Since our Party Girl has just come back from a holiday in San Francisco, she thought to bring all the cultural experiences she had there back home. Here’s a weekend round up of cultural events to check out in Singapore.

Start Friday off at Senor Taco in Clarke Quay from 7pm with a famous Colombian band.

Colombia celebrated its independence day on Wednesday, July 20, so Senor Taco is having Alvaro Meza perform.

He is the king of Vallenato which is a music genre involving the accordion.

He and his band will introduce us to the tradition of Colombia’s folklore, music and dance.

Then, on Saturday from 6pm, Bob’s Bar in Sentosa is having a Cuban festival.

Called ‘A Night at Varadero’, the event will recreate an authentic Havana festival with a BBQ station, pop-up mojito and rum bars, as well as a salsa dance session.

There will be a live Latin music band so get your dancing shoes ready.

And on Sunday, from 3pm at the Grassroots Club in Ang Mo Kio Ave 8, there will be a ‘Bhangra Bonanza’.

It’s going to be showcase of local bhangra (Punjabi music) dance talent and a great time to get your shoulders shaking.

If you don’t know, now you know.

To catch the Party Girl, listen to her on OneFM‘s #1 Breakfast Show with Glenn Ong and The Flying Dutchman on Thursday mornings.

Find out what she gets up to on AsiaOne’s social media! Follow @sphasiaone on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, and @RasbiSG on Snapchat.

spanaech@sph.com.sg

Singapore actress Julie Tan is settling just fine into her temporary new life in New York City, where she is living alone for the next three months while attending acting classes at the New York Film Academy.

The 23-year-old, who has starred in Channel 8 dramas such as The Dream Makers II (2015), says she is accustomed to cleaning up after herself and whipping up meals after her mother “chased” her out of their family home.

“About two years ago, my mother told me to move out. She feels that children should be independent once they grow up,” says Tan, an only child, in a telephone interview with The Straits Times.

“I was very well taken care of at home. Then I had to live on my own, wash my clothes and mop the floor. Now I’m glad for the two years of living alone as it has totally helped me.”

Since arriving in the Big Apple three weeks ago, she has had some hiccups, including getting lost in the subway and having to lug three pieces of luggage up six flights of stairs to her apartment because it has no lift.

Her decision to study in New York arose from feelings of inadequacy that washed over her at a Channel 8 drama roadshow last August.

“I remember the moment very clearly, when the camera lights were flashing in my face at the roadshow. I realised I wasn’t happy, I felt that I was settling into my comfort zone. I wanted to be a better version of myself,” says Tan, who graduated with a theatre diploma from the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts three years ago.

This is despite her having carved out her place as one of local television’s promising young actresses and winning the Best Supporting Actress trophy at this year’s Star Awards for her role as a vindictive scriptwriter in The Dream Makers II.

Returning to school life has been nothing but a joy, even if it means 12-hour days of acting, directing and script-writing classes since the start of this month.

She rattles on about picking up acting techniques in crying scenes and how to better get in touch with a character’s emotions.

Why the New York Film Academy, though?

“This is my first time in New York. I’ve always wanted to visit. To me, New York is a place where dreams are made,” she says, singing the hit tune Empire State Of Mind by Alicia Keys and Jay Z.

“Everyone here is so passionate about what they want to do. In the subway, I saw a young boy playing Mozart and Beethoven tunes on the keyboard as if it were his concert. It made me feel so driven.”

Initially scheduled to be away from Singapore for half a year, she cut short her New York stay to take on exciting projects back home, including a Channel 8 blockbuster in November.

She has no intention to scoot off for long-term studies at the moment, but may take short courses in subjects such as film-making in the future.

Now, as she is basking in summer in New York on her days off, watching plays and hunting down good food, she relishes the anonymity of living in a foreign land.

“I can walk anywhere without people looking at me, taking photos of me. No one is here to judge me. If I’m sick, I can blow my nose without worrying about people taking a photo and posting it on Instagram,” says Tan, who is the daughter of a businessman and a housewife.

The actress, who recently broke up with her boyfriend of six months, is in no hurry to find a new beau.

She says: “I feel whole as a person, whether or not I’m in a relationship. To me, having a relationship is a bonus. Some friends say guys may be intimidated by me, feel that I’m strong and hard to handle. But some guys like strong women. They will like me for who I am.

“People are also saying that New York is full of hot guys. But I’m too busy with school to have a summer fling.”

What actress Julie Tan wants to change about her looks

Click on thumbnail to view photos. Source: 

The New Paper, MediaCorp, The Straits Times

This article was first published on July 21, 2016.
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Move over Shila Amzah, Lee Pei Ling and Adinda Tasya Mansor are the new darlings of China’s reality TV talent shows.

On July 15, Penang teen Pei Ling made her debut on a new singing competition show called Sing! China and her performance impressed the panel of “mentors”, especially Na Ying, one of China’s top-selling artistes. Also on the panel are Taiwan’s Jay Chou and Harlem Yu and China’s Wang Feng (actress Zhang Ziyi’s musician husband).

After her performance, Pei Ling was chosen by Na Ying to be on her team; the young talent will be coached by Na Ying throughout the course of the competition.

If this sounds like another popular American reality-based talent show, well, it sort of is. Sing! China is formerly known as 2016 The Voice Of China, an unofficial China version of the The Voice. The Chinese show actually made its debut in 2013 but after legal disputes, producers decided to change its name to Sing! China and re-introduce it to fans on July 15.

Pei Ling, 15, who also calls herself “Jeryl”, and Adinda, 11, are the latest Malaysian girls making waves in Chinese singing competitions following the success of Shila Amzah, who became a sensation in China when she won the top prize in the show, Asian Wave in 2012.

Adinda made headlines recently when she wowed judges Su Yunying (Chinese singer-songwriter), Jacky Xue Zhiqian (Chinese singer) and Gary Chaw (Taiwan-based Malaysian singer-songwriter) on the show Let’s Sing Kids S4, a singing programme for kids broadcast on Hunan TV in China. Adinda, from Taiping, Perak, performed the song Next Stop In The Future and later, requested that Chaw sang Let It Go with her.

“I have goosebumps. Your performance was excellent,” Chaw told Adinda on the show. Unfortunately, Chaw was not Adinda’s choice for mentor as she picked Su Yunying to be her coach in the competition.

As for Pei Ling, the teen performed Daniel Chan’s Xin You Du Zhong during Sing! China, which was shot in Beijing. Pei Ling was later quoted as saying that she felt both nervous and excited during the selection stage of the show. She was happy that Na Ying had chosen her. “I felt like screaming, my heart was beating really fast, I told myself to calm down and not falter in front of the judge,” she said.

Both Pei Ling and Adinda are veterans in singing competitions, having joined several before in Malaysia and overseas. When Pei Ling was 12, she joined one of Taiwan’s popular singing contests Chinese Million Star, and sang the song Zhen Fu (by Na Ying). Although she did well, the song was deemed “too adult” for her as it deals with mature issues. Singer Gigi Leung, who was part of the show, said she couldn’t look at Pei Ling when she was singing because she felt that she was too young to be singing such an adult song.

Pei Ling also joined China’s Water Cube Singing Contest For Overseas Chinese Teenagers last year; she beat 54 contestants from all over the world to nab the top spot!

For Adinda, some folks might remember her from the local competition Ceria Popstar in 2014, in which she placed in the top five.

Good job, girls!

Braving a heavy downpour was a small price to pay for Jolin Tsai fans who have waited eagerly for four years for the Taiwanese pop sensation to perform on Malaysian shores again.

Over 11,000 of the pop star’s hardcore fans thronged Stadium Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur on July 16 equipped with raincoats, PLAY glow sticks and handmade signboards to show their love and support for the pop singer.

Though Tsai’s PLAY World Tour started almost an hour late, the crowd kept their enthusiasm and anticipation to the maximum level.

Just slightly before the clock struck nine, the Taiwanese pop diva emerged on stage donning a one-of-a-kind Medusa snake-headed headpiece, and kicked-off her energy-filled concert with her first song – (surprise, surprise) Medusa.

I’m pretty sure many went home that night with sore and scratchy throats as the crowd was in a constant state of wild screaming frenzy throughout the concert.

There was a moment of worry when the Taiwanese pop diva, who was wearing sky-high heels slipped and fell on the rain-drenched stage seconds into her fifth song I’m Not Yours.

But the ever professional pop sensation remained calm, unfazed even, and maintained her composure as she continued belting out the song as if nothing had happened, while her all-male dance troupe continued to pull off some very hot and sassy dance moves.

Towards the middle of the show, the entertainer invited the fans to sing along to old classics such as I Know You Are Feeling Blue and Sky, thanking them for their loyal support after all these years.

When the pop star was not working the crowd, Tsai spared a few moments to reach out to her adoring fans, telling them about her trip back here and how touched she was when she saw all their lovely signboards from stage.

The 35-year-old singer also orchestrated a photo session with her fans from stage using a GoPro camera.

It was also nice to see Tsai demonstrate the makings of a true lady as she gracefully introduced her talented dancers, allowing each them to show off their own sassy and impressive dance moves.

I must say, it was pretty impressive how Tsai managed to keep the concert upbeat and fun for her fans for almost three hours.

In fact, it seemed like the ending of the concert got even more energetic towards the end!

Perhaps the only disappointment was the lack of an encore, but surely the crowd can’t be too bummed about that, after sitting a show that had more than 30 songs, and in which Tsai truly lived up to her nickname of Asia’s Madonna.