The winners of the 2013 Taiwan Original Music Awards were announced on Aug. 24 after the last stage of the competition played out at the China Petroleum Conference Building in Taipei.
In the awards ceremony that took place after the live competition, the top award winners were revealed to be Lee Kuo-hsiung (Dakanow) for the aboriginal languages category, Chang Chun-chieh for the Hakka category, and Huang Tzu-hsuan for the Hoklo category.
Each winner walked away with a prize of NT$300,000 (approximately US$10,000), marking the successful end of the awards competition jointly organized by the Ministry of Culture, the Council of Indigenous Peoples and the Hakka Affairs Council.
First launched in 2004, the Original Music Awards is one of Taiwan's main platforms for promoting the creation of original music with native languages. Setting it apart from other music awards is the twist that all finalists must compete live.
To show the government's support for indigenous minorities and cultural inheritance, senior government officials such as Deputy Culture Minister Lee Ying-ping, Indigenous Council Deputy Minister Hsu Ming-yuan and Hakka Council Deputy Minister Lee Chao-ming were present at the competition to cheer on the finalists.
The night also featured performances by Golden Melody Award-winning singer Faith Yang and last year's top award winners Kao Chung-chieh (Balai), Huang Wei-chieh and Chiu Lien-chin (Akim) of the duo "Bandage,” who all performed in their mother tongues. Leading indie rock band Echo concluded the event.
In addition to receiving prize money, the top award winners will also receive assistance in producing their own music videos, while an album of all the winning entries will be released by the Bureau of Audiovisual and Pop Music Industry.
Last but not least, a concert showcasing the finalists will take place on Sept. 28 in Taipei's Xinyi District to introduce the uniqueness of music written in native languages to more people.
Contestants pose for a group photo with the guest of honors.
