YeinJee's Asian Journal

The third season of The Amazing Race Asia (TARA) is set to premier on September 11, 2008 on AXN Asia. The franchisee of the popular US reality show is gaining popularity among Asians since making their debut in late 2006 and is back for good.

Hardcore Amazing Race fans might not like TARA for the fact that they are overusing celebrity participants to boost the ratings, as some fans felt that reality shows are meant for ‘real’ people.

Regardless, the strategy seems to be working well for AXN. The likes of Thai actress Paula Taylor and Pinoy model Marc Nelson seemed to gain lots of interest for the race in season two… and it’s not surprising to see that TARA3 is loaded with celebs’ participants yet again.

Among the notable celebrities are Malaysian TV hostess Bernie Chan and actress-producer Ida Nerina, Australian-Filipino model Geoff Rodriguez and Russian-Canadian Miss Universe 2005 Natalie Glebova who run for the Thais (her husband is famous Thai tennis star Paradorn Srichaphan) etc.

The fun part for me about TARA is the variety of people from different nations. The ‘usual suspects’ are from Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

A Korean pair is joining the race for the first time in TARA history… gone were the Indonesian, Japanese and Australian team, which I hope they will be back again next season.

Allan Wu again the host. Hoping for a good race and entertaining show.

The 6th annual MTV Asia Awards was held last Saturday (Aug 2) at Arena of Stars in Genting, Malaysia. I watched the delayed telecast at home… a decent show.

Don’t bother too much about the results though; their awards have always been dubious and it seems like the ‘tradition’ will continue to be preserved…

Favourite Music Artist Awards from Asia

Favourite Artist of Mainland China - Li Yu Chun
Favourite Artist of Hong Kong - Leo Ku
Favourite Artist of Indonesia - Yovie & Nuno
Favourite Artist of Korea - Super Junior
Favourite Artist of Malaysia - Nicholas Teo
Favourite Artist of Philippines - Chicosci
Favourite Artist of Singapore - Stefanie Sun
Favourite Artist of Taiwan - Show Lo
Favourite Artist of Thailand - TOR+ Saksit

International Music Awards

Favourite International Artist of Asia - Linkin Park
Best Hook-up - Timbaland feat. OneRepublic - “Apologize”
The Innovation Award - Radiohead
Breakthrough Artist - Leona Lewis
Video Star - 30 Seconds to Mars - “A Beautiful Lie”
Bring Da House Down - Muse - Muse Asia Tour (Jan 2007)
edc Style Award - Panic at the Disco
Knockout Award - The Click Five
Inspiration Award - Karen Mok

Watch some of the live performances on Mtv Asia.

Canadian pop-rocker Avril Lavigne is coming to Kuala Lumpur for a live concert on August 29 at Merdeka Stadium as part of her Best Damn Tour.

I used to like Avril a lot; if she was to have a concert here a couple of years ago I won’t hesitate to get a VIP ticket for the show… but now, I am not sure. Hmmm got to think fast, considering her popularity here (and some neighbouring countries), the nice seats could be sold out pretty soon.

Avril’s Malaysia concert promotional poster (via Galaxy)

Avril’s world tour will kick start on August 1 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania; the KL concert will be first stop in Asia. Other Asian countries that are part of the tour include Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan and China. [Check schedule]

There are 11 concerts in Japan, more than USA and Canada combined (10)… never knew that she is that popular in Japan.

Update - the KL concert is NOT cancelled… enjoy the show.

MTV Asia Awards (MAA) 2008 is coming to Malaysia.

MAA, one of the most popular pop events in Asia, is making its debut in Malaysia. The show will be held at the Arena of Stars in Genting City of Entertainment, Malaysia, on August 2, and will be hosted by Jared Leto of 30 Seconds to Mars.

There will be nine regional favourite artist awards and seven international awards to be presented. Among the nominees are Avril Lavigne & Justin Timberlake & Leona Lewis (International), Chris Li (China), Andy Lau & Eason Chan & Joey Yung (Hong Kong), Big Bang & Suju & Wondergirls (Korea), Nic Teo & Siti Nurhaliza (Malaysia), Stefanie Sun (Singapore), Jolin Tsai & S.H.E (Taiwan) etc.

As far as I know, none of the celebrities have confirmed their attendance yet, but judging from the past experiences, most of the winners were pretty supportive of the show… it’s one of the largest of its kind in Asia after all.

It’s not easy to get a ticket though; it’s something that money can’t buy. The fans have to get the tickets via contests by voting for their favourite artists [details]… the fans need some luck obviously.

Karen Mok is going to co-host the event with Jared Leto. Electrico, Jabbawockeez, Leona Lewis, Li Yuchun, OneRepublic, Panic at the Disco, Pussycat Dolls, Super Junior, Stefanie Sun, The Click Five and The Script have confirmed their appearances.

Update - the winners.

An aboriginal dance performance (video) in Hualian, during my Taiwan visit in late April. The video quality is rather poor because I was recording using a digital camera and not a viewcam, but it should be pretty cool if you have not witnessed similar stuff before…

There are about a dozen aboriginal tribes recognised in Taiwan, not sure which particular tribal dance it was.

The Taiwanese aborigines’ culture actually shares similarities with the aborigines in South East Asia, including my homeland Malaysia. They are all considered as Austronesian people who shared the same ancestors some thousands of years ago.

In fact, the bamboo-stick-dance in the video can be seen in Philippines and Malaysia-Borneo as well. It’s a small world after all :)

Back to Kuala Lumpur yesterday after a week of holiday in Taiwan. It was a nice trip, not great, but nice.

It was quite an unusual day for my family actually… besides myself, my brother and sister were flying on the same day. I flew back from Taipei, my brother to Philippines while my sister to Thailand. This thing doesn’t happen often ain’t so?

Well, holiday is over… plenty of work to catch up, and plenty of Taiwan pics and stories to share. Stay tune :)