A night of celebration, a month of preparation: Jesseca Liu shows us her Star Awards journey

It's just one night a year and local celebrities get gussied up in their most glamorous outfits, perhaps looking the most stylish they will be for the entire year.

At the end of the annual Star Awards, the magic disappears as they doff their gowns and tuxedos and return to a life of normalcy. Kind of like Cinderella when the clock strikes midnight.

However, the preparation for Star Awards actually takes place over a month prior to the event — at least for Malaysia-born local actress Jesseca Liu.

In an Instagram video uploaded yesterday (Apr 25), the 42-year-old took us on her preparation journey for the glitzy event. She wrote: "How do the female artistes prepare for Star Awards? Star Awards only lasts for a night, but it takes a long time to prepare. Normally we will start a month before and we will exercise, take care of our skin, choose our outfits, and watch our diet.

"There's so much to do for a celebrity, not to mention the front-end and backstage crew who are preparing for the ceremony. I dare not imagine how many details go into it."

From what Jesseca shared, her Star Awards journey started with a trip to celebrity hairstylist David Gan, who gave her a cut, a dye job, a perm, and some hair treatment.

Then she was off to the stylists where she tried on many gorgeous gowns, including one that looked similar to something she had worn before and a beautiful sheer white gown with a plunging neckline.

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The latter was a little too bold for her taste and had her feeling a tad conscious. In the subtitles for the video, she wrote: "I don't dare to look at this dress directly. It's very pretty but I'm not brave enough to wear it to Star Awards."

Of course, no look is complete without accessories and Jesseca showed off some of the jewellery that she tried on, including a loop earring. She also revealed that her ears are rather sensitive and it always takes her a long time to put on her earrings.

Eventually, she settled on her look for Star Awards — an elegant black gown from Italian designer Gretel Z — and she gleefully unwrapped her haute couture outfit, exclaiming: "It's so heavy!"

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She also gave us a peek into her fitness routine and confessed: "Every time I exercise, I want to 'kill' my coach but decided not to because I can't win him. That said, I am grateful that he pushed me to my limits. This was the first time I didn't attend Star Awards on an empty stomach. I could eat because I know I've been exercising hard."

The video also showed us what went on behind the scenes on the night of Star Awards. While a crew was filming the Star Awards backstage programme — co-hosted by hubby Jeremy Chan — they walked in on her in the make-up room and she wasn't ready.

Jesseca wrote: "I was panicking because my make-up wasn't done."

Although, having watched the backstage show, we have to say that Jesseca looked flawless even though she wasn't dolled up.

After her make-up was completed, it was off to a photoshoot before she made her way to the airport for the event proper. Jesseca concluded: "That's all. It was exhausting, but this was how that one wonderful day (Star Awards) ended."

ALSO READ: Zoe Tay snags second consecutive Best Actress award at Star Awards 2021

bryanlim@asiaone.com