PTS dominates again at Golden Bell Awards

Public Television Service (公視, PTS) last night proved once again its domination of the Golden Bell Awards (金鐘獎), Taiwan's highest honor for TV and radio broadcasting programs and professionals.

PTS won in 11 award categories. The best lead actor honor went to Chang Chen-kuang (張晨光) and Wan Fang (萬芳) won the title for best lead actress.

The awards ceremony took place last night at Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Taipei, and opened with a star-studded red-carpet walk that drew hundreds of fans.

Croatian pianist Maksim, Korean actors Ahn Jae-wook and Ha Ji-won, both of whom have large fan bases in Taiwan for their TV dramas, pop diva Stefanie Sun (孫燕姿) and taekwondo medalists Chen Shi-hsin (陳詩欣) and Chu Mu-yen (朱木炎) attended as guest presenters or guest performers.

The four-hour gala event was hosted by Kevin Tsai (蔡康永) and Little S (小S), two of Taiwan's most popular TV presenters.

PTS demonstrated its power for producing quality programs at the Golden Bell Awards -- Taiwan's answer to the Emmy Awards -- especially in drama and cultural programming.

The TV company took home four awards for its programs, including the best TV drama Banquet (赴宴), a 25-episode drama about a dilemma between development and conservation of a mountain area. It also won for the best traditional drama, Palace of Eternal Youth (長生殿), a Kunchu opera, best children's program Follow Me (下課花路米), and best cultural and education program Century Women, Taiwan Glamour (世紀女性台灣風華).

PTS won 18 award categories at Golden Bell Awards last year, well ahead of all the other TV stations in Taiwan.

In the variety show categories, Taiwan's veteran TV host Chang Fei (張菲) won the award for the best TV host for variety shows for his popular show Variety Big Brother (綜藝大哥大). The award for best variety program, however, went to Variety Sum-up (綜藝大集合).

Having hosted TV shows for 30 years, Chang expressed his gratitude to all his guests who have been entertained and "tortured" in his shows. He also gave thanks to his alleged girlfriend from Belarus, Margarita, who serves as the assistant hostess and comedienne in his show.