Star Awards 2001

Missing Mr Popular this year

November 23, 2001

Dasmond Koh shares his true feelings for not making into the Top 20 Most Popular Male Artistes list.

By Yap Geok Hui

Always expect the unexpected in showbiz.

Few would expect the many seemingly popular and up-and-coming newer artistes to be edged out in this year's Star Awards' Top 20 Most Popular Artistes list to make way for veteran artistes.

And MediaCorp artiste Dasmond Koh being left out of this year's popularity polls has left many baffled.

Afterall, he was one of the proud recipients of Top 10 Most Popular Male Artistes and the Most Popular Newcomer in Star Awards 2000 with a nomination in Best Variety Show Host in the Top 20 Most Popular Artiste list.

The cheery DJ known for his hyena-like laughter admitted frankly that disappointment was inevitable.

"Actually prior to the disclosure of the list, I had thought about my chances of making it into the list. You see, this year I have less exposure on TV with only Love Match 2 in February/March, and I-Entertainment in July/August. In between, I only had guest appearances in other variety shows."

He adds, "So I was sort of mentally prepared and hoping for the best. The artistes who made it were actually only notified the day before the media conference announcement. Ha, my manager was worried that it would be a big blow to me so she called to console me.

"Therefore, I wasn't too surprised when I wasn't on the list but I did feel down and disappointed for a night," recounted the Marketing and Retailing graduate from Temasek Polytechnic. But I am one who doesn't let negativity get to me. After a shower and a night of sleep, I was fine. After all, the next day is a brand new day. Of course friends help a lot too, like Vincent (Ng) who did console me."

It happened that Dasmond was due to fly to Taiwan to interview A-Mei on the day of the media conference so in order to ensure that Vincent (his best friend in MediaCorp) would not chide him for keeping him in the dark, he sms him about the news.

Apart from having less exposure on television, Dasmond analyzed that his status may be ambiguous. Many people might have looked upon him primarily as a DJ and this might have overshadowed his present status as a full-time MediaCorp artiste.

"After all radio is different from TV. DJs are represented by voices, some people might not be able to match my image on TV to that on radio," said the artiste who has 5 years of experience on radio airwaves.

He continued, "Another reason which we have been contemplating is that the selected audience voters who need to watch 3 hours of TV each day may watch more TV in the afternoons, so artistes like Moses Lim and Wendy Zeng who have been hosting afternoon programmes are on the list while newcomers such as Qi Yuwu and Jeff Wang (who have been gaining popularity) are not."

But the multiple recipient of the Most Popular DJ in RCS Golden Mike Awards and Friday Weekly awards for the past 4 years is not worried that it is a sign of his dipping popularity. He is, after all, no longer the greenhorn who entered the entertainment circle right after National Service.

"Callers on radio still treat me the same. Besides, now that I'm juggling between hosting and radio (with occasional attempts at acting), chances for exposure have increased tremendously. I don't think that popularity is an issue that I'm facing right now. A bigger challenge is to prove my abilities."

With another year to forge ahead, there's always the next Star Awards to look forward to after all.

Dasmond is nominated for Best Variety Show Host.

Telepoll voting starts on November 16 (Fri) at 1am and ends on November 25 (Sun) at 9pm. Charges are at $0.30 per call and callers under 21 must obtain parental consent.

Star Awards 2001 will be telecast live on November 25 (Sunday), Channel 8, 7.30pm. It will be simulcast on TV Mobile.

Come back next week for our post Star Awards 2001 stories.

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