Hebe Tien snubbed by Golden Melody judges
18 May - The release of the nomination list for the 22nd Golden Melody Awards last week was met with much excitement from music lovers across Asia, but was greeted with scorn by the fans of Taiwanese singer Hebe Tien Fu Chen, according to Channel News Asia.
Tien's fans are up in arms over a recent comment by Golden Melody Awards judge Jerry Huang that Tien was not nominated for the Best Mandarin Female Singer Award because she had "relied too much on technology to polish the music or vocals" in her album 'To Hebe', reported Taiwan media.
Her fans point out that it made no sense for Tien to be rejected as a singer, when her album "To Hebe" has been successfully nominated for Best Mandarin Album at this year's awards.
Tien on the other hand, was calm when she responded to media queries about this matter on Saturday.
"I'm not sure about the tastes of the awards' panel of judges, but getting any nomination is already a form of recognition."
"I respect the judges' decision," said the singer, an active member of pop trio S.H.E., before stating her case.
"Everyone [in the industry] used computers to do polishing! I welcome everybody to listen to me live. It might even be better than the CD!"
The same source notes that Tien was less diplomatic on Sunday during a promo event, and quipped that the Golden Melody Awards' organisers "might as well get all the performers to sing a song live, without musical accompaniment during the awards ceremony" to ensure all performers conformed to their 'no computer assisted polishing' standards.
The Golden Melody Awards, held annually by Taiwan's Government Information Office, is the Taiwanese equivalent of the Grammys.
Jay Chou tops the nomination list this year with no less than seven nominations for his work "The Era".
Singapore's JJ Lin has also been nominated for Best Mandarin Male Singer alongside Chou and veteran Taiwan singer Chyi Chin, who has only recently become a father.
The awards presentation ceremony for the 22nd Golden Melody Awards will be held on 18 June 2011 at the Taipei Arena.
