Popular 'Sisters' named best video program of 2020

After weeks of being the talk of nation, the popular reality TV show Sisters Riding the Winds and Breaking the Waves has received new recognition.

The show gathering 30 female celebrities aged over 30 was named best program of the year at the 21st China Video Awards 2020, an annual honor sponsored by the Guangdong-based magazine New Weekly.

"As a great show with splendid performances, the program successfully captures the turbulent emotional undercurrent of modern women's stress, speaking for their anxiety and showing courage to resist societal bias over age and gender," said jury members.

The Bad Kids, a popular online series, took home two awards, respectively the best producer for Dai Ying and the best online series of the year.

Starring award-winning actor Qin Hao, the series examines the complexity of humanity through a thrilling murder witnessed by three children. Interestingly, the drama also produced the catchphrase "Will you climb mountains with me?", which originated from the opening scene where the protagonist and murderer pushes his parents-in-law from a peak to fall to their death.

Likening it as a "rising sun" to raise the bar of domestic movies and TV series with more realistic themes, juries hailed the drama for "looking into some gray areas in modern society through a mysterious murder".

"The drama tries to piece together and map the complex realities of life with unconventional plots, interlaced relationships, emotional expressions of love and evil, and an open ending. With all these elements, it unravels the cruelty of life," said jury members.

China Central Television's documentary series The Firsts in Life snapped up the best documentary award, while the upcoming TV series Ancient Love Poetry starring actress Zhou Dongyu got the most anticipated TV drama award.

Aside from popular TV programs, the awards also highlighted individuals.

Zhong Meimei, a 13-year-old vlogger who has accumulated 1.4 million fans online thanks to his funny short videos impersonating teachers, has seen his video-sharing app Kuaishou's account win the award for best self-made media outlet.

Zhong, currently engaged in preparation for school exams, didn't show up at the Beijing award presentation ceremony on Nov 22. But an executive from Kuaishou who came to fetch the trophy for Zhong responded to online controversy over whether Zhong's campus life would be affected by his online popularity.

"Zhong wanted me to tell netizens who care about his studies that he is fine with school subjects. Recently, he just got nearly full scores in the classes of Chinese and geography," said Shen Yan'an, a manager with Kuaishou.

In addition, the best livestreaming host award went to Luo Yonghao, a Chinese entrepreneur who does livestreaming on Douyin and sold merchandise worth over 110 million yuan ($16.7 million) during his first livestreaming sales session.