TV programs honored at the Golden Bell Awards

The 42nd Golden Bell Awards handed out honors to the nation's TV professionals and programs last night at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall.

Public Television Service again reigned supreme at the gala event, especially in cultural and drama programming as well as nearly all the technical categories.

Hosted by the nation's most sought-after presenters, Kevin Tsai (蔡康永) and Patty Hou (侯佩岑), the award ceremony opened with a troop of local teen idols and big-name actors and actresses strutting their stuff on the red-carpet, while members of the Million Star Gang led by Momoko Tao (陶子) won the most deafening cheers from the young star-spotting crowd.

The nation's answer to the Emmy's, the event saw 158 works compete for 34 awards. The most attention-grabbing entries among the contenders were TV drama The Hospital (白色巨塔) and drama Nyonya's Taste (娘惹滋味), well-matched with eight nominations each in the major categories.

The best director of a TV drama award went to actor-turned-director Tsai Yueh-hsun (蔡岳勳) for his work on The Hospital, which also saw veteran actor Chang Kuo-chu (張國柱) take the best supporting actor gong.

With no training or previous acting experience, Indonesian immigrant Mok Ai Fang walked home with Best Leading Actress award for her role in Nyonya's Taste, which takes a look at the lives of the nation's foreign laborers.