SINGAPORE - Hit romantic series My Star Bride, the most-watched Channel 8 drama of 2021, leads this year's Star Awards with seven nominations.
The series is up for the Best Drama Serial award. It also ushered in the first Best Actor and Best Actress nominations for its leads Xu Bin and Chantalle Ng, who played a couple in the series.
The drama - about a Vietnamese bride who enters into a sham marriage with a Singaporean lawyer - charmed fans locally and overseas as well, becoming a modest hit in China.
The drama also picked up two best supporting actress nods for Cynthia Koh and Lin Meijiao - Chantalle Ng's real-life mother - and one for Zhu Houren for best supporting actor.
Crime series Key Witness is also up for seven awards, though it missed out on a Best Drama Serial nomination. Its leading man Desmond Tan, supporting actors James Seah and Zhang Zetong, and supporting actresses Lina Ng and Bonnie Loo were all nominated.
Another first-time Best Actor nominees is Jeremy Chan, who was recognised for his performance in the supernatural series Crouching Tiger Hidden Ghost. He plays a man with the ability to see ghosts opposite his real-life wife Jesseca Liu, who was nominated for Best Actress for the show.
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Xu and Chan will have tough competition, from three-time nominee Romeo Tan, former winner Desmond Tan and Chen Hanwei. The six-time Best Actor winner is nominated for playing a former chef in Recipe Of Life.
In the Best Programme Host (Entertainment and Infotainment) category, Ke Le got her first nomination for Curious City. She is up against veteran hosts Quan Yifong, Guo Liang and Kym Ng and fellow Curious City co-host Desmond Ng.
This year's ceremony will be hosted by Chen, the first time he will be anchoring an awards show on his own. It will be held on April 24 at The Theatre at Mediacorp. The ceremony was held at Jewel Changi Airport in 2021.
The main awards ceremony will begin at 7pm on Channel 8 and Channel U with a simulcast on meWatch and Mediacorp Entertainment's YouTube channel.
There will also be a seven-hour backstage live commentary available from 3.30pm only on meWatch and YouTube, where the public can vote for special awards such as Favourite Couple Pairing and Most Hated Villain.
This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.
