A bigger celebration of local Chinese entertainment at Star Awards 2021

Singapore, 4 February 2021 – The highly anticipated Star Awards  2021 is set to take place on 18 April,  in a bigger than ever celebration of local Chinese entertainment.  Showcasing two years of productions and talents, Star Awards 2021 (SA2021) – aptly themed Connect!《星起点》– will also highlight the crucial role that local stories from Mediacorp and our industry partners played in connecting and engaging audiences in a socially distanced COVID-19 world over the past year. The decision to combine Star Awards 2020 with 2021 was made after careful consideration of the evolving COVID-19 situation and the need to maintain vigilance and precautionary measures as Singapore continues to battle COVID-19. We promised a bigger and more joyful celebration then, and one year on, we are excited to share the details.

A total of 20 awards will be presented at SA2021, including a newly added award – the Best Radio Programme. Dedicated to honour the best in local radio, this award also coincides with the 85th anniversary of radio broadcasting in Singapore. The number of nominees for most award categories  will also see an increase from the usual five to seven to better reflect the number of eligible nominees given the larger pool from the culmination of two years’ worth of local productions.

Angeline Poh, Chief Customer & Corporate Development Officer, Mediacorp, said: “In recognition of the numerous quality productions and great performances by talented artistes over the last two years, we have made the decision to increase the number of eligible nominees to seven for most award categories. This ensures that all deserving productions and talents have a shot at competing for the coveted awards. The creation of the  Best Radio Programme award this year also reflects the same intent – to celebrate great local content – and we cannot wait to share the evening with everyone.”

Kicking off the exciting programme at 3.30pm is a seven-hour live commentary marathon, where viewers will get exclusive peeks into backstage preparations, interviews with artistes, live streaming of the ceremony and more. 

At 5.00pm, fans can catch their favourite stars strutting their stuff in the popular Walk of Fame segment, before the main ceremony launches in a new one-of-a-kind show. More details on this will be announced soon. For viewing information, please refer to Annex A. 

Doreen Neo, Chief Content Officer, Mediacorp, said: “We are proud to be staging a really special Star Awards this year as we look to connect with our fans in new and creative ways while maintaining safety measures. From a live commentary marathon providing exclusive non-stop updates, to fun, new elements during the ceremony, audiences will have plenty to look forward to. As we unveil more surprises in the coming weeks, we hope everyone will stay tuned and join us for SA2021!”

The awards to be presented are: 

1.    Best Drama Serial 最佳戏剧
2.    Best Entertainment Programme 最佳综艺节目
3.    Best Entertainment Special Programme 最佳综艺特备节目
4.    Best Infotainment Programme 最佳资讯节目
5.    Best Actor 最佳男主角
6.    Best Actress 最佳女主角
7.    Best Supporting Actor 最佳男配角  
8.    Best Supporting Actress 最佳女配角  
9.    Young Talent Award 青苹果奖
10.    Best Newcomer Award 最佳新人
11.    Evergreen Artiste Award 常青演绎奖
12.    Best Programme Host (Entertainment & Infotainment) 最佳综艺及资讯节目主持人
13.    Best Theme Song 最佳主题曲
14.    Best Short-form Drama Serial 最佳短篇戏剧
15.    Best Short-form Entertainment Programme 最佳短篇综艺节目
16.    Best Radio Programme 最佳电台节目
17.    Top 10 Most Popular Male Artistes 十大最受欢迎男艺人
18.    Top 10 Most Popular Female Artistes 十大最受欢迎女艺人
19.    All-time Favourite Artiste Award 超级红星奖
20.    Bioskin Most Charismatic Award Bioskin 魅力四射奖  

Please refer to Annex B for the nominees list, and Annex C for eligibility and judging criteria for the awards. For more information, please visit mewatch.sg/sa2021. 

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Annex A – Star Awards 2021 Telecast Details on 18 April 2021 (Sunday)

Repeat Telecast on 25 April 2021 (Sunday):

  

Annex B – Star Awards 2021 Nominees List 

Performance Category 

Programme Category 

Annex C – Eligibility and Judging Criteria For Awards

Performance Awards

Artistes are eligible if he / she:
•    had starred in a lead role or was the main host in at least one eligible programme^[1], or 
•    had performed a supporting role or was an episodic host in an eligible programme^[2]. Guest performers are not qualified. 

The results are determined by 100% professional judging.
              
Best Radio Programme

To be eligible for this award, the radio programme must air minimually for 60 minutes per week, with  a scheduled airtime that had ran consecutively for two months within the qualifying period^[2]. 

The results are determined by professional judging (70%) and online voting (30%).   

Top 10 Most Popular Male Artistes and Top 10 Most Popular Female Artistes

Artistes are eligible if they are:
•    Managed by Mediacorp or have a valid term contract (i.e. not a project-based contract) with Mediacorp during the duration of the qualifying period^[3]; or  
•    Have fulfilled the below criteria during the qualifying period^[3] if they are non-Mediacorp artistes:
      o    Lead role or main host in at least one eligible programme^[1]; or
      o    Supporting role or episodic host in at least 3 eligible programmes or at least 30 episodes out of all eligible programmes^[1]. 

A poll of 1,000 people representing a wide demographic across Singapore’s population will be used to identify the top 20 Male and Female artistes, who will go on to the next round of public voting. The poll is conducted independently by an accredited market research company. 

Final results will be formed up of a) results will be derived from the preliminary pool of 1,000 people (50%) and b) online voting (50%). 

With the combination of Star Awards 2020 and Star Awards 2021, scores for both years for eligible artistes will be averaged (i.e. sum of “popularity poll score results in 2020” + “popularity poll score results in 2021” divided by 2)

For artistes who are not eligible in 2021, 2020 scores will be tabulated. For new artistes eligible in 2021, only 2021 scores will be tabulated. Artistes not eligible in 2021 will only have their scores in 2020 tabulated.

Online Voting

Free online voting for Best Radio Programme, Best Theme Song and Bioskin Most Charismatic Award will start from 10 March 2021 at 1200hrs and end on 9 April 2021 at 2359hrs.

For other award categories, free online voting will start from 10 March 2021 at 1200hrs and ends on 18 April 2021 at 2000hrs. 

Voting is:

•    Open to all voters with a valid Mediacorp account; and
•    Limited to one vote for each award category / day for each voter.

*Other terms and conditions apply. Please refer to mewatch.sg/sa2021 for more details.

^[1] Eligible programmes are those that have more than 50% aired between 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2020.
^[2] Qualifying period is 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2020.
^[3] Qualifying period is 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2020.

-end- 

Media contacts

Chua Pauline
Communications Specialist
chuapauline@mediacorp.com.sg

Ken Ng
Communications Associate
ken.ng@mediacorp.com.sg

About Mediacorp
Mediacorp is Singapore’s national media network and largest content creator. Its purpose is to create engaging and trusted content, as well as to connect communities and inspire people. Mediacorp engages over three million people in Singapore daily across four languages on its digital platforms including meWATCH, meLISTEN and CNA.asia, six TV channels and 11 radio stations. Beyond Singapore, Mediacorp also has a growing international audience through CNA and content distributed across markets.

With a focus on nurturing talent and growing the sector, the company is committed to investing in nation-wide initiatives like Star Search, Anugerah, Yaar Antha Star and SPOP, commissioning a wide variety of work from local content creators, and collaborating with institutes of higher learning. As Singapore’s first local Multi-Channel Network in partnership with YouTube, Mediacorp is also committed to developing a network of digital content creators.

For advertisers, Mediacorp has partnered industry-leading brands like ESPN, Mothership, Popcorn, Singapore Tatler, theAsianparent, VICE, YouTube and 99.co to form the Mediacorp Digital Network in offering more effective content-driven solutions.

Mediacorp is the recipient of industry accolades including New York Festivals, World Media Festivals, PromaxBDA (World and Asia) and Asian Academy Creative Awards.

For more information, please visit mediacorp.sg.