Veteran local actor Zhu Houren won the award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his work in the thriller Trapped Minds at the 22nd Asian Television Awards last Friday.

In his speech, he thanked his wife of 32 years and said in Mandarin: "It's been a long time since I have been on stage to receive an award. Thank you everyone."

He was one of the many stars at the event held at the Suntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition Centre.

From local stars Felicia Chin, Quan Yi Fong and Chua Enlai, to Hong Kong actor Bobby Au-yeung and Thai actor Niti Chaichitatorn, some of the brightest talents in the region turned up in their finest before an audience of about 3,500.

The show was aired in nine countries and reached more than half a billion viewers across Asia and beyond.

Among the stars who performed were South Korean singer-actor Kim Jong Kook, best known as the host of popular variety show Running Man, Taiwanese singer-songwriter and actor Bii and Indonesian singer-actor Afgansyah.

Singaporean singer Joanna Dong, a finalist in the singing competition Sing! China, also took to the stage.

Dressed in a black, partly translucent dress, she performed a jazzy cover of the Jay Chou song Fade Away to loud applause.

Au-yeung, who won the Best Comedy Performance by an Actor/Actress award, said in Mandarin: "Singapore has been a very good place to me. The Singapore audience loves me - I love you too."