Alex Ko: The New Billy Elliot on Broadway is Asian!

By Jen | Thursday, September 10, 2009

Alex Jete 417x600 300x431 Alex Ko: The New Billy Elliot on Broadway is Asian! Thirteen year old Alex Ko has been named to be the new Billy Elliot on Broadway. A gifted dancer and half Chinese-American, Alex Ko is set to become the first Asian-American Billy Elliot in the Broadway production of the Elton John musical. Yes, even Asian boys can dream of being Billy Elliot!

When Stephen Daldry, the director of the musical and movie, was asked about colorblind casting the role of Billy Elliot with a black or Asian Billy, he was quoted as saying, “It’s an interesting question. I hope audiences aren’t taken aback. Given the talents of these kids, any doubts about their right to be in the show would be swept away.”

The London production of Billy Elliot was first played by its first non-white Billy by Matthew Koon, whose family is originally from Hong Kong.

I’m excited to hear the reviews of Alex Ko’s performance starting at the beginning of October. Meanwhile, check out his YouTube video of a beautiful solo he dedicates to his father, Sam Ko, who died from liver cancer several years ago.

| Posted in (featured), The Arts | 9 Comments

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POP 88 #24 – Reel Asian Film Festival

By Xxxtine | Monday, November 24, 2008

POP 88 #24 - Reel Asian Film Festival [ 27:56 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1144)

ra banner 2square POP 88 #24 Reel Asian Film Festival
Brr, is it cold enough for you? (If you’re on the northeastern seaboard, that is.) Hopefully to warm you — or at least your ears — up, here is some new music from Anna Tsuchiya, Chemistry and Park Jung Ah. I also have an exclusive interview with Deanna Wong, Executive Director for the Toronto International Reel Asian Film Festival.

For comments, questions, suggestions, feedback and requests, leave a message on our newly revamped website or shoot me an email at christine at popcast88.com. We’ve also got some merchandise, so check out some of the stuff over at Zazzle! Tis the season of giving!

Again, if you like what you hear and would like to support the podcast, please show it by supporting the artists by buying their music via the links provided.
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| Posted in Entertainment, Movies, Music, POP 88, The Arts | No Comments

Shopping With GASP!

EA Brings on Maggie Q in Need For Speed: UnderCover

By Ben | Sunday, November 23, 2008

Electronic Arts is trying their luck at tempting the Asian markets with some of the hottest Asian stars out right now, and they’re placing their bets on Maggie Q.

Don’t get me wrong; Maggie Q is absolutely gorgeous and is a great actress, although I see her more often in American films than Asian ones in the more recent years, and has done more spokesperson and modeling lately. But trying to gain market share with Need For Speed: Undercover in Asia? Come on.

Here’s the thing: there are several franchises of racing games that dominate the racing markets in Asia — none of them owned by EA, as far as I can tell. If you’re going to break a market, the best way is to either take something that a hot racing series in Asia (Initial D) and play off that, or you become the publisher of an already hot racing title (Gran Turismo) and you kick it up a notch.

I think the biggest mistake made here by EA Asia head Jon Niermann is assuming that using American tactics of playing up a hot Asian star will actually sell the item in whatever Asian market they’re targeting. That’s not the case in China, since they’re numero uno in pirated goods and Maggie Q is more of a Chinese action star than Japanese so it’s not there either, although I’d assume that the big console gaming market would be in Japan. Why an American guy is heading an Asian operation isn’t making sense to me; it wouldn’t worry me if it weren’t for the fact that this guy just isn’t understanding the Asian gaming market.

Just my own thoughts, but every single racing game on the console side that has been super popular in Asia has always had their beginnings on a Japanese publisher: Ridge Racer and Gran Turismo come to mind since those are the ones that still hit it big in the Akihabara District.

Maggie Q might be enough to break into the video game market, but somehow I would put my money on other franchises before Need For Speed: Undercover. It’s not that it’s a bad franchise, but I think that it’d be better suited here in the United States and will actually perform better in sales here than in Asia regions.

| Posted in Observations, Video Games | No Comments

Being half

By Ben | Saturday, March 8, 2008

Learned a brand new spanking word yesterday. Hapa. Yeah, I know… I’ve been sheltered.

But after an interview with Kina Grannis, I realized that I had no clue what this word meant and asked. When you got right down to it, it basically it meant that you were half-white, and half-asian. Dang. There’s a word for that too? “Wow, that’s pretty cool,” I thought.

So in looking it up some more, I found that it originates from Hawaiian and while it used to have a derogatory connotation, it seems that over time there are enough hapas out there that have turned it around and made it a word that was to be proud of. Like Kina, there are entire communities and organizations proud of being hapa.

That in itself is pretty dang cool. Then another thought dawned on me. There are many of whom Hollywood made to be as asian which are in fact hapa. Off the top of my head, Russell Wong and Maggie Q come to mind.

Wow. I knew they were exotic looking, but I never knew there was a name for it. Learn new things every day I suppose.

Photo Credit: (nayrb7)

| Posted in Observations | 26 Comments

Should Asian Americans support English as the only language?

By Ben | Sunday, December 2, 2007

It’s interesting that this topic is coming up left and right in the political realm right now due to the amount of immigrants that have migrated to the United States. While the current topic seems to surround the Latino community and Pajamas Media has a great article on why supporting bilingualism could hurt more than help, it is interesting to take this topic to our own community to see where it stands.

Myself, I know where I stand. But let me put my perspective into context. What’s interesting is that in growing up in a very Asian-rich environment, I never did see Home Depot write anything in Chinese. Ever. ESL students had to struggle by themselves in classes since there was no help from people that spoke Mandarin or the like unless there happened to be students of the same cultural backgrounds. Heck, one of my good friends growing up moved here from Taiwan in fifth grade and spoke practically perfect English in high school.

However, there is a lot of argument for actually having multiple language translations and teaching people in their native language. It is easier to learn, for those that are actually trying to learn. But then if you give them a way out of learning the language by offering it to them in their native tongue, then what incentive is there to actually learn the language itself?

From my personal experiences, I remember that my Spanish teacher in high school for second year Spanish told us that he would be teaching us in full Spanish and no English at all. Talk about total immersion. If that didn’t force you to pay attention, you would never get anywhere. I also have found that those of us (Asian Americans) that emigrated usually fought, bit, clawed our way through learning the language of the land of the free and home of the brave. They didn’t get any break, so no really sure why anyone else should be. It only made all of us stronger, learn English better, and assimilate into the Western culture easier.

Yet, is this how we should move forward? Perhaps not.

Photo Credit (Korean Resource Center 민족학교)

| Posted in Current Events, Observations, Politics | 34 Comments