Tonight’s 24th Golden Melody Awards ceremony is expected to see some fierce competition between Taiwanese and Hong Kong singers for some of the biggest awards.
Hong Kong singer Sandy Lam’s (林憶蓮) album Gaia, which leads with six nominations, will face off against Taiwanese pop idol Jay Chou’s (周杰倫) Opus 12, pop diva Jolin Tsai’s (蔡依林) MUSE, rapper MC Hotdog’s (熱狗) Ghetto Superstar: 2009-2012 Best Singles Collection and Hong Kong singer-songwriter Khalil Fong’s (方大同) Back to Wonderland.
Another hotly contested category is Best Mandarin Male Singer, where two-time winner Chou is up against Fong, as well as fellow Taiwanese competitors Yoga Lin (林宥嘉), Jam Hsiao (蕭敬騰) and Xiaoyu (小宇).
In the Best Mandarin Female Singer category, Lam, Tsai, Hong Kong singer G.E.M, Hong Kong Canadian singer-songwriter Ellen Loo (盧凱彤), Aboriginal singer Jia Jia (家家) and singer-songwriter Lala Hsu (徐佳瑩) are vying for the title.
Taiwan’s electronic band Lie Gramophone (謊言留聲機), rock band Monkey Pilot (猴子飛行員), indigenous reggae-rock band Matzka and garage rock band My Skin Against Your Skin (激膚樂團) are up against Chinese Canadian pop rock band io for the Best Band trophy.
In the running for the Best New Artist category are Taiwanese Aboriginal singers Jia Jia, Rachel Lu (呂薔), Sangpuy (桑布伊) and a capella group O-Kai Singers (歐開合唱團), along with Taiwanese American rapper Miss Ko (葛仲珊), Taiwanese singer-songwriter Ann Bai (白安) and singer Eve Ai (艾怡良).
A total of 115 musical works are competing in 24 categories, where the best Mandarin, Taiwanese, Hakka and Taiwanese Aboriginal music released over the past year will receive recognition.
Tsai and several Taiwanese bands, including last year’s biggest winner of the Golden Melody Awards, Mayday (五月天), will perform during the ceremony at the Taipei Arena, while Japanese singer-songwriter-actor Masaharu Fukuyama is scheduled to present one of the awards.
The event will be broadcasted by Sanlih E-Television, Asia Plus Broadcasting and MTV Networks Taiwan in rotation.
It will also be streamed live on YouTube.
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Instead of focusing solely on the threat of a full-scale military invasion, the US and its allies must prepare for a potential Chinese “quarantine” of Taiwan enforced through customs inspections, Stanford University Hoover fellow Eyck Freymann said in a Foreign Affairs article published on Wednesday. China could use various “gray zone” tactics in “reconfiguring the regional and ultimately the global economic order without a war,” said Freymann, who is also a nonresident research fellow at the US Naval War College. China might seize control of Taiwan’s links to the outside world by requiring all flights and ships entering or leaving Taiwan
The next minimum wage hike is expected to exceed NT$30,000, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday during an award ceremony honoring “model workers,” including migrant workers, at the Presidential Office ahead of Workers’ Day today. Lai said he wished to thank the awardees on behalf of the nation and extend his most sincere respect for their hard work, on which Taiwan’s prosperity has been built. Lai specifically thanked 10 migrant workers selected for the award, saying that although they left their home countries to further their own goals, their efforts have benefited Taiwan as well. The nation’s industrial sector and small businesses lay
Taiwan's first indigenous defense submarine, the SS-711 Hai Kun (海鯤, or Narwhal), departed for its 13th sea trial at 7am today, marking its seventh submerged test, with delivery to the navy scheduled for July. The outing also marked its first sea deployment since President William Lai (賴清德) boarded the submarine for an inspection on March 19, drawing a crowd of military enthusiasts who gathered to show support. The submarine this morning departed port accompanied by CSBC Corp’s Endeavor Manta (奮進魔鬼魚號) uncrewed surface vessel and a navy M109 assault boat. Amid public interest in key milestones such as torpedo-launching operations and overnight submerged trials,