Malaysian fans may be looking forward to this year's Taiwan Golden Melody Awards after Malaysian singers Fish Leong, Namewee and Penny Tai made it to the list of nominees unveiled on Wednesday (July 15).

Leong, who released The Sun Also Rises - her first album in seven years - in 2019, will be in the running for Best Female Vocalist - Mandarin.

The 42-year-old ballad queen will be up against several big names in the Mandopop field - G.E.M., Joanna Wang, Peggy Hsu, Faith Yang and Waa Wei.

This is the sixth nomination in the category for Leong and she has not won before. She divorced her husband of nine years, Taiwanese businessman Tony Chao, in 2019.

Malaysian rapper Namewee, who released his latest album Calling Asia last December, is nominated for Best Male Vocalist - Mandarin.

The 37-year-old will be up against big names like Wakin Chau, Chang Chen-yue and sodagreen's Wu Ching-feng.

Namewee, whose real name is Wee Meng Chee, was previously nominated in the category in 2016 and 2017, after he released his albums Asian Killer and Cross Over Asia respectively.

His song Ghost Island, featuring Taiwanese rapper Dwagie, is up for Song of the Year.

Penny Tai, who fronts the rock band Buddha Jump, will be competing for the Best Recording Package and Best Vocal Recording Album awards for the album BJ Shop.

Taiwanese aboriginal singer Abao is the biggest winner with eight nominations, including for Album of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Composer.

The Golden Melody Awards were originally scheduled to be held in June, but were postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. They will now be held on Oct 3.