TAIPEI/HONG KONG - SINGER Jay Chou might be the newly crowned pop king at Sunday's Golden Melody Awards but it is fellow singer Eason Chan who may be enjoying the sweeter victory.

Post awards, the jury revealed that Chan and singer Khalil Fong, who lost the coveted Best Mandarin Male Singer title to Chou, had initially led in the votes.

But, in the second round of voting, Chou beat them with nine votes, Ming Pao Daily News reported.

The prince of pop finally won in that category after being nominated four times, also bagging the Song of the Year and Best Music Video titles. Chan won the other top award for Best Mandarin Album.

But Chou's wins have ironically earned him a blasting from his fans, who accused him on his JVR Music website of absenting himself from the prestigious awards in Taipei to perform instead in China, said China Times.

It was the fourth time in a row that he missed the ceremony. His fans said he had let them down.

Netizens also questioned how Chou, known for mumbling through his songs, could have won the singing prize, saying Chan is the more deserving winner.

With this year's ceremony hit by absences by stars like Jolin Tsai and Wang Lee Hom, Su Jun-pin, chief of the Government Information Office, which sponsors the awards, on Sunday made a preemptory move by announcing, well ahead, that next year's awards will be held on June 26, 2010.

Still, JVR Music, when asked later by China Times, would not confirm that Chou would attend it.

Meanwhile, Chan, celebrating at a party on Sunday, praised the judges 'for their good taste', after being told that they had praised his winning album, Don't Want To Let Go, as 'music for music lovers'. On losing out to Chou at Round 2 of the voting, he joked: 'Give me the jury's names and addresses so that I can pay them a visit.'