Faithless
12-20-2003, 01:19 AM
Hardly.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/entertainment/7379706.htm
Asians enjoy watershed moment, but it feels like year of the goat
BY MARIAN LIU
Knight Ridder News Service
They don't fit the pop-star profile, yet Asian-Americans have been winning top honors in popular entertainment competitions. From Jin Tha MC's victory in the rap contest Freestyle Friday on BET's 106 and Park to Dat Phan's win on Last Comic Standing, Jun Song's sweep of Big Brother 4 and Harlemm Lee's victory on the NBC reality show Fame, it seems to be the Year of the Asian.
''The fact that we all won from a popular vote means the public is ready for Asian-Americans in the mainstream media,'' Lee says. ``But why is it that all these Asian-Americans won, and there was never a story? Instead, they blatantly disregarded this watershed moment in television history.''
For 20 years, Lee whose soulful R&B sounds a lot like Justin Timberlake's, has fought the stereotypes that prevented him from launching a career in music years ago. At 36 and ''still awaiting a growth spurt'' at 5 feet, 3 inches, he seemed an unlikely contender.
Lee's dream of working as a singer was initially his escape pod from the harsh realities of growing up in Detroit. There, ''it was either black or white,'' says Lee, who is Filipino. ``I definitely was made to feel different. I grew up with all that prejudice that made you feel like you're less than whatever.
``Music made me feel really complete. When I was singing and dancing on stage, it was empowering.''
Lee was 17 when he decided to become a singer, but with endless rounds of unfruitful auditions and having a recording deal with Polygram Records fall through, more than a decade passed.
So he got a ''real job'' as an office assistant at a hospital. But he continued to dance as a means of ''spiritual survival'' and changed his name from Gerry Woo to Harlemm Lee, a more ''ethnically ambiguous'' symbol of his renaissance.
Then, one day in dance class, he saw a notice about Fame and decided to go for it. His victory helped confirm what he had believed all along.
His advice for aspiring entertainers: ``Stop complaining, stop crying victim and start crying racism. If I gave up, I wouldn't have been in Fame. This wouldn't have happened to me.''
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/entertainment/7379706.htm
Asians enjoy watershed moment, but it feels like year of the goat
BY MARIAN LIU
Knight Ridder News Service
They don't fit the pop-star profile, yet Asian-Americans have been winning top honors in popular entertainment competitions. From Jin Tha MC's victory in the rap contest Freestyle Friday on BET's 106 and Park to Dat Phan's win on Last Comic Standing, Jun Song's sweep of Big Brother 4 and Harlemm Lee's victory on the NBC reality show Fame, it seems to be the Year of the Asian.
''The fact that we all won from a popular vote means the public is ready for Asian-Americans in the mainstream media,'' Lee says. ``But why is it that all these Asian-Americans won, and there was never a story? Instead, they blatantly disregarded this watershed moment in television history.''
For 20 years, Lee whose soulful R&B sounds a lot like Justin Timberlake's, has fought the stereotypes that prevented him from launching a career in music years ago. At 36 and ''still awaiting a growth spurt'' at 5 feet, 3 inches, he seemed an unlikely contender.
Lee's dream of working as a singer was initially his escape pod from the harsh realities of growing up in Detroit. There, ''it was either black or white,'' says Lee, who is Filipino. ``I definitely was made to feel different. I grew up with all that prejudice that made you feel like you're less than whatever.
``Music made me feel really complete. When I was singing and dancing on stage, it was empowering.''
Lee was 17 when he decided to become a singer, but with endless rounds of unfruitful auditions and having a recording deal with Polygram Records fall through, more than a decade passed.
So he got a ''real job'' as an office assistant at a hospital. But he continued to dance as a means of ''spiritual survival'' and changed his name from Gerry Woo to Harlemm Lee, a more ''ethnically ambiguous'' symbol of his renaissance.
Then, one day in dance class, he saw a notice about Fame and decided to go for it. His victory helped confirm what he had believed all along.
His advice for aspiring entertainers: ``Stop complaining, stop crying victim and start crying racism. If I gave up, I wouldn't have been in Fame. This wouldn't have happened to me.''