Veterans shine bright at Star Awards

Zoe Tay won her second Best Actress honour at the Star Awards last night, while Chen Hanwei's Best Actor award was his fifth. Both are alumni of the 1988 Star Search talent hunt.
Zoe Tay won her second Best Actress honour at the Star Awards last night, while Chen Hanwei's Best Actor award was his fifth. Both are alumni of the 1988 Star Search talent hunt. ST PHOTO: ONG WEE JIN

Veteran local television stars Zoe Tay, Chen Hanwei and Aileen Tan, alumni of the inaugural Star Search talent hunt held in 1988, stole the limelight at last night's Star Awards, which celebrates the best of home-grown Mandarin television programmes.

They won Best Actress, Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress, respectively.

Tay, dubbed queen of local television station Mediacorp, perhaps more for her glamour than her acting chops, won her second Best Actress honour at the Star Awards last night, 21 years after her first. Accepting her trophy, Tay playfully addressed it, saying: "Long time no see. I've already given birth to three kids."

She won the prize for playing a cancer-stricken nurse manager in medical drama You Can Be An Angel 2.

Chen, in contrast, has proven himself to be an actor's actor, picking up his fifth Best Actor nod to tie with former actor Xie Shaoguang's record. It was for his role as a confinement nanny in the family drama The Gentleman.

Instead of reflecting on his milestone win, he chose to give kudos to Andie Chen, who had been nominated for both Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor but lost in both categories.

Chen said: "Andie, you are really good. I believe you will stand on the stage one day."

Best Supporting Actor award went to Romeo Tan, 32, for the drama The Dream Job.

Best Supporting Actress went to another old-timer - Aileen Tan, 50, who won for her role as a feisty cleaner in the Channel 8 blockbuster series Hero.

Hero, a drama about residents of Dakota Crescent, an old neighbourhood which will soon make way for redevelopment, won Best Drama, demonstrating its strength as an ensemble piece. It had received seven nominations in the acting categories, but only Tan won.

Actress Joanne Peh, 33, host Quan Yi Fong, 43, and actor Elvin Ng, 36, collected the coveted All-Time Favourite Artiste Award, after nabbing their 10th Top 10 Most Popular Artiste last year.

Quan also received the Best Programme Host award for travelogue Markets In Asia.

Here's a recap of some highlights of the night:

WATCH THE VIDEO
Glamour and glitz at Star Awards: http://str.sg/4Xvu

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on April 17, 2017, with the headline Veterans shine bright at Star Awards. Subscribe