Archive for the ‘Celebrity’ Category
‘Asian Susan Boyle’ is a Taiwanese Man-Boy Nicknamed ‘Little Fatty’
A bow tie-wearing, chubby-cheeked 24-year-old male from Taiwan is being called the “Asian Susan Boyle.” His name is Lin Yu Chun, and he is the latest singing sensation to garner millions of views on YouTube (nearly 4 million at last count).
Never mind the shape of his haircut, Lin will bowl you over with his singing. Jaws dropped when he appeared on a talent show on Taiwanese television and sang Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You.” (A monster hit of a song written by Dolly Parton in 1973, and later recorded by Houstin in 1992.)
He “floored the judges this week with his pitch-perfect rendition,” declared ABC News.
(Watch the Youtube video of his performance, below.)
Growing up a chubby kid with a plain face, Lin reveals that he was ridiculed for his appearance. “Being fat draws a lot of mockery in our society,” he told the Daily Mail in an exclusive interview. (Yes, he speaks English!)
He found solace in music, reports the Daily Mail, locking himself in his room for hours as he sang along to Celine Dion, Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston, especially her songs from the soundtrack, “The Bodyguard,” in which “I Will Always Love You,” is included.
“I played it again and again even though my parents couldn’t stand it any more and asked me to stop,” he said.
Lin, who loves to sing and dreamt of a career in music, finds encouragement in his newfound stardom. “I now have more confidence in pursuing a singing career,” he told the Daily Mail. “You don’t have to be a good-looking man or woman to succeed. Just be yourself and try your best.”
Padma Lakshmi’s Baby Daddy Revealed!
Adam Dell and Padma Lakshmi in February 2009
Adam Dell is the father of Padma Lakshmi’s baby girl, who was born on February 20 in New York City. Till now, Lakshmi has refused to name the man who fathered her child.
“A friend revealed that he dotes on his daughter and wants to see more of her,” reports the Daily Mail. “Another said: ‘They are trying to work it out. They are trying to avoid anything messy.'”
The baby’s name is Krishna Thea Lakshmi.
Dell is a professor of business and technology at Columbia Business School in New York, invests in technology companies and is also a law professor in Texas, reports the Daily Mail.
Padma Lakshmi dotes on her new baby.
Asians at the Academy Awards — Oscars Red Carpet 2010
Well, unlike last year’s Oscars when we saw two Asians take the stage to accept their Academy Awards, this year, the only Asians we saw at the Oscars were on the red carpet on the arms of their partners.
There was Jason Reitman (nominated for Best Director for Up in the Air) and his wife, Michele Lee:
Shaun White’s Favorite Food? Chinese!
Olympic gold medalist and snowboarder Shaun White was interviewed on celebrity gossip show The Insider tonight and quizzed about his favorite things.
Favorite food? “Chinese food,” he said.
We are so proud he picked an Asian cuisine. But it’s too bad the interviewer didn’t ask him to name his favorite dishes. What does he like? General Tso’s chicken? Beef broccoli? Fried rice? We want details!
His other favorites:
Favorite musician: Jimmy Page
Favorite TV show: Lost
Reality show he’d most like to be on: MTV’s Jersey Shore.
White revealed he is currently single and that he is attracted to girls who sing or play instruments.
Daniel Henney Is Damn Hot
Model and actor Daniel Henney is so damn hot one wonders why he isn’t a bigger star — especially in America.
I only discovered him a few years ago when my mom was watching a Korean drama called My Name is Kim Sam Soon. I was keeping my mom company on the couch, mildly amused by the drama about a pudgy female pastry chef. Then Henney appeared on the screen and I sat bolt upright. “Who’s that?” I asked my mom, my eyes devouring his perfect face.
Daniel Henney with bear. (Facebook)
- Daniel Henney
Apolo Ohno’s Mother Was Teenager When She Gave Birth to Future Olympian
The fascination with Olympic short speedskater Apolo Ohno’s estranged mother shows no signs of abating.
The obsession is stoked, in part, because so little is known about her. It’s been reported that her name is Jerrie Lee, she is Caucasian, and she and Apolo’s dad, Yuki Ohno, divorced in 1983 when Apolo was only a year old.
It was unusual for the time, but when the couple divorced, it was the father who got full custody of the son, rather than the mother. This, despite the fact that Yuki owned a hair salon in Seattle, Wash., worked 12-hour days and had little time to take care of a small child. (One Halloween, little Apolo sat in his father’s salon wearing his costume, waiting to be taken trick-or-treating as it got darker and darker, and later and later. His father couldn’t leave; he had to tend to his clients.)
Why did Apolo’s father get custody? Why not his mother? Didn’t she want her baby?
One clue is revealed by a 2002 newspaper article which states that Apolo’s mother was only 18 years old when she married Yuki Ohno, a Japanese immigrant who was 37 years old at the time. When they divorced a year later when Apolo was still a baby, Yuki got custody. Maybe his teenaged mother knew she was ill-equipped to raise a child at the time.
Whatever the reason, it appears Apolo was raised with little or no contact with his mother, and hasn’t talked to her for decades. “After 19 years, it would be strange,” Apolo told the St. Petersburg Times in 2002. “I don’t have any (lost child) hotlines out for her.”
Yuki wants to keep his ex-wife out of the picture. ”There’s no story about her,” Yuki told Sports Illustrated in 2002. “No story. It’s insignificant to what he is now. We’ve got to keep it that way.”
Insignificant? No mother, whether estranged or not, is ever insignificant to a child. She may have had nothing to do with his becoming an Olympian, but as the person who gave birth to Apolo, she cannot be dismissed. Her non-presence has got be a factor in his life. It must affect him in some way that he did not experience a mother’s love while growing up.
As for the mysterious Jerrie Lee, does she watch Apolo on television when he competes in the Olympics? Did she watch several years ago when he won Dancing with the Stars? Does she think, “There is my child.” Or does she change the channel?
Yu-Na Kim is Catholic
If you watched closely during the Winter Olympics where South Korean figure skater Yu-Na Kim took gold, you’ll notice she did something familiar and peculiar before her free skate competition.
As she glided to the center of the ice to begin her routine, Yu-Na quickly made the sign of the cross, clasped her hands together and closed her eyes for a second, as if praying.
Turns out, Yu-Na is Catholic. “She converted two years ago,” my mom tells me, by telephone, the day after Yu-Na won the gold medal. “Her Catholic name is Stella.”
Stellaaaaaaa! (ala Marlon Brando in Streetcar Named Desire).
Catholics are a religious minority in South Korea and only account for some 5% of the population. The rest of the South Korean population is mostly Buddhist, Christian or Protestant.
Yu-Na’s mother, who also converted to Catholicism, couldn’t watch her daughter skate during the final. She was too nervous. Yu-Na’s mother stayed in a hallway in the ice rink with her eyes closed, praying fervently.
All that praying seems to have worked.
Gatorade Drops Tiger Woods For Good
Hah! Despite his lengthy, televised apology last week, Tiger Woods has lost yet another sponsor.
“Add Gatorade to the list of endorsement deals that Tiger Woods has lost,” the Associated Press reported on February 26.
It’s not that one is glad Tiger is losing sponsors, but if Tiger thought his emotionless and defiant apology on February 19 would be sufficient to begin repairing his public image, he needs to have some new people advising him.
Last November 25 — two days before the fateful car accident outside Tiger’s home — it was reported that Gatorade would be discontinuing the Tiger Focus drink. It had nothing to do with revelations of Tiger’s numerous extramarital affairs as the decision had been made months beforehand.
But Gatorade confirmed to the Associated Press on February 26 that it has ended its relationship with Tiger, except for continuing some work with his foundation.
“We no longer see a role for Tiger in our marketing efforts and have ended our relationship,” a Gatorade spokeswoman told the Associated Press. “We wish him all the best.”
Did Kim Yu-Na Have Plastic Surgery?
Yu-Na Kim
Even before she thrilled the world and gave a gold-medal winning performance at the Winter Olympics, rumors were swirling that South Korean figure skater Kim Yu-Na might have gotten plastic surgery. The 19-year-old athlete appeared too beautiful, too perfect.
Ridiculous websites posted pictures of Yu-Na as a young teenager wearing braces and compared it to current photos of the celebrity athlete — still in her teens — speculating whether she had gone under the knife.
Has Yu-Na gotten plastic surgery? No! It’s called make-up, you morons.
Yu-Na Kim, modeling
Mao Asada’s Earlobes Freak Me Out
Japanese figure skater Mao Asada is a gifted athlete. On the ice, she moves beautifully.
But I’m freaked out by her earlobes. They’re so thick, so fleshy, so … chewy-looking. They’re as big as cups and look like they’d catch water if she walked outside in the rain.
You know who has those same ears? Buddha. Seriously. Every depiction of Buddha has long earlobes.
Big earlobes are actually a good thing in Asian culture, signifying luck or prosperity or a big heart — at least that’s what I picked up growing up Asian.
Mao Asada’s earlobes still freak me out, though.
Asianista.com 