Why watch the Golden Horse Awards when we have the Golden Horse Awards at home?

That’s right, the 2024 rendition of the Star Awards is around the corner, marking a whopping 30 years since the very first Star Awards Ceremony was held in 1994. (Feel old yet?)

For the youth who aren’t acquainted with Mediacorp’s Chinese-speaking Channel 8 and Channel U, the Star Awards (红星大奖) is basically an awards ceremony meant to recognise the talent and artistic flair of Mediacorp performers in the Chinese-language entertainment industry.

This year, the Awards Ceremony will be split across two events.

The programme and creative achievement awards will be held in the form of a Gala Dinner at Zouk Singapore on 15 April 2024.

The main event, on the other hand, will be held at The Theatre at Mediacorp on 21 April 2024.

All Around Me Are Familiar Faces…

Nominations for Star Awards 2024 have once again been released, though it comes as little surprise that the nominees are pretty much the same every year.

Here’s a brief rundown of the award categories this year, as well as the notable talents contending for the awards.

As for the award categories, we have the usual staples of any award show.

These include technical categories, which include Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Producer and Best Research Writer, as well as programme categories, which include Best Drama Serial, Best Entertainment Programme, Best Short-form Entertainment Programme and Best Infotainment Programme.

For the individual categories, we have Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Programme Host, Young Talent Award and Best Rising Star.

If you feel like there’s some kind of deja vu going on, you’re probably right.

There’s Chen Hanwei, who is as close as you can get to the “Final Boss of the Star Awards”.

This veteran actor has regularly clinched awards for the categories Best Actor (and occasionally Best Supporting Actor) since his first time receiving the accolade in 2001. In fact, he has won the accolade of Best Actor a record seven times, making him the only actor to have achieved this feat.

This time, he’s been nominated as Best Actor for his performance in Whatever Will Be, Will Be, a family drama with dialogue that is almost exclusively in the Hokkien dialect.

Other notable nominees include Peter Yu, a long-time Mediacorp actor who has only just received his first nomination for Best Supporting Actor in the drama series Cash On Delivery, and Joanne Peh, who is nominated for Best Actress for her performance as the protagonist for action drama series Shero.

Long-time hosts of the Star Awards, Guo Liang and Quan Yi Fong, will also be butting heads as nominees for the Best Programme Host Award.

Some Changes Have Been Made to This Year’s Award Categories

For starters, the Evergreen Artiste Reward, which features nominees exclusively over 50 years of age with more than 25 years of performing experience, will be removed.

In justifying the removal of this category, Mediacorp explained that “artistic excellence transcends age”.

However, those who regularly tune in to the annual Star Awards hypothesise that it might be due to the fact that the awards ever only go to one person – Xiang Yun. The 62-year-old has been nominated over seven times for the category, clinching the award a whopping four times, with her most recent win in 2023.

Replacing the Evergreen Artiste Reward is the Best Audio Personality Award, which aims to honour the talents of outstanding local radio DJs.

Yet again, we may not be able to truly escape seeing familiar faces amongst the nominees for this category, with Love972 DJ Dennis Chew being one of them. He is also a co-host of hit radio shows “The Breakfast Quartet” and “Mr Zhou’s Ghost Stories”, which have also been nominated to receive the Best Radio Programme award.

Audiences Stand A Chance to Vote

While most of the awards will be decided on by a panel of judges, loyal fans can also get a chance to vote for their favourite Mediacorp Artistes in various popularity awards.

Apart from mainstays such as Best Rising Star, Top 10 Most Popular Male Artistes and Top 10 Most Popular Female Artistes, there are also some unorthodox awards such as The Most Hated Villain Award.

Audiences can also get to vote on the best theme song for various Mediacorp drama serials. (I can’t give any recommendations, unfortunately, since I haven’t been tuning in)

For those who have made it a yearly tradition to watch the Star Awards, Star Awards 2024 will begin at 3.30 pm on meWATCH and Youtube.

The Walk of Fame will begin at 5 pm, followed by the live show at 7 pm, streaming online and airing on Channel 8 and Channel U.