Filipino teenage sensation Charice and international pop star Celion Dion sang a duet in Madison Square Garden on September 15; Because You Loved Me…
The amazing things is that the 16-year-old Filipina, who was discovered from Youtube, has yet to release a full English album yet; and with legendary music producer David Foster being her mentor, Charice’s future looks great.
Japanese leading entertainment agency Avex, which boost the likes of Ayumi Hamasaki, Koda Kumi, Amuro Namie and Ai Otsuka etc… is holding AWA 2008, its first ever worldwide audition in celebration with the company’s 20th anniversary.
JYP Entertainment, the Korean talent agency that boost the likes of Wonder Girls, J-Lim, G-Soul and Min will be holding an audition in New York City on September 13.
To apply for the preliminary round, send your video demos via e-mail to jypusa.auditions@gmail.com by September 9, 2008. Check the below promotional video for guidance…
SM Entertainment, the Korean talent agency that boost the likes of BoA, Kangta, TVXQ, Super Junior, SNSD, Ara and Lee Yeon-hee etc. will be holding the “08 SM Entertainment Global Audition” in Sept/Oct 2008.
The auditions will be held from September 19 to October 25 in Hawaii, Los Angeles, Washington DC, Orange County (CA), New York, San Francisco, Toronto and Vancouver. Nationality doesn’t matters, but it seems like they are looking for Asian faces only.
It’s funny that SM is calling it a ‘global’ audition when in fact the locations are limited to US and Canada. Regardless, it’s a chance for young Asian talents to try their luck if they are interested with the entertainment business.
Set aside the publicity purpose, SM do mean business with the auditions. If not mistaken Tiffany from SNSD and Henry from Suju-M were discovered from previous auditions… there might be a few more that I’m not aware of.
Check SM’s website for details and updates. Good luck if there is any taker here.
Moscow is the world’s most expensive city for expatriates for the third consecutive year, according to the latest Cost of Living Survey from Mercer.
Mercer’s survey is arguably the world’s most comprehensive cost of living survey and is used to help multinational companies and governments determine compensation allowances for their expatriate employees.
The survery covers 143 cities across six continents and measures the comparative cost of over 200 items in each location, including housing, transport, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment.
Top 10 most expensive cities in 2008
Moscow (Russia), Tokyo (Japan), London (UK), Oslo (Norway), Seoul (South Korea), Hong Kong (China), Copenhagen (Denmark), Geneva (Switzerland), Zurich (Switzerland) and Milan (Italy).
Surprisingly US have only one city in the top 50 (New York at 22nd)… and Canada don’t even make it into top 50. Perhaps we should migrate to that region instead lol.
Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi and her boyfriend Vivi Nevo are engaged and expected to tie their knots in 2009; Vivi Nevo told the press about their plans during a recent event in US.
Zhang Ziyi and Vivi Nevo in a recent event (Image from Eastday)
Vivi Nevo, 42, is a venture capitalist and one of the richest men in New York. He is one of the largest single shareholder in media giant Time Warner and also owns major stakes in some other companies through his investment arm.
The couple was first spotted together in January 2007 watching a basketball game in New York.
American Joey Chestnut retained his Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest title in 2008, beating Japanese arch rival Takeru Kobayashi after a close fight.
Each of them consumed 59 hot dogs in 10 minutes and forced the game into extra time, with Chestnut claiming the final victory after a five-dog playoff.
Video: Nathan’s International July Fourth Hot Dog Eating Contest 2008
Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest is arguably the world’s most famous competitive eating contest. The competition is held annually on US’ Independence Day (July 4) in Coney Island, New York, since 1916.
Takeru Kobayashi is a legend in the contest, winning it for six times in a role (2001-2006) before Joey Chestnut, nicknamed the “Jaws”, claimed the title in 2007 and successfully defending it in 2008.
Usain Bolt of Jamaica set a world record in the men’s 100m, clocking 9.72 seconds at the Reebok Grand Prix meeting at Icahn Stadium in New York on Saturday (May 31).
Bolt bettered the mark of 9.74s set by countryman Asafa Powell last September.
Usain Bolt with his proud record (Image from Xinhuanet)
I could still remember the days when people said that breaking the 9.80s barrier was impossible without drugs… but now it seems like 9.6x secs is something achievable.
