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B NOVEMBER 13-16, 2010 • LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL
Fil-Am Jazz Fest to feature living legend LOS ANGELES—It has been a lifetime in the making. But one of the living legends of Pinoy Jazz will make her Hollywood debut during the 6th Annual FilAm Jazz Fest presented by ABS-CBN at the world famous Catalina Bar & Grill Jazz Club on 6725 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood CA 90028. Ms. Annie Brazil is set to headline on December 3 (Friday), 8-10pm. For more than four decades, Ms. Brazil, the mother of Filipino celebrities Richard Merk and Rachel Anne Wolfe, has performed with the biggest names in jazz throughout all of Asia. Known for her Annie Brazil expert way with a lyric, Annie Brazil is often called “the Billie Holiday of Filipino jazz.” She sings the classic tunes—Lullaby of Birdland, All of Me, The Nearness of You—with an unerring sense of swing and musical authenticity that listeners describe as “mesmerizing.” In addition to a lengthy C.V. of awards and honors, Ms. Brazil earned the coveted JazzPhil-USA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009. On December 3 at Catalina’s, Annie Brazil will headline a concert featuring Bo Razon, Johnny Alegre, Abe Lagrimas, and introducing Carlo David and 2010 Talent Search winner VJ Rosales. Jazzipino queen Charmaine Clamor headlines on December 4 (Saturday). “Ms. Annie Brazil is one of my heroes, one of the pioneers of Pinoy jazz,” Clamor remarked. “I’m so excited to hear her sing in Hollywood—finally!” Tickets for the 6th Annual Fil-Am Jazz Fest presented by ABSCBN are now on sale through the JazzPhil-USA Website, www. JazzPhilUSA.org. Tickets are at $30 + two-item minimum each night; $50 for two-night package. Call (323) 521-3588. Historically, this special event on the Pinoy Music calendar sells out every year. With Ms. Annie Brazil on the bill, it’s a certainty.
LAWKEND SEC-B NOVEMBER 13.indd 2
Entertainment
http://www.asianjournal.com • (213) 250-9797
Charice, Cody Simpson, El DeBarge and Rockettes at the Citadel 9th Annual Tree Lighting Event on Nov. 20 Protected behind towering Assyrian styled castle walls two diminutive teens, a comeback king and a precision dance team will help the Citadel Outlets celebrate their Ninth Annual Christmas Tree Lighting event. Rising from behind the stage, the Citadel’s 90 ft. Christmas tree, adorned with thousands of glowing lights, will provide a dramatic backdrop for this diverse group of incredibly gifted performers to let their talents shine. Charice, a youthful veteran of song, has been at home on stage since she first started singing in local competitions at the age of seven in her native Philippines. After a 3rd place finish on the Philippines version of a Junior American Idol, Charice’s videos began to be uploaded to YouTube by a supportive fan. Charice’s videos have now been viewed over 150 million times. Charice first appeared in the US on the Ellen DeGeneres show when she was only 15 years old. Ellen rightly commented to her audience that, “You are going to be blown away.” Charice was then invited to perform on the Oprah Winfrey Show and she has now performed on Oprah’s show five times. Charice was invited to perform with her idols, Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli where after each performance she received a standing ovation. Charice released her self-titled international album, Charice, on
May 11, 2010. Charice’s album was the first by any Asian solo artist to break into the top ten of the Billboard 200 album chart, debuting at number eight. The dance version of Charice’s hit single Pyramid climbed to the top of the Billboard Dance/Club charts. Charice just returned from a sold-out Asian concert tour with David Foster & Friends, sharing the stage with music icons Natalie Cole, Peter Cetera, the Canadian Tenors and Ruben Studdard. Charice also recently performed a duet with Ne-Yo, in Las Vegas, that no-doubt had the audience in agreement with Oprah’s characterization of Charice as, “The most talented girl in the world.” The 15 time Grammy Award winner David Foster commented after their performance that Charice possesses a talent that is in the same category as musical legends such as Celine Dion, Whitney Houston and Barbara Streisand, all of whom Mr. Foster has worked with. Charice is currently dividing her time between the recording studio, where she is working on her next single and album, and the television studio, where Charice is taping scenes for her recurring role as Sunshine Corazon, a Filipino foreign exchange student on the hit TV show Glee. Ryan Murphy, the creator/producer of Glee, commented after Charice’s audition, “When she opens her mouth angels fly out.”
Perhaps one of those angels will find its way to the top of Citadel’s Christmas Tree? I hope they hang on tight because Charice’s voice has the power of a hurricane. Cody Simpson is a thirteen-year-old Australian pop/R&B singersongwriter and musician. Cody expressed an interest in music at an early age. When Cody first asked his dad for a guitar he was only seven years young. By the time Cody turned eleven, he was playing his acoustic guitar and singing popular cover songs that would be uploaded to YouTube. Cody’s talents did not go unrecognized as Shawn Campbell, a Grammy-nominated record producer, who has produced for Jay-Z, Missy Elliott and Ciara,) saw Cody’s potential to be a recording star. Shortly thereafter Cody earned a recording contract with Atlantic Records. Cody’s rise to fame was featured in December 2009, on The 7.30 Report, an Australian nightly television current affairs program. Cody released his debut single, iYiYi, which features American rapper Flo Rida, in May of 2010. The music video for iYiYi was released on June 30th and has over 8.5 million views. The music video for Simpson’s second single, Summertime, was just released in September, but its preview video, combined with the official release, has already received over 2 million views. Cody’s YouTube Channel has over 100,000 subscribers and his combined videos have received over twenty three million views. You could say that Cody is riding a wave of success; he definitely knows how to paddle as Cody is also an excellent swimmer, winning two gold medals at the Queensland Swimming Championships. El DeBarge, like Charice and Cody, knows what it’s like to be labeled a child prodigy. El earned his first recording contract when he was eighteen. When Barry Gordy Jr., the Motown Record label founder, heard El’s soulful falsetto voice he compared El to Michael Jackson. Singing with his siblings, as the group DeBarge, the group released four albums in five years. Two of the albums were certified as Gold records and their final album was certified as Platinum on the strength of its title track, Rhythm of the Night. El released his first of four solo albums in 1986 and he went on to work with music industry moguls such as Quincy Jones, Maurice White, Baby Face, & Prince. El recently opened for the Queen of Hip-Hop/Soul, Mary J. Blige and he is now headlining in his own concert tour. El’s new single, Second Chance, is currently number 57 on the Billboard R&B /Hip-Hop chart. His new double-disc album is scheduled for release by Geffen Records on November 30th and features artists such as Faith Evens, Fabolous and 50 cent. The Rockettes is a precision dance group founded by Russell Markert in 1925 and known originally as the “Missouri Rockets.” The dancers were seen by Samuel “Roxy” Rothafel when they performed in a Broadway production of Rain or Shine. Mr. Rothafel invited them to perform in his Roxy Theatre as the “Roxyettes” and in 1932 they traveled to Manhattan where they performed at the opening night of the Radio City Music Hall. The dance troupe shortened their name to the Rockettes in 1934 and they are also now known as the Radio City Rockettes. The Rockettes are the stars of the Radio City Christmas Spectacular. During the Christmas season the Rockettes have performed five shows a day, seven days a week for 77 years. Their show is seen by more than 2 million people annually and they have performed in more than 60 cities across North America. The Rockettes have appeared on the Tony Awards, Dancing with the Stars, the Super Bowl Halftime Show and Presidential Inaugurations. Each year they also perform at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, the America’s Thanksgiving Parade and the NBC Rockefeller Center Tree-Lighting Ceremony where Charice will also be performing. The Rockettes will be performing at the Honda Center in Anaheim December 6-7 and will then move on to the Nokia Theatre at LA Live, December 9-12. Citadel Outlets is Los Angeles’ first factory outlet center, opened in 1990 and has expanded to include over 100 outlet stores, a food court, five office buildings, and a 201-room Wyndham Hotel. Conveniently located off Interstate 5 at Atlantic Blvd North, just minutes East of Downtown Los Angeles and just 20 minutes north of Anaheim, it’s one of southern California’s most accessible outlet shopping centers. The street address is 100 Citadel Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90040. Store hours are from 10am until 8pm. Contact Citadel Outlets at (323) 888-1724 or visit their website, http://www.citadeloutlets.com/ for additional information. Sponsors for this free event include: Citadel Outlets, Fox 11, Radio Disney AM 1110 and Hot 92.3 Old School and R&B. Please visit www.charicemania.com for details of an upcoming opportunity for a limited number of children to receive a free gift. Also, please visit the Citadel’s website at www.citadeloutlets.com for updates concerning this free event. The Citadel Outlets, Good Neighbor Pharmacy and the Toys for Tots organization will be collecting toys to give to children in need. Bring in a new unwrapped toy valued at $10 or more to Citadel Outlets Customer Service Desk between November 1st to December 15th and you will receive a $25 gift certificate to Good Neighbor Pharmacy (while supplies last, limited to one gift certificate per person).
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