红星大奖 Star Awards 20 Preview
It is that time of the year again! Star Awards 2014 marks the 20th time we celebrate the outstanding performances on Singapore television over the past year. To do justice to this remarkable milestone, Mediacorp has spiced things up with noteworthy features and changes.
1. Photo-shoot
There have been many deserving winners, but some of them stood higher than the rest. 阿哥 Xie Shaoguang 谢韶光 (5 Best Actors) and Ivy Lee 李锦梅 (3 Best Actresses) clearly dominated so much in their time that Mediacorp decided, let’s not invite them, in case they change their minds and rejoin us. 那黄俊雄 (Elvin Ng) 不是要等到七老八十才有机会呢?
Of course, I was just joking. Ivy Lee 李锦梅 is a happy housewife somewhere else in the world, while Xie Shaoguang 谢韶光 is on his quest to enlightenment and has completely shut himself from the public eye since his departure. It’s fair to assume that he has returned to his 济公 duties.
You might ask, then why is Huang Biren 黄碧仁 (3 Best Actresses) there? Ha! She’s already on her way back! Maybe she will spark Fann Wong 范文芳 ‘s renaissance… once her baby is due and delivered. Seems like the likes of Rui En 瑞恩, Jeanette Aw 欧萱 and Joanne Peh 白薇秀 won’t get to run riot at the awards just yet! But of course, if Chen Liping 陈莉萍 asked, Rui En 瑞恩 would gladly hand her trophies over. (It’s nice to witness this unlikely friendship.)
2. Categories
There is a galore of special awards that will be given this month.
First, there’s the Most Popular Regional Artiste Award, which invites viewers from Indonesia, China, Malaysia and Cambodia to vote for their favourites from a given list of 20. That means a total of 4 winners, unless RBKD 瑞不可当 extends to these shores as well. Sounds fair, except the part where Edwin Goh 吴劲威 is somehow more popular than Christopher Lee 李铭顺 in Indonesia. 岂有此理! And don’t get me started on Henry Thia 辉哥!
Second, there are 3 prestigious awards, namely the BottomSlim Sexiest Legs Award 最佳美腿奖, Asian Skin Solutions Most Radiant Skin Award 亮丽肌肤奖, and London Choco Roll Happiness Award 最佳戏剧开心果奖. I’m sure 黄俊雄 Elvin Ng will place the London Choco Roll trophy in the most delicate place – the kitchen. Since his toilet already holds 2 Systema trophies. *ding ding*
Third, Xinmsn has its own 红星 Fun 奖, comprising these 3 awards: 哭得犀利奖 ‘Cry Me A River’ Award, 打得最出色奖 ‘Hit Me Baby One More Time’ Award, 越吻越激奖 ‘It’s Getting Hot In Here’ Award. I think Ivan Heng will have something to say here.
Last but not least, Mediacorp decided to scrap the Best News Presenter and Best Current Affairs Presenter awards, citing too few (less than 10) candidates. I say, they are just tired of giving Tung Soo Hua 董素华 her annual entitlement. Or maybe they simply couldn’t decide who does the anchor duties on the day of the awards ceremony. Try again next year!
3. Nominees
That’s all for the goodwill. After 20 years, enough is enough. Mediacorp clearly believed that 旧的不去, 新的不来. There is a raft of new entrants into the Top 10 Most Popular Artistes awards, including young sweethearts Julie Tan 陈欣淇, Chris Tong 童冰玉, Ya Hui 雅慧 and Jin Yin Ji 金银姬, plus young heartthrobs Ian Fang 方伟杰, Xu Bin 徐彬, Desmond Tan 陈泂江 and Justin Ang 洪伟扬. Justin who? He of Channel 5. Ivan Heng will then ask, what about our Suria and Vasantham stars?
These first-time nominees, among others, mean that some have to give way. Bryan Wong 王禄江 and Chen Hanwei 陈汉玮 are graduating this year – collecting the All-Time Favourite Artiste award – as is Henry Thia 辉哥. Meanwhile, Terence Cao 曹国辉 is dropped after hitting the unofficial limit of 18 nominations. He stands at 7 wins. Pan Lingling 潘玲玲 fans take note; she’s on her 18th nomination this year!
Speaking of the 神台, Mediacorp must ensure that only the truly deserving get to graduate. The 13 that have graduated thus far have all made distinguished contributions to our TV screens. Some did their best work before the awards were created, like 黄文永 and 向云. Some have fallen short, such as Ivy Lee 李锦梅, Ann Kok 郭舒贤 and Edmund Chen 陈之财, because they left too early. All of them deserve commendation too.
Our very best, 谢韶光, has fittingly seen further and became a monk in 2013.
That said, in the coming years, we may see a few slightly contentious graduates. These artistes have put in due effort and gained strong followings, but it will be hard to consider them in the same breath as our TV greats such as Li Nanxing 李南星 and Zoe Tay 郑惠玉, Christopher Lee 李铭顺 and Fann Wong 范文芳, Mark Lee 李国煌 and Bryan Wong 王禄江. Many of them benefited from the lull in much of the 2000s, when there were few new faces to add competition. They may go on to cement their legacies, but Mediacorp must keep the influx going and make more discriminate Top 20 selections so that the 神台 is not just a reflection of popularity, but of real achievement and class.
If any of the jokes above were a bit tasteless, I apologize. I appreciate the efforts of every artiste, young and experienced, for adding flavour to family time at home.
Toast to many more years of good television!
Full List of Nominees: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Awards_20
Top 10 Online Voting: http://entertainment.xin.msn.com/zh/tv/channel-8/programmes/star-awards-2014/onlineVoting_top40.aspx
See also:
Favourite Male Character Analysis
Favourite Female Character Analysis
Rocket Award Contenders
