Channel 8’s year-end blockbuster series The Dream Makers 2 turned in a stellar report card clocking a whopping 25 nominations – across both acting performances and technical categories – for this year’s Star Awards 2016.
Actresses in the 32-part series dominated the Best Actress category, taking three out of five slots, and will see Jeanette Aw, Rui En and Zoe Tay go up against each other for the top accolade.
The drama is also repped by actors Qi Yuwu and Romeo Tan who are in the running for the Best Actor award, Edwin Goh and Zhang Zhen Huan who are in the running for the Best Supporting Actor award and Julie Tan, who is nominated in the Best Supporting Actress category for her turn as Dong Zi Huai.
Long-form drama series 118, which is slated for a comeback later this year, is shaping up to be a tough competitor with a plethora of first-time nominees in the cast: Chen Hanwei is nominated for Best Actor award, Ya Hui is nominated for Best Actress award, Chen Tian Wen is nominated for Best Supporting Actor award and Carrie Wong and Sheila Sim are in the running for Best Supporting Actress award.
Mid-year blockbuster series The Journey: Our Homeland has two strong candidates, Shaun Chen and Andie Chen, vying for the Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor award respectively, with the former getting nominated, again, in the same category for his 2015 award-winning role.
Actors Ian Fang and Bonnie Loo from one of 2015’s top-rated drama series Tiger Mum are also recognised for their acting roles with nominations in the Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress categories.
Rounding up the nomination list is two-time Best Actor Award winner Christopher Lee (nominated for Best Actor award for Crescendo), last year’s Best Actress Award winner Rebecca Lim (nominated for Best Actress award for Sealed With A Kiss) and third-time Best Supporting Actress nominee Paige Chua (nominated for Best Supporting Actress award for Good Luck).
Unlike previous years, this year’s nomination list sees an influx of first-time nominees, with a total of six new faces nominated in the acting categories: Ya Hui, Tian Wen, Sheila, Edwin, Ian and Bonnie.
Currently on vacation in Australia, Ya Hui, who is well-loved by uncles and aunties for her endearing role of Hong Jinzhi, said: “I’m really happy to receive this piece of news during my holiday. I’m glad to be given this heavyweight role which allowed me to showcase my acting capabilities.
“I’ve been working hard for so many years so this nomination is a huge encouragement to me,” she added.
Fellow Best Actor nominee Romeo shared similar sentiments too. “I didn’t expect to be nominated because I feel my acting skills aren’t at that level yet, but I’m not expecting myself to win this award… I hope this proves to viewers who think that I can’t act and who criticise me for my poor acting that I have what it takes to be an actor too,” he shared.
‘Unbelievable’ break out star of 2015, Tian Wen, who has been in the industry since 1984, said his first Star Awards acting nomination – in 32 years – is better late than never. “I’m really happy to with this career breakthrough… but the higher the expectations, the greater the disappointment, so I’m just going to let nature take its course.”
Things took an emotional turn for fellow nominee, Ian, who said he felt tears welling up when his manager told him the good news last night.
“I have quite a rebellious image and most people don’t have a good impression of me. But through my role in Tiger Mum I was able to showcase a different side of myself. I’m really lucky and this Best Supporting Actor nomination is a form of affirmation for me,” he said in a phone interview with Toggle.
Over to the online Favourite award categories, which will be held for the final time this year, we see a few familiar faces in the nominees – namely Rui En and Jeanette (for Favourite Female Character award) and Romeo, Xu Bin, Zhen Huan and Aloysius Pang (for Favourite Male character award).
They are joined by Christopher Lee (as Yang Yiwei in Crescendo) and Hong Ling (as Wang Yu Ye in 118), Huang Biren (as Xie Guan En in The Dream Makers 2) and Xiang Yun (as Yu Fang in Super Senior), who are all first-time nominees in the Favourite Female Character category.
The Dream Makers 2 continues to dominate the Favourite Onscreen Couple (drama) category with three nominations: Qi Yuwu and Rui En (as Jason Lam and Fang Tong Lin), Qi Yuwu and Jeanette Aw (as Jason Lam and Zhao Fei Er) and Zhang Zhen Huan and Julie Tan (as Chen Guang and Dong Zi Huai). The other two couplings in the running for the award are Tay Ping Hui and Ann Kok (as Jiang Chu Fan and Deng Xue Li in Crescendo) and Rui En and Shaun Chen (as Yang Mei Xue and Zhang Jia in The Journey: Our Homeland).
A few noteworthy changes have been made this year, one of which is a new combined category for variety, info-ed and infotainment hosts called ‘Best Programme Host’, as well as the introduction of a new category for veterans called the ‘Best Evergreen Artiste’.
Contenders in the new Best Evergreen Artiste category have to be over 50 years of age and have over 25 years of experience in the industry. This is to recognise their contributions to the local entertainment industry as well as their drama performances, and this year’s nominees are Chen Tian Wen (118), Hong Hui Fang (Good Luck), Chen Shucheng (Super Senior), Xiang Yun (Super Senior) and Lin Mei Jiao (The Journey: Our Homeland).
Nominees vying for top honours in the new Best Programme Host category are Quan Yifong (Celeb’s Curated Collections), Kate Pang (Face Off!), Pornsak (GeTai Challenge), Lee Teng (Love on The Plate 3) and Guo Liang (What Your School Doesn’t Teach You).
Like previous years’ ceremonies, this year’s Star Awards will be held in two parts on April 17 and 24, but the lineup of awards presented will differ slightly and technical awards will no longer be presented ‘live’ on TV and will be done in an off-site presentation ceremony instead.
Voting for the online ‘Favourite’ categories will begin on Feb 29 (Mon).
Visit the official Star Awards 2016 microsite for the full nomination list and more information.
Catch the Star Awards 2016 Prelude starting in April, every Friday, 10.30pm on Ch8.
Catch Star Awards 2016 Part 1 Walk of Fame on April 17 (Sun), 5.30pm, LIVE on Ch8/ChU or Toggle.
Catch Star Awards 2016 Part 1 Awards Ceremony on April 17 (Sun), 7pm, LIVE on Ch8/ChU or Toggle.
Catch Star Awards 2016 Part 2 Awards Ceremony on April 24 (Sun), 7pm, LIVE on Ch8/ChU or Toggle.
Catch Star Awards 2016 Part 2 Post Show Party on April 24 (Sun), 10.30pm, LIVE on Ch8 or Toggle.