KUCHING, Jan 24: The recent 23rd Asian Television Awards (ATA) held here has been hailed as a major success and is expected to benefit Sarawak’s tourism industry, starting with its Visit Sarawak 2019 campaign.
A press release from the organisers today quoted ATV Awards Sdn Bhd chairman Lee Keen Whye as saying: “I am so proud of all the local and foreign attendees and the global community for their participation and support in the event. The 23rd ATA was a huge success.
“I truly feel that we have accomplished our goals and hope to further expand our reach. I hope that we will be able to top this year’s benchmark next year in 2020.”
The press also highlighted what Sarawak Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said about the possible impact ATA would have on the state’s tourism industry.
“Visit Sarawak 2019 campaign is expected to gain the boost in the tourism industry with prominent world-class mega events such as this event, attracting a myriad of stars and internationally acclaimed talents here for the first time.
“We hope that all the visitors of Sarawak had an amazing night and been able to discover Sarawak’s natural beauty,” said Abdul Karim.
It was the first time ever that ATA was held in Malaysia. Initially pencilled for two days only, it was expanded to three days in the end.
The spectacle showcased two prestigious evenings of television award ceremonies as well as a myriad of exciting music concert performances by Asian artistes for the public, attracting 2,000 over visitors as well as more than 500 million television viewers in Asia over the three days (Jan 11-13).
More than 50 Top Asian Celebrities attended the 23rd ATA Live Show, such as Ananda Everingham (Thai actor), Ase Wang (Singaporean actress), Nad Zainal (Malaysian actress), Diana Danielle (Malaysian actress), Maylada Susri (Thai actress), Hu Gua (Taiwanese TV host), Louis Scott (Thai actor) and Hoang Yen Chibi (Vietnamese singer).
The Live Award & Concert Show also had a remarkable line-up of top Asian celebrities who performed, including SF9 (Korea), Gary Valenciano (Philippines), Qu Wanting (Taiwan), Via Vallen (Indonesia), Alvin Chong (Malaysia), Kiana Valenciano (Philippines), Trong Hieu (Vietnam) and Winnie K (Malaysia).
The award organisers stated that the 23rd ATA attracted over 1,300 entries annually in 42 categories from a wide range of broadcasters. The entries represent the industry’s foremost recognition to independent production houses in Asia.
In Kuching, 28 categories were announced on the first day during the Gala Awards Dinner, while the remaining 14 awards categories were up for grabs during the Live Awards broadcast. The winners were chosen by an expert panel of over 50 judges from across the region.
The judges were hand-picked based on their expertise and tremendous experience in local and international entertainment scenes.
Cheng Rexen and Kim Nam Joo were awarded the Best Actor in a Leading Role and Best Actress in a Leading Role awards respectively at the glittering event held at Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK). Present was Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg.
The Taiwanese actor received the award for his performance in ‘Schrodinger’s Cat’, while the Korean actress received the award for her performance as ‘Go Hye-ran’ in Misty.
Jirayu Tantrakul (Thailand) also received the Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance in ‘Kom Faek (The Lost Art)’, while Sinjai Plengpanich (Thailand) received the Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her performance in ‘SriAyodhaya’.
Other notable award recipients are ‘Something In The Rain’ (Korea) for Best Drama Series; ‘Kurara: The Dazzling Life of Hokusai’s Daughter’ (Japan) for Best Single Drama or Telemovie Programme; JTBC (Korea) for Cable & Satellite Network of the Year and Formosa Television (Taiwan) for Terrestrial Broadcaster of the Year.
Past participants of ATA included more than 200 channels across Asia, including KBS, NHK, HBO, CNN, Bloomberg, BBC, AL-JAZEERA, TV18, Discovery Networks, Imagine Group, Viacom International Media Networks, Astro, Media Prima, PT Televisi Indonesia, Mediacorp, CGTN, PCCW, Formosa, ABS-CBN, BBTV and SMG. — DayakDaily
