HONG KONG, June 8(AP) -- Taiwanese and Hong Kong singers have long dominated the Golden Melody Awards _ one of the Chinese-language music industry's biggest events.

But at Saturday's ceremony in Taipei, outstanding talents from Malaysia and Singapore will be hoping to haul away many of the top honors, especially in the competition for best female Mandarin singer. Nominees in that category include Singaporeans Stefanie Sun and Tanya Chua, along with Fish Leong and Penny Tai of Malaysia.

Tai is also up for best Mandarin pop record for her album "Crazy Love," and the best composer and best producer awards. Chua is also competing in the best Mandarin record category with "Amphibian."

The multinational mix is testimony to the wide reach of Chinese pop. Wherever there are ethnic Chinese, there are Chinese pop fans.

While they live in different countries with sometimes conflicting political ideologies, one thing that unites Chinese communities around the world is their passion for pop music in their native tongue.

It's common for Chinese pop stars to go on world tours that reach as far as Toronto or Atlantic City, where they can count on enthusiastic fans to fill concert halls.

Southeast Asia also provides one of the biggest fan bases outside mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Ethnic Chinese make up 77 percent of Singapore's population of 4.3 million. About a quarter of the 26 million people in neighboring Malaysia are Chinese.

It's against this demographic backdrop that pop stars like Sun, Chua, Leong and Tai made their way into the Chinese pop world.

Record executives have been keeping an eye out for local talent in Malaysia and Singapore.

Music label Rock Records of Taiwan, a hub for Chinese pop, has offices in both countries. Leong worked at the Malaysian office, which led to an acquaintance with famed singer-songwriter and producer Jonathan Lee, who helped her break into the industry.

One of Sun's early brushes with the music industry came when she paid a visit to Hong Kong pop diva Sammi Cheng, then signed to Warner Music, which later added Sun to its roster. Sun won the Golden Melody last year for best female artist.

"There are just so many outstanding musical talents in the Chinese music world," said William Hsu, head of Warner Music Taiwan's domestic music division.

While the aspiring Malaysian and Singaporean singers share a common Chinese heritage, they need to water down their local cultural nuances to appeal to a broader market, Hsu said. Some need to change their accents to better suit mainstream Chinese tastes.

Leong has tripped herself up; she admits that while speaking in public she has used the term "shuang," or "good feeling" _ a phrase that has sexual connotations in some Chinese communities but not in her native Malaysia.

In the former British colony of Singapore, where English is commonly spoken, the Western influences in locally produced music show. Chua started out performing songs in English, but she wrote new Chinese lyrics to some of those songs when she ventured into the Chinese market.

Sun performed U.S. singer Tori Amos' "Silent All These Years" and The Beatles' "Hey Jude" during her 2002 concert tour.

It can also be a tough transition relocating to a new country. Taiwan-based Leong posts messages revealing her homesickness on her official Web site.

"They have to deal with being alone in a new place. ... The record company staff are really caring, telling them about good restaurants and places to have fun, but after all this is their second home," said an artist management staff member at Taiwan's Rock Records. She declined to give her name because she isn't authorized to speak to the media.

For Singaporean and Malaysian artists, leaving home is a necessity because local fans don't generate enough album sales to sustain a successful career, Hsu said.

"Chinese-language record sales in Singapore and Malaysia are so low that the local singers basically don't make money there. All Singapore and Malaysian artists have to release albums in Hong Kong, Taiwan or mainland China if they want to accomplish something," he said.