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.
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