May Pang's Asian Media Internet News

America is just beginning to touch upon the new Nintendo DSi XL but Japan has even bigger plans. Nintendo has announced the new hand held system in the works, the Nintendo 3DS (tentative name).

This system will bring games to life with new 3D graphics, without the glasses of course. Nintendo hasn't released much detail about the system except that it'll be revealed at E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo).

Nintendo plans to release the system in Japan after March 2011.

What does everyone think? Will the system be a hit? And when will this hand held system be released in America? Of course after investing in a DSi, I'm a bit skeptical but still extremely curious. The countdown to E3 starts now!

Credit: Siliconera

Asian American Renaissance: Possibilities for the New Century was one of my favorite workshops at the ECAASU 2010 conference at UPenn. It was led by founder and director Ryan Takemiya of RAMA a "Bay Area base collective of young Asian Americans devoted to fostering the creation of a new Asian American Arts Movement for the new century". What does Asian American Renaissance mean? Renaissance in the sense of the word means "rebirth" a cultural movement. When I saw the name of this workshop I knew that I definitely would have to attend it and learn about the Asian American cultural movement in our new century.

To start off the workshop, Ryan put up pictures of four houses that represented White, Black, Latin, and Asian cultures. I found this very interesting and it made me understand what Ryan was conveying to us. The White culture had a big, upper-middle class home that was made unique from the other cultures with their house made up of country music, St. Patrick's Day, certain cultural dress, slang, and so forth. The Black culture had a nice house too, except that the house was more distinct from the White culture and others. It has its own style, dialect, traditions and so forth that are not African that no one else in the world has. The Latin culture has a distinct house as well, but their house is distinct from both the White and Black culture. It is a culture that is not completely the same as the cultures of Latin America.

When we were shown the picture for the Asian American house, there was just a foundation. Ryan said that this foundation was laid in the 1970's by leaders like Helen Zia, Yuri Kochiyama, and Congressman Mike Honda. Our generation must now build a house upon the foundation that they built. Ryan believes that it is a mistake to use the word "fusion" to describe an innovation. The word that should be used is "cultural synthesism", because it is evolution. He said that, "every generation creates something new for every community, they take whats around them and change it, creating something entirely new and yet it resembles everything that came before it". Ryan said that the "greatest example of cultural synthesism is the Harlem Renaissance" and that Black Americans at that time were in a similar place that Asian Americans are in now. Asian Americans are still facing identity and self-esteem issues. They have yet to create their own cultural synthesism.

From the Harlem Renaissance, Black Americans came out with their own style of dress, slang, poetry, dance: swinging, boogie, the twist; music: jazz, blues, and all of this spread across the entire country. Every generation went through cultural synthesis. But what do the Asian Americans have that they can call their own? It was pointed out in the workshop that fortune cookies, egg roll, and Sriracha sauce are things that were invented by Asian Americans. But Asian Americans need more, that can't just be it. Ryan asked us if anyone had been to Hawaii. We all replied in the negative. He had been to Hawaii where he said Asian Americans there have done just that. They have their own distinct culture, slang, food, that have undergone cultural synthesis which Asian Americans on the mainland lack.

Ryan said that, "We need to be creators of our own cool. The masters of our own identity. We don't want someone to create our identity for us. We've been protesting Hollywood and media literally for 100 years to let more Asian Americans in". He said he has some problems with this. They are that "they give us only one role, they are giving it to us, why are we not giving it to ourselves"? He also said, "We are still outside the doors. We're not in the boardroom, we're begging them to give us table crumbs".

Asian Americans are beginning to start their own publications, clothing lines, music labels, etc.. Ryan said that, "We need to stop being just employees and be creators, give back to your community. One of the biggest problems Asian Americans  have is that we don't even talk to each other, we're almost afraid of each other, we're afraid to collaborate with each other".  As Asian Americans, we must demand that whatever we create we do not make spectacles of ourselves and become unethical. The internet is a huge platform to get your voice out there and create something.  Anyone can access it and once people put up for example, a YouTube video, word spreads fast simply by people telling a friend, who in turn tells another one, and so forth.

Be sure to visit Ryan Takemiya's websites StudioRama and GO!STYLE and as he says, "Go out there and create something".

Asian American Male Sexuality by editor William Lee, owner of website Better Asian Man, was one of the workshops that I attended during the ECAASU 2010 conference held at UPenn from March 4-6. I was very excited to attend this workshop as Asian American male sexuality is something that isn't talked about much. Many people either don't care to talk about it or it's something to talk about behind closed doors as if it's a shameful thing. I enjoyed the workshop because William is an effective speaker who can engage his audience during his lecturing.

We started off the workshop by making lists out of keywords that we were given to us for men of different races. For example, for the Black male: big, outgoing, Will Smith, President. The Latin male: sensual. The Asian male: Bruce Lee, stylish, hair gel, video games, pretty, emotional, and dominating. We were then shown pictures of archetypes for Asian, Black, and Latin men. The one for Asian men was Jackie Chan and the fictional character "Long Duk Dong". The audience said that Chan was silly and always a martial artist. Dong was annoying, asexual, and he was never going to get "any." The Black male archetype was Wesley Snipes from the movie Blade. He was strong and conquering. For the Latin male, a picture of Enrique Iglesias was shown who many of the girls in the room said was sexy.

People were also upset how Asian males are often portrayed in extreme roles to prove how non-stereotypical they can be. They are uncaring characters or drug addicts like in the movies The Perfect Score and Harold and Kumar go to White Castle. Sometimes Asian men are in roles only as nerds, criminals, and they don't take the initiative. What was also discussed is the long gap in between movies with a lead Asian man with a love interest. Jason Scott Lee had one in the movie Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, then Rick Yune in the movie The Fifth Commandment. Look at the years in between those two. How many are there that we can even count on the big screen that are shown to the American masses? Why isn't the Asian male scene as a sexy, complex human being?

The Asian men in the room became very upset when a picture of Nicolas Cage was put up along with his wife, Alice Kim. They said it's an image that they see almost on a daily basis. Cage is seen as very dominant over Alice, who is seen as the typical submissive Asian woman. People are accustomed to seeing a White male paired with an Asian female and not an Asian male with a White female or with any non-Asian female. Mainstream society is more likely not to accept images of Asian males cast in strong roles on the big screen where they are no put in a stereotypical or asexual role.

We as a people must demand a change in images of the Asian male. In response to the lack of Asian male roles that portray complex characters on the screen, many Asian Americans have decided to produce and direct their own movies through various Asian film festivals, for example, the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival (SFIAAFF), New York Asian Film Festival (NYAFF), Asian American Film (AAF), and so forth.

For more information about Asian male sexuality and how they are portrayed in the media, please visit BetterAsianMan.com

And can someone give him my number?  Recently Johnny's Entertainment's talent income has been leaked. Weekly Magazine reporter says “Osaka area local show or partial evening newspaper exposed yearly income. Best 5 are;
#1: Masahiro Nakai 500M yen
#2: Takuya Kimura 450M yen
#3: Sho Sakurai 300M yen
#4: Shingo Katori 250M yen
#5: Taichi Kokubun, 200M yen.”

The listed amount is just a guess based on a comparison of a 2005 bulletin from CM client and TV Company clients. However, since the recession there should have been a decrease. “According to bulletin in 2005, the income of year 2004 of Nakai was 220M and Kimura was 270 yen. Yearly income must be increased.” Well looks like Johnny's Entertainment is smacking this recession in the face.

Last year Kokubun was in several variety shows such as "Wanda." He also worked on a Nippon Television series called "Ninety-nine round and round" and a TBS series called "Tainocchi"

Katori  worked on a TBS drama series "Kochira Katsushika-ku Kameari Koen-mae Hashutsujo" and starred in, Daihatsu "TANTO." He also hosted Terebi serve "SmaSTATION!!"

Sakurai released three albums and an Arashi DVD, and the CM. He participated in the NTV drama series "The Quiz Show" and stared in the hot movie "YATTERMAN."

Kimura stared in the TBS drama "MR.BRAIN" and "Tamahomu."

Nakai is acting in this month's Fuji 9 drama called "Konkatsu". Despite the show "SMAPxSMAP" taking a hit from Fuji TV, Nakai still managed to make the most out of the Johnny's.

Top 5 Highest Income in Johnny's
1. Nakai Masahiro (SMAP)
2. Kimura Takuya (SMAP)
3. Kusanagi Tsuyoshi (SMAP)
4. Kokubun Taichi (TOKIO)
5. Sakurai Sho (Arashi)

Top 5 Johnny's Talents Annual Income & Potential Rating
1. Nakai Masahiro, 540 million yen, 8.2%
2. Kimura Takuya, 420 million yen, 8.1%
3. Sakurai Sho, 330 million yen, 6.6%
4. Katori Shingo, 250 million yen, 5.3%
5. Kokubun Taichi, 200 million yen, 4.8%

edit: From 'Shukan Emi Show' broadcast on 6th March.

Top 5 Earners in Johnny's Entertainment
1. Nakai Masahiro (SMAP)
2. Kimura Takuya (SMAP)
3. Kusanagi Tsuyoshi (SMAP)
4. Kokubun Taichi (TOKIO)
5. Sakurai Sho (Arashi)

• Nakai Masahiro is paid between 3 million and 4 million yen (US$33,171 - US$44,228) for every program he hosts. Currently hosting 6 regular programs. Has 4 solo CMs.
• Kimura Takuya has 9 CMs. The earnings vary but starts from a base of 50 million yen (US$552,850).
• A premium CM that stars all 5 members of SMAP reportedly costs about 500 million yen (about US$5.5 million)

I personally thought Sho would have made it higher on the list. "YATTERMAN" was a big hit and Arashi CD's are always playing non stop where ever I go.  Also the advertisements are EVERYWHERE in Shibuya station and its hard for me to miss anything Arashi on my daily commute. But I guess SMAP takes the cake because as I wait for the train I am forced to stand in front of an obnoxiously large poster of Kimura Takuya...
Source: http://npn.co.jp/article/detail/08201117/
http://entameblog.seesaa.net/article/143065221.html
http://entamegeinounotubo.seesaa.net/article/143685481.html
http://unleashthegeek.blogspot.com/2010/03/top-5-earners-in-johnnys-entertainment.html

ECAASU 2010 was such and interesting experience for me. This was my first time attending ECAASU and I was indeed excited since I was with my AMIN girls and I was going to see some awesome acts plus meet new people. Friday, we attended the opening ceremony. I have to say I had an awesome time seeing acts like comedian Hari Kondabolu, AfterSchoolSpecial, Taiyo Na, and Magnetic North. We even had the opportunity to meet Taiyo after his performance.

On Saturday, us ladies decided to split up and attend the different workshops given at the convention. I attended one that caught my interest: The Misconception of the Pilipino by Unipro. That workshop really had me asking myself some questions such as; since I am a Filipino-American, why is it that not a lot of people know about us? Or others mistake us as someone else? Are we original or just imitators? It was a very interesting workshop, I intend to learn more about it and broaden my knowledge of the Filipino Culture.

Although some of the workshops were informative, the time spent there could have been used better. Instead of attending only three workshops, the sessions could have been cut shorter so the attendees have more options. Many of the workshops became a slew of opinions one after the other and would become bland after the first hour or so. More of the important topics such as Asian Americans in the entertainment industry should've been more in-depth than it was. In that hour and fifteen minutes, we should have been discussing what can be done to break the stereotype instead of leaving the topic for the last minute. Topics such as these were left open-ended and left some unsatisfied with the answers.

Another topic that seemed appealing at the beginning was Asian Americans and Sex. Unfortunately, this session wasn't all that it seemed to be.The line to get into this session was long and even had to move to another room. After the discussion had begun, the attendees became bored. For the people sitting in the back, it was a horrible session. No microphone was given so no one could hear. Many of the people did not care for the comparison between sex and World War II either. It was a strange and faintly heard discussion that needed lots of work.

Overall, ECAASU had its ups and downs. The highlights of ECAASU seemed to be the opening ceremony and "Illuminate" (the official after-party). It seems that this conference needs a lot of work, especially with the sessions. Although the conference itself was bland. We did have fun meeting new people and exploring the wonderful city of Philadelphia. AMIN would definitely come back to Pennsylvania. ECAASU, not so sure.

Check out the pictures from ECAASU 2010!

Hollywood is at it again. They are trying to justify the replacement of the cast for The Last Airbender movie, which is an Asian animated series,  with a majority White cast. It doesn't make it more ok to "yellow face" actors just because the writer and director is of Asian descent. In my book that makes it even worst. After much protest from many people, some of the characters in The Last Airbender movie have been replaced with a few people of South Asian and Middle Eastern descent.

We don't like taking crumbs. Hollywood has decided to place these "ethnically correct" actors in stereotypical roles. The hero is White and he/she must save the poor, helpless minorities. They also threw in people of African descent into the Earth Kingdom to satisfy those who fight for diversity yet there are no African people of descent in the Earth Kingdom. It sounds like a huge mess. Hollywood is just throwing things in here and there to make us shut up. Thinking of making people shut up, the Facebook group, "People Against Racebending: Protest of the Cast of The Last Airbender Movie" was removed on March 15 by whom? We can only speculate. Word spread fast about the group being taken down. People mobilized through emails and other means of communication. It worked, someone was watching. The group was restored on March 17.

When I first saw the preview for The Last Airbender I was very disappointed. I am a fan of this animated series. It is downright racist to replace Asian people with White, Black, or any other non-Asian race or ethnicity on the movie screen. Hollywood has done this countless times over and over again. They did it with Charlie Chan, The Good Earth, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Norbit, Prince of Persia, and countless other movies.

I really appreciate it, more than anyone could imagine, when Asian directors do NOT sell out. For instance,  director Justin Lin who filmed the famed movie Fast and the Furious and following sequels, was offered the money to film his movie Better Luck Tomorrow if he would change the characters to an all White cast. That's racist Hollywood no matter which way you cut it. So thank you Justin Lin! Keep the hope alive!

A movie shouldn't be popular just because it has White or Black actors in it. What's sad is that a lot of America still feels this way. It takes US to change this mindset. You can join the Racebending group, "People Against Racebending: Protest of the Cast of The Last Airbender Movie", here: Facebook.

After months of on going investigations on his Shine A Light Tour concerts showcased December of last year, due to inappropriate performances of sexual behavior and banned songs, Big Bang Leader Kwon JiYong aka G-Dragon, has been cleared of all charges.

YG Entertainment has stated that even though songs such as Korean Dream and She's Gone were banned because of ratings, the concert itself wasn't banned, making the concert unable to break any laws performance wise.

As for the 'bed' scene in the song Breathe, showcased during the concert, it was meant for show so that charge was cleared as well.

Even though G-Dragon's concerts were cleared of charges, they were to pay a fine of 3,000,000 won ($2,600 USD) as demanded by police. YG Entertainment's staff took care of that matter, as G-Dragon was the performer, he must take responsibility for his actions.

It's good that G-Dragon wasn't put into jail and that leaves a big sign of relief for Big Bang fans right? At least no drastic actions were taken on the fans' part, aside from ongoing support and petitions stating that G-Dragon did nothing wrong.

G-Dragon is also expected to release a collaboration with Flo-Rida in the near future, another controversy due to plagiarism cleared when his album and title song 'Heartbreaker' was released in August 2009. Are fans excited to hear this?

source: allkpop

We decided to start the Lunar New Year off right by partying with Muzo Entertainment at Club Polaris in Philadelphia, PA Friday night, February 12. We had awesome DJs fueling the club with dance music the entire night. Tracey and Kira Delara rocked the club with their sultry voices and sexy moves. Johnny Phlo, Decipher, Shock-1,  had the place thumping with their smooth beats and rhymes. There was a giveaway for the first 100 girls that entered the club. They received a beautiful Swarovski Snow Flake Crystal.

There were a couple of local fraternities there that decided to show off some of their dance moves early on in the night. Many couples hit the floor grinding to the tunes that came spinning out of the turn tables. Later on in the night, a couple of b-boy crews hit the floor performing some awesome moves. Soon a battle ensued between the best b-boys under the roof. They did head spins, flares, windmills, jackhammers, flips, and more. The crowd roared in excitement and I felt like we were on our own version of America's Best Dance Crew.

May Pang's AMIN got the onstage experience with Muzo Entertainment as they rocked the stage. Philadelphia, being Decipher's hometown, shined that night, singing some his songs, including 'There She Goes.' After an awesome performance, the DJ began to play some songs from Korean singers, such as Tae Yang, 2ne1, and 2PM. We even got the opportunity to see the slick dance moves of Decipher. It was an awesome night!

Check out the footage from the event!

Check out the photos from the event!

Who are they you say? Some of you may know the members of Quest Crew from various cultural events, stage shows like Kollaboration, and TV shows such as So You Think You Can Dance, and America's Best Dance Crew. The members consist of Dominic "D-Trix" Sandoval, Hokuto "Hok" Konishi, Ryan "Ryanimay" Conferido, Ryan Feng, Steve Terada, Brian "Hirano" Hirano, Victor "Vic" Kim, Andy "Rocket Man" Luo, Lydia Paek, and Aris Paracuelles

Let's face it, Quest Crew is becoming known worldwide! Ever since their winning victory on MTV's America's Best Dance Crew, they're in high demand. From members traveling to different parts of the country and the world, to performing in front of thousands in various award shows and sports games; they're gaining more popularity wherever they go.

With hectic schedules going underway, May Pang's AMIN had the opportunity to interview some of the members of Quest Crew.

(1) How do you think the election of Asian Americans to the White House and the Cabinet will affect your life as an Asian American?

I believe the election of Asian Americans to the White House Cabinet will help direct American political focus slightly more towards issues in Asia. Conversely I think young Asian Americans might start showing more political awareness. Growing up with few prominent Asian American political figures, I never developed much political interest. However, as the American political picture becomes progressively more diverse, I believe young Americans, not just Asians Americans, will become more proactive in the political scene as a larger population of role models from different ethnic backgrounds becomes available. - Andy Luo

It would definitely be a milestone for the advancement of Asian Americans in American culture. How it would affect me in daily life will depend on the stances the certain individual takes, but it does raise the status of Asian Americans in the eyes of the population. - Ryan Feng

(2) Who is the person that most influenced you in your life?

The person who has influenced my life the most would definitely be my older brother. As healthy competition, our sibling rivalry has always drove me to compete and perform at my best. At the very least, I've always tried to emulate his positive traits. - Andy Luo

My mom. - Aris Paracuelles

Salvador Dali, Itou Naoki. - Hokuto Konishi

The person that most influenced my life is my mom. She has supported me in everything that I do. - Steve Terada

My parents, their hard work allowed me to do what I am doing now. - Ryan Feng

(3) What are your favorite kinds of video games to play and why?

Favorite video games huh? Well I love/hate anything with a compelling story. I love them because they keep you in the game, you have to keep playing to get the whole story because the stories are really good. I hate them because they keep you in the game, you HAVE to keep playing to get the whole story because the stories are THAT good haha. Also, a lot of them are single player and it's just more fun to play with a buddy. - Andy Luo

Fighting games because it's really fun bashing on my friends.. and tower defense games because I'm really good. - Aris Paracuelles

Strategy RPG, puzzle, and TOWER DEFENSE!!!... if u play them you'll understand why. - Hokuto Konishi

Fighting games. They tap into my competitiveness when I play my friends! - Steve Terada

Shooting games. A great way to deal with aggression. - Ryan Feng

(4) What got everyone into dancing? What was the trigger?

I'm not sure if everyone means any dancer on earth or just the ones in Quest, but in general I think the reason anyone starts dancing is because it just feels good. Being in rhythmic motion is completely different from your everyday standard movements. It's almost a separate state of mind, one in which you can express yourself and interpret the world in your own little way. - Andy Luo

The power dance has to move someone's heart... I was infected by the dance bug! - Hokuto Konishi

I got into dancing because my sister starting dancing in the collegiate dance scene in college. I saw how much fun it looked and it was a good way to meet people socially. - Steve Terada

Curiosity was my trigger, I always thought it was cool and something I might be able to do, so I tried. - Ryan Feng

(5) State one secret fact about a Quest Crew member that people don't know about (The catch: Another member from the group has to be the one to state the fact. e.g: Victor has to say one fact about Hok, and Hok has to say one about D-Trix, etc)

Did you know...Lydia started dancing with us when she was 15. (before Quest was started) - Andy Luo

Conferido just bought a new hair straightener and I'm pretty jealous cuz its a really good one. - Aris Paracuelles

Victor used to eat buffets every week as a kid. - Hokuto Konishi

Aris can catch anything you throw at him! It's amazing! - Steve Terada

(6) Random Question: Cinnamon Toast Crunch: With or Without Milk?

Cinnamon Toast Crunch with milk of course. All cereal needs milk. CTC could actually go both ways but with milk is nicer. Side note...Lucky Charms all the way. - Andy Luo

W/ MILK BABY! - Aris Paracuelles

WITH!! ahhh I'm craving milk now... mmmmm - Hokuto Konishi

With milk. - Brian Hirano

With milk of course! - Steve Terada

With, how else do you get cinnamon milk? - Ryan Feng

(7) What was it like being in Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel?

I wasn't in the movie, but it was pretty funny seeing my real good friends on a huge screen. - Aris Paracuelles

It was amazing to do a movie with the guys... but I wish we were in avatar too... I could've rocked my hair. - Hokuto Konishi

We slept and chilled in our trailers till it was night time almost and we would do multiple takes of our routine. We had long but relatively low stress shoot days. - Steve Terada

Very cool to be in a movie. It was my first. - Ryan Feng

(8) If you weren't a dancer, what would you be doing now?

If I wasn't a dancer I'd be doing exactly what I am doing right now. Working as an Aerospace Engineer by day and hitting the gym at night. - Andy Luo

I would be handling a lot of computer stuff.. building, fixing and what not. As if i don't do that already. I would be a nurse I suppose haha. - Aris Paracuelles

An artist. - Hokuto Konishi

If I wasn't dancing right now I'd probably be in business school or working in finance. - Brian Hirano

I would be working on a martial arts company with my best friends and furthering my career as a stunt man. - Steve Terada

I'd like to think I'd be doing photography. - Ryan Feng

(9) Who are some known artists the group would want to work with?

Well I know we really wanted to work with Black Eyed Peas. I loved doing ISA show with Far East Movement. - Andy Luo

Jonas Brothers! BEP! - Aris Paracuelles

BUSTA RHYMES!!!! ... it would be such an honour. LMFAO... fun guys. Melody Gardot... amazingly sexy. - Hokuto Konishi

Personally I would like to work with artists like Usher, Justin Timberlake, Black Eyed Peas, or Ryan Leslie. - Brian Hirano

We would definitely love to work with Black Eyed Peas. I think their energy and style would be a good match for Quest. - Steve Terada

JUSTIN, JANET JACKSON. - Ryan Feng

To Quest Crew and their wonderful staff, thank you again VERY much for an awesome interview! We looking forward to working with you again in the future.

Chen Qiao En, also known as the “Lingerie Queen," has had a lot of success recently. Last year, she was on of the top idol drama stars cashing in a total revenue of 35,700,000 TWD. Recently, Chen finished filming another seasonal lingerie advertisement and has express feelings of entering the movie industry later in the year. However, with her wishes of expanding her career there are rumors that Chen has also put a halt on her love life with Roy Qiu.

After Chen completed the filming of "Easy Fortune Happy Life," she started her 7 month relationship with Qiu. However, there are rumors about Chen having secret meetings with directors from Taiwan, China, and Hong Kong after she finished filming "Jia Qi Ru Meng." In order to pursue her dreams of being a movie star, Chen's schedule for the second half of the year is going to be pretty hectic and full of movie deals. It has become harder for Chen Qiao En to meet with Roy Qiu and contact has been minimal since she has become very busy. Many of their friends did not support the relationship from the beginning which may have also created the rift between the two.

Chen is set to release a new lingerie commercial soon and will also release a book. The book contains many photos and even precious moments spent with her cat.
Well thats a bit sad that their seems to be no more time for the couple. At lease Chen gives her cat some love!

original source: Epoch Times
translated by minchong92 @ http://asianfanatics.net