[EpochTimesMay192022](Epoch Times reporter Tong Yijia comprehensive report) On May 18, the 33rd Taiwan Chinese Pop Music Golden Melody Awards announced the shortlist. Cui Jian, known as the “Father of Mainland Rock and Roll”, was shortlisted for five awards including “Best Album” and “Best Singer” for his album “Flying Dog” released last year. Jun and Yuan Yawei will also compete for the Queen of Songs.
In August 2021, Cui Jian released a new solo album “Flying Dog” on his 60th birthday. When he learned that he was shortlisted for the Golden Melody Award, Cui Jian responded: “I hide some competitive work in the details of music production, and I am not prepared to let it go. People saw it. Because it wasn’t cool enough! It turned out to be found by the Golden Melody judges.”
Cui Jian shouted to the judges: “Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share this time, it makes me feel that I have more space. This space may be tolerance, maybe enjoyment, or it is a possibility. They all feel: We still have a chance!”
Regarding the finalist of mainland singer Cui Jian, the chairman of the jury said, “Cui Jian is a very significant and representative singer of the times. When listening to the album, I feel that at this stage of his creative power and energy, the overall industrial standard is also very high. When it comes to voting, the scores are high.”
With the song “Nothing”, Cui Jian, who became popular all over the country, brought a band to the students on hunger strike in Tiananmen Square during the “June 4th” in 1989 and sang to the students. After the “June 4th” massacre, Cui Jian was banned from singing for many years by the authorities, unable to appear on stage in official venues, and his lyrics were censored.
In addition to “Nothing”, Cui Jian’s “Egg under the Red Flag”, “The Last Shot” and “Beyond That Day”, a metaphor for how mainlanders view the handover of Hong Kong’s sovereignty, are all feared by the authorities.
In 2015, Cui Jian released his first album “Light Frozen” since 2005, inspiring his compatriots to change China. In an exclusive interview with the Associated Press at the time, Cui Jian revealed that he was very surprised that the lyrics of “Light Frozen” were not required to be revised after they were handed over to the authorities. But maybe it’s because he’s already self-censored, he admits: “There’s always been self-censorship.”
Although due to the epidemic and many other reasons, the Chinese music scene has been a little dull in the past year, but as an annual blockbuster awards ceremony, the Golden Melody Awards are still full of gold. According to the published data, there were 20,721 entries for this year’s awards, and the jury selected 175 shortlisted entries.
The Golden Melody Award is the largest music award in Taiwan and the most influential large-scale music award event in the Chinese world. The awards in the three fields of video and audio are collectively referred to as “three golds”.
Responsible editor: Han Yu