Band Sodagreen was nominated in seven categories at this year's Golden Melody Award.[Photo: sina.com.cn]

Independent pop band Sodagreen from Taiwan received seven 18th Golden Melody Award nominations for their album "Little Universe" on Friday, making them this year's dark horse.

Lim Sen Siong was next in line with six nominations for his album "Plant Trees", which was recorded in the Hakka dialect from south China.

Female songstress Zhang Xuan received four nomination for the high musical quality and record sales of her long-anticipated first album, "My Life Will...". The album was released in 2006 after more than six years of contract disputes.

Underground bands dominated the Best Bands nominations this year. Even last year's winner, Mayday, dropped off the list of nominees this year.

Despite this trend, six nominations went to big names like Jay Chow, David Tao, Jolin Tsai and Karen Mok.

Jay Chow and Jolin Tsai, who have been romantically linked in the past, will compete for awards in two categories, "The Songs of the Year" and "Best Producer for Single".

R&B singer David Tao was nominated for the Best Male Singer award for the sixth time.

The Special Contribution Award will go to the late Taiwan musician Chang Hung-Yi.

Unlike last year, the pop music awards will be bestowed in a separate ceremony to the awards for traditional and artistic music. The pop music awards night will be held at Taipei's Little Dome on June 16. The traditional and artistic awards ceremony will be held at Liberty Square on June 2.