Tanya Chua to contend for 4th Golden Melody best female singer award

Taipei, May 18 (CNA) Three-time award winner Singaporean singer-songwriter Tanya Chua (蔡健雅) has been nominated in the Best Female Singer (Mandarin) category at the 33rd Golden Melody Awards, according to the nominations unveiled by the Ministry of Culture (MOC) Wednesday.

At a press conference, the MOC announced the nomination of 170 individual artists, groups and works in 27 award categories, with the awards ceremony scheduled to be held on July 2.

The Singaporean singer, who took home Best Female Singer (Mandarin) at the Golden Melody Awards in 2006, 2008 and 2012, was once again nominated for the category this year, facing singer-songwriter Waa Wei (魏如萱), who is nominated for the same award for the fifth time and won in 2020.

The 2022 Golden Melody Awards

★ Tanya Chua's 'DEPART' emerges as night's biggest winner

★ EggPlantEgg wins Song of the Year

★ Collage wins Best New Artist

★ Special Contribution Award goes to two songwriters, one posthumously

★ Cui Jian wins Best Mandarin Male Singer

★ Tanya Chua wins Best Mandarin Female Singer

Other contenders for the award include American-born R&B singer Karencici (林愷倫), pop singer Faye Zhan (詹雯婷), Amis singer Ilid Kaolo (以莉.高露), and Chinese singer TIA RAY (袁婭維).

Chua, 47, currently jointly holds the record for the most Golden Melody awards for Best Female Singer (Mandarin) with Pinuyumayan singer A-mei (張惠妹), and her nomination for the award this year paves the way for her to set a new record.

In addition, Chua's latest album "Depart" was also nominated for Best Mandarin Album, along with five other albums, including Faye Zhan's "Zai Yun Cai Shang Tiao Wu Ji Ji Zha Zha (在雲彩上跳舞嘰嘰喳喳)," and Waa Wei's "Have a Nice Day."

The other three albums competing for the award are the second solo album by 25-year-old singer Jerry Li (李權哲), "AI CHING;" "A Flying Dog" by Cui Jian (崔健), who is regarded as a pioneer of Chinese rock music; and "Night Shift" by Non-physical Troupe (無實物藝術團).

Meanwhile, the Best Male Singer (Mandarin) award will be contended by six Taiwanese and Chinese singers, including Crowd Lu (盧廣仲), who won the Best New Artist award in 2009, singer and actor Ma Nien-hsien (馬念先), and YELLOW (黃宣).

The three Chinese artists nominated in the same category are Cui Jian, second-time nominee Jude Chiu (裘德), and Xu Jun (許鈞).

According to the MOC, Album of the Year will be selected from all those nominated for the best album awards in Mandarin, Taiwanese, Hakka, and Indigenous.

The MOC also announced that the Special Contribution Award will be given to two musicians who have had a lasting influence on Taiwan's music industry. They are late Hakka singer-songwriter Chiu Hsien-jung (邱憲榮), who was better known as Chiu Chen (邱晨), and senior music producer and composer Chen Fu-ming (陳復明).

The 33rd Golden Melody Awards ceremony will be held in Kaohsiung on July 2, the first time the southern city has hosted the event in 17 years. (Full list of nominations this year / in Chinese)

Founded in 1990, the Golden Melody Awards honor the best music made by Taiwanese and Chinese-speaking artists whose songs are sung in Mandarin, Taiwanese, Hakka, Indigenous and other languages, while celebrating those who have made a significant contributions to the music industry in Taiwan.