The 35th Golden Disc Awards presentation ceremony was held on January 9 and 10. BTS and IU were presented Grand Prizes – Album of the Year (Map of the Soul: 7) and Digital Song of the Year (Blueming) – respectively.

In the Digital Song division, winners of Bonsang include BLACKPINK (How You Like That), BTS (Dynamite), Hwa Sa (Maria), ITZY (Wannabe), IU (Blueming), Mamamoo (HIP), Noel (Late Night), Oh My Girl (Nonstop), Red Velvet (Psycho) and Zico (Any Song). Meanwhile, in the Album division, the ten Bonsangs went to BLACKPINK (The Album), EXO (Obsession), GOT7 (DYE), NCT (RESONANCE Pt.1), NCT 127 (NCT #127 Neo Zone), Twice (More & More), BTS (Map of the Soul: 7), Baek Hyun (Delight), Seventeen (Heng:garae) and TXT (The Dream Chapter: Eternity).

BTS also won the Curaprox Popularity Award, while EXO and NCT 127 attained the QQ MUSIC Fans' Choice K-pop Artist and Cosmopolitan Artist prizes, respectively. ENHYPEN, Treasure and Kim Ho Joong were named Rookie Artists of the Year, and Stray Kids and (G)I-DLE were recognized as Best Performance Male and Female groups. Following the MMA and GMA, Jo Jung Suk picked up the Best OST award again for Aroha.

In the Digital Song division, prizes were given to the top artists in various genres: Lee Seung Gi (Best Ballad), Lim Young Woong (Best Trot) and Changmo (Best R&B Hip-hop). Jessi and Monsta X received Best Solo Artist and Best Group awards, respectively. The Boyz and Loona walked away with Next Generation awards, and NU'EST collected the Golden Choice trophy. Besides winning Bonsang, Zico also gained the title of Trend of the Year at the GDA.

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Hong Kong broadcaster TVB's TV Awards Presentation for 2020 was held on January 10. The crime comedy Al Cappuccino swept five prizes, including Best Drama and Malaysia's Favorite TVB Drama.

Vincent Wong, who won Best Actor in 2017 for Legal Mavericks, repeats the feat with the sequel Legal Mavericks 2020, and co-star Sisley Choi was crowned Best Actress. Vincent Wong also won Malaysia's Favorite TVB Actor for his role as a visually impaired lawyer.

The Most Popular Male and Female Character awards went to Al Cappuccino's Owen Cheung and Hong Kong Love Stories' Katy Kung, who was also crowned Malaysia's Favorite TVB Actress for Death by Zero. Hong Kong Love Stories' Jason Pai and Al Cappuccino's Winki Lai won Best Supporting Actor and Actress, respectively. Most Improved Male and Female Artists awards were given to Brian Chu and Angel Chiang.

Vincent Wong, Owen Cheung and Brian Chu were also recognized for the Most Popular Onscreen Partnership in Al Cappuccino. Hubert Wu's "Mortals Don't Understand Love," the insert song for The Exorcist's 2nd Meter, was named the Most Popular Drama Theme Song.

In the variety/infotainment categories, Miss Hong Kong 2020, Life on the COVID Map, Scoop, See Me Fly Again and Happy Dinner Together were presented Best Non-Drama Programme prizes. Actors Pakho Chau and Ben Yuen won Best Host for their reality travelogue The PakhoBen Outdoor Show.

The night's final Grand Prize was awarded to the long-running sitcom Come Home Love: Lo and Behold.

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Translation / Sanwei

Demon Slayer The Movie: Mugen Train, the animated film based on Gotoge Koyoharu's best-selling manga Kimetsu no Yaiba, has become Japan's highest-grossing film of all time. Released on October 16, 2020, the fantasy action feature smashed Japan's opening-day records with receipts of 1.2 billion yen, and has sinced topped the box office for 11 consecutive weeks. As of December 27, the film has grossed 32.47 billion yen, making it Japan's biggest film in history.

Mugen Train surpassed the long-standing record set by Miyazaki Hayao's 2001 classic Spirited Away, which now ranks second at 31.68 billion yen. Furthermore, the film did so at record pace, reaching 10 billion yen in only 10 days, 20 billion yen in 24 days, and 30 billion yen in 59 days. In comparison, it took Spirited Away 253 days to reach 30 billion yen.

According to distributor Toho, Demon Slayer The Movie: Mugen Train has been seen by over 24 million people. Directed by Sotozaki Haruo, the film is a sequel to the anime series that aired in 2019. In this story, demon-slaying protagonist Tanjiro and his crew board the Mugen Train for a new mission to hunt a demon that has claimed over 40 lives.

Besides setting records in the cinema, Kimetsu no Yaiba also dominated book sales in 2020. According to Oricon's yearly figures, the series monopolized the first 22 spots in the manga sales rankings, and cumulatively sold over 82 million copies this year.

Text / Sanwei

Japan's Oricon chart has announced its annual rankings for 2020. Arashi was crowned the top artist for the ninth time based on overall album, video and digital sales. The group is followed by BTS, Yonezu Kenshi, King & Prince, Nogizaka46, Official HIGE DANdism, King Gnu, Twice, SixTONES and Seventeen.

Yonezu Kenshi's Stray Sheep, with 1,563,030 copies sold, is Japan's top-selling album of 2020 and the only album to pass the million benchmark. It also tops the digital album ranking. Arashi's This is Arashi (822,459) comes in second for physical albums, and their labelmate King & Prince's L& (612,574) is fourth. BTS grabs two spots in the top five with the Korean albums Map of the Soul: 7 ~The Journey~ (658,882) and Map of the Soul: 7 (455,446); their BE album also ranks high at #16. King Gnu's Ceremony (435,908), Mr. Children's Soundtracks (315,876), Seventeen's 24H (293,825), Strawberry Prince's Strawberry Prince (266,132) and Official HIGE DANdism's Traveler (255,028) round out the top ten albums.

SixTONES and Snow Man's debut single Imitation Rain/D.D. breaks AKB48's streak to become the top-selling single of 2020 with sales of 1,760,904 copies. Both groups each have another single in the top ten: Snow Man's Kissin' My Lips/Stories (1,001,570) at fifth and SixTONES's New Era (480,379) at tenth. AKB48's Shitsuren, Arigato (1,181,701), Arashi's Kaito (1,147,865) and Nogizaka46's Shiawase no Hogosyoku (1,115,150) also all sold over a million copies. LiSA tops digital single rankings with the Kimetsu no Yaiba theme songs Gurenge and Homura.

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The 2020 Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA) ceremony was held on December 6 in South Korea. BTS again swept all the Grand Prizes – Artist of the Year, Song of the Year (Dynamite), Album of the Year (Map of the Soul: 7) and Worldwide Icon of the Year – plus Best Male Group, Best Dance Performance (Male Group), Best Music Video and Worldwide Fans' Choice Top 10. Big Hit's founder Bang Si Hyuk and producer Pdogg also won Best Executive Producer of the Year and Best Producer of the Year, respectively.

Though unable to attend the ceremony, BLACKPINK and IU each got three awards, with BLACKPINK winning Best Female Group, Best Dance Performance and Worldwide Fans' Choice Top 10, and IU winning Best Female Artist, Best Solo Vocal Performance and Best Collaboration with BTS's Suga (Eight). Seventeen also walked away with Worldwide Fans' Choice Top 10, Global Favorite Performer and Notable Achievement Artist awards.

Apart from the above groups, Worldwide Fans' Choice Top 10 awards also went to NCT, Treasure, TXT, GOT7, ATEEZ, Mamamoo and Twice. Mamamoo attained the Best Group Vocal Performance prize with Hip, and Hwa Sa's Maria was recognized as Best Solo Dance Performance. Best New Male and Female Artist winners were Treasure and Weeekly, respectively. DAY6 won their first-ever MAMA Best Band Performance award with Zombie, while Gaho's "Start Over" (Itaewon Class) was named Best OST. Zico's megahit "Any Song" was given the Best Hip-Hop & Urban Music award.

NCT was presented Favorite Male Group, and their China subunit WayV also got a trophy for Favorite Asian Artist. Tae Min (Criminal), Jessi (NUNU NANA) and TXT ("Can't You See Me?") picked up Favorite Dance Performance in the Male, Female and Group categories, respectively. IZ*ONE brought home the Favorite Female Group prize, while Twice gained the title of Most Popular Artist of the night. Produce 101 Japan's JO1 won Best New Asian Artist, their first award outside Japan. Monsta X (Best Stage), ATEEZ (Discovery of the Year) and Cravity (Best of Next) each received an award.

BoA was presented the Inspired Achievement award for her notable achievements and contributions in the K-pop industry over the past 20 years.

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This year's Melon Music Awards (MMA) was held from December 2 to 5 through online platforms. BTS swept all three Grand Prizes (Artist of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year) for the second consecutive year, and also won Netizen's Choice, Top 10 Artist and Best Male Dance awards.

Besides BTS, the other Top 10 Artists winners are Baek Hyun, IZ*ONE, IU, Oh My Girl, BLACKPINK, Baek Yerin, Lim Young Woong, Kim Ho Joong and Zico. BLACKPINK's How You Like That got the Best Female Dance award, while Monsta X walked away with the Best Performance award. Mr. Trot's Trot Men 6 collected the Hot Trend award, while members Lim Young Woong and Young Tak won Best Trot and Best Songwriter, respectively.

New Male and Female Artist of the Year awards went to Cravity and Weeekly, and The Boyz was the winner of the 1theK Original Contents award. Actor Jo Jung Suk received his first MMA Best OST award with Hospital Playlist's Aroha. IU's chart-topper Eight (featuring BTS's Suga) prevailed in the Best Rock category. Davichi's Dear was named Best Ballad, and Baek Yerin's Square (2017) was recognized as Best R&B. Bolbbalgan4 won Best Indie again after four years with "Leo" featuring EXO's Baek Hyun. DAMOIM's "I'MMA DO" came first in the Best Rap/Hip-Hop genre. Sam Smith's To Die For was recognized as Best Pop. BTS's choreographer Son Sung Deuk also won Best Performance Director. Singer-songwriter Jukjae was presented Best Guitar in the Session category.

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The 2020 Asia Artist Awards (AAA) ceremony was held on November 28 through online live broadcast. Winners of Grand Prizes include BTS (Song of the Year, Dynamite), NCT (Album of the Year, NCT 2020 Resonance Pt.1), Twice (Artist of the Year), GOT7 (Performance of the Year), Monsta X (Stage of the Year) and Lim Young Woong (Trot of the Year). Super Junior was presented the History of Songs award.

Besides winning Grand Prizes, BTS, Twice and Lim Young Woong also received the Choeaedol Popularity Awards. BTS won the AAA Best of Starnews Choeaedol Popularity Award, while Lim Young Woong collected the AAA Hot Issue Award alongside ITZY. NCT subunit NCT 127 won Best Artist along with Mamamoo, while NCT Dream was given Best Emotive Award with (G)I-DLE. IZ*ONE, Kang Daniel and Song Ga In were recognized as Best Musicians.

Pentagon and AB6IX walked away with the Icon Awards, and AAA Choice Awards went to The Boyz and ITZY. Stray Kids came away with the Best Music Video prize. Winners of the Asia Celebrity award were WayV and Kang Daniel. IZ*ONE and Cravity attained the AAA Potential award, while AleXa and ONEUS got the AAA Focus award. This year's Best New Artist awards went to Treasure and Secret Number. BIGMAN was given the AAA Groove Award. MAX and Anne-Marie were recognized as Best Pop Artists.

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China's 33rd Golden Rooster Awards were held on November 28. Peter Chan's biographical sports drama Leap about the China women's national volleyball team won Best Film as well as Best Screenplay and Best Cinematography. Wang Rui won Best Director for the Inner Mongolia-set Chaogtu with Sarula. The anthology My People, My Country received the Jury Special Prize.

Better Days' Zhou Dongyu added another Best Actress trophy to her mantle following wins at the Hundred Flowers Awards, Asian Film Awards and Hong Kong Film Awards. The 28-year-old is now the third actress after Zhou Xun and Zhang Ziyi to have won Best Actress at the Golden Rooster Awards, the Golden Horse Awards and the Hong Kong Film Awards. Huang Xiaoming won Best Actor for the firefighter drama The Bravest, and his co-star Yin Xiaotian picked up Best Supporting Actor. Best Supporting Actress went to Yolanda Yuan for The Captain.

Shen Ao won Best Directorial Debut for My Dear Liar. Technical Prizes were given to Only Cloud Knows (Best Sound) and Liberation (Best Art Direction), Animated blockbuster Ne Zha was recognized as the Best Artistic Film, My Himalayas as the Best Low-Budget Narrative Film, and Like the Dyer's Hand as the Best Documentary.

Text / Sanwei

Nominations for the 63rd Grammy Awards were revealed on November 24. BTS has become the first-ever Korean group to receive nomination from the prestigious music award.

BTS is nominated in the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance category for their megahit English single Dynamite, alongside Intentions by Justin Bieber and Quavo, Rain on Me by Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande, Exile by Taylor Swift and Bon Iver, and Un Dia by J. Balvin, Dua Lipa, Bad Bunny and Tainy. Previously, the group won Top Duo/Group award at the 2020 Billboard Music Awards as well as Favorite Duo or Group – Pop/Rock and Favorite Social Artist awards at the 2020 American Music Awards.

The 63rd Annual Grammy Awards presentation ceremony will be held on January 31 next year.

Text / Violet

Taiwan's 57th Golden Horse Film Awards were held on November 21. Chen Yu Hsun's fantasy romance My Missing Valentine, which had led with 11 nominations, became the biggest winner with five prizes including Best Film, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Editing and Best Visual Effects.

81-year-old veteran actress Grace Chen made history as the oldest recipient of Best Actress for Little Big Women, and also the first actress to receive both acting awards as she also won Best Supporting Actress for Dear Tenant. Following his win at the Taipei Film Awards, Morning Mo was again crowned Best Actor for Dear Tenant. Na Dow won Best Supporting Actor for the first time for his performance in Classmates Minus. Best New Direcor went to Chong Keat Aun for The Story of Southern Islet, and Best New Performer to The Silent Forest's Chen Yan Fei.

Your Name Engraved Herein picked up two prizes, Best Cinematography and Best Original Film Song for Crowd Lu's same-titled theme song. Other technical prizes were distributed evenly to Classmates Minus (Best Art Direction), Number 1 (Best Makeup & Costume Design), The Silent Forest (Best Sound Effects), Dear Tenants (Best Film Score) and Get the Hell Out (Best Action Choreography). Hong Kong film Beyond the Dream was awarded Best Adapted Screenplay. Lost Course was named the Best Documentary, and City of Lost Things the Best Animation Feature. For short films, Night is Young was recognized as the Best Live Action Short Film and Night Bus as the Best Animated Short Film.

As previously announced, legendary filmmaker Hou Hsiao Hsien was honored with this year's Lifetime Achievement Award.

Text / Sanwei

Nominations for China's 33rd Golden Rooster Awards were recently announced. Derek Tsang's youth drama Better Days, which took the top prizes at the Hong Kong Film Awards earlier in the year, leads with 11 nominations including Best Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay. Zhou Dongyu will look to add to her growing collection of Best Actress hardware, and Jackson Yee scored another Best Actor nomination for his film debut.

Better Days is up against Wang Rui's Inner Mongolia-set Chaogtu with Sarula, Peter Chan's biographical sports drama Leap, Yang Lina's family drama Spring Tide, Sam Quah's thriller Sheep Without a Shepherd and the anthology My People, My Country for Best Film. Wang Rui, Peter Chan, Yang Lina and My People, My Country's directing lineup of Chen Kaige, Zhang Yibai, Guan Hu, Xue Xiaolu, Xu Zheng, Ning Hao and Wen Muye are also nominated for Best Director, along with Almost a Comedy's Zhou Shen and Liu Lu.

Besides Jackson Yee, the Best Actor shortlist includes Da Peng (My Dear Liar), Xiao Yang (Sheep Without a Shepherd), Wu Yuhan (Almost a Comedy) and Huang Xiaoming (The Bravest), who recently won at the Hundred Flower Awards. Zhou Dongyu is joined in the Best Actress race by Ren Suxi (Almost a Comedy), Liu Yan (My Dear Liar), Zhu Xijuan (The Empty Nest) and Tan Zhuo (Sheep Without a Shepherd).

Yin Xiaotian (The Bravest), Wu Gang (Leap), Zhang Yi (The Climbers), Oho Ou (The Captain) and Huang Jue (Better Days) are nominated for Best Supporting Actor, while Best Supporting Actress nods go to Zhang Xiran (Sheep Without a Shepherd), Zhou Ye (Better Days), Zhao Haiyan (Almost a Comedy) and Yolanda Yuan (The Captain).

The 33rd Golden Rooster Awards will be held in Xiamen on November 28.

Text / Sanwei

The winners of the 14th Asian Film Awards were announced online on October 28. Bong Joon Ho's Parasite was the biggest winner with four prizes, including Best Film, Best Screenplay, Best Production Design and Best Editing.

Chinese auteur Wang Xiaoshuai won Best Director for So Long, My Son. Best Actor went to Lee Byung Hun for the Korean political thriller The Man Standing Next. Zhou Dongyu was crowned Best Actress for her performance in Derek Tsang's Better Days, and her co-star Jackson Yee won Best Newcomer.

Samantha Ko from the Taiwan drama A Sun received Best Supporting Actress, while Kase Ryo was named Best Supporting Actor for his role in Kurosawa Kiyoshi's To the Ends of the Earth. Best New Director was awarded to Japanese filmmaker Hikari for 37 Seconds.

Technical prizes went to The Wild Goose Lake (Best Cinematography), Listen to the Universe (Best Sound), Detention (Best Visual Effects) and Happy Old Year (Best Costume Design). Bollywood blockbuster Gully Boy won Best Original Music (Karsh Kale and The Salvage Audio Collective).

Due to the pandemic, this year's Asian Film Awards ceremony was cancelled. Instead, the winners and the presenters – including Kore-eda Hirokazu, Lee Chang Dong, Anthony Chen, Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit, Yang Ik Joon, Johnny Huang, Kara Hui, Samal Yeslyamova and Yakusho Koji – recorded videos of the award announcements and acceptance speeches.

Text / Sanwei

tvN's new drama Birthcare Center is set to premiere on November 2. Eight months after The Cursed, Uhm Ji Won stars in her second TV drama of the year along with Park Ha Sun, who returns a year after Love Affairs in the Afternoon.

Directed by Park Su Won (Big Forest) and written by Kim Ji Soo (The Idle Mermaid), Birthcare Center revolves around the happenings in a postnatal care center and the growth of new moms. Oh Hyun Jin (played by Uhm Ji Won), who is the youngest executive of a company, is good at almost everything but barely knows anything about bringing up children. After giving birth to her first child, she stays at the birthcare center and meets other mothers, including "queen bee" Jo Eun Jung (played by Park Ha Sun). Jang Hye Jin (Crash Landing on You) takes the role of Choi Hye Sook, the owner of the center. Yoon Park (Beautiful Love, Wonderful Life) and Jung Sung Il (Stranger 2) star as the husbands of Oh Hyun Jin and Jo Eun Jung, respectively. Choi Ri (My First First Love), Lim Hwa Young (Prison Playbook) and Nam Yoon Su (Extracurricular) also co-star in the medical melodrama.

Birthcare Center will take over the timeslot of Record of Youth.

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The 29th Buil Film Awards was held at the BEXCO Auditorium in Busan on October 22. House of Hummingbird won Best Film and Best Screenplay for writer-director Kim Bo Ra, while Tune in For Love's Jung Ji Woo was recognized as Best Director. Following the Daejong Film Awards, Lee Byung Hun (The Man Standing Next) and Jung Yoo Mi ( Kim Ji-Young, Born 1982) again took home the Best Actor and Actress trophies.

The Man Standing Next's Lee Hee Joon and Peninsula's Lee Re walked away with Best Supporting Actor and Actress awards, while Popular Star Awards were presented to Kang Dong Won (Peninsula) and Seo Ye Ji (By Quantum Physics: A Nightlife Venture). For rookie awards, Best New Director and Best New Actor went to Tiny Light's Cho Min Jae and Clean Up's Kim Dae Gon, respectively. Luck Chan-Sil's Kang Mal Geum received Best New Actress again after winning the same award at the 56th Baeksang Arts Awards.

Deliver Us from Evil collected Best Cinematography (Hong Kyung Pyo) and Best Art Direction (Lee Gun Moon) prizes, while the winner of Best Music was Tune in For Love's music director Yeon Ri Mok. The Yu Hyun Mok Film Arts Award went to film producer Kim Il Kwon (Tiny Light).

Text / Violet

The 30th China TV Golden Eagle Awards were held on October 18. Simon Yam was crowned Best Actor for One Dream One Home, and Tong Yao won Best Actress for Like a Flowing River. The period drama Diplomatic Situation won Best Television Series and Best Screenplay. Kong Sheng won Best Director for Like a Flowing River.

Like a Flowing River, All is Well, The Story of Minglan, The Longest Day in Chang'an, The Thunder, A Little Reunion and Gong Chan Dang Yuan Liu Shaoqi were all named Outstanding Television Series. The Longest Day in Chang'an also won Best Cinematography.

Gank Your Heart's Wang Yibo and The Story of Minglan's Zhao Liying, who are also co-stars in the upcoming The Legend of Fei, topped online voting as the Audience's Choice for Actor and Actress. Victoria Song, who starred in the popular dramas Moonshine and Valentine and Find Yourself, was crowned as the ceremony's "Golden Eagle Goddess." Past recipients of this coveted title include Dilraba Dilmurat, Tiffany Tang, Zhao Liying, Liu Shishi, Wang Luodan, Li Xiaolu and Crystal Liu.

Text / Sanwei

Stranger 2's Lee Joon Hyuk is confirmed to lead OCN's upcoming sci-fi action thriller Dark Hole with Kim Ok Bin, who returns more than a year after Arthdal Chronicles. Dark Hole is the fifth drama of the OCN Dramatic Cinema project following Trap, Hell is Other People, Team Bulldog: Off-Duty Investigation and Search.

Dark Hole will be helmed by director Kim Bong Ju (The Phone) and screenwriter Jung Yi Do, whose previous works include OCN's Hell is Other People and Save Me. The action thriller captures the fight for survival when mysterious dark smoke from a sinkhole causes people to become mutants. Kim Ok Bin plays police detective Lee Hwa Sun, who discovers the strange sinkhole after receiving a phone call from her husband's killer. Lee Joon Hyuk takes the role of righteous and easygoing wrecker driver Yoo Tae Han. He used to be a police officer, but he left the force due to some rumors and misunderstandings.

Dark Hole is slated to air in the first half of 2021.

Text / Violet

Nominations for Taiwan's 57th Golden Horse Awards were recently announced. Chen Yu Hsun's fantasy romance My Missing Valentine leads with 11 nominations including Best Film Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actress for Patty Lee, and Best Actor for Liu Kuan Ting. The other four contenders for Best Film are Tsai Ming Liang's Days, Huang Hsin Yao's Classmates Minus, Cheng Yu Chieh's Dear Tenant and Kelvin Chan's Hand-rolled Cigarette. Tsai Ming Liang, Huang Hsin Yao and Cheng Yu Chieh are also nominated for Best Director along with Fruit Chan for The Abortionist.

Liu Kuan Ting, who was last year's Best Supporting Actor winner, competes against Morning Mo (Dear Tenant), Austin Lin (I WeirDo), Singapore actor Mark Lee (Number 1) and Hong Kong actor Gordon Lam (Hand-rolled Cigarette) for Best Actor. Past winner Guey Lun Mei (A Leg), Nikki Hsieh (I WeirDo), Grace Chen (Little Big Women) and Bai Ling (The Abortionist) join Patty Lee in the Best Actress race. Nikki Hsieh and Grace Chen also both received Best Supporting Actress nods for Little Big Women and Dear Tenant, respectively. They're up against Francesca Kao (Get the Hell Out), Chang Ya Ling (Mickey on the Road) and Vera Chan (The Rope Curse 2) in this category.

Classmates Minus earned two Best Supporting actor nods for Na Dow and Cheng Jen Shuo. Also nominated are Chang Shao Huai (A Leg), Korean actor Kim Hyun Bin (The Silent Forest) and Leon Dai from Your Name Engraved Herein, which garnered a Best Newcomer nod for Edward Chen as well. Wu Yi Jung (Dear Orange), Buffy Chen (Silent Forest), Heyo (The Way We Keep Dancing) and Terrance Lau (Beyond the Dream) make up the rest of the Best Newcomer shortlist. Kelvin Chan, Liao Ming Yi (I WeirDo), Joseph Hsu (Little Big Women), Ko Chen Nien (Silent Forest) and Chong Keat Aun (The Story of Southern Islet) are shortlisted in the Best New Director category.

Legendary filmmaker Hou Hsiao Hsien will be the recipient of this year's Lifetime Achievement Award.

The 57th Golden Horse Awards will be held on November 21. The complete nomination list can be found on the Golden Horse Awards' official site (Chinese only).

Text / Sanwei

The winners of the 31st Golden Melody Awards were announced on October 3. Paiwanese singer A Bao, who got eight nominations, garnered three awards in the end, including Album of the Year (Kinakaian), Song of the Year (Thank You) and Best Aboriginal Album (Kinakaian). Joanna Wang's Love is Calling Me was presented Best Mandarin Album while Best Taiwanese Album went to LTK Commune's Makeover.

Waa Wei (Hidden, Not Forgotten) and Wu Qing Feng (Spaceman) were crowned Best Female and Male Mandarin Singer. Chick en Chicks (Beat Maker) was recognized as the Best Vocal Group, and Chih Siou walked away with the Best New Artist award. Best Composer, Best Lyricist and Best Music Arranger prizes went to first-time winners Yu Pei Zhen ("The Wedding"), Hsieh Ming Yu ("Road") and KOBUDO (Peggy Hsu's "Ikusa"), respectively. For the Producer of the Year awards, Hsieh Ming Yu ("Road") came first in the single category, and Sandee Chan ( Juvenile A) triumphed in the album race. FIRE EX. gained the title of Best Band with their album Stand Up Like A Taiwanese.

G.E.M. collected the Jury Award for her self-produced album City Zoo. Angel Chu (Blooming) and Justin Su (We All Have Good Nature) picked up the Best Female and Male Taiwanese Singer awards. Misa won both Best Hakka Singer and Best Hakka Album with The Ship of Fools. Taiwan indigenous singer Ceko (Ceko Tribute to Falangaw) was the winner of Best Aboriginal Singer. The Special Contribution Award was presented to renowned drummer Rich Huang.

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Translation / Violet

Ji Chang Wook, Kim Ji Won and Kim Min Seok are confirmed to star in the new Kakao TV drama City Couple's Way of Love: My Lovely Camera Thief. Ji Chang Wook swiftly returns with a new drama after Backstreet Rookie, while Kim Ji Won makes her small-screen comeback a year after Arthdal Chronicles. The web drama also marks Kim Min Seok's (Because This is My First Life) first drama appearance after his military discharge.

Helmed by It's Okay to Not Be Okay director Park Shin Woo and Romance is a Bonus Book writer Jung Hyun Jung, City Couple's Way of Love: My Lovely Camera Thief conveys the realistic love stories of young people who are striving to live in the complicated and hectic city. Ji Chang Wook plays frank and enthusiastic architect Park Jae Won, who loves street alleys and has many hobbies. Kim Ji Won is freelance marketer Lee Eun Oh, who loves to explore strange places with a fake identity and no plans. One time, while disguising as the free-spirited Yoon Sun Ah, she meets Park Jae Won and falls in love with him. Kim Min Seok takes the role of realistic and sensible architect Choi Kyung Joon, who can't stand it when people treat his girlfriend badly.

City Couple's Way of Love: My Lovely Camera Thief will air on Kakao TV in 2020.

Text / Violet