Tanya Chua wins Best Original Song at Busan awards show
Singaporean singer-songwriter Tanya Chua has another feather to add to her cap.
On Oct 6, the 49-year-old took home the inaugural Best Original Song trophy at the Asia Contents Awards & Global OTT Awards held in Busan, South Korea for Learn To Live Again, the theme song she wrote for the critically acclaimed Taiwanese drama Imperfect Us (2024).
The awards ceremony – which recognises entertainment content from Asia, including those from over-the-top (OTT) streaming services – is co-organised by the Busan International Film Festival.
This is the first year the Best Original Song category was introduced to Asia Contents Awards & Global OTT Awards, which is in its sixth edition.
Chua, who showed up at the ceremony in a belted white gown, said the award means a lot to her as Imperfect Us marked the first time she wrote and scored a soundtrack for a drama series.
The home-grown star, who won Best Mandarin Female Singer at the Golden Melody Awards a record four times, is credited with writing the music on the entire soundtrack.
Imperfect Us is directed by famed screenwriter and film-maker Mag Hsu (Dear Ex, 2018) and chronicles the complex emotions and relationships between three people, years after they were embroiled in a love triangle. The cast includes Taiwanese stars Ariel Lin, Tiffany Hsu, Mike He and Kai Ko.
Speaking in English during her acceptance speech, Chua said: “This is a song about learning to be kind, not just to others, but also to ourselves, even if the odds are against us. Thanks to Mag Hsu for inviting me to be part of such a beautiful and humane story.”
Chua edged out competition from hit K-romance Lovely Runner’s theme song Sudden Shower, Thai boys love series Only Friends’ theme song Let’s Try and Indian period series Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar’s Sakal Ban.
Chua is also nominated for Best Original Song at the Golden Bell Awards, to be held in Taipei on Oct 19, for the song Finland – another track she wrote for Imperfect Us.
Imperfect Us, which was the most nominated work going into the night, also scored Best Lead Actress for Lin, who choked up as she gave an acceptance speech in a mix of English and Korean.
She said: “I truly believe that a good script can let people feel understood and it can be very inspirational and it can show people what the truly important things are.”
Chinese actor Hu Ge was named Best Lead Actor for his performance in Hong Kong auteur Wong Kar-wai’s period drama series Blossoms Shanghai, which also snagged the top prize of Best Creative.
The Asia Contents Awards & Global OTT Awards was a star-studded affair, attended by talents across Asia, including Taiwanese actress Alice Ko and Japanese actor Hidetoshi Nishijima. It was hosted by K-pop girl group Girls’ Generation member Tiffany Young and South Korean actor Kang Ki-young of K-drama Extraordinary Attorney Woo (2022) fame.
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