Tanya Chua gets seven nominations for Golden Melody Awards

Home-grown Mandopop star Tanya Chua has been nominated for seven awards at the upcoming Golden Melody Awards for her pandemic album Depart. The 47-year-old is in the running for major awards such as Best Mandarin Female Singer, Best Mandarin Album, Album of the Year, Best Songwriter and Song of the Year.

The track Into The Wild was also nominated for Best Lyricist for Hong Kong's Chow Yiu Fai, taking the album's total number of nods to eight. The nominations were announced on Wednesday in Taiwan.

In an Instagram post, the singer-songwriter wrote: "I'm so, so, so touched, I'm crying and I have goosebumps all over. I didn't dare to look at the nominations at first. I'm so thankful to the Golden Melody Awards' judging panel for their encouragement and I'm glad that this album, which was born during the pandemic, has resonated."

Chua received the happy news while in self-isolation. Taiwanese media reported yesterday that the singer tested positive for Covid-19 last Saturday and exhibited mild symptoms. She has been isolating at her home in Taipei since.

She had previously told The Straits Times that Depart reflects her thoughts on the pandemic and its impact on the way people live.

Chua and her album are the most nominated artiste and work going into the ceremony, which will take place on July 2 in Kaohsiung. The Golden Melody Awards are the Mandopop world's biggest and most prestigious awards.

She is up against the likes of Chinese singer Tia Ray and Taiwanese acts Waa Wei and Faye for the accolade of Best Mandarin Female Singer. Chua is a three-time winner of this award.

In the men's category, Your Name Engraved Herein singer Crowd Lu will be gunning for the Best Mandarin Male Singer title, alongside veteran Chinese rocker Cui Jian, Chinese singer-songwriters Xu Jun and Jude Chiu, as well as Taiwanese musicians Ma Nien-hsien and Yellow.

Popular actor Greg Hsu, also known as Greg Han and who shot to fame for his leading role in the time-travelling romance Someday Or One Day (2019), has been nominated for the Best Newcomer award for his eponymous debut album.

Meanwhile, Taiwanese singer Jam Hsiao, who was crowned Best Mandarin Male Singer at the awards in 2013, did not receive any nominations this year.

The chairman of the judging panel told Taiwan's Apple Daily that Hsiao did not submit any entry.

Hsiao's manager Summer Lin told Apple Daily: "Hsiao has expressed his hope several times in recent years that his works will not be affected by any targets and that he can produce the works according to his wishes."

She said Hsiao will no longer take part in the awards.