Kids From Fame Media: Nia Peeples Mingle Media TV Interview

Kids From Fame Media: Nia Peeples Mingle Media TV Interview: Nia Peeples Mingle TV Interview at GBK and Tic Tac's 2011 Emmys Gift Lounge at the W Hotel in Hollywood.

Check out Filipino-American Kimee Balmilero after Discovery Kids' HI-5

About Kimee Balmilero

Originally from Hawaii, Filipino-American actor Kimee Balmilero is best known as one of the 5 hosts on Discovery Kids' TV Series Hi-5.

Check out "When I Grow Up" a new show for kids Kimee created where kids get hands on with super cool, totally hip and always fun jobs! wigutv.com

www.kimeeb.com

Filipino-American Lou Diamond-Phillips will be a contestant on Rachael Vs. Guy Celebrity Cook-Off on the Food Network

 The TV landscape is so saturated with reality shows these days that it oftentimes takes celebrity contestants to convince viewers to tune in. We've watched famous and formerly-famous people dance, open restaurants and go on quests for love. Now Rachael Ray and Guy Fieri are adding another category of competition to the reality mix. Their new show, "Rachael Vs. Guy Celebrity Cook-Off" will feature celebrities showing off their cooking skills.

Ray and Fieri previewed the new show on "The View," (weekdays, syndicated) and described it as a mix between "Dancing With the Stars" and "The Celebrity Apprentice." The hosts will serve as coaches, as their teams compete against each other in cooking challenges. The roster of celebrity contestants will include Coolio, Cheech Marin, Lou Diamond-Phillips, Joey Fatone and Summer Sanders. "It's the only reality show the Kardashians are not on," Barbara Walters joked.

Read more on the Huffington Post.......

Filipino-American Actor and Comedian Alec Mapa Laurie Beechman Theatre in NY, February 9-11, 2012

Alec Mapa will perform his latest stand-up comedy show, Baby Daddy, at the Laurie Beechman Theatre, February 9-11, 2012. All performances are at 7:30pm.

The piece chronicles Mapa's latest adventures as he marches into the unchartered territory of gay fatherhood as he and his husband, producer Jamison Hebert, recently adopted a five-year-old boy.

Mapa starred on Broadway in M. Butterfly and additional New York theater credits include Dogeaters and A Language of Their Own. His solo show, I Remember Mapa won the LA Weekly Award for Best Solo Performance and has toured nationally.

Read more here at Theater Mania....

Interview with Filipino-American Jo Koy at SanDiego.com

Jo Koy started his career as an entertainer at an early age when his mother would make him perform for large groups of friends and family during Filipino events in his hometown of Tacoma, Washington. Once he graduated from high school, Koy moved to Las Vegas where he attended UNLV (to appease his mother) while simultaneously plotting to become professional stand-up comedian. After honing his chops on the Vegas strip for a few years, Koy realized he need to move to Los Angeles in order to take his comedy to the next level.  Koy has since appeared on The Tonight Show and has become one of the favorite panelists on E’s late night talk show, Chelsea Lately. Currently in the midst of his Lights Out tour, SanDiego.com had a chance to catch up with Koy from his home in Los Angeles and talked about his early years in comedy, advice on how to get representation as a young comic and why Filipino’s love Dr. Pepper so much.

From what I could gather your mom played a pivotal role in starting you out as a performer at a young age.

Jo Koy: She was in charge of this thing called the American Filipino Association. It was just a group of Filipinos that got together and hung out a lot and they would always through these events. She always seemed to be the one to take care of the talent, and that talent just happened to be my sister and myself.

Do you remember the first time you did stand-up?

JK: The first one was at a place called the Ventura Comedy Club and I don’t even know if that thing exists anymore. I didn’t tell anyone about it and I went up and I bombed so bad, I went right back to Vegas and it took me about a year and a half to get back onstage again. It was bad man, I didn’t tell anybody about that.

Filipino-American Kent Avenido 'Howard Bamboo' on Glee

Filipino fans of the worldwide TV phenomenon “Glee” know that it has showcased stars with Pinoy roots like Charice, Darren Criss, and Tamlyn Tomita. But they were not the first Filipino “Glee” cast member.



As early as the first season, Kent Avenido has been showing his singing and comedic chops as Howard Bamboo, a recurring character on the show.

Full story here at ABS-CBN......

Filipino-American Jelynn Rodriguez is hosting a brand new cooking show for MSN.com called Kitchen Cookoff

Jelynn is hosting a brand new cooking show for MSN.com called Kitchen Cookoff! The first 4 episodes were recently uploaded, and you can watch them at the Kitchen Cookoff website.

Each Kitchen Cookoff episode features two women competing head to head, making one of their families best dishes, with Jelynn and Chef Jill Houk deciding the winner.  Its a fun show that shows off some great simple recipes that are easy to make. Check out the first 4 episodes and come back for news on new episodes!

Read the full story here.......

Filipino-American Nicole Scherzinger gets naked Island Style in book 'Culo By Mazzucco'

If Nicole Scherzinger isn't careful she could find herself inadvertently headlining the XXX Factor.

The Pussycat Dolls superstar has dared to bare almost all in a new coffee table book about women's backsides....

Scherzinger is one of the many celebs who stripped down for artist Raphael Mazzucco's Culo By Mazzucco, a 248-page ode to women's backsides edited by Sean "Diddy" Combs and Interscope and A&M Chairman Jimmy Iovine.

Culo, if you don't know, means buttocks in Italian.

Read full story here at E Online..... 

Filipino-American MMA Mark Munoz to Likely Headline UFC on FOX 2

According to sources close to the fighters, Mark Munoz and Chael Sonnen will meet in a number one middleweight contender bout early next year.  It looks to be the headliner of UFC on FOX 2 with rumors that Munoz’s teammate, Jake Ellenberger will also be featured with a likely opponent being Diego Sanchez.  Other rumored bouts include Melvin Guillard vs Jim Miller and Eddie Wineland vs Demetrious Johnson for the event taking place on January 28th at the United Center in Chicago.

Read the full story here on MMA Interviews..... 

Filipino-American, Anna Maria Perez de Tagle, stars in Broadway show 'Godspell'

Filipino-American actress Anna Maria Perez de Tagle, the 20-year-old granddaughter of Philippine screen legend Sylvia La Torre, received a standing ovation in her Broadway debut in “Godspell" at the Circle in the Square Theatre in New York.

The daughter of former TV personality Archie Perez de Tagle and Evelyn Enriquez, Anna Maria was born in San Francisco, California.

Anna Maria has already appeared on several movies such as "Camp Rock 1," "Camp Rock 2," "Hannah Montana," and "Fame."

In "Godspell" Anna Maria surprised audiences when she suddenly spoke Tagalog in one part of the show.

Among those who have already seen her performances on Broadway were Filipino actress and singer Lea Salonga, fashion designer Oliver Tolentino and his business partner Andrew Carruthers, former fashion model and beauty queen Bessie Badilla, among others
.

Full story here.....

Filipino-American animator Van Partible is the creator of Cartoon Network’s Johnny Bravo

Van Partible definitely draws from his experiences, and that includes his being Filipino.


The Filipino-American animator (born Efrem Giovanni Bravo Partible) is the creator of the Cartoon Network original animated series Johnny Bravo, which is about a muscle-flexing and karate-chopping Mama’s boy, who’s convinced he’s God’s gift to women, dishing out disastrous pick-up lines like “Enough about you, let’s talk about me, Johnny Bravo.” 

Read the full story here at PhilStar.....

Filipino-American Reggie Lee exclusive interview with FearNet about his role on Grimm

Tells us about your role on Grimm.

I play Sgt. Wu. I'm kind of a go-between the captain and the two detectives, Hank and Nick. I am their superior. I survey the crime scene for them, then we three solve the crime together. I've come to realize - as we come to episode eight - that my character is the comic relief within all the seriousness of the show. I love that because I am a really... I don't like to say sarcastic; I prefer to say I am a sardonic person. This guy has such a dry sense of humor. I love him. Something we find out about him later on is that Sgt. Wu has a very addictive personality. He gets addicted to "certain different things" that wreak havoc in his personal and professional life. One of the other characters in the show comes to help him with that, and eventually I have to cover it up.

Read more here on FearNet....

Vanessa Minnillo changes her last name after marrying Nick Lachey

The Filipino-American community adore the beautiful and talented Vanessa Minnillo. Not only that, but they're proud to find out that she's half Filipina. However, she won't be known as Vanessa Minnillo any more. After marrying Nick Lachey she has finally settled down and taken a big step in changing her surname. Her Twitter account has changed along with her Wikipedia page.

We're curious on your thoughts on the whole matter on waiting so long to change her surname after they got married. So be sure to comment below. Thanks!

Read more here on HuffingtonPost....

Little Manila: Filipinos in California's Heartland

The documentary, Little Manila: Filipinos in California's Heartland, will be shown again on KVIE, the Sacramento-area Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) station. It has become an annual part of the their programming during May, when the station celebrates Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. The documentary features several Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS) members and was produced by, Marissa Aroy, a Filipina American filmmaker from the San Francisco bay area. One can learn more about the documentary on the Viewfinder Web site at http://www.kvie.org/programs/kvie/viewfinder/little_manila/default.htm. It will show at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, May 6, 2009.

If it does not air in your area, the documentary is available for purchase from the KVIE Web site at http://www.kviestore.org/dvvilima.html.

Tina Macuha, Advocate

Tina Macuha, a television anchor of Filipino descent in Sacramento, California, is using her personal story to advocate for lifesaving procedures. After a routine mammogram, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Fortunately, she caught it early as a stage zero breast cancer, where the cancer cells have not spread. Without treatment, it can become invasive breast cancer.

Her mother's side of the family has a history of breast cancer, and she chose the most aggressive treatment against the diagnosis--a bilateral mastectomy. All the while, she is using her own story as an example of the importance of being diligent in taking care of one's self.

Filipina Real World Cast Member Melissa Howard Gives Birth to a Baby Girl

It’s a little princess for Melissa Howard Beck! The former Real World: New Orleans castmember and her husband, Glassjaw guitarist Justin Beck welcomed their first child Friday, March 20th at 10:18 p.m. Daughter Shalom Mazie Beck weighed in at 6 lbs., 3 oz and measured 18 inches long.

Read more here at Celebrity-babies.com

Pinay Awarded California Documentary Grant Award

On Wednesday, January 21, 2009, the California Council for the Humanities announced the latest recipients of its California Documentary Grant Award Program. Among the seventeen awardees was Marissa Aroy, a Pinay that grew up in the Delano area.

Her documentary will be entitled The Delano Manongs: The Forgotten Heroes of the United Farm Workers Union (UFW). Her piece will document a small group of Filipino farm labor leaders--including Philip Vera Cruz and Larry Itliong--in Delano, California, who instigated the great Delano grape strike in 1965 and helped create the UFW. The grape strike catapulted Cesar Chavez into the national spotlight, but the Filipino leaders received little recognition for their efforts. Using animation, archival footage, and interviews with key leaders, participants, and historians, the film tells the gripping story of this forgotten part of labor history.

Ms. Aroy is no stranger to ethnic history, having worked on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) productions Little Manila: Filipinos in California's Heartland and Sikhs in America. I met her at a screening of the Little Manila documentary here in Sacramento. I am glad to know that she is using her career and her craft to advocate for and educate about marginalized groups and history.

Remembering Our Manongs Documentary

I began the month after Filipino American History Month with a strong reminder that October is not the only month that one can teach and learn about Filipino American history. I attended the premier of the documentary Remembering Our Manongs, a documentary on early Filipino immigrants to California. The documentary was produced by The Filipino American National Historicl Society of Sonoma County with funding from the California Council for the Humanities.

It was an hourlong documentary film that told the stories of the earliest pioneer Filipino immigrants in Sonoma County. Filipino American immigrant history is vastly underrepresented in our educational curriculum and historical archives. It is essential that recent Filipino immigrants recognize the important path that was cleared for them by their predecessors.

The film featured interviews with manongs (Filipino community elders) and other key figures and explored the rich history of Filipino immigrants in Sonoma County in the first half of the twentieth century.

Most of the Filipinos who came to California in the early 1900s were farmworkers, including those who came as wards of the state when the United States took possession of the Philippines following the Philippine-American War. By the 1920s, about 100 of the early pioneers, most of them men, stayed because of Sonoma County’s abundance of year-round farm work. It was not an easy life.

Early pioneers were denied citizenship and the right to own property or set up businesses. They lived in labor camps on the various ranches and in rooming houses. Anti-miscegenation laws and the shortage of Filipino women caused many of the early manongs to stay single their entire lives.

Even after serving their country in World War I and World War II, they were never rewarded with citizenship. The few surviving Filipino Americans who served in those wars still await veterans’ benefits for their service.

With all these hardships, Sonoma’s Filipinos thrived, yet their history and contributions are largely forgotten.

This must-see documentary will be shown at two more events this month:

1. Saturday, November 8, 2008 - 1 to 4 p.m. - Sonoma County Office of Education, 5340 Skylane Boulevard, Santa Rosa, CA 95403.
2. Saturday, November 15, 2008 - 1 to 4 p.m. - Finley Community Center, 2060 West College Avenue, Santa Rosa, CA 95401.

Filipino American Comedian Joseph Glenn Herbert aka Jo Koy is Reppin' Pinoy Pride With Own Show on Comedy Central

After paying his dues, Filipino-American comedian makes strides in entertainment industry

By Joe Nguyen, AsiaXpress.com

Comedian Joseph Glenn Herbert had trouble concentrating before going on stage when he began his stand-up career. It wasn't because of nervous energy – something he said he has never had with the exception of waiting for his turn at the Apollo Theater because the person before him was booed off – it was because of his name. "It just wasn't catchy," he said. "The emcees would always make fun of it before. ... It took away from me trying to concentrate on being funny."

So one day, he and his cousin Mona were sitting on a couch trying to think of a name that he could use on stage. Nothing came to mind until his aunt Evelyn called them down to dinner. "Mona, Jokoy, it's time to eat," he remembered her saying. The nickname, something that she's called him ever since his childhood, lit a light bulb in the two cousins' heads. "Me and Mona looked at each other and said, 'Jo Koy,'" he said.

The 37-year-old half-Filipino American was named one of the "10 comics to watch" in 2007 by Daily Variety. His high-energy performances blended with observation humor about topics ranging from the antics of his son to the differences between men and women have struck a chord with people of all backgrounds. Among them is Craig Ferguson, host of "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson," who once described Koy as "a young Chris Rock" after seeing him perform in Toronto. This rise in popularity has prompted Comedy Central to give him his own show this fall called, "The Jo Koy Show." While he's making strides up the entertainment ladder now, he said it's been a long journey since his start 14 years ago. And it was the lessons of his youth that have taken him to where his is today.

Ever since Koy was a child, performing was a part of his life. "Growing up, my sister (Rowena) was the singer, I was, like, the dancer," he said. "My mom would always be active in the Filipino organizations and she would literally just put us in these talent shows." He said his mother would put together positive events for her various organizations. "We always did entertainment and me and my sister were always at the top of the list," he said. When the family moved down to Las Vegas to help take care of his grandmother, he took the lessons he learned from his mother to start his career. "Unfortunately, there is no stand-up scene in Vegas," he said. "There is no open mic or anything like that. So it forced me to wear the other hat and become producer. It was kind of easy for me to do because I saw my mom do it." So with the help of his mother, he held his first show at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. The line-up included Filipino-American comedian Mark Fernandez and a young Korean-American named Bobby Lee who would later go onto "Mad TV." "I made this effort to go out and find Asian comedians and put together these shows to show everybody that, hey, Asians are funny, too," he said. "We don't need a stupid accent and slant our eyes and do stupid s--- to be funny. We got funny people out there."

When talking to Koy, it becomes obvious that his 5-year-old son, affectionally nicknamed Li'l Jo, is his life. "He's everything," he said. In a blog posted on his MySpace during his run on the Carlos Mencia Punisher Tour, Koy wrote that the hardest part of being on the road was being away from his son for three months. "Before I left to do the tour, I took my son's favorite toy – a yellow power ranger – and brought it with me," he wrote. "Before each performance I stuck this yellow power ranger in my back pants pocket. And during the long bus rides anytime I felt lonely or just wanted to feel the presence of my kid I always took out this yellow power ranger."

After his June 18 show in Denver, he signed cards with a picture of his son on it. When he wasn't doing that, he talked to other parents about about his son. His video camera is filled with movies of his son. "I realized it's more than just me now, It's my son," he said. "It's more than just 'I need to find a gig to pay my rent,' it's, 'I need to find a gig to pay my rent and buy diapers and preschool.' There's more to it now. I have something to live for now. "Every time I wake up and I see him, I just think I got to work hard."

Q&A With Filipino-American Ramiele Malubay From American Idol

by Fred Bronson

Billboard.com

At only 4 feet 11 inches, Ramiele Malubay packs a mean punch with her big voice. Born in the Middle East, almost becoming Mulan and bracing for the tour, the spunky 24-year-old reveals more about her experience on "AI."

Q: You recently moved to Southern California, but where did you live before that?

A: I was born in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. My parents met there in an elevator. My mom was a nurse and my dad was an engineer. Filipinos go to Saudi Arabia for work and send money back home to their families. During the Gulf War, they sent me to the Philippines and I stayed with my grandparents for a while, and when I came back my sister had been born. When I was four we flew to Boston because my dad got a job there. Then I moved to New Jersey and didn't stay there long because I went to first grade in Orlando.

Q: And during all of that world travel, you developed an interest in music. Do you remember when that happened?

A: My mom says when I was 2, "We'd do karaoke and you would grab the mike from people and you wouldn't know what the heck you were saying but you would go with the melody and everything." And then in fifth grade, I did a Spice Girls thing for a talent show. I sang "Too Much" with four other girls. For someone my age, I could stay on key. When I was 12, I sang for my cousin's birthday and I was like a stick. I didn't move. I was so scared, but people said I had a pretty different voice. So my parents put me through vocal lessons and I would sing for Filipino church events, Filipino Independence Days. Everything Filipino, I was there.

Q: Were you singing in English or Tagalog?

A: I would sing everything. I forgot how to speak Tagalog a long time ago and to be a good singer, you have to be able to put yourself into the song. So I learned the language again and now I'm really fluent. I think I sing better, because I can emote better when it comes to Filipino songs.

Q: Did you continue to sing as an adolescent?

A: People would sponsor famous singers from the Philippines to come to the United States and I got to open for some really big people like Kuh Ledesma and Martin Nievera. I'm a total back-home buff. I watch the Filipino channel all the time with my parents. I know the music over there, so when they came here, it was a really big deal for me. It's like somebody singing for Mariah Carey.

From 12 to 16, my parents made me take vocal lessons and I was missing out on life and time with friends, and I felt like I never got to do what I wanted. I felt like music was pushed upon me. At 16 I realized that God gave me a voice for a reason and I would be so dumb to not use it, so I started singing for myself. And then lessons weren't a big deal anymore because it was just helping my craft.

But I always knew I wanted to be a nurse. I would go to hospitals with my mom on "Take Your Kid to Work Day." I still want to be a nurse. I want to go back to school because I'd be really excited if I got that degree and I was singing at the same time.

Q: When did you start watching "American Idol"?

A: When Kelly Clarkson was on it and then Jasmine Trias and then I skipped a couple of seasons but I knew who the winner was. And of course everybody watches the beginning rounds because it's hysterical.

I auditioned when I was 16. My parents pushed me to audition and I didn't even make it past the first cut and I was over "Idol," like, "I'm never going to audition again. I hate this!" When I was 19 my dad said, "You should really try again." So I auditioned. I made it past the first round. At that point, I just hoped I would get to the next level and the next level and the week after this and the week after this, as far as it could take me.

Now I know they look for certain things in people and they don't cut you because they don't care. They do their jobs well. They know what "Idol" is looking for because it's been running for how long now.

Q: Do you remember your first paying gig?

A: I never liked to take money from people. I was known as the little girl who would sing for free. My parents said, "Don't take their money." My vocal coach told them, "She needs to start charging." We would drive from Miami to Jacksonville or from Miami to Orlando, and that's like four hour, seven hour, eight hour drives just to sing and people would give me money and I would say, "No, it's OK. It's fine." They'd look at me like, "Why isn't she taking the money?"

Q: While you were living in Florida, did you do any work for Disney or Universal?

A: Somebody offered me Mulan at Disney, but I was living in Tampa at the time, so I couldn't go back and forth, plus I was in high school. I think my singing career from where it started to where it is now, I think every little path, like every yes and no that I gave people, it was perfect to get me to where I am right now. I mean, if I took that Disney job, who knows where I would be right now?

Q: When you auditioned the second time, what was it like to sing for Simon, Paula and Randy?

A: I was so scared. You drink so much water that your throat gets really dry right before you have to sing.

Now it's normal because we see them on the show all the time, but before it was like, "These people are on TV and now they're in front of me and I'm freaking the heck out right now!" It's so nerve wracking, and now I have to sing. Put me in front of like a jillion people, I'll be fine. Put me in front of two people and I'll freak out. I can't sing in front of small groups. I guess they were sold on it. Simon wasn't sold until Hollywood Week.

Paula was my favorite before obviously because we definitely see eye to eye, same height and everything. So I was excited to meet her. She was really sweet. Randy liked me. He said I was a little girl with a really big voice, and that's what I wanted them to see.

When I got voted off, Paula gave me an hour-and-a-half talk on why I got to the point I got to, maybe why I got voted off, and that I have something special and that I should keep going with it. It was really nice. And then Simon told me to cry on his shoulder. He was really sweet. He's my new favorite judge because he tells it how it is and you can't get any better if somebody's telling you you're amazing all the time. You need somebody kicking your butt so you can get better.

Q: What was it like being voted off?

A: I felt like it was my turn. I didn't want to go yet, because I wanted to make it to Mariah Carey week. Growing up, she was my idol.

I wasn't going to cry. Then Kristy Lee Cook hugged me and said, "We're going to miss you, peanut." I'm known as the most emotional and then Brooke's second. But I bawl all the time, especially when Danny Noriega got voted off. I looked like somebody died, like I was at a funeral.

Q: Since "American Idol" is telecast in the Philippines, you must be well-known there.

A: I really don't know. Some lady pulled me aside yesterday while I was shopping and told me, "You don't know how big you are right now back home." I said, "What are you talking about?"

Q: Does that mean you'll pursue a career in the Philippines?

A: After the summer "Idols" tour, I want to do something here. But I'd be really dumb not to go back to the Philippines. It was always my dream when I was little to be on TV, because I would watch all the singers and stars. To be on the same stage with them, that would be a total honor. So I want to go back home and make something for myself over there, if not over here as well.

Q: One final "Idol" question, since you'll be going on tour with the rest of the top 10. Do you really all get along well?

A: We're like a big family. As cliche as it is to say that, as fake as it kind of looks, we're real and we won't make decisions without asking each other first. We work as a group together and people would say, "They're probably trying to sabotage each other with songs," but we'll help each other. We're a really good bunch, an amazing top 10. I don't think anybody's going to have any problems with each other on tour. I wish the cameras would get us offstage because we're ridiculous together. We're a really messy bunch.