Awards - 2016 TVB Star Awards Malaysia
Hey! hope everyone has been doing well! We are personally super excited for Christmas coming up in a couple weeks here!
A Fist Within Four Walls - No surprises here at all! We knew this drama was going to win. It was one of the best ones this year with action, family, romance and some twists along the way. The cast was great too and nobody let us down in their roles. We are pretty sure that this one will win at the TVB awards as well.
Nancy Wu as Tiu Lan in AFWFW - This year, her win was well-deserved compared to the one last year in Ghost of Relativity. In all honesty, GOR seemed to be a filler drama that turned out to be a great success. With the flop of the spinoff AKA THE DIRECT COPY, we hope Nancy can get some better roles and continue to try out different roles to test and expand her acting abilities.
My Favourite TVB Most Improved Actor:
My Favourite TVB Drama Theme Song:
Never Know You Were the Best - Ruco Chan and Nancy Wu
Again we knew this one would win haha. It was a great duet that matched well with the drama however we do have a comment on the live performance. When we heard the Singapore and Malaysian live ones, Nancy was off tune for the most part which we expected but when we watched the TVB boradcasted version of the Starhub awards, they dubbed the live part so their artists wouldn't sound as bad on screen to the HK audiences. We just didn't appreciate that and wanted to hear the real version even if it is off tune.
Mat Yeung and Benjamin Yuen in All Work no Pay Holidays: India
This was unexpected as it looked like there were hosts with more buzz this year. It seems like it was given to them just because both of them got other awards as well so they just gave it to someone that was attending so they didn't have to deliver the award to someone else. Side note - Ben looks very tired at this event, hope he gets some good rest.
Wayne Lai as Lee Suk-Gong in SEOTS - Did not attend.
UPDATE: This is a video of one of the performances that we really enjoyed in the awards. We thought the idea of doing a story with a medley of HK songs was creative and there was a theme of young love throughout this performance which set up the mood for the on-screen couple award.
All photos are from TVB's official Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/tvbcom
This round of awards were in Malaysia and we are going to give you our thoughts on the winners!
My Favourite TVB Drama Series:
A Fist Within Four Walls - No surprises here at all! We knew this drama was going to win. It was one of the best ones this year with action, family, romance and some twists along the way. The cast was great too and nobody let us down in their roles. We are pretty sure that this one will win at the TVB awards as well.
My Favourite TVB Actor in a Leading Role:
Ruco Chan as Chor Au-Kuen in AFWFW - Again no surprises here! At least there are no double wins for pork prizes and such. We don't have too many comments on this win as we have already said them in the Starhub post. Wonder if he will snatch it at TVB finally after many wins in Singapore and Malaysia now.
Ruco Chan as Chor Au-Kuen in AFWFW - Again no surprises here! At least there are no double wins for pork prizes and such. We don't have too many comments on this win as we have already said them in the Starhub post. Wonder if he will snatch it at TVB finally after many wins in Singapore and Malaysia now.
My Favourite TVB Actress in a Leading Role:
Nancy Wu as Tiu Lan in AFWFW - This year, her win was well-deserved compared to the one last year in Ghost of Relativity. In all honesty, GOR seemed to be a filler drama that turned out to be a great success. With the flop of the spinoff AKA THE DIRECT COPY, we hope Nancy can get some better roles and continue to try out different roles to test and expand her acting abilities.
My Favourite TVB Actor in a Supporting Role:
Mat Yeung as Liu Shau-Kei in My Dangerous Mafia Retirement Plan - This was pretty much the only surprise of the night! We did not expect him to win at all with all the other contenders on the nomination list such as Raymond Cho, Power Chan, Philip Ng, Carlo Ng etc. It was not really a memorable character in our eyes and he went from most improved in Singapore... to Best Supporting Actor? Wow haha, nonetheless happy for him and hope TVB continues to promote him in bigger roles.
Mat Yeung as Liu Shau-Kei in My Dangerous Mafia Retirement Plan - This was pretty much the only surprise of the night! We did not expect him to win at all with all the other contenders on the nomination list such as Raymond Cho, Power Chan, Philip Ng, Carlo Ng etc. It was not really a memorable character in our eyes and he went from most improved in Singapore... to Best Supporting Actor? Wow haha, nonetheless happy for him and hope TVB continues to promote him in bigger roles.
My Favourite TVB Actress in a Supporting Role:
Joyce Tang as Po Yan in House of Spirits - What a well-deserved win after many years in this industry. We thought she shined in this role and it even surpassed Nancy's Chan Chan in the drama. In this drama alone, she showed her loving side to her daughter, her loud and brassy side to her family, and her moments of desperation when she almost got a divorce. We loved the relationships that her character built with the rest of the cast.
Joyce Tang as Po Yan in House of Spirits - What a well-deserved win after many years in this industry. We thought she shined in this role and it even surpassed Nancy's Chan Chan in the drama. In this drama alone, she showed her loving side to her daughter, her loud and brassy side to her family, and her moments of desperation when she almost got a divorce. We loved the relationships that her character built with the rest of the cast.
My Favourite TVB Most Improved Actor:
Jonathan Cheung - Well we can say this is a little surprising too. Actually just surprising in terms of the nomination since he has been in the industry for a while now and is mostly a kelefe. This must be a great achievement for him. We have never seen him as leading material but rather the funny sidekick, more like a Ron Weasley to Harry Potter. We sometimes see him acting in Louis Cheung's roles as well and hopefully he can give us a memorable performance in the future. Apologies for not finding a better picture, but it shows that he has worked hard and is proud of his achievement so far.
My Favourite TVB Most Improved Actress:
Moon Lau - Again, we will say it again as we did at the Starhub awards, this is a newcomer to look out for. Moon has had numerous roles this year and her newest one to date is Emma in Two Steps from Heaven as a rebelious young woman (homewrecker). It was quite scandalous at first for someone with her innocent and cute image to play but she carried it well and has convinced us of her acting ability in a variety of different roles. In our mind, she is the most deserving to win the TVB Award for MIA as well but with the favouritsm, it looks like Ali or Sisley will get it this year unfortunately.
Moon Lau - Again, we will say it again as we did at the Starhub awards, this is a newcomer to look out for. Moon has had numerous roles this year and her newest one to date is Emma in Two Steps from Heaven as a rebelious young woman (homewrecker). It was quite scandalous at first for someone with her innocent and cute image to play but she carried it well and has convinced us of her acting ability in a variety of different roles. In our mind, she is the most deserving to win the TVB Award for MIA as well but with the favouritsm, it looks like Ali or Sisley will get it this year unfortunately.
My Favourite TVB On-Screen Couple:
1. Vincent Wong and Tracy Chu in Over Run Over
2. Ruco Chan and Nancy Wu in AFWFW
Did they have to have two winners for the couple one again?? It feels like they just felt bad that AFWFW was sweeping the awards so they had to have multiple awards. Anyways, both couples were great and had good chemistry. We still think ORO and AFWFW are two of the top dramas that aired this year and part of it was because of the chemistry between the two leads. When we first saw the nominations list we were wondering what the definition of a couple meant to these awards anymore... since they had choices like Bosco, Edwin and Priscilla from Two Steps and also Moses, Kristal and Nancy from Planet Meow so you know maybe next time they're just gonna put in the whole love square or however complicated things get!
1. Vincent Wong and Tracy Chu in Over Run Over
2. Ruco Chan and Nancy Wu in AFWFW
Did they have to have two winners for the couple one again?? It feels like they just felt bad that AFWFW was sweeping the awards so they had to have multiple awards. Anyways, both couples were great and had good chemistry. We still think ORO and AFWFW are two of the top dramas that aired this year and part of it was because of the chemistry between the two leads. When we first saw the nominations list we were wondering what the definition of a couple meant to these awards anymore... since they had choices like Bosco, Edwin and Priscilla from Two Steps and also Moses, Kristal and Nancy from Planet Meow so you know maybe next time they're just gonna put in the whole love square or however complicated things get!
My Favourite TVB Drama Theme Song:
Never Know You Were the Best - Ruco Chan and Nancy Wu
Again we knew this one would win haha. It was a great duet that matched well with the drama however we do have a comment on the live performance. When we heard the Singapore and Malaysian live ones, Nancy was off tune for the most part which we expected but when we watched the TVB boradcasted version of the Starhub awards, they dubbed the live part so their artists wouldn't sound as bad on screen to the HK audiences. We just didn't appreciate that and wanted to hear the real version even if it is off tune.
My Favourite TVB Variety Program:
Sunday Stage Fight - We saw a couple episodes of this but it got boring after 2-3 weeks because they kepy playing the same games and there just wasn't enough variety in the show. The actors sometimes were just used to create some laughs like King Kong not pronouncing Cantonese right AGAIN. Overall, we did not think this was our favourite.
Sunday Stage Fight - We saw a couple episodes of this but it got boring after 2-3 weeks because they kepy playing the same games and there just wasn't enough variety in the show. The actors sometimes were just used to create some laughs like King Kong not pronouncing Cantonese right AGAIN. Overall, we did not think this was our favourite.
My Favourite TVB Enrichment Program:
Wellness on the Go 4 - We have never seen or heard of this lol... and to think that it's on its fourth run already!! Most of the hosts were in attendance of the awards so it looks like they gave it to them just for them to have another award to take home. Also we won't be putting our thoughts on the fashion but we do not like this look from Natalie Tong, it really ages her and the shoulders should be more clean in our opinion because the hanging tulle just looks sloppy.
My Favourite TVB Host in a Variety Program:
Mat Yeung and Benjamin Yuen in All Work no Pay Holidays: India
My Favourite TVB Drama Characters:
Ruco Chan as Chor Au-Kuen
Benjamin Yuen as Duen Ying-Fung
Philip Ng as Lung Sing-Fu
What a great group of actors for AFWFW. They carried their roles very well in the drama and without them and their brotherhood, this drama would not be as successful as it is today. They each had their own character and you can tell from the picture that they're great partners off screen as well. We are waiting for another group that is as charismatic as this one. For us, the weaker link was Ben since he once again gave a kinda wooden performance, for the next drama in which he leads with Mandy Wong, we are hoping that he redeems himself.
Ruco Chan as Chor Au-Kuen
Benjamin Yuen as Duen Ying-Fung
Philip Ng as Lung Sing-Fu
What a great group of actors for AFWFW. They carried their roles very well in the drama and without them and their brotherhood, this drama would not be as successful as it is today. They each had their own character and you can tell from the picture that they're great partners off screen as well. We are waiting for another group that is as charismatic as this one. For us, the weaker link was Ben since he once again gave a kinda wooden performance, for the next drama in which he leads with Mandy Wong, we are hoping that he redeems himself.
Nancy Wu as Tiu Lan
Grace Wong as Fa Man
Again, without them there would not be AFWFW. Both of them had great performances that showed their heroine side which we really enjoyed. Before this, we seldom saw Grace Wong on screen but this role proved that she is ready for more and we want to see more of her in the future. Nancy is like the new TVB Big Sister so we don't really care for seeing more of her since she already has some big roles up ahead but hopefully she will give us a fresh performance.
Sisley Choi as Eunice Yan - This is Sisley's best role to date. We are hoping that she continues to improve in her upcoming roles. As for the character itself, it was just alright and sometimes quite confusing with the plot holes so she did well with what she was given. She definitely has learnt to control her voice on screen but needs experience for her emotional scenes.
Natalie Tong as Yiu Yiu in Speed of Life - It seems like Natalie's first leading role was pushed aside by TVB and it she never had the chance to show her acting capabilities with the surge of new actresses like Grace Chan, Sisley Choi and Ali Lee. Natalie's status seems to have fallen even though we think she is a solid actress. These actresses, like Mandy Wong have worked for many years to finally get a chance to lead only to be overshadowed by rookies that get leading roles after a year of acting. In our opinion, Natalie deserves more roles and Grace and Sisley should be pushed back to gain more experience.
Grace Wong as Fa Man
Sisley Choi as Eunice Yan - This is Sisley's best role to date. We are hoping that she continues to improve in her upcoming roles. As for the character itself, it was just alright and sometimes quite confusing with the plot holes so she did well with what she was given. She definitely has learnt to control her voice on screen but needs experience for her emotional scenes.
Natalie Tong as Yiu Yiu in Speed of Life - It seems like Natalie's first leading role was pushed aside by TVB and it she never had the chance to show her acting capabilities with the surge of new actresses like Grace Chan, Sisley Choi and Ali Lee. Natalie's status seems to have fallen even though we think she is a solid actress. These actresses, like Mandy Wong have worked for many years to finally get a chance to lead only to be overshadowed by rookies that get leading roles after a year of acting. In our opinion, Natalie deserves more roles and Grace and Sisley should be pushed back to gain more experience.
Grace Chan as Lam Meng-Yiu in Blue Veins - At least she won for this drama instead of Nana in BK2 LOL. We can't be a judge for Nana since we only saw snippets of her face in the first 5 eps but we saw her character Yiu Yiu through all of Blue Veins and honestly she was very annoying in the drama and her character made no sense at times... We really don't know why she won and since she's being promoted heavily by TVB, she better step up her game. She has a new pre-modern drama about her being Western and coming back to conservative China and we can already imagine her overacting what she feels like in real life.
Kristal Tin as Miu Miu Miu in My Lover from the Planet Meow - We actually dropped this drama after 15 episodes and didn't get a chance to see the ending and the full range of her character this time but from what we saw, she acted well as the cat. She had great facial expressions and everything but our problem was how she wore the same gray knit sweater for the entire show... how cheap can you get? The drama was a let down no matter how Kristal acted.
Mandy Wong as Fong Ling
Ali Lee as Cheuk Yi-Chung
We are honestly surprised that Alex Fong and Liu Kai-Chi have not been recognized because compared to the actresses, we thought that their performances were way better. Their characters were a lot more interesting as well. It's all about the fan base here though for the votes. Overall, we thought that they both did well but in terms of character, both lacked depth and development. Mandy, like Natalie has not really been given that opportunity to shine especially with the addition of the highly promoted Ali costarring in this drama. Ali is a stable actress but she is lacking in her emotional scenes and her Hazel although watchable seemed very one dimensional.
Eliza Sam as Ho Fuen Sum in My Dangerous Mafia Retirement Plan - Finally not playing an American or Canadian girl, Eliza Sam shows a more Chinese side of her by participating in Chinese lion dancing. In terms of character, Fuen Sum was cute and bubbly and we really enjoyed Eliza's portrayal of Joyce. She is going to be taking on a bigger role in Heart and Greed, a big anniversary drama for the 50th anniversary of TVB and we are hoping to see bigger and better things from her. She has improved tremendously and her emotional scenes are a lot better along with her cantonese.
Bobby Au-Yeung as Po Foon
Koni Lui as Yu Fa
Joyce Tang as Po Yan
We really enjoyed the bickering relationship these two had. Koni was especially convincing as a spoiled brat and we have already mentioned Joyce's character above. This is Koni's first acting award and she has never really been promoted by TVB besides playing some side hot girl roles when she first debuted. Now that she has her own family, we don't think she's really concerned about rising to the top. Bobby never fails to deliver a good role and he's been a solid actor for decades at TVB. Looks like he will be leading the My Ages Apart for 50 eps so lots of Bobby next year!
Wayne Lai as Lee Suk-Gong in SEOTS - Did not attend.
UPDATE: This is a video of one of the performances that we really enjoyed in the awards. We thought the idea of doing a story with a medley of HK songs was creative and there was a theme of young love throughout this performance which set up the mood for the on-screen couple award.
More photos:
All photos are from TVB's official Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/tvbcom
The next awards are going to be the TVB ones! We think that after the wins in Singapore and Malaysia, some of these actors already have it in the bag for TVB but knowing TVB, something surprising will come up as usual! This year we have noticed a decline in the number of female nominations compared to the men for both leading and supporting roles. In the coming year, it would be great if TVB could promote and train their actresses more. Let us know what you think of these awards this year or if you have any thoughts on the TVB awards coming up in December!
-CeeJay
LOL...I will be honest and say that even though I watched this awards show (mainly because the rest of my family was watching it and I happened to be in the same room), I actually thought the entire time that this was the Starhub awards from a few months back that TVB finally got around to broadcasting over here in the U.S. It wasn't until I read your recap that it suddenly "clicked" in my brain that this is the Astro awards (Malaysia), not Starhub (Singapore)....goes to show how much I don't care about TVB nowadays -- can't even get their awards shows straight anymore, haha. I obviously didn't watch the Starhub one (can't even remember if they bothered to air it over here) so can't really comment on who won what at which show. And I didn't watch majority of the series either (only watched mostly snippets and/or a few episodes here or there), so can't really comment on the acting piece -- all I know is that the entire awards show came across to me like a pork award show. Out of the what 16 favorite characters they awarded, only about half made sense to me -- it definitely did seem like they awarded people merely because they were there (or perhaps Malaysians just have different tastes?). I also couldn't believe that Ali and Mandy won for Law Disorder rather than Uncle Chi and Alex...also, Grace Chan winning a 'favorite character' award is obviously rigged, since none of her roles to date have been popular or even liked (that was definitely a 'WTF?!?!' moment for me). And for that horrible Planet Meow series to win anything (even if it was just a favorite character award for Kristal) is just absolutely ridiculous!
ReplyDeleteFor me, the only win that I felt truly emotional about was Jonathan Cheung's, since I started noticing him a few years back and felt he had potential but lacked the right opportunities. He's a pretty decent actor, but like you guys said, he's played mostly kelefe roles most of his TVB career. His speech was very heartfelt and genuine -- I was especially moved by the part about how he has been in the industry 16 years (he started in the movie industry), yet this is the first award ceremony he has attended as a recognizable name. Also, the part of his speech where he told the story of what happened when he left TVB and how his wife (former TVB host Angie Mak) supported him during the lowest point of his life, then he went on to thank his wife and such -- knowing how much they've struggled career-wise the past 6-7 years or so, I definitely got teary-eyed hearing his speech. Since I haven't been following TVB as closely this year, I'm not sure what Jonathan's chances are for Most Improved at the Anniversary Awards (I don't even know who might get nominated, since I haven't been paying much attention all year, lol), but I'll definitely be very happy for him if he does win in HK as well.
I don't have much other comment on the rest of the show (mostly because I was multi-tasking and didn't pay a lot of attention, haha), but I will say that I absolutely cringed when Nancy performed that duet with Ruco. Nancy was definitely off-tune the entire time and it was torture to hear her sing -- I sure hope she keeps her day job and doesn't attempt to enter the music industry like most of the other TVB artists have done...