Singaporean singer Tanya Chua poses for pictures with her awards for Best Album in Mandarin, Best Mandarin Female Singer, Best Album of the Year and Best Vocal Recording Album at the 33rd Golden Melody Awards in Kaohsiung on July 3, 2022. - AFP
SINGAPORE, July 3 (The Straits Times/ANN): Singaporean veteran singer Tanya Chua won big at the 33rd edition of Taiwan's Golden Melody Awards on Saturday night (July 2).
The event is known as the Chinese equivalent of the Grammy Awards.
The singer-songwriter was named Best Female Singer (Mandarin), the fourth time she has clinched the award.
This makes her the singer with the most wins in the category, beating three-timer winner A-mei, from Taiwan.
She won four awards in total on Saturday - her album Depart was named Best Mandarin Album, Album of the Year and Best Vocal Album Recording.
During her acceptance speech as Best Female Singer (Mandarin), Chua, 47, said that when she first entered the industry in the late 1990s, she knew how to sing only English songs.
She said: "When I tried singing Mandarin songs, I had to flip through the dictionary. At one point, I really wanted to give up."
Referring to her first Golden Melody Award win in 2006 - also in the Best Female Singer (Mandarin) category - she said: "The award saved me. It reached out its hand, told me to keep singing."
Her Best Vocal Album Recording win on Saturday was unexpected, Chua said, given that the album - her 12th - was recorded with a guitar and a microphone amid the Covid-19 pandemic, when movement was still being restricted.
The work reflects her thoughts on the pandemic and its impact on the way people live. Among its tracks is the song Photographs, a duet with France's former first lady and singer-model Carla Bruni.
Almost 30 awards were given out at the 2022 ceremony, which took place at the Kaohsiung Arena, and was hosted by veteran television host Daniel Lo.
Late Hakka musician Chiu Chen, who died on March 24 this year at the age of 72, was among the two recipients of the Special Contribution Award.
Chiu was said to have made a great contribution to Taiwan's music culture, and spent his whole life creating music to tell stories about his homeland.
The other recipient of the Special Contribution Award was producer and composer Chen Fu-ming, who was cited as having a lasting influence on the Taiwanese music industry.
Hush won Best Composer for his number Shadow Song. When accepting his prize, the 37-year-old, who wrote the song's melody and lyrics, thanked its arrangers, and said: "I think a song's lyrics, melody and arrangement are like a coat, coat hanger, and cover. Thanks for creating a sturdy cover, so I can hang this coat in it."
Among the night's award presenters were Taiwanese diva A-Lin, and Taiwanese singer ?te.
The audience was also treated to performances, such as a medley of songs by Taiwanese singers Eve Ai and Lala Hsu, including Ai's Forever Young and Hsu's Do You Dare.
Taiwanese rapper Muta also performed the groovy tune FatBoyGang, an ode to the culinary delights of Taiwan. - The Straits Times/ANN
