New Taipei has opened a singing contest for workers to migrant workers for the first time this year in its 16-year history, giving more people a chance at the NT$300,000 (US$10,073) in prize money, the city’s Labor Affairs Department said Tuesday.

“The 2022 Labor Star Singing Competition,” which begins with a preliminary round on July 23, will include a “Migrant group” category for migrant workers 18 and above who have lived or worked in the city in the past three years.

Other groups in the competition are for Taiwanese — the “Vitality star group” for people 18-45 and the “Charming star group” for those over 46.

Registration is from June 13 until 6 p.m. on July 15.

The preliminary round for migrant workers will be held on Aug. 7. They will have to sing one of 140 pre-selected Mandarin and Taiwanese songs listed on the event’s website, and will not be allowed to bring their own musical accompaniment, the Labor Affairs Department said.

Though many of Taiwan’s migrant workers come from Southeast Asia, they are being asked to sing Mandarin or Taiwanese songs to promote music in languages used in Taiwan, Lee Wen-huan (???), chief of the department’s Labor Education and Recreation Division, told CNA.

They will be judged on their pitch skills (40%), tone and emotion (40%), showmanship (10%), and styling (10%). The top 20 migrant worker contestants will advance to the semifinals, which will take place on Aug. 28, according to the city department.

The top 10 will make it to the finals on Sept. 25, where the champion will win a NT$30,000 prize, and prizes of NT$20,000, NT$15,000, NT$10,000, and NT$6,000 will go the next top four finishers, respectively.

The others finishing in the top 10 will each get a prize of NT$3,000.

There was a total of 86,870 migrant workers in New Taipei, according to Ministry of Labor statistics at the end of April.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel