Blogger mrbrown wins Best Voice Artiste at Asian Academy Creative Awards
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Blogger mrbrown aka Lee Kin Mun voices the character Uncle Dong in the animated series Downstairs.
PHOTOS: MRBROWNLAH/TIKTOK, DOWNSTAIRS/FACEBOOK
SINGAPORE – Popular local blogger Lee Kin Mun is now an award-winning artiste.
Lee, better known as mrbrown, won an award at the Asian Academy Creative Awards (AAAs) for Best Voice Artiste for Singapore for his role as Uncle Dong in season three of animated comedy series Downstairs (2019 to 2022).
Open to the Asia-Pacific region, the AAAs honours excellence across television, film, digital, streaming and emerging technologies. The list of of the respective national winners was announced online on Thursday.
“I’m just very chuffed to be recognised and also even more chuffed to be part of Downstairs the TV series for three whole seasons,” Lee, who is in his mid-50s, said on TikTok on Thursday.
He is up against Japan’s Yoko Shimada (Adidas Japan) and Malaysia’s Rob Middleton (Hadith Of The Day) for the grand finals in December.
Calling Downstairs the best show ever on Singapore TV, Lee said it is an assembly of the best comedic talent one can find here.
Downstairs follows a cast of wacky and colourful coffee-shop stall owners as they embark on crazy adventures in their neighbourhood. It features the voices of artistes such as Patricia Mok, Rishi Budhrani, Siti Khalijah Zainal and Shane Mardjuki.
Besides Downstairs, other Singapore winners include Andie Chen for Best Actor In A Leading Role for English-language drama Third Rail (2022) and Jernelle Oh for Best Actress In A Leading Role for Chinese-language drama Cash On Delivery (2023).
Chen, 38, played a leader of the hostage-takers in the train-hijacking drama. He told Shin Min Daily News that he was quite surprised as he had never won an award during all his years in the entertainment industry.
“I just treated the role as any other role and didn’t expect anyone to notice my performance,” he told the Chinese-language evening daily.
Andie Chen played a leader of the hostage-takers in the English-language drama Third Rail.
PHOTO: MEDIACORP
In the grand finals, Chen will be up against actors such as South Korea’s Ha Jung-woo (Narco-Saints), Taiwan’s Liu Kuan-ting (On Marriage: Wishful Syncing), Malaysia’s Khir Rahman (Hilang) and India’s Vijay Verma (Dahaad).
Chen told Shin Min that Liu may win the award.
Liu, 43, has also been nominated for Best Actor in a Miniseries or Television Film for On Marriage: Wishful Syncing at Taiwan’s Golden Bell Awards in October.
Oh, 29, has received rave reviews for playing a food delivery person who has cerebral palsy in Cash On Delivery, a drama set during the Covid-19 circuit-breaker period in Singapore.
“I was so surprised when the @asianacademycreativeawards nominations first came out. I couldn’t believe it at all,” she wrote on Instagram on Friday.
Among the 13 nominees in the category include South Korea’s Song Hye-kyo (The Glory), Taiwan’s Hsieh Ying-hsuan (Wave Makers), China’s Zhao Liying (Wild Bloom) and Indonesia’s Adinia Wirasti (Kamu Tidak Sendiri).
“I will always be grateful for the opportunity to be part of such a meaningful story and to be able to represent Singapore for Best Actress in a Leading Role with Huang Meizhen,” Oh said. “To my first performance award, this post serves as a reminder to me that life is full of unexpected surprises, and anything is possible.”
The other Singapore winners announced on Thursday include Shrey Bhargava for Best Actor In A Supporting Role for Titoudao: Dawn Of A New Stage, Best Drama Series for Oppa, Saranghae! and Best Direction (Fiction) for Rowena Loh for Last Madame: Sisters Of The Night.
The Grand Awards and Gala Final will be held at Chijmes Hall in Singapore on Dec 7.
