PUBLISHED ONMarch 19, 2024 7:49 AMByCandice CaiThe nominations for this year's Star Awards popularity categories are out and it appears the list has taken many by surprise.
Released yesterday (March 18) afternoon, the list of Top 10 Most Popular Male and Female nominees showed an eye-popping 94 names in total including at least 30 radio DJs.
But it's not just the number but the names on the list that have raised contentious debate online.
Most glaring of all, as pointed out by several netizens, is the inclusion of Taiwanese host Matilda Tao in the popularity contest.
Some wondered how the 54-year-old household name could qualify for the category, given that her Love 972 radio programme began airing just this month.
"What right does she have to be nominated?" wrote one.
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According to the judging criteria posted on Mediacorp's website, those in the running for the Top 10 Most Popular award have to be in a lead role or main host in at least one "eligible programme", or a supporting role or episodic host (for video) or co-host (for audio) in at least three such programmes, or at least 30 episodes in total across all eligible programmes.
Eligible programmes refer to those commissioned and/or produced by Mediacorp for at least one Mediacorp-owned and operated platform and/or Mediacorp-operated third-party platform such as its channels on YouTube and Spotify.
At the same time, it said that the personalities' "professional screen acting and/or screen/audio hosting experience should be more than five years (as at January 1, 2023)".
Some netizens pointed out that it was Matilda's stint as a Star Awards host last year that led to her nomination, an observation corroborated by a report on 8days.
Others stated that Matilda, who's now based in Singapore for her son's education, should not have been included as she isn't local. Another expressed harshly that she should feel "embarrassed" for garnering a nomination so easily.
Some fans, however, complained that the list this year seemed "messy" and "weird".
The inclusion of other relatively less well-known nominees such as former variety show host Joy Yak and Korean actor Kim Jae-hoon were also a surprise, Lianhe Zaobao reported, probably due to their lack of screen-time.
Similar to the controversy over the overwhelming number of radio DJs nominated last year, this year's Most Popular award nominees also includes a sizeable number of jockeys, reported Shin Min Daily News. It also highlighted several unfamiliar names in the running, such as Malaysian crosstalk artiste Soo Wee Seng and Malaysian actor-model Eric Lay.
Wrote one disgruntled netizen online: "Is there a need to include so many people that are unknown to the public?"
Several also expressed unhappiness that actors Paige Chua and Xu Bin — both of whom took home the Most Popular award last year — were notably missing from the list, due to the judging criteria. Veteran actresses Aileen Tan and Jin Yinji, too, appeared to be left in the cold.
The two veteran actresses, however, are in the running for the Best Supporting Actress award, alongside their colleagues Hong Huifang, Chen Liping, and independent artiste Ya Hui.
The eligibility criteria for the Most Popular category accounts for actor Ayden Sng's absence from the list as well. Ayden joined Mediacorp only in 2019, thus narrowly missing out on being nominated.
Fans can take heart, however, that the 30-year-old is still in the running for the Most Popular Rising Star award this year, and yes, our bets are on him to win it (again).
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candicecai@asiaone.com
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