Star Awards 2017

Star Awards 2017 (also SA2017, Chinese: 红星大奖2017) is a television award ceremony which is held in Singapore. It is part of the annual Star Awards organised by Mediacorp for free-to-air channels Channels 8 and U. The Road to Star Awards 2017 was broadcast live on 26 March, and 2 and 9 April 2017. The Walk of Fame and Ceremony Awards were broadcast live on 16 April 2017. The theme for this year's Star Award is "影响 (Influence)".

Programme details

The Road to Star Awards 2017 Episode 1 – Drama (红星大奖 影聚响宴 第一场)

The Road to Star Awards 2017 is a series of three prelude shows leading up to the main presentation itself. Artistes – mainly the performance category nominees, were invited to the preludes and asked to select their favourites for the acting categories. Andie Chen was the artistes' choice for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor, while Zoe Tay and Paige Chua were the picks for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress, respectively. Three drama category awards were given out; meanwhile, Zoe Tay took home the Best Dressed Celeb award. The Bottom 8 of the Top 10 awards – in no rank order – was revealed at the end of the show, with Aileen Tan, Hong Huifang, Lin Meijiao, Priscelia Chan, Chen Shucheng, Chen Tianwen, Terence Cao and Yao Wenlong at the bottom of the rankings.

Winners are indicated as BOLD

^1 The nominee was absent from the show.

The Road to Star Awards 2017 Episode 2 – Variety (红星大奖 影聚响宴 第二场)

The theme for Show 2 is variety, and two variety category awards were given out – both going to As I Hold Your Hand. Besides, awards presented by both presenting brands, Bioskin and London Choco Roll, were also given out. Quan Yi Fong was the artistes' choice for the Best Programme Host, while Mark Lee took home the Best Speech Award – his first award in five years. In one segment, the variety hosts also compared awards they have won so far. The Top 16 were revealed, and in no rank order, Bonnie Loo, Carrie Wong, Julie Tan, Kym Ng, Paige Chua, Rebecca Lim, Sora Ma, Ya Hui, Ben Yeo, Dennis Chew, Desmond Tan, Ian Fang, Lee Teng, Pornsak, Romeo Tan and Zhang Zhenhuan appear to be in the lead.

Winners are indicated as BOLD

^2 The nominee was absent from the show.

The Road to Star Awards 2017 Episode 3 – Stardom (红星大奖 影聚响宴 第三场)

In the third and final week of preludes, Kate Pang replaced Pornsak as co-host, since the latter took leave. The All-Time Favourite Artistes, Quan Yi Fong, Elvin Ng and Joanne Peh were interviewed by Dennis Chew with a series of quick-fire question and answer segment; Peh, who pre-recorded her acceptance speech in anticipation of her labour of her second child, provided the funniest answer when asked to share her "favourite body part" of husband Qi Yuwu. Two current-affair category awards were presented, and the Top 20 shortlist was announced with a special appearance by South Korean actor So Ji-sub, who is tasked to unlock the briefcase containing the envelopes for the shortlists. Aileen Tan, Hong Huifang, Lin Meijiao, Priscelia Chan, Pierre Png, Terence Cao, Yao Wenlong and Zhu Houren were at the bottom of the rankings and thus, were eliminated.

Winners are indicated as BOLD

Star Awards 2017 Awards Ceremony (红星大奖2017 颁奖典礼)

The awards ceremony was held on 16 April 2017 at the MES Theatre @ Mediacorp. A total of 14 awards were given out, including the Top 10 Most Popular Artistes awards. The ceremony, hosted by Lee Teng and featured a total of 16 international presenters and performers, saw a number of records:

• Star Awards 2016 is the second award ceremony to have a majority of awards given to one drama serial (The Dream Makers II) and win the Best Variety Special award, after 2014's awards presentation. With the win, it now surpasses NKF Charity Show with the most number of Best Variety Special award wins, with seven.
• This is the second year after 2004 where three artistes were awarded the All-Time Favourite Artiste award. A total of nine artistes have received the All-Time Favourite Artiste award for the past four years, almost doubling the number of recipients to 20.
• Chen Hanwei received his fifth Best Actor award this year, and now ties with former artiste Xie Shaoguang, who had last won the award in 2004, with the most number of Best Actor wins.
• Zoe Tay received her second Best Actress award in 21 years, having last won the award in 1996 for her role in The Golden Pillow. She now joins the ranks of Joanne Peh and Rui En, who last won the award in 2012 and 2013, respectively, with two Best Actress award wins.
• Hero, which has the same screenplay and executive producer from the previous year's Top Rated Drama Serial Tiger Mum, became the fourth consecutive blockbuster as well as the first ever drama serial with infomercials for the entirety of its run to win the Best Drama Serial. It is unable to sweep most awards in the ceremony as in the past three years, with the other awards going to If Only I Could, Peace & Prosperity, The Dream Job, The Gentlemen and You Can Be An Angel 2.

Over at the Top 10 Most Popular Artiste awards, Paige Chua, Sora Ma, Tong Bing Yu, Ya Hui, Ben Yeo, Desmond Ng, Desmond Tan, Ian Fang, Pornsak and Romeo Tan edged out Julie Tan, Jeffrey Xu, Xu Bin and Zhang Yaodong to win the accolade. It was Ma and Desmond Ng's first win. Kym Ng currently accumulates nine awards, and remains as the only artiste to have the most wins without achieving the All-Time Favourite Artiste award.

Winners are indicated as BOLD

Special Awards

^3 This award is a special achievement award given out to artiste(s) who have achieved a maximum of 10 popularity awards over 10 years. Top 10 winning years two of three recipients were awarded are highlighted in italic. The award will not be presented in 2018, as there are no recipients with ten Top 10 Most Popular Male or Female Artistes award wins to allow the award to be presented that year.

Top 10 Most Popular Artistes

This year's Top 10 Most Popular Artistes awards sees the number of nominees expanded by eight – four for each gender – to 48. As usual, viewers voted for their favourite artiste through telepoll and online voting (each weighing 50% of the results). At the end of the preludes, the top 20 artistes for each gender advanced to the main presentation to vie for the Top 10 awards. Voting for the awards opened at noon on 4 March and ended at 8:30 pm on 16 April.

The nominees are listed in telepoll line order. The results of the Top 10 awards are not in any rank order.

Key

Shows with multiple nominations and/or at least one award

Presenters and Performers

The following individuals presented awards or performed musical numbers.

Presenters

Performers

Ceremony information

Reports about the 23rd instalment of the Star Awards ceremony were published on Toggle on 12 January 2017. This was the first time in 8 years where there is only one main ceremony. A three-episode weekly 'countdown' special was announced, while the post-show party was removed. Online voting categories were also streamlined, with more emphasis placed on the Top 10 Most Popular Artiste awards. The Favourite Male and Female Character awards and Favourite Onscreen Couple award were dropped last year so that viewers can focus on the online voting of the Top 10 awards, and the Social Media Award was scrapped. In addition, with a switch in measurement of television viewership, the Top Rated Variety Programme and Top Rated Drama Serial awards were suspended.

On 23 January the same year, the nominee list was revealed, with Andie Chen nominated for the Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor in the same year and Hero receiving the most nominations, including four Best Supporting Actress nominations (the second time since 2009 with a majority from the same drama in the running for the award).

Press conference / roadshow

A press conference was held on 3 March 2017 at Marina Square, where an expanded Top 24 Most Popular Male and Female Artiste line-up was revealed.^[1] Joanne Peh, Quan Yi Fong and Elvin Ng go on to receive the All-Time Favourite Artiste award; meanwhile, Belinda Lee, Jin Yinji and Aloysius Pang did not renew their contracts with Mediacorp and Youyi, Chua En Lai and Zheng Geping were not shortlisted. There were 17 new faces in total – nine female and eight male – with Bonnie Loo, He Yingying, Hong Ling, Seraph Sun, Sora Ma, Andie Chen, Cavin Soh and Desmond Ng nominated for the first time and Lim Peifen, Lin Meijiao, Priscelia Chan, Wendy Xiao Ying, Ben Yeo, Desmond Tan, Ian Fang, Terence Cao and Yao Wenlong nominated again after their absence from the Top 10 list last year. For Cao and Pan Lingling, in particular, this is the 20th time they have been nominated in the category, having last won more than a decade ago. In addition, Xiao Ying has by far the longest absence by any returning artiste, having last nominated in 2001. A roadshow was held at the same venue the next day, with Fang, Sun, Tan, Chen Tianwen, Desmond Ng, Jayley Woo, Shane Pow and Zhang Yaodong appearing at the event.

Controversies

Infomercial controversy

This is the first year most, if not all, nominated drama serials had infomercials right after the theme song and/or just before the end credits. Most notably, the same infomercials for Daikin air-conditioners (one for Silver ENVi series and another for Smile series), the main sponsor of the 9p.m. dramas since The Truth Seekers, were inserted during these times. Other brands that had similar arrangements include Gain City, Kinohimitsu, Lion Corporation, Marigold and NTUC Income. The then-Media Development Authority (MDA), in its 2nd Broadcast Programme Advisory Committee Combined Report, observed that the advertorial segments in shows such as 118, Life - Fear Not and Channel 5 drama Tanglin featured artists advocating the benefits of the sponsors' products, and were filmed on the sets of the respective programmes. Although MDA had no issues with the use of the programme's artists and sets, it felt that the advertorial segments should be clearly distinguished from the rest of the programmes. Mediacorp has been told to do so,^[2][3] but despite that, the infomercial for Daikin Smile Series continued to be shown after the theme songs were played as of 2017, and a new infomercial for Kinohimitsu Superfood+ aired on the first week of 118 II.

Absence of awards

There was no mention of backstage awards for Best Set Design, Best Cameraman and Best Editing as mentioned on Toggle's previous announcement. Separately, Best News Presenter and Best Current Affairs Presenter awards were not be presented for the fourth consecutive time, even though Channel 8 News & Current Affairs already had at least ten news presenters by the end of 2016. Also, due to unknown reasons, the Rocket award, which is given to the most improved Mediacorp artiste, was notably absent.

References