Dr. Jim Yong Kim, the president of Dartmouth college surprised his student body when he showed up at “Dartmouth Idol,” and rocked with some of the students during their performance of Michael Jackson’s Thriller. If you go to the 2 minute mark, you’ll see Dr. Kim approach the stage in MJ costume and speak the interlude made famous by the dark Vincent Price. Now that’s a president who is engaged with his student body. Who would’ve thunk it? A Korean-American heads up an Ivy league institution and this same gentleman dances to Michael Jackson. Very cool!
This is the second episode of Korean Beacon’s new Weekly Online Talk Show where our host, Christina Lee, will discuss a topic and ask viewers to send in their own comments and video responses to beacon (at) koreanbeacon (dot) com.
This week we share a few comments from last week’s Valentine’s day episode and leave you with the all too important question, Who is your favorite K-POP artist?
Heather Park released her latest single “Trust You” this past week. She’s one of the up and coming artists we had interviewed last year and it’s great to finally hear her latest song. She’s a soulful singer and Trust You will make you feel that way. You can download her latest song at her website hearthepark.com. Take a look back at our interview with Heather last year.
American Idol and Hollywood needs a good slap in the face. Tuesday night demonstrated the realities of Hollywood and that it really is about looks. After John Park had performed, the judges were trying to say without really saying it was that they can’t market an Asian male and they tried softening the language by saying he was challenged with “believability” and that his performance would soon be forgotten. Sadly, Simon was the cruelest in his comments by telling him that he’ll most likely be going home this week. That’s even before seeing the other contestants perform – John had only been the second performance of the night and it wasn’t even an awful performance. It was what Simon really wants and it’s because he can’t market John and he’s already dismissed him. It became even more obvious as the judges noted how some of the singers were presentable and “commercial,” and they would make references to a performers looks. That further validates the underlying issue here with American Idol and John Park’s chances with the judges. Can he sing? He sure can.
However, not was all lost on Tuesday night as they had a pre-roll video of John Park’s life before his performance. John was born in Chicago and he grew up speaking Korean because he moved to Korea as a youngster. He returned to Chicago during the 4th grade and the rest is history. He shared during the interview by Ryan Seacrest that it was difficult standing up in front of the judges the previous week and hearing their critiques of his performance.
This week, he decided to stick to his guns and sing John Mayer’s “Gravity.” The song appeared to allow him to show more of his vocal range. He seemed a bit more relaxed and maybe it was because it was the pace of the song or a song that was within his range. Unfortunately, the judges were not to kind to his performance.
Randy said there was “Nothing new or spicy to it.”
Ellen said it was “so much better of a song choice,” but he needed “a little more soul into it.”
Kara noted how it was “way better than last week”. She was concerned with “the connection.” She encouraged him “to let loose” and “to take risks.”
Simon was naturally the harshest and said there was “nothing to get excited about” and he “struggle with the believability.” BOO SIMON!
So I plead with all of you, please VOTE for John Park so we can give the guy a shot to prove himself to America.
The Winter Olympics have officially ended and the big story for Koreans around the world was Kim Yu Na’s gold medal winning performance in ladies’ figure skating. She broke the scoring record by holding nothing back in the free skate and in the end, she won the hearts of millions as she finally let tears flow. She was one of the great stories of the winter Olympics, having arrived in Vancouver with the highest of expectations and the weight of South Korea to win its first medal in figure skating. She performed to perfection and walks away from Vancouver knowing that she executed perfectly and lifted a nation. There have been thousands of articles written about her performance and you all witnessed her breathtaking performance, so we leave you with not just one thought but many thoughts and visuals of Kim Yu Na. Enjoy!
Admit it. You cried while watching Kim Yu Na skate and we all cried when we saw Kim Yu Na let her emotions go soon as she finished. It was the first time we saw the raw emotions of a 19 year old girl and it was just as beautiful as her performance. Queen Yu Na became a king at the Winter Olympics as she shrugged off the pressure and threw down an incredible performance to win the gold medal in ladies’ figure skating. One of the TV commentators said it best when she said that was one of the greatest performances in Olympic history.
Kim Yu Na destroyed the old record with a world record score of 228.56 and won the gold medal. Her final overall score, 228.56, was about 10 points better than what Jeremy Abbott, the two-time U.S. national champion, managed here — and would have put her ninth in the men’s Olympic competition. The men are allowed to do one more jump in their free skates than the ladies — which makes what Kim Yu Na did all the more impressive.
“I still can’t believe the score that I received,” Kim said. “I’m really surprised. It’s almost as close as the men’s score.” “I have accomplished the biggest, most important goal in my life,” she said. “I am going to enjoy this moment for a while.”
Ladies’ figure skating is the crown event and all eyes were on the reigning world champion but pressure and history were against her as the previous three ladies’ figure skating favorites had failed to win a gold medal at the Winter Olympics. Kim Yu Na is special for shrugging that all off of her and just competing like the athlete she really is. Kim Yu Na was the perfect person to win a gold medal for South Korea. It’s a country that could be considered chauvinistic with a workforce dominated by men, but it was a female teenager on Thursday night that took South Korea on her shoulders and brought pride to a proud nation. Of course Korea took pride in their gold medals in speed skating and other sports, but this gold medal lifted a nation. The last glorious sporting win that captivated South Korea was the World Cup in 2002, and they didn’t even win the world cup. They reached the semi-finals and took pride in their greatest World Cup performance. Since then, South Korea has come up short in sports like the World Baseball Classic. Even this week, there was the disheartening disqualification of the short track speed skating team in the 3,000 meter relay race. They lost the gold medal after having dominated the event for the last four Olympics. But this is special…. really special. A young lady put South Korea on her shoulders and she made them proud. She is now King Kim Yu Na! Bravo Yu Na! Bravo!
Check out her gold medal winning performance (video) at NBCOlympics.com. Also, check out the analysis of Kim Yu Na’s score by the New York Times.
Kim Yu Na kicked ass during the first night of ladies’ figure skating competition at the Winter Olympics. She skated a near perfect performance and outdazzled her competition by setting the all time record for short program scores with a 78.50. This bested her closest competitor and biggest rival, Mao Asado, by nearly 5 points. She came prepared and was a competitor because she had to perform right after a magnificent performance by Mao Asado. It was appropriate that she came out swinging with a performance to the James Bond theme song. She skated with grace, power and beauty. Kim Yu Na is skating her heart out and competing with the grit of Michael Jordan. She has the weight of South Korea on her shoulders and also the knowledge that the previous 3 favorites entering the Winter Olympics failed to win the gold medal in ladies’ figure skating. A lot of guys could learn from her competitiveness and focus. She simply kicked major ice skating ass!
So it has finally come. South Korea’s Kim Yu Na will finally hit the ice in competition for the crown jewel event of the Winter Olympics: woman’s figure skating. There’s a reason why it’s the last of the figure skating events because it carries the beauty and pageantry of the Winter games and Kim Yu Na possesses all of that in her skating. She enters the games ranked #1 in the world and having won many events. However, she carries the weight of the world on her shoulders because South Korea has put their hopes into this teenager to become South Korea’s first gold medalist in figure skating at the Winter Olympics.
Sport Illustrated’s E.M. Swift says Kim Yu Na is the best female skater he’s ever seen when she is at her best. ” I don’t say that lightly, but Kim is the complete package: elegant, athletic, fast, beautiful, charismatic,” says Swift. “Her programs are wonderfully choreographed. She has all the jumps, except the rare (for women) triple axel. Her spins are weightless. But the 2009 World Champion will have to win here before I put her above the likes of past Olympic champions Kristi Yamaguchi and Katarina Witt. She’ll have to prove she can withstand the suffocating Olympic pressure.”
So here’s a quick breakdown between Kim Yu Na and her biggest rival from Japan – which adds to the tension – Mao Asada.
Yu-Na Kim versus Mao Asada
There are several Annie Oakleys in this shooting match, but the gold medal could come down to the same two skaters who have been dueling for supremacy ever since the last Olympics: South Korea’s Yu-Na Kim and Japan’s Mao Asada, who were born 20 days apart in September 1990. Reigning world and Grand Prix series champion Kim seldom stumbles and is peerless from an artistic standpoint. But former world and Grand Prix titlist Asada, who lives and dies by her spectacular jumps, could rack up huge point totals if she lands two triple Axels in her long program as she did recently at the Four Continents event. Their contrasting talents could put the much-maligned revamped scoring system to the test.
Read more at New York Times about how South Korea weighs heavily on Kim Yu Na’s shoulders.
Welcome to the first episode of Korean Beacon’s new Weekly Online Talk Show where our host, Christina Lee, will discuss a topic and ask viewers to send in their own comments and video responses to beacon (at) koreanbeacon (dot) com.
This week we ask how you spend Valentine’s Day and to share any good stories!
Kollaboration sold out last year and it’s returning in full force in May. Get ready for Kollaboration 5 because it’s going to be bigger than last year. Auditions for the biggest Asian-American talent show will be happening soon so be on the lookout for details. You don’t want to miss it!
Facebook
Dr. Jim Yong Kim, the president of Dartmouth college surprised his student body when he showed up at “Dartmouth Idol,” and rocked with some of the students during their performance of Michael Jackson’s Thriller. If you go to the 2 minute mark, you’ll see Dr. Kim approach the stage in MJ costume and speak the interlude made famous by the dark Vincent Price. Now that’s a president who is engaged with his student body. Who would’ve thunk it? A Korean-American heads up an Ivy league institution and this same gentleman dances to Michael Jackson. Very cool!
