The Vijay Awards are presented by the Tamil television channel STAR Vijay to honour excellence in Tamil cinema. The awards are decided by a jury, consisting of noted filmmakers, critics and technicians, while winners in a separate category named "Favourite awards" are chosen by public voting. The awards have been sponsored by Reliance Mobile, Univercell and Close Up. The first edition of the awards was held to select the most popular artists, however not for any particular work or year. In the first year of the awards, viewers were asked to choose their all time favourite film and artists in 9 categories - Favourite Hero, Heroine, Film, Director, Music director, Playback Singer Male / Female, Villain and Comedian - while 10 Jury Special Awards were also introduced. The format was completely reworked the following year and from 2008 onwards, the works of the preceding year were honoured, with the majority of prizes being selected by a committee, while awards in five categories (Favorite Hero, Heroine, Film, Director and Song) are chosen by public voting. The award for Favorite Song was introduced in 2008.Vijay awards has become a prestigious award in between the Film fraternity. Reports says that it had surpassed the Filmfare award south. Vijay TV's TRP rating is maximum for Vijay Awards telecasting
