The 35th Golden Melody Awards took place at the Taipei Arena on the evening of the 29th and saw Taiwan indigenous singer Panai clinching the Best Taiwanese Album award with “Ye Po.” During her acceptance speech, she mentioned, “This year marks the 35th anniversary of the Golden Melody Awards, and also the 35th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square incident. Let’s not forget.” Instantly, both “Golden Melody Awards” and “Panai” disappeared from trending topics on Weibo, with the latter becoming a banned term.
Panai, who won the Best Taiwanese Album award, expressed her joy at winning before shifting the focus to a politically charged statement, saying, “Don’t think that pop music and politics are unrelated. On our mother island, there is much suffering. Please remember, this year marks the 35th anniversary of the Golden Melody Awards, and the Tiananmen Square incident is also 35 years ago. Let’s not forget, Taiwan, come on!”
Following Panai’s address at the Golden Melody Awards, Chinese netizens on Weibo criticized the awards ceremony, with many mentioning Panai and some even resorting to harsh insults. However, some Chinese netizens who had not paid attention to the Golden Melody Awards were curious about what had happened and what Panai had actually said, yet no one dared to respond.
Possibly due to concerns of the discussion veering towards the Tiananmen Square incident, “Golden Melody Awards” instantly vanished from the Weibo trending list, and even posts criticizing the awards ceremony mysteriously disappeared. Searching for “Panai” on Weibo after 11 p.m. only displayed content from before January of this year, unrelated to the singer Panai.
Wang Dan, a Chinese dissident residing in Taiwan, wrote on Facebook that evening, “Thank you Panai for your award-winning speech at the Golden Melody Awards. Courage is the most beautiful song!”
Panai has primarily sung Mandarin songs in the past. In 2021, she was nominated for Best Mandarin Female Singer at the Golden Melody Awards for her album “Love, Not Yet” and received recognition for the Golden Indie Music Awards’ “Jury Award.” Being actively engaged in social movements over the years, she often showcases her concern for social issues through her work.
Her winning album this time, “Ye Po,” named after the Taiwanese term for “bat,” is Panai’s first Taiwanese album released in over 20 years. Co-created with Ke Zhihao, who sang the theme song “Mun Teui Chuei Bie” with her for “The Tag-along: Devil Fish,” the song deviates from her recent works focusing on indigenous rights, environmental protection, and dives deep into portraying the plight and emotions of traditional rural women.