Singapore’s 27-year-old Hady Mirza was crowned the first ever Asian Idol in Jakarta on Dec 16.
Asian Idol is a Pop Idol style singing competition featuring winners of idol competitions from 6 Asian countries - Abhijeet Sawant (India), Mike Mohede (Indonesia), Jaclyn Victor (Malaysia), Mau Marcelo (Philippines), Hady Mirza (Singapore) and Phương Vy (Vietnam).
Viewers from the 6 participating countries sent in SMS votes to determine the winner. Contrary to the normal idol contest, two votes were casted instead of one so that the voters would have to vote for someone else that are not from the voters’ country (assuming the first vote will go to their countrymen).
Video of the winning moment - the song performed by Hady is titled “Berserah” (Malay)
Chinese workers have made a huge drum, decorated with 480 lanterns in Dalian, Liaoning Province, China. The drum measures 6 metres in length and 4.8 metres in diameter, with Chinese word rat (鼠) embedded at the surface on both sides of the drum to celebrate the coming new year.
Chinese calendar is represented with 12 zodiac animals for every 12-year cycle in specific sequence - rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. Next year will be the year of rat (begins on Feb 7 on Chinese New Year to be precise).
Workers working on the drum in early December (Image courtesy of Xinhuanet)
In Chinese astrology, the 12 zodiac animals represent different character and luck for a person depending on his/her birth date and time. The months and hours of Chinese calendar are also categorized by the same group of animals in particular orders, but some formal terms would normally be used instead of the zodiac animals when referring to months or hours.
South Korean figure skater Kim Yu-na has won the International Skating Union (ISU) Grand Prix of Figure Skating for a second straight year.
Kim Yu-na in action
The 17-year-old student successfully defended the title on Saturday (Dec 15) in Turin, Italy… holding off same age Japanese rival Mao Asada who has to content with a silver medal for two years in a roll behind Kim.
The Grand Prix final pits the six skaters with the best performance in the previous six rounds of the series. Kim is only the third skater to win the title twice in a row, after Irina Slutskaya of Russia and Tara Lipinski of the U.S. [Chosun]
Korean pop girls group S.E.S got back together to celebrate their 10th anniversary at a special reunion with fans on Dec 9. It was their first official appearance as a group in 5 years.
S.E.S made their public debut in Nov 1997 and was arguably the most popular Korean girls group in late 90s and early 2000s. The group was however disbanded (albeit unofficially) in late 2002 with all the 3 members (Bada, Eugene and Shoo) pursuing their solo career instead.
S.E.S 10th anniversary reunion… Bada, Eugene and Shoo (L-R)
Korean photographer Cho Seihon (曺世鉉) has unveiled his 5th installment of “Letter from Angels” photography collection, which features top Korean stars in bid to raise awareness and support for domestic adoptions.
These photos will be exhibited at Insa Art Center, Seoul, on December 12-19, with collaboration from Korean Social Welfare Society. Proceeds from this exhibition will be used to support child adoption welfare.
Among the stars that participated in this year’s photo shoot includes (from top to bottom) Han Hye-jin, married couple Hong Eun-hye & Yoo Joon-sang, Jang Hyuk, Joo Ji-hoon, Kim Jung-eun, Lee Mi-yeon, Park Jung-ah, Yoon Eun-hye, and the WonderGirls.
A brassiere encrusted with over 2500 diamonds is up for sale at a department store in Suzhou, China, with a price tag of RMB10 million (~ USD1.35 million).
The million dollar diamond bra (Image courtesy of Xinhuanet)
Nov 11: President General Pervez Musharraf imposes emergency rule, hoping to cling to power in the face of multiple challenges.
2. Taliban Offensive
Sept 29: A Taliban suicide bomber kills 35 Afghan troops and two civilians in the year’s worst suicide bombing in Kabul.
3. North Korea Agrees to Disarm
Feb 13: Months after testing a nuclear device, North Korea agrees at six-party talks in Beijing to take the first steps towards disarmament. Read the rest of this post »
Police officers wearing Father Christmas hats have been on patrol in the Philippine capital, Manila.
Santa cops!
Officials say the festive police force is being deployed in busy shopping areas to “maintain the peace” in the run up to Christmas.
The police are hoping that the move will bring them closer to the public. Residents are reported to be mostly in favour of the idea, as long as the officers continue to carry out their police work. [BBC]
I would love to see some santa cops in my city too; doubt that it would happen though.
