And the loser is . . . Aaron

ONE would not be far wrong to say that January was the month of the year that local singers most feared, because it is one fraught with angst and worry: it is the month of local music awards ceremonies.

Initial suspense had probably increased this year because Metro's Hit Radio finally declared itself a major player by holding its presentation in January instead of September as it had done in the past two years.

But local observers would know by now that Hong Kong awards ceremonies have to be taken with a pinch of salt - not one year passes by without someone screaming 'fix!' for one category or another - but still, this year's gala performances have managed to uncurtain new directions in the musical arena.

All four awards ceremonies - TVB's Jade Solid Gold Best 10 Awards, Commercial Radio's Ultimate Chart Awards, Hit Radio's Hit Award '94 Presentation and RTHK's Top 10 Golden Songs Awards - gave a strong signal that the end was nigh for the collective reign of the four Canto-pop 'kings' - Leon Lai, Aaron Kwok, Andy Lau, and Jacky Cheung.

Starting from the New Year's Day blast by Commercial Radio to the last ceremony by RTHK last Friday, media and fans might finally have hardened their hearts enough to show their belief that Aaron Kwok Fu-shing is not and never was really Canto-pop royalty.

It has been a dismal year for Kwok, despite his debut solo concerts at the Coliseum - something that usually guarantees a career 'high' for a few months. He received no awards from CR; Hit Radio gave out a whopping 42 awards - and not one of them to Kwok; TVB, who 'discovered' Kwok as a singer, justified themselves by presenting him one; and RTHK, which gave him the Best Newcomer award at the start of his career, named him as one of 10 'outstanding singers' and gave him another award for his song Iron Curtain Temptation.