Taipei: Taiwanese television host Dee Hsu on Friday honored her late actress sister Barbie Hsu with dark humor and heartfelt gratitude during the finale award segment of the Golden Bell Award for Best Variety Show. “My sister and I are the two people who knew each other the best in this world,” Hsu said during the ceremony. “So I know she would want me to attend the event today to let my mom remember that even though my sister is gone, I am still here.”
According to Focus Taiwan, Friday marked Hsu’s first public appearance in more than eight months since the passing of her sister in Japan earlier this year. Barbie Hsu, who gained fame across Asia in 2001 for her role in the TV series “Meteor Garden,” died of pneumonia at the age of 48 after contracting influenza during the Lunar New Year holiday in February.
While Dee Hsu focused on hosting and Barbie on acting, the sisters were known for their close bond. Dee Hsu stepped away from the public eye after her sister’s death, and many anticipated her return on Friday. She skipped the red carpet event and only appeared on stage as part of the headlining presenters’ act for the Golden Bell Award for Best Host in a Variety Show, for which she was a nominee.
Hsu was introduced on stage by her longtime co-host, Kevin Tsai, who had won the same award with her in 2005 for their show “Kangsi Coming.” Hsu walked on stage to “Ten Minutes of Love,” a song popularized by her and her late sister as their music duo act “A.S.O.S.”
Tsai encouraged Hsu to speak to her late sister, and instead of a long speech, Hsu sang an excerpt from the A.S.O.S song “Sisters of Shiu,” which Barbie Hsu had written to illustrate their bond. In honor of Barbie Hsu, Dee Hsu and Tsai engaged in banter, using dark humor as a tribute to Barbie and Dee’s shared love for it.
The winner of the award was revealed to be Dee Hsu and her co-host Patrick Liu for their show “Dee Girl’s Talk.” In his acceptance speech, Liu expressed gratitude to Barbie Hsu for her influence and thanked her for making the hosting opportunity possible.
Dee Hsu dedicated the award to her mother, explaining that her mother felt a significant loss in her heart after Barbie’s passing. This was Hsu’s second time hosting the award in her career and her first time accepting the award onstage in that category.
While Dee Hsu had been nominated multiple times, Liu had only been nominated once before. The judges, led by Liu Soung, unanimously decided on Hsu and Liu as the winners after two rounds of deliberation. The Golden Bell Award for Best Variety Show was part of a two-night ceremony at the Taipei Music Center, with the second night dedicated to the Golden Bell Award for Best Television Series in Taiwan.
