Cao Dong’s Taiwanese rock group No Celebration picked up three awards for best band, album of the year and best Mandarin album at the weekend’s Golden Melody Awards.
Taiwanese rapper MC HotDog received one of the awards for best male Mandarin singer, while one of the awards for best female Mandarin singer went to Shi Shi Solar.
The Taiwan-based awards, celebrating their 35th year, model themselves after the Grammys of the Mandarin pop world. They honor outstanding work by recording entrepreneurial expertise working in Mandarin, Taiwanese, Hakka and indigenous languages along with Bunun.
The No Celebration for Cao Dong quartet rose to fame seven years ago with a previous trio of awards — best new artist, best band and song of the year — at the 2017 GMAs. “The Clod” is their first album since then.
The quartet was not present at the ceremony and was instead represented by their supervisor. “This album captures probably the truest characteristics of that point. We are still striving to return to the path of pure creation,” she said from the stage.
Golden Melody Awards
Solar and MC HotDog are also former members of GMA. HotDog previously received one of the awards for Best Mandarin Album at the 18th Golden Melody Awards for “Wake Up.” Solar was nominated for Best Mandarin Female Vocalist at the 30th GMA in 2019 for her album “Shi’s Journey.” Her most recent album is “Boomerang.”
Panai Kusui, an indigenous rights advocate, won one of the awards for best Taiwanese album, for “I?-Pô.” She used her acceptance speech to draw parallels between the GMAs’ anniversary edition and the 35th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square incident in mainland China, when Chinese authorities used tanks to crack down on pro-democracy student protesters in Beijing.
“The reason I discussed that occasion on stage is because Taiwan’s democracy is a course we should all cherish. Our freedom and freedom of speech is what we have to defend,” Kusui added off stage, Reuters news agency reported.
The GMAs gave nominations to mainland Chinese-language artists in several categories, however, local media reported that none attended the ceremony. Chinese-language singer Jude Chiu arrived in Taiwan but returned home sick, according to Taiwan’s Central Information Company.
The GMAs sit alongside the Golden Melody Pageant, an event focused on the music business. Held annually, it invites music experts, competition curators and promoters from around the world to Taiwan to scout out new opportunities within the Mandarin music scene. Activities range from explorations of global musical characteristics to structured matchmaking conferences between music professionals.
Contributors included representatives from overseas organizations such as: MaMA Music & Conference from France; SPIKE Bulgarian Music Showcase; Future Echoes from Sweden; Summer Sonic from Japan; Busan International Rock Pageant from South Korea; We The Fest from Indonesia; Clockenflap from Hong Kong; GMM Grammy promoter from Thailand; and the American Affiliation of Independent Music.
Indeed, no musical occasion is complete without performances. These have been structured into two interconnected occasions, the Golden Melody Pageant Showcase and collection of live performances and the GMA Warmth, which showcases probably the most promising Mandarin pop music artists.
The three-night 2024 Showcase featured nine Taiwanese artists, including The Wished, Haezee, The Crane, Cicada, Kivi, LÜCY, A_Root, Mandark and Lilium.
Returning after 5 years, GMA Warmth included seven nominees for this year’s Golden Melody Award for Best New Artist, along with established singer and actor, Rhydian Vaughan; Joyceln9.4.0; ADEN Wang; Makav; Tēnn Pîng; Hogan T.; and Vash Hsu. Featuring musical genres ranging from pop and hip-hop to rock and R&B, they performed together ahead of the 35th Golden Melody Awards ceremony.
GMA Warmth also featured five potential artists and crews from the new generation of the Mandarin music scene: JOYCE, JUD, U:NUS, Lu Yun and Aquaman.
Golden Melody Awards
Opposite No celebration for Cao Dong winning triple prizes first appeared on All celebrities.