Well this is surprising and a very good outcome for C-actress Yang Zi. She’s mostly an idol actress with some roles in mainstream serious dramas but as a grown up child actress with over 20 years in the industry she is very well known in and out of it. This year at the upcoming 2024 Magnolia Awards, Yang Zi was nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role for Lost You Forever part 1. She’s the youngest among the other nominees Ren Su Xi, Tang Yan, Yan Ni, and Zhou Xun, and also the only one nominated from an idol drama. I actually went back and the last time an actress was nominated for the Magnolias in an idol drama was Zhao Li Ying for Journey of Flower in 2016, and even earlier than that it was Liu Shi Shi in 2012 for Bu Bu Jing Xin. Neither won and pundits don’t expect Yang Zi to win as Magnolias are aimed at serious and mainstream dramas so Yang Zi getting this nod is validation enough of her excellent performance in LYF. And knowing what I know about the second half of the story in LYF, she’s going to put everything through an even bigger wringer of tears.
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Congratulations Yang Zi, 🥳🍾. Whether she is deserving to others or not to some, it no longer matters. Cannot please everyone.
I hope we can watch good projects from her.
This is already good, it’s hard for idol to get award anyway
I wonder if zhou xun would win, I haven’t watch other drama in the nomination other than imperfect victim
I'm betting on Tang Yan, her role in Blossoms Shanghai is a big breakthrough for her. And recently there seems to be some intention to bring across the point to certain actresses that doing "big female lead" roles doesn't mean they are better or more deserving of an award than the female leads in "big male lead" dramas.
It will not surprise me if Tang Yan won too. Blossom Shanghai is huge in China
That seems plausible, lot of artist is too focused on being the Main Character nowadays
She already winner in our Heart Zimi around the world....
She deserved this Award...
May GOD make she aways happy and always working hard... aminn
BiG Congrats For YZ and Zimi always suport YZ ...
Big congrat for yangzi
May i ask is yangzi Idol before? so suprise...
She was so good in Lost You Forever! Well deserved
Lmao the most mocked Magnolia nominee, only there to make Tang Yan's victory go smoother. I thank the cnetz for days of comedy.
Another jealous troll from Weibo😂😂 you guys have been running wild since the announcement
Stay pressed while she continues thriving 😁😁
Congratulations Yang Zi. Well deserved!
What is this distinction between Idol and Non-Idol dramas? I don’t understand why it’s divided like that? If a drama is a good it’s good. Why try to make something sound inferior when it isn’t. Lost You Forever is excellent and the only drama where I felt Yang Zi really went into the meat of the character. There are many other popular dramas being called idol dramas and it’s not fair. I’ve enjoyed dramas like Bad Kids as much as Lost You Forever. Why put them on two different pedestal? Even Kdrama doesn’t do that so harshly. It undermines all their hard work.
I totally agree with u @ Trisa, acting is acting, non idol drama with bad acting will still tank, has much has the idol dramas. I don't know why there is a clear cut between the two either , when I feel most acting needs to be good to bring the characters to life n it goes for both. I feel some if the so called idol actors are as good has non idol actors in terms of acting.
If the idol actors/actresses are that good, they would have transitioned to the serious dramas instead of continuing in idol dramas. If they can't, then it means they are not versatile enough.
They're both niche.
I personally don't think these so-called "serious" actresses may do well in idol dramas.
It's a niche skill set.
For example Zhou DongYu... she may do well in movies, but that idol drama, she just didn't nail it in my opinion. Visually jarring.
@Sylvia Movies are not comparable to dramas. Movies depend highly on the director's skills. A good movie director can make a mediocre actress appear great at acting. Look at how many movie actors and actresses have fallen flat on their faces after transitioning to dramas.
How can international audiences be a drop of the ocean when China only has 1.3 billion people and there are over 8 billion people in the world. That means at least 7 billion people outside of China are potential audiences and Netflix caters to over 190 countries with a massive audience base. International audiences love idol dramas far more than non idol dramas means the Magnolia Awards are the one lacking in sense and not up to date with trends. Eventually the brain washing about serious dramas will fade and idol actors dominate the Magnolia Awards. Yang Zi and LYF are just the start. The crack has appeared and will continue to grow and your misconception about inferior production will become moot. Good dramas and acting can come from anyone and in any drama and international opinion matter a lot. It completely dominated Korean dramas and the same will happen with Chinese dramas because international fanbases bring more recognition and monetary gains and Netflix has very deep pockets. All the Global ambassadors China is churning out is only because of the recognition of the international audience. Ever Cdrama star now has an Instagram account on which they interact with foreign fans heavily.
@Rest The keyword is "potential". Netflix's total number of paid subscibers is only around 270m right now. There's still way lesser audience interested in Cdramas compared to Kdramas, even though they certainly are increasing. I'm actually quite skeptical about the whole "international audiences loving idol dramas far more than non idol dramas" thing. I certainly prefer non-idol dramas more, plus based on my personal experience the older overseas Chinese ethnicity also prefer non-idol dramas like Empresses in the Palace, Story of Minglan, The Advisors Alliance etc. And if you take aging population into account, well there's more audience preferring non-idol Cdramas.
You are overestimating Yang Zi and Lost You Forever. The Magnolia Awards has nominated idol dramas before, like Journey of Flower which is 8-9 years ago, but to date idol drama nominations are still kept to the minimum. Sure, Kdramas cared a lot about international audience and Netflix, but look what has happened? The quality of Kdramas declined. We don't get as many fabulous hits now compared to the 2010s heydays.
Idol dramas are mostly focused on romance and is geared towards younger female audience, though I'm sure some ladies in their 30s and above also watch them. These idol dramas also tend to have inept production crew because all the good ones will definitely move into the other genres when given the chance.
Have you watch the non-idol Chinese dramas like The Knockout, Blossoms Shanghai, Imperfect Victim? If you have, you'll definitely see the difference.
Why should dramas aimed at women in their 20s be “inferior”? Are you saying men in their 20s are superior because they watch thriller or dark dramas. That is a very sexist and misogynistic perspective that has been pushed time and time again. It doesn’t speak volumes about crew and production units who also view “romance” dramas as inferior. It means they don’t have what it takes to make good and excellent romance movies. Titanic is not inferior to Schindlers List. If anything it’s more iconic and has better acting by completely new young actors. I agree this whole distinction is nonsense and patriarchal.
@Riz Chill. The truth is that current idol dramas are indeed inferior in terms of production values. And don't place words in my mouth, I didn't say men in their 20s are superior. @Trisa was asking for the distinction between idol and non-idol dramas, that's why I said idol dramas are dramas which mostly focus on romance and is geared towards younger female audience, alright? By the way, Titanic is not just a romance movie, it brought up social inequality as well and executed it with high production values. I hope you are not trying to claim Lost You Forever as being comparable to Titanic?
Completely agree with everyone on this post saying idol dramas are not in any way inferior. Young women watching romance dramas is not inferior and in fact most people prefer cute romance dramas to heavy dramas. Look at LR it performed all the other heavy dramas by a huge margin. There is nothing inferior about the production of any of the idol dramas that have been popular till now. Be it LYF, LBFAD or BIA. They have all been good and the audience has enjoyed it and that is all that matters. As long as the drama is fun to watch then it doesn’t matter who is watching it or how much money was spent on it or who the director is. Most of the prestige dramas are extremely boring with actors never stepping out of their comfort zone. Which is why Uncle Sam Shik is tanking while LR is so popular. All romance dramas are just as high quality as non romance dramas. This is not even an argument. Women are the key demographic for everything and their views matter the most for the success of any drama or movie. Idol dramas are not inferior and they never will be. The popularity of Cdrama comes only from Idol dramas and they will always be extremely popular and high quality as has been. Good directors with half a brain will know that romance is what sells the best in any language and every country.
@Dine What is LR? Lost Romance? LOL. Are you bringing K-dramas into this conversation? K-dramas works differently, their production teams excel in modern romance and Koreans love romance stories.
Chinese idol dramas do not reach as far as K-dramas in terms of audience yet. The biggest Chinese dramas so far that reached overseas are mostly non-idol palace and politics-related dramas (The Untamed is an exception) because they appeal to a wider audience. In any case, this is C-ent, where idol dramas often turn out to be shoddy pieces of work and the Chinese prefer less focus on romance (Nirvana in Fire, Empresses in the Palace). They also prefer genres that are more grounded. Idol dramas, Xianxia especially, is too unrealistic.
@Lilith that is not true. The biggest drama of 2018 was Story of Yanxi Palace and it was even bigger than the Game Of Thrones that year. The Untamed and Hidden Love were also huge. Hidden Love was in the top 10 of Netflix in various countries outside Asia as well and even Falling Into Your Smile which released belatedly on Netflix trended in the top 10 of numerous countries. On the other hand Blossoms in Shanghai nobody outside of China has even heard of. If Netflix doesn’t pick it up then it’s not popular and the international audience will never know it existed. All the popular dramas on Viki are idol dramas too. So if nobody is watching these serious dramas outside of China then how can they be good? How can you decide quality when most people prefer idol dramas. How can you say they are not superior. Awards shows like this always change their tastes once they realize that certain dramas appeal more to an international audience and hence bring in more recognition for the country overall.
@Lemon Can you elaborate further on why you mention Story of Yanxi Palace and Hidden Love? I made several comments above so I'm not sure which part are you replying to for these mentions.
I don't think it's right to count on Netflix and international fans to determine the quality of a Chinese drama. International audience are like a drop of water compared to the vast sea of local audience, plus they aren't as well-versed in the Chinese language and culture, and serious dramas tend to contain deep subtle references and meanings that only the Chinese audience or people well-versed in Chinese language can understand. Did you just say award shows change their tastes for the international audience? Well, this goes to show that you don't understand C-ent at all.
Even I don't understand why it is done like that, good drama and acting should not be undermined cause it is an 'idol drama'. Sometimes it just pisses me off
Agreed that this distinction makes no sense. Acting should be judged not if its audience is 20 year olds or 40 year olds. The thought process of people who believe in this division is also problematic. Lost You Forever is one of the best dramas made in recent times and deserves the recognition.