The Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Taipei glistened on awards night with stars and celebrities as fans circled the Hall, waiting for glimpses of favorites, amateur strobelights at the ready. "Behind the scene" staff gathered too, waiting nervously to see if they, or their peers, would be chosen for that moment of public recognition that would highlight a year of effort.
63 percent of the island's five million television sets would tune in for the ceremony.
The Golden Bell Awards were established back in 1955 by the ROC Government Information Office (GIO) to "encourage and recognize the talent in the radio and television broadcast industry." Today, they are definitely the highest honors to be had by broadcast talent.
Yi Ming, last year's TV best actor, declares, "It has helped to stress the importance and elevated the esteem of our professions. It made us aware of our responsibilities to be more than entertainers—of our responsibilities to society."
The sponsoring GIO this year promoted a new awards concept: "Nomination itself is winning; winning is a second honor." Liu Chien-shun, director of the GIO's radio and television department, said it this way: "In view of the growing competition and improved quality of broadcasting in this country, one should consider being nominated a rare honor in itself."
To highlight all those nominated, a reception was held three days prior to the March 18 presentation ceremony. All of the nominees were congratulated and received special citations and red roses.
New and more rigid guidelines were set up for selecting this year's nominees. In principle, three were to be nominated for each category. But strict new prerequisites barred the unqualified from being nominated, and in some categories—art director and light and sound effects directors for television and variety shows for radio—there were less than three nominated.
The judges' work was complicated by a requirement that competing individuals and programs not be judged solely for accomplishments relative to a single program presented for judging. Forty percent of the judges' rating was to be decided via a random sampling of other programs. The purpose was, of course, to encourage consistently fine performance, instead of one-time show horses.
Ten days prior to the award ceremony, Taiwan Television Company (TTV) aired a special, The Golden Bell Selection of Foreign Programs. And for 90 minutes each day, local audiences were treated to an assortment of foreign TV programming from 11 countries and areas, ranging from The Nile Crocodile from South Africa to Star, Star, Star from Singapore. For local audiences, accustomed to a 90 percent diet of made-in-Taiwan programs, it was an exotic interlude.
The biggest treat from abroad was a special professional guest—Susan Howard, star of the popular American television serial Dallas, which is regularly aired on Taiwan. Susan came as guest star of the Golden Bell Award ceremony in classic coif and traditional Chinese dress, looking, however, distinctly the Western beauty. What was her deepest impression of Taiwan? "People," Susan answered definitely, "I shall come back again for the people." And, she walked through the jungle of photo-flashes to the hall, just in time to catch the beginning of the gala evening.
The curtain raiser was an energetic kungfu-style dance number, Truth, Beauty, and Perfection for the Golden Bell, performed by dance students of the National Academy of Arts. And in the next three hours, the Golden Bell rang 43 times—14 for outstanding programs, 27 for individuals, and two times for commercials.
The show was co-hosted by veteran TV entertainers Chang Hsiao-yen and Tien Wen-chung. Chang Hsiao-yen picked up another award for her show, Variety 100—the fourth to date; Tien Wen-chung took best host for a TV variety program.
Biggest winner of the night was The Stars Know My Heart, a TV series about a widow with five young children who finds foster families for the children upon learning she suffers from a fatal illness. The series took four major awards in one evening.
Wu Ching-hsien, the mother, named best TV actress, has been a popular singer for 17 years. Her first award ever, she ascribed to "a late spring." The show was the best TV drama series and featured the best scriptwriting (Ho Hsiao-chung) and best directing (Lin Fu-ti). The judges' top choice coincided with public taste during the month of September—from 8 to 9 p.m. every evening, Monday to Saturday, the rating was sustained at a high 60 percent.
The choice for best TV actor was also no surprise. Chang Feng, a 40 year veteran of stage and screen, won for his outstanding performance on the television feature Two Kinds of Ending. In his acceptance speech, he offered "no apology to my close competitor and old pal, Han Su, who has beaten me too many times at the Mahjong table."
The choices for best TV male and female singers did come as a surprise, at least to the winners themselves. Fei Yu-ching was obviously stunned when caught by the camera eye as his award was announced. "Four times have I been nominated. Three times I failed. I really did not think I stood a chance," Fei said after the ceremony. "But winning or not winning, I am happiest when I am singing before a responsive audience."
Hsiao Li-chu was all tears—no words at all—when her name was announced as best TV female singer. She recovered on reaching the stage: "I want to present the award to my mother, who has seen me winning it in too many dreams." Off stage: "I still feel as if I were in a dream." The other contenders for the award, Feng Fei-fei and Huang Ying-ying, did much better than Hsiao in record sales last year. But they did not perform on as regular a basis as Hsiao, and that may have greased her win under the new judging guidelines.
Prof. Wang Hong-chun, of mass communications at National Chengchi University, was presenter for news categories. He called on TV-radio news staffs not just to passively record the news, but to search, with care and love for society, for public needs and to provide accurate information.
Li Tao and Liu Chi-wei won the award for best TV reporting for a special series, Analysis of the Psychology of Mainland Chinese Students in the United States. For one month, evening viewers heard the mainland Chinese students, faces hidden, telling, via a special recorder to distort and disguise their voices, of their lives on the mainland, their cravings for freedom, and their unwillingness—or inner struggles—in connection with returning to the mainland after completing their studies. "Working on this feature made me realize how precious freedom really is," Li Tao told the awards audience.
Feng Hsiao-long took the best radio reporting award for his work on the 1983 Taiwan area sports meets. "I really cannot consider myself better than the other two contenders," said Feng, "and just consider the nomination as the win. But, I get to keep the trophy."
Chen Yueh-ching and Kao Hsin-tan won the award for best hosts for a TV news program. Although CTS (China Television Service) News Magazine has been nominated for the last three years, this is its first success. A pleased Kao noted, "I want to comment on the cleverness of the judges, for only the cleverest judges can appreciate the works of the cleverest people."
The awards ceremony was highlighted with colorful musical and dance interludes. Liu Wen-cheng, a three time Golden Bell winner, presented a medley of his hit songs—the only rock music all evening. Ou-yang Fei-fei flew in from Japan—for a rare appearance before a Taiwan audience—and sang the Chinese version of her recent Japanese pop hit, Lost Love. A talented performance by the youthful Lanyang Dance Troupers of Drumming-out the Peace delighted the audience.
It has never been a secret that show presenters are as much show stealers as the performers. Wen Chiao-yu, the youngest presenter, is a case in point. He won his own honors last year as the Golden Bell's youngest awardee. This year, as a presenter, he came out on stage in a high chair and equipped with a candy bar gift for the best TV child program host. Shen Chun-hua, his favorite, won.
The 1984 Golden Bell Awards competition ended, and there were, inevitably, winners and losers. But, as Dr. James C.Y. Soong, GIO director-general, pointed out, there was little luck involved. The rules of the game mandate continuous effort in pursuing progress and perfection for those who hope to gain the recognition.