Music Workers in Taiwan 10 Best Albums and Songs of 2009

Organized by The Association of Music Workers in Taiwan (中華音樂人交流協會), the annual Taiwan's Ten Best Albums and Ten Best Songs were announced June 8, 2010, for the year 2009.

Ten Best Albums
Yoga Lin - Senses Around (林宥嘉 - 感官／世界)
Deserts Chang - A City (張懸 - 城市)
Mavis Fan + 100% - Innocent (范曉萱+100%樂團 - 赤子)
Tanya Chua - If You See Him (蔡健雅 - 若你碰到他)
Sofe Lipa - Shou Lian Shui (蛋堡 - 收斂水)
A-Mei Chang - Amit (張惠妹 - 阿密特意識專輯)
Cheer Chen - Immortal (陳綺貞 - 太陽)
Nature Morte - Apple and Orange (靜物樂團 - 橘子與蘋果)
Chalaw Passiwali - The Old Old Car (查勞.巴西瓦里 - 老老車)
Peggy Hsu - Snowman (許哲珮 - 雪人)

Ten Best Songs
Cheer Chen (陳綺貞) - 太陽
Cheer Chen (陳綺貞) - 魚
A-Mei Chang (Amit) (阿妹的) - 掉了
A-Mei Chang (Amit) (阿妹的) - 開門見山
Sandee Chan (陳珊妮) - 雙陳記
Deserts Chang (張懸) - 南國的孩子
Lala Shu (徐佳瑩) - 身騎白馬
Mavis Fan + 100% (范曉萱+100%樂團) - 主人
Eason Chan (陳奕迅) - 床頭燈
Nature Morte (靜物樂團) - 我在歐洲, 打電話給你

Source: udn 06.09.2010

21st Taiwan Golden Melody Awards - Nominations

The nominations for the 21st Taiwan Golden Melody Awards (第二十一屆金曲獎) were revealed on May 14, 2010. The award ceremony will be held on June 26, 2010 at Taipei Arena (台北小巨蛋) in Taiwan and will award music released from January 1, 2009 to December 31, 2009. Eason Chan's Fifth Floor's Happiness received two nominations, as follows.

Best Mandarin Male Artist (最佳國語男歌手獎)
JJ Lin (林俊傑) - 100 Days (100天)
David Tao (陶喆) - Opus 69 (六九樂章 Zero to Hero)
Eason Chan (陳奕迅) - Fifth Floor's Happiness (上五樓的快活)
Khalil Fong (方大同) - Timeless (可啦思刻)
Jam Hsiao (蕭敬騰) - Princess (王妃)

Best Music Video (最佳音樂錄影帶獎)
Song Title...Album...Director
主人...赤子 innocent...劉明群
日光...春.日光...林暐哲 & 陳映之)
看見什麼吃什麼...感官/世界...比爾賈
吉米寶貝...七天...劉耕名
我行來海邊...98年臺灣原創流行音樂大獎作品輯 [風神之歌]...徐東翔
好膽你就來...A-MIT 阿密特 張惠妹意識專輯...比爾賈
這樣的一個麻煩...上五樓的快活...陳映之

Source: golden melody (official government site) 05.14.2010

Eason to Join Will Lin in "Jumping Into the Ocean"

Yesterday, Eason Chan was at a press conference in Taiwan promoting his latest album Fifth Floor's Happiness (上五樓的快活) where he performed 3 songs off the album.

Earlier, producer Will Lin stated that if Eason Chan's doesn't win a Golden Melody Award for Best Composer or Best Male Singer next year for his work in Fifth Floor's Happiness, he will jump into the ocean. Upon being informed of Will Lin's confidence, Eason said, "Wow, Taiwan people are fierce! I will join him." Eason pretended to be serious when speaking of the plans and goes into detail, from choosing the right place to jump from to having the correct outfits and whether to invite the media. He even mentioned he would wear a tight outfit or even wear zebra print.

Source: msn taiwan (courtesy of nownews) 10.01.2009
Photos: ent.qq 10.01.2009

Will Lin: "I Will Jump Into the Ocean if Eason Does Not Win a Taiwan Golden Melody Award Next Year!"

Having won Best Album at this year's Taiwan Golden Melody Awards, Eason Chan will release a brand new Mandarin album, Fifth Floor's Happiness (上五樓的快活), at the end of September. For the album, Eason purchased an expensive single lens digital camera and took on the role of photographer, taking over a thousand photos. However, most of those images were of producer Will Lin (林暐哲) and his company cried "useless" [for the upcoming album]. Elsewhere, as the album production was coming to an end, Eason handed over a song, For You (給你), written by himself. Unexpectedly the song beat out good friends Tanya Chua and Mavis Fan's works to become the first plug of the album. Producer Will Lin states, "If Eason does not win a Taiwan Golden Melody Award for Best Male Artist or Best Composer next year, I will absolutely jump into the ocean (我一定去跳海)!"

It took Eason ten years to finally build up the courage to ask to work with Will Lin. When asking his record company, they immediately said 'yes' and set up for the two to meet. When meeting, the two were extremely polite towards each other and after exchange phone numbers, the two became good friends.

Due to time restraints Crowd Lu was not able to give Eason a song, so Eason submitted his own song, For You (給你). Will Lin and his production team were surprised by the natural but easygoing nature of the song. Eason used the piano to write a pleasant blessing, used notes to write a poetic sentiment, and the song brings a sense of hope for more love which translates into feeling all the happiness that exists on earth. Eason invited Francis Lee (李焯雄) to write underlying sadness but positive, meaningful and encouraging lyrics to this song. And because of the meaning in the song, it was chosen to be the frist plug.

Source: msn taiwan 09.07.2009

Fun Clips of Eason at the 20th Golden Melody Awards

Eason kisses Jacky Cheung backstage @0:58


Eason and Stefanie Sun discuss their presentation entrance backstage @1:29
Eason and Tanya Chua kiss during commerical break @6:05
Eason and Patty Hou hug @8:25

Eason at the 20th Taiwan Golden Melody Awards

Eason with Sandee Chan (Best Mandarin Female Artist winner)


Jacky Cheung & Jody Chiang with their awards

The 20th Taiwan Golden Melody Awards Ceremony was held on June 27, 2009 at Taipei Arena in Taipei, Taiwan. Eason Chan, nominated in two categories, won in one category, as follows.

Best Mandarin Album - Don't Want To Let Go
最佳國語專輯 - 不想放手

Note: Jacky Cheung and Jody Chiang presented the award for Best Mandarin Album. Jacky won the Favorite Song Award for the first 9 years of the Golden Melody Awards with 吻別 and Jody won the Favorite Song Award for the past 10 years of the Golden Melody Awards with 家后.

Clips:
Eason Accepts Best Mandarin Album Award
Eason & Stefanie Sun present Best Mandarin Female Artist

Source: golden melody 06.27.2009
Photos: cqnews 05.14.2009 sina 06.27.2009

Critics Analyze "20th Golden Melody Awards" - Part 2

(Like any other year, Sina comes up with a panel of critics who analyze the likely winners, or who, in their opinions, should be the winners at the Golden Melody Awards. This year's analysis for Best Mandarin Male Artist as follows.)

name/nickname/pen name of critic: choice and/or analysis

Li Wan (李皖): Eason Chan

Ai Di Ren (愛地人): Khalil Fong. The Golden Melody Awards won't neglect him, right? Whether it is word-of-mouth or his melodies, they are of good regards. Not to mention that he isn't as high profile as Jay Chou which makes it easier for judges who want a balance of both mainstream and non-mainstream music.

Amiee Han (韓晶): Khalil Fong. Looking at this year's situation, can it not be him? Can [it not being Khalil] be possible?

Xiong Zi Ang (熊子昂): Eason Chan. Khalil has returned from singing technique back to emotions of a song; however, when compared to Eason, whose technique can no longer be heard in his performances, Khalil's skills are still lacking. If Eason wins, the line that should be said is, "Natural equals beauty."

Lay: Two Hong Kong singers form the top contenders. Khalil and Eason's both use reserved, accepted singing techniques in their albums. It is these high degree of difficulty techniques that truly tests an artist's singing abilities. Taking into account the Golden Melody judging panel's conservative nature, Eason appears to have the edge. However, if Khalil wins everyone will also be happy for him.

Du Hang Lang (獨行狼): Xiao Huang Chi. Leehom Wang and Jay Chou are not attending, so they are "eliminated" from the picture. Khalil did not make it to the second round [of voting] last year, while he barely makes it into the second round this year, so his chance of winning isn't high. Eason and Xiao Huang Chi are possible winners, but I really hope Xiao Huang Chi wins because Eason has already won it once.

Final Assessment:
Eason could win for the second time. After losing out with Admit It (認了吧) last year, Don't Want To Let Go (不想放手) gets him back on track. Not only did he sing his material, he showcased his natural singing quality (不但作品唱之有物，演唱上也突出了陳奕迅收放自如的特質). Making it back to the nominations, it's as if it is a must win.

Source: sina 06.23.2009

Critics Analyze "20th Golden Melody Awards" - Part 1

The 20th Taiwan Golden Melody Awards will be held this coming Saturday, June 27, 2009. Before the ceremony takes place this paper invites 10 individuals, including Taiwan record company employees, music critics, radio DJs, etc. to predict the results of the most talked about awards -- Best Mandarin Male Artist, Best Mandarin Female Artist, Best Mandarin Newcomer and Best Mandarin Group. The Best Mandarin Male Artist finds Eason Chan leading the pack with 5 votes, while the Best Mandarin Female Artist finds a tight battle with Sandee Chan barely holding on to the lead with 3 votes and Tsai Chin, Tanya Chua & A-Lin with 2 votes apiece.

The voting panel consists of singer & producer Sky Wu (伍思凱), Chen Guo Hua (陳國華), manager Yao Chien (姚謙), Jiang Cheng Jin (蔣承縉), Chen Zhen Chuan (陳鎮川), Linfair Records executive Wu Yi Fen (吳怡芬), Seed Music general manager Tian Ding Feng (田定豐), DJ and music critic Yuan Yong Xing (袁永興), Dan Ni Si (丹尼斯), Xiao Shu (小樹).

In the Best Mandarin Male Artist category, 5 judges give Eason Chan their votes. Jiang Cheng Jin and Chen Zhen Chuan agree that Eason's singing skills are at a high caliber of technical proficiency where few are able to match. Chen Guo Hua praises that Eason has returned to the origins by creating minimalist music and although Xiao Huang Chi's music runs a similar path, Eason's emotional interpretations are a bit more adept and natural. Dan Ni Si and Sky Wu don't question Eason's singing skills, however, they feel it is a pity that his album didn't have a "super hit" song.

Jay Chou and Khalil Fong each received two votes apiece. Yao Chien and Tian Ding Feng feel that Khalil's album ushers in a new generation of music, leading former non-mainstream music towards mainstream with a superior performance. Sky Wu and Wu Yi Fen feel Jay's music is whole and he has always had a "music attitude."

Source: chinatimes 06.23.2009

20th Taiwan Golden Melody Awards - Nominations

The 20th Taiwan Golden Melody Awards Ceremony will be held on June 27, 2009 at Taipei Arena in Taipei, Taiwan. The nominees were announced on May 15, 2009 and Eason Chan's work was nominated in two categories, as follows.

Best Mandarin Album
If There is One Thing That is Important - Sandee Chen
如果有一件事是重要的 - 陳珊妮

Don't Want To Let Go - Eason Chan
不想放手 - 陳奕迅

100 Ways For Living - Crowd Lu
100種生活 - 盧廣仲

We All Lay Down In The End - Stanley Huang
最後只好躺下來 - 黃立行

Capricorn - Jay Chou
魔杰座 - 周杰倫


Best Mandarin Male Artist
Eason Chan - Don't Want To Let Go
陳奕迅 - 不想放手

Xiao Huang Chi - I'm Xiao Huang Chi
蕭煌奇 - 我是蕭煌奇

Leehom Wang - Heartbeat
王力宏 - 心.跳

Khalil Fong - Orange Moon
方大同 - 橙月

Jay Chou - Capricorn
周杰倫 - 魔杰座

Source: golden melody (official site) 05.18.2009

Eason at the 19th Taiwan Golden Melody Awards

Eason on the red carpet
Outfit: Brooks Brother - Approx. $100,000 value

Eason on the red carpet with Karen Mok & Terry Chan

A-Mei & Eason presenting

The 2008 19th Annual Taiwan Golden Melody Awards were held on July 5, 2008 at Taipei Arena in Taipei, Taiwan. Eason Chan was nominated in one category, Best Mandarin Male Artist, which he and A-Mei Chang presented. However he did the present the award to himself as Gary Cao won for his album Super Sunshine. On the female side, Tanya Chua won Best Mandarin Female Artist for her album Goodbye & Hello.

Although Eason did not win the award himself, his playful personality remained. When Gary Cao accepted the award from Eason and A-Mei he was at a lost for words so Eason joked, "If you're not going to talk then I'm going to talk."

Source: sina (photos courtesy of tungstar) 07.05.2008

Critics' Take On Golden Melody Mandarin Artist Awards, Part II

A continuation of the first 3 articles. This time, past winners make their picks and another critic takes on the "new" judging system.

Note: The following articles are based on the opinions and perspectives of their respective writers and/or critics and play no role in the final results, nor are they the official results.

***

As the Taiwan Golden Melody Awards Ceremony is looming, past Best Mandarin Male/Female Vocalist/Artist winners make their picks of the 'most likely winner.'

Stanley Huang chooses Khalil Fong and Tanya Chua, saying, "Good listen, very fresh, very different."

Jolin Tsai chooses Eason Chan and A-Mei, explaining that Eason has always been her idol so she needs to support her idol, and after seeing A-Mei live in concert she feels A-Mei is an extremely able singer and is highly skilled.

Despite many in the industry who feel Eason is the likely winner, Eason gives his votes to Khalil and Tanya. He explains, "I am more familiar with Khalil's work, he has his own style. Tanya is a great musician, I would like to work with her if I get the chance."

With highly praised work Tanya hopes she wins the award and hopes her friend Eason will win the Male Artist award.

Karen Mok laughs while saying, "I give my vote to myself, I have confidence in myself." On the male side, "The last time I won the award Eason won it on the male side, I hope that the two of us could win it together again."

(Elsewhere, nominees Gary Cao & Pei An Yang feel the likely winner is Eason.)

Source: epoch times 07.04.2008

+

If one has not listened to any of the 6 nominated male albums, just by looking at the nominations list, I believe that a professional panel of judges would vote for Eason Chan. However, in order for Eason to win, he will need to overcome some obstacles. With Gary Cao and Khalil Fong competing right behind him, his biggest obstacle is 認了吧 being mostly a re-singing of his Cantonese songs from the album What's Going On?. If one's music taste is broad they might have come across the unblemished -- lyrics, music, arrangements, and Eason interpretations wise (無懈可擊的廣東專輯) -- Cantonese album, before listening to the Mandarin version and will probably have their praises and reservations. I don't believe that there are many on the Golden Melody judging panel that have listened to the Cantonese album; therefore, Eason's chance of winning is the highest. Afterall, in terms of interpretation and performance, the 5 remaining nominees are lacking in comparison to Eason.

Gary Cao's album Super Sunshine is very full, very different, and very practical but the expressiveness of his voice is lacking and narrow when compared to Eason. If even one of the judges points this factor out, Eason's chance of winning is that much higher.

Khalil Fong, who is purely using the R&B genre, maintains his style in his album Wonderland. In the 6 nominated albums his album is most music worthy, but because of the purely one music genre there will be those who love it forever and those who don't like it will never like it. With the constant changing of standards in the judging system at the Golden Melody Awards over the past couple of years, one won't know whether the judges will be satisfied [with this one genre or prefer a variation]. In order for Khalil to win he will need to rely on luck.

Peng An Yang and Shin are capable singers who showcase their high pitch but in the music department they are lacking in comparison to their competitors. Tank, who is also a R&B-heavy user, might just be happy to be nominated as Khalil's competition is too much.

Source: yam 07.04.2008

Critics' Take On Golden Melody Mandarin Artist Awards

The 19th Annual Taiwan Golden Melody Awards results will be revealed this coming Saturday, July 5, 2008 in Taipei Arena in Taipei, Taiwan.

Official site: 19th Taiwan Golden Melody Awards

Prior to the revealing of results, media sources have begun to make their predictions. The following are 3 sources who have analyzed and predicted the probable winners of the Best Male & Female Mandarin Artist awards from many different perspectives including the vocal perspective, the album perspective, and the market perspective. Since the changing of the award name from "Best Male/Female Vocalist" to "Best Male/Female Artist" last year, it appears that the judging system has changed and vocals is no longer the only factor.

Note: The following articles are based on the opinions and perspectives of their respective writers and/or critics and play no role in the final results, nor are they the official results.

Nominees
Best Mandarin Female Artist
A-Mei - STAR
Stefanie Sun - 逆光
Jasmine Leong - 崇拜
Tanya Chua - Goodbye & Hello
Karen Mok - 拉活...
Joi Chua - 慶幸擁有

Best Mandarin Male Artist
Eason Chan - 認了吧 (Admit It)
Tank - 延長比賽 (Keep Fighting)
Shin - 我就是我 (It's Me)
Pei An Yang - 楊培安II (Pei An Yang's Album No. 2)
Gary Cao - Super Sunshine
Khalil Fong - 未來 (Wonderland)

***

If the award were based solely on vocals, A-Mei and Jasmine (Fish) Leong would be considered as entering onto another level, Stefanie Sun and Tanya Chua would be considered as maintaining their already great vocals, Karen Mok put in 90%, and Joi Chua hasn't found her style just yet but has vastly improved. Since the name change, last year, from "best vocalist" to "best artist" there seems to be a change in judging criteria for the award. The award is no longer based on vocals solely and all factors combined is the best bet. That being said, Joi Chua, Stefanie Sun and Jasmine Leong would be eliminated. With the three remaining, A-Mei ran the stage presence route while Tanya ran the singer-songwriter route, and this year was the first for both in the producing department. Karen, on the other hand, ran the A-Me plus Tanya route, not only having remarkable stage presence but also promoting her music with the one-in-all package. However, 拉活... lacked the love songs found in AM.PM and with her voice she was unable to showcase her vocals and her songs lacked emotion. With that, A-Mei has the edge and has the highest chance of winning the award for a second time.

The styles of this year's male artist nominees are all over the place. We have purely R&B in Khalil Fong and Taiwanese rockers in Shin and Pei An Yang. Maybe the judging panel is trying to send a message that we should catch up with the trend of rising Taiwanese rock, which is often neglected.

In terms of voice, Pei An Yang sounds too similar to Tom Chang so he is the first to be eliminated. In terms of vocals, Tank and Gary Cao have not shown anything new and Shin has shown his high pitch, but aside from that what else has he shown? Khalil Fong, on the other hand, has shown his falsetto, thus, having the highest difficulty.

Eason Chan's 認了吧 can be said is a Mandarin karaoke version of What's Going On?, if he wins it's almost certain that it will cause controversy no less than Jolin Tsai's win last year.

It looks like Khalil Fong has the highest chance of winning this year.

(Note: What the writer is trying to say when calling 認了吧 "a karaoke version of What's Going On?" is that all but 2 tracks were originally released in Cantonese.)

Source: tom 07.02.2008

+

After listening to all nominated albums four professional critics, Liu Ya Wen 劉亞文, Wu Jian Heng 吳建恆, Chen Le Rong 陳樂融, and Yuan Wei Jen 袁惟仁, have deliberated and voted for their picks of this year's Golden Melody Best Male/Female Artist award winners.

On the male side, Wu Jian Heng and Yuan Wei Jen both voted for Eason Chan. Wu Jian Heng says, "Even though Eason's nomination (認了吧) is mostly the re-singing of his Cantonese songs, but his ability to grasp every single genre and style presented in the album, to a key, is on an impeccable level (已到達淋漓盡致的境界)." Yuan Wei Jen says, "His sincerity for each song is shown through his interpretation, the entire album is listen worthy."

On the female side, Liu Ya Wen and Yuan Wei Jen gave A-Mei their votes. Liu Ya Wen expresses that the female nominees are all able vocalists, but her reason for choosing A-Mei is, as she puts it, "A-Mei has always been an able singer, but you can tell that she put more effort into Star than last year's work. The album is also more in line with the market needs, a very complete performance." Yuan Wei Jen says, "A-Mei has this carefree sound and she is able to capture the emotions of the songs." Liu Ya Wen adds that she also likes Tanya Chua's work but feels that the album is, concept wise, better than her concert, therefore, she gave her vote to A-Mei.

Source: the liberty times 07.03.2008

+

According to a Sina survey, Eason Chan and Stefanie Sun are comfortably leading against their rivals in the Male/Female Artist polls. However, winning [Golden Melody] awards are based on skill and the Golden Melody judging panel's standard will be the quality of the artists' 2007 albums.

Eason's album 認了吧 and song 愛情轉移 (from the same album) won him numerous awards in Hong Kong and Mainland China, and he continues to secure his status as the new "God of Songs." Entering the Golden Melody Awards, Eason's chances of winning is among the highest. Another male artist making headlines for the upcoming awards is Hong Kong's Khalil Fong, whose album received much praise in Taiwan. If one were to ask 'aside from Eason who would be the unlikely winner?,' Khalil would be the undeniable answer. Regardless, it looks like this year's Best Mandarin Male Artist is coming from Hong Kong.

Although Stefanie Sun is leading in the polls the competition on the female side is tough with four past Golden Melody Female Vocalist award winners (A-Mei, Stefanie, Karen Mok & Tanya Chua). Tanya's album Goodbye & Hello has received many positive reviews from critics, but the problem lies in the fact that she won the Female Vocalist award 2 years ago (in 2006). Will the judging panel award her again so soon? Not unless her album's quality is steps above all the others. A-Mei has a higher chance of winning with good word-of-mouth and sales of her album Star.

(Note: What the writer means by calling Khalil the "unlikely winner" is that Khalil is still relatively unknown, compared to Eason, Tank, Gary, etc., in the market.)

Source: sina 07.03.2008

Eason & A-Mei to Present Golden Melody Award

After much thought Eason Chan finally said yes to presenting, along with fellow Golden Melody Artist Award winner A-Mei Chang (張惠妹), the Best Male Mandarin Artist Award at this year's Taiwan Golden Melody Awards Ceremony. As a nominee for the award himself, Eason might be presenting the award to himself.

According to a report by NOWnews (東森新聞), Eason's album Admit It earned him a nomination in the Best Male Mandarin Artist category. A month earlier, ceremony organizer Hou Wen Yan (侯文燕) had already requested for Eason to be a presenter but many problems arose and it was never finalized. Eason misinterpreted that he was invited to be a performer and with filming on schedule and promotion of his new release Don't Want To Let Go, Eason rejected the invitation because he did not feel he would have time to rehearse for the show. After confirmation that it was an invitation for presentation and not performance Eason accepted the invitation but felt he did not qualify to present. Coordinators explained to him that it is Golden Melody tradition to invite former Golden Melody winners to be presenters which gave him reassurance.

A-Mei expressed that when she found out she was presenting with Eason she became excited and is looking forward to the presentation. As for the possibility that Eason will be presenting the award to the winner, not being himself, and the awkwardness he expresses that it is not a problem and he will be happy.

Source: sina 07.02.2008

19th Taiwan Golden Melody Awards - Nomination

The 19th Taiwan Golden Melody Awards Ceremony will be held on July 5, 2008 at Taipei Arena in Taiwan. The nominees were announced and Eason Chan was nominated in one category, as follows:

Best Mandarin Male Artist
Eason Chan - 認了吧 (Admit It)
Tank - 延長比賽 (Keep Fighting)
Shin - 我就是我 (It's Me)
Pei An Yang - 楊培安II (Pei An Yang's Album No. 2)
Gary Cao - Super Sunshine
Khalil Fong - 未來 (Wonderland)

Source: ent.qq 05.22.2008