Golden Melody Awards: The Grammy Awards for Mandarin Pop

The Golden Melody Awards (金曲獎) is an annual Chinese music award founded in 1990 and is regarded as an equivalent to the Grammy Awards in Taiwan.  In 2008, DotAsia supported the awards and online voting at www.gma2008.asia.  Artists from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, and Canada attended the awards ceremony Actress sisters Barbie (大S / 徐熙媛) and Dee Hsu (小S / 徐熙娣), former news anchor Patty Hou (侯佩岑), and actress Matilda Tao (陶晶莹) hosted this event, whose list of award presenters included Canadian recording artist Daniel Powter and Japanese drama stars Akito Kiriyama (桐山照史), Junta Nakama (中間淳太), and Yuya Takaki (高木雄也). Malaysian singer Gary Chaw (曹格) and Singaporean singer-songwriter Tanya Chua (蔡健雅) were named Best Mandarin Male and Female Singers, musician and singer Jay Chou (周杰倫) received a record-breaking eight nominations, while Pop rock band Sodagreen (蘇打綠) received its second consecutive award as Best Band.  Millions of fans around the world tuned in to www.gma2008.asia for the latest information and to vote for their favourite idol.