Friday, November 12, 2010

'10 Anniversary Time I

Although this topic has been well-discussed since last year, it's time to reveal this year's predictions!

Best Actor: Steven Ma

steven

Although Steven Ma is not a hot favourite to win, guessing that he will be awarded with 'Best Actor' this year. Wayne Lai already won three awards last year, and his performance in "No Regrets" is not comparable to Chai Gau. Wayne is not Gallen Lo. It is highly unlikely for Wayne to receive consecutive 'Best Actor' awards. Although "Can't Buy Me Love" received high ratings, Moses Chan's performance was only sub-par, and he was heavily criticized by netizens. Moses also received the 'Best Actor' award before, so it is highly unlikely for him to win again, especially for this particular performance. Some people believe that TVB is going to give the award to Raymond Lam because he is a heavily promoted artiste; however, there is also nothing special about his performance in "The Mysteries of Love". "Mysteries" was also criticized for copying "Detective Galileo", which also lowers his chances for 'Best Actor'. Although Steven's performance in "Ghost Writer" was not particularly outstanding, his performance is competent enough. The ratings of "Ghost" were also quite good, and with the announcement of a sequel and a stage performance, this shows that TVB also recognizes the success of this series. Steven is also basically next in line to win, so he will most likely win 'Best Actor' this year.

My Favourite TV Male Character: Kenneth Ma

ma_ming

Ku Yue Tong is definitely my favourite character this year, and my favourite character of Kenneth Ma's! Although Tong is the second brother, he is the head of the household. His siblings see him as the centre of the family, but he also has a humourous side. He is righteous, as he suppresses the strong and helps the weak. He is clever, and he also has great martial arts skills, but his flaw is that he has asthma. Kenneth was able to portray the leadership qualities of Tong, and he was also competent in various emotional scenes (e.g., when Cheung accuses him of being a coward; after discovering that Ngan had been raped; when encouraging Ngan to come forward; while reading Dr. Wing's suicide note). This character was well-written because, even though Cheung returned home, Tong still maintained his status as the decision-maker of the family. Love his signature move 'lead the horse back to the stable'! Also love the profound relationship between Tong and Dr. Wing, as well as the chemistry between Kenneth and Selena!

Best Actress: Sheren Tang

sheren

It is most likely that Sheren Tang will win the 'Best Actress' award because no other female characters this year come close to the complexity of Cheng Gau Mui. Charmaine Sheh is the only other hot favourite; however, the script of "Can't Buy Me Love" was poorly written, such that there was not much for her to do with her character. It would not be surprising for Sheren to repeat, especially since there is no competition, and she has the status to win for a consecutive year.

My Favourite TV Female Character: Fala Chen

fala

Fala Chen's major competitors in this category are Charmaine, Sheren, and Tavia Yeung; however, Charmaine and Tavia already received this award before, so it is highly unlikely that they would receive it again, while Sheren has her sights set on the 'Best Actress' award. TVB is nurturing Fala into a first lead; thus, in order for her to rise to the next level, it would make sense for her to receive the 'Favourite Character' award. Her character in "Ghost Writer" was much more well-liked by the audience, and it would also be more persuasive for her to win for Siu Chui; however, it is quite evident that Szeto Ngan Ping was nominated in this category instead so that the highest-rated series this year would not leave empty-handed.

Related post: '10 Anniversary Time II

17 comments:

  1. I agree with Best Actor and totally with Best Male Character =P Kenneth portrayed the character really well, it stood out and he showed improvement. Looking forward to see Kenneth win =]

    ReplyDelete
  2. I like fala but i think that it's too early for her to win the award. Example, Tavia only won hers after many many years of working in TVB. Szeto Ngan Ping was not very outstanding either.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I really hope Kenneth wins!!! My fingers are crossed! But even though the public can vote, in the end it's up to TVB. So I guess we can only hope for the best!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I agree with what you've said, Fala's role in Ghost Writer was much more outstanding than in Can't Buy Me Love. I just find the script for Can't Buy Me Love only so-so it's like it's funny at some points but other than that there's not much room for development for all the characters, so I don't see what the hype is about, I feel Ghost Writer should deserve the recognition much more than Can't Buy Me Love. I would want Siu Chui to win the most favourite tv female character instead!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Your prediction makes sense, especially counting the politics of TVB. It would probably make me cringe for Fala to win for her role in CBML though. Her character was not outstanding nor was it likable. It makes much more sense for her to win for Ghost Writer. However, there's also doubt whether TVB would let Fala win this award before Linda. Tavia won it because she was a hot favourite that year. Fala doesn't have that heat yet this year.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I support your prediction.

    Although Wayne is the hottest favourite his performance in No Regrets isn't as well received compared to Chai Gau which lowers his chance for a consecutive win. Moses is below average this year although Can't scores top ratings. The award belongs to Steven.

    Sheren is on the hottest seat. She's the talk of the town and there's no other contenders. It's a shoo in for her.

    The Most Favourite Character Male is Kenneth's without a doubt. Yes it's a great character and it's also Kenneth's best character in his career. It will be a slap to Kenneth and TVB if someone else got this award. Wayne is criticized in No Regrets and didn't Raymond just win this 2 years back? It's so Kenneth's.

    I wonder why TVB doesn't nominate Fala with Siu Tsui. That way it's clear the award is hers. Her character in Can't is fine but it's not as outstanding as Siu Tsui which was immensely loved. Your explanation about having Can't winning the award makes sense as to why Fala is nominated for this character instead.

    ReplyDelete
  7. @foshy: Linda is dry this year. She has a very likeable character in Can't but her performance doesn't give much justice to the likeable character and I don't see any chemistry between her and Raymond Wong although they have the sweetest storyline. I'm looking forward for her lengmo character in Twilight and her pairing with Wong Hei :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Fala is definitely a hot contender this year. I think what makes her likable is that she gives off this charisma on-screen. That's why netizens liked her performance as Siu Tsui.

    It took Tavia a while to win this award because she debut at the wrong time. Tavia is in the same line as Michelle-Myolie-Leila back then. At the time, TVB was promoting all the HK misses.

    Linda is definitely dry this year. I think she's trying to balance doing music, movies and TV series. Next year might be better for her.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Yeah I agree that Linda's rather dry this year, next year she has much more shows together with her album release, I believe it will be a better year for her. Hope to see something different from her in Twilight, rather than her typical roles.

    ReplyDelete
  10. OMG I SERIOUSLY HOPE KENNEATH MA WINS..
    he should have got nominated for best actor instead of Kevin cheng..

    But i hope dominic lam wins an award..
    his role in AFOS was OUTSTANDING TOO :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. If Steven, Kenneth and Natalie/Selena wins awards.. then Thunder has 3 award winners in the pocket...

    ReplyDelete
  12. To Selina: Don't get me wrong. I'm not rooting for Linda to win this award, as her performance is subpar to Fala, but TVB has always been favouring her more to Fala. I just doubt that it's 'the' time for Fala to win, because if she wins this, it leaves both lead actresses in both the highest-rated series of the year, Charmaine and Tavia, likely to go empty-handed, unless they shoe-in those miscellaneous awards for them.
    I still wish they nominate Siu Tsui instead of Ngan Ping, because I like the former while I dislike the latter.

    ReplyDelete
  13. To Anonymous:

    Yes, but Tavia also won another award on top of that.

    To foshy:

    Linda already made the top five for 'Favourite' and 'Best Actress' in 2007 and 2008 respectively, which is an indication that she is already of leading status. Also, Linda didn't stand out as much this year.

    To tdy89:

    Looking forward to "Twilight".

    To lizzy:

    Evergreen is also in "Thunder". ;)

    ReplyDelete
  14. I too think that Steven will be awarded the best actor title this year but based on a different reasoning from yours. It is no secret that tvb awards do not equate outstanding performances in a series, so in this sense your argument is academic and does not reflect TVB’s way of operation, which is all about bottom line. To TVB board of directors, the awarding of best actor/actress is an economic decision; and to individual director, a show of political power and personal agenda. Unless one is Chai Gou, talents or outstanding performances alone are not enough to snag the awards, artistes must have (a)powerful and influential supporter(s) who can lobby their cause.

    Wayne Lai - Even before NR was aired, I was convinced that unless NR’s ratings shot through the roof, Wayne would not be permitted to be a back-to-back tv king. My conviction gathered strength as I watched how Wayne’s character was steamrolled over by his supporting co-stars, that even during his intimate scenes with opium addicted Gao Mui, he was mainly used as a foil to Sheren, who was the main star of those heartrending scenes. In short, so far, Wayne’s character was simply not allowed to shine too much in this series. NR’s unimpressive ratings and the netizens’ harsh critiques of Wayne’s overacting make it all the more convenient for TVB to cast him aside for the best actor award. Reason : Wayne doesn’t provide too much economic gains for TVB.

    Raymond Lam - That Raymond Lam’s role in MOL is nominated over his more substantial role in GTL is very telling for me, considering both co-stars, Damian and Bosco, are, Obviously, TVB nominating RL for his role in MOL is just to hype up his popularity to their sponsors. However, TVB will not be so utterly egregious in their show of favoritism as to award him the best actor award for a role that is so minor and a performance that is so lackluster that has generated harsh criticisms, even among his fans. The bestowal of this award will not only damage Raymond’s credibility as a serious actor among the non-fans audience but also among his peers, too. Reason: TVB maybe unfair but not stupid. RL can create more hype as an award contender than as a tv king, for now. Moreover, RL’s high economic value doesn’t need any hyping from the money generating award.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Steven Ma – For years, it has been reported that Steven is supposedly Catherine Tsang’s prize general and that she is supposedly his ‘godmother’, but I disagree based on my observation of his recent series since 2006. Apart from Land of Wealth where he was second male lead, Steven has never participated in any grand productions, much less Tsang’s grand productions, or for that matter, with her other producers besides Leung and Tsui. Forget about Tsang as godmother, Steven can’t even grab a corner of her coattails all these years. But I guess Tsang must still care for Steven as she has indeed fought hard to keep him in tvb. Recent reports have that Tsang will become more powerful in the tv series department once either V.L or TL is transferred to the movie production department. If it is true, Tsang becoming more powerful can only help Steven’s bid for the award. In the past, Tsang did not have the rating leverage to persuade tvb to award Steven, but now she can use Steven’s double victories as the selling points of his economic value during her lobbying.

    For of course, it always comes back to the almighty economic reason. One way of promoting artistes for economic gain is through “fei man” (couple rumors) or through ‘couple appearance fees’. In his AJCL radio interview, Steven said he has made it clear to tvb that he will not participate in any ‘fei man’ sham. All very admirable, that; but for that, tvb probably saw him as a most uncooperative artiste. Because pray tell, how else could TVB promote their artistes?

    However recently, Steven has mentioned several times that Ghost Writer has brought him much recognition and economic gains. The fact that a China records company actually negotiated the copyright to GW theme song may provide the economic thrust to persuade tvb that it is now time to promote Steven. Also tvb is trying to penetrate China’s market, and Steven is very popular in China, where ancient costume dramas are enjoyed much more than in Hong Kong. Also the huge turnout at his autograph signing event at NYC didn’t hurt either. So if Tsang is successful in selling Steven as an a profitable economic investment for tvb, he will be the 2010 tv king.

    Moses Chan – Steven’s greatest rival. Moses is capable of better performance than that in CBML. If Moses receives this award, then obviously TVB thinks he is a better economic investment than Steven, what can I say. Only that Moses' advocate's presented a much more persuasive sales pitch than Steven's (if indeed Steven had one) But Moses will be forever branded as an ott tv king.

    Charmaine Sheh for the best actress.
    Fala Chen for favorite female character
    Kenneth Ma for favorite male character

    ReplyDelete
  16. @foshy: Charmaine doesn't need any award anymore. She might not have an outstanding acting skills but she's a money figure for TVB.

    Fala is a shoe in this year for the award. It's clear that this year Fala has a better result than Linda especially for Siu Tsui and Linda's acting is sub par in all her series. Next year TVB will let Fala to release an album and participate in movies and now is the perfect time to level her up.

    ReplyDelete
  17. I agree also that Kenneth will be recognize as favorite TV male character and Fala Chen as the TV female character.

    ReplyDelete