Star Awards 2013 preview

 

It's the time of the year again! Some will laugh, others may cry but most of us will agree that it is the biggest entertainment that the local entertainment scene can provide us with. Star Awards 2013 will be held this Sunday and here are my predictions. Please do not scold me if your idol wasn't picked.

Best Actor: Chew Chor Meng (Joys of Life)

This award should be a straight fight between two old birds of Channel 8. Chew Chor Meng and Christopher Lee are the two with the highest chance of winning but the former should end up as the victor with his impressive performance in Joys of Life.

Christopher Lee put up a decent performance in Show Hand but he still looked like he was acting professionally after all. On the other hand, Chew easily transforms into the character he was acting. He looked more like he was being portrayed by the story's character.

The forever youthful-looking Thomas Ong will be the dark horse here while fellow Pillow Talk actor Thomas Ong and Dai Yangtian of Poetic Justice are just there to make up the numbers.

Best Actress: Rebecca Lim (Unriddle 2)

The female category proves to be a little more interesting with its nominees. Rebecca Lim and Rui En were at their finest in Unriddle 2 but as Mediacorp seems to be promoting Lim and Rui already an established figure, the former stands a higher chance of winning.

Joanne Peh, who hogged the headlines for more than a month with her relationships, is highly unlikely to defend the title she won last year. Cynthia Koh (Show Hand) cried her way to a nomination and sad to say, she may have to cry again after the show. Crying alone is not impressive enough for the high standards of Koh.

That leaves us with Kym Ng, who only returned to acting last year after a three-year absence. Wow, and all it takes is just one drama to earn herself a nomination. Her character, Luo Na, in It Takes Two suits her well and she managed to pull it off with force and finesse. Would be the dark horse here.

Best Supporting Actor: Rayson Tan (It Takes Two)

Rayson Tan's china man character, Zhang Yang, is memorable. It is the character that everybody who watched It Takes Two will definitely remember, excluding Ann Kok with that hideous make-up. Tay Ping Hui(Unriddle 2), the late Huang Wenyong (Joys of Life) and Zhu Houren (Pillow Talk) are the dark horses here.

As for Romeo Tan, nominated for the first time, he will just be "the fifth nominee" in this award. When one is going up against four veterans who each has at least more than a decade of experience, one should not keep his hopes too high. It's okay Romeo, at least you clinched the Rocket Award last Sunday.

Best Supporting Actress: Lin Meijiao (Game Plan)

This one is neither interesting nor easy. Four veterans, not exactly of premium quality, plus a 30-year old who won Best Newcomer last year. Hard to pick? Probably. Entertaining? Definitely not. I planned to leave this category with a question mark so Why did I pick Lin Meijiao?

Lin acted as a swindler in Game Plan, something that is outside her usual auntie characters. I considered that as a small breakthrough. Xiang Yun was also liberated from auntie roles in Pillow Talk where she took on the character of a career woman.

Constance Song (Don't Stop Believin') is just a passer-by while the old and fermented kimchi Jin Yin Ji, nominated for the first time, will provide a little challenge for Lin. Kate Pang, the one who received Best Newcomer at the age of 29, should be contended to see her name alongside the above four.

Best Variety Show Host: Bryan Wong (Jobs Around The World)

No Mark Lee in this year's nomination list? It's alright because the nominees are all top-notch MCs of Mediacorp anyway. Bryan Wong has not touched this award for seven years so it's high time that he gets it this year.

Fellow host, Kym Ng performed well too but ever since the Sharon Au reign from 2000 to 2003, nobody has won the award twice in three years. That rules Ng out, sadly. Cavin Soh (Knock! Knock! Who's There?) and Guo Liang (United Neighbours Society) never looked good enough to garner the award.

Thai boy Pornsak makes it a hat-trick of nominations for his role in Food Source. He was part of the nominees for the past two years but emerged empty-handed on both occasions. Will 2013 finally be the breakthrough that he is carving for? Probably not unless the judges are a bunch of housewives.

Best Newcomer Award: Ian Fang (Don't Stop Believin')

Fans of Ian Fang, you guys are probably smiling now. Why him you may ask? Fang debuted as a little pai kia in On The Fringe in 2011 and has maintained his bad boy Edison Chen look since then. However, his role as the somewhat nerdy Bai Zhixiang allowed him to prove that acting bad isn't his only forte.



Shane Pow (It Takes Two) will probably be remembered for his lines about the hardship of living in Singapore these days but not his acting. Elizabeth Lee (Show Hand) is a decent performer but will get edged out due to popularity. We are left with Edwin Goh (Don't Stop Believin') and Jayley Woo (Jump!), who were once an item.

And they'll both be together, in the losers' bracket.

Best Drama Serial: Game Plan/Pillow Talk

I can't decide on a clear winner for the best drama. Game Plan comes up tops in terms of plot whereas Pillow Talk's concept beats all of its fellow nominees. The judge's preference for plot or concept will be the crucial factor in this category.

Poetic Justice, more towards the concept kind of drama, was a disappointment. The cast, including Rui En and Rebecca Lim (it's them again!) were not at their best. The idea of news reporting is fresh but who the heck gives their opinion while presenting news on TV in Singapore? Poetic Justice has truly screwed itself with illogical scenes.

Unriddle 2 was another letdown. One expects to see numerous action scenes and plot twists in a detective show. Nah. The best I had to enjoy was the scene of Tay Ping Hui fighting Rui En at a back alley and it ended quite quickly. Will there be a third season? Nobody knows.

Don't Stop Believin' was the Top Rated Drama Serial last year with over a million viewers catching the final episode. However, the story lacks substance and the success of the show was mainly due to its cast of young artists that had huge fan bases.

There are still a number of categories like Best Variety Programme, Best News Presenter, Best Info-ed Programme Host etc. which I decided to refrain from predicting because I lack knowledge in those areas. But I think Zhao Quanyin deserves to win Best News Presenter simply because all the other four nominees have won it before.

Lastly, to the late Huang Wenyong, you will be missed.