Asian Television Awards 2016 nominees announced

SINGAPORE — The nominees for the Asian Television Awards 2016 have been announced, with Singapore boasting a strong showing especially in the Best Supporting Actor category.

Here, all but one of the eight nominees represents Singapore: Up for the award are Zhang Zhen Huan for Channel 8’s The Dream Makers, Pierre Png for Channel 5’s Rise, Max Loong and Gerald Chew for Channel 5’s Lion Moms, Jeff Catz for Suria’s Bunga Tanjong, Muthusamy Lingam for Annamalai Series 3 and Keagan Kang for Channel 5’s The Love Machine.

Incidentally, Zhang won the Best Supporting Actor award for the same role at April’s Star Awards ceremony.

Scoring a coveted Best Actress nomination is Farhana M Noor, who starred in the Suria blockbuster period drama, Bunga Tanjong. “I am definitely touched,” Farhana said, “but I owe many thanks to my Bunga Tanjong team. This was definitely a team effort.”

Nominated in the Best Actor category are Christopher Lee for his work in the nostalgic music-themed drama Crescendo, which aired on Channel 8; and A Panneeirchelvam for his work in Vasantham’s Thalaimurai.

Lee is particularly happy that this year, he is nominated alongside his younger brother, Frederick Lee, who starred in the Mediacorp Malaysia production Turning Point. “I believe we would be equally happy if either of us won,” he said. “If my brother wins, I will definitely be very happy for him. If neither of us wins, that’s okay too — we’ll continue to work hard.”

In the Best Supporting Actress category, Julie Tan, like Zhang, could also stand to take home another acting award for her role in The Dream Makers, adding to the one she won at the Star Awards. She is nominated alongside Nadiah M Din, who starred in Channel 5’s Baby Bumps; and Normah Damanhuri, who acted in Suria’s Rahsia di Malam Syawal.

Also doing Singapore proud is Vernetta Lopez, who snagged a double nomination in the Best Comedy Actor category for her work in the Channel 5 sitcom Rojak as well as the Toggle webseries Run Rachael Run. Other nominees in this category are Alaric Tay and Carla Dunareanu (Rojak) and Bernice Liu (Lion Moms).

Scoring nominations in the hosting categories are Gurmit Singh (Don’t Forget To Remember), Pornsak (Getai Challenge) and Allan Wu (Somewhere Out There — Musclemen Village) for Best Entertainment Presenter, and Belinda Lee (Somewhere Out There – Dhaka Tanneries) for Best Current Affairs Presenter.

The Asian Television Awards 2016 will be held on Dec 1 and 2.