1. Feature Pages 50-53
By Celine Tan
With her first Star Awards win, Rebecca Lim is in the driver’s seat and revving up her career, but she’ll always remember the years she spent in the boot of the car.
What are you working on now?
In June, I start shooting my first Starring role in a Ch 8 drama, with Rui En, Dai Yangtian and Desmond Tan.
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1. Scene & Heard Page 22
Story: Jonathan Fam & Jasmine Teo
Star Awards 2012 8 Burning Questions
Were the Top 10 results skewed by the change in the voting system this year? Now the star(dust) has settled for Star Awards 2012, we seek answers to right burning questions.
3. Only MediaCorp artistes are eligible for the Top 10 Most Popular awards. What does it mean for the likes of Christopher Lee, Michelle Chong and Michelle Chia, who were recently in the news for changes to their contract?
Chris, Fann and Qi Yuwu have all signed deals with foreign agencies but they remain MediaCorp artistes. “We give them time and flexibility to work with overseas agents. At the same time, they commit to certain amount of hours in our productions,” says Ivy. Similarly, artistes like Rui En and Jeanette Aw (managed by Artiste Networks), Pornsak and Lee Teng (managed by Left Profile) remain MediaCorp artistes and are eligible. Michelle Chong, who isn’t renewing her MediaCorp contract, won’t be eligible for Star Awards 2013. On the other hand, Michelle Chia will be, as she’s decided to renew her contract.
2. Site-Seeing Pages 48-49
Story: Jasmine Teo, Tan Yi Hui & Cai Jiahui
For your babies
@www.makemebabies.com
Want to know what your future child might look like? This site does just that by using “advanced face detection technology” to meld photos of you and your partner. You can also check out what the babies of any two celebs might look like. Hopeful fans of Elvin and Rui En, here’s an idea of what Ruivin’s progeny might look like.
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1. Scene & Heard Pages 16-28
Story: Jonathan Fam & Sarah Chang
Notes on a scandal!
The recent underage prostitution sex scandal that rocked our nation got us thinking: Is engaging a hooker any different from having a meaningless fling? We conducted a poll with 21 TV stars and their reactions are surprising, especially Jeanette Aw’s.
“One-night stands are irresponsible”
RUI EN “Females tend to be a little bit more emotional so there’s a propensity for them to get hurt after a one-night stand. For men, it’s just physical. So, in a warped way, prostitution is less damning – you’re not hurting anyone.”
2. Cover Story
By: Tan Yi Hui, Jasmine Teo, Sarah Chang & Douglas Tseng
Lass Action Hero
Jennifer Lawrence isn’t the only sweetheart roughening up her image to show off her alpha side.
Rui En, 31
Lassy! > She was the sub-zero ice princess who impressed us with her dramatic chops, playing emotionally vulnerable characters like a wan Aids patient in By My Side and a grieving widow connected with her dead husband’s spirit in With You.
Sassy! > She was the sub zero ice princess who did all her martial arts stunt herself in Code of Honour, but she really earned her action stripes with her portrayal as a tough-nut copper in Unriddle (and the sequel Unriddle 2). The latter saw her engaging in some serious – and convincing – mano-a-mano blows with her co-stars. How is she going to top that in Unriddle 3?
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1. Scene & Heard Pages 14-30
Story: Jonathan Fam & Sarah Chang
Skit-zophrenia!
Star Awards Show 1
Thanks to one madcap, no-holds-barred skit, nobody, especially the lampooned stars, will forget this year’s Star Awards Show 1 anytime soon.
Who says we can’t laugh at ourselves? Yes, the three-hour-long Star Awards Show 1 was, for the most part, a nostalgic trip down memory lane – say “long time no see!” to past Ch 8 icons like Chen Xiuhuan, Zhang Wanling and Huang Biren. But it was a 15-minute skit lampooning the most memorable dramas of 2011 – on screen and off – that gave the show humour and lotsa bite. Starring Quan Yifeng, Dennis Chew, Vivian Lai, Guo Liang and Lee Teng, the skit is best described as the mutant child between the Oscars’ opening montage and Ricky Gervais’ Golden Globes monologue. Only meaner. Spoofing Devotion, Code of Honour and A Song to Remember, no topic – from Zoe Tay’s wrinkles to Rui En’s feud with On the Fringe co-star Zhang Yaodong, to the questionable acting of the very stars the awards were celebrating – was off limits.
Awkward, much? This year’s Favourite Onscreen Couple may lack chemistry – their awkward acceptance speech ended with two seconds of dead air on live TV – but at least Rui En and Elvin Ng (aka RuiVin) have fans who believe they’re great together.
Freeze Frame!
Wanna see actors being real? Feast your eyes.
We knew we’d catch Tay Ping Hui smirking at Rui En and Elvin Ng’s awkward speech. “I always have that look on my face lah,” says TPH.
Scandalous! Ann Kok’s reaction to the lampooning of Rui En and Zhang Yaodong’s feud says everything.
Fashion Police
White track: “I like anything with studs,” says Rui En, who looks stunning in this white va-va-Versace number. “People always say I wear black, so this is for them!”
2. Cover Story Pages 34-46
The INS and OUTS of Star Awards 2012
We have all the thrills, spills, and the most surprising Top 10 Most Popular lists ever.
And if the talent segment is the winners’ speeches, points must be given Qi Yuwu, who made it on stage for his Top 10 award bearing the scars from his car accident. Then there was the engaging Rui En, who took a cute dig at everyone for panning her too cool-for-school attitude by showing us what she looked like when she’s really ticked off.
For the record
Best Drama Serial
On the Fringe
Top 10 Most Popular Female Artistes
Rebecca Lim
Yvonne Lim
Rui En
Kym Ng
Vivian Lai
Paige Chua
Jeanette Aw
Cynthia Koh
Joanne Peh
Ann Kok
Send in the GOWNS
A+
Rui En
SPANX YOU VERY MUCH? You’d think that to get into this form-fitting dress that hugs the body like a second skin, Rui En must’ve survived on a diet of water and air for days. Nope. This cool cat who swished around in the Dsquared2 slinky number, five-inch Jimmy Choos and Cartier bling tells us: “I just had a plate of chicken rice in the hotel room before this.” Yes, you can start hating her now.
Overheard
“I’m rarely humourous.” – RUI EN on the “angry face, happy face” joke she cracked on stage.
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To commemorate 30 years of Channel 8 drama productions, “Joys of Life” is a massive star-studded drama which continues the legacy of “Wok of Life” and “Springs of Life”. Going back in time to the 1950s – 1960s, viewers can experience what life was like when mobile getai was all the rage. Chew Chor Meng takes centrestage in this series, starring alongside Rui En, Chen Li Ping and Taiwanese idols Wang Xin Ru and Alien Huang (Xiao Gui).
Joys of Life
Debuts 26 June, Ch 8, Weeknights, 9PM
Sometimes the best way to move forward is to take a look back at what got you here. Ch 8 celebrates 30 years of local drama with a nostalgic trip back to the great, great Technicolor world of getai. This year’s Joys of Life is the final chapter of a retrospective trilogy that includes 1999’s Wok of Life and 2002’s Spring of Life which offered peeks at the goings-on of a zichar restaurant and a cabaret troupe respectively. Joys brings us into the lives of three buddies – fame-hungry Mingxing (Taiwanese actor-host Alien Huang), mousy and self-effacing Zibin (Andie Chen) and the playful, reckless Yiduo (Zhang Yaodong) – who set up a getai business in ’60s Singapore. Except swinging musical numbers, gorgeous period sets and fashionably mod threads, as well as fun celeb cameos in a story about friendship, romance and betrayal. It’s, in short, a take about the days of being wild.
Foreign Talent: Singaporeans know Taiwanese actor-host Alien Huang (flanked by Cynthia Wang, left, and Rui En), best as a kopitiam boy in Michelle Chong’s movie, Already Famous. To prepare for his first Ch 8 leading role, the 28-year old actor picked up Cantonese and Malay to sound more local.
Joys of Life èŠ±æ ·äººé—´ debuts 26 June 2012 9pm on Channel 8.
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1. Scene & Heard Pages 15-16
Psst… Who Will Win?
By Jonathan Fam
Best Actress
8 DAYS’ Pick
While Joanne Peh and Rui En have flashier roles, Zoe Tay, who was so graceful and subtle as a long-suffering mother of five in Devotion, has the emotional heft. Hopefully, that’s makes the difference and she’ll be rewarded with her first Best Actress win in 16 years.
2. Scene & Heard Page 26
By Jasmine Teo
Earth to Alien (Huang)
You’ve been in Singapore for the past few months filming your first Ch 8 drama, Joys of Life. Do you hang out with the cast outside of work?
Rui En has her own plans after work every day. She really treasures her personal space and privacy. Once work ends, she takes off very quickly. There were a couple of times I wanted to ask her to join us, but she disappeared even before I changed out of my outfit. Maybe next time.
3. Television Page 91
Star Awards 2012 – Show 2
We wonder who will be named Best Actress (Ah Jies Zoe Tay or Fann Wong, or returning champ Rui En?).
Joys of Life èŠ±æ ·äººé—´ debuts 26 June 2012 9pm on Channel 8.
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1. Scene & Heard Pages 20-28
Life’s a stage
Story: Tan Yi Hui
Rui En does Bollywood in the Ch 8 blockbuster Joys of Life. Sorta.
In this scene from the upcoming 35-part serial – about the lives of getai entertainers in the ’60s and ’70s – Rui En and Taiwanese co-star Cynthia Wang, decked out in traditional Indian garb, are performing an exotic number where the former is a ‘man’. Come again? “It was popular back in those days to have duets between two female singers and one of them would be the man,” explains Rui En, who admits that she and Cynthia had learnt their dance moves just 10 minutes before filming the scene. So how is their singing? Hard to say because they didn’t sing live – their vocals were pre-recorded. But Rui En did do an impressive job showing off her head-bobbing skills. Next stop: Vasantham?
Sofa so good: We caught up with a very haggard-looking Alien Huang, who says: “My schedule is really hectic. As I’m not based in Singapore, I have only a limited period of time to film everything.” We later find the Taiwanese actor/singer napping on a dressing room sofa. Look out for a grand romantic duet between Alien and Rui En, composed specially for the show.
Tickets to the STARS
Story: Jonathan Fam
Wanna see the celebs ‘live’ at the Star Awards? You’ll have to pay for it.
This year’s show will be a ticketed event, a first in Star Awards’ history. “This is to make the Star Awards in line with many international award shows,” explains a Ch 8 spokesperson.
Well, you better act fast ‘cos at press time, 95 per cent of the 6,000 tickets have been sold. We hear Jeanette Aw’s fan club, Jeanius, has booked two rows of seats, while Rui En’s RBKD has also reserved tickets.
2. Advertisement Pages 70-74
Star Awards 2012
• Top 10
• Best Actress
• Favourite Female Character
Joys of Life èŠ±æ ·äººé—´ debuts 26 June 2012 9pm on Channel 8.
Source: 8Days, Xinmsn
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1. Scene and Heard Page 25
I need some ME time
2. Boos & Bravos Page 112
BOO to the accidental comedy in the Unriddle 2 finale (catch-up TV). We laughed out loud when Rebecca Lim’s badly-injured psycho villain could still check her mobile phone for incoming messages – seriously, we aren’t making this up – moments after falling off a double-storey building. Did we forget to mention she has a gunshot wound on her shoulder as well? Shouldn’t she be dialling for the ambulance instead? It’s a carelessly tacky scene in an otherwise consistently intriguing thriller. Let’s hope the writers keep up the good work for the inevitable threequel.
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1. Advertisement Page 47
Star Awards 2012
• Top 10
Dial 1900-112-2023 to vote for Rui En in Top 10! Per vote costs 86c.
Online votes make up 50%! 1 vote/NRIC per day at bit.ly/top10re12
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