Independent Musician PiA Wu Bei-ya Wins Best Taiwanese Female Singer at Golden Melody Awards

Independent musician PiA Wu Bei-ya clinched the coveted Best Taiwanese Female Singer award at the 37th Golden Melody Awards, a significant achievement after a fiercely contested final round. She narrowly edged out the highly favored Bai Bing-bing and her close friend Cheng I-nung in the third round of voting.

During the celebratory press conference, Wu Bei-ya humbly acknowledged Bai Bing-bing's "generosity" in conceding the award. She expressed surprise and a touch of nervousness upon learning she had battled her friend Cheng I-nung until the very last stage of the competition. "Wow, I was really sweating," she admitted, adding that Cheng I-nung is a senior artist and likely wouldn't mind the close competition.

Wu Bei-ya revealed the considerable personal investment in her music career, stating she has self-funded at least NT$6 million over 16 years in the independent music scene. Consequently, her immediate thought upon receiving the NT$100,000 prize money was to allocate it towards her studio's rent. "My first thought was: I need to use this to pay my studio's rent!" she exclaimed.

Responding to the question of "beating Sister Bing-bing," Wu Bei-ya laughed, attributing her win to the judges' desire to encourage "more interesting themes or singers." She explained that her award-winning album is rooted in Taiwanese Hokkien but also incorporates elements of indigenous languages, Hakka, Japanese, and Mandarin. She shared that Bai Bing-bing had expressed sympathy upon learning about her self-funded journey, saying, "Oh, you poor thing."

Reflecting on her journey, Wu Bei-ya recalled her parents' initial opposition due to her unstable income. However, meeting her mentor Chen Sheng provided reassurance. Chen Sheng, unable to attend the celebration, sent a bottle of wine with a note saying, "Wine represents me," a gesture that deeply moved her. Now a Golden Melody Award winner, Wu Bei-ya humorously hopes her performance fees will increase, suggesting a 20% rise, a thought she intended to announce during her acceptance speech but forgot in her excitement.