Some of Mandarin pop music's biggest stars gathered in Taiwan for the Golden Melody Awards on Saturday, with Malaysian singer-producer Penny Tai and Singapore's JJ Lin taking top honours.
Mandopop favourite Tai was crowned best Mandarin female singer for her album Unexpected at a glittering ceremony in Taipei Arena.
"I am very lucky as I didn't have any formal musical training. I couldn't have got this far today without the help of many people," she said.
Tai beat Singaporean Tanya Chua, who has a record three titles in the category, as well as Hong Kong's Denise Ho and Taiwan's Faith Yang and Jia Jia.
Tai also bagged the best producer award for Je t'embrasse, the first album she produced for another singer.
Singaporean singer-songwriter JJ Lin won his first ever best Mandarin male singer title for his 10th album Stories Untold.
"I was prepared that I would have to wait 11 years to get (the award) but I got it today," Lin said. "I want to thank my parents for giving me musical talents... I want to thank my fans."
He saw off veteran Hong Kong singer Wakin Chau, Taiwan's aboriginal musician Chang Chen-yue and rapper Soft Lipa, as well as China's Li Ronghao.
Li walked away with the best new performer award for his first album Model.
The best album of the year accolade went to Chang Chen-yue for the album Ayal Komod, which is his aboriginal name.
"There were so many people who supported me in making this album and I can only repay them by making more efforts in life and in writing music," said Chang.
Veteran Taiwanese producer and singer Jonathan Lee, dubbed Taiwan's pop music godfather, took the awards for best song of the year and best lyricist.
Singers, songwriters and composers from Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia competed in more than 20 categories at the 25th edition of the awards.
Some of Mandarin pop music's biggest stars gathered in Taiwan for the Golden Melody Awards on Saturday, with Malaysian singer-producer Penny Tai and Singapore's JJ Lin taking top honours.
Mandopop favourite Tai was crowned best Mandarin female singer for her album Unexpected at a glittering ceremony in Taipei Arena.
"I am very lucky as I didn't have any formal musical training. I couldn't have got this far today without the help of many people," she said.
Tai beat Singaporean Tanya Chua, who has a record three titles in the category, as well as Hong Kong's Denise Ho and Taiwan's Faith Yang and Jia Jia.
Tai also bagged the best producer award for Je t'embrasse, the first album she produced for another singer.
Singaporean singer-songwriter JJ Lin won his first ever best Mandarin male singer title for his 10th album Stories Untold.
"I was prepared that I would have to wait 11 years to get (the award) but I got it today," Lin said. "I want to thank my parents for giving me musical talents... I want to thank my fans."
He saw off veteran Hong Kong singer Wakin Chau, Taiwan's aboriginal musician Chang Chen-yue and rapper Soft Lipa, as well as China's Li Ronghao.
Li walked away with the best new performer award for his first album Model.
The best album of the year accolade went to Chang Chen-yue for the album Ayal Komod, which is his aboriginal name.
"There were so many people who supported me in making this album and I can only repay them by making more efforts in life and in writing music," said Chang.
Veteran Taiwanese producer and singer Jonathan Lee, dubbed Taiwan's pop music godfather, took the awards for best song of the year and best lyricist.
Singers, songwriters and composers from Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia competed in more than 20 categories at the 25th edition of the awards.