The 2024 TVB Anniversary Awards, held on January 19, was one of surprises, but none was more shocking than Hong Kong actress Tavia Yeung’s Best Actress loss to Katy Kung.
Tavia, 45, was the hot favourite for the award after her stellar performance in revenge drama Darkside of the Moon. She won the title in 2012 for her role in Silver Spoon, Sterling Shackles.
Katy, 35, won for her performance in business drama Big Biz Duel, a show that wasn’t considered a frontrunner.
This is her first Best Actress win after 16 years in showbiz.
Tavia’s shocking upset became a hot topic, with many netizens arguing that she is a more worthy of the win.
There were comments like “How could they give it to Katy Kung… What a joke!”, “I like Katy Kung too, but this award should’ve gone to Tavia Yang” and “Best Actress isn’t Tavia Yeung? Seriously?”
Even Katy was in disbelief: “I never expected this. Just making it to the top five was thrilling enough! My heart was pounding when they announced my name.”
Many also expressed disappointment that Yoyo Chen (Happily Ever After?) and Nancy Wu (No Return) failed to even make the top five for Best Actress.
Some netizens speculated that Tavia might have anticipated the result.
After being named Greater Bay Area’s Favourite TVB Actress earlier in the evening, she reportedly joked that she might not have another chance to go on stage.
Despite prompts to wrap up her speech, she continued delivering her acceptance remarks.
But we think she was probably more disappointed that her husband, Him Law, 40, who was seen as the Best Actor frontrunner, had missed out on the award.
Him was nominated for his role in Happy Ever After? and they had hoped to make history as TVB’s first “Best Actor and Actress Power Couple.”
The Best Actor award went to Owen Cheung, 37, for his performance in crime drama No Room For Crime. He was also named Malaysia’s Most Favourite TVB Actor.
The drama was the biggest winner of the night, scooping five awards including Best Drama Series, as well as Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress for King Lam and Kelly Fu, both 40.