Romeo Tan Wins Best Actor, Felicia Chin Wins Best Actress And Our Other Star Awards 2021 Predictions
We ask three showbiz super insiders to give us their totally anonymous and totally unbiased predictions.
The competition at this year’s Star Awards is whole lot more intense thanks to the bigger pool of nominees in each category. Thanks a lot, COVID-19.
So we're not at all surprised that predicting the winners, with the help of industry insiders, who will of course remain unnamed, has become a tougher job too.
Why do we say that? Judging from everyone's predictions, there's no clear front-runner in each category. Felicia Chin could very well win Best Actress but so could Rui En, Carrie Wong and K ym Ng. In other words, it's basically anyone's game, so good luck on your office Star Awards pool.
Scroll down for our predictions on who will be adding shiny new trophies to their collection come Sunday.
Best Actor
Chen Hanwei - Super Dad
Desmond Tan - All is Well – SG
Elvin Ng - All is Well – TW
Pierre Png - A Jungle Survivor
Qi Yuwu - A Quest to Heal
Romeo Tan - Happy Prince
Zhang Yaodong - Daybreak
INDUSTRY WATCHER: Romeo Tan. It was a tough role to play and you can see that he put in a lot of effort into this project.
MEDIACORP ACTOR: Zhang Yaodong. He was very natural in his role and I think it’s time for him to win a trophy. He’s been working so hard all these years, and he has matured a lot as an actor, so he deserves the win.
INDUSTRY INSIDER: Pierre Png. He’s an actor who is very into his craft and he makes sure that he gets his questions answered on every project that he works on. He’s very organic and grows with every single role he picks up.
8 DAYS’ PICK! While one can never rule out Chen Hanwei, who was fantastic in Super Dad as an ex-convict reintegrating into society after many years in prison, and Zhang Yaodong, who already won Best Actor at last year's Asian Academy Awards for his role in Daybreak, our money's on Romeo Tan for his turn as a baker suffering from Tourette's syndrome in Happy Prince. It's a strong, heartfelt performance that proves that Romeo is truly a talent to watch.
Best Actress
Carrie Wong - A Quest to Heal
Chen Liping - How Are You?
Felicia Chin - A Jungle Survivor
Kym Ng - My Guardian Angels
Rebecca Lim - A Jungle Survivor
Rui En - Hello From The Other Side
Zoe Tay - My Guardian Angels
INDUSTRY WATCHER: Carrie Wong. Her acting was great and her diction was good too, which is surprising in a good way. She did so well that it felt like I was watching a drama produced and aired in China.
MEDIACORP ACTOR: Kym Ng. Her role wasn’t easy to pull off since her character is very complex. She’s a very cute person in real life but had to portray a character that’s so unlike her. Her chances of winning are high since she did it so well.
INDUSTRY INSIDER: Rui En. Like Pierre, she really delivers in all the roles she plays, and she can also connect with her audience very well.
8 DAYS’ PICK! Felicia Chin has never won an acting award in her 18-year career but that will all change this year thanks to her role as an icy and unapologetic mistress in A Jungle Survivor. It's a character you loved to hate and hated to love and all that is because of Feli's searingly good performance.
Best Supporting Actor
Brandon Wong - Hello From The Other Side
Bryan Wong - A Quest to Heal
Chen Shucheng - Old is Gold
Darren Lim - While You Were Away
Guo Liang - A Jungle Survivor
Ian Fang - All is Well - SG
James Seah - C.L.I.F.5
INDUSTRY WATCHER: James Seah. He’s improved a lot over the years and he’s a dark horse among all the other nominees. His performance was a real eye-opener and him portraying as a villain has really put him on our collective radars.
MEDIACORP ACTOR: Bryan Wong. The role is funny and irritating, and he really made the character his. Perhaps it was easy for him to play this character because he’s very flamboyant in real life, but as a viewer, it’s very entertaining.
INDUSTRY INSIDER: James Seah. He’s improved tremendously in this show, and he not only met but surpassed my expectations.
8 DAYS’ PICK! Bryan Wong's scene-stealing evil eunuch in time-travelling period epic A Quest To Heal is probably the campiest Mediacorp drama character since Zi Luo Cha in The Last Swordsman. And for that he deserves the win.
Best Supporting Actress
Aileen Tan - Hello Miss Driver
Bonnie Loo - C.L.I.F.5
Chantalle Ng - Terror Within
Cynthia Koh - After the Stars
Kym Ng - Daybreak
Lin Mei Jiao - After the Stars
Lina Ng - Terror Within
INDUSTRY WATCHER: Bonnie Loo. Like James in C.L.I.F 5, it was unexpected that she would be able to play a villain so well.
MEDIACORP ACTOR: Cynthia Koh. Even without any explanation, everyone should know that she deserves this. Any Tom, Dick or Harry wouldn’t have been able to pull off the character like she did. She had to act nonchalant on the outside when her character had so much going on in her mind. She was outstanding.
INDUSTRY INSIDER: Cynthia Koh. She’s a very professional actress who’s always delivering surprises, regardless of how small the role is. That’s how serious she is about her craft.
8 DAYS’ PICK! Kym Ng will probably have to make space on her very crowded mantle for another Best Supporting Actress trophy. Her heartbreaking tour-de-force turn as a woman accused of murder in Daybreak along with her feisty performance as housewife battling breast cancer in My Guardian Angels in the Best Actress category shows just how multi-faceted an actress Kym is.
Best Programme Host (Entertainment & Infotainment)
Cavin Soh - King of Culinary S2
Chen Hanwei - House Everything?
Guo Liang - The Destined One S2
Kym Ng - Ah Gong Can Cook
Quan Yifeng - Hear U Out
Quan Yifeng - YiFong & Eleanor’s Kitchen
Tung Soo Hua - Be My Guest S2
INDUSTRY WATCHER: Quan Yifeng. It’s very challenging to delve deep into sensitive topics with your guests, but she managed to do that. She also changed our perception of certain artistes thanks to how she steered some of the interviews.
MEDIACORP ACTOR: Chen Hanwei. He helped people clean up their homes and it’s not an easy job. I think his was the most challenging to film as he had to get down and dirty while the others were a lot more comfortable in their respective filming locations.
INDUSTRY INSIDER: Quan Yifeng. She has a good track record and always delivers a strong performance regardless of the scale of the show that she’s working on. She always performs well.
8 DAYS’ PICK! Hear U Out is a bona fide hit and Yifeng, who is the captain of this ship, steering our celebs to spill their guts and then some, will be duly rewarded for it.
Best Newcomer
Benjamin Tan - My Guardian Angels
Herman Keh - Interns’ Survivor Guide
Juin Teh - Interns’ Survivor Guide
Ke Le - Ah Gong Can Cook
Seow Sin Nee - Hawker Academy
Sheryl Ang - All Around You
Zhang Zetong - A Jungle Survivor
INDUSTRY WATCHER: Herman Keh. He’s another dark horse in the race, and we haven’t had a new comedian-actor in the past couple of years. His character was almost made for him and he stands out. He’s still pretty green in terms of acting but he has the X-factor and is able to make people laugh.
MEDIACORP ACTOR: Benjamin Tan. He’s been doing very well and this little boy’s hard work has been witnessed by all of us. He’s very humble and driven and fully prepares himself for every single role that he’s given.
INDUSTRY INSIDER: Sheryl Ang. The way she carries herself and delivers her character is much better than what you’d expect of a newcomer.
8 DAYS’ PICK! It's a toss-up between Star Search champ Zhang Zetong and Benjamin Tan but the latter's natural and breezy performance in My Guardian Angels should clinch him the award.
Best Drama Serial
A Jungle Survivor
A Quest to Heal
All is Well - SG
C.L.I.F.5
Daybreak
Hello From The Other Side
My One In A Million
INDUSTRY WATCHER: All Is Well. The plot was so complex, and yet it was delivered very well and had great pacing. We need more co-productions and giving an award to this show would be a great way to show that we should support such projects in the future.
MEDIACORP ACTOR: A Quest To Heal. This wasn’t an easy drama to shoot. It was filmed during COVID-19 and there was a period of time when they had to stop filming when production wasn’t complete, so there’s a lot that happened behind the scenes that everyone doesn’t know about. The EP also did a great job of drawing the cast and crew closer together and it really showed because everyone did a great job.
INDUSTRY INSIDER: A Quest To Heal. It’s a mega blockbuster and the amount of manpower required to film this is beyond any of the dramas we’ve filmed in recent years. I think they deserve the win.
8 DAYS’ PICK! Blockbusters almost always come up tops in this category and there wasn't any drama more blockbuster-y than A Quest to Heal aka Mediacorp's first period drama in 20 years. A milestone like that surely needs to be celebrated with a Best Drama win, right? Right?
Catch meWATCH’s Live Commentary of Star Awards 2021 from 3.30pm - 10pm on meWATCH, or Mediacorp Entertainment Channel on YouTube on Sunday, April 18 2021.
The Walk Of Fame will be from 5pm - 6.30pm, on meWATCH, Ch 8, Ch U and Mediacorp Entertainment Channel on YouTube on the same day. It will be followed by the Main Awards Show from 7pm - 10pm on meWATCH, Ch 8, Ch U and Mediacorp Entertainment Channel on YouTube.
Online voting for the Top 20 Most Popular Male and Female Artistes ends on April 18, 8pm. Voting is open to anyone with a valid Mediacorp account, and each person can only cast one vote a day for each category. Unlimited votes can be cast from 5pm to 8pm on April 18. Click here to vote.
For more information, visit mewatch.sg/sa2021
Photos: Mediacorp, Hype Records
