Together Channel V, the largest music media company in Asia, China Central Television (CCTV) and the Shanghai Media Group (SMG) are going to find the answers by gathering millions of votes from Chinese pop music fans around the globe.

Voting, which began last week, will be made online, by telephone hotline and through ballot boxes in discos, pubs, shopping centers, cafes and on campuses. When the final count is in, the winners will be announced at the Chinese Music Awards on January 19, to be held at a gala concert in Shanghai.

The concert will be broadcast live to 53 countries around the world via Channel V.

Since October, Channel V has launched a series of musical events entitled "Made in China" to promote Chinese pop music worldwide to make it better known.

"We should make every effort to change people's prejudice against things, including music, that are 'made in China.' They are no longer sub-standard and low-priced. Instead, we Chinese should be proud of them," said Li Dai, general manager of Channel V China.

The slogan has also won the approval of musicians. Popular composer and producer Zhang Yadong said: "To promote music 'made in China,' we should first get to know the world market well and learn more from the West's highly developed pop music industry. Then we can find and develop our own characteristics and show them to the world."

The awards include ones for the Most Popular Song, Most Popular Male Singer, Most Popular Female Singer, Most Popular Band, Most Popular Newcomer and Most Popular Music Video.

On the list of the candidates for the best song, best male and female singers, best music group or band, as well as best new face, are 80 from the Chinese mainland and 94 from Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Interestingly enough, the candidates for the best male and female singers appeal to a wide age range of pop music fans.

For instance, Song Zuying, Peng Liyuan and Zhang Ye have always been labeled on the Chinese mainland as contemporary folk singers, whose music appeals mostly to middle-aged audiences.

By contrast, Taiwan-based Jay Zhou, whose three hits are among the nominees for the best song and who himself is a candidate to take the best male singer award, is something of a music world teen idol.

The category for the creative award lists only 14 mainland singers, groups or bands, including The Yis' Creation, a band of three singers of the Yi ethnic group from Southwest China's Sichuan Province.

Acclaimed as China's answer to the Grammy Awards, Channel V held its first Chinese Music Awards in 1994. Its raison d'etre is to promote putonghua pop music throughout the world, improve communication between Chinese composers, producers, singers and their international counterparts, and also discover new faces in the music industry.

(China Daily December 10, 2002)