Chantalle Ng Shares Encouraging Messages For Zhang Zetong & Ayden Sng, Who Did Not Get Into The SA2021 Top 60

Things were a little different, to say the least, at the media conference announcing the nominees for the Star Awards 2021 Top 20 Most Popular Male and Female Artistes yesterday afternoon (Mar 9).

For starters, a total of 60 names — instead of the usual 40 — were revealed, making it the first time so many people will be vying for a coveted spot in the Top 10 (thus making the competition more intense).

Then there was the event itself, which was live-streamed online from two separate stages in accordance with safe distancing measures. The artistes who attended were divided into two different groups and came out to share their thoughts in teams of no more than four people, while staying a responsible arms’ length or so apart from each other.

The interview arrangements, we have to admit, needed some getting used to.

While we could just run around grabbing whomever we wanted at physical press cons in the past, this time, we found ourselves in a Zoom ‘holding room’, waiting to be virtually dispatched to various breakout rooms to speak to the stars, who were each logged into accounts of their own.

As anyone who has ever been in a large Zoom meeting would probably know, things can get awkward or messy, but we just chalked it up as part of adjusting to The New COVID-19 Normal.

However, the stars just seemed happy to be able to see their colleagues in person again after so long. Most of them didn’t even seem all that fazed by the fact that they’re playing the Top 10 game in ‘expert mode’ since they’re competing against 29 others.

“Actually, I’m excited for the actual show ‘cos it’s been a long time since I saw many of my colleagues and friends, so I’m honestly just looking forward to meeting them again,” said Desmond Tan.

While Ian Fang was initially “surprised” when he heard that there would be so many Top 10 contenders, he now thinks it’s a good thing ‘cos “everybody deserves a chance to get nominated”, especially since there wasn’t a show last year. How sporting of him.

Still, there are those who are gearing up for a tough fight ahead, such as Bonnie Loo, who sees it as “a new experience” and an opportunity for the artistes to rise to the challenge of securing more votes for themselves when the chances of them winning are slimmer than before.

Even Rebecca Lim, who has enjoyed a super smooth-sailing Top 10 journey — she’s made the final list every year since 2012 — and is just two trophies away from All-Time Favourite Artiste status, certainly isn’t resting on her laurels.

“There are 30 people competing for a space of 10 and the voting system changes every year, so that doesn’t make things easier at all,” she said, referring to the fact that there will no longer be telepoll voting. “It’s never easy, and it only gets harder as you’re reaching the end point. I’ve been incredibly blessed with good roles and people who love me a lot, and I would never take this smooth journey for granted.”

Some new faces in the race include Chantalle Ng, Eleanor Lee, Tay Ying, Chen Yixi, Joel Choo (yup, lots of second-gen stars this time round), Denise Camillia Tan, Jasmine Sim, and James Seah.

We also have someone returning to the game after a 20-year break: Darren Lim, whose last Top 10 nomination was in — cue drumroll — 1999.

“Are you serious? Am I that old!?” he chuckled. “I didn’t know that time flew by just like that. I’ve just been working hard and doing my best with every role, so to be very honest, even since day one, it wasn’t much of a game to me. It was just work, so I’m not affected by whether I win awards or not. Of course, if you ask me if I feel nervous, then yeah, somehow I do a little bit, but it’s a good sense of anticipation.”

Lest you think it was a cinch getting into the Top 60 (so many spots, right?), there were a number of names we expected to see but surprisingly didn’t, such as Star Search 2019 winner Zhang Zetong, Ayden Sng, Sheila Sim, Lee Teng, and Julie Tan.

Zetong’s and Ayden’s absences from the shortlist were particularly surprising to some of their peers, such as Desmond, who said he was “shocked” when he learned that Zetong was excluded, and Xu Bin, who thought Ayden had a lot of potential as he has had a lot of exposure lately.

Chantalle, who worked with Zetong in his drama debut All Around You and is BFFs with Ayden, took the opportunity to share an encouraging shout-out to the both of them: “For Zetong, I wish him the best for his Best Newcomer nomination, and as for Ayden, it came as a shock that he wasn’t nominated for any awards this year, but I’d like to tell him to continue to work hard, and I believe the stars will align and his time will come soon.”

She is also disappointed that her fellow Best Supporting Actress nominee Cynthia Koh didn’t make the cut as well. “I texted her just now and she was very nice and said to me, ‘It’s okay, I’m fine, but you go for it.’”

But perhaps the sweetest reaction to a no-show in the Top 60 was that of Hong Ling, who had this to say about her boyfriend Nick Teo missing out on a nod: “It’s okay. I believe he will definitely get in next year ‘cos he’s the most popular man in my heart.” All together now, everybody: Aww…

Offering a more analytical take on things was Paige Chua. “I think it’s getting harder for the younger generation these days ‘cos there are so many platforms and so many other artistes and influencers jostling for their attention, which just shows that it’s difficult to be a newcomer,” she mused.

“We’re lucky that we’ve been in showbiz for at least a few years so the audience has developed a certain level of affection for us, but for the newcomers such as the Star Search finalists, I think it’ll take some time for them to build a bond with the audience.”

Well, there is always next year (and the year after that and so forth). But to those in this year’s battle: All the best!

Click here for the full list of the Top 60 Most Popular Artistes.

Online voting has started here and will end on April 18, 8pm.
Voting is open to anyone with a valid Mediacorp account, and each person can only cast one vote a day for each category.
The results will be announced live at the Star Awards 2021 show.

Catch meWATCH’s Live Commentary of Star Awards 2021 from 3.30pm - 10pm on meWATCH, or Mediacorp Entertainment Channel on YouTube on Sunday, April 18 2021.

The Walk Of Fame will be from 5pm - 6.30pm, on meWATCH, Ch 8, Ch U and Mediacorp Entertainment Channel on YouTube on the same day. It will be followed by the Main Awards Show from 7pm - 10pm on meWATCH, Ch 8, Ch U and Mediacorp Entertainment Channel on YouTube.

For more information, visit mewatch.sg/sa2021.

Photos: Mediacorp, Chantalle Ng/Instagram, Zhang Zetong/Instagram, Ayden Sng/Instagram, Nick Teo/Instagram