SINGAPORE - The leads of South Korean romantic comedy Her Private Life won big at the StarHub Night of Stars 2019 on Sunday (Nov 24), with K-drama stars Kim Jae-wook and Park Min-young clinching Best Male Asian Star and Female Asian Star awards respectively.
Upon receiving the honour, Kim, 36, said in Korean onstage: "Thank you for StarHub's invite and I am very grateful for receiving this award. I am very aware that Her Private Life is very popular in many countries... and I think I have gained much from this comedy.
"I am very thankful to the team I have worked with."
Park, 33, said in English: "I am truly honoured to be here tonight and I also like to thank all my fans and everyone who watched and supported Her Private Life... When I was first offered to play Sung Deok-mi in Her Private Life, I wasn't really sure if I could pull it off... But I thought of all my fans who had faith in me and showed me unconditional love and support. So I took a chance, and now I am so grateful for this.
"I continue to work hard to become a better actress, and once again, thank you very much Singapore... for giving me this opportunity."
Kim and Park were among about 20 Asian celebrities who attended the event at the Marina Bay Sands' Sands Theatre, where 18 awards - across a variety of categories, such as acting, singing and production - were presented.
The night started on a high, with Singaporean songstress Joanna Dong descending from a height and dazzling the crowd with a medley of theme songs from hit dramas such as Chinese period drama Story of Yanxi Palace, as well as K-dramas Sky Castle and Her Private Life.
TVB artiste Fred Cheng later took the stage, belting out the song Choice, from the medical drama Big White Duel, which won Best TVB Drama OST (original sound track).
Other performers included K-pop idol group AB6IX, which won the Rising Star award, as well as Hong Kong singer Ekin Cheng and Taiwanese music sensation Yoga Lin - both are slanted to hold solo concerts here in the coming months.
In the acting categories, Taiwanese actor James Wen won Most Outstanding Actor for his role as a prosecutor in legal crime drama Best Interest, while his co-star, Taiwanese actress Tien Hsin, received the Most Outstanding Actress award for playing a senior lawyer.
South Korean star Sung Hoon, who gave viewers an uncensored look into his personal life on popular reality show I Live Alone, won the Dazzling Star award.
There were also three fan-voted awards - Favourite Variety Show, Favourite Korean Drama Male Character and Favourite Local Production - where fans could cast their votes through StarHub's Facebook page.
South Korean actor Park Jin-young won Favourite Korean Drama Male Character for playing the role of Lee Ahn in He Is Psychometric. While Park was not present, he appeared on the big screen with a sweet thank-you message to fans.
The event, now in its second edition, was hosted by Taiwan-born host Dennis Nieh, Taiwanese host Lulu Huang and Taiwanese actress-host Kate Pang, and attended by more than 1,700 guests.
Mr Johan Buse, chief of consumer business group at StarHub, said: "It is a rare treat to see so many top Asian celebrities shining at one place, and we are thrilled to have made this dazzling evening possible for our customers."
AWARD WINNERS
Best Male Asian Star: Kim Jae-wook
Best Female Asian Star: Park Min-young
Best Actor (China): Xu Kai
Best Actress (China): Yang Mi
Most Outstanding Actor: James Wen
Most Outstanding Actress: Tien Hsin
Dazzling Star: Sung Hoon
Best TVB Male Artiste: Kenneth Ma
Best TVB Female Artiste: Natalie Tong
Best TVB Drama Character: Ali Lee (Kennis Ching in Big White Duel)
Most Promising Actor: Ong Seong Wu
Most Promising Actress: Bai Lu
Best TVB Drama OST (original sound track): Fred Cheng (Choice from Big White Duel)
Rising Star: AB6IX
Favourite Variety Show (fan voted): Running Man
Favourite Korean Drama Male Character (fan voted): Park Jin-young (Lee Ahn in He Is Psychometric)
Favourite Local Production (fan voted): StarHub Night of Stars 2018
Most Caring Star: Nancy Sit
StarHub customers can catch the premiere of the event on Hub E City (StarHub Channel 111 and 825) at 7pm on Dec 8. The show will also be available on the StarHub Go streaming app, under the Go Local reel, and is for free to all in Singapore from Dec 9. The awards show will also be available on Hub VV Drama (StarHub Channel 855) at 10.30pm on Jan 10, 2020.