Stars win, show loses

WINNING the top prize of Best Drama Series seemed like a shoo-in for No Regrets at the annual TVB TV Awards Presentation 2010 on Sunday night.

Regrettably - for its fans at least - the trophy went to comedy period drama Can't Buy Me Love .

Throughout the show, all the signs had pointed to a No Regrets sweep.

The TV station's anniversary drama, set in wartime Canton in the late 1930s, tells the tale of two unlikely lovers and their relationship.

It's a spin-off of the hit series Rosy Business, which grabbed six of the 15 awards last year. No Regrets stars Sheren Tang, Wayne Lai, Evergreen Mak and Fala Chen had triumphed in the four main acting categories.

Tang won Best Lead Actress and Lai Best Lead Actor for the second year in a row.

They won the same awards last year, for Rosy Business.

Chen was named Best Supporting Actress and Mak Best Supporting Actor.

The last episode of No Regrets - which was aired on Nov 28 - was watched by a staggering three million Hong Kong viewers.

Can't Buy Me Love's highest viewership was 2.87million viewers.

Even movie legend Chow Yun Fat reportedly admitted being a fan of No Regrets and rushed home to watch the finale.

The drama looked set to cap its phenomenal year at the TVB TV Awards show, which honours the best in Hong Kong television. The winners are decided by a panel of judges from TVB and public voting.

Disappointed
The most telling 'confirmation' seemed to come from acclaimed Hong Kong movie director Johnnie To while he was presenting the Best Drama Series category.

Before he opened the envelope containing the result, he said it didn't take much effort to guess which drama would win.

His face, however, changed when he opened the envelope. 'Oh, it's not (what I had thought it would be),' he said.

Speaking after the event, Mak and Lai told TheNew Paper that they were disappointed with the result.

Best Drama win was unexpected
Mak, 43, said: 'If I could, I would exchange my BestSupporting Actor win for the Best Drama Series award, because the latter is a win for the entire crew and cast.'

Agreed Lai, 46: 'If we win Best Drama Series, it's a group win, which means that everyone (involved in the drama) also wins.'

Unlike last year, when he won three awards - Favourite Male Character, TVB.com Most Popular Artiste, and Best Lead Actor - This year, Lai had only one victory to his name.

But it's good enough for him, he said.

'I took too many awards last year. Very rarely does an artiste take home three awards in the same show, so winning one is okay for me,' said the affable Lai.

The Best Lead Actor award was announced with much humour by guest presenter Sandra Ng.

The actress-comedienne threw the result envelope aside, adding: 'I don't need to look at the result, I already know in my heart who's going to win.'

She then shouted Lai's name.

But as he stood by to receive the many hugs and pats on the back from his colleagues, Ng burst out laughing, and said: 'Why do all of you trust me so much? I haven't even looked at the result!'

For a few seconds, uncertainty hung in the air.

It was only when the show's host, Carol Cheng, quickly walked over to open the envelope and confirmed the win that the true celebration began.

Best actress
Lai's No Regrets co-star Tang, who won her Best Lead Actress award before Lai, jokingly told The New Paper that she would have given her trophy to the production crew had he not won.

The 44-year-old actress was brimming with confidence and joy even before the awards show started.

Looking stunning in a black bustier top and black tulle skirt, with her long hair curled into soft waves, she revealed that her look was specially styled by famous Hong Kong lyricist Wyman Wong.

Said Tang: 'Wyman is a fan of No Regrets, and he told me that he wants to fulfil every fan's dream of seeing (my character) Cheng Kau Mui go on a date with (Lai's character) Lau Sing.

'So I'm dressed like I'm going to a ball.'

She added that her confidence wasn't because she was certain of bagging a win.

'It's because I have Jesus with me and also because I've never been scared of losing. So why would I not be confident?' she said, flashing us a brilliant smile.

'The biggest motivation for an artiste comes from the public, when they tell you they enjoyed your show. An award is an encouragement and a bonus.'

Tang also clarified earlier reports that said she no longer wanted to work with Lai.

Tang said she would, given their good chemistry as an on-screen couple, clear from their back-to-back successes of Rosy Business and No Regrets.

She hopes only that their next drama will not be as heavy and emotionally draining as No Regrets was.

Both Lai and Tang, who are contracted with TVB on a per drama basis, added they do not intend to sign artiste management contracts with the TV station despite all the accolades TVB has heaped on them.

The TVB TV Awards Presentation 2010 will be available on StarHub's TVBJ On Demand from Dec 10 onwards.

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Who won what
BEST DRAMA SERIES
Can't Buy Me Love

BEST LEAD ACTOR
Wayne Lai (No Regrets)

BEST LEAD ACTRESS
Sheren Tang (No Regrets)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Evergreen Mak (No Regrets)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Fala Chen (No Regrets)

FAVOURITE MALE CHARACTER
Raymond Lam (The Mysteries of Love )

FAVOURITE FEMALE CHARACTER
Charmaine Sheh (Can't Buy Me Love)

MOST IMPROVED FEMALE ARTISTE
Natalie Tong

MOST IMPROVED MALE ARTISTE
Raymond Wong

TVB.COM MOST POPULAR ARTISTE
Raymond Lam

BEST PROFESSIONAL PERFORMANCE AWARD
Moses Chan

HONORARY ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Louise Lee

- Credits to The New Paper

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