Tia Ray Is Top Winner at China’s 2nd Wave Music Awards

Tia Ray was the top winner at China’s 2nd Wave Music Awards, which were presented in Beijing on June 20. The event was initiated by the Wave Music Committee and organized by Tencent Music Entertainment Group (TME), an online music platform in China.

Tia Ray (born Yuan Yawei) won the best female singer award, and also received honors for record of the year and best pop album for Allure.

Tia Ray, 39, a singer-songwriter from Hunan, China, rose to fame in 2012 as a contestant on the televised singing competition The Voice of China. She has since released four albums, all of which she co-wrote and co-produced.

After almost three months of evaluation, the Wave Music Awards selected the most representative Chinese music works from nearly 10,000 new songs and more than 500 albums released in 2023. A total of 35 awards were presented across seven categories, including singer, style, creation and technology.

Album of the year was awarded to Flow by Faith Yang, 50. Song of the year went to “Mother and Daughter” by Huang Qishan, 56, and Curley G, 25.

Other highlights included best male singer won by JJ Lin, and best group, which was awarded to Radio Mars. Leah Dou’s “Monday” won best pop song, while Chinese rock band Young Drug’s “Flower” earned the best rock song award.

The Wave Music Awards also presented honors in the fields of creation and technology. Dao Lang’s “Luocha Haishi” won best lyrics, JJ Lin’s “Dust and Ashes” won best composition, Jude Qiu’s “Please Unfriend Leo” won best arrangement, Xu Jun’s “OPEN IT” won best album production, “The Source of Life” by Lowell Lo and Jonathan Lee won best single production, Faith Yang’s “Flow” got best recording studio engineering album and Eason Chan’s “Something Missing” won best music video.

The ceremony also featured performances by 11 artists with diverse styles. Such award winners as Huang Qishan, Yu Kewei, Leah Dou, Young Drug performed their honored works.