Singapore’s The Noose nominated for prestigious Emmy award
Local television news parody show, The Noose, has spread its wings past the island's shores.
The series, which has produced memorable characters such as Barbarella, Leticia Bongnino, and B.B See, and pokes fun at all things Singaporean, has been nominated for Best Comedy in the International Emmy Award.
Started in 1969 by The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, the international Emmy award recognises the best television programs produced outside of the U.S.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday, Alaric Tay, known for his Andre Chichak character in the show, posted, "Woohoo!" and a link to the International Emmy website showing the nomination.
Producer of The Noose, Prem Anand, told Yahoo! Singapore that, "The production team is thrilled with the nomination. It represents all the hard work we've put in for the past four seasons.
"It's really special because it's not something that happens everyday," said the 38-year-old.
When the show first started out in 2007, he recalled that the production team had no experience in doing sitcom, and added, "Nobody knew where the show would be going."
But the six-member strong team decided that Singaporean audiences were ready for something different. While there were criticisms of the the show initially, Anand said that they worked on refining the concept of the show through feedback.
Four seasons later, the 30-minute show has propelled the likes of actress Michelle Chong to stardom. Chong is best known for her alter egos such as Filipino maid Leticia Bognino, sarong party girl Barbarella and mainland Chinese KTV hostess, Lulu.
Leticia was such a popular character that fans of the show started multiple fake Twitter accounts.
While stars Michelle Chong and Chua Enlai were overseas when the announcement was made, they exchanged texts with Prem throughout the whole day. Prem even said that Chua, who plays news anchor B.B. See and field reporter Jacques Oui (pronounced Jack-ass wee), popped a champagne bottle after hearing the news.
The Noose will be competing with three other comedy shows: Benidorm Bastards from Belgium, Breaking Up from Brazil, and Facejacker from the United Kingdom.
According to Prem, the last time that a Singapore TV series was been nominated for an International Emmy was in 2007.
TV show The Arena, where secondary school students competed in a debate competition was nominated in the Children and Young People category. The first season was hosted by Adrian Pang.
Winners of this year's International Emmy Awards will be announced in November at the Hilton Hotel in New York City.