The 33rd edition of the Golden Melody Awards (GMA) is happening on July 2 in the Kaoshiung Arena, situated in the southern Taiwanese city of Kaoshiung. This marks the first time Kaoshiung has hosted the event in 17 years, having last played host to the awards in 2005.
The Taiwanese Ministry of Culture (MOC) announced the venue and date in early May, alongside the complete list of awards and nominees. The 33rd GMA sees 170 works, artists, and bands competing in 27 categories. These include the coveted Song of the Year; Best Album, Best Male Singer, and Best Female Singer awards for Mandarin, Taiwanese, Hakka, and Indigenous categories; Best Music Video; Best New Artist.
2022’s Song of the Year award features some ASEAN representation, with Singaporean singer-songwriter Tanya Chua competing for her fourth GMA award alongside Malaysian rapper-director Namewee. The latter is nominated for his song “Fragile”, a collaboration with singer Kimberley Chen.
Other songs competing for Song of the Year include “Oh Love, You Are Much Greater Than I Imagined” by EggPlantEgg, “Death Trip” by ØZI featuring Soft Lipa, and “Prototype” by Lala Hsu.
Chua is also in the running for Best Mandarin Album and Best Female Mandarin Singer. Other multiple-award nominees in the same categories include singer Faye Zhan for her album Faye, Wen Ting Zhan Zai Yun Cai Shang Tiao Wu Ji Ji Zha Zha and singer-songwriter Waa Wei with Have a Nice Day. Retro-pop rising star Jerry Li, China rock legend Cui Jian, and funk-pop band Non-Physical Troupe round out the nominations for Best Mandarin Album.
As usual, all the best album nominees will also be in the running for Album of the Year, which the judges will select from all the best album nominees in the Mandarin, Taiwanese, Hakka, and Indigenous categories.
Cui Jian has also been nominated for Best Male Mandarin Singer alongside five other Taiwanese and Chinese singers. These are YELLOW, 2009 Best New Artist winner Crowd Lu, Xu Jun, singer/actor Mars Ma, and 2020 Best Male Mandarin Singer nominee Jude Chiu.
Taiwanese metalcore band Flesh Juicer, one of the highlights of last year’s LUCfest x Primavera Pro showcase, are up for the Best Band award for GOLDEN Taizi BRO. Other nominated albums include Holy Trip! by TRASH, No-Nonsense Collective’s No Mercy, One That Reminds Me of You by Undecimber Fin., and UNDO by Wild Thing.
This year’s Golden Melody Awards will also see two Special Contribution Awards being given out. These awards will be going to the late Hakka singer-songwriter Chiu Chen and veteran composer/producer Chen Fu Ming.
The Golden Melody Awards’ accompanying music festival, the Golden Melody Festival, will kick off the celebratory mood at Kaoshiung Music Center over three days, from July 24 to July 26. It will feature conferences, workshops, and various performances and events.
The Golden Melody Awards was founded in 1990 to celebrate the best music from Taiwanese and Chinese artists performing and recording in Mandarin, Taiwanese, Hakka, and indigenous languages.
Check out 2022’s complete list of nominations here.