Music veterans and newcomers on Saturday split the top honors at the 28th Golden Melody Awards, the nation’s biggest music awards event.
Aboriginal singer Sangpuy Katatepan, known for performing ancient Puyuma songs, grabbed the night’s biggest award, Album of the Year, with Yaangad.
He also won the awards for Best Vocalist (Aboriginal Language) and Best Vocal Recording Album.
Photo: Ritchie Tongo, EPA
“Thank you, my ancestors. Thank you, God,” Sangpuy said during his acceptance speech. “Thank you, Taiwan, our land, for giving us such beautiful cultures, languages and music.”
Rock band Mayday (五月天) picked up Best Album in Mandarin and Best Lyricist with History of Tomorrow (自傳).
Formed in the late 1990s, the band is known for its roots as a student band and for capturing the spirit of Taiwanese youth. It has won Best Band four times in 2001, 2004, 2009 and 2012.
Newcomer No Party For Cao Dong (草東沒有派對) won Best Musical Group, Best New Artist and Song of the Year with its debut album The Servile (醜奴兒).
Considered a dark horse contestant, the band has been touted for their dynamic energy.
The Servile has been said to reflect the voices of the frustrated younger generation who suffer from low wages and a lack of opportunities.
Eve Ai (艾怡良) nabbed Best Female Vocalist (Mandarin) for her album Talk About Eve (說艾怡良) in her first nomination in the category.
Talk About Eve entered the competition with seven nominations and picked up one award.
The 30-year-old singer began her music career in 2011 after winning the talent show Super Idol, where she was dubbed “Taiwan’s Adele” by a judge.
Hong Kong singer-songwriter Khalil Fong (方大同) took home the Best Male Vocalist (Mandarin) award for his album Journey to the West (西遊記).
It was the sixth time Fong has been nominated for the award, but his first time winning.
The Special Contribution Award was given to 81-year-old singer Chi Lu-shyia (紀露霞) and the late singer-songwriter Chang Yu-sheng (張雨生).
Pop music diva A-mei (阿妹) gave an emotional performance of Chang’s popular songs, including Miss You Everyday (天天想你), and Regardless (不顧一切).
Chang’s mother, Chang Hui-mei (張惠美), said the award was especially meaningful for her family and thanked everyone who supported her son.
Chang Yu-sheng’s music is considered to be timeless and highly influential in the Mandarin music scene, inspiring performers such as Mayday.
He also produced A-mei’s first two albums and was credited with helping to launch her successful music career before he died in a car accident in 1997 at the age of 31.
After receiving the award, Chi thanked her fans for their love and support.
“Time has passed so quickly. I’ve been singing for 63 years now,” Chi said. “Singing is the best exercise for our health. If you all don’t mind, I hope to continue singing.”
Chi has released more than 1,000 Mandarin and Hoklo-language songs since the 1950s.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
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