Singapore – Losing no time in setting the tone for next year’s Awards, the 21st Asian Television Awards announced its nominations in all 41 categories today. Reflecting a diverse blend of talented storytellers this year, the 267 nominees were selected from a panel of 75 judges. The results were tabulated and audited by international auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Leading the pack with multiple nominations across several categories are Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific, Al Jazeera English and Mediacorp. Beach House Pictures has garnered 10 nominations for this year, the highest record from any single production house in the region.
Furthermore, HBO Asia’s Halfworlds and PTS’ A Touch of Green are two single programmes that have each received a total of 6 nominations. Check out the complete list of nominees!
KBS drama Descendants of the Sun, starring Song Joong Ki and Song Hye Kyo as Yoo Si Jin and Kang Mo Yeon respectively, has been nominated in the ‘Best Drama Series’. The Korean drama follows the love story between a surgeon and Special Forces officer, both elite in their fields, in a fictional war zone. MBC drama Marriage Contract, starring Lee Seo Jin and Uee as Han Ji Hoon and Kang Hye Soo respectively, is the latter of the two Korean dramas nominated.
The remaining six titles nominated for ‘Best Drama Series’ includes 4 from Mediacorp – Channel 5 series The Hush, Channel 8 series The Journey: Our Homeland and The Dream Makers 2 as well as Suria series Bingit 3. HBO series Halfworlds and TBS series Downtown Rocket complete the list.
‘Best Comedy Performance by an Actor/Actress’ sees 6 nominees including Filipino Michael V – a recurring nominee for the category, who was also nominated last year, Hong Kong actress Bernice Liu, and Singapore based Carla Dunareanu as well as Alaric Tay who won highly recommended for the same award in 2011.
‘Best Actor in a Supporting Role’ sees 8 nominees in total including last year’s host Max Loong and Pierre Png who won best actor in 2014 for his work in Zero Calling.
‘Best Actress in a Supporting Role’ sees 6 nominees including Singapore artist Julie Tan for her portrayal of Dong Zihuai in the year-end Mediacorp blockbuster The Dream Makers 2.
‘Best Actor in a Leading Role’ sees 6 nominees hailing from Malaysia, Taiwan, Singapore and Thailand. Actor, screenwriter, director and producer Bront Palarae is nominated for his work on Eropah, Here I Am. Also from Malaysia is Frederick Lee for his leading role in Turning Point. Singapore’s Christopher Lee is also in the list based on his performance in Crescendo.
‘Best Actress in a Leading Role’ sees 7 nominees from Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore and Hong Kong. Kristal Tin is nominated for her portrayal of May Suen Suk-Mui in the Hong Kong romantic-comedy Ghost of Relativity, which she had also won four other awards from three separate ceremonies. Media Prima artiste Jojo Goh snags a place for her work in the telemovie The Love Machine.
The winners will be announced during the awards gala ceremonies on 1 and 2 December, slated to take place at the state-of-the-art auditorium at Suntec City, Singapore. In addition, ATA will be presenting its “Outstanding Contribution to Asian Television” award to Mr. Ko Dae-young, President and CEO of Korean Broadcasting System, to honour and celebrate his remarkable contributions to the broadcast and television industry.
Confirmed performers include JJ Lin, Charli XCX, Rossa Roslina as well as the recently announced Adrian Pang, Stephanie Carrington, Alden Richards and Baki Zainal will be hosting the “live” televised segment.
