Star Awards 2021 to be held at Changi Airport, special guests include Sandra Ng, Ella Chen

SINGAPORE - This year's Star Awards will be held at Changi Airport, with celebrities putting their best foot forward on a new runway.

Star Awards 2021 will be a 6½-hour-long show, aired from Changi Airport Terminal 4 (T4) and Jewel Changi Airport on April 18.

It is organised by Mediacorp, which is teaming up for the first time with Changi Airport Group, Jewel Changi Airport and Singapore Airlines (SIA) to present the awards show. It was cancelled last year because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Details of this year's show were announced at a virtual press conference on Tuesday (April 6) at the HSBC Rain Vortex at Jewel. It was hosted by Dennis Chew and attended by stars Zoe Tay, Pierre Png, Desmond Tan, Rebecca Lim, James Seah and Benjamin Tan.

Best Actor nominee Chen Hanwei (Super Dad) also made a separate appearance - on a tarmac area at Changi Airport against the backdrop of an SIA Airbus A350-900. This is where celebrities will be making an appearance from 5pm on the day of the awards, in a departure from the usual red carpet.

Fans can also watch behind-the-scene preparations from 3.30pm.

The main awards ceremony show, which starts at 7pm, will be held against the backdrop of the Shiseido Forest Valley and the HSBC Rain Vortex at Jewel, as well as at four locations across T4.

Adding glitz are overseas celebrities, including Ella Chen, Matilda Tao, Gordon Lam and Sandra Ng, who will appear live from satellite studios in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

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Tay, who is nominated for Best Actress (My Guardian Angels), said she is looking forward to meeting her colleagues at the ceremony - with safe distancing measures in place.

“I have not met many of them since the pandemic and I miss them,” she said during the press conference.

The last time the Star Awards were held outside Mediacorp was in 2014, at Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Ms Hung Jean, chief executive of Jewel Changi Airport Development, said: "We hope Jewel will add that extra sparkle to this coveted star-studded event to honour the best in the entertainment industry."

Mr Jayson Goh, managing director of airport operations management at Changi Airport Group, said holding the Star Awards at T4 provides an opportunity for Singapore as well as overseas viewers to enjoy the terminal's design and attractions.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.