AFA is one of the the biggest anime-comic-game conventions in South East Asia; first held in 2008, the event is back again in 2009 following last year’s success.

Besides Shokotan, other celebs that will be performing at the I Love Anisong concert are May’N, Aniki and Yoshiki Fukuyama. Other sections of AFA09 include cosplay, toys & games exhibits, and maid cafe etc.

The organisers held a press conference on September 1 to officiate the 2009 event; check out the coverage by blogger Darkmirage, Alafista and Double.

More details and updates on AFA09’s official website or Facebook.

Anime Festival Asia

Previous: Anime Festival Asia 2008

Shokotan coming to Singapore for AFA09 from YeinJee's Asian Blog

With Mediacorp’s dominance, quitting the company is as good as quitting Singaporean showbiz altogether.

Naturally, wild speculations will slip in when an artist decided to quit at her prime without explanations… marriage, pregnancy or breakup are among those, but pretty much baseless at the moment.

A probable reason is that Fiona is seeking opportunities overseas. Hollywood is a possible destination; but is she good enough to go west? That’s another question to ponder.

Regardless, wish her well in her future endeavours, whatever it’s going to be.

Fiona Xie quits Mediacorp from YeinJee's Asian Blog

A great storyteller whom I personally admired, and a wonderful filmmaker adored by people regardless of races or religions. Rest in peace.

Sharing one of her last works, “Funeral”, a heart-warming TV commercial for Singapore’s Ministry of Community Development…

Yasmin Ahmad (1958 – 2009) from YeinJee's Asian Blog

The couple will register their marriage on May 16th and hold their wedding ceremony in September in Singapore, followed by a wedding dinner in Malaysia in October.

Congratulations to Christopher and Fann, best wishes.

Fann Wong and Christopher Lee getting married in May from YeinJee's Asian Blog

The actress was dressed in a low-cut halter-neck print dress on the TV show, which at first glance kinda looked like a bikini (because of the apron)…

While some netizens were criticising her outfit as distracting and too revealing, there are others who cheered it on, saying that Singaporeans are being too conservative.

Personally I think it’s not a matter of sexy or revealing, but appropriateness. I wonder if she would wear similar outfit if she’s cooking at home… and that’s probably the answer to whether the dress was appropriate for a cooking show or not.

I know there are lots of cooking shows where celebrity guests would don in revealing outfits on consistent basis, especially in some cheapskate Japanese and Taiwanese variety shows. But when it comes to a genuine culinary show, I would rather have the guests focusing on their cooking skills (or no-skills) instead.

Am I being too conservative? Hmmm…

Joanne Peh… too sexy to cook? from YeinJee's Asian Blog

The 43-year-old actress was supposed to collect her identity card on August 23, but failed to show up because she was filming a movie overseas. Her no show irked some Singaporeans who felt that she was disrespecting her new country… but it’s all history now.

Gong Li is married to a Singaporean businessman since 1996, so the switch of citizenship is not entirely surprising. Both China and Singapore do not recognise dual nationality, which literally means that she would have to renounce her Chinese citizenship.

Chinese netizens are generally unhappy about the news… lots of them are criticising Gong Li’s decision, while some are sharing concerns that this would become a trend among popular artists and younger generations.

Some netizens are showing support Gong Li though, stating that it’s her freedom to choose her own path; a few also stated that they would also like to migrate out of China if given the chances.

Gong Li officially a Singapore citizen from YeinJee's Asian Blog

The public responses seem pretty encouraging for the Singapore born sisters, Miko and Yumi Peh… but it’s still too early to tell how popular they could be.

Their vocals still need some brush up, but I think they are already singing better than lots of the pop idols these days; and apparently they can dance a bit as well.

BY2 – Not Mature Enough music video from YeinJee's Asian Blog

The 19-year-old singer is one of Japan’s hottest rising star. She made her professional debut in 2005, and her breakthrough came in 2008 as the singing voice for Sheryl Nome in hit anime “Macross Frontier”. Her two latest singles have both made it to the top 3 spots at Japanese Oricon chart… quite an achievement for a young talent.

While not exactly the same class (yet) with the likes of J-pop divas Ayumi Hamasaki and Namie Amuro etc… May’n’s performance is quite anticipated in this region that is so deprived of J-pop act. Besides, Japanese anime is getting huge in South East Asia these days; and Macross Frontier happens to be one of the most popular animes of the year. Plenty of otakus are awaiting her arrival for sure.

May’n to perform at AFA’08 in Singapore from YeinJee's Asian Blog

The concert will feature some of the hottest K-pop stars, including the Wonder Girls, Shinhwa’s Andy & Junjin, Jewelry, Chae Yeon, and V.O.S etc.

The concert tickets will not be sold through the usual outlets, but will be given away over the next few weeks through the key sponsors [more on Coolsmurf]

Other events during the festival are food fiesta, traditional dance performances, taekwondo demonstrations, film festival and contemporary art exhibition etc. Check out the event website for details and updates.

Sounds like a fun event; too bad that the concert tickets are not for sale.

Extra note – for those who are buying/selling tickets via the comment section; kindly trade at your own risk.

Korean Festival and K-Pop concert in Singapore from YeinJee's Asian Blog

Sun Nan & Zhang Hui Mei – Forever Friends

“Forever Friends” (永远的朋友), composed by Italian composer Giorgio Moroder and Chinese pianist Kong Xiangdong. The English lyrics are helped by Michael Kunze, while Chinese lyrics by Huang Xiaosheng.

This is my favourite candidate for the official theme song. Moroder, having wrote the popular “Hand in Hand” (theme song for Seoul Olympics 1988), certainly understand what makes a good theme song. It might not be the nicest song among all, but I think it’s the best that fits the occasion.

Sharing here is the Chinese version sang by Chinese singer Sun Nan and Taiwanese star Zhang Hui Mei; the English version is sang by Sun Nan and Hong Kong singer Coco Lee…

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Beijing Olympics theme songs collection from YeinJee's Asian Blog

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The Amazing Race Asia – Season 3 from YeinJee's Asian Blog

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.

MTV Asia Awards 2008 – winners from YeinJee's Asian Blog

Taiwanese pop star Jay Chou was the biggest winner, bagging five awards, including song of the year and best composer awards.

Malaysian Gary Chau and Singaporean Tanya Chua claimed the best male/female Mandarin singers title respectively (pic); Tanya also bagged the best producer award.

Taiwanese band Sodagreen won the best group/band award; while Hong Kong star Karen Mok produced the biggest surprise of the night by winning album of the year award.

The awards presentation was shown live at my TV channel… but it was so so boring. The red carpet sucked, the hostesses sucked and the performers talked too much.

The funniest thing is seeing the celebrities pretending to be interested with what was happening on stage when most of them were probably bored to the max.

19th Golden Melody Awards from YeinJee's Asian Blog

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.

2008 MTV Asia Awards coming to Malaysia from YeinJee's Asian Blog

Among the singers are Michael Wong, Daniel Lee, David Arumugam, Ning Baizura, Gary Chaw, Dayang Nurfaizah, Maya Karin, Penny Tai, Faizal Tahir and Jaclyn Victor etc.

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Various artist, Olimpik di Beijing MV from YeinJee's Asian Blog

The song is written by Xiao Ke and lyric by Lin Xi. Featured artist include Stefanie Sun, Wang Lee Hom, Wakin Chau, Gigi Leung, Jackie Chan, Richie Ren, Jolin Tsai, Huang Xiaoming, Han Geng, Karen Mok, Eason Chan, Jang Nara, JJ Lin, Joey Yung, Li Yuchun, Chen Kun, Nicholas Tse, Vivian Hsu, Lin Chi Ling, FIR and 5566 etc.

Beijing Welcomes You MV from YeinJee's Asian Blog