Singapore, 7 March 2019 – Mediacorp is pleased to announce that Star Awards will be marking its milestone 25^th Anniversary this year with new initiatives, starting with a refreshed logo, a freshly composed theme song and two brand-new award categories.

To be held on 14 April 2019 at the MES Theatre at Mediacorp, the avidly anticipated ceremony will recognise the significant contributions of both individuals and companies in the wider creative ecosystem.

To celebrate and recognise the industry’s best, two new awards will also be added to the show – Best Short-form Drama Serial and Best Short-form Variety Programme [1]. These awards for short-form programmes acknowledge the increasing importance of over-the-top streaming as well as the changing viewing preference for programmes of varied length in an ever-evolving multi-platform mediascape.

In the lead-up to the main programme, Mediacorp announced the 40 nominees* vying to be Star Awards 2019’s Top 10 Most Popular Male and Female Artistes at a media conference held today at ION Sky.

The 40 names comprise 31 Mediacorp artistes and 9 non-Mediacorp artistes, representing the crème de la crème of the local entertainment industry (see Annex 1 for the full list of nominees and their telepoll numbers).  To qualify, artistes must have:

- played a lead role in a drama, or

- played a lead host in a variety-infotainment show, or

- played a supporting role/assistant host in three eligible programmes, or

- appeared in at least 30 episodes out of all eligible programmes, and December 2018**.

Jomay Wan, Head, Chinese Audience, Mediacorp, said: “Star Awards provides a platform for us to celebrate the success and contributions of artistic talents in Singapore, both in front and behind the reel. The closely anticipated awards for the Top 10 Most Popular Male and Female Artistes also invite public participation and underscore the enduring appeal of the artistes.”

Added Ms. Wan: “Through Star Awards’ 25-year journey, we have evolved along with our audience. We strive to connect more deeply with them through compelling content and our talent. For many artistes, fans have become friends. Our Silver Jubilee celebration recognises the invaluable support of our audiences and fans alongside the contributions of our talents.”

And as part of this year’s Silver Jubilee celebrations, a theme song for Star Awards was launched at the media conference. Titled “Starlight (星光)”, the song incorporates the familiar Star Awards signature tune, and is the brainchild of Mando-pop maestro Jim Lim, the man behind hits by A-listers such as Stefanie Sun, Fish Leong and A-Mei.  The track will be performed by Mediacorp artistes Zoe Tay, Chen Hanwei, Rebecca Lim and Desmond Tan at Star Awards 2019.

On his creation, Jim Lim said, “To me, the Star Awards will always be about glamour, but behind that glamour lies unseen hard work, sweat and tears. That was the inspiration for my song.”

Star Awards 2019 will be held at the MES Theatre at Mediacorp on 14 April 2019, and telecast live on Channel 8 and U, with simulcast on Toggle (refer to Annex 2 for details).

Telepoll voting for the Top 10 Most Popular Male and Female Artistes Awards begins on 7 March 2019 and ends on 14 April 2019 at 8:30pm. Online voting begins on 8 March 2019 at 12pm and ends on 14 April 2019 at 8.30pm. The results will be announced live during Star Awards 2019.

For more information, please visit toggle.sg/starawards2019.

*A poll of 1,000 people cutting across a wide demographic swathe of Singapore’s population was used to select the top 20 male and 20 female artistes, who will proceed on to the next round of public voting. The poll was conducted independently by an accredited market research company,

**This year, 50 percent of the final results will be derived from this pool of 1,000 people, while the other 50 percent will comprise telepoll and online voting as a barometer of each artiste’s fan support. These measures are part of a continuous effort by the Star Awards Committee to quantify the popularity of the Top 10 Most Popular Male and Female artistes in the most representative way.

[1] Eligibility criteria: 20 minutes or less in net duration.

Annex 1: Star Awards 2019 Top 20 Most Popular Female Artistes and Top 20 Most Popular Male Artistes

Annex 2: Star Awards 2019 telecast details on 14 April 2019 (Sunday)

Repeat telecast on 21 April 2019 (Sunday):

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Media contacts
Angeline Yap
Communications Specialist, Corporate Marketing & Communications
+65 6819 7549 | angeline.yap@mediacorp.com.sg

Eugene Quek
Communications Specialist, Corporate Marketing & Communications
+65 6359 7450 | Eugene.Quek@mediacorp.com.sg

About Mediacorp
Mediacorp is Singapore’s largest content creator and transmedia platform, operating seven TV channels, 11 radio stations and multiple digital platforms including Channel NewsAsia (CNA), Singapore's most used news app, and Toggle, its digital video platform.  Its mission is to engage, entertain and enrich audiences by harnessing the power of creativity.

Mediacorp pioneered the development of Singapore’s broadcasting industry, with radio broadcast in 1936 and television broadcast in 1963. Today, it reaches 99% of Singaporeans in all four languages, and has a growing Asian audience base through CNA and its entertainment content that is distributed across markets in the region.

Mediacorp’s investments include stakes in Reebonz, one of the region’s fastest growing luxury online retailers, and Vietnam television’s International Media Corporation. The Mediacorp Partner Network brings Mediacorp together with industry-leading brands like ESPN and 99.co to deliver rich content for consumers and effective solutions for advertisers.

Mediacorp has been recognised with industry accolades including New York Festivals, World Media Festivals and PromaxBDA (World & Asia).

For more information, please visit mediacorp.sg.