The Taiwan Original Music Awards, now in it ninth year, honored aspiring musicians creating works in Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese), Hakka and Aboriginal languages yesterday at the CPC Building in Taipei.
Co-organized by the Ministry of Culture, Hakka Affairs Council and Council of Indigenous People, the annual event is designed to serve as a platform to encourage young talent to make music using their native tongues. Many bands and musicians have performed at the awards before they broke into the mainstream, such as Matzka (瑪斯卡樂團) of the Paiwan tribe and Amis singer-songwriter Suming (舒米恩).
With its emphasis on originality and diversity, the awards have also attracted well-known names in music circles, including Mando-pop veteran Christine Hsu (許景淳), seasoned songstress Shino (林曉培) and celebrated jazz singer Emily Guan (官靈芝) to take part in previous editions.
This year, 30 nominees in three language-based categories were drawn from 253 entries by a five-member panel of judges. Entries are limited to works not yet released.
Absent big-name stars and celebrities, the six-hour-long awards ceremony focused on the music itself, with each nominee given a chance to perform songs and talk about their music. Meanwhile, the judges engaged in a final round of meetings to take into account the live performances and delivered their verdicts at the end of the ceremony.
Aboriginal musicians were the first ones to take to the stage at yesterday’s event. The 10 nominated groups and musicians performed music that ranged from a lullaby Lin I-chun (林怡君), a young Atayal mother, sings to her two babies every day and a song based on Paiwan mythology sung by a group of teachers and students from Daniao Primary School in Taitung to a lyrical melody calling youngsters to return home by Ado Kalitaing Pacidal of the Amis tribe.
“Aboriginal youths always have to leave home at a certain age, whether to study or to work. We get lonely in cities, and when I feel lonely, I sing,” Ado Kalitaing Pacidal said.
Meanwhile, a rock outfit led by Paiwan songwriter and singer Kao Chung-chieh (高仲杰) performed a powerful song about warriors that Kao said can be anyone who has love and passion for his or her land and culture. From the Beinan tribe, Young Mu-ren (楊慕仁) shared with audiences his childhood memory of his grandparents along with his singing prowess.
“It is difficult to write music in my native tongue. The meaning of one sentence would be completely different if one word is omitted,” Young said. “I spent lots of time learning the language correctly with my grandparents. It is like passing down the tradition.“
Kao was the biggest winner in the Aboriginal category, taking first place and picking up the Best Live Performance Award. In the Hakka category, Huang Wei-chieh (黃瑋傑) won first place, while musician duo Chou I-chun (周怡君) and Chiu Lien-chin (邱廉欽) took the top accolades in the Hoklo division.
The first-place winner in each category is awarded a cash prize of NT$300,000, the second place winner a cash prize of NT$200,000 and the third place winner a cash prize of NT$100,000.
Prize money aside, the organizers will make music videos for the winning works, while concerts featuring the newly awarded musicians are scheduled to be held on the pedestrian square near the Shin Kong Mitukoshi department store in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義) on Sept. 22.
Past winners of the awards include Puyuma musicians Chen Jien-nien (陳建年) and Wu Hao-en (吳昊恩), blues and ballad singer Jimmy Wang (王俊傑), indie rocker Shen Huai-i (沈懷一) and Kaohsiung troubadour Yan Yung-neng (嚴詠能), who took home the best Taiwanese-language album gong at Golden Melody Awards in 2010.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
UNDER PRESSURE: The report cited numerous events that have happened this year to show increased coercion from China, such as military drills and legal threats The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to reinforce its “one China” principle and the idea that Taiwan belongs to the People’s Republic of China by hosting celebratory events this year for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the “retrocession” of Taiwan and the establishment of the UN, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in its latest report to the Legislative Yuan. Taking advantage of the significant anniversaries, Chinese officials are attempting to assert China’s sovereignty over Taiwan through interviews with international news media and cross-strait exchange events, the report said. Beijing intends to reinforce its “one China” principle
A total lunar eclipse, an astronomical event often referred to as a “blood moon,” would be visible to sky watchers in Taiwan starting just before midnight on Sunday night, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The phenomenon is also called “blood moon” due to the reddish-orange hue it takes on as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. The only light is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere, and its red wavelengths are bent toward the moon, illuminating it in a dramatic crimson light. Describing the event as the most important astronomical phenomenon
RSS