Diary of a CEO

this is a new template from blog, since I am away from the blog for some days, so, need a couple of minutes to catch up, today, I would like to document the " Golden Melody Award " Judge record before my memory washed away; the invitation as one of the judge panel come right before Chinese New Year, an old friend from GIO ring me for consultation the potential judge candidate, I didn’t know that I am one of the candidate before although I was privately asked during some activity encountering with staff from GIO; then after Chinese New Year- something during the mid-late Feb. I receive the invitation call and ask to attend the first judge panel meeting, since the schedule conflict with the budget meeting in Tokyo, so, I miss this first gathering to " Know " all the judges, when returning from Tokyo, Miss Liu -- the chief judge elected by all the judges from the kick off meeting call me and check if I need any help from her, I said no, then the following day, 3 boxes of CD samples send to my office - the I realized that I need to " Listen " to almost 2000 songs in 5 weeks and rating for those who apply the awards in varies category. this is a heavy job, as you need to spend decent time to digest all the songs and make judgment accordingly.

I brought back this huge catalog and review the applicant and companies -- since the category of awards are so diversify -- from singer / arranger to lyric and song writer, dialect and aboriginal singer as well; some of the music is very new to me, some of the CD I never saw them in the record shop... the listening journey began and the tune and songs flying all over my brain for almost 4 weeks -- the first judge meeting held in March where we need to pick the top 10 or top what ever among all the applications, we spend 2 full days to come up with the final top 10 list in all the category , the discussion is interesting since the total judge is 19, voting or submitting the paper all take times, and the combination of judges are diversify as well, a few famous DJ -- they listen to all pop music all day , some senior producers -- they have there own value to music, some engineers -- they are picky at what they here ( the quality of sound ), some represent the niche music groups ( such as Hakka and Aboriginals ) new and old, conservative and progressive mixed up the panel, which is good, the dialogue is so vivid, the most interesting part is once the top list is identified, any one have objection and want to " save " those behind top 10, can raise his / her hand, promote his idea of why we should reconsider this result -- we call it " Turn Around Case " if his promotion fashioned with other judged, then we will conduct a new round of voting and see if half of the present judge favor this new decision.

after 2 days of top 10 list, we have a day break for GIO preparing the paper for final nominee, then we come up with the nominee on each award category as the 15th anniversary Golden Melody Awards Nominee, when submit it to GIO, they held a press conference and the next day it turn to be the headline of all the entertainment news, this is one month before the ceremony and before we deliver the winner.

Final judgment take place on the same day of ceremony -- this year, May8th, it's been quite for sometimes, Miss Liu called and asked if everything is alright with me, or do I receive any hassle phone for lobbying ? no one call me indeed and I thinks no one ( in the music industry ) know I am the judge for this campaign, one the final judgment day, everyone is nervous, who ever wins means some will loose, every year, judge panel receive different complain or criticized after deliver the winners' envelope, last year was so terrible, the chief judge act as the spokesperson on behalf of the panel and upset almost all the media, the final result surprise a lot of people as well, as GIO is under great pressure to select judge this year, May 8th is a Saturday, we were told to walk the red carpet as all the artist before the ceremony, so, every judge is dressed up, I arrived at GIO by 10 in the morning and notice a different air, someone told me entertainment newspaper release some comments and opinions from our judges- we are not suppose to reveal our identity before the ceremony, but as we know -- DJ'S they talking and they playing music, their profession is talking music, how can you zip their mouth, especially when it come to a media vs media situation, it cause a little commotion, but the process of judge discussion goes as usual, from the nominees, we pick the top 3 to be discussed in the afternoon, the conversation in this discussion is the most serious one, after long battle of discussion -- 2 turn around case survive one is the best lyric writer, the other the best aboriginal album of the year-- I didn't feel the importance until I sit in the ceremony and saw the winners.....

it was 4:30 pm, we submit the final candidate -- which is the winner, then 2 judge panel ( traditional and POP ) gathering in one conference room to hear the announcement from GIO, 5:00 pm, our dinner box is ready, after the meal, bus drove us to Sun Yin Yang memorial hall, ceremony was late for 20 minutes, due to the rain ? shall be late for the artist, and last for 4 hours , from 7:20 to almost midnight, I didn't sit for the whole show but I do witness the changes we made and how it made someone's day, when best lyric writer were announced, his mother and brother are so exciting, they accept the award on behalf of Sun Yueh Ting who were passed away before the ceremony, his mother said to all the audience ( and the viewer in front of TV ) , She said, I dream of my son the other day, I am the music angle in my world, whenever there's a new person listen to my music, I will grow another feather, now , you can see, how beauty my wings are .... everyone is touched by the mother's tone... the judges make a long discussion in deciding who should win this category; best aboriginal album is a big turn, when discussed in the meeting, KWANG was not even win one third of the total votes, Mr. Kao, the aboriginal judges strongly protest this result and making every effort to convince all the judges we are not deliver a right answers, we all respect his nature and native, so, exclude me, all the judges vote again and having Kwang as the winner ... when on stage, the presenter announce the winner, Kwang, his brother and their father -- a one hundred year old elder man was carried to the stage together, they are wearing traditional tribe custom and singing their song on stage, this scene touched me so deeply, I left after this cause my mission as the judge complete.

next day, I watched the reply of ceremony on TV with my wife, best make singer of the year -- Sky Wu, been nominees 7 times after he won the best new artist of the year 10 more year ago, he share his gratitude on stage, surprise, my name was mentioned, me and my wife are both surprised and touched, I am away from the industry for 3 years and no one knows I am the judge this year... after all these yeas, I found that I do make some friend in the world of entertainment.

the after award meeting is scheduled on the 27th, I will be there and or reiterate my philosophy of " Measurement", how to pick the right winner -- from quality ( the judge specify ), quantity ( voice of media and sales of market ) and the average ( what impact the most now and will carry over ), in some niche category, we may need to design a " weight " for those who really are expert to the genre.

This is a recap of golden melody this year.

posted by Roger @ 5/13/2004 09:40:00 上午