It's been years since my last post (7 years to be exact)! I have been watching more series in 2023 and following more TVB stars online last year, so I will be putting in my 2 cents for this anniversary for some of the bigger categories.
Best Drama Pick- My 1st choice would be Queen of News. Exciting episodes, thought provoking quotes/topics, good acting by a few and for the good, but flawed characters. I would say it is a classic in modern times. My 2nd choice would be From Hong Kong to Beijing. To be honest, when I first saw the preview of this series, it didn't hold much interest. As I read comments that people praise this was a good series and there was constant news about it, I thought why not give it a try. And I am so glad I did. This was a very enjoyable series that I wouldn't say a classic but a good TVB series that is a excellent cast, good acting, mix of comedy, touching/inspiring/romantic story lines, and good music which TVB tends to show once in a while such as Inbound Troubles and Come On Cousin in the past. My 3rd choice would be Unchained Melody as it kept me watching even though it was not a high budget series with a big name cast. It reminds me of Time Before Time (and it is so sad Kathy Chow Hoi Mei passed away last year but this is another post) although Time Before Time is of course miles above with cast, storyline, suspense but as a mystery/ghost/romance series, it was a nice series overall. To round out the top 5 are two other stable good series The Invisibles and Speakers of Law. These were great series, stable cast, overall good storyline, and I have 'chased' episodes for these as well but I would not deemed these as memorable. Why? In 5 or 10 years, if you ask me what is it about or who is in the cast, I wouldn't remember. Too many of these action/cop and law series that it all gels together for me. I did watch Narcotic Heroes but I am not sure why this series was a hit in HK. I find it all a bit ridiculous this series, the story line, the characters. I enjoyed My Pet, My Angel and thought it was a cute series but like many pet series, it is cute but nothing too classic/memorable.I thought Kalok did a good job portraying his character though. Let Me Take Your Pulse probably takes most inspirational and possibly educating series of the year, but I find the pacing a bit slow and while I do like the two main leads, I didn't feel their chemistry as a couple.. The group chemistry was one of the plus points of this series, but it wasn't outstanding as compared with the cast in From Hong Kong to Beijing. Maybe the music gave it the plus points. I did not watch Dead Ringer and Romeo and His Butterfly Lover but have watched some clips here and there. Both do not really strike my interest although I may go back to watch one day.
Best Actress - Who could it be other than the one and only Ms. Charmaine Sheh in Queen of News?? True main leading lady in this serie that no other can compare. From all the behind the scenes and interviews, Charmaine gives in a lot of effort for her character. The character's mannerisms are so skillfully depicted that she makes Sister Man a classic character. If she doesn't win, well then it would not be right. Whoever that wins would just get intense criticism. 2nd runner up that gets my vote would be Selena Lee for the same serie. Although I like Selena, her portrayal and character isn't really the best like it was compared with her portrayals in the Barack O'Karma series. She did a great job, but it did not wow me like Charmaine did. 3rd runner up, I would give it to Jinny Ng from From Hong Kong to Beijing. I thought Jinny is a singer only, but wow, she did a great job in this serie. She had good comedic timing and was able to portray the emotional scenes accordingly. I feel for her while watching her in this serie. I saw her again in The Spectator and was again surprise by her acting. She really does have leading lady presence. Hope she can act in more series and continue to hone her acting skills!
Best Actor - I think Ruco Chan did a good job in From Hong Kong to Beijing, exploring comedy, but the character was not really a classic. Kenneth Ma's character in Queen of News had potential but he didn't really fit the role well. Kalok and Matthew Ho did a decent job in their respective roles but both portrayals do not scream Best Actor. Joel Chan is the usual stable portrayal so not a standout. Moses Chan probably has the highest chance for best actor but I don't think his character or portrayal was outstanding. It was different from his usual characters and acting though, I would give him that. Pal Sinn's character is kind of annoying in Come Home Love, but I think he is a potential underdog. Another potential underdog is Bosco.I like Bosco but did not watch Dead Ringer. It is not a popular serie so doubt he would win for that. My vote goes to Ruco still, but Moses will likely win.
Best Supporting Actress - It is between Kelly Fu for From Hong Kong to Beijing and Samantha Ko from The Queen of News for me, though I can see Regina Ho or Venus Wong getting it too. Although I like Kelly and Venus more, I think Samantha Ko and Regina ho are truly the supporting actress for The Queen of News. They are both a strong backbone for this series. Regina had a more complex character, but her acting is eh...Samantha's character had a more up and down so audience can see her portray different sides of her character. Her acting was probably the best I've seen of her so I would give her my vote.
Best Supporting Actor - Top 4 is Eric Tang, Jonathan Cheung, Mark Ma, and James Ng in that order. Queen of News would not be the same without Eric Tang's character and portrayal, and I am not sure who could portray his quirky character any better than him. Jonathan Cheung did the usual good job in Speakers of Law. Serie would be lacking without his character. Mark Ma does his usual good job as best supporting but didn't think his character was core supporting in Narcotics Hero though. If he wins, I think it would be well deserved though. James Ng, surprised me with his performance in From Hong Kong to Beijing so I am mentioning him.
Most Improved Female Artiste - This is a tough one as I like a lot of the artistes! My top 5 are Kelly Fu, Tiffany Lau, Venus Wong, Kayan Yau and Celina Harto. Kayan has potential, but honestly yes, she can have more improvement. Celina has a lot of potential, but she is not given more roles to further improve. I think she has a lot of charisma and can do well if given more roles to act. Venus was really good in The Queen of News, and she has been at least female lead or supporting so not sure why she got put in this category. I wouldn't say there is improvement because she has been stable but her role in Queen of News definitely gave her a boost of popularity/buzz. Tiffany Lau has been a great supporting actress in numerous TVB series and has improved gradually since beginning, but I feel she does not have audience fate as much. This award should really be for her if based on title of most improved. However, I think Kelly Fu deserves the award based on all the years of acting and vast characters she had played throughout the years. Like Tiffany, she also does not seem to have much audience fate, but her character in From Hong Kong to Beijing finally gave her the popularity boost needed. If you see from behind the scenes/clips, there are many clips of her working into character. I really see her putting a lot of hard work in this character. Best of luck to her!
Most Improved Male Artiste - My top 4 are Mark Ma, James Ng, Danny Hung, and Andrew Chan in that order. Like Kelly Fu, Mark Ma has done various roles for many years and have excelled in all of them. He really deserves Best Supporting more but if to say improvement throughout the years, then out of all the others, he deserves the #1 spot for this award. I really think James Ng did an awesome job in From Hong Kong to Beijing. Never thought much of him before, but his acting and musical talent truly shined in this series. Danny Hung aka mini Kevin Cheng (they look alike!) is very, very good looking and charming. I always enjoy seeing him onscreen, but his roles are generally small and not too memorable. Andrew Chan is Feng Siu in Come Home Love. I became a big fan of his last year I guess due to me liking his pairing with Kelly Gu's June character in the series. I think his acting is ok, not strong compared to say Mark Ma and others, but compared to the beginning of Come Home Love, his acting has improved and he did dabble in hosting and singing last year which may give him some points. I would be happy for him if he wins, but he doesn't have much audience fate I think.
These are my 2 cents! Lets see what will happen on 1/14!
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