1. Newsstand Page 18

预热！红星 网路票选

部分入围名单 (5 nominees per category)

最喜爱女角色
瑞恩 – 过好年

最喜爱银幕情侣
陈汉玮 + 瑞恩 – 我在你左右

3月1日起可到xinmsn.com/starawards2011投选心仪的偶像！

2. TV MSN Page 73

3. TV Synopsis Pages 83 – 86

Categorised in CH, Happy Family 过好年, I-Weekly, 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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周颖入围今年《红星大奖》“最佳女主角”，与白薇秀、瑞恩、陈莉萍等角逐视后，看来“蘑菇头”真能带给她好运，可想过留住蘑菇，留住那股旺气？她回应：“没想那么多，而且我已剪了一头短发，看上去干练、利落一点。”

对于与公主、阿姐争视后，周颖仍感觉蛮惊讶，被问到胜算，她很“保险”说：“从数学频率来看，就是20％,其实能入围已经很开心，我志在参与。”

纵观几年前“七公主”盛况已不再，经过走的走、留的留，如今“亲生公主”只有白薇秀，收视冠军公主瑞恩以及欧萱，周颖可觉得这时候正是时候成为“公主二代”？“我不注重衔头。”周颖说，她直言来到本地发展时，“公主”似乎已陆续离开，目前，她只求把工作做好。

Source: Wanbao, Omy

Categorised in CH, Star Awards 2011, Wanbao.

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Categorised in CH, Star Awards 2011, U-Weekly, With You 我在你左右.

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The MediaCorp artiste plays Rui En’s love interest in Ch8’s upcoming rom-com ‘A Tale of Two Cities’

Text & Photos: Joelle Chong
Video: Fiona Lin & Tay Yi Xuan

If the trailer presented at the press conference for Ch8 upcoming romantic comedy A Tale of Two Cities was anything to go by, we think Pierre Png might have a good chance being nominated for Best Actor in Star Awards next year.

In A Tale of Two Cities, Pierre plays Hong Kong veteran actress Choo Mimi’s adopted son Lin Wen Tao, who is not only a three-time taekwondo champion, but also a professional wedding photographer at his mother’s bridal shop.

A gentle and simple man by nature, Wen Tao is in cahoots with his mother, to try and change willful heiress Zhang Ya Le (played by Rui En) for the better. The two later fall in love and ultimately get married, but not without an obstacle, which comes in the form of an ex-girlfriend.

During the press conference, Pierre stated that filming A Tale of Two Cities with Rui En was a relaxed affair, although he still felt slightly pressurised because “she’s (Rui En) really good at what she does”.

This would be the second time Pierre and Rui En play onscreen couple; the first being Honour and Passion in 2007.

“Rui En is a lovely actress to work with. I love the way she gets into character because she’s so not like the character that she plays,” Pierre laughed during an interview with xinmsn.

Pierre further complimented his co-star for “bringing substance and life into her character”.

The actor added that working with Choo Mimi was a great learning experience, saying that she had “so much experience [with] the way they tackle the character, the way they prepare for the character”.

“Everything they do is just something to watch, something to learn from,” he said.

Pierre also called Choo Mimi “a joy to work with” as the talkative actress would take away the pressure from any scenes — be it an emotional one or a scene which required quarreling or bantering.

Despite starring in high-profile dramas such as Your Hand in Mine and The Score last year, Pierre has failed to secure a Best Actor nomination in the Star Awards this year.

When asked how he felt about not being nominated, Pierre said that since the beginning of his acting career, he had never actually thought he would make it into the Most Popular Male Artiste or even be nominated for Best Actor.

His last Best Actor nomination was in 2006 for his role as Nameless in The Shining Star, where he starred opposite then-newcomer Dawn Yeoh.

“That one time that I was nominated for Best Actor, they had to put me in the same category as Li Nanxing. So I thought that was a real sick joke,” Pierre guffawed.

While it was a pity he was not nominated this time, the actor said he would be supporting his friends at the event and wished all the nominees best of luck.

“I’m happy just being on the payroll, just having roles to play, different characters to analyse, different shows to be in and acting with different actresses. They keep getting younger,” Pierre smirked.

Catch Pierre Png and Rui En in A Tale of Two Cities, debuting this Valentines’ Day (Feb 14), 9pm on Channel 8.

Source: Xinmsn

Categorised in A Tale of 2 Cities 乐在双城, EN, Honour and Passion 宝家卫国, Star Awards 2011, xinmsn.

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I would like to congratulate Rui En for her Best Actress Nomination at the Star Awards this year.

Her performance in With You touched my heart and moved me to tears on several occasions.

She has been in the business for 10 years yet this is the first time that she has been nominated. At least her performance did not go unnoticed this time.

Peh Xinyi

Categorised in EN, Star Awards 2011, The Straits Times, With You 我在你左右.

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This news clip first aired on 7th February 2011.

Categorised in CH, Star Awards 2011, TV News, Unriddle 最火搭档, With You 我在你左右.

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陈汉玮预测今年《红星大奖》视帝应该是李铭顺囊中物，认为李阿哥演技最自然到位，也觉得瑞恩有望得视后。

Source: Wanbao, Shinmin

Categorised in CH, Shin Min, Star Awards 2011, Wanbao.

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陈莉萍、瑞恩和周颖都入围了今年《红星大奖》的“最佳女主角”奖项。其他入围的还有欧萱与白薇秀。

Source: MyPaper

Categorised in CH, MyPaper, Star Awards, Star Awards 2011.

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