Nigel LowIt didn’t matter if you were an adoring teenage fan of local hunk Nathaniel Ho, or even if you were “a 42-year-old pretending to be 18½” as declared by funny woman Irene Ang, the order of the day at the m:idea Youth Choice Awards was to have fun and laud all the winners.
If you don’t already know, the event to confer youths’ choice of most loved celebs and brands through online voting, is headed by m:idea (pronounced ‘media’, not ‘my dear’), Singapore’s only youth-led media conglomerate run by final-year students from the School of Film & Media Studies (FMS), Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP).
https://youtu.be/r9BE-XRE2jA
This came off the back of a successful first awards show in 2010, and returned for a second time to more epic proportions.
A month-long voting period from Nov 15 to Dec 14 generated a staggering more than 58,000 votes on http://mideayouthchoice.com. Youths voted for their favourite celebrities and brands over a span of 12 creative categories including “Hottest Female Personality I Wanna Date” and “Favourite Dessert Café”.
The effort by m:idea was supported by 17 sponsors including brands like Canon, Zouk, Active Red, with over $70,000 worth of sponsorship in kind secured – which only means goodie bags worth $200 and attractive prizes were given out to youths at the event.
After all that hype, it boiled down to the crowning moment at the *SCAPE Warehouse on Jan 15.
No prizes for guessing who the most notable people were – fans from NATurallyNat with their LED signs and flashy posters.
“It’s really nice to see so many familiar faces, some of whom have followed me for 4 years,” Nat Ho told UrbanWire.
Other celebrities to grace the red carpet included beautiful couple Kui Jien and Sarah Tan, the larger than life Muttons and also bands like West Grand Boulevard.
Close to 200 youths, celebs and brand managers attended the exclusive awards show. which featured electrifying performances from the likes of Jack & Rai, Magic Babe ‘Ning’ and J C Sum, as well as NP’s own Baracuda Batucada. [More videos coming up!]
Singapore Idol 3 alumni, Duane Ho, who is an FMS student, kicked things off with an upbeat number, parodying some of the nominated celebs like Dai Yang Tian and Ris Low. Accompanying the birthday boy (yup, Duane’s birthday is on Jan 15) was One Moment of Glory runners-up, Luminiq Crew.
Marissa and Zayar, DJs from Radioheatwave.com also kept the crowd tempo cranked up despite the dreary downpour outside on the Orchard streets.
In a ceremony like this, how can anyone forget the winners of the prized Frisbee awards?
There were fan favourites like The Muttons, both of whom literally rolled up the stage to once again receive the “Celebrity Duo I Wanna Chill With” award. Justin Ang, himself a Mass Communication (MCM) graduate from FMS, graciously accepted the award while Vernon A quizzed the school asking, “What did you feed Justin… why did he become so fat?”
Ris Low may have missed the awards show (due to being stuck in a traffic jam) and only arrived during the reception, but the event was still double or triple the “boomz” with Irene Ang in the house.
Best known as Rosie in local sitcom, Phua Chu Kang Pte Ltd, the media guru had the crowd in heaps of laughter, mimicking the likes of Xiaxue and Joanne Peh, who weren’t present to receive their awards due to conflicting schedules.
Her on-stage banter with the hosts and wild antics on stage while presenting definitely drew the loudest of applauses from the audience. The head honcho of Fly Entertainment will star in upcoming movie, Perfect Rivals, with Hong Kong veteran star, Ha Yu.
NP’s talented percussionists, the Baracuda Batucada ended the evening with a resounding bang, while fervent voters won the top 3 prizes ranging from Ray-Ban Wayfarers, Cathay movie passes to Nikon COOLPIX cameras.
The fans hoping for an even bigger return of the awards show next year can be encouraged. Irene Ang, who also manages the talent agency Fly Entertainment, relayed a message of perseverance when asked on how to take the event to the next level.
She exclaimed, “Just keep going. Sometimes things may not go your way, but as long as you keep trying, things can only get better.”
Full list of winners:
Hottest Female Personality I Wanna Date: Joanne Peh
Cutest Male Personality I Wanna Bring Home: Dai Yang Tian
Coolest Blogger I Wanna Gossip With (XOXO): Xiaxue
Best OMG Moment: Ris Low’s April Fool’s Day Prank on 987FM
Celebrity Duo I Wanna Chill With: The Muttons
Band I Wanna Throw Myself At: Jack and Rai
Favourite Restaurant: Swensen’s
Favourite Dessert Café: Frolick
Favourite Nightspot: Zouk
Favourite Fashion Brand: Topshop/ Topman
Favourite Online Fashion Store: Love, Bonito
Favourite Tech Brand: Apple
FULL MEDIA COVERAGE AT HTTP://MIDEAYOUTHCHOICE.COM/ [Photos, videos and more!]
Videos are brought to you by CTV.sg and photos are thanks to Klix Photography.
UrbanWire is the official e-zine for the m:idea Youth Choice Awards.