This year's original music support program in the eastern coastal city of Qingdao, Shandong province came to an end on Dec 29, with six singers and six live bands competing for the annual title.

The original song "Hope" by Yi Qindong and the band Puzzle won the Best Original Song and Best Band of the Year accolades respectively. Each winner will receive 200,000 yuan ($30,660).

Organized by the Qingdao publicity department, the original music support program was designed to facilitate the creation and promotion of Qingdao's original music works as well as support local band development.

Since its launch in June, the program has attracted much attention and attracted a large number of outstanding musicians and bands from home and abroad.

The event organizers have joined hands with Tencent Music Entertainment Group, a major online music entertainment platform in China, to carry out online registration, selection and promotion.

The event has received a total of 1,537 original song submissions and attracted 51 bands.

The organizing committee has also invited Qingdao-born people to contribute lyrics for a song for the city. More than 30 works have been received and collated to form two complete songs.

The event was part of Qingdao's efforts to build the city into an international fashion destination. In recent years, the city has been promoting the new industrial models of culture, tourism, sports, conventions and exhibitions.

Award winners of the Qingdao original music support program [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Finalists pose for a group photo. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

An original song singer performs at the final of the Qingdao original music support program. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

A band performs at the final. [Photo/qingdaonews.com]

A singer performs at the final. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]