Taiwanese talent win top prizes at Golden Melody Awards

Taiwanese talent took home the top prizes at the island's annual Golden Melody Awards

Taiwan Golden Melody Awards (Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Taiwanese talent took home many of the top prizes Saturday at the island s annual Golden Melody Awards, which attracts celebrities and musicians from across the Chinese-speaking world and is the regional equivalent of the Grammy Awards.

Wu Qingfeng, a Taiwanese singer, won Best Male Vocalist in Mandarin for his first solo album “Spaceman.”

Waa Wei, another Taiwanese singer, won Best Female Vocalist in Mandarin for her 2019 album “Hidden Not Forgotten.” She cried as she accepted her award, thanking her parents in “heaven.”

Taiwanese singer Abao, who had eight nominations, won three awards for her album “Kinakaian (Mother Tongue),” including Album of the Year. Abao, who is a member of Taiwan's minority tribes, sings in a mixture of languages, including her tribe's Paiwan language.

The Best Album in Mandarin award went to Joanna Wang for “Love is Calling Me.” Wang was born in Taiwan but who grew up in the United States.

Hong Kong singer G.E.M. meanwhile won the jury's pick.

Fire Ex, a local Taiwanese band, won the award for Best Band. The rock band wrote a song that became the anthem for the island's so-called sunflower movement, a student-led movement that was against Taiwan becoming economically closer to China.