Taiwan’s hip hop sensation Trout Fresh and singer-DJ Waa Wei bagged the top honours at the prestigious Golden Melody Awards, one of the biggest music events for Mandarin chart music, held in Taipei on Saturday.
Trout Fresh, whose real name is Lu Shih-hsuan, won the Best Male Singer award, defeating well-known names like China's Li Ronghao and Hong Kong’s Terence Lam. He also secured the Best Mandarin Album title for his work Good Sound with Attitudes. While receiving the award, he shared a heartfelt moment with the cheering crowd at Taipei Arena, saying, "Mom, this is the closest I've ever been to Jay Chou," referring to one of Taiwan’s biggest pop icons.
Waa Wei earned the Best Female Singer title for the second time, surpassing tough competitors like Singapore's Tanya Chua and Malaysia's Penny Tai. In her acceptance speech, Wei expressed her gratitude and determination. "I still want to give it a try and I still want to challenge myself… I think the hardest thing is not to give up," she said. "Thank you to the judges and thank you for this award. It lets me know that I can still do it."
The late Hong Kong-American singer Khalil Fong was posthumously awarded Best Composer for his track Twenty Three. Fong, who passed away in February, also received the Jury Award for his album The Dreamer.
A special collaboration between South Korean indie band Hyukoh and Taiwan’s Sunset Rollercoaster won the Best Music Video award for their song Antenna, featured in their joint album AAA.
This year’s 36th Golden Melody Awards saw artists from Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, and South Korea competing in over 20 categories.
