Taiwan pop star Jay Chou leads music awards list

Taiwanese pop prince and Hollywood star Jay Chou dominated nominations for Asia's top Mandarin chart music honours, the Golden Melody Awards, organisers said Friday. Chou joined the few Taiwanese performers who have made it to Hollywood when he starred alongside Seth Rogen and Cameron Diaz in the superhero box office hit "The Green Hornet". His latest album "The Era" led the music awards field with seven nominations, including the top categories of best album, best producer and best composer. For the coveted best male singer title, Chou will challenge Chinese-American singer-songwriter Leehom Wang, who has also embarked on a successful movie career. Wang is also vying for best album with "The 18 Martial Arts", and best song. The fight for best female singer sees Hong Kong singer and actress Karen Mok competing against Taiwanese veteran Wan Fang and three lesser-known rivals. Hebe Tien of the popular girl band S.H.E, who was surprisingly left out in the best female singer category, was nominated for best album and best music video prizes. No performers from mainland China were nominated this year, and candidates from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore will compete in the 22nd Golden Melody Awards, to be handed out at a ceremony on June 18 in the Taipei Arena.