Waiting . . . this is what awards evenings are usually all about. But at the Channel [V] Chinese Top 20 Mu sic Awards, held annually in Taipei, the waiting backstage is always interesting.
There is usually a manic frenzy and a standoffish hostility between the Taiwanese photographers and their Hong Kong counterparts, who are frantically grabbing any artists who happen to pass by.
The cramped 'backstage' area of the Taipei International Convention Centre has never improved the dispositions of anyone being jostled and shoved because the person behind them wants a better photo angle.
Most reporters double as photographers, which also means racing from the hall where they take concert pictures to the backstage for better close-up shots of the winner and the trophy, and then to the interview room one floor down.
That, plus television crews and an entourage of at least five minders trailing every singer - important or otherwise - provide the right elements for quite a few crushing moments.
'At this rate, we're all going to die before the night is through,' muttered one Hong Kong hack, sweat pouring down his face.