The inaugural LION AWARDS are happening this weekend!

Presented by LIONS SHARE, the first edition will be livestreamed on Twitch from 21 May to 23 May. The awards aim to highlight the outstanding works of Asian creators and will celebrate the wide diversity that exists in Asian culture. They will also raise funds for the non-profit organisation Hate Is A Virus, a top charity supporting AAPI communities. 

“Today there is no shortage of amazing Asian creatives and organizations, but they are often separated and siloed by their creative focuses or regions. Film over there, food over here. Loving Asian films doesn't come at the expense of loving Asian food, so why not bring the communities from both sides together? That's what The LION AWARDS strives to do: be a one stop shop to celebrate, fundraise, empower and inspire Asians worldwide,” said LIONS SHARE's founders Cathleen Cher and Allyson Toy. 

Allow us to reintroduce ourselves 🦁 Uplift Asian creators by voting for #TheLIONAWARDS now at https://t.co/FQtcAxVvgp! pic.twitter.com/AFCAoowhTP

— LIONS SHARE (@lionsshareworld) May 5, 2021

The top five finalists for each category have already been voted on and chosen by fans from 3 May to 17 May, and winners will be announced on the livestreamed show.

You can stream days one and two of the awards on 21 and 22 May from 4pm to 7.30pm PDT (22 and 23 May, 7am to 10.30am SG/PH Time, 6am to 9.30am ID/TH Time).

Day three will stream on 23 May from 4pm to 8pm PDT (24 May, 7am to 11am SG/PH Time, 6am to 10am ID/TH Time).

May 21-23, you'll vote with our judges to decide the winners of the first LION AWARDS🦁 Each of our guests is a special creator at the top of their game, opening doors for the culture#TheLIONAWARDS is raising $50K for @hateisavirus, donate and vote at https://t.co/FQtcAyd6EZ pic.twitter.com/pwic28NB8N

— LIONS SHARE (@lionsshareworld) May 11, 2021

The awards will feature a star-studded panel of judges, including singer-songwriter Yuna, rapper MC Jin, and actor/rapper Tim Chantarangsu. There will also be short interlude segments called "Culture Breaks" that will showcase performances from top artists and personalities from various fields. 

One of the highlights is a four-way rap battle between Yung Raja, Jason Chu, Bohan Phoenix, and Guapdad 4000. Fans will get to vote on Twitch to decide which rapper emerges victorious and who gets eliminated. 

For the Album of the Year category, the top five nominees are BTS, BLACKPINK, Joji, Conan Gray, and keshi. This category is open to artists who have released albums from 2020-2021 and have more than three million monthly active listeners on Spotify. 

For Breakout Artist of the Year, which recognises artists who have made a splash in the scene from 2020-2021, the final nominees are Alice Longyu Gao, CHAI, Guapdad 400, keshi, and Park Hye Jin. 

In the Breakout Project of the Year category, which honours top-performing artists with less than 3 million monthly active listeners on Spotify from 2020-2021, the finalists are Park Hye Jin, Rina Sawayama, Tiffany Day, Yaeji, and Yu Su. 

The finalists for the category of Music Video of the Year, which recognises the top Asian directors for music videos, are Tanmay Chowdhary, Kee Hwang, Hiro Murai, Liz Lian, and Tarsem Singh. 

For the full list of nominees, check out the LION AWARDS' website here.