# Star Awards for Best Rising Star

The Star Awards for Best Rising Star is an award presented annually at the Star Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1994.

## History

The category was introduced in 1994, at the 1st Star Awards ceremony as two separate awards; Yao Wenlong received the award as the Most Popular Male Newcomer award while Ivy Lee received the Most Popular Female Newcomer award and both were given in honour of a MediaCorp male and female newcomer who were deemed the most popular among the television audience. The nominees are determined by a team of judges employed by MediaCorp; winners are selected by a majority vote from the public via telephone and SMS text voting. Between 1995 and 2006, the category eliminated the distinctions between male and female newcomers and was given as a single award under the name of Most Popular Newcomer.
From 2007, the award went through a major revamp and was renamed as Best Newcomer. It was changed from being a popularity award to a professional award, and is given in honour of a MediaCorp newcomer who has delivered an outstanding performance in their field of profession. Similar to the Most Popular Newcomer award, the nominees are determined by a team of judges employed by MediaCorp; but the winners are selected by a majority vote from the entire judging panel. Pornsak is the first winner of the newly revamped category.
The nominees for this award were selected without any reference to their respective work titles – with the exception of 1995, 1998, 1999, 2012, 2013, 2018, 2019 and 2021 when the newcomers were nominated together with the work titles which establish the public identity of the newcomers thereafter.
The award was not presented in 2003, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2016, 2017, and 2022 due to the lack of eligible nominees.
From 2023, the award went through another revamp and was renamed as Best Rising Star. This award is similar to the Best Newcomer award, with artistes being eligible as long as they have 5 years or less of professional screen acting and/or hosting experience the year before the awards. Artistes are also eligible if they have professional screen acting and/or hosting experience (excluding cameo appearances) and/or experiences before 18 years of age. Artistes that are nominated must have performed and/or presented in at least 5 episodes of eligible programmes, and similar to the Best Newcomer, nominees that have won any popularity and/or performance awards in previous awards ceremony are no longer eligible.
Since its inception, the award has been given to 23 newcomers or rising stars. Yunis To is the most recent winner in this category for her role in Stranger In The Dark.

## Recipients

| Year | Newcomer | Work title (role) | Nominees |
| Most Popular Male Newcomer / Most Popular Female Newcomer |||||
| 1994 | Yao Wenlong | — | — |
| 1994 | Ivy Lee | — | — |
| Most Popular Newcomer |||||
| 1995 | Fann Wong | Chronicle of Life (Fang Ling 方玲) | Bernard Tan — Bond of Love (Song Wenhui 宋文辉) Michelle Chia — Strange Encounters 3 (Lin Fengjie 林凤姐) Thomas Ong — Love at Last (Huang Jiawei 黄家伟) Raymond Yong — Chronicle of Life (Zhou Zhiheng 周志衡) |
| 1996 | Phyllis Quek | — | Christopher Lee Ziozio Lim Ix Shen Jacelyn Tay |
| 1997 | James Lye | — | Sharon Au Irin Gan Michelle Goh Guo Liang Hong Liqing Wong Li-Lin Li Yuling Lynn Poh Diana Ser Deborah Sim Constance Song Xu Meiluan |
| 1998 | Evelyn Tan | A Place to Call Home (He Yiwen 何依雯) | Jerry Chang — The New Adventures of Wisely (Qi Bai 齐白 / Da Wei 大卫) Henry Chong — Starting Point (Lin Tianhong 林天鸿) Amanda Ho — Starting Point (Li Zu'er 李祖儿) Huang Feixiang — The Test of Time (Fu Mingyi 傅明义) Huang Guoliang — Starting Point (Liu Jicheng 刘集成) Andi Lim — Starting Point (Chen Kunsheng 陈坤生) Yvonne Lim — Starting Point (He Xinjie 何芯婕) Michelle Liu — Starting Point (Zhong Yamin 钟雅敏) Vincent Ng — Sword and Honour (Tianci 天赐) Joey Swee — The Test of Time (Zhou Ailing 周爱菱) Florence Tan — Immortal Love (Fang Jiawen 方嘉文 / Lu Wenyan 卢文烟 / Qiu Wenfeng 邱文凤) Sean Tang — A Place to Call Home (Chen Haixing 陈海星) Tay Ping Hui — On the Edge: Mr Personality (Lin Chunming 林春明) |
| 1999 | Nick Shen | My Grandpa (Fang Zhenhua 方振华) | Apple Hong — P.I. Blues (Chen Anqi 陈安琪) Carol Tham — My Grandpa (Xiaona 小娜) Samantha Toh — P.I. Blues (Deng Jiali 邓家丽) |
| 2000 | Dasmond Koh | — | Priscelia Chan Raymond Chen Vivian Lai Robin Leong Liao Yunyi Oh Say Tuck Qi Yuwu Jeff Wang |
| 2001 | Fiona Xie | — | Bukoh Mary Gan Woan Wen Michelle Liow Pierre Png John Wong |
| 2002 | Jeanette Aw | — | Zully Le Lim Leng Kee Jaime Teo Allan Wu |
| 2004 | Joanne Peh | — | Felicia Chin Ng Hui Qi Qi Rui En |
| 2005 | Jesseca Liu | — | Julian Hee Ezann Lee Christina Lin Serene Loo |
| 2006 | Kelvin Tan | — | Elvin Ng Chew Sin Huey Candyce Toh Dawn Yeoh |
| Best Newcomer 最佳新人 |||||
| 2007 | Pornsak | — | Nat Ho Kang Cheng Xi Jacqueline Sue Tang Lingyi |
| 2009 | Dai Xiangyu | — | Andie Chen Paige Chua Ya Hui Jerry Yeo Zhang Zhenxuan |
| 2012 | Kate Pang | A Tale of 2 Cities (Lin Le 林乐) | Adeline Lim — Devotion (Wufeng 五凤) Sora Ma — Love Thy Neighbour (Dai Peijun 戴佩君) Romeo Tan — C.L.I.F. (Xu Wenxiong 许文雄) Jeffrey Xu — Devotion (Zheng Yimin 郑逸民) |
| 2013 | Ian Fang | Don't Stop Believin' (Bai Zhixiang 白志翔) | Edwin Goh — Don't Stop Believin' (Cai Wensheng 蔡文胜) Elizabeth Lee — Show Hand (Coco) Shane Pow — It Takes Two (B Niu B牛) Jayley Woo — Jump! (Liu Haiyan 刘海燕) |
| 2015 | Aloysius Pang | — | Hong Ling Seraph Sun Nick Teo Carrie Wong |
| 2018 | Chantalle Ng | While We Are Young (Huang Li Bai Yun 黄李白云) | He Ying Ying — 118 II (Xiao Dingdong 萧丁冬) Richie Koh — When Duty Calls (Loke Xian Feng 陆先锋) Hazelle Teo — Dear DJ (Joyce He 何九月) Zong Zijie — While We Are Young (Yang Xiaoshuai 杨小帅) |
| 2019 | Jasmine Sim | Doppelganger (Li Jiawen 李嘉文) | Joel Choo — A Million Dollar Dream (Max) Angel Lim — Dream Walkers (Tang Ning 唐凝) Kayly Loh — Dream Walkers (Bimbo姐) Michelle Wong — Blessings II (Liu Saiwen 刘赛文) |
| 2021 | Zhang Ze Tong | A Jungle Survivor (Zhong Jianting 钟建廷) | Sheryl Ang — All Around You (He Ruohua 何若华) Ke Le — Ah Gong Can Cook Herman Keh — Interns' Survivor Guide (Focus) Seow Sin Nee — Hawker Academy Benjamin Tan — My Guardian Angels (Tang Guiqiang 唐贵强) Juin Teh — Interns' Survivor Guide (Juliet) |
| Best Rising Star 最佳潜力星 |||||
| 2023 | Das DD | #JustSwipeLah | Jarrell Huang — In Safe Hands (Wu Guangming 吴光明) Joey Pink — Soul Detective (Hannah) Kiki Lim — When Duty Calls 2 (Goh Guan Lin 吴冠琳) Jernelle Oh — #JustSwipeLah |
| 2024 | Yunis To | Stranger In The Dark (Cheryl Sun 孙雨泽) | Hank Wang — Stranger In The Dark (Yang Junzhe 杨俊哲) Isabelle Quek — Curious City S2 Karyn Wong — Battle of the Buskers Yang Yan — Stranger In The Dark (Jin Xin 金鑫) |

## Award records

| Record | Newcomer | Remarks |
| Won awards in acting or hosting categories and Best Newcomer or Best Rising Star | Fann Wong 范文芳 | 1995 (Best Actress) 1995 (Best Newcomer) |
| Won awards in acting or hosting categories and Best Newcomer or Best Rising Star | Ivy Lee 李锦梅 | 2000, 2004, 2006 (Best Actress) 1994 (Best Newcomer) |
| Won awards in acting or hosting categories and Best Newcomer or Best Rising Star | Yao Wenlong 姚彣隆 | 2001 (Best Supporting Actor) 1994 (Best Newcomer) |
| Won awards in acting or hosting categories and Best Newcomer or Best Rising Star | Joanne Peh 白薇秀 | 2009, 2012 (Best Actress) 2015 (Best Supporting Actress) 2004 (Best Newcomer) |
| Won awards in acting or hosting categories and Best Newcomer or Best Rising Star | Pornsak | 2015 (Best Variety Show Host) 2007 (Best Newcomer) |
| Won awards in acting or hosting categories and Best Newcomer or Best Rising Star | Jeanette Aw 欧萱 | 2016 (Best Actress) 2002 (Best Newcomer) |
| Won awards in acting or hosting categories and Best Newcomer or Best Rising Star | Zhang Ze Tong 张哲通 | 2021 (Best Newcomer) 2024 (Best Supporting Actor) |
| Nominated for awards in acting or hosting categories and Best Newcomer or Best Rising Star in the same year | Fann Wong 范文芳 | 1995 (Best Actress) |
| Nominated for awards in acting or hosting categories and Best Newcomer or Best Rising Star in the same year | Irin Gan 颜俐蓁 | 1997 (Best Actress) |
| Nominated for awards in acting or hosting categories and Best Newcomer or Best Rising Star in the same year | James Lye 赖兴祥 | 1997 (Best Actor) |
| Nominated for awards in acting or hosting categories and Best Newcomer or Best Rising Star in the same year | Yvonne Lim 林湘萍 | 1998 (Best Supporting Actress) |
| Nominated for awards in acting or hosting categories and Best Newcomer or Best Rising Star in the same year | Jesseca Liu 刘子绚 | 2005 (Best Supporting Actress) |
| Nominated for awards in acting or hosting categories and Best Newcomer or Best Rising Star in the same year | Jacqueline Sue 徐艳玲 | 2007 (Best Supporting Actress) |
| Nominated for awards in acting or hosting categories and Best Newcomer or Best Rising Star in the same year | Dai Xiangyu 戴向宇 | 2009 (Best Supporting Actor) |
| Nominated for awards in acting or hosting categories and Best Newcomer or Best Rising Star in the same year | Kate Pang 庞蕾馨 | 2012 (Best Supporting Actress) |
| Nominated for awards in acting or hosting categories and Best Newcomer or Best Rising Star in the same year | Aloysius Pang 冯伟衷 | 2015 (Best Supporting Actor) |
| Nominated for awards in acting or hosting categories and Best Newcomer or Best Rising Star in the same year | Carrie Wong 黄思恬 | 2015 (Best Supporting Actress) |
| Received All-Time Favourite Artiste and won Best Newcomer or Best Rising Star | Fann Wong | 2005 (All-Time Favourite Artiste) 1995 (Best Newcomer) |
| Received All-Time Favourite Artiste and won Best Newcomer or Best Rising Star | Jeanette Aw | 2015 (All-Time Favourite Artiste) 2002 (Best Newcomer) |
| Received All-Time Favourite Artiste and won Best Newcomer or Best Rising Star | Joanne Peh | 2017 (All-Time Favourite Artiste) 2004 (Best Newcomer) |
| Received All-Time Favourite Artiste and won Best Newcomer or Best Rising Star | Dasmond Koh | 2021 (All-Time Favourite Artiste) 2000 (Best Newcomer) |