More Asian Television Awards

(Second of two parts)

When Eat, Bulaga! entered its 25th anniversary show, Eat, Bulaga! Silver Special, in the 2005 Asian Television Awards, officials of TAPE, Inc. (producer of the program) Antonio Tuviera and Malou Choa Fagar and even Tito, Vic and Joey weren’t expecting much to come out of this awards race. They were really just taking a chance at winning. When they entered the finals, however, they got excited and felt more confident about bringing home the trophy – until they saw a stumbling block: Singapore’s 2005 MTV Asia Aid, which they felt was their strongest competitor. In the words of Joey de Leon: "How do you expect to win over something like that when it was about the tsunami?"

But in the end, it was the Eat, Bulaga! Silver Special that was adjudged Best Entertainment Special. And the MTV Asia Aid? It was given Highly Commended honors, along with Konsert Akustik Siti Nurhaliza of Malaysia. The runner-up to Eat, Bulaga! Silver Special was a show from Japan called Sasuke.

I’ve already published the names of some of the winners of the 2005 Asian Television Awards last Tuesday. Below are the other winners in this prestigious awards competition for television:

• Best Entertainment Program

Winner: The Great Challenge, Korea – In this show, some of the country’s popular comedians try another field, sports, and viewers get to see if the funny men also excel in this field.

Runner-up: Six Degrees 2 – San Francisco, Singapore.

Highly Commended: Dangerous, India and Minutes to Fame, Hong Kong.

• Best Game or Quiz Program

Winner: Black Box, Thailand – It’s the Thai version of Kuarta o Kahon and later, Pera o Bayong.

Runner-up: Fanpantae, Thailand.

Highly Commended: Justice for All, Hong Kong and Todsagun Game, Thailand.

• Best Music Program

Winner: Yakushiji Sound Stage, Japan – A show that features artists from the east and west and is set at Yakushiji, a 1,300-year-old temple in Nara.

Runner-up: MTV Live – Simple Plan, Singapore.

Highly Commended: Bandwidth, Singapore and The Bells, A Christmas Concert, Indonesia.

• Best Reality Program

Winner: Dance Competition, China – As the title implies, it is a contest for dancers, but at the same time follows the format of reality programs.

Runner-up: Indian Idol – Mumbai, India.

Highly Commended: Eye For A Guy and Six Degrees 2 – Melbourne, both from Singapore.

• Best Infotainment Program

Winner: Justice for all (the finale), Hong Kong – Produced by the Law Society of Hong Kong, this program is a quiz show about the law as applied to daily life.

Runner-up: Sponge, Korea

Highly Commended: Pinoy Abroad: Filipino Boxers, GMA 7 Philippines.

• Best Talk Show

Winner: Macam Macam Aznil, Malaysia – A once a week late night program hosted by one of Malaysia’s most popular hosts, Aznil.

Runner-up: I Had A Love, China.

Highly Commended: Kutting with Karan, India.

• Best Social Awareness Program

Winner: I-Witness, Skin and Bones (Buto’t Balat), GMA 7 Philippines – Kara David’s thought-provoking feature on malnutrition in this country.

Runner-up: 3R – Respect, Relax, Respond, Malaysia

Highly Commended: Oasis (The Final Years), Malaysia

• Best News Presenter or Anchor

Winner: Teynoor Nabili, Singapore. He is undeniably one of Singapore’s top news anchors, obviously the best – having spent more than 15 years in print, radio and TV journalism. I doubt, however, that with a surname like Nabili, he’d be able to launch as a career here in the Philippines as a credible news anchor.

Runners-up: Barka Dutt, and Ridhi Nazda, both from India.

Highly Commended: Bernard Lo, Hong Kong.

• Best Current Affairs Presenter

Winner: Karan Thapar, India – One of the best not only in India, but in Asia, this hard-hitting political interviewer has won this award many times over in the past.

Runner-up: Hugh Riminton, Hong Kong.

Highly Commended: Diana Ser. Singapore and Sandrina Malakiano, Indonesia.

• Best Entertainment Presenter

Winner: Panya Nirunkul, Thailand – He hosts Black Box, which was also named Best Game or Quiz Program.

Runner-up: Quan Yi Feng, Singapore.

Highly Commended: Denise Keller and Nicole Muller, both from Singapore.

• Best Drama Performance by an Actor

Nonie Buencamino for Magpakailanman (Till the End of Time). One of the best character actors in the Philippines, Buencamino won for playing the husband and a rape and Aids victim (Lorna Tolentino) in this episode of Magpakailanman that carried the international title, Despite the Hurts, an Aids Victim Story.

Runner-up: Adrian Pang, Singapore.

Highly Commended: Lim Yu Beng, Singapore and Shih Yi-nan, Taiwan ROC.

• Best Drama Performance by an Actress

Winner: Kim Jung-Eun for Lovers in Paris, Korea – If I’m not mistaken (I never got to watch this show), she is Vivian to most Filipino viewers who I know adore her.

Runner-up: Kim Sun Ah, Korea.

Highly Commended: Cheng Wen-Chu, Taiwan ROC and our very own (and my best friend – that’s how I call her in Startalk) Lorna Tolentino for playing a rape and Aids victim in an episode of Magpakailanman.

• Best Comedy Performance by an Actor

Winner: Michael V. for Bubble Gang, GMA 7 Philippines – This is the third time that the very talented Michael V. won this award.

Runner-up: Adrian Pang, Singapore.

Highly Commended: Gurmit Singh and Zaibo, both from Singapore.

• Best Performance by an Actress

Winners: Kim Ng and Selena Tan, both from Singapore. Ms. Ng wins for Durian King, while Ms. Tan’s victory is for Daddy’s Girls.

Highly Commended: Irene Ang and Lydia Sum, both from Singapore.

For Best Station or Terrestrial Channel of the Year, the winner, of course, is GMA 7 and the award was accepted in person and on behalf of the Filipino people (who must all be proud of honor) by the network’s big boss, lawyer Felipe Gozon.

The runner-up is Mediacorp TV Channel 5 of Singapore, while Highly Commended was Munhwa Broadcasting Corp. Channel 11 of Korea.