The comedian reckons it will be a tough fight between the two princesses who both have strong and big fanbases

Last year, Jeanette Aw walked home with the trophy for Most Favourite Female Character as Yao Jianhong in Together. Even Felicia Chin who raked in triple nominations for Love Blossoms (Tao Haitong), The Ultimatum (Sun Min), and Baby Bonus (Apple Hong) proved to be no match for her.

With a whittled-down list of nominees and the well-loved Felicia Chin out of the picture this year, we see a mix of actresses from drama and variety programmes standing as the final five competing for the top spot of Favourite Female Character.

This year, Zhou Ying (Tang Ying in Breakout), Michelle Chong (Xie Yu Yu in Black Rose), and Quan Yi Fong (Yao Yao in Black Rose) will be going up against two “idols” Rui En (Yang Xiao Dong in Happy Family) and Jeanette Aw (Yang Nianqing in Breakout), of which both command astronomical fanbases in Singapore.

Think of this as a high school popularity contest with the outcome purely determined by online votes.

Unlike the professionally judged categories, fans and viewers will have a say in the overall outcome for these Online Award categories. Once a day, the public can vote online for their favourite male and female characters, favourite on-screen couple, and their favourite on-screen partners in variety programmes.

It’s no surprise to see versatile comedian and actress Michelle Chong grab her first nomination in the favourite female character category as her popularity has been on the upswing following a bountiful 2010 and the return of Ch5’s The Noose in March.

Michelle landed her first big break in a Ch8 drama series, Mrs P.I last year and bagged two nominations for Best Comedy performance in 2010’s Asian Television Awards.

“Honoured and very happy” to be voted amongst the “idols” (Rui En and Jeanette), Michelle was pleasantly surprised when informed of her nomination in the online category. Despite that, the actress firmly believes that she stands a slim or no chance at taking home the award.

“It’s very different because that’s drama and I’m nominated for my work in variety. I don’t think the variety people stand a chance.

“I think Rui En stands a big chance ‘cos she has a very strong fanbase. Jeanette stands a chance too because this role in Breakout was much talked about. She put a lot of work into the character,” she adds.

In any case, with the voting power entirely in the public’s hands, one can never be too sure.

Source: Xinmsn

Categorised in EN, Happy Family 过好年, Star Awards 2011, xinmsn.

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Listen up fans, this is for you.

Following the release of the Star Awards 2011 professionally-nominated categories, fans and members of the public can have their fair share of fun in deciding the eventual winner for a series of online categories.

If you’re never satisfied with the results and reckon you’ll make a better judge, then click away and start voting once the polls are open!

Shortlisted by the production side and endorsed by the Star Awards 2011 committee, the four main categories with five nominees are Favourite Male Character, Favourite Female Character, Favourite On-screen Couple in a drama, and Favourite On-screen Partners in a variety programme.

Find out which of your favourite actors and actresses are nominated in the online categories at this year’s award ceremony.
Visit the official Star Awards 2011 website here.

Favourite Female Character
Jeanette Aw – Yang Nianqing in Breakout
Michelle Chong – Xie Yu Yu in Black Rose
Quan Yi Fong – Yao Yao in Black Rose
Rui En – Yang Xiao Dong in Happy Family
Zhou Ying – Tang Ying in Breakout

Favourite Onscreen Couple (Drama)
Elvin Ng and Zhou Ying – Zou Jieming and Tang Ying in Breakout
Tay Ping Hui and Chris Tong – Sheng Xiping and Huang Shuya in The Family Court
Christopher Lee and Jeanette Aw – Situ Dongcheng and Yang Nianqing in Breakout
Yao Wen Long and Cynthia Koh – Chen Weizhong and Yun Feixue in Mrs P.I
Chen Han Wei and Rui En – Zhang Yang and Ye Siqi in With You

林雯莹报道

《红星大奖2011》网上投选奖项入围名单出炉，综艺节目《爆料黑玫瑰》占据多席，当红小生花旦都无法匹敌！

从去年的《红星大奖》开始，颁奖礼增设”最受欢迎”奖项，让公众可以以实际行动表现支持，为心爱的演员投票。

而今年的网上投选奖项入围名单刚出炉，这次的4个类别为：”最喜爱男角色”、”最喜爱女角色”、”最喜爱银幕情侣”与”最喜爱综艺搭档”。

最喜爱女角色
1．欧萱：杨念青《破天网》
2．庄米雪：谢谕谕《爆料黑玫瑰》
3．权怡凤：摇摇《爆料黑玫瑰》
4．瑞恩：杨小冬《过好年》
5．周颖：汤颖《破天网》

最喜爱银幕情侣
1．黄俊雄，周颖：邹杰明，汤颖《破天网》
2．郑斌辉，童冰玉：沈希平，黄舒雅《走进走出》
3．李铭顺，欧萱：司徒东城，杨念青《破天网》
4．姚玟隆，许美珍：陈伟中，云飞雪《查某人》
5．陈汉玮，瑞恩：张扬，叶思琪《我在你左右》

Source: Xinmsn English | Chinese

Categorised in EN, Happy Family 过好年, Star Awards 2011, With You 我在你左右, xinmsn.

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Eyes open big big…here’s the last remaining list of Star Awards 2011《红星大奖2011》nominees – Online categories…find out who’s not in the nominations…

Star Awards 2011《红星大奖2011》Favourite Female Character 最喜爱女角色:

杨念青(Jeanette Aw 欧萱 – Breakout 破天网)

谢谕谕(Michelle Chong 庄米雪 – Black Rose 爆料黑玫瑰)

摇摇(Quan Yi Fong 权怡凤 – Black Rose 爆料黑玫瑰)

杨小冬(Rui En 瑞恩 – Happy Family 过好年)

汤颖(Zhou Ying 周颖 – Breakout 破天网)

Star Awards 2011《红星大奖2011》Favourite On-screen Couple (Drama) 最喜爱银幕情侣:

邹杰明+汤颖(Elvin Ng 黄俊雄 & Zhou Ying 周颖 – Breakout 破天网)

沈希平+黄舒雅(Tay Ping Hui 郑斌辉& Chris Tong 童冰玉 – The Family Court 走进走出)

司徒东城+杨念青(Christopher Lee 李铭顺 & Jeanette Aw 欧萱 – Breakout 破天网)

陈伟中+云飞雪(Yao Wen Long 姚玟隆 & Cynthia Koh 许美珍 – Mrs P.I. 查某人)

张扬+叶思琪(Chen Han Wei 陈汉玮 & Rui En 瑞恩 – With You 我在你左右)

His name was everywhere in the last 2 Star Awards but no where to be seen in this year’s Star Awards nominations inlcuding the online list… Some fans already ’cry father cry mother’ about why he wasn’t in the ‘Best Actor’ category and even speculated that he could jolly well be ’frozen’ by the company or he ‘offended’ somebody up there…which I am telling you right now that all these speculations are pure rubbish. In every award show, there’ll always be winners and losers. If you don’t do so well this time, just work harder next year…and one day, your hard work will pay off (Rui En worked for 10 years before her first nomination this year)…

Public voting commences from 1 March 2011 on xinmsn.com/starawards2011

The winners with the highest number of votes will be announced during Show 1 of  Star Awards 2011 银光闪耀红星大奖2011: Sunday 17 April, 7pm ‘LIVE’ on Channel 8

Source: BaguaTV

Categorised in BaguaTV / Bagua8, EN, Happy Family 过好年, Star Awards 2011, With You 我在你左右.

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1. Sunday Times (by The Straits Times) Lifestyle Cover

Breakout Stars

Elvin Ng starred in two of the top 10 Channel 8 dramas lst year while Rui En acted in three. Are they the new King and Queen of Caldecott Hill?

2. hot Pages 6 & 7

Top of the Hill

The recently released llist of Top 10 Channel 8 dramas shows there is a new crop of talent ready to take over Caldecott Hill.

By Rachael Boon

And the Top 10 Channel 8 dramas for 2010 are ….

Have a look at the list featured on these pages and many will wonder: Where are the names of Singapore TV’s enduring dynamic duo, Fann Wong and Zoe Tay?

The Queens of Caldecott Hill are nowhere to be seen in the line-up of those starring in the Top 10 list.

The new queen of the Hill is the versatile Rui En, 30, who acted in three dramas which are among the top five Channel 8 shows. She starred in With You, Happy Family and Unriddle.

As for Fann and Tay, they did not even act in any MediaCorp dramas last year to put them in contention. Fann has been busy filming overseas and Tay was pregnant.

The last blockbuster which both of them starred in, along with the two Ah Ge Li Nanxing and Tay Ping Hui, was 2009’s The Ultimatum, which received a lukewarm response. It was criticised for being too melodramatic.

Indeed, the top 10 list runs the gamut of content, from police dramas to stories about families and light-hearted comedy.

The top 10 shows are all MediaCorp’s productions except Taiwanese drama Love.

Modest productions such as With You a supernatural-themed tearjerker, New Beginnings, which dealt with the wedding and funeral industries, and the heart-warming Happy Family, trumped the blockbuster drama Breakout.

Indeed, with Channel 8’s top 10 dramas featuring a greater variety of actors and a wide range of drama genres, it is a sign that big names and blockbusters are not needed to lure viewers.

Things are certainly different from 10 years ago, says actress Cynthia Koh, who has been in the industry since 1992. She says viewers are constantly changing and looking for something more.

The Ah Ge and Ah Jie labels also no longer matter these days because teamwork is more important in producing good dramas, she says.

Rui En is clearly on a trajectory, with a Best Actress nomination for Star Awards 2011 in her bag for her role as a widow in With You, and having acted in three top-rated drama serials in a year.

She was one of MediaCorp’s Seven Princesses – the rest of whom were Jeanette Aw, Joanne Peh, Jesseca Liu, Felicia Chin, Fiona Xie and Dawn Yeoh.

The Seven Princesses was a term coined by the Chinese press in 2006, where the seven were said to be next in line to succeed Zoe and Fann.

Until last year, Rui En had never been a crowd favourite, but with other contenders such as Xie, Chin, Yeoh and Liu leaving MediaCorp, her name has come.

Life!’s Asian TV reviewer Foong Woei Wan says Rui En is finally getting the attention she deserves.

She says: “She doesn’t do the usual Channel 8 acting. In With You, she shows that you don’t have to shout, you can whisper and still hold viewers’ attention.”

Along with the new queen comes her royal partner, Elvin Ng, with two Best Actor nominates in a row.

Actor Alan Term, who has a decade of experience and appeared in various top shows last year, says he does see Ng and Rui En as the new generation of leads.

He says, “They are already leads now so I see them as the next pillars of MediaCorp as they are doing pretty well.”

What do you think of the new generation of stars at Caldecott Hill? Write to suntimes@sph.com.sg

3. hot Page 7

Ice queen turns nice queen

It has been a long climb to the summit, but Rui En, 30, is finally enjoying the view.

The actress, who has been in show business for more than a decade, looks set to be crowned the new queen of Caldecott Hill.

Recognition has finally come, thanks to her roles in three top-rated Channel 8 dramas – With You, Happy Family and Unriddle – and a Best Actress nomination for her role as a grieving widow in With You.

The fortunate series of events did not happen overnight for her. She is known as one of MediaCorp’s seven “princesses”, yet she says her has seen her career “progress in a backward manner”.

By this she explains that she is hardly on top of the popularity pack like the other “princesses” such as Jeanette Aw and Joanne Peh.

In an interview with LifeStyle, she says: “About what I achieved last year, in terms of ratings or anything else, I feel a lot of irony and a little bit of vindication.”

Explaining why, she says: “When this whole “seven princesses” thing was started by the Chinse press in 2006, the media would get people to compare the seven of us and there would be rankings and lists. The funny thing was that then, I was always No. 5 or No. 6.

“Just a few years ago, that was how the media and the public saw me. It was said that I was a bit too distant, the audience wouldn’t accept me, I was too aloof.”

But now, three of her shows have made it to the list of the top five Channel 8 dramas.

The supposed ice queen has since further melted viewers’ hearts with her role as the simle-minded and optimistic Xiaodong in Happy Family, which aired in January last year, She feels that it was that role which made viewers see that she could be more than an ice queen and credits this to the executive producer of Happy Family, Mr Paul Yuen, who cast her.

“For reasons that I don’t know, he decided to cast me as a girl who was simple minded to the point of being silly,” she says.

“The fact that he gave me the chance really changed viewers’ perception of me and I’m very grateful. It turned out to be one of the most comfortable roles I’ve ever played because Xiaodong was very happy and positive.”

Rui En’s hard work over the past decade has paid off. Loyal fans who have stuck with her are really being affected by her moving portrayals in tragic roles such as a widow in With You.

She says: “One auntie came up to me and said, ‘Watching your show makes me cry’. She paused and continued, ‘Actually thinking about it now, I’m going to cry already’. So I was like, ‘oh no, please don’t cry’.”

She adds: “I’m very grateful that viewers have matured to the point where they recognise you for what you are and what you stand for. The recognition I’ve got has proven that.”

Top 10 Channel 8 Drama Series in 2010

Source: The Sunday Times by The Straits Times

Categorised in 七公主 7 Princesses, EN, Happy Family 过好年, Ratings 节目收视率, Ruivin, Star Awards 2011, The Straits Times, Unriddle 最火搭档, With You 我在你左右.

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You made it happen! Rui En and Chen Li Ping will return in Unriddle 最火搭档 2. Yes, thank you all for your marvellous feedback earlier on. It was one of the best collective efforts from all of you who wanted the return of Unriddle 最火搭档 on Channel 8 to finish the untold story…this time we will unveal the biggest conspiracy that threatens to destroy Xiao Man 胡小曼 and Da Bao 林正仪…

The Executive Producer Paul Yuen 袁树伟 and Story Planner Phang Kai Yee 彭凯毅 studied every single feedback and suggestion given in the comment’s section on my earlier blog post (click to read: http://bit.ly/fEYpJa). The story will pick up from where it ended…both Xiao Man and Da Bao characters will be fully developed. All the familiar characters in the last season will return. Many intriguing new cases will be introduced but every case is now creatively linked to the main storyline (Bravo to EP & Writer!). There will be more fighting scenes for the lead characters and a marvellous story that fully stretches the scope of the 2 roles as you requested. It is never an easy task to write a season 2 but after reading the first conceptual draft, I immediately called the EP to praise him and writer that both succeeded in creating a Part 2 that is even far more superior than Part 1! I could actually feel the great tribulations awaiting Xiao Man and Da Bao…mark my words – it is not going to be easy for both Rui En and Chen Li Ping but given their acting capabilities, I am confident both will be able to handle the extreme physical and emotional challenges.

Unriddle 最火搭档 2 is confirmed for a 2012 release. The EP & Writer have gotten the official go ahead to move into production mode…once again, thank you all for your feedback and suggestions. It is not going to be a  great season 2 without your passion and participation in the first place – coming from the bottom of my heart.

Source: BaguaTV

Categorised in BaguaTV / Bagua8, EN, Unriddle 最火搭档.

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By Han Wei Chou

SINGAPORE: Romantic drama “A Tale of 2 Cities” is off to a brilliant start after attracting more than a million viewers when it debuted on Valentine’s Day.

According to figures from MediaCorp, the ratings for the drama’s debut episode is the highest among the recent crop of high profile Mandarin dramas on Channel 8, such as the blockbuster drama “Breakout” and crime thriller “Unriddle”.

“A Tale of 2 Cities”, which revolves around the lives and loves of four odd couples, even managed to beat last year’s overall ratings champ, the supernatural family drama “With You”.

“With You” garnered 923,000 viewers when it debuted at the same 9pm time slot compared to the debut episode of “A Tale of 2 Cities”, which drew a whopping 1,016,000 viewers.

“A Tale of 2 Cities” executive producer Paul Yuen attributed the successful debut of the show to its believable story setting and of course, the hard work of its cast.

“I wanted to create something different with this drama. We used different editing techniques and made sure Singaporeans can relate to the story.

“One aspect of this drama’s storyline for example is how families think about money and happiness. I didn’t want it to be too burdensome with themes like revenge or whatever,” Yuen explained to channelnewsasia.com.

“The cast was also very willing to challenge themselves by playing roles that they have never done before and did not worry about hurting their public image,” he said.

Yuen cited how Rui En took great pains to play the spoiled, ultra-feminine rich girl Zhang Ya Le, who falls from grace and has to struggle to find happiness in the show, as a good example of the cast’s willingness to try new things.

It may have been hard work for Rui En, but the positive reception the show’s debut episode received makes it all worthwhile.

“As long as I can entertain my audience, any sacrifice is worth it. Including the awful gel manicures,” Rui En told channelnewsasia.com.

“I am very surprised and happy [the show debuted well]. I didn’t expect that a ditzy ‘princess’ would be such a draw.”

Yuen had also praised Joanne Peh for daring to discard her good-girl image and play Pan Le Yao, a sexy, materialistic man-eater with a wicked sense of humour.

However, Peh’s fans will have to wait for Tuesday night’s episode of “A Tale of Two Cities”, when her character debuts at 9pm, to see that different side of her.

-CNA/ha

“A Tale of 2 Cities” airs every weekday night at 9pm on Channel 8.

Source: Channelnewsasia.com

Categorised in A Tale of 2 Cities 乐在双城, channelnewsasia.com, EN, Ratings 节目收视率, Unriddle 最火搭档, With You 我在你左右.

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Happy Valentine’s Day! The stars have something to say before the debut of my favorite drama ‘A Tale of 2 Cities 乐在双城’ tonight…

《A Tale of 2 Cities 乐在双城》从2月14日起，每逢星期一至五，晚上9点，8频道播出。演员包括：朱咪咪、瑞恩、白薇秀、庞蕾馨、方展发、张耀栋、姚玟隆、张振寰、陈欣淇、黄文永、向云等。

If Star Awards Top 40 survey is carried out during the telecast of ‘A Tale of 2 Cities 乐在双城’, I’m sure many of its cast will be fondly mentioned by the public…filling up most of the Top 40 Most Popular placements…haha…

Source: BaguaTV

Categorised in A Tale of 2 Cities 乐在双城, BaguaTV / Bagua8, EN.

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By: Yeong Kar Yan

For the first time in her acting career, Rui En sheds her icy cool image and takes on all things girly – from manicures to frilly pink dresses and skirts – for her new role as Zhang Ya Le in A Tale of 2 Cities.

You’d think this is a good break from her previous acting roles such as tough cop in Unriddle but the spunky actress claimed otherwise during the drama press conference.

Dressed in her usual black and white attire, paired with spiky bracelets and gladiators, the Nanyang Technological University business graduate exclaimed, “Before I was filming this drama, I was doing Unriddle and it was so strenuous! But during [A Tale of 2 Cities], I told [my executive producer], Paul, that I rather go back to the forest to find dead bodies, get injured fighting than do this because this girly role is really very tough to act.”

Taking care of my looks is so tiring! I do a lot of things for the first time like gel manicures so this experience really is an eye-opener for me”, she said.

Rui En plays ditzy character, Zhang Yao Le, who leads the life of a princess until she fritters all her inheritance away. When her family bridal business ends up in the red, she turns to her aunt, Jinfeng, who handles “Blissful Moments” in Singapore, another bridal business that her late mum invested in. Ya Le’s well-meaning aunt refuses to buy over her shares in the business and forces her to work in “Blissful Moments”. Will sparks fly between her and Jinfeng’s adopted son / in-house photographer, Lin Wentao?

One of 4 girls in A Tale of 2 Cities, Rui En’s 360 degree transformation is bound to tickle funny bones this coming Valentine’s Day alongside Joanne Peh (Pan Le Yao) and newcomers, Kate Pang (Lin Le) and Julie Tan (Pan Le Xuan), in their journey to find true love.

Asked if she’s more open to watching romantic comedies now, Rui En laughed out loud and said, “I’m more open lah. I mean I do believe as an actress, I can’t only watch the things I want to watch. I gotta watch stuff that most people like. Even though it’s a bit old school, I feel that Meg Ryan… she’s like the best at romantic comedies so actually, I watch a lot of her.”

A Tale of 2 Cities airs Feb 14, on Channel 8 at 9pm.

Source: UrbanWire

Categorised in A Tale of 2 Cities 乐在双城, EN, UrbanWire.

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A TALE OF TWO CITIES (DEBUT)
Channel 8, 9pm

Rui En plays a rich girl who is cheated of her wealth when she entrusts her parents’ business to her assistant and boyfriend.

Source: The Straits Times

Categorised in A Tale of 2 Cities 乐在双城, EN, The Straits Times.

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