Elena Kong Named Best Actress At TVB Anniversary Awards; Thought She Wouldn't Win 'Cos She's Not TVB's “Own Daughter”

Thanks to her splendid performance as an unreasonably pragmatic mum in TVB drama Get On A Flat, Hong Kong actress Elena Kong was the hot favourite to win Best Actress at the TVB Anniversary Awards last night (Jan 8).

And the 51-year-old actress did not disappoint her supporters, clinching the award over fellow nominees Nina Paw, Alice Chan, Jeannie Chan, and Selena Lee.

When receiving her Best Actress trophy, which was presented to her by former TVB stars Michael Miu and Felix Wong, the actress was so overwhelmed with emotion, she burst into tears and couldn't stop crying while delivering her speech.

"I thought I wouldn't win because I'm not TVB's 'own daughter'", said Elena, who used to work for ATV, the broadcaster's long-time competitor. 

This led Michael to chime in: "It's very fair these days! The bosses are here!"

Michael, who starred with Elena in TVB drama Line Walker then added: "I've acted with you so many times but you didn't win. Once you act with Andrew Lam, you win!" FYI: Andrew played Elena's husband in Get On A Flat, which also won Best Drama.

When Elena asked: "Does this mean I should thank him first?," Michael jested: "Thank me first, I let you experience what's failure." 

Elena went on to thank her bosses, TVB's general manager Eric Tsang and high-ranking exec Catherina Tsang, the cast and crew of Get On A Flat, as well variety show Scoop for giving her four tickets to the awards so that her parents could be there in person.

"The last time I won Best Supporting Actress, my parents weren't here to witness it and I regretted that. This time they watched me receive the Best Actress award, thank you."

Elena also gave fellow Best Actress contender and former ATV compatriot Alice Chan a shout out, saying: "We did it!",  and thanked her manager for not giving up on her.

"All these years I didn't make a lot of money, but [you] didn't abandon me," she said.

Elena was also up for the Most Popular Female TV Character and Favorite TV Partnership awards this year, but lost them to Amy Fan and the gang from Your Highness  — Kalok Chow, Jeannie Chan, Brian Chu, Joey Wong and Jonathan Cheung — respectively.

Here's the list of winners: 

Best Actor: Joel Chan
Best Actress: Elena Kong
Best Supporting Actor: Eric Tang
Best Supporting Actress: Angel Chiang
Most Popular Male TV Character: Kalok Chow
Most Popular Female TV Character: Amy Fan
Best Drama: Get On A Flat

Photos: TVB