The annual Asian Television Awards are around the corner and this year’s nominees have just been announced. Nominated for top honours this year in the Best Actor and Best Actress in a Leading Role categories are Pierre Png (Zero Calling 2), Christopher Lee (Against The Tide) and Felicia Chin (Love is Love – Sunshine).
Pierre was nominated twice for the Best Actor in a Leading Role category last year and ultimately went home triumphant for his role in Zero Calling. With this nomination for the second season of the show, the heat will be on Pierre to see if he can nab top honours for two years running. Among the other nominees for the category is Blue Lan (Apple in Your Eye), who recently bagged the Best Actor award for the same role at the Golden Bell Awards.
This nomination is also special for Felicia Chin, who is in the running for the prestigious award for the very first time. She is up against stiff competition with nominees such as Ruby Lin (The Way We Were), Vicki Zhao (Tiger Mom), Zhou Xun (Red Sorghum) also competing in the same category.
“I was astounded when I saw the list of nominees!” she exclaimed in a phone interview with Toggle. “Honestly, I have not thought about my chances of winning because the news alone is enough for me to feel contented – it’s a huge form of encouragement and affirmation for me, and I feel honoured to be representing Singapore, especially with a role I really liked.”
When asked about her plans for attending the show, Felicia shared that although she is not 100 percent sure if she is able to make it to the event (“I’m sure my managers will try their best to fit it into my schedule”), she has already decided to take her mother with her as her date and lucky charm.
“My mum’s birthday is on December 1 (the day before the awards events kick off) so I think it would be a nice gift for her to attend the ceremony with me!”
Up for the Best Actor and Actress in a Supporting Role prizes are Chen Han Wei (The Journey: Tumultuous Times), Wee Soon Hui (Love is Love – Sunset), Chu Mi Mi (Love is Love – Sunset), Joanne Peh (The Journey: Tumultuous Times) and Xiang Yun (You Can Be An Angel Too).
Among the nominees for the Best Actor and Actress in a Supporting Role categories are Lim Kay Tong (Grace), George Young (Grace) and Nichari Chokprajakchat (Bangrajun).
The nominees for Best Comedy Performance by an Actor/Actress include Michelle Tay (Koji Cooks), Chu Mi Mi (Love is Love – Sunset), Chinniah Veeraraghavan (Tamil.Com) and Duan Wei Ming (Love is Love – Sunset).
Spouse For House 2 will go against other Asian programmes such as Shanghai Media Group’s Live to Laugh Show for the Best Comedy Programme. The first season of the show won top honours last year, with Irene Ang and Selena Li bagging the Best Comedy Performance by an Actor/Actress and the Highly Commended award respectively.
The Best Theme Song category is largely dominated by MediaCorp this year, with six of the eight nominees hailing from our little red dot. The theme songs for 118 (Mo Ju Li), Blissful Living – It’s Not That I Don’t Love You (Wong Ei Ei), Kshatriyan (Shabir Tabare Alam), Blessings (Jack Lim), Blissful Living – The Game of Life (Wong Ei Ei) and The Journey: Tumultuous Times (Jim Lim) are among those up for the top prize.
MediaCorp has a total of 25 nominations in nine categories for this year’s awards, which will take place on December 2 and 3.