa and few other Malaysian and Indonesian singers. On 21 March, she was given a chance to perform a duet with Kenny Babyface through the songs Fire and When I Fall in Love for Sapurakencana Petroleum Malaysia Grand Prix Charity Gala 2013 which was attended by various international artists including Josh Hartnett, Teri Hatcher, Kimora Lee Simmons and many others. The charity event managed to raise more than RM 200 000 which will be used to aid heart patients.

In April, she announced that she will have her first solo concert at the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra for a 3-day concert from 5 to 7 July. In June, she received a special humanity award from Majlis Perundangan Pertubuhan Islam Malaysia (Mapim), for her effort and support of Mapim's Gaza fundraising. On 5 to 7 July, she performed at Siti Nurhaliza in Symphony - with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra at Dewan Filharmonik Petronas for three nights in a row in which tickets were sold out weeks before the said event. This was her first solo concert at the Dewan Filharmonik Petronas where 12 years earlier she was only a guest performer at Tan Sri SM Salim's concert with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra.

In August, she received Anugerah Artis Wanita Pilihan (Favourite Female Artist Award) from the inaugural Anugerah Melodi 2013 during a special Eid episode of Melodi where the winners were chosen entirely by the viewers. In the same month, she was also chosen as one of the 'Inspirers' for Akademi Fantasia 2013 students alongside Melly Goeslaw and Faizal Tahir where they will share their experiences as singers and motivate the students in their paths as new artists. In August also, she was chosen among few select Malaysian artists to participate in Konsert 'Harmony and Unity' on 25 August which was held at Dataran Merdeka, alongside few Indonesian artists, including Ahmad Dhani and Rossa which was aired on both countries television stations, TV1 and Indosiar respectively. In September, she was interviewed by National Geographic Channel for a special documentary in conjunction with the 50th Malaysia Day, 'Malaysia: Through The Decades' which was aired on 16 September, alongside Yuna, Lat and Malaysia's first astronaut, Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor for their insights on Malaysia and what it has achieved over the past 50 years. She was also revealed to be nominated in Anugerah Planet Muzik 2013 at Suntec Convention Hall, Singapore in three different categories - Best Malaysia Song, Best Duo/Group and Regional Most Popular Song which are all shared with Hafiz Suip for their collaboration in both artists' single, Muara Hati. And on 18 October, both of them were revealed to be the winner for two out of three nominations (Best Duo/Group and Regional Most Popular Song). Also, in the same month of September, she held her second major concert in 2013, Konsert Lentera Timur Dato' Siti Nurhaliza Esklusif bersama Orkestra Tradisonal Malaysia at Istana Budaya, which was also her first traditional concert in 18 years of her career. Backed by 40 musicians from Orkestra Tradisional Malaysia, with 35 different traditional songs, ranging from Zapin, Samrah, Keroncong, Joget to few other traditional genres, the 2-hour concert was tentatively planned to be only for three days in a row from 20 to 22 September, before the fourth day, which is 24 September was added after receiving high demands from her fans and fans of traditional music to add another date to the 3-day concert. On 27 October, the concert was revealed as the most successful solo concert ever held at Istana Budaya, where it managed to collect more than RM 900 000.

In late November and December 2013, she was invited to perform for two international events. On 28 November, she was in Japan after receiving an invitation by the Japanese embassy in Malaysia for Asean-Japan Music Festival - Music for Healing after the Earthquake in commemoration of the 40th anniversary of Japan - Asean countries relationship, and as a musical appeal for relief aids for victims of 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. During the festival, she performed a medley of songs that she personally had chosen - Biarlah Rahsia, Koibito yo (a Japanese song, made famous by Mayumi Itsuwa) and Nirmala in front of other representatives from both Japan and Asean countries and also the Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzō Abe who officiated the festival. Apart from local Japanese viewing, the festival was also made available for viewing for worldwide audience through NHK World. On 5 December, she was invited to perform at the 2013 Asian Television Awards at Resorts World Sentosa, Singapore, where she performed two songs - "Lebih Indah" and "On the Floor" where the show was broadcast for the first time to both STAR World and Channel V reaching audiences in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.

Where the Heart Is and Live in Singapore concerts, Icon of Malaysia and Fragmen (2014)

Siti Nurhaliza performing I Will Always Love You with David Foster during his "David Foster and Friends" concert, in conjunction with "Sapurakencana Petroleum Malaysia Grand Prix Gala Dinner & Concert 2014" on 27 March.

On 6 January, she announced the dates for her first charity concert, where proceeds will be channelled to her own charity organisation, Yayasan Nurjiwa (Nurjiwa Foundation), where it will provide aid to those who are in needs. Named "Dato Siti Nurhaliza Live in Concert - Where the Heart is", the two-hour concert was held on two consecutive nights, 8 and 9 February at Plenary Hall, Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre. On 9 February, it was revealed that the two-day concert managed to reach its goal by grossing more than RM 1 million, from ticket sales and donations from philanthropists alone.

In February, she announced a collaboration with Artelier Gallery Kuala Lumpur, in her continuous 2014 effort to raise funds for her foundation. With participation from 15 Malaysian, one Spanish and one Iranian painters, "SITI: An Iconic Exhibition of Dato’ Siti Nurhaliza" was an exhibition of artworks and sculptures by the 17 painters and artists - their takes on how Siti Nurhaliza has inspired them. A month before the exhibition, every single painter and sculpture artist was given the opportunity to personally interview Siti before proceeding with producing their artworks based on their preferred materials and styles. The exhibition was opened from 27 February until 26 March. All the artworks were up for sale, where 30 percent of total grossed sale will be channelled to Yayasan Nurjiwa. The highest price goes to finger painting made by the Spanish painter, Andrian Torres, priced at RM 75 000.

Also, in February, she announced her first concert in Singapore which was performed on 12 April at The Star Theater after a six-year absence since her last solo concert in Singapore in 2008. The one-day concert, billed as "Dato' Siti Nurhaliza - Live in Singapore" received positive reviews from local concert reviewers. One of the reviewers praised her ability to sound "flawless" while both singing and dancing at the same time.

Apart from the announcement of the concert in Singapore, also in the same month, it was revealed that she was chosen by David Foster as one of the guest artists in a one-night only "David Foster and Friends" show that was originally scheduled as the major event of Sapurakencana Petroleum Malaysia Grand Prix Gala Dinner & Concert 2014 on 27 March. However, due to the date's proximity to the Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 incident, the entire show was later revamped to become a full-fledged tribute concert. During the night of the show, she was accompanied by Foster on piano to perform two songs that Foster originally produced - I Will Always Love You and Because You Loved Me. Foster also accompanied Siti to Siti's own single, Seindah Biasa.

In April, she was honoured by Malaysia Book of Records as one of the recipients of "Icon of Malaysia". The same award was also conferred to other Malaysians who have achieved success in their respective fields - Dato' Jimmy Choo, Datuk Dr. Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor and Tan Sri Tony Fernandes.

On 30 June, she released her sixteenth solo album, Fragmen which was certified as Platinum, after more than 10 000 copies were shipped in less than two months. Two months later, on 17 October, Fragmen enabled Siti to win two awards from 2014 Anugerah Planet Muzik in the category of Best Female Artiste and Best Song (Malaysia) for "Lebih Indah". On 21 October, the Indonesian version of Fragmen was officially launched and released at Artotel, Central Jakarta with an additional track, a duet with Cakra Khan, "Seluruh Cinta". She also embarked on a 5-day promotional trip to Indonesia where she participated in various Indonesian entertainment programs including on MNCTV, RCTI, Global TV, NET. and SCTV.

In November she won three different awards — "National Icon" from Inaugural Malaysia Women Of Excellence Awards 2014 on 10 November, "Jewel of Muslim World" award from the Jewels Of Muslim World Awards 2014 on 11 November and "Asian Music Legend" award from 2014 Top Asia Corporate Ball on 22 November. On 6 December, she won three awards out of eight nominations that she received from 2014 Anugerah Industri Muzik in the category of Best Album Recording for the album Konsert Lentera Timur (Dato' Siti Nurhaliza Bersama Orkestra Tradisional Malaysia), Best Vocal Performance in a Song (Female) for "Lebih Indah" and Best Album for Fragmen. Her winning for "Lebih Indah" marked the twelfth time she wins the category since she joined the Malaysian music industry.

On 18 December, she is one of the recipients of Anugerah Srikandi Negara from Peninsular Malay Students Federation (GPMS). Less than a week later, on 24 December, she was announced as the winner for three awards from 2014 World Music Awards - World's Best Female Malay Artist, World's Best Malay Live Act and World's Best Malay Entertainer.

Unplugged and Konsert Satu Suara, Vol. 2 (2015)

Closing performance by Siti for Anugerah MeleTOP ERA 2015 on 22 February 2015.

During the New Year's Eve of 2015, she was in Singapore as one of the guest artists for the countdown of Celebrate SG50, which marked Singapore's 50 years of independence. 2015 also marked her twentieth year in the Malaysian entertainment industry since she won 1995 RTM Bintang HMI singing competition. To celebrate the anniversary, a special one night only acoustic concert was planned and organized on 7 April 2015 at Istana Budaya. Titled Dato' Siti Nurhaliza Unplugged 2015, tickets for the concert sold out days before the concert date and her vocal performances and overall concert received positive reviews from reviewers and critics alike. Present in the concert were people who have helped her throughout the years including her former mentor, Adnan Abu Hassan and former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad. Two months later, the concert was released in multiple formats including CD and DVD with three additional tracks accompanying the CD release of the Unplugged album. In conjunction with her twentieth year in the industry, a special tribute song was gifted to her by Era FM and Raku (a radio station subsidiary of Astro). Titled "Inspirasi" (Inspiration), it was composed by Faizal Tahir and sung by him and Hafiz Suip.

A news report by MeleTOP on 11 November that covers both Konsert Satu Suara, Vol. 2 and her pregnancy rumours.

In August, she recorded and performed "Nenjae Ezhu", a song composed by A. R. Rahman - her first Tamil song for the opening performance of International Superstar 2015, an international Indian singing competition. In October, Siti was inducted in the 2016 edition of The 500 Most Influential Muslims. In the same month in Singapore, she shared an award with Cakra Khan from Indonesia in the category of Best Collaboration (Artiste) for their duet, "Seluruh Cinta" from the 2015 installment of Anugerah Planet Muzik. In the following month, she embarked on her second concert at Istana Budaya in 2015 on 7 and 8 November with Konsert Satu Suara, Vol. 2. Accompanied by Hetty Koes Endang (Indonesia) and Ramli Sarip (Singapore), the two-day concert was a commercial success, managing to collect more than RM 650 000 from tickets alone.

During the two-day concert, rumours of her pregnancy arose. While she refused to approve or disprove the rumours, she finally revealed on her personal Instagram account on 1 December that she suffered a miscarriage after two months of pregnancy. She commented in the post, "I don't want to deny the news of my pregnancy as this was a beautiful gift that I have been waiting for a long time...This gift was too new and fragile, I was just waiting for the right time". On the same day, she was revealed to be one the top Asian artists in Malaysia on Spotify's annual Year in Music list. In the same month, she was invited to Indonesia as a guest judge for the Top 8 of Dangdut Academy Asia (D'Academy Asia), a Nusantara-wide dangdut singing competition featuring contestants from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei.

Artistry

Influences

Growing up as a child, most of her time, she would perform traditional and classic Malay folk songs. However, she has been cited that her local idol and one of her greatest influences is Sudirman Arshad and also P. Ramlee whereas, her international idols would be Barbra Streisand, Celine Dion, Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston. In 2008, during Cèline Dion's Taking Chances Tour in Malaysia, Siti was given an opportunity to meet her idol, where she also had given Cèline one of her solo albums, Hadiah Daripada Hati complete with her signature.

Image and legacy

Aizat Amdan (left) and Soo Wincci (right) are said to be influenced by Siti.

When she made her debut into the industry, she was often been labelled as a penyanyi kampung (old-fashioned or conservative singer) for her modest attire and her refusal to take pictures with a man for a magazine cover, unless at a ceremony or at an award-accepting event. During her early years as a singer, she was criticised for refusing to wear daring clothes and her principle of not taking pictures with male artistes. She was quoted as saying: "As an artist, I do realize that there are many social responsibilities that I need to take care of. So, I opt to be moderate in everything, including in my sartorial matter." and "I want to show what my talent is, and my God-gifted vocal ability without relying [on the image] of being sexy.". Her debut in Indonesia in 1997 with modest, beautiful and talented personality has said to revolutionise Indonesian music industry which famous with Dangdut which before this promoted sensual and erotic elements through the performances, especially those by female artistes. Her modest image was the subject of appraisals and positive feedback even from the Islamic scholars from Malaysia and Indonesia. Since then, her popularity throughout the South East Asia music industry has remained strong, proven as she was voted as Most Popular Female Artiste ten times in a row and Regional Most Popular Artiste in 2011 in Anugerah Planet Muzik 2011, beating contenders from Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.

Her eastern image was also being cited as a good example for other artists to follow. In 2008, former State Minister for Youth and Sport Affairs of Indonesia, Adhyaksa Dault has advised Dewi Persik who is known for her open and sexy dancing movements to tone down her performances and follow the steps that Siti Nurhaliza has taken when venturing into the entertainment industry - "She's not over the top, she doesn't wear revealing clothes and doesn't dance sexily, but she's still able to be locally and internationally recognized".

She has been cited as an idol and as an inspiration by many Malaysian and non-Malaysian artists like Malaysia's Aizat Amdan, Misha Omar, Nicholas Teo, Soo Wincci, Singaporean Idol finalist, Maia Lee, Indonesian pop group vocalist, Sunu, from Matta, Judika and many others.

In 2007, her image likeness was used as part of the promotion by Malaysian Ministry of Tourism, Malaysia Windows Live Agent – Siti to attract more visitors from Japan. The cartoon is used in the Windows Live Messenger (formerly known as MSN Messenger) where it will provide information on attractive tourist destinations in Malaysia.

In January 2011, Siti was proposed as the cultural ambassador for Malay community by the Association of Malaysian and Indonesian Journalists (ISWAMI), based on both countries' communities acceptance of Siti's personality. ISWAMI chief believed that Siti may help ease strained relations should there be a crisis between Malaysia and Indonesia.

Themes and musical style

As a lyricist and record producer, most of her singles' lyrics revolve around the theme of love, although she has penned numbers of thematic single of spirituality and female empowerment. Several of her singles were written by her were targeted to a specific party – Biarlah Rahsia (Let It Be A Secret) was written with the allusion to the media who constantly investigate her private personal relationships and Cahaya Cinta (Light of Love) was written specially for her husband during her marriage in 2006.

Born and raised in a traditional musically inclined family, she has recorded five ethnic pop oriented albums – four solo studio albums and one duet studio album with Noraniza Idris. She has been taught on how to sing traditional songs by her own mother who herself is a folk singer. She has been promoting this genre of music on almost each and every major concert of her like when she did at her concert at the Royal Albert Hall, medleys of Malay folk songs and traditional music songs.

Vocal abilities and profile

Musically classified as an coloratura mezzo-soprano, she's one of Malaysia's best singers for winning 12 times the award for the "Best Vocal Performance in an Album/Single" from Anugerah Industri Muzik, Malaysia's equivalent of Grammy Awards.

Adjie Esa Poetra, an Indonesian vocal instructor described her voice as "She is very careful and never fails in the tone production and she's able to produce the most artistic and beautiful tone as possible.... In any songs, she can sing it with ease but powerful other than possessing more than four-octave vocal range."

M.Nasir, music critic and music composer has praised Siti's voice as saying, "When we talk about her, she is the voice...Give her any songs, she can deliver it very well and it is not a problem to find a suitable song for her." He further praised Siti for her brave efforts to experiment her voice melisma with new musics or songs.

One of her trickiest songs to perform is Kurniaan Dalam Samaran, a Japanese enka-influenced song where it requires her play of transition of bass and soprano vocal tones and she rarely performed it live. However, at her recent SATU concert, she performed it live, where it received appraisals from critics and fans where one of the reviewers cited her live rendition as, "The Japanese-flavoured song required her to switch from her natural voice to falsetto in a hair-raising cadenza somewhere in the absurdly high range most women vocalists would cringe from. But she pulled it off effortlessly, sending shivers down my spine."

Gareth Gates who has performed together with Siti during MTV Asia Awards 2004 when he was asked what does he think about Siti, he said, "She definitely has the looks and she certainly has the voice. If she continues to sing the way she does, she'll go really far."

Lea Salonga, Filipino singer and actress who has done various theatrical work, including Miss Saigon and several Disney's movies has also expressed her praise and respect towards Siti's vocal ability during her concert in Malaysia in 2010 where she sang one of songs made famous by Siti and 2 By 2, Tiga Malam during the closing ceremony of her concert. In 2011, another Filipino artist, Gary Valenciano during his visit in Malaysia has expressed her admiration of Siti's vocal ability. He commented, "Based on what I've been told by the local media, I believe the best Malay song and the best vocal I've ever heard has to be Siti Nurhaliza's. If it was possible for me to meet her, I would definitely want to do a duet with her. If [I] were given a chance, I definitely want to compose a song for her, that is if she wishes."

Sami Yusuf who requested for her to be featured in his album, Salaam has commented, "Siti is not only has a good voice, but also has an interesting personality. She is a real woman that Malaysia and ASEAN should be proud of."

In 2013, an American singer, Kenny Babyface who did a duet with her during Sapurakencana Petroleum Malaysia Grand Prix Charity Gala 2013 has also repeatedly expressed his admiration towards Siti. He praised Siti for her "beautiful voice" and her great singing skills.

Personal achievements

Awards and accolades

Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Siti Nurhaliza

Collaborations

Siti has collaborated with many renowned Asian artists such as Hans Anwar and Lo'Ryder (Brunei), Preap Sovath (Cambodia), AB Three, Agnes Monica, Chrisye, Dewa 19, Gita Gutawa, Harvey Malaiholo, Krisdayanti, Marcell, Melly Goeslaw, Padi, Peterpan, Rossa, Sahrul Gunawan, Titi DJ and Yana Julio (Indonesia), Hiroshi Takano, Chika Yuri, Hideki Kurosawa INSPi, Leonard Eto, The Boom, You Hitoto (Japan), Alexandra(Laos), Lay Phyu and Iron Cross (Myanmar), Jolina Magdangal and Kuh Ledesma (Philippines), Francesca Peter, Sun Ho, Tanya Chua, Taufik Batisah (Singapore), Lee Hom Wang (Taiwan), Briohny, Palmy (Thailand), Lam Trường (Vietnam). In addition, Siti had also collaborated with Gareth Gates (UK), during MTV Asia Awards 2004. One of Thailand most sought after singers, Tata Young has also expressed her interest in collaborating with Siti and has praised Siti as "Asia's Mariah Carey" for her outstanding performances. From 2011 and 2012, she has recorded songs with Sean Kingston, Christian Alexanda from Australia and Sami Yusuf from Britain. She also has performed with Donnie Radford of The Platters on 30 November 2012 for a charity event in support of Breast Cancer awareness.

International covers

Throughout her career, Siti Nurhaliza's songs have been covered by other artists, including her first Malay traditional single, Cindai which was re-recorded in Chinese version by Chien Bai Hui, a Chinese singer, with also re-recorded Bukan Cinta Biasa and Tirai Semalam in Chinese version. Also, her first hit song in Indonesia, Aku Cinta Padamu was known as I Wonder when it was covered by North, an Australian boy band in their second album, Straight Up. This song also re-recorded in Chinese and Bahasa version by Lin, an Indonesian singer. Her song Cinta Tak Berganti from Prasasti Seni also re-recorded by the Dutch band After Touch.

In popular culture

In Music

• Datuk M. Daud Kilau's Anak Seni
• KRU's Empat Syarat

International performances

By far, she has been thrice to be invited to perform at the MTV Asia Awards, which are in 2003, where she sang her debut, Bukan Cinta Biasa, in 2004 where she performed together with Gareth Gates and her 2005 solo performance with Seindah Biasa, one of her singles from her tenth solo album, Prasasti Seni. However, one of her earliest performances at an international stage is during the closing ceremony of 1998 Commonwealth Games where it was watched by more than 70 countries when she was only 19. 1999 was the year of her debut at the 'Shanghai Music Festival 1999' in China and the 'South Pacific International Song and Singing Competition 1999', where she garnered a 'Gold Award' and 'Best Female Vocal Performance' respectively. She also has performed in Australia, Brunei, China, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and United Kingdom. In March 2000, her first concert ever outside the Malaysian market in Singapore at Harbour Pavilion managed to outsold Mariah Carey's Rainbow World Tour which was scheduled five days earlier even though the most expensive tickets price was much higher than Carey's. In May 2006, she was offered to perform together with Indian Bollywood star, Shah Rukh Khan in front of 300 Bollywood artists and guests along with 2.6 billion television viewers where she will be performing at 2nd Global Indian Film Awards 2006 in Kuala Lumpur. However, the offer later was cancelled by Siti due to her commitment with other projects after informing the organizers beforehand.

Wealth

Siti is known to be a formidable and successful and well-known businesswoman in Malaysia. She currently tops the list of the 'Richest Artistes' in Malaysia. She is also reported to worth more than RM50 million as of 2010, enabling her to be named as one of the millionaires in entertainment industry, especially in the South East Asia region. As one of the most prolific artists in Malaysia, she is said to be paid RM 45,000 (USD$15 000) for a 30 minutes show and RM 70,000 (USD$23 333) for an hour show in 2009.

Other ventures

Products and endorsements

With success in her singing career, Siti then got herself involved in business. She set up her own company – Siti Nurhaliza Productions (M) Sdn. Bhd. – with activities generally in the entertainment scene. She has four subsidiary companies, Siti Nurhaliza Collections Sdn. Bhd., Siti Nurhaliza Marketing Sdn. Bhd., Siti Sound Sdn. Bhd. and SN Mobile Digital Sdn. Bhd. She is also the president of her own cosmetic range company, Simply Siti Sdn. Bhd.

Siti sells her own tea, Ctea, brand of Malaysian tea, from tea cultivated on the foothills of Mount Kinabalu, Sabah. This Ctea brand comes in two flavours, Geranium Special and Pandan.

And now besides having her own products, she receives substantial income through commissions and royalties for her endorsements and as ambassador of products. She has been an ambassador and spokesperson for various international products – Jusco, Maxis, Maybelline, Minolta, Mitsubishi, Olay, Pantene, Pepsi, Samsung and TM Net.

Philanthropy

Siti Nurhaliza during the Malay Mail Big Walk 2007, a charity event to collect some donations for children with bone cancer.

Throughout her career, she has been involved in a number of charity-related event, including organising charity concerts, open houses and launching her own charity funds. In March 2004, she launched Tabung Prihatin Siti, making her the first Malaysian artist to have a charity fund after her namesake whose aim to raise at least RM 50 000 for children's education and medical treatment. In January 2005, Nurhaliza donated RM 35 000 (about United States dollar11,000) to three different organisations for the 2004 tsunami victims before her concert at the Royal Albert Hall in April of the same year. A year later in February, she donated RM 500 000 for the National Anti-Drug Campaign where she was also appointed as the ambassadress for the campaign. Six months later, she and her husband founded Yayasan Nurjiwa (Nurjiwa Foundation) where the foundation served as a platform for people to help those in need through charity concerts and dinner events where the money will be donated to the selected organisations. In 2009, she and her husband donated RM 1.5 million to build a new mosque in Tikam Batu, Kuala Muda where the land was given as a wakaf by both of them and Siti's mother-in-law where before this, her husband has also donated a sum of money to build two mosques in Kuala Lumpur and Pattani, Thailand which finally completed in February 2011 and officiated by Sultan of Kedah, Tuanku Abdul Halim Muadzam Shah.

In 2011, Siti and her husband gave out an undisclosed amount of Zakat (alms) to more than 200 elderly people, single mothers and disabled people in Tikam Batu as part of their tradition apart from providing them with sarong, batik and some "Duit Raya" (pocket money during Eid al-Fitr) for the children.

Personal life

Relationship with Datuk Seri Khalid

Siti Nurhaliza and her husband, Datuk Khalid during the Malay Mail Big Walk in 2007.

On 17 July 2006, after months of speculation by the media, Siti and her then-fiance, Datuk Khalid made a press conference announcing that their wedding would be held on 21 August. Her plan to marry Datuk Khalid caused criticisms and uproar, since she was going to marry a 47-year-old divorcee with four sons where she was accused of causing his divorce. However, the issue was rebutted when Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor (Selangor Islamic Council) verified that Datuk Khalid and his former wife, Tengku Zawyah Tengku Izham officially separated in February 2004, after 15 years of marriage.

Some sources speculated that the total wedding cost was RM 12,888,888 (USD 3,947,980 (adjusted to 2010 inflation)), however it was later denied by the couple and the wedding planner and stated that the total cost was roughly around RM 500,000. Her wedding dowry was revealed to cost at RM 22,222 and the hantaran (gifts from groom to bride and vice versa) cost around RM 30,000. The total sponsored items including Siti and spouse's jewelleries, dresses, etc., cost more than RM 9 million. Later, RM 1 million from the total price paid by TV3 to broadcast the whole ceremony was later donated to charity.

The engagement ceremony was held at Masjid Wilayah Persekutuan (Federal Territory Mosque) on 21 August 2006. The ceremony was also televised live and gathered more than 2 millions viewers. The first wedding reception was held on 28 August 2006, at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC). and was televised to 6.3 millions viewers nationwide. The wedding also received coverage from Indonesia, where 10 Indonesian media representatives were there to capture the moment including Trans TV, SCTV and Jawa Pos. Photographed by celebrity photographer Kid Chan, it was a star-studded affair, with guests including royal families, VIPs, celebrities, close friends and family. Indonesian celebrities like Hetty Koes Endang and one of Siti's closest friends, Krisdayanti were given the opportunity to give a performance to the newlywed and guests. A second reception was held on 3 September 2006, in Siti's hometown of Kuala Lipis, Pahang where more than 10,000 people attended the ceremony including those from neighbouring countries. In the same year, the wedding charted as one of the 20 top celebrity weddings on Yahoo! Buzz where she and her spouse is one out of two Asian couples listed. In 2011, her wedding was also listed in CNBC's "Asia's Most High-Profile Weddings", where her wedding was ranked in the top 5.

On 13 June 2010, Siti and her husband, Datuk Seri Khalid, was recognised by E! News Asia as the Third Most Powerful Celebrity Couple in Asia, behind Chinese entertainer couple, Simon Yam and wife, Qi Qi and Bollywood superstar couple, Aishwarya Rai and husband, Abhishek Bachchan.

Discography

Main article: Siti Nurhaliza discography

Malaysian/Indonesian discography

Studio albums

• 1996: Siti Nurhaliza I
• 1997: Siti Nurhaliza II
• 1997: Cindai
• 1998: Adiwarna
• 1999: Pancawarna
• 2000: Sahmura
• 2001: Safa
• 2002: Sanggar Mustika
• 2003: E.M.A.S
• 2004: Prasasti Seni
• 2006: Transkripsi
• 2007: Hadiah Daripada Hati
• 2008: Lentera Timur
• 2009: Tahajjud Cinta
• 2014: Fragmen

English discography

Studio album

• 2011: All Your Love

Other

Malay, English and Mandarin compilation album

• 2010: Siti & Friends

Major concerts and tours

Malaysia

• 1999: Konsert Live Siti Nurhaliza, Stadium Putra Bukit Jalil, Malaysia
• 2001: Konsert Mega Siti Nurhaliza, Bukit Jalil 2001, Malaysia
• 2002: Konsert Salam Akhir Siti Nurhaliza – Untukmu Sudir, Istana Budaya, Malaysia
• 2004: Siti Nurhaliza Live in Concert 2004, Stadium Nasional Bukit Jalil, Malaysia
• 2006: Konsert Akustik Siti Nurhaliza, Malaysia
• 2007: Konsert Istana Cinta, Istana Budaya, Malaysia
• 2009: SATU Konsert Eksklusif Dato' Siti Nurhaliza, Istana Budaya, Malaysia
• 2009: Konsert Seribu Warna, Stadium Malawati, Shah Alam, Malaysia
• 2010: Konsert SATU Suara, Istana Budaya, Malaysia
• 2012: Dato' Siti Nurhaliza Concert Live in Kuantan 2012, Bukit Gambang Resort City, Gambang, Malaysia
• 2013: Siti Nurhaliza in Symphony Live with The Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, Dewan Filharmonik Petronas, Malaysia
• 2013: Konsert Lentera Timur Dato' Siti Nurhaliza Esklusif Bersama Orkestra Tradisional Malaysia, Istana Budaya, Malaysia
• 2014: Dato' Siti Nurhaliza Live in Concert - Where The Heart Is, Plenary Hall, Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC), Malaysia
• 2015: Dato' Siti Nurhaliza Unplugged 2015, Istana Budaya, Malaysia
• 2015: Konsert Satu Suara Vol. 2, Istana Budaya, Malaysia

Singapore

• 2000: Siti Nurhaliza Live at Harbour Front, Singapore
• 2005: Siti Nurhaliza Live 2005, Indoor Stadium, Singapore
• 2008: Konsert Diari Hati Siti Nurhaliza, Esplanade Theatre, Singapore
• 2010: Konsert Bagaikan Sakti, Esplanade Theatre, Singapore
• 2014: Dato' Siti Nurhaliza Live in Singapore, The Star Theatre, Singapore

Indonesia

• 2004: Siti Nurhaliza Indonesia Tour 2004, Indonesia
• 2011: Charity Concert Banjarmasin, Indonesia

Others

• 2002: Siti Nurhaliza Live in Brunei, Brunei
• 2005: Siti Nurhaliza in Concert, Royal Albert Hall London, United Kingdom
• 2010: Siti Nurhaliza Live @ Alumbra, Australia

Filmography

Main article: Siti Nurhaliza filmography

Videography

Concert albums

• 1999: Konsert Live Siti Nurhaliza
• 2001: Konsert Mega Siti Nurhaliza, Bukit Jalil 2001
• 2002: Konsert Salam Akhir Siti Nurhaliza – Untukmu Sudir
• 2004: Secretaries Week Celebration 2004
• 2004: Siti Nurhaliza Live In Concert 2004
• 2005: Siti Nurhaliza In Concert, Royal Albert Hall London
• 2006: Konsert Akustik Siti Nurhaliza
• 2014: Konsert Lentera Timur Dato' Siti Nurhaliza
• 2015: Konsert Unplugged Dato' Siti Nurhaliza

DVDs

• 2006: Siti Nurhaliza In Concert, Royal Albert Hall London
• 2007: The Best of Siti Nurhaliza – DVD Karaoke
• 2009: Anugerah Aidilfitri – DVD Karaoke
• 2014: Konsert Lentera Timur Dato' Siti Nurhaliza
• 2015: Konsert Unplugged Dato' Siti Nurhaliza

Video albums

• 1998: CT Best
• 1999: CT Best 2
• 2000: The Best of Siti Nurhaliza
• 2001: CT Best 3
• 2001: CT Best 4
• 2003: CT Best 5
• 2003: CT Best 6
• 2003: CT Best 7
• 2004: CT Best 8
• 2008: 2 Diva (with Krisdayanti)
• 2009: Puing-Puing Cinta Vol.1
• 2009: Puing-Puing Cinta Vol.2

Art exhibition

• 2014: SITI: An Iconic Exhibition of Dato’ Siti Nurhaliza

Written works

Apart from singing and hosting, she also has written numbers of articles in several newspapers and magazine.

Year	Title	Newspaper/Magazine
1999	Lenggok Siti	Metro Ahad (Sunday Edition)
2006	Pena Siti	Kosmo! Ahad (Sunday Edition)
2010–2012	Catatan Siti Nurhaliza	Mangga
2011–present	Dari Dalam Diri Siti Nurhaliza	Berita Harian

External links

• Siti Nurhaliza & SimplySiti Products Official Website
• Siti Nurhaliza on Facebook
• Siti Nurhaliza on Twitter
• Works by or about Siti Nurhaliza in libraries (WorldCat catalog)