The movie "Rose Story" was nominated for Best Drama at the Golden Eagle Drama Awards (China), but Liu Yifei - who plays the main role of Huang Yimei - was not named in the list of 6 candidates for Best Leading Actress.
Many people wonder if the reason for Liu Yifei's absence is due to poor acting performance, sudden elimination or other reasons.
However, according to Chinese media, this controversy from the beginning was not related to acting but stemmed from a mandatory regulation on citizenship.
Liu Yifei is not eligible to participate in the individual award categories for actors of the Golden Eagle Awards because she does not have Chinese nationality.
The Golden Eagle Award Regulations clearly state that contestants in individual categories for actors must have Chinese nationality.
This regulation has been applied stably for nearly 20 years since 2006 and does not target any individuals. Previously, actors such as Tu Cam Cao Oa (Swiss nationality) and Tran Xung (US nationality) also could not compete for the award for similar reasons.
Meanwhile, the categories for works are not limited to the nationality of the creative team. Therefore, "Rose Story" starring Liu Yifei can still be nominated in the TV series category, while she herself is not qualified to compete for an individual award.
Therefore, some information saying she was "expelled from the nomination list" is not entirely accurate. But from the beginning, she was not eligible to compete for Best Actress because she had US citizenship.
At the previous Golden Eagle season, Liu Yifei once entered the first round of voting thanks to "Dream of Rose" and "Going to the Windy Place". However, in the second round of voting, she no longer appeared in the competition list due to nationality issues.
The film crew of "Rose Story" also confirmed that this nomination is only for the entire work, and the main actress cannot compete for individual awards due to the above regulations.
A part of the audience believes that it is reasonable for a national award to set requirements for citizenship and everyone must comply with the same regulations.
Meanwhile, many fans commented that the character Hoang Diec Mai played by Liu Yifei left a deep impression, so the fact that she could not compete for the award due to nationality issues still made them regretful.
Some other opinions questioned the review process, saying that the organizers should have carefully checked the nationality condition right from the first round of voting, instead of letting the audience pay much attention before removing them from the list, causing doubts about the rigor of the process.
