PUBLISHED ONApril 09, 2023 6:31 PMByTan Thiam PengDrima ChakrabortyKhoo Yi-HangA surprising number of radio deejays were voted into the Top 10 Most Popular Male and Female Artistes at Star Awards 2023, after rules were relaxed this year to allow a longer list of nominees.
Marcus Chin, Jeff Goh, Chen Ning and Chen Biyu took home trophies on April 9 in a sign of radio's popularity.
As a result, several high-profile artistes from drama and variety were snubbed, including Hong Ling and the evening's host Lee Teng.
"Deejays are artistes too!" proclaimed Jeff when he took to the stage. He called his victory a validation that "many people listen to radio".
Probably as a reference to the good looks of TV stars, he joked that his face "is not too bad" as well.
Chen Ning continued on similar themes in her acceptance speech: "I don't have stunning looks or amazing talent, I'm just a very normal girl who likes radio."
Backstage, Jeff explained further to AsiaOne and other media.
"We held a dark-horse mentality as it was the first time radio deejays were nominated for Top 10 Most Popular Artistes categories. We know that many popular actors and actresses may not even get into the top 10. So it's a great privilege and surprise for us.
"I think our best judge is our listeners. Since so many people listen to our programme, it means we are winners."
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Jeff and Chen Ning co-host a programme on Yes 933 radio station, together with Gao Meigui, who was also a surprise winner for Most Popular Rising Stars, which is equivalent to Top 10 Most Popular Artistes.
Marcus and Biyu are co-hosts on Love 972.
For Marcus, who straddles radio, TV and music, age is just a number.
This is only the 69-year-old's third Most Popular award.
"Our prime minister is still working at 70, the Malaysian prime minister is working at 75, [Joe] Biden is even working in his 80s, so my life has just begun," he said during his speech.
"So it's wrong when they say that people fade by their 70s."
He added: "I want to get my 10th by 77."
Once a Mediacorp artiste wins the Most Popular award 10 times, they cannot win another, instead receiving the All-Time Favourite Artiste prize the next year.
Marcus also accepted Biyu's trophy on her behalf, as she could not attend last night.
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Collecting their 10th this year from guest presenter Jam Hsiao were Jesseca Liu and Ann Kok.
Jesseca, whose husband Jeremy Chan also won this award last night, got introspective on stage.
"An eternity is very long — to persist and chase your dreams isn't an easy thing to do.
"But an eternity is also very brief — to give up on your dreams and find an excuse for it is very easy."
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Other recipients for Top 10 Most Popular Male Artistes were birthday boy Romeo Tan, Shaun Chen, Desmond Tan, Brandon Wong, Guo Liang, Xu Bin and Desmond Ng.
The female artistes were rounded off by Paige Chua, Carrie Wong, Ya Hui, Chantalle Ng, Denise Camillia Tan and Tasha Low.
This is Brandon's second straight win after an emotional first last year.
Paige has enjoyed a purple patch the last few years, but even she has an eye on the bigger pool of nominees.
"The competition this year was really stiff and this award is getting more and more difficult to win," she admitted.
Elsewhere, Ya Hui's speech managed to be pensive and funny at the same time.
The actress left Mediacorp in February for a "journey of self-exploration".
She said: "I always thought I'd be acting until I was old."
Although she's no longer contracted, she shared that she still has a burning passion for acting.
"I hope that I'll be able to be like Xiang Yun, Aileen Tan or Chen Shucheng, and keep acting until I'm..." before she paused, drawing laughter for her train of thought.
She quickly clarified: "It's not 'old'! I mean I hope I can act until people remember me and my work."
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