PUBLISHED ONMay 23, 2025 9:19 AMByYeo Shu HuiThe annual Star Awards will take place in July this year and as the ceremony celebrates its 30th anniversary, Mediacorp promises some interesting highlights at the glitzy event in a coffee session with local media on May 20.
Among them will be a colossal Star Awards trophy, towering at 30 times its original size, placed at the red-carpet event.
AsiaOne also spoke to this year's award nominees Chen Shucheng, Ya Hui, Felicia Chin, Chantalle Ng, Tasha Low and Pierre Png at the event to hear more about their memories of the awards.
Veteran host-actor Cheng Shucheng, who is nominated Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Unforgivable, shared that his controversial speech at the award ceremony in 2012 was a significant memory — and lesson — for him.
The 75-year-old told us: "There was once I won an award and got a little carried away, so I spoke a little out of turn during my thank-you speech."
That year, he won Best Supporting Actor for his performance in The Oath (2011). When his name was announced, he received a standing ovation and received hugs from many actors before receiving his award on stage.
In his winning speech, Shucheng, who debuted in local showbiz in 1971, said: "I have been in this industry for decades and nominated a few times but only won an award once.
"It's hard to say when I would win again, so when I received this award on stage, I thought, could it be because the judges felt I'm getting older and wanted to give me a consolation prize or could it be that they have changed their preference recently."
Recounting the experience, he told us he remembered there were reporters who wrote they were "surprised" he would say something like that.
He added: "The management at Mediacorp also asked if there was anything I was unhappy about. That was when I realised, a moment of being carried away can cause me to speak out of turn... perhaps I was too happy and let it get to my head in the spur of the moment.
"From then on, I changed my manner of conduct. I believed in lifelong learning and when I hit a wall like this and understood other's reactions, I realised I spoke inappropriately and it's wrong, so I decided to change."
Shucheng also shared that after that experience, he learnt to change the way he expressed himself on stage and would tone down his speech.
He said: "Audience may feel that [my speech] is boring and bland, but that's okay, because I feel that in my senior years, there is a need to tone down."
Felicia Chin, who has a Best Actress nomination for her performance in I Do, Do I?, recalled two editions of Star Awards that were particularly memorable for her.
In 2016, the 40-year-old made the headlines when she wore a see-through Paolo Sebastian gown that revealed a tad too much.
"The outfit is really beautiful, but we also found out that under certain lighting, it's sheer and nice, but because we had to walk outside in the harsh sunlight, it became a bit of a different look. So that was a memorable year for me definitely. I love the dress, but probably not under sunlight," she laughed.
Felicia also distinctly remember Star Awards 2022, as it was a significant moment for both her actor husband Jeffrey Xu and herself.
"My husband won Best Supporting Actor and I won my 10th Top 10 Most Popular award. I felt like it was a very beautiful moment to be able to happy for him when he was on stage receiving his award... It was a nice year," she recounted.
Best Supporting Actress nominee Ya Hui's memories of Star Awards go way back before she entered showbiz.
The 38-year-old, who is nominated for her performance in Coded Love, told us: "Star Awards was most memorable when I watched it as a kid because it was like, super grand."
She shared that she would look forward to seeing which international stars were at the event and whether her favourite artistes won acting or popularity awards.
"I think it was more fun watching it than attending myself... because I am the one in the race," she laughed.
Ya Hui also recalled the time when voting for the Top 10 Most Popular Artistes awards was conducted through telepoll. She voted for local actress Priscelia Chan after watching her in the period drama Bukit Ho Swee (2002), hoping she would be awarded.
"I really got permission from my parents to call... It was a very iconic show back then, but when she didn't win, I was very angry. This is the most memorable memory for me," she said.
Ya Hui added she shared this experience with Priscelia when they met years later after she joined showbiz.
Like Ya Hui, Tasha Low also remembers vividly catching the awards when she was young.
"My first memory of Star Awards was when I was in primary school. I would be at my house phone calling and voting for the artistes. I remembered I voted for Jeanette Aw a lot. I love her dramas. I am a huge TV fan and grew up watching Channel 8 dramas," the 31-year-old recounted.
Tasha, who is nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Coded Love, added that she had to make those calls secretly. Besides Jeanette, she had also voted for local actresses including Rui En, Fiona Xie and Jesseca Liu.
Tasha, Jeanette, 45, and Jesseca, 46, worked together in the recently concluded series Emerald Hill — The Little Nyonya Story.
Speaking about this, Tasha said that it was a humbling experience: "Being here today, my younger self would have been very proud."
This year also marks Tasha's first nomination for an acting award since she became an actress in 2019.
She told us she received the news while in South Korea for work: "I asked my manager, 'Are you sure?' because I really didn't expect it to come so soon and I feel that I still have a long way to go as an actress. It was a very pleasant surprise for me."
Tasha also shared that she recorded two new singles — one R&B and the other hip-hop — in South Korea and there are no planned release dates yet.
One key moment for Chantalle Ng was when she was invited to present the Young Talent Award in a particular year.
"I can't remember which year that was, but I went on stage with Tay Ying and Chen Xi... It was my first time on stage and on such a big scale as well. It was just nerve-wracking," the 29-year-old recounted.
All three, who have actor parents, grew up to be actors themselves. Tay Ying's parents are Hong Huifang and Zheng Geping, Chen Xi's are Xiang Yun and Edmund Chen, while Chantalle's mum is Lin Meijiao.
Chantalle, who received a Best Actress nomination for her performance in Hope Afloat, said that she has stage fright, but the best way to cope with it is to make sure that she prepares herself well every time before going on stage.
Speaking about her nomination, she shared: "As an actress, I try to do well for every role. When preparing for a role, I did it not with the hope that I would get nominated, so this comes as a very nice bonus.
"I see Star Awards as a celebration every year, regardless of whether I'm winning. It's just the whole family coming together and spending time together. I just really like that feeling because it's so cosy and nice."
Chantalle added she would prepare her speech at least a month or two before the show, once she received news of her nomination, regardless of whether she feels she has a chance of winning.
She said: "I feel that this is showing my respect for the ceremony. I don't want to be put in a situation where if I really get the chance to go on stage and I stumble [with my words]."
Pierre Png told us that his most memorable Star Awards moment was when he received Best Actor in 2014 for his performance in The Journey: A Voyage (2013).
"Not only was it an impossible feat for me, considering how 'good' my Mandarin is, but also in that year, I got awarded Best Actor in a Leading Role at the Asian Television Awards. I got two best actor awards in 2014, that's got to be the highlight of my career," the 51-year-old said.
He had received the Asian Television Awards accolade for Zero Calling 2.
He recalled: "I was in shock for at least a week, it didn't sink in. I remembered even though I had an interview with (actor-host) Guo Liang the next day, I still couldn't believe it and he was maybe the first one to snap me out of it. He said, 'You won it, you should own it and give yourself a pat on the back.'"
Pierre is nominated Best Supporting Actor this year for his performance in Moments.
Speaking about the nomination, he said: "I feel very privileged and thankful, because in this day and age, there's just so much distraction. There are so many other platforms, so many other forms of interactions and media distraction and for people to actually still watch television, it is a form of recognition.
"And to be involved in this year's Star Awards, where there're so many other new actors, I'm just so glad that people still remember us."
Star Awards 2025 will be presented on July 6, starting from Backstage Live at 3.30pm to 10.30pm, Walk of Fame from 5pm to 6.30pm, the awards show from 7pm to 10pm and Post-Party from 10pm to 10.30pm.
The awards show and Walk of Fame will air on Channel 8, Channel U, Mewatch and the Mediacorp Entertainment YouTube channel, Post-Party will air on Channel U, Mewatch and the Mediacorp Entertainment YouTube channel, while Backstage Live will air on the latter two platforms.
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