Taiwan's 32nd Golden Melody Awards (GMA) announced today its list of nominees.
This year, a total of 1,499 albums and 21,349 singles were submitted for consideration (151 albums and 1,888 singles more compared to the previous year). After careful selection by a 83-man panel across three stages which took three months, a total of 171 nominees were shortlisted across 27 award categories.
Among these, Rock Records boasts the most number of nominations, with works represented by them being nominated across 21 different categories.
The albums tsu-pun by Taiwanese singer Olivia Tsao and Gain Strength by indigenous singer SANGPUY each received 8 nominations, drawing a tie as the most nominated albums.
This year, the 32nd GMA sees the likes of Hebe Tien, Wan Fang, JJ Lin, Wu Qingfeng, Sitar Tan, Sunset Rollercoaster and Panai competing for the most coveted awards in the industry.
The Golden Melody Awards is the Grammy equivalent in the world of Mandopop, and is also the most coveted award in the Chinese music scene. It is held annually by the Ministry of Culture of Taiwan to recognize the best of music in Mandarin, Taiwanese, Hakka and Formosan languages.
Veteran rock icon Lo Ta-You is set to receive the Outstanding Contribution Award in recognition of his efforts in advancing the Taiwanese music industry. The 66-year-old singer-songwriter was a pioneer in the Taiwan music industry, and almost single-handedly changed the landscape of Mandopop, elevating the concept of an album to the status of a cultural one, rather than simply entertainment.
In its press release, the GMA organizers acknowledged his efforts, saying: "In almost half a century, Lo Ta-You has endlessly embraced change, constantly pushing against the norm, and inspiring and collaborating with new generations of musicians."
The 32nd Golden Melody Awards will be held on June 26 (Saturday) at the Taipei Arena from 7pm onwards. Viewers at home can tune in to Taiwan's TTV main channel or live stream the awards on the Golden Melody Awards official YouTube channel.
Album of the Year
Best Mandarin Album nominees
Best Taiwanese Album nominees
Best Hakka Album nominees
Best Indigenous Language Album nominees
Song of the Year
"A Vacant Seat" - Wan Fang
"Bo Fu" - E.SO
"When Tomorrow Comes" feat. ?te - Olivia Tsao
"Where I Lost Us" - Accusefive
"Embrace" - SANGPUY
"Because Of You" - Mayday
"Your Name Engraved Herein" - Crowd Lu
Best Mandarin Album
Dear All - Wan Fang
Where is SHI? - Shi Shi
Time Will Tell - Hebe Tien
Home Cookin - Soft Lipa
Sounds of My Life -WeiBird
SHI RI TAN - James Li
Best Hokkien Album
Ten - Hsu FuKai
tsu-pun - Olivia Tsao
ū lí ê kòo-sū - aoi
Kā lí sioh sioh - Hao Zi
Gentleman with No Shoes - Sibongie
First Half - Hanya Chang
Best Hakka Album
Khak-lah Thien-thoì - Siau-lu khah-lah
Those Three Years - Hsieh Yu-wei
Till - ChuNoodle
When the Sun Rises - Wing Lo
Ah-Min - Jiu Lian Zhen Ren
Best Indigenous Language Album
Rambling Naluwan - Dakanow
Gain Strength - SANGPUY
How Are You, My Dear - Syaman Macinanao
žž - žž
Lady of the Ocean - Outlet Drift
Music Video of the Year
"Hunger Game" - Yellow (Director: Jyun Chang)
"mài-mng (Rock Version)" - Hsieh Ming-Yu (Director: Pei Yu Liao; Tang Zhi-zhong)
"Ballerina" - Yoyo Sham (Director: Mich Yeh)
"Home Cookin" - Soft Lipa (Director: Cowper Wang)
"Night Creepers" - Jiu Lian Zhen Ren (Director: Oneness Zeng)
"Candlelight" feat. OHHYUK - Sunset Rollercoaster (Director: DQM)
"Until I Met You" - Yo Lee (Director: Remii Huang)
"One, After Another" - Hebe Tien (Director: Muh Chen)
Best Composer
Olivia Tsao; BabyC - "Flavor" (Performed by Olivia Tsao)
HUSH - "AnHe" (Performed by Tarcy Su)
Edward Pan - "Where I Lost Us" (Performed by Accusefive)
SANGPUY - "Embrace" (Performed by SANGPUY)
WeiBird - "I Wrote a Song for You" (Performed by WeiBird)
Eve Ai - "I Missed You" (Performed by Eve Ai)
Best Lyricist
Ting Huang - "A Vacant Seat" (Performed by Wan Fang)
E.SO - "Bo Fu" (Performed by E.SO)
Bu-hiông - "Wang Shi Lives in Memory" (Performed by Olivia Tsao)
XiaoHan - "Drifter" (Performed by JJ Lin)
David Ke - "Untold" (Performed by Hebe Tien)
Soft Lipa - "The Spider" (Performed by Soft Lipa)
Best Arranger
Huang Shao Yong - "Dazzled" (Performed by Wan Fang)
BabyC - "Flavor" (Performed by Olivia Tsao)
Tsai Yu-liang - "Danshari" (Performed by Xing Zheng)
YELLOW - "Miss Understanding" (Performed by Amuyi)
Kyle Lu - "Last Animals" (Performed by JADE)
Elephant Gym - "Dear Humans" (Performed by Elephant Gym)
Best Album Producer
Kay Huang - Dear All (Performed by Wan Fang)
ZioN; Olivia Tsao - tsu-pun (Performed by Olivia Tsao)
MCKY; RAZOR; Shi Shi - Where is SHI? (Performed by Shi Shi)
George Chen - Time Will Tell (Performed by Hebe Tien)
Tseng Jen-yi; Hung Tzu-lung; SANGPUY - Gain Strength (Performed by SANGPUY)
James Li; Jun Yan - SHI RI TAN (Performed by James Li)
Best Song Producer
CinCin Lee - "Bad Weather" (Performed by Michael Wong)
Jay Chou - "Mojito" (Performed by Jay Chou)
YELLOW; Yue Chia-lun - "Strange Weather" (Performed by YELLOW & 9m88)
Khalil Fong - "Noodles" (Performed by Khalil Fong)
Yanis Huang - "Your Name Engraved Herein" (Performed by Crowd Lu)
Arai Soichiro - "Self Harmony" (Performed by Karen Mok & Evan Guo)
Best Mandarin Male Singer
E.SO - Outta Body
JJ Lin - Drifter/Like You Do
Qing Feng Wu - Folio Vol. 1 One and One
Soft Lipa - Home Cookin
WeiBird - Sounds of My Life
James Li - SHI RI TAN
Best Mandarin Female Singer
Wan Fang - Dear All
Panai - Love, And Yet...
Shi Shi - Where is SHI?
Tarcy Su - Every Side of Me
Hebe Tien - Time Will Tell
Sitar Tan - 3811
Best Hokkien Male Singer
FuKai Hsu - Ten
Su-Hao Yang - Kavalan Kites
Wu Bai - Wu Bai & China Blue Thàu lâm Hong Concert Live
Hao Zi - Kā Lí Sioh Sioh
Ric Jan - Waiting for Daybreak
Best Hokkien Female Singer
Angel Chu - Dream of Suzie
Olivia Tsao - tsu-pun
Kelly Tsai - If You Wanna Know Me
Huang Fei - Irochigai
Hanya Chang - First Half
Best Hakka Singer
Robin Tseng - O Nga O Nga
Hsieh Yu-wei - Those Three Years
Huang Pei-shu - Out There
ChuNoodle - Till
Wing Lo - When the Sun Rises
Best Indigenous Singer
Dakanow - Rambling Naluwan
SANGPUY - Gain Strength
Lowking - Meander to the Horizon
Ciwas Losin - Mziboq Su
žž - žž
Band of the Year
OVDS - Black & Toughness
Sheng Xiang & Band - Water Snowflake Goes to Market
KST - Alternate Moments
Accusefive - Easy Come, Easy Go
Sunset Rollercoaster - SOFT STORM
Outlet Drift - Lady of the Ocean
deca joins - Bird and Reflections
Best Duo or Group
Night Keepers - Messenger
FALI - 929
Chang & Lee - Seen It All?
Astro Bunny - Leyou Height
The Wanted - Dear Adult
Best New Artist
YELLOW - Yellow Fiction
Heat Sketch - Yuba Youth
Howard Lee - Diamond in the Rough
aoi - ū lí ê kòo-sū
Bestards - The Fool
Yo Lee - If Only You Could Love Me
?te - A Bedroom of One's Own
Best Instrumental Album
The Path - Chien Chien Lu
KUNG's Vol. 1 - Kung Yu-chi
Stream Legend - Spectro 7
Synthetic Steps - TTechmak
The Adventures of Pie Boy - The Spice Cabinet
Best Instrumental Album Producer
Alex Wu - Stream Legend (Performed by Spectro 7)
Matt Fullen - Don't Get Too Comfortable (Performed by Matt Fullen)
Chris Hou - Your Name Engraved Herein (Performed by Chris Hou; Chen Chu-hui; Stacey Wei)
Terry Hsieh; Derrick Sepnio - The Adventures of Pie Boy (Performed by The Spice Cabinet)
hirsk - noista/gia (Performed by hirsk)
Best Instrumental Composer
Chien Chien Lu - "The Path" (Performed by Chien Chien Lu)
Lawrence Ku - "Clarity" (Performed by The Lawrence Ku Trio)
TTechmak - "Synthetic Steps" (Performed by TTechmak)
Terry Hsieh; Derrick Sepnio - "Dali Girl" (Performed by The Spice Cabinet)
Terry Hsieh; Derrick Sepnio - "Bitter Sweet" (Performed by The Spice Cabinet)
Best Album Package Designer
Yang Shi-ching - Love, And Yet
Mirr Lo; Lin Chun-yung; Lee Ken-cheng - Water Snowflake Goes to Market
Yueh Yueh Liu - Time Will Tell
Qing-yang Xiao - ZETA
Gelresai - Gain Strength
Aaron Nieh; Even Chen - METROPOLIS
Best Vocal Recording Album
Where is SHI? (AJ Chen, Jansen Chen, Chou Han Tsay, Jonathan Liu, Fentse Hsieh, Yu, Chris Chen, Micky Yang, Recording Engineer; AJ Chen, Chou Han Tsay, Link Shan, Double, Itun Chou, Kenny, Mixing Engineer; Dave Kutch, Mastering Engineer)
Drawing Dialogue (AKNIT, Andy Baker, Cheng-Yang Chung, Chou Han Tsay, Kenny, Koffkoff, Martin Lin, Chelin Liu, Liu Shih Wei, Recording Engineer; AKNIT, Ziya Huang, Liu Shih Wei, Mixing Engineer; AKNIT, misi Ke, Mastering Engineer)
Easy Come, Easy Go (Yu-Hsuan Yeh, Chou Han Tsay, Micky Yang, Zen Chien, Shen Kuan Lin, Recording Engineer; Ziya Huang, Mixing Engineer; Randy Merrill, Mastering Engineer)
Gain Strength (Hao Wen Tay, David Wang, Recording Engineer; Killer Wang, Cheng Chung Lin, Huang Chun Hsien, Hao Wen Tay, Mixing Engineer; Ted Jensen, Mastering Engineer)
PORTAL (Chia Cheng Chang, Recording Engineer; Itun Chou, Mixing Engineer; Chris Gehringe, Mastering Engineer)
Best Instrumental Recording Album
Eternal Journey (Clark Germain, Chris Bitoun, Vladimir Martinka, Recording Engineer; Clark Germain, Mixing Engineer; Chris Bellman, Mastering Engineer)
Fly By Light (Zen Chien, Recording Engineer; Zen Chien, Mixing Engineer; Zen Chien, Mastering Engineer)
The Path (Alex Conrey, Recording Engineer; David Darlington, Mixing Engineer; David Darlington, Mastering Engineer)
Clarity (Zeng Zeyuan, Damien Banzigou, Recording Engineer; Damien Banzigou, Mixing Engineer; Damien Banzigou, Mastering Engineer)
The Adventures of Pie Boy (Liu Mang, Recording Engineer; Link Shan, Mixing Engineer; Randy Merrill, Mastering Engineer)
Outstanding Contribution Award
Lo Ta-You