By Sinead
Last night Taiwan’s Kaohsiung Arena saw the 33rd Golden Melody Awards ceremony take place where some of the industry’s brightest stars showed up in their red carpet best to celebrate a year full of challenges, but also opportunities and creativity.
Some highlights of the night included a milestone evening for Singaporean songstress Tanya Chua 蔡健雅. The Singaporean-born, Taipei-based singer-songwriter and producer took home the top award of the night – Best Album for 2021’s lockdown album DEPART, and also walked away with almost all the awards she was nominated for, including Best Mandarin Album, and Best Female Mandarin Vocalist. This marks the fourth time Chua has won the Best Female Mandarin Vocalist award, making her the artist with the most wins in the category.
Out of the Mainland Chinese contenders, only veteran rock-and-roller Cui Jian 崔健 came out on top, taking home best Male Mandarin Vocalist for his latest album Fei Gou 飛狗, while elsewhere indie band EggPlant Egg 茄子蛋‘s ‘Oh Love, You Are Much Greater Than I Imagined 愛情你比我想的閣較偉大’ won out over Namewee 黃明志 and Kimberley Chen 陳芳語’s viral earworm ‘Fragile 玻璃心’, reflecting the critical mass of continued support for Taiwanese language (Taiyu) synth pop in contemporary music.
Metal band Flesh Juicer 血肉果汁機 won in the Best Band category for GOLDEN TAIZI BRO, inspired by their love for their hometown of Taichung. Hip-hop representation came from Kumachan 熊信寬 who picked up Best Lyricist, thanking his mother in his acceptance speech for sending him to writing classes as a child.
Here at APW we were also excited to see Jerry Li 李權哲 cinch the Best Producer award for his own album retro-inspired album AI CHING 愛情一陣風, as well as industry veteran Joey Chiang 江惠儀 being recognised for her talent in the Best Taiwanese Female Vocalist category.
As artists such as Flesh Juicer 血肉果汁機, Kumachan 熊信寬, Collage 珂拉琪‘s successes lay the groundwork for musicians from previously non-mainstream genres (hip hop, rock) to get recognition, we already can’t wait to see the line up for next year.
Check out the full list of award winners below!
Vocal Awards
Album of the Year
- DEPART／Universal Music Taiwan﹙Artist: Tanya Chua 蔡健雅
Song of the Year
- Oh Love, You Are Much Greater Than I Imagined 愛情你比我想的閣較偉大《Oh Love, You Are Much Greater Than I Imagined 愛情你比我想的閣較偉大》／EggPlantEgg Co., Ltd﹙Artist: EggPlant Egg 茄子蛋
Best Mandarin Album
- DEPART／Universal Music Taiwan﹙Artist: Tanya Chua 蔡健雅
Best Taiwanese Album
- Road to…不是路／Rock Records Co. Ltd﹙Artist: Lilium 百合花
Best Hakka Album
- Mountain Of Doom 滅人山／2F Studio﹙Artist: Ayugo Huang 黃連煜
Best Indigenous Language Album
- pongso no Tao／Taiwan Colors Music﹙Artist: Paudull 陳建年﹚
Best Music Video
- Ganbatene 甘吧爹ㄋㄟ《ganbatene 甘吧爹ㄋㄟ》／Asia Muse Entertainment﹙Director: Tsai Yi-Yu 蔡宜豫﹚
Vocal Awards – Individual Awards
Best Composer
- HUSH／Shadow Song 衣櫃歌手《Shadow Song 衣櫃歌手》／B’in Music﹙Artist: HUSH﹚
Best Lyricist
- Kumachan 熊信寬／88BARS《88BARS》／Sony Music Entertainment Taiwan Ltd﹙Artist: Kumachan 熊仔﹚
Best Arrangement
- Huang Shao Yong 黃少雍／fu’is 星星歌《 N1 那屋瓦一號作品》／Nanguaq Culture Ltd.﹙Artist: Natsuko 夏子﹚
Best Album Producer
- Jerry Li 李權哲／AI CHING 愛情一陣風／KAO!INC﹙Artist: Jerry Li 李權哲﹚
Best Single Producer
- LaLa 徐佳瑩、Howe Chen 陳君豪／None of the Above 以上皆非《None of the Above 以上皆非》／Asia Muse Entertainment﹙Artist: LaLa 徐佳瑩﹚
Best Male Mandarin Vocalist
- Cui Jian 崔健／Fei Gou 飛狗／Universal Music Taiwan
Best Female Mandarin Vocalist
- Tanya Chua 蔡健雅／DEPART／Universal Music Taiwan
Best Taiwanese Male Vocalist
- Wang Jun Jie 王俊傑／Don’t Know How 看無／The Hu Music Studio
Best Taiwanese Female Vocalist
- Joey Chiang 江惠儀／Kuu 空／Long Play Music Limited
Best Hakka Vocalist
- Ayugo Huang 黃連煜／Mountain Of Doom 滅人山／2F Studio
Best Indigenous Vocalist
- Osay Hongay 簡燕春／Ira…a micekor 靜靜地等待著／Feeling Good Music Co., Ltd.
Best Musical Group
- Flesh Juicer 血肉果汁機（GIGO 童仲宇 、Matt 許主携、ZERO 劉宗霖、Evan 陳彥文、sionC 陳佑祥）／GOLDEN TAIZI BRO GOLDEN 太子 BRO／StreetVoice (Taiwan) Co., Ltd
Best Vocal Group
- New Formosa Band 新寶島康樂隊（Bobby Chen 陳昇、Chen Shih-lung 陳世隆、Ayugo Huang 黃連煜）／New Formosa Band Di 12 Zhang Jianjianhua 新寶島康樂隊 第12張剪剪花／Peace Land Creation Co. Ltd
Best Newcomer
- Collage 珂拉琪／MEmento·MORI／StreetVoice (Taiwan) Co., Ltd
Instrumental Awards
Best Instrumental Album
- 《Increasing Echo 修行》Original Soundtrack／Sky Castle Music﹙Artist: Chris Hou 侯志堅﹚
Instrumental Awards – Individual Awards
Best Instrumental Album Composer
- Alan Kwan、Jordan Gheen、Matt Young／Between Now and Never／Maidin Cultural Enterprise Co. Ltd﹙Artist: Alan Kwan 關家傑﹚
Best Instrumental Composer
- Yongheng Wu 武勇恆／On Starboard 星板《Hydro Canvas 海淀》／Streetvoice (Taiwan) Co. Ltd.﹙Artist: Tian Bai 白天、Lawrence Ku 顧忠山、Danfeng Hu 胡丹峰、Nathaniel Gao 高太行、Xiaoguang Liu 劉曉光、Ke Zhang 張柯、Chenchu Rong 榮辰初、Yongheng Wu 武勇恆﹚
Technical Awards – Individual
Best Album Graphic
- Chen Nien-ying 陳念瑩／Road To… 不是路／Rock Records Co. Ltd
Technical Awards – Production Team
Best Vocal Recording Album Award
- DEPART／Universal Music Group（Main Recording Engineers: Tanya Chua 蔡健雅、Ni Hanwen 倪涵文、Wu Yu-zhang 吳育彰、Khoi Huynh／Main Mastering Engineers: Leonard Fong、Ricky Ho、Joe Grasso、Richard Furch／Main Post-Production Engineers: John Greenham）
Best Instrumental Album Recording Award
- Hydro Canvas 海淀／Streetvoice (Taiwan) Co. Ltd.（Main Recording Engineers: You Li 李游、Yang Li 李楊／Main Mastering Engineers: You Li 李游、YongHeng Wu 武勇恆／Main Post-Production Engineers: You Li 李游、YongHeng Wu 武勇恆）
Special Contribution Award
- Chen Qiu 邱晨
- Chen Fu-ming 陳復明
Jury Award
- 《Mountain Of Doom》／Secondfloor Music Studio﹙Performed by Ayugo Huang﹚
