Taipei, May 16 (CNA) Taiwanese rock band Mayday's (五月天) album "History of Tomorrow" (自傳) leads this year's nominees for Golden Melody Awards, Taiwan's equivalent of the Grammys, with eight nominations, including Best Mandarin Album, the jury announced Tuesday.
Mayday was also nominated in the categories of Best Album of the Year, Best Song of the Year, Best Band, Best Composer, Best Lyricist, Best Album Production, and Best Music Video.
"Even though Mayday started their music career a long time ago, they continue to bring us suprises, and have stayed true to themselves in their music," said Kay Huang (黃韻玲), who represents the jury.
"History of Tomorrow" is Mayday's 9th studio album and their first one in close to five years. Their last album "Second Round" took six major awards at the 2012 Golden Melody Awards, making it the biggest winner of the awards that year.
Formed in the late 1990s, the band is known for its roots as a student band and for capturing the spirit of Taiwanese youth. Dubbed the "Chinese Beatles," Mayday has grown to become one of the most famous bands in the Chinese-speaking world.
It has claimed the Best Band title at the Golden Melody Awards in 2001, 2004, 2009 and 2012.
The rest of the nominees for Best Mandarin Album are: Khalil Fong's (方大同) "Journey to the West" (JTW 西遊記); Guo Ding's (郭頂) "The Silent Star Stone" (飛行器的執行週期); Eve Ai's (艾怡良) "Talk About Eve" (說艾怡良); Waa Wei's (魏如萱) "Run! Frantic Flowers!" (末路狂花); and Xu Jun's (許鈞) "Million Songs Hill" (萬松嶺).
The album with the second-highest number of nominations is "Talk About Eve," garnering seven nods. In third place is Taiwanese band No Party for Cao Dong's (草東沒有派對) debut album "The Servile" (醜奴兒) with six nominations.
In the category of Best Mandarin Female Singer, Ai and Wei will be up against competitors Jia Jia (家家), Ellen Loo (盧凱彤), Faith Yang (楊乃文), and Miss Ko (葛仲珊).
Meanwhile, Taiwan's Jay Chou (周杰倫) will be vying for his third win in the category of Best Mandarin Male Singer. He will be pitted against Fong, Guo, Namewee (黃明志), Crowd Lu (盧廣仲), Yoga Lin (林宥嘉) and Dwagie (大支).
Mayday, No Party for Cao Dong, FLUX, GDJYB, Lion, Gina's Can and The Chairman will vie for the Best Band award.
The Lifetime Contribution Award will go to 81-year-old Taiwanese singer Chi Lu-hsia (紀露霞) and the late singer-songwriter Chang Yu-sheng (張雨生).
Chi has released more than 1,000 Mandarin and Hokkien-language songs since the 1950s and is known for her classic songs including "Longing For Your Early Return" and "Lonely Flower," the jury said.
Meanwhile, Chang, best known for his invigorating songs such as "My Future is not a Dream," was praised for his diverse musical styles and avant-garde music arrangement and composition.
He has created many popular songs and has inspired many musicians, the jury said.
This year, 606 albums and 15,934 works were submitted for award consideration, and 175 nominated works will compete in 27 categories at the 28th Golden Melody Awards.
The awards ceremony will be held at the Taipei Arena on June 24 and broadcast live by Taiwan Television Enterprise.
Meanwhile, the Golden Melody Festival will take place June 21-23 in Taipei. It will include music performances and music-related conferences, seminars and exhibitions.
(By Christie Chen)ENDITEM/J