The Star Awards 2023 ceremony, the 28th edition of
Star Awards
Star Awards (Chinese: 红星大奖) are awards for artistic and technical merit where Mediacorp recognises entertainers under their employment for outstanding performances of the year.
The awards are given annually in a ceremony. The various ca ...
, presented by the
Mediacorp
Mediacorp Pte. Ltd. is the state media, state-owned media conglomerate of Singapore. Owned by Temasek Holdings—the investment arm of the Government of Singapore—it owns and operates television channels, radio, and digital media properties. ...
, took place on 9 April 2023 at
Marina Bay Sands
Marina Bay Sands is a integrated resort fronting Marina Bay, Singapore, Marina Bay in Singapore and a landmark of the city. At its opening in 2010, it was deemed the world's most expensive standalone casino property at Singapore dollar, S$8&nbs ...
,
Singapore
Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
. During the gala, Mediacorp presented Star Awards in 12 categories honoring Mediacorp's employees, minor awards in four categories and sponsored awards in two categories. The ceremony was televised on Channel 8. Lee Teng and Taiwanese actress-singer
Matilda Tao
Matilda Tao Ching-ying (; born 29 October 1969) is a Taiwanese singer, television host and author.
Tao graduated from National Chengchi University. In 2005, she married Taiwanese actor Lee Lee-zen.Hazelle Teo and Dennis Chew. Five Star Awards were also presented during the dinner.
'' Your World in Mine'' won six awards, including Best Drama Serial. ''The Breakfast Quartet - LOVE 972'', ''Dishing with Chris Lee'', ''Forgotten Children'', ''
Star Awards 2022
The 27th edition of the Star Awards, Star Awards 2022 () is a television award ceremony that honoured the best in Singaporean television released between January and December 2021. The ceremony was held in Singapore on 24 April 2022 at the MES T ...
'' and ''Mr Zhou's Ghost Stories @ Singapore Sightings'' won one award each.
Winners and nominees
Nominations for the professional awards were announced on 15 February.
Slice of life
Slice of life is a depiction of mundane experiences in art and entertainment. In theater, slice of life refers to Naturalism (theatre), naturalism, while in literary parlance it is a narrative technique in which a seemingly arbitrary sequence ...
drama ''Your World in Mine'' had the most nominations (nine) and won the most number of awards (six) including Best Drama Serial; many of the nominations were oriented towards younger actors, especially first-timers for Best Actor Richie Koh, Desmond Ng and Ayden Sng, as well as Brandon Wong being the sole nominee to also be nominated for the Best Supporting Actor award; Koh's win also set a record on becoming the youngest recipient of the lead actor role. For the first time since
2001
The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...
,
Huang Biren
Huang Biren (born Wee Pat Ling on 7 March 1969) is a Singaporean actress and television host who received numerous honours and known for appearing in numerous MediaCorp Channel 8 television series. She was a full-time Mediacorp artiste from 19 ...
and
Zoe Tay
Zoe Tay Hui Gek (born 10 January 1968) is a Singaporean actress and former model. She has been referred to as the "Queen of Caldecott Hill" and "Ah Jie".
To date, Tay has received four Star Awards for Best Actress.
Early life
Tay is the s ...
were nominated for Best Actress in the same ceremony, and with both actresses having a tie for the most wins at four at that time, the former would go on to win her fifth award.
In the entertainment categories, Christopher Lee won the Best Programme Host, ending a five-year streak previously held by frequent winner
Quan Yi Fong
Quan Yi Fong (born 1 March 1974) is a Taiwan-born Singaporean host and actress, who has since taken up Singaporean citizenship and given up her Taiwanese citizenship.
Career
Quan joined the SBC in 1992. In 1996, she was fired by TCS over a ...
, and Lee becoming the third recipient for the award after Quan and Lee Teng.
Das DD
Dharmadasa D. Dharamahsena (born 1 March 1990), known professionally as Das DD, is a Singaporean television host, actor and comedian who speaks fluently in Tamil, English, Mandarin and Malay. In 2023, he became the first person of Indian descen ...
also become the first artiste of Indian origin to be nominated for and subsequently win a Performance Award. Both ''Star Awards'' and
Love 972
Love 972 () is a Mandarin Chinese radio station in Singapore. Owned by the state-owned broadcaster Mediacorp, it primarily broadcasts an adult contemporary format focusing on Chinese pop music.
History
The station was originally set to lau ...
''The Breakfast Quartet'' continued their winning streak for their Variety Special and Radio Programme, respectively.
The voting categories were announced on 6 March; while ''MyPick!'' category was returned for its second year, in a history first for ''Star Awards'', voting categories were also heavily emphasized and competitive, and there was no cap on the number of artistes eligible for the Top Ten Most Popular Favourite Artistes award as criteria were relaxed, along with the introduction of the Top Three Most Popular Rising Stars award, a non-gender-affiliated voting award for artistes with no more than five years of showbiz experience. In an official statement, the award criteria for "All-Time Favourite Artiste" was also revised, such that wins from the Most Popular Rising Stars Award would count towards the 10 wins needed to be conferred the All-Time Favourite Artiste. The three recipients of the inaugural award were Gao Mei Gui, Richie Koh and Ayden Sng, along with six other first Top 10 recipients
Jeremy Chan
Jeremy Chan Ming Yuew (born 17 July 1981) is a Singaporean actor and host.
Early life
Chan was educated in Zhangde Primary School and Saint Thomas Secondary School. He graduated from ITE College West (Dover Campus). At the age of 25, bef ...
, Chen Bi Yu, Chen Ning, Jeff Goh,
Tasha Low
Tasha Low (born Natasha Low Yi Ling on 11 October 1993) is a Singaporeans, Singaporean actress and singer. She was the leader of the South Korean girl group, Skarf from 2012 to 2014. Low is currently based in Singapore. She made her feature fi ...
and
Denise Camillia Tan
Denise Camillia Tan (Chinese language, Chinese: 陈楚寰, born 6 November 1992) is a Malaysian actress based in Singapore. She was a fashion design college student. She won the titles of Miss Astro Chinese International Pageant 2012, Miss Mos ...
. Of the four artistes,
Ann Kok
Ann Kok (born 11 January 1973) is a Singaporean businesswoman, singer and an actress who film on an ad-hoc basis.
During the 1990s, Kok was ranked the "Third ''Ah Jie''" by the local media, which defined her as the third most prominent actre ...
,
Jesseca Liu
Jesseca Liu (born Lao Chew Yen on 13 February 1979) is a Malaysian actress who is based in Singapore. She is a contracted artiste under MediaCorp and managed by HIM International Music.
Early life
Jesseca Liu was born on 13 February 1979 in ...
,
Yvonne Lim
Yvonne Lim (born 28 September 1976) is a Singaporean actress.
Early life and education
Lim was born to Hokkien-speaking family. She studied at CHIJ St Theresa's Convent and graduated with a Diploma in Electronic, Computer, & Communication E ...
, and Pornsak, each with nine Top 10 Most Popular Artistes wins at the time, only Kok and Liu were nominated for, and would go on to win their tenth award.
Felicia Chin
Felicia Chin Foong Ling (born 24 October 1984) is a Singaporean actress, host and content creator who was named as one of the Seven Princesses of Mediacorp in 2006. In 2013, Chin decided to use her given Chinese name instead for her acting c ...
and
Rebecca Lim
Rebecca Lim Hui Ling (born 26 September 1986) is a Singaporean actress and host. Lim has won Best Actress in a Leading Role at the Asian Television Awards and two Best Actress in a Leading Role awards, a Best Supporting Actress award. Lim als ...
, the latter being the ninth celebrity to win the Top 10 Most Popular Artistes for ten consecutive ceremonies, were the year's recipients for "All-time Favourite Artiste".
Awards
Winners are listed first and highlighted in boldface.
, -
!scope="col" colspan="2" style="vertical-align:top; style="width=50%" , Best Short-Form Programme
, -
, colspan="2" style="vertical-align:top" ,
*''Mr Zhou's Ghost Stories @ Singapore Sightings''
**''#justswipelah''
**''Ben Yeo's Kitchen''
**''House Collectors''
**''Jiak Kentang''
, -
! colspan=2 , Star Awards 2023 - Main Ceremony (April 9, 2023)
, -
! style="width=50%" , Best Actor
! style="width=50%" , Best Actress
, -
, valign="top" ,
*'' Richie Koh'' - '' Your World in Mine'' as Zheng Tiancai
**'' Ayden Sng'' - ''The Unbreakable Bond'' as Gu Yuncong
**'' Brandon Wong'' - ''Leave No Soul Behind'' as Feng Tianlong
**'' Desmond Ng''- '' Your World in Mine'' as Hong Maodan
**''
Qi Yuwu
Qi Yuwu (born 28 November 1976) is a Chinese actor based in Singapore. He is a permanent resident of Singapore and a contracted artiste under Beijing Enlight Media Group.
Early life and career
Qi studied at Guangzhou Physical Education In ...
Huang Biren
Huang Biren (born Wee Pat Ling on 7 March 1969) is a Singaporean actress and television host who received numerous honours and known for appearing in numerous MediaCorp Channel 8 television series. She was a full-time Mediacorp artiste from 19 ...
Jesseca Liu
Jesseca Liu (born Lao Chew Yen on 13 February 1979) is a Malaysian actress who is based in Singapore. She is a contracted artiste under MediaCorp and managed by HIM International Music.
Early life
Jesseca Liu was born on 13 February 1979 in ...
'' - ''Soul Detective'' as Liu Shuqin
**''
Rebecca Lim
Rebecca Lim Hui Ling (born 26 September 1986) is a Singaporean actress and host. Lim has won Best Actress in a Leading Role at the Asian Television Awards and two Best Actress in a Leading Role awards, a Best Supporting Actress award. Lim als ...
'' - ''Soul Doctor'' as Ling Jingyao/Ling Jingqi
**''
Zoe Tay
Zoe Tay Hui Gek (born 10 January 1968) is a Singaporean actress and former model. She has been referred to as the "Queen of Caldecott Hill" and "Ah Jie".
To date, Tay has received four Star Awards for Best Actress.
Early life
Tay is the s ...
Andie Chen
Andie Chen (born Andy Tan Bang Jun on 16 June 1985) is a Singaporean actor, host and vlogger, who was a full-time Mediacorp artiste from 2007 to 2017.
Career
Chen's first appearance on television was in the Channel 5 series '' Growing Up'' ...
- ''Sisters Stand Tall'' as Yang Liwen
**
Chew Chor Meng
Chew Chor Meng (born 20 November 1968) is a Singaporean actor, television host and businessman. He is one of the first batch of actors to receive the Star Awards for All-Time Favourite Artiste in 2004.
Career
Chew started his career in show ...
- ''Dark Angel''as Yang Tao
**
Darren Lim
Darren Lim (born 30 September 1972) is a Singaporean actor and television host, who was a full-time Mediacorp artiste from 1997 to 2016.
Career
Having left school at age 15, Lim began his career as a singer before joining the Television Corp ...
- ''Genie In A Cup'' as Ma Xiaobao
**
Zhu Houren
Zhu Houren (born Jack Choo Hoh Yim on 30 January 1955) is a Singaporean
Singaporeans are the citizens and nationals of the sovereign island city-state of Singapore. Singapore is home to a people of a variety of ethno-racial-religiou ...
Aileen Tan
Aileen Tan Lay Ching (born 18 October 1966) is a Singaporean actress.
Life and career
Tan studied at Willow Secondary School. Tan worked in sales for more than a year before becoming an office administrator at an advertising agency.
Tan pa ...
- ''Dark Angel'' as Alex
**
Cynthia Koh
Cynthia Koh (born 25 March 1974) is a Singaporean actress. She has appeared and starred in many television series produced by MediaCorp Channel 8 and MediaCorp Channel 5.
Early life
Koh has one younger sister. Her father works in the Singa ...
- ''Leave No Soul Behind'' as Wu Yuwei
**
Kym Ng
Kym Ng Kwee Khim (born 1 July 1967) is a Singaporean television host and actress. She is known as one of Mediacorp's Variety Ah Jies (综艺阿姐).
Ng has received numerous accolades locally and regionally.
At the Star Awards, she was rec ...
- ''When Duty Calls'' (season 2) as Lu Meiguang
**
Lina Ng
Lina Ng Su Fang (born 6 May 1974) is a Singaporean actress and host. She was a full-time Mediacorp and SPH MediaWorks artiste from 1993 to 2004, but currently films on an ad-hoc basis.
To date, Ng is the first and only actress to win both an ...
- '' Your World in Mine'' as Xiuzhu
, -
! style="width=50%" , Young Talent Award
! style="width=50%" , Best Evergreen Artiste
, -
, valign="top",
* ''Alfred Ong'' - ''Healing Heroes'' as Huang Zirui
**'' Chia Zhi Xuan Ivory''- ''Love at First Bite'' as Young Chang Xiyue
**''Goh Wee Ann ''- ''Home Again'' as Young Ye Pingan
**''Mendelsohn Asher Wenyao'' - ''Dark Angel'' as Young Zhu Wei
**''Nicholas Lim Tao Rui'' - ''Dark Angel'' as Young Chen Yiyi
, valign="top",
* Xiang Yun
**
Aileen Tan
Aileen Tan Lay Ching (born 18 October 1966) is a Singaporean actress.
Life and career
Tan studied at Willow Secondary School. Tan worked in sales for more than a year before becoming an office administrator at an advertising agency.
Tan pa ...
**
Hong Huifang
Hong Huifang (born Ang Hwee Fong on 7 January 1961) is a Singaporean actress.
In 2022, Hong became the first Singaporean actress to be nominated for Best Leading Actress at Taiwan's Golden Horse Awards, for her performance in the film '' A ...
**
Richard Low
Richard Low (born 19 June 1952), also known as Liu Qianyi, is a Singaporean actor. He is best known for acting in many Chinese-language television dramas produced by MediaCorp Channel 8 and its predecessors. He also acted in some of Jack Neo' ...
**
Zhu Houren
Zhu Houren (born Jack Choo Hoh Yim on 30 January 1955) is a Singaporean
Singaporeans are the citizens and nationals of the sovereign island city-state of Singapore. Singapore is home to a people of a variety of ethno-racial-religiou ...
, -
! style="width=50%" , Best Programme Host
! style="width=50%" , Best Rising Star
, -
, valign="top",
*
Christopher Lee
Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee (27 May 1922 – 7 June 2015) was an English actor and singer. In a career spanning more than sixty years, Lee became known as an actor with a deep and commanding voice who often portrayed villains in horr ...
- ''Dishing With Chris Lee''
**
Bryan Wong
Bryan may refer to:
Places in the United States
* Bryan, Arkansas, an unincorporated community
* Bryan, Kentucky, an unincorporated community
* Bryan, Ohio, a city
* Bryan, Texas, a city
* Bryan, Wyoming, a ghost town
* Bryan County, Georgia
...
- ''Old Taste Detective'' (season 3)
**
Darren Lim
Darren Lim (born 30 September 1972) is a Singaporean actor and television host, who was a full-time Mediacorp artiste from 1997 to 2016.
Career
Having left school at age 15, Lim began his career as a singer before joining the Television Corp ...
- ''A Night Under The Stars''
** Dennis Chew - ''Mr Zhou's Ghosts Stories @ Singapore Singtings''
**
Quan Yi Fong
Quan Yi Fong (born 1 March 1974) is a Taiwan-born Singaporean host and actress, who has since taken up Singaporean citizenship and given up her Taiwanese citizenship.
Career
Quan joined the SBC in 1992. In 1996, she was fired by TCS over a ...
- ''Hear U Out'' (season 3)
, valign="top",
*''
Das DD
Dharmadasa D. Dharamahsena (born 1 March 1990), known professionally as Das DD, is a Singaporean television host, actor and comedian who speaks fluently in Tamil, English, Mandarin and Malay. In 2023, he became the first person of Indian descen ...
'' - ''#justswipelah''
**''
Jarrell Huang
Jarrell Huang Jun Rong (born 14 October 2000) is a Singaporean singer, actor and songwriter. In 2018, he was crowned champion of the local singing competition ''SPOP Sing!''. In 2020, he participated in the Chinese male group competition show ...
This is given to an artist who has received a total of ten "Top 10 Most Popular Male / Female Artiste Awards" and/or "Most Popular Rising Star Award," which do not have to be consecutive. The artiste will receive an All-Time Favourite Artiste Award after winning the tenth popularity award.
Popularity Awards
Top 10 Most Popular Artistes
*Winner will be listed first and highlighted in color.
As with all ceremonies since 2017, nominees will participate in a nationwide poll of 1,000 people from Singapore's population, with an equitable breakdown across various age groups ("Popularity Survey") and public voting, to determine the winners. The voting weightage was also changed to 20%-80% respectively.
Voting was held from 6 March until 9 April 8pm during the ceremony. For the first time ever, there was no maximum cap on the number of artistes eligible to be nominated as a total of 75 artistes (36 females and 39 males) were nominated for the voting category. As with ceremonies since 2021 to promote audience participation, the 10 votes per day restriction was lifted during the final hours of voting, occurring on the actual day starting at 12am.
Most Popular Rising Stars 最受欢迎潜力星
In addition to the traditional Top 10, this award is aimed at junior artistes with no more than five years of showbiz experience; unlike the Top 10, this award is not gender-affiliated and only the three artistes with the most votes would win the award. Wins in this category will count towards the cumulative number of wins for the "All-Time Favourite Artistes".
MyPick! Categories
A minor award ceremony called MyPICK! which had been presented for the second consecutive year since 2022.
The public voted to select the winners of the MY PICK! categories. Voting began at 12:00 p.m. on March 6, 2023. Voting was free and open to all voters with a valid meCONNECT account. Each voter could only vote once every day in each award category. The results were unveiled on April 9, 2023, during the Star Awards 2023 - Backstage Marathon.
Sponsorship Voting Category
Bioskin Most Charismatic Artiste Award - Red Carpet
Chan Brothers My Star Guide Award - Backstage
Nominations
Winning category obtained are marked with bold.
Presenters and performers
Ceremony Information
The ceremony had broken several traditions in the past, as some Professional award categories were presented on 30 March, 11 days prior to the main award ceremony. Like in a statement issued by Mediacorp, the ceremony follows a hybrid between ceremony and concert to emphasize the entertainment industry, hence the move of some of the awards during the actual day. On 9 March, the hosts were announced while the guest performers include
Jam Hsiao
Jam Hsiao Ching-teng (, born 30 March 1987) is a Taiwanese singer and actor. At the age of 17, while still in high school, he began working as a restaurant singer. In May 2007, Hsiao took part in the first season of China Television (CTV)'s sta ...
and
Sammi Cheng
Sammi Cheng Sau-man (; born 19 August 1972) is a Hong Kong singer and actress. She is considered one of the most prominent female singers in Hong Kong, with album sales of over 25 million copies throughout the Asia-pacific. Most notably in the 199 ...
.
The Best Newcomer award was renamed to "Best Rising Star" (最佳潜力星), and a new voting award named "Most Popular Rising Star Award" (最受欢迎潜力星), along with similar eligibility requirements for the Top 10 Most Popular Artistes, aimed for artistes with no more than five years of career experience (as of 1 January 2022) was introduced. The criteria for the "All-Time Favourite Artiste" was also modified such that wins for the "Most Popular Rising Star Award" will count towards the cumulative total of 10 needed to be conferred the "All-Time Favourite Artiste" award. The Top 10 Most Popular Artistes also had an unlimited number of nominations along with similar criteria of the former, with artistes of at least five years of experience.
The Best Short-Form Drama Series 最佳短篇戏剧, "Perfect Combo 最合拍搭档" and "Most Attention Seeking New-gen Host 最强镜新晋主持人", was not presented this year.
Top 10 Most Popular Artistes nomination and controversy
The revisions to the Top 10 Most Popular Category have aroused controversy because the category will no longer be limited to its regular 20 Male and Female performers; instead, the category will nominate every artist who had contributed to Singaporean television in the past year. The rules and conditions for this year's Top 10 Most Popular Artistes award were extensively open to people who had contributed not only in Mediacorp Television, but also in Mediacorp Radio Broadcasting. Anyone with more than five years of experience in screen acting and/or screen/audio hosting as of January 1, 2022 and who meets at least one of the following requirements is eligible:
*In at least one eligible programme and had played the lead or were the major host.
*In at least three eligible programmes and had played a supporting part or hosted an episode.
*Appears in 30 episodes across all eligible programmes.
New regulations conceal vulnerabilities
Artistes that have only appeared in one drama series as a lead role may also be nominated in this category. Examples are "Sisters Stand Tall", where Malaysian actress "Jojo Goh" and Chinese actress "Jin Meng Yang Zi" were nominated for the award as well, despite not being under Mediacorp staff. Majority of the nominees of the Top 10 popularity awards were radio DJs as well, as they can be nominated just by being the host of an eligible radio programme. However, DJ "Kimberly Wang" from the English radio station
987FM
987 is an English-language radio station in Singapore. Owned by the state-owned broadcaster Mediacorp, it broadcasts a contemporary hit radio format. The station launched on 1 January 1989 as Perfect 10 98.7 FM.
History Perfect 10 (1989–2005)
T ...