On December 16, Kevin Cheng (鄭嘉穎) and Tavia Yeung (楊怡) became the first winners of TVB’s newly added “China’s Most Popular TVB Male and Female Artist” <中國內地最受歡迎TVB劇男女藝人> awards. A joint event between TVB’s Mainland division TVBC <上海翡翠東方傳播有限公司>, and Internet video giant Youku Tudou Inc. <優酷土豆網>, the awards were determined by online polls conducted on iTVB, Youku.com, and Tudou.com. Mainland viewers were encouraged to vote for their favorite artists until December 12. The results were revealed on today at a small ceremony just hours prior to the TVB Anniversary Awards. The five finalists in the Most Popular TVB Male Artist category included Kevin Cheng, Kenneth Ma (馬國明), Chilam Cheung (張智霖), Bosco Wong (黃宗澤), and Raymond Lam (林峯). With an established Mainland presence via major roles in well-known productions such as Bu Bu Jing Xin <步步驚心> and Ip Man <葉問>, Kevin took home the top prize as expected after winning 38 percent of the total votes. He thanked Mainland fans for their support, and was reluctant to speak about any potential pay raise. Additionally, Kevin revealed that he is scheduled to film a police drama for TVB in April, and when asked about his ideal leading lady, he did not hesitate to include former flame Charmaine Sheh (佘詩曼) on the list. Although she has yet to break into the Mainland market, Tavia Yeung became China’s Most Popular TVB Female Artist with 41 percent of the votes, beating out favorites Charmaine Sheh, Kate Tsui (徐子珊), Linda Chung (鍾嘉欣), and Myolie Wu (胡杏兒). Since she has yet to renew her management contract with TVB, some speculate that the company is using the award to entice the TV Queen to stay. Tavia thanked fans and expressed surprise over her win. Admitting her weak presence in Mainland, she joked that she deserves the title very literally since Mainland viewers can only evaluate her based on her performance in TVB dramas. She added that if her schedule allows, she hopes to have the opportunity to film in China in the coming year. Creds: Ming Pao
