Nominees of the 2020 Golden Melody Awards (GMA), the equivalence of the Grammys in the Chinese-speaking world, have been announced: Indigenous Paiwan diva ABAO dominates with a whopping 8 nods while Rich Huang, the "King of Drum," is awarded with an Outstanding Contribution Award. The 70-year-old jazz drummer contributed to over 100,000 tracks throughout his career in the past 50 years and continues to influence and inspire young musicians in Taiwan today.
Leading the nominations at the 31st GMA alone is ABAO, with 8 covering all major categories (Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Indigenous Singer and Best Album Producer). She won her first GMA in 2004 as a member of ABAO & Brandy (Best Vocal Group), after a 13-year-long gap in her music career, she returned in 2017 with solo album vavayan: Woman, winning 2 GMAs that year (Best Indigenous Album, Best Album Producer). kinakaian: Mother Tongue is another beautiful and successful attempt for her to sing, learn and introduce her mother tongue Paiwan through music.
The multi-talented Paiwan daughter is followed by quirky indie sweetheart waa wei, who secured five nods with Hidden, Not Forgotten, the album marking her return with a new identity as a mother. Beloved Hong Kong pop queen G.E.M. and indie band Sodagreen's charismatic lead vocal Wu Qing Feng earned 4 apiece, both are up for Album of the Year, Composer of the Year and Best Mandarin Male / Female Singer. Tune magician Joanna Wang's cover album Love Is Calling Me bagged 3 nods for its creative and refined interpretation of the classics from the '60s to the '80s in Mandarin, Cantonese and Japanese.
The 31st GMA ceremony will take place on October 3, 2020 in Taipei and air live on Taiwan Television (TTV).
Album of the Year
- Best Mandarin Album nominees
- Best Taiwanese Album nominees
- Best Hakka Album nominees
- Best Indigenous Album nominees
Song of the Year
- "Airplane Mode" - 9m88 feat. Leo Wang
- "Distant Journey" - Lin Sheng-Xiang
- "Without You" - OSN
- "City Zoo" - G.E.M.
- "Ghost Island" - Namewee; Dwagie
- "Thank You" - ABAO
- "City of Sadness" - Fire Ex.
Best Mandarin Album
- Love is Calling Me - Joanna Wang
- City Zoo - G.E.M.
- Hypnocity - Peggy Hsu
- Juvenile A - Sandee Chan
- Hidden, Not Forgotten - waa wei
- Spaceman - Wu Qing Feng
Best Hokkien Album
- Tsong-Hông - Loh Tsui Kweh Commune
- We All Have Good Nature - Ming-Yuan Su
- Reflection - Michelle Pan
- We Are Gonna Get Married - EggPlantEgg
- Burnana - Lilium
- Stand Up Like a Taiwanese - Fire Ex.
Best Hakka Album
- Yourself - Yachun Asta Tzeng
- The Ship of Fools - Misa
- Going Up to the Country - ZiXuan & Slow Train
- Someday - Han
Best Indigenous Album
- Sasela'an - Ado
- laloken ko orip - Anu. Kaliting. Sadipongan
- Insides Revealed - Sauljaljui
- SALAMA - Chalaw pasiwali
- kinakaian - ABAO
Music Video of the Year
- "Last Winter" - Erin Song; Mars Ma (Director: Birdy Nio)
- "ZOEA" - anpu (Director: Hi-Organic)
- "Lady In Red" - Jolin Tsai (Director: Cheng Wei-hao)
- "I Only Care About You" - Joanna Wang (Director: Robert Youngblood)
- "Be There for You" - waa wei (Director: Yao,Kuo-Chen)
- "Uncanny Valley" - Sandee Chan (Director: Sandee Chan)
- "Love" - Accusefive (Director: Chen-Hao Yin)
Composer of the Year
- Lin Sheng-Xiang - "Distant Journey" (Performed by Lin Sheng-Xiang)
- G.E.M. - "City Zoo" (Performed by G.E.M.)
- Jen Jen - "The Wedding" (Performed by Jen Jen; Luantan Ascent)
- ABAO; Dizparity - "Thank You" (Performed by ABAO)
- Wu Qing Feng - "Spaceman" (Performed by Wu Qing Feng)
Lyricist of the Year
- Misa - "If I were a Tree" (Performed by Misa)
- Bobby Chen - "Ta De Mei Yi Tian" (Performed by Bobby Chen)
- Sandee Chan; Trout Fresh - "Be an Extraordinary Ordinary Person" (Performed by Sandee Chan; Trout Fresh)
- Katie Lee - "Ophelia" (Performed by waa wei)
- ABAO; Wang Qiu-lan - "1-10" (Performed by ABAO)
- Hsieh Ming-Yo - "Road" (Performed by Hsieh Ming-Yo)
Arranger of the Year
- RAZOR - "Ballad" (Performed by J.Sheon)
- Ryan Francesconi - "Blues in the Rain" (Performed by Joanna Wang)
- KOBUDO - "Ikusa" (Performed by Peggy Hsu)
- Jen Yi Tseng; Tzu-Long; Zhang Han-gong; Sauljaljui - "cemavulid" (Performed by Sauljaljui)
- Dizparity - "kinakaian" (Performed by ABAO)
Best Album Producer
- Owen Wang; Peggy Hsu - Hypnocity (Performed by Peggy Hsu)
- Sandee Chan - Juvenile A (Performed by Sandee Chan)
- George Chen - Hidden, Not Forgotten (Performed by waa wei)
- Huang Shao Yong; ABAO - kinakaian (Performed by ABAO)
- Mike Green; Fire Ex. - Stand Up Like a Taiwanese (Performed by Fire Ex.)
Best Song Producer
- Softlipa - "Airplane Mode" (Performed by 9m88)
- Howe Chen - "Y.O.Y" (Performed by Howe Chen; Chili)
- Jason Choi - "fly" (Performed by Yoyo Sham)
- Hsieh Ming-Yo - "Road" (Performed by Hsieh Ming-Yo)
- Xiao Yu - "Murmur" (Performed by Xia Yu)
- Chia-Lun Yue; YELLOW - "Once In A Blue Moon" (Performed by YELLOW; Mavis Fan)
Best Mandarin Male Singer
- Wakin Chau - The Younger Me
- J.Sheon - The Alley
- Ayal Komod - Gone Away
- Namewee - Calling Asia
- Wu Qing Feng - Spaceman
- Chiu - FLEE FROM THE CEREMONY
Best Mandarin Female Singer
- Joanna Wang - Love Is Calling Me
- Fish Leong - The Sun Also Rises
- G.E.M. - City Zoo
- Peggy Hsu - Hypnocity
- Naiwen Yang - The More Beautiful, The More Invisible
- waa wei - Hidden, Not Forgotten
Best Hokkien Male Singer
- Gene - Long Distance Relationship
- Yi Heng Chen - When I Find My Heart Inside You
- Kuljelje - M-THANG
- Ming-Yuan Su - We All Have Good Nature
- Poki Wu - Floating Flowers in the Wind
Best Hokkien Female Singer
- Angel Chu - Touch a Star
- Tien Du - ū‑kàu-niau
- Michelle Pan - Reflection
- Anna Wang - LIVE ON AIR
- Hanya - Cherish Our Pain
Best Hakka Singer
- Misa - The Ship of Fools
- Liu Jung-chang - yán lùrì cháng
- Nyuszi Huang - Twine and Linger
- Han - Someday
Best Indigenous Singer
- Ceko - TRIBUTE TO FALANGAW
- Ado - Sasela'an
- Anu. Kaliting. Sadipongan - laloken ko orip
- Sauljaljui - Insides Revealed
- ABAO - kinakaian
Band of the Year
- Trash - Never Die
- Accusefive - Somewhere in time, I love you
- Iruka Police - Call me when Night go Blue
- EggPlantEgg - We Are Gonna Get Married
- Fire Ex. - Stand Up Like A Taiwanese
- ZenKwun - Existing like God
Best Duo or Group
- JADE - Nemo
- Chick en Chicks - Beat Maker
- MURMURSHOW - 1+1<3
- SUGARCAT - SUGARCAT
- Night Keepers - Group Pillow Talk Concept EP
Best New Artist
- 9m88 - Beyond Mediocrity
- JADE - Nemo
- OSN - #osnrap
- Accusefive - Somewhere in Time, I Love You
- Goat - Fantasia
- Midi - Bad Midi
- Chih Siou - Elephant in the Room
Best Instrumental Album
- Petrichor - Alan Kwan; Fabian Almazan; Linda May Han Oh; Johnathan Blake
- Initial Value - Baby Chung
- Ken - Ken Ohtake
- Detention OST - Lu Luming
- Ciao Bella - Sam Su; Doris Lin; Mike Tseng
Best Instrumental Album Producer
- Alan Kwan - Petrichor (Performed by Alan Kwan; Fabian Almazan; Linda May Han Oh; Johnathan Blake)
- Takeshi Sakamoto - Mugen (Performed by Takeshi Sakamoto)
- Non-Confined Space - Flow, Gesture, and Spaces (Performed by Non-Confined Space)
- Jesy Chiang - Hiking in the Mist (Performed by Cicada)
- Baby Chung - Initial Value (Performed by Baby Chung)
Best Instrumental Composer
- Alan Kwan - "When Will I See You Again?" (Performed by Alan Kwan)
- Non-Confined Space - "Non-Confined Space" (Performed by Non-Confined Space)
- Baby Chung - "Initial Value" (Performed by Baby Chung)
- Ken Ohtake - "Okinawa" (Performed by Ken Ohtake)
- Sam Su - "Ciao Bella" (Performed by Sam Su Organ 3)
Best Album Package Designer
- Yen Po Chun - Somewhere in Time, I Love You
- Godkidlla - Chicken Lunch Box
- FKWU - We Are Gonna Get Married
- FKWU; Chien-ying Tseng - BJ4
- Timonium Lake - Awakening
Best Vocal Recording Album
- The Younger Me (Wilson Teng, Zach Hung, Recording Engineer; Jerry Lin, Keller Wang, Mixing Engineer; Sun Chung Shu, Mastering Engineer)
- One of Two (Colate Huang, Shizoku Lin, Recording Engineer; Dave Yang, Mixing Engineer; Dave Yang, Mastering Engineer)
- Hypnocity (Peggy Hsu, Shang-Po Lin, Hsing Tso, Lugia Su, Toshiyasu Shiozawa, Recording Engineer; Ziya Huang, Mixing Engineer; Randy Merrill, Mastering Engineer)
- Toliara (Mario Karpinsky, Danial Casas, Recording Engineer; Carlos Maria Vera Del Moral, Mixing Engineer; Carlos Maria Vera Del Moral, Mastering Engineer)
- BJ4 (Chief, Recording Engineer; Dan Korneff, Mixing Engineer; Ted Jenson, Mastering Engineer)
Best Instrumental Recording Album
- Ruby Pan Original Fusion Jazz Album (Zen Chien, Recording Engineer; Kimuramasakazu, Mixing Engineer; Kimuramasakazu,Mastering Engineer)
- West 17th Street, New York City (WeiSheng Lin, Lou Rainone, Kenji Omae, Seiji Ochiai, Recording Engineer; Peter Karl, Mixing Engineer; Peter Karl, Mastering Engineer)
Somewhere In The Middle (Zen Chien, Recording Engineer; Zen Chien, Mixing Engineer; Scott Hull, Mastering Engineer) - Initial Value (Li Yuesong, David Wang, Recording Engineer; Baby Chung, Mixing Engineer; Bernie Grundman, Mastering Engineer)
- A voice in the Chaos (Dakung, Recording Engineer; Dakung, Mixing Engineer; Dakung, Mastering Engineer)
Detention OST (Zen Chien, Recording Engineer; Zen Chien, Mixing Engineer; Zen Chien, Mastering Engineer)
Outstanding Contribution Award
- Rich Huang
