A WAR of words has broken out among fans of two popular Channel 8 stars. And they're fighting over support for the actresses in the Star Awards Favourite Female Character category.
In one corner are fans of Rui En, who played feisty policewoman Hu Xiaoman in the Channel 8 drama Unriddle 2, which ran from March to April.
In the other are fans of Felicia Chin, who played teacher Du Siman in the hit series Don't Stop Believin', which ended earlier this month after a month's run.
Last Saturday, Rui En was sitting pretty at the top of the leaderboard, ahead of tens of other actresses, with 34,100 votes.
Two days later, the tables were turned, when one Facebook user named Felicity cast 16,000 votes on the last day of voting for that drama, making Chin the leader instead, with more than 40,400 votes.
The voter named Felicity was later identified as a Facebook user representing Chin's fan club.
One angry fan called the sudden change in numbers "a scam" and a war of words broke out on Facebook between the two groups of supporters.
Facebook app
This has caused some netizens to cry foul over a new voting system set by MediaCorp for their annual TV award ceremony Star Awards, which will be held next April.
In May, MediaCorp launched a Star Awards app in Facebook, letting users vote for who they want to see in the Top 5 of the categories for Favourite Male Character, Favourite Female Character and Favourite Onscreen Couple.
What used to be determined by a MediaCorp panel of industry insiders suddenly became a free-for-all, or paid for some, depending on how you see it.
Voters are given 10 free votes per drama when they register in the app. They can also earn 10 votes by getting a friend to register.
They can also purchase unlimited votes, and 100 votes are priced at US$8 (S$9.80).
Some netizens have spoken out against the "vote-buying" option, calling it MediaCorp's way of earning additional profit.
Mr Paul Chan, vice-president of Channel Branding & Promotions in MediaCorp, told The New Paper that so far, free and earned votes (which you get from successfully referring the app to a friend) constitute double that of paid votes.
Part of the cost of paid votes is payable to Facebook as administrative charges, he added.
Said Mr Chan: "By charging a nominal sum, it facilitates our ability to gauge audience engagement and interest level for such new and experimental initiatives."
One Facebook user Juronggirl Tan wrote on the Channel 8 Facebook page: "MediaCorp knows very well the psychology of fans - they will do everything to let their idol win, including vote-buying. "Fans are trapped by their own obsession that they cannot afford to let their idol lose, so they obediently go along with this voting game."
Miss Peh Xin Yi, 25, the president of actress Rui En's fan club RBKD, told TNP: "There's nothing wrong with buying votes because the rules allow it. It's not the fans' fault (if they buy votes), it's the voting system's fault."
She admitted she had paid for votes to support Rui En.
Miss Peh said: "I was overseas during the voting period and had limited access to Facebook.
"So instead of waiting for my friends to register for the application so I could get the free referral votes, I decided to spend around $30 to buy around 250 votes. The number is equivalent to what I would have got from the referrals."
MediaCorp actor Ian Fang, 23, feels the votes are expensive.
His role of loan shark runner Zhang Bisheng in the Channel U drama Show Hand received more than 9,600 votes and is ranked fifth for now.
"It's not good if students buy votes because they don't have an income yet," Fang said.
"But if their parents allow it or if they use their savings to support an artiste, then it's okay. But don't spend too much, a token sum is enough."
However, vote-buying isn't the main issue bothering the fans.
Another complaint is the voting period. Fans can start choosing their favourite character once the drama is aired on TV until a week after the series ends.
For example, for Unriddle 2, which was telecast in March, voting was done when the application was launched in May.
The number of votes each character receives are published on Channel 8's Facebook page.
Mr Lay Shi En, 21, a student in Australia, told us in a separate interview: "The voting system is flawed. The number of votes per character should not be released."
"Fans of artistes whose dramas are telecast in the later part of the year will then know exactly how many votes they need to overtake, to make sure their favourites get to the top."
Nevertheless, he has cast more than 1,000 votes for actress Rebecca Lim for her role of newscaster Feng Luoling in the drama Poetic Justice, now showing on Channel 8.
Mr Lay did not wish to reveal how much he had spent.
Adapt
Said MediaCorp actor Elvin Ng: "I'm just there for other people to overtake me... The rules have changed and people will have to adapt to it.
"This may not be most accurate way of reflecting popularity."
The 31-year-old's role as policeman Xie Langfeng in Unriddle 2 is currently ranked third in the Top 5 Favourite Male Character with more than 12,000 votes.
He added: "If I drop out of the Top 5, I'll just shrug my shoulders and laugh. What to do?" Mr Chan said that the new voting system was implemented "to empower the viewers and allow them the freedom to play a part in the nomination process".
"This voting process is kept open and transparent by enabling all to view the votes of each character."
MediaCorp actor Romeo Tan is nonchalant about the voting fiasco.
Said the 27-year-old: "It's up to the individual (how they want to vote). If the public votes for me, I'll know I'm popular.
"But I won't use this to gauge my popularity because I feel that feedback from the executive producers on my acting ability is more important.
"I won't get overly upset or happy over the results of online voting."
Tan's role as Jin Zhengnan in Don't Stop Believin' received more than 10,300 votes and is ranked fourth in the Favourite Male Character category.
Star Awards 2013 will be held next April. The voting exercise is now on and is expected to end with the last 2012 Channel 8 drama in December.
Felicia Chin and "Felicity" did not respond to TheNew Paper's attempts to contact them.
[email protected]
CURRENT TOP 5
Favourite Female Character
1. Du Siman in Don't Stop Believin' (Felicia Chin) - 40,441 votes
2. Hu Xiaoman in Unriddle 2 (Rui En) - 34,166 votes
3. Deng Yilin in Don't Stop Believin' (Kimberly Chia) - 29,106 votes
4. Xiao Chunli in Jump! (Jeanette Aw) - 20,500 votes
5. Xu Shumin in Show Hand (Ann Kok) - 16,260 votes
Favourite Male Character
1. Zhong Junliang in Don't Stop Believin' (Xu Bin) - 23,837 votes
2. Zhao Mingxing in Joys Of Life (Taiwanese singer-actor Alien Huang) - 20,253 votes
3. Xie Langfeng in Unriddle 2 (Elvin Ng) - 12,141 votes
4. Jin Zhengnan in Don't Stop Believin' (Romeo Tan) - 10,361 votes
5. Zhang Bisheng in Show Hand (Ian Fang) - 9,629 votes
Favourite Onscreen Couple
1. Zhao Mingxing and Han Yongyong in Joys Of Life (Alien Huang and Rui En, above) - 10,034 votes
2. Hu Xiaoman and Xie Langfeng in Unriddle 2 (Rui En and Elvin Ng) - 8,763
3. Sun Yaping and Cai Xianya in Joys Of Life (Yao Wenlong and Pan Lingling) - 6,358 votes
4. Wu Yanbin and Du Siman in Don't Stop Believin' (Elvin Ng and Felicia Chin) - 5,265 votes
5. Jin Zhengnan and Du Siman in Don't Stop Believin' (Romeo Tan and Felicia Chin) - 3,426 votes
VOTING CHANGES
THEN
The categories Favourite Male Character and Favourite Female Character were introduced to StarAwards in 2010.
The public selected the Top 10 nominees for each category via free online voting more than a month before the ceremony.
The Top 10 nominees went through another round of free online voting on the night of the Star Awards.
Each voter was entitled to onevote a day for each award.
In 2011, the category Favourite Onscreen Couple (Drama) was included into Star Awards.
The Top 5 nominees for all the three categories were determined by a MediaCorp panel and the public voted for the winner online.
Voting was free and each voter was entitled to one vote a day for each category.
NOW
Characters from the local drama that is now showing on TV are listed in the Facebook application. Voting for that drama starts when the first episode is telecast and stops one week after the final episode is telecast.
The public can then vote for characters from the next series.
Dramas aired from January to December this year qualify.
Voters are each given 10 free votes per drama. They get another 10 free votes with each successful referral to a friend to register the Facebook application.
They can also buy unlimited votes, with 100 votes priced at US$8.
The Top 5 nominees at the end of the voting exercise will enter Star Awards 2013, to be held next April.
Get The New Paper for more stories.
