Inside Star Awards 2025's fan zone, where the most diehard showed up 8 hours early

CNA

a day ago

Towards the end of the red carpet segment of Star Awards 2025 on Sunday (Jul 6) evening, a fan next to me – let's call him Overzealous Fan – remarked that he was considering hanging around at Mediacorp till midnight.
It would mean waiting for six hours, mind you – around the time that he estimated the post-event party would end.
He didn't have a ticket for the main show in The Theatre at Mediacorp, which was taking place after the red carpet, and staying late would mean an expensive cab ride home. But for the mere possibility of glimpsing the artistes as they left for the night? Why, it should be an easy call.
Earlier in the evening, I'd spotted him setting up a stool to prop his camera tripod, allowing him to film the entire red carpet show from the back of the crowd. He stood in the same spot for the whole hour, probably willing to be sooner burnt by the sweltering heat than miss personally capturing a second of the show … which he could watch live on his mobile device.
And yet, Overzealous Fan's mild hesitation to remain till the post-event party wrapped up rendered him less of a devotee than another I shall call Even More Overzealous Fan.
The latter scoffed when asked whether he was staying till midnight. He had shown up at 9am, even though the first segment began at 5pm, and there was no way he was leaving before he got what I reckon he came for: Some selfies and shoulder-rubbing.
'Yes of course I will stay! There are over 200 celebrities here! We must wait! It's worth it! How dare we not stay?' Even More Overzealous Fan declared in Mandarin, seemingly indignant that an alternative was suggested at all.
'There is no reward without hard work!'
CAMPING FOR CELEBRITIES
Forgive my apparent befuddlement. I understand strategising to score Taylor Swift tickets, hanging out at the airport to spot K-pop idols, and perhaps even queuing outside the Apple Store before a new iPhone drops.
To arrive at Star Awards eight hours ahead of time, though? I doubted there was a need to 'chope' or reserve one's spot when I was certain that supply would far exceed demand.
I ate my words at 4pm – an hour before the red carpet segment began – when I came face to face with around 200 fans happy to bake in the heat while awaiting their idols.
There was a dizzying array of fan clubs, including some of celebrities whose existence I was learning about for the first time that evening.
Among the more creative club names on display were Elvinology (Elvin Ng), The Beckers Team (Rebecca Lim), Carrieteristic (Carrie Wong), DesTheWay (Desmond Ng), Felicity (Felicia Chin) and The Juliet Club (Romeo Tan).
Then there were fan clubs whose coordinated signs and T-shirts simply showed their idol's name: Zoe Tay, Ya Hui, Yvonne Lim, Joanne Peh, Bonnie Loo, Lee Teng, Tyler Ten and Paige Chua, to name a few.
But like any interviewee, they were more than happy to talk about their passion. It just so happened this passion was a person, in this instance.
Olivia Lee, a first-time Star Awards attendee and new member of Elvinology, said she just discovered the fan club this year. The 38-year-old started watching Elvin Ng's shows eight years ago, and found him 'very natural'.
She has since met Ng twice in person, including once on a fan club outing to Melaka, and remembers him to be 'very gentlemanly' in how he spoke.
'When you interact with him, you can feel the warmth. He's very down-to-earth. You don't feel like he's a celebrity.'
If anything, it seems having no airs is why other fan clubs like their celebrity idols too. Some members of the Yverlasting Yvonne fan club – for Yvonne Lim, who else? – expressed similar reasons they were enamoured with the 48-year-old actress who took home the All-Time Favourite Artiste trophy on Sunday night.
Part-time administrative worker in her 60s Catherine Pang has always watched Lim's movies but only recently started being more invested in her career. Lim is 'very sincere' when interacting with fans online too, said Pang.
With her on Sunday was Tan Lay Tin, who has attended Star Awards five times as Lim's fan. The actress is 'very thoughtful' towards her fans, Tan said, recalling the time Lim bought her Milo when she wasn't feeling well, despite it being their first meeting.
And when I caught up with a small group from The Beckers Team, one of the fan club's longest-serving members Louisa Tan said she's lost count of the number of times she attended Star Awards as Rebecca Lim's fan.
Although the actress received the All-Time Favourite Artiste trophy in 2023 and wasn't up for any award on Sunday night, 'we just come support', said Tan, 28, who joined the fan club when she was in secondary school.
Lim is 'very easygoing', putting her 'whole heart' into fan interactions, Tan added. 'You won't feel like there's a gap between fans and her.'
Still, apart from the sporadic cheer whenever fan clubs heard their respective celebrity's names being announced, the red carpet reception felt considerably muted. Many seemed happier to watch the event livestream from their phones – as it was happening, yes, right in front of them.
That is, until nominee and eventual winner of the Best Rising Star award Tyler Ten showed up.
Judging by the deafening screams for this man who – despite his evidently strong fanbase – I wouldn't recognise if my life depended on it, I realised I was officially out of touch with this new generation of Mediacorp artistes.
I was no longer in primary school, when the daily 7pm and 9pm dramas on Channel 8 were my reward for finishing my homework; when I could depend on the one and only Ivy Lee to helm every show worth following; when local celebrity culture was revered, not ridiculed.
But I swear I felt nine again, the minute I saw OG legends Fann Wong, Christopher Lee, Zoe Tay and Li Nanxing walk the red carpet – and once more when most recipients of the All-Time Favourite Artiste award since 2004 gathered on stage to kick off the Star Awards main show.
Then I understood the diehard fans around me. Kind of.
I, too, held my own reverence for the celebrities whose works I loved. The subject of our affection may differ, but the essence of our admiration remains universal.
In the end, how different were modern Mediacorp celebrity fans, really, from Swifties, political party advocates, football supporters or even myself? Maybe not so, for the American writer Mark Twain once famously said: 'Fame is a vapour, popularity an accident; the only earthly certainty is oblivion.'
Maybe every fandom is, at its core, about seeking something greater than oneself to stave off such oblivion.
An hour before the show ended yesterday, I spotted fans who didn't manage to get tickets still milling around the theatre lobby. Among them was Even More Overzealous Fan from earlier, apparently keeping his promise to stay until midnight.
Another was 21-year-old Vincent Lim, an F&B worker who'd specifically requested a day off to attend Star Awards, he'd told me earlier in the evening. He wasn't there for any particular celebrity; he carried no signboard or elaborate gear, just excitement at finally attending the event he'd only ever watched on TV as a child.