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The annual Star Awards will return on April 9, 2023, this time at Marina Bay Sands (MBS).

The theme? “Beyond | Celebrations”, complete with the pipe symbol.

Instead of the usual award ceremony format, however, this year's event will take the form of a "star-studded concert", showcasing both local and regional stars in live performances.

However, the line-up has yet to be released.

The Walk of Fame, where the celebs strut and flaunt their outfits, is taking place against the backdrop of Singapore's skyline.

For the third consecutive year, the seven-hour "Backstage Live" commentary makes its return as well, giving audiences a peek at what happens in the lead up to the ceremony.

New awards

A total of 19 awards will be doled out, classified under three categories:

• Performance Awards
• Popularity Awards
• Programme Awards

Under the first category is a new-ish award called “Best Rising Star” (formerly known as “Best Newcomer”), dedicated to artistes with five years or less of experience—up from the maximum of three years previously imposed by "Best Newcomer").

This means that older artistes have a chance of winning the award as well, as long as they've not spent more than five years in the industry.

Another new award is the “Most Popular Rising Stars”, which runs parallel to the usual “Top 10 Most Popular Artistes”.

The former will be presented to three up-and-coming artistes who have garnered the greatest number of fans’ votes, and it also applies to talents who have appeared only in Mediacorp's social media assets (and not dramas).

Industry gala dinner

The last segment (Programme Awards), dedicated to those working behind the scenes, will be presented at a separate industry gala dinner.

This will take place on Mar. 30, earlier than the main Star Awards, at JW Marriott Hotel Singapore South Beach.

Here's the programme schedule for those intending to catch it:

*Backstage Live airs exclusively on meWATCH and Mediacorp Entertainment YouTube Channel.

Top image via MeWATCH