Mediacorp: The Remaining of Mediacorp’s 7 Princesses 七公主 Era

Everyone in Singapore probably heard of the 7 Princesses七公主 of Mediacorp.

source:http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i277/spideycoug/77-2.jpg

They were once the next big thing of Singapore’s entertainment industry. Bestowed with this grand title, the 7 of them were supposed to fight it out and receive the baton from Zoe Tay and Fann Wong. But after few years, we are now down with only three. Jeanette Aw, Joanne Peh and Rui En. It’s hard to say the best 3 are left in this tough competition because all 7 of them are greatly loved and all tackle different segments of this industry but you have to admit that these 3 are easily the most popular stars in Singapore now.

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Jeanette Aw 欧萱

source: XinMsn

The girl that entered Mediacorp with a bang. Having won Best Newcomer at Star Awards 2002, she was one tough girl to beat. Almost a year later, she got herself a fleshy role as a naive and slightly mentally challenged girl in Holland V.荷兰村(one of the most successful dramas in Singapore) which shot her to fame. However, she found herself unable to impress again and showed only mediocre performances. Then came her role in Little Nyonya小娘惹 which gave her the meteoric rise she was working towards and people then touted her as the Ah Jie of Mediacorp. Of course, a testimony to her achievements would be the constant nomination in Star Award Best Actress category and having 4 of her characters in 2008 to be part of the Top 8 Most Likeable Female Lead Characters which was revealed during Channel 8’s Countdown Party.

Star Quality: 8.5
She always has this calm disposition. Elegant and poised, she exudes this A-list actress feel around her whenever she attends ceremonies. Staying in touch with fans through her site, one can easily feel the humility from her and know she isn’t one diva who put on airs.

Acting: 7
Expression wise, I feel she has the depth in her emotions. One example would be when she acted as the mute role in Little Nyonya, with only facial expression and body language to portray the character, i think she did a very good job. But her weakness is occasionally predictable acting (like you know how is she going to be like in certain circumstances) and of course her speech. She did try to make an effort to change her tone in speaking in the show Breakout but I feel it was convincing yet not good enough

Future Prospects: 7.5
Even though her prospects in Singapore seem stagnant, like there are already people who love her to bits and people who really dislike her, I feel that there are much more in store for her. With the typical Asian beauty look sprinkled with a little of European beauty, I am sure the market for her internationally will be quite huge. Maybe we can see more of her on magazines’ cover in future? I can imagine her owning those photo shoots. I remember one issue of I weekly where she posed with her manager or something, wow, that was gorgeous! Besides, Jeanette has experienced considerable success in China so I guess she can build on there. Apart from
that, Jeanette has an addition talent which is dancing. But she needs to know how to put this into an advantage because her knack for dancing went to waste in The Rainbow Connection 舞出彩虹 where the delivery of the role as a dance was lackluster.

Joanne Peh 白薇秀

source:XinMsn

This girl came a long way. Started with a slow start, many criticised Joanne Peh with mediocre acting that didn’t believable over and over again. Just as she was about to be labelled as looks>acting, then came her role in Like Father, Like Daughter 宝贝父女兵 which gave Joanne the attention very much needed. People then noticing her improving acting and this has subsequently gave her a nomination in Star Awards Best Actress in 2007. Despite the recognition, the declining popularity which saw her being out of the Top 10 Most Popular Female Artiste from 2006-2008 was started to be of concern to the media. She then had her chance when she acted as a demure girl in Little Nyonya who turned insane after being raped by an evil young businessman. Because of the role, she managed to be the first in the princesses to win the much wanted Best Actress Award in 2009 and had consequently been hailed as the Ah Jie of Mediacorp together with Jeanette Aw.

Star Quality: 9
Joanne was Miss Elegant and Miss Personality in Miss Singapore Universe 2002. No wonder she always look so confident yet personable when she is up stage. She must be one of the few stars in Singapore who can just simply stand there on stage doing nothing and yet look like a mega star. One look at her and you know that she isn’t just another someone.

Acting: 6
I’m sorry. Even though she is the only one amongst them to have won Best Actress, I don’t feel that her other roles were good enough for someone who has received so much attention. Her body language and expression do not seem to work as well as Jeanette’s even though she has a clear advantage in terms of her articulation. However, more effort needs to be put in to make her acting much more natural. And her recent performance in Your Hand in Mine is rather disastrous. I do not hope to see this girl with so much star quality going downhill in her acting because I know she is much more than that.

Future Prospects: 8
Among the 3, I see Joanne as more of the commercial girl. Her lovely personality can garner her lots of endorsements which will definitely give her more exposures in the TV. In addition, being fashionable gives her the advantage as it will give her more opportunity to appear in variety shows related to fashion. This is crucial for artistes because you want to make sure you get yourself more screen time. Also, through appearances in commercials and variety shows, audiences can know more of you instead of knowing just your roles in drama serials. So now… Joanne has a lot in her bag but the only thing lacking is her versatility in acting. Work more on the acting and I believe her status in Mediacorp will be very very stable in years to come.

Rui En 瑞恩

source: XinMsn

Rui En must be one of the few in mediacorp that makes you want to know more of her. She is just one mysterious girl who reveals so little of how she feel, you can’t help but want to probe more from her. I noticed her in a nearly a decade ago as a singer. I remember her singing songs for the drama serials. Later on, she started focusing on her acting career which brought her to a new level of success. Her more noticeable roles are mainly those that she acted as a C.I.D officer. An example would be the role in Metamorphosis 破茧而出 which got many to acknowledge that Rui En is one acting machine! Unfortunately, that very same role failed to win a nomination in Star Awards 2007 which caused many to feel injustice for her.

Star Quality: 8
I know many find Rui En very charismatic and cool but to me, what Rui En is giving me now is just the qualities of an actress. Like… I look at her, I know she is someone different but I don’t get the feel that she is the queen. I don’t have much to say here. It is hard to justify why I feel she has the least star quality here in spite of the interesting feel she is giving. It is just my feel~

Acting: 9
Easily the artiste with the best acting techniques in her generation. Rui En has time and again impressed us with the diverse characters that were given to her. Whether it was the sorrowful wife, cute and silly girl or the cool and respectful officer, she has always nailed the performances. Like many others, I am wondering what is taking her Best Actress nomination so long but I believe 2010 is her year. Having aced so many assignments this year, Rui En has to at least receive a nomination. Also, I must commend on her effort because her versatility allowed her to not fit into any stereotypical roles. Like, even though we all know she has what it takes for action-packed drama, producers have time and again given her other extreme roles because they have the confidence she can do it.

Future Prospects: 7
Being a singer, Rui En definitely can tackle the music industry as well especially since her popular hit Tao Yan 讨厌 has been constantly sung in different singing competitions regionally. However, from what I observe, her singing doesn’t seem to be as good as before and her second album did not showcase what she had. Maybe she can start picking things up by singing more drama serial theme songs. I miss those days when the actors and actresses involve in the drama sing the theme songs as well. It makes the whole production a more complete one. Acting wise, I feel Rui En has almost reached her peak already. Like yes, she is going to receive more roles and continue nailing them but that is all, from what I predict. Her acting career isn’t going to be pushed to another level especially with the cool and quiet nature she is showing to the masses. This will shut her off commercials and even variety shows which I mentioned was crucial for ample exposure. Good thing is… She doesn’t care about all these. She just wants to concentrate on what she is supposed to do. Heh, thumbs up for her dedication!

Summary:

These 3 actresses should regardless of anything, receive a pat on the back! Having gone through many years of competition, they are now Mediacorp’s A-list actresses and I believe they will continue to do well.