By Charlene Chua
Together, at last. But they’re not even friends – at least not yet.
Local television’s “princesses†Rui En and Jeanette Aw are finally starring in their first drama series together (as love rivals, no less), ending their fans’ decade-long wait for their on-screen pairing on The Dream Makers, which will air on Channel 8 in June.
It’s all significant as both actresses belong to the same management company Hype Records, yet haven’t crossed paths professionally till now.
Will there be rivalry? Or perhaps the coupling will lead to a budding friendship?
Whatever the outcome, all eyes will be on Channel 8’s latest blockbuster drama, The Dream Makers, which is currently being filmed and will air in June.
Rui En, 31, told The New Paper recently: “Jeanette and I don’t interact a lot. I can’t say we are close.
“Even though we’re signed to the same company, we rarely see each other.
“I would say we’re just acquaintances. So I’m looking forward to working with her for the first time.”
Said Aw, 33, in a separate interview: “I guess Rui En and I are both known loners in the industry.
“We meet when we have common events and it’s always been a friendly relationship. But we don’t know each other well on a personal level.
“How are she and I similar or different? Perhaps when the filming of our show is over and I get the chance to know her better, I will know just how to answer this.”
Since signing up with Hype Records some 10 years ago, Rui En and Aw have conquered Caldecott Hill and are famed for being two of the seven “MediaCorp princesses”.
Even when former starlets Fiona Xie, Dawn Yeoh, Jesseca Liu and Felicia Chin were still acting full time, Rui En and Aw remained arguably the most popular.
So surely there has been rivalry between the two?
Said Rui En: “I think we’ve outgrown the whole princesses thing; it was a nice marketing tool.
“The three of us (Rui En, Aw and Joanne Peh) are now doing our own thing. I don’t think we need to compete or be compared to each other.
“As for Joanne, I’ve never had the chance to hang out with her.”
Added Aw: “My cloest friend are all from outside of the industry. It has always been this way.”
Rui En echoed the same sentiment, and said she also refrained from making friends at work as she wanted to concentrate fully on her job.
She scrampers off into her own corner during filming breaks to read her script.
“It makes sense to just work when you’re working.
“My only friend in the industry is (veteran actress) Chen Liping. We get along really well, we can talk about anything, and she’s someone I look up to and respect a lot.
“We met while filming (Channel 8 drama) Unriddle (in 2010) and there was just chemistry.”
In The Dream Makers, Rui En plays a variety show director who has to take over hosting duties when someones else messes up.
Her character then becomes an actress when she’s well-received by the audience.
In the show, she’s caught in a love triangle with an actor (Qi Yuwu) and actress (Aw).
Said Rui En: “When my character meets Yuwu’s character, it’s a love at first sight.
“Then halfway, I find out that he’s actually attached to someone else…so it becomes complicated.”
She added: “It’ll be nice to work with Jeanette on this as it’d be a fresh pairing.”
Well, they may have more in common than they think.
New Year resolutions
When asked if they made any New Year resolutions this year, both gave uncannily similar answers.
Both don’t make resolutions.
If you are wondering why they have such similar perspectives on work, these principles were instilled in them by their boss.
Ken Lim, who owns Hype Records, was candid as he spoke of his two biggest assets.
He said: “I believe in the saying that it’s lonely at the top. So I tell all my artistes to just concentrate on their work and not to mix with others when they are filming.
“When you interact with others at work, you will get yourselves involved in politics – what for?
“Rui En and Jeanette appeal to different fans, and this is why they are both at the top of their game.
“Rui En is the one with the attitude, while Jeanette is relatable.”
He added that both are finally starring in a drama together only because they have established themselves in showbiz over the years.
They are so “vastly different†in terms of their market appeal that they cannot be compared to each other any more, he said.
In the past, Lim believed that comparisons made between them would have harmed their status in the early years of their careers.
Said Lim: “The on-screen pairing has to be right. If not, it’ll never work.
“This was a matter of timing, and since their fans have wanted it for the longest time, we decided to make it happen/
“I’m sure there’s rivalry between the all actresses, so I always tell Jeanette and Rui En to let their work speak for itself.”
But even keeping themselves hasn’t protected Aw and Rui En from workplace politics, as they’ve encountered instances of back-stabbing.
Added Rui En: “There will always be bad things and you’ll get to hear of them. Not much of it is true, but people will say what they want to say.
“I have witnessed unprofessional actors trying to sabotage one other.
“Everyone puts up with back-stabbing and politics in the workplace everyday, but I have consciously chosen not to engage.”
The Dream Makers 志在四方 debuts 24 June 2013 9pm on Channel 8.
Source: The New Paper, DivaAsia
Categorised in 50th TV Anniversary, Diva Asia, EN, The Dream Makers 志在四方, The New Paper.
By Charlene Chua
He thinks that the local entertainment scene has been way too stagnant by his standards.
So call it a hero’s complex if you must, but Ken Lim is determined to “revive†it.
The head honcho of Hype Records is convinced that the next big star will rise from the melting pot that is Asia.
So why can’t it be Singapore?
In his mission to put the little red dot on the showbiz map, he has created his own reality TV singing competition, The Final 1, which has the added component of taking viewers through the whole process of packaging a reality show contestant into an artiste.
Local artistes currently signed to Hype Records include actresses Rui En and Jeanette Aw and Singapore Idol winners Hady Mirza and Taufik Batisah.
Source: The New Paper, The Straits Times Communities, Asiaone
Categorised in asiaone.com, EN, The New Paper, The Straits Times Communities.
Source: The New Paper, Diva Asia
Categorised in Diva Asia, EN, m:idea Youth Choice Awards, The New Paper.
Babe, me?
She may have been calm and cool about her nomination, but her second Babe Of The Year win – with a record-breaking 6,405 votes – made actress Rui En “flabbergasted”.
In an email to The New Paper, the 31-year old said she was “bewildered” when she first heard the news about how many votes she had received this year.
She beat Jeanette Aw, who received 804 votes, and YouTube star Munah Bagharib, who received 183 votes.
“My fans… I have no words for how incredibly committed they are,” she said.
“Truly, any and all awards actually belong to RBKD, all my fans and them alone.”
RBKD, the moniker for Rui En’s fan club, was also responsible for her first Flame Awards trophy, also for Babe Of The Year, back in early 2009.
Then, she was up against this year’s nominee, Jeanette Aw, as well as Joanne Peh, both of whom had shined in blockbuster drama The Little Nyonya.
She had also been nonchalant about her chances then, saying it would be “The Little Nyonya year”.
Up against Aw again this year, as well as hot newcomer Munah Bagharib, Rui En declined to talk about her chances.
Now that she has won again, she is somewhat amused.
“I really am the sort to head down to the kopi tiam in shorts and slippers. Highly un-babe-like…” she said.
She had a few stern words for The New Paper about the title, too.
“I…have to be honest. Babe is really not one of the most favourite words of mine. To me, ‘babe’ means swaddled in pastel blankets and also had a lot of very strong Christmas connotations,” she said.
All right, we hear you. A name change may be in order. Who are we to argue with someone who has had such a great year in showbiz?
Her Babe Of The Year win caps a year of trophies, including Favourite Female Character at the Star Awards for her role in A Tale of 2 Cities, and Best Actress at the recent Asian Television Awards for her role in Unriddle 2.
All, one must note, without seemingly overly eager and overexposed or the opposite of completely catty or cold.
It is her refreshing “real-ness” that endears her to her fans, who “stretched” themselves this year to make sure she took home the Babe Of The Year title again.
RBKD fan club president Peh Xin Yi, 25 told The New Paper that this year, they heeded Rui En’s advice to “vote within their means”, but they strategised to ensure their idol would emerge tops.
“Our fan club has more than 90 members, but we posted about the Babe Of The Year voting through Facebook (where Rui En has more than 116,000 fans) and Twitter,” said the club president.
“We had one member who wanted to set aside $100 to vote for her (each SMS costs 20 cents), but we stopped her as we don’t believe in having one person vote excessively.
“That’s why we promoted it online.
“Flame Awards was one of the first we got for her (RBKD was formed in Nov 2008).
“It’s a great way to end the year.”
Juliana June Rasul
Source: The New Paper, Asiaone
Categorised in A Tale of 2 Cities ä¹åœ¨åŒåŸŽ, Asian Television Awards, Asian Television Awards 2012, asiaone.com, EN, Flame Awards, Flame Awards 2009, Flame Awards 2012, RBKD, Star Awards, Star Awards 2012, The New Paper, Unriddle 2 最ç«ææ¡£ 2.
This is your final chance to vote in this year’s Flame Awards. Noor Ashikin Abdul Rahman recaps the nominees.
BABE OF THE YEAR
1. Rui En
The level-headed ice queen remained cool despite her fall-out with actor Zhang Yaodong at this year’s Star Awards Show 1 in April.
2. Jeanette Aw
It’s a golden year for this beauty as she rakes in big bucks from endorsement deals and business opportunities all over.
3. Malmunah Bagharib
She’s pretty, smart and ballsy – and she really doesn’t care what you think of her. Enough said.
Source: The New Paper
Categorised in EN, Flame Awards, Flame Awards 2012, Star Awards, Star Awards 2012, The New Paper.
By Tan Kee Yun and Catherine Robert
The Flame Awards is celebrating 17 years – gosh, how time flies! – of discerning adulation and witty irreverence with a bang.
For nearly two decades, the sharp-tongued team at The New Paper has been handing out laurels to the crazy kids on the entertainment scene for adding colour to our lives.
We either praise these beloved stars or roast them with sadistic glee.
This year, expect a few new award categories that give special mention to celebrities who amused and perplexed us with their acts of impulsiveness.
But first, a classic readers’ favourite – BABE OF THE YEAR.
BABE OF THE YEAR
1. RUI EN
2. JEANETTE AW
3. MUNAH BAGHARIB
Two gorgeous veterans are up against a spunky newcomer. Will it be a case of youthful victory, or will experience and massive fan base win the day?
Want to find out more about these ladies?
Babe of the year
She’s icy cool over Flame nomination
1. Rui En
Staying true to her ice queen reputation, the 31-year old took in her Babe of The Year nomination coolly.
“Thanks for nominating me again,” she wrote in an e-mail reply.
“As usual, regarding any awards, I normally have zero expectations.”
The Hype Records artiste was juggling a hectic filming schedule and could not speak to us on the phone.
Rui En was nominated this year because we loved it that she kept it real at Star Awards Show 1 in April.
A comedic skit spoofing the A-list stars of Caldecott Hill mercilessly teased her about her then-highly publicised spat with actor Zhang Yaodong and she looked moody for the rest of the show.
Zhang had talked to the media about a rape scene he did with Rui En in the drama On the Fringe in August 2011. Rui En, who was working in Malaysia then, immediately posted a heated blog entry, stressing that she was against doing kissing and rape scenes.
At the Star Award Show 1, she didn’t even pretend to be happy for the cameras. In her acceptance speech, she said firmly: “We are here to film (dramas), not create news.”
Now, if that isn’t a dig at her colleagues’ – and perhaps, also the media’s – “kaypoh” chatter about her and Zhang, we don’t know what is.
In her e-mail replies to TNP, Rui En said: “All the teasing and ragging is really part and parcel of the game. Some said my face was black, only to realise afterwards that it’s my default look.
“I just honestly wish they could come up with some new material to tease me with.”
She didn’t say much about her chances against the other two nominees, labelmate Jeanette Aw and Maimunah Bagharib (Munah), but expressed concerns about her fans spending too much money on SMS votes.
“I know there has been plenty of voting going on this year for various awards, do vote within your means,” urged Rui En.
How to vote
For Babe of the Year, the keyword is TNPFLAMEBABE
Send your vote by SMS to 146077877 in the following format: TNPFLAMEBABE
For example, if you want to vote Rui En as Babe Of The Year, SMS “TNPFLAMEBABE 1 S1234567A MIKE TAN” to 146077877
Each SMS costs 20 cents. Voting ends at 11.59pm on Sunday (16 December 2012).
RBKD: The crumpledness on page 19 is an intended effect by The New Paper and is not a compromise in scans’ quality on RBKD’s part :)
Source: The New Paper
Categorised in EN, Flame Awards, Flame Awards 2012, On The Fringe 边缘父å, Star Awards, Star Awards 2012, The New Paper.
By Juliana June Rasul
Taufik, 30, was in Seoul mid-October for the ABU TV Song Festival, a concert to go with Korea’s ABU Radio Song Festival, Asia’s version of the Eurovision Song Contest.
Upcoming
No word yet on whether there’ll be any cross-cultural collaboration for Taufik’s upcoming English album, which he’s currently working on.
His most recent single Sky’s The Limit, which also features the vocals of his fellow Hype Records artiste Rui En, stayed at the top of the charts on 987FM for two weeks.
Source: The New Paper, Asiaone, Lollipop
Categorised in asiaone.com, EN, Lollipop, Sky's the Limit, The New Paper.
By Charlene Chua
He’s playing his first baddie role, but will you hate him for it?
Tonelli, 36, told The New Paper: “The Channel 8 audience are very invested in the characters that they watch on TV, they really believe these shows.
“When my character was good, I received lots of compliments. But when his insecurities caused him to be less amiable (he wasn’t even a bad person), I started hearing that my Mandarin sucked on the show.
The good guys that he has played on-screen include Jeanette Aw’s character’s suitor in Channel 8 blockbuster drama The Little Nyonya (2008) and Rui En’s character’s suitor in Channel 8 drama Joys Of Life (2012).
Source: The New Paper, Asiaone
Categorised in asiaone.com, EN, Joys of Life èŠ±æ ·äººé—´, The New Paper.
By Kwok Kar Peng
Shaun will return at the end of January to shoot the Channel 8 drama The Dream Makers, which is about larger-than-life personalities in the showbiz industry. The show will also star Zoe Tay, Jeanette Aw and Rui En.
The Dream Makers 志在四方 debuts 24 June 2013 9pm on Channel 8.
Source: The New Paper, Asiaone
Categorised in 50th TV Anniversary, asiaone.com, EN, The Dream Makers 志在四方, The New Paper.
