Check it out... AZN's Asian Excellence Awards are back, happening this month, May 16th at Royce Hall on the UCLA campus. It's essentially the Asian American version of a star-studded awards show, sort of along the lines of the VIBE Awards or the Latin Grammys. People love awards shows, and they're always looking for an excuse to get a bunch of famous people together for photo ops. I guess someone decided, hey, us Asians should throw a party to congratulate ourselves too! I attended last year's show, and had a pretty good time. No doubt, some parts were lame and kind of awkward. I mean, giving an award to Quentin Tarantino? Ridiculous. Having to sit through his drunken acceptance speech was downright painful. But on the other hand, it was nice to see the genuine talent in the Asian American arts and entertainment community acknowledged and celebrated. And besides, what else have we got?
The year's show will be hosted by Lost's Daniel Dae Kim and Battlestar Galactica's Grace Park, and will feature special awards presented to Chow Yun Fat, who will be receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award; fashion designer Vivienne Tam, who will be receiving the Visionary Award; and chef/restaurateur Nobu Matsuhisa, who will be receiving the Pioneer Award. According to the website, the show will feature performances by Margaret Cho, Kenny G(!?) and Dat Phan, and appearances from the likes of Masi Oka, Maggie Q, Kal Penn, John Cho, Dustin Nguyen, George Takei, Yul Kwon and others. Oh yeah, and my favorite, Bai freakin' Ling! Never before have so many famous Asians gathered in one place! So what the heck will Kenny G be doing there?
The show will also honor one reality television star and one Asian American independent film, and they're opening up online voting for viewers to decide the winners. You can choose between Yau Man Chan from Survivor: Fiji, Erwin & Godwin Cho from The Amazing Race, Chloe Dao from Project Runway, Yul Kwon from Survivor: Cook Islands, Sanjaya Malakar from American Idol and James Sun from The Apprentice for "Favorite Reality Star." For "Outstanding Asian Independent Film," the nominees are Americanese, Colma: The Musical, In Between Days, Inner Circle Line, Journey From The Fall and The Slanted Screen.
While the awards show will take place on May 16th, the show broadcast will air on AZN a couple weeks later on May 28th. For those of you who don't have AZN, this year they've partnered up with the E! network for an hour-long special that'll air on May 24th featuring highlights from the show. So you can tune in to see what a fancy Asian party looks like. I'm planning on attending the show again this year, and will include highlights and photos here when I get the chance. To learn more about the Asian Excellence Awards, go here. I suppose Adam Carolla will be put on serious watch this time around...