Who would be the King and Queen of the Star Awards 2013?

The long-awaited Star Awards 2013 is starting in a few hours time! Are you excited? I certainly am! 

XinMSN of Singapore made their predictions for the awards tonight. No fret, because we, the Singaporean Drama Fan Club will also give you our predictions for the show tonight.

Best Actor 最佳男主角

Predicted Winner: Dai Yang Tian (Poetic Justice)
Dark Horse: Chew Chor Meng (Joys of Life)

Yeap, your eyes were right - we think Dai Yang Tian really stand a chance to win this time. Although many viewers would say Christopher Lee, but we really think DYT deserves the award instead. 

Indeed Chris did a great job in portraying a pre-gambler who mended his ways. Lots of tears were involved in his character as well. But, there were no changes in the character's personality from start to end. He remained as a pitiful father and husband until they finally live happily ever after at the end of the drama. He acted very well, but the character has lesser fluctuations, and therefore, not what the judges may have liked.

As for DYT, his character started of as a playboy who care less of his life since he has tonnes of money which he possibly won't be able to finish. But, after he fell in love with Luoling, he became a more serious chap, and after he fell for Yanzhi, he is as serious as he never be. When he was in between both ladies, when he has a hard time making a decision - all these are emotional techniques. And the great thing is, his age in acting is only 4 years. Don't forget the moment when he realised that he lost his memory and he is partly responsible for Zhonglun's flee.

We chose Chew Chor Meng as the Dark Horse because he were attracted to his joyous and cute character in Joys of Life. In Joys of Life, there were happy moments, sad moments, angry moments and even shy moments which Zhao Dagou has to go through. And Chor Meng portrayed the character well. With his acting experience of over 20 years, he too has a high chance to win this award.

Best Actress 最佳女主角

Predicted Winner: Kym Ng (It Takes Two)
Dark Horse: Cynthia Koh (Show Hand)

I think everyone still remembers how does Luo Na so-called "tortures" and scolds her husband, children, and mother-in-law as well. She is one of the exceptions where the mother-in-law is afraid of her instead of the other way round. She left a very strong impression to viewers with her bossy, naggy and naughty character. And not to forget, Kym is a variety host, not a professional actress. If a host can leave a good impression to viewers because of her acting, this proves that she is good enough to bring the award home.

About this Dark Horse, she was once a winner of the Best Actress Award in 1999. I struggled quite a while to decide whether she should be the dark horse or the winner. Her winning point in this drama is, she not only manage to deceive her husband (saying that the debts were his previous debts), she deceived almost all of the viewers. We never realised the fact that she has become a gambling addict who bring tonnes of debts back home until we reach the middle of the story. She has to act pitiful and deceiving at the same time, which is something not easy to achieve. So, if Kym didn't win, she is the next in line.

Best Supporting Actor 最佳男配角

Predicted Winner: Huang Wenyong (Joys of Life)
Dark Horse: Tay Ping Hui (Unriddle 2) & Romeo Tan (Joys of Life)

Like every other viewer's expected, we think the award should and must go to the late veteran actor, Huang Wenyong. However, we have to clarify that we didn't say he would win just because of his death. We actually thought he would win this award even before he was nominated. 

Wenyong has made an impression to viewers in the 60s blockbuster drama, Joys of Life. Seeing how he scolds his wife and daughters and his disrespectful attitude towards others really made us hate him to the max! With this point itself, I think he is a well-deserved winner of this award. When you are able to make your audience hate you because of your character, you're good.

There are two dark horses for this category, because both of us (my sister and I) could not decide who to choose. So we put both our choices here.
Pinghui's acting was superb all the while, I bet no one disagree to that. With only 7 episodes of appearance, he clinched a nomination to this award - which proves that he's really good. 

As for Romeo, although he is relatively new, his acting in Joys of Life really surprised us. He acted like a nobody from the start, where none of us will put any attention on him but later, all our eyes are on this villainous character. I still think Romeo is still young and therefore he has many years and chances to come. So if Wenyong Dage didn't win, Tay Ping Hui should be the next. And if both of them didn't manage to win, then Romeo must be the winner.

Best Supporting Actress 最佳女配角

Predicted Winner: Jin Yinji (It Takes Two)
Dark Horse: Lin Meijiao (Game Plan)

Since everyone remembered how Luo Na tortured her mother-in-law, I believe everyone also remembered how pitiful is the mother-in-law as well. Jin Yinji just portrayed this cute and yet pitiful character very well. I think no other actress could replace her for this role - which is why the winner of this award should be none other than Jin Yinji.

But, the dark horse for this category is also has a strong position. Lin Meijiao did a very good job in portraying the trickster's assistant, Zhang Shiyun. She is actually acting a "drama" in a drama. When she is on a mission, she would have to transform herself into a particular character, just so that she could trick the target. Also, when her son found out about her wrongdoings, she suffered quite awhile due to emotional breakdown. That is quite a change in the character's tricky personality - and Meijiao made the change very naturally. This is why I think if Jin Yinji doesn't win, she will be the next in line.

Best Newcomer 最佳新人奖

Predicted Winner: Ian Fang (Don't Stop Believin')
Dark Horse: Shane Pow (It Takes Two)

Our predicted winner for the Best Newcomer Award is the favourite of all teens out there (especially females) - Ian Fang. We are choosing him not because he is popular, it is because he really have what it takes to be a successful actor. He cries naturally (although I do not know how he shed his tears, but it looks natural) and he has no problems showing suitable emotions. He is still new, so we can't ask from him much. But he is doing well enough to bring this award back home.

Our dark horse for this category is also a very talented actor indeed - it's Shane Pow. It Takes Two is one of his first few dramas and it's the first drama where he had a slightly more important role than his previous dramas. In fact, he actually has lesser experience than Ian but his acting was very natural indeed. So, if Ian didn't win, Shane must be the one.

-END-

That's all for our prediction. We are from Malaysia so we could not comment on the variety shows and so on. So everyone, stay tuned to Star Awards 2013 Show 2 tonight to see how close our predictions are! Broadcasting channels and time are listed below.

Broadcasting Channels and Time - 28 April 2013 (Sunday)

Singapore - Channel 8 

5:30 PM (Walk of Fame) & 7:00 PM (Awards Show)

Singapore - Channel U 

10:00 PM (Post-Show Party)

Malaysia - Astro AEC & Astro Quan Jia 

7:00 PM (Awards Show)

CNY 2013 Drama: It's A Wonderful Life (SG)

The usual theme that a CNY Drama would always have is - Family Reunion.

This drama mainly revolves around two families which have both have relationship problems within - the Hao Family and the Li Family.

Hao Huixian has two sons, one being his stepson - Gu Zhiji (Elvin Ng) and another being his biological son - Hao Fuqi (Desmond Tan). The story focuses on Gu Zhiji who hated his stepfather since he was young and because of that, he left home and wandered around the street as an artist.

It is a little hard to survive as a street artist in Singapore, especially when you have no tertiary qualification. Though the reality was clear, Zhiji still insisted that he could achieve success with his own bare hands because he believe that his talent and passion towards art is the only thing he need. However, things are not that easy in life; Zhiji did not realise that Huixian was silently helping him all along.

Zhiji is not the only problem of the Hao Family. Huixian's niece - Hao Ping'an - who came back from Canada just to meet her uncle was chased away by Huixian himself once he realised her identity. The reason behind his rude attitude is because he always thought that Ping'an's father is a unfilial son. He thinks that his brother did not intend to see his father for the last time even though he knew that his father was terminally ill. However, Huixian soon found out that things are not as simple as he thought and accepts Ping'an as his niece.

However, things get a little complicated when Zhiji and Ping'an went into a love relationship and they went through some hardship before they could officially be a couple.

As for the Li Family, Li Yunshun (Huang Wenyong) and Fan Wenxiang (Chen Liping) have a son - Li Siyuan (Zzen Chong) and a daughter-in-law - Isabella (Paige Chua), who bears a grandson for them. Although the family seems complete, havoc starts to happen continuously from the day Yunshun and wife moved back to live with his son and family. Coincidently, Isabella's mother also planned to live with them. When the two mother-in-laws meet, that is when the battle begins...

However, like most CNY dramas, the ending was a family reunion in both families, including their neighbours as well. And like all fairy tales, Zhiji and Ping'an are happily married and they lived happily ever after =)

Now, it's time to rate the drama:

Story - 6.7/10 

It has all the elements of a CNY drama: joy, laughter and reunions and is a little lacking of some surprise element. But, the overall story line is moderate - it's still worth the watch. 

Casting - 8/10

I find the cast really interesting. Chen Liping was a very good actress for roles like "bickering aunties" and "bossy mother-in-laws". Lin Meijiao also did a great job as a strict and pitiful wife of a husband of no hope. Huang Wenyong made some laughs when he always collaborated with his on-screen wife as the "it's all about my wife" type of husband. And here comes Ha Yu again as a gamble and useless husband and father, just like how he acted in "Love Thy Neighbour". Zzen was a good choice of "teacher" material and Paige looked and sounded like a modern mother. And of course, there were more. Overall, it was quite a great cast.

Theme Song - 7/10

Most of the marks are for Cavin Soh, for his wonderful voice which matched this song perfectly. However I think the lyrics of the song do not really have the "reunion" feeling although it does quite matched with the drama.

Other aspects (Editing, Effects, Background Music and etc) - 7/10

I can't comment much on directing, but the editing was quite well done. The background music was well placed at the right time and there were not much special effects on this drama which I could comment on. But, the one thing I realised was - remember the Sunflowers Zhiji drew for Ping'an? It was supposed to be drawn on the wall - as per the script. But, if you look closely, it was a little too obvious that the Sunflower art piece was pasted on the wall - as the curls of the paper were quite clear. But overall, it was alright.

Predicted Nominations for this drama:

Best Actress: Chen Liping as Fan Wenxiang