A tribute was paid to late actor Aloysius Pang at last night's Star Awards.
At broadcaster Mediacorp's annual awards ceremony, a video was aired showing Pang's childhood photos, photos with his fans and clips of him directing a film. He died at age 28 earlier this year after a military training incident.
His colleagues from talent agency NoonTalk Media - Xu Bin, Timothee Yap, Zong Zijie and Gavin Teo - sang the song Voices From The Heart as the video played.
Pang's girlfriend Jayley Woo and his friends Chen Shucheng and Ian Fang were all caught on camera shedding tears during the segment, while his manager Dasmond Koh looked emotional. The camera also panned to Pang's brothers, who attended the ceremony.
The rest of the night took a more celebratory tone for the awards' silver jubilee, with veteran artists dominating the limelight. Special guests, including actor Jerry Yan, actress Cecilia Cheung and Wu Jinyan, the lead actress of Story Of Yanxi Palace, also added glitz to the show.
Chen Hanwei, 49, and Zoe Tay, 51, took home the top honours. They won the Best Actor and Best Actress awards for A Million Dollar Dream, where they played a married couple.
The Top Ten Most Popular Female Artist Awards had a few surprise wins. Actresses Chen Xiuhuan, 53, Lina Ng, 44, and Hong Huifang, 59, all picked up awards.
Hong, who has been nominated over 10 times, won her first Top Ten award and looked overwhelmed. "Even if it's my very first, I'm contented. This is enough," she said.
Chen, who left the industry in 1995 and returned to acting recently, last won the award in 1994 at the inaugural Star Awards. Ng, who burst into tears when her name was announced, last won the award in 1996.
Zhu Houren, 64, also took home his first Top Ten Most Popular Male Artist win. He joked: "This must be a year for the pioneer generation."
Xiang Yun, 57, won the Evergreen Artist Award. She revealed that she had a rough year and had thought about leaving the industry, but the award has given her more confidence to keep acting.
The Best Supporting Actor and Actress awards went to Chen Shucheng, 69, and Lin Meijiao, 55.
The Special Achievement Award was given to Chew Chor Meng, 50, who received a standing ovation. The actor, who has Kennedy's Disease, a motor neuron condition, said: "My health these past 10 years has not been good but I'm very thankful that I can still act."
Actress and host Kym Ng, 51, collected the All-Time Favourite Artist Award after her 10th Top Ten Most Popular Female Artist Award last year.
The ceremony also announced a new season of Star Search after a nine-year hiatus. The local talent competition gave birth to stars like Tay and Chew.
