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You’ve probably heard by now that there are a total of 94 nominees vying to be one of the Top 10 Most Popular Male and Top 10 Most Popular Female Artistes at this year’s Star Awards. Yet, a few familiar faces were left out of the running before the race even started due to the competition’s eligibility criteria.

NoonTalk Media actor, Xu Bin, 35, is one of the unfortunate few.

The star was involved in only one local drama last year, crime mystery series, Kill Sera Sera, which aired this January.

For an artiste to qualify for the Star Awards, their work needs to have aired within the qualifying period of Jan 1 to Dec 31 2023.

8days.sg hopped onto a phone call with Xu Bin yesterday (Mar 20), where he revealed that he only recently came to find out that Kill Sera Sera did not make the cut-off date.

When we pointed out that many were surprised about his omission from the popularity noms, he admitted: “I was shocked myself, like “Huh, there’s such a thing?”. [But] there’s nothing we can do about it lor, we can only follow [the rules].”

“To me, being an actor, it’s a more “reactive” job. You’re always the one being chosen, like when a director chooses a specific actor for a role,” he said.

Xu Bin with his fifth Top 10 Most Popular trophy at last year's Star Awards

Xu Bin had been on a roll. He made the Top 10 honour roll at both the 2022 and 2023 Star Awards, and he now has five Top 10 Most Popular Male Artistes trophies.

When we asked if he was anticipating his sixth award this year, he said: “I think the award is something that anyone in the industry would hope to receive, myself included. I got my fifth award last year, and it wasn’t easy to get to the halfway mark. It’s been a long and slow journey.”

He laughed before adding: “I don’t know when I will get to the end. This year, I was immediately disqualified.”

He continued: “I definitely do feel quite disappointed. I feel like there are a lot of people who had expectations of me, including my friends, fans, and clients. I feel like I owe them an explanation and I know these people who support me are disappointed [too].”

He said he told his supporters that "it's alright”, and they would simply have to try again next year.

He then chuckled before adding: “I have to work harder, and maybe not just appear in one or two dramas that land outside the time frame.”

While he was clearly sad about how things turned out, Xu Bin remained cheery during our conversation. He said apart from working on Kill Sera Sera last year, he was kept busy attending NoonTalk events and activities, for example going live on the agency’s TikTok channel every Thursday evening.

He also took a short break, spending half a month in China visiting his parents with his wife and their kids, Ethan, five, and Elyse, three.

When he wasn't busy working on Noontalk events, Xu Bin spent a good period of time visiting his parents in China

However, he’s now back to the grind.

“I’ve recently started filming again, and I play a big role [in this upcoming drama]. I’m in 90 per cent of the scenes, together with [Zong] Zijie. I'm busy the entire day — I only got home after 3am last night."

He revealed that the working title of the 15-episode drama is Zai Jian Ming Tian (or 'Goodbye Tomorrow' in English), and he’ll be busy working on it until June or July.

When we asked about the drama’s slated premiere date, Xu Bin let out a huge chuckle.

“This is very important now right?” he said. “I think it will air sometime during the end of the year, but if that’s the case, it’ll be like Kill Sera Sera and air into the next year. So for this year, I might just have Kill Sera Sera lor.”

As for who he thinks should have made the nominee list, Xu Bin said: “I feel as long as people can name them off the top of their heads, they should be nominated. Everyone knows them, and the audience are familiar with seeing their faces on screen.”

For now, Xu Bin will work hard to get his 10th Most Popular trophy and ascend to the ranks of All-Time Favourite Artistes.

With a sigh, he said: “As long I’m still active in the industry, it’s something I want to accomplish. After all, it really wasn’t easy getting to the halfway mark.”

In the meantime, you can show Xu Bin some support by catching in Kill Sera Sera on mewatch, or watch episode one below.

You can now cast your vote for both performance and popularity awards here.

Catch the Backstage LIVE event of Star Awards 2024 from 3.30pm - 10.30pm on mewatch or Mediacorp Entertainment YouTube Channel on April 21 (Sunday).

The Walk Of Fame will be from 5pm - 6.30pm, on mewatch, Ch 8, Ch U, and Mediacorp Entertainment YouTube Channel on the same day.

It will be followed by the Star Awards 2024 Live Show from 7pm - 10pm on mewatch, Ch 8, Ch U, and Mediacorp Entertainment YouTube Channel.

The repeat telecast for the Walk of Fame and Award Ceremony will air on Ch 8 from 2pm - 6.30pm on April 28 (Sunday).

Photos: Xu Bin/ Instagram