April 1, 2010

• Kollaboration 10

  Kollaboration 10
  Written by Daisy Kim
  March 6th, 2010 marked a milestone for the non-profit organization Kollaboration in many ways. It was the 10th annual Kollaboration show to be held in Los Angeles, the ten-year-old grassroots movement founded by its Executive Director Paul PK Kim that has sparked a continental collaborative effort throughout 10 major cities in North America. The talent show-which is deeply rooted in promoting the organization’s mantra Empowerment through Entertainment-promotes artistic and creative pursuits of its APIA aspiring musicians, dancers and performance artists. In order to prove that APIA artists can be and ought to be successful in the entertainment industry, Kollaboration’s talent shows provide the platform for its local artists to defy stereotypes cast by the mainstream media. The organization and community-driven movement has become a stepping stone for the APIA population. Kollaboration, which began as Paul PK Kim’s own vision to fill a missing void within the APIA community ten years ago has laid out the groundwork for future generations of artists. Its founder will be stepping away from his post as Executive Director after this year to delve into his own quest for a career as a stand-up comedian and father to his 1-year-old son, Solomon Kim.

  The year’s show was held at the regal stage of the Shrine Auditorium which drew a motley cast of APIA celebrities, community leaders and supportive audience members from toddlers and their grandparents to teenaged fans. The stately entryway of the Shrine Auditorium was filled with celebrated figures in the APIA community while celebrities such as Far East Movement, Wong Fu Productions, Aaron Yoo, Amy Rider, James Kyson Lee, C.S Lee, Alexandra Chun, Joe Hahn (of Linkin Park), David Choi, Dumbfoundead, Jane Lui, Kina Grannis, Karin Anna Cheung, Ktown Cowboys, DJ Shy, and Kevin Shea amongst others walked the red carpet inside the grand foyer. Outside the auditorium, favored food trucks Dim Sum Truck, Yum Yum Bowls, TastyMeat, SliceTruck, Fresser’s and Flying Pig were parked to satiate the 5,000 plus attendees at the show.

  The guest judges for Kollaboration 10 were an eclectic group of APIA celebrities and community shapers such as: Emmy-nominated international correspondent and Journalist Lisa Ling, HBO’s Entourage comedian/actor Rex Lee, Youtube all-stars KevJumba and Michelle Phan, Grammy and MTV-awards winning Director Joseph Kahn, CEO of Garco Enterprises Patty Yoon, and President and COO of IW Group Nita Song.

  As Peter Rocks and the Kollaboration House Band opened up the show preluding to Korean dance-crew Prepix’s piercing dance performance which had audiences thumping along to their routine. Another dance-crew invitee from Korea was Korean Union Dancerz, who mesmerized viewers by incorporating traditional Korean mask dancing with hip-hop and street dance. Anbu Black Ops, the Anime/Ninja dance crew directed by Mike Song of Kaba Modern and Anthony Lee of YoMama gave a new twist to the already popular dance-crews by turning their performance into a hip-hop, ruckus causing, rigorously choreographed, break dancing, story-telling segment.

  What was unique to this year’s competitors’ performances was that every competitor sang their own original piece. The competitors shared the best of their crafts on stage beginning with Paul Jisung Kim who beat boxed and harmonized his Run/Fly/Fall. Sam Hart performed his popularly recognized Youtube cult-classic Mario Kart Love Song which has already offset a string of covers across the globe.

  Will Volume, the ingenious orchestration arranger settled onto his seat with his guitar, dedicating his rock serenade Motion of Love to his muse, the Olympian Gold-medalist Yuna Kim. Mike Isberto and Alfa strummed a perfectly harmonized acoustic song of sweet melodies, their co-written song Across the Miles which they had prepared from Los Angeles and New York, respectfully.

  Jason Yang was magical on his electric violin which resonated throughout the entire auditorium. He was the Verizon Wireless Audience Favorite Winner and was awarded $1,000. Bhangra Empire, the only dance group to compete in this year’s show was the most vibrant troupe to grace this year’s stage. Enthusiastically remixing Bollywood glamour with Jay-Z, the striking performance won second place and was awarded $1,000.

  Clara, this year’s only female solo performer was the grand prize winner as she won the hearts and respect of the judges with her song Offbeat. She is also the first female solo singer to win a Kollaboration annual talent-show to date. This year’s freestyle battles remained competitive as the dance prize was tied by Theresa June-Tao and Leegan Lim, while the vocalist winner was Melissa Griggs from Florida. Each winner was awarded $250.

  Pigeon John rocked a passionate guest performance with his charm and ever-engaging style while Vudoo Soul with his captivating voice enticed with Girl You Got Me, sung in his trademark soulful style. We Are Heroes showed us what it means to be an ABDC winner with their perfectly synced choreography to individual freestyle delicacies. Just Kidding Films helped keep the show on a comedic note and the biggest Filipino-American comedian of today, Rex Navarrete stormed the crowd into laughter with his impersonations of Philippine’s world famous boxer Manny Pacquiao. Oprah Winfrey’s Karaoke Challenge winner and avid Kollaboration supporter Abraham McDonald sang his new single I Believe as the grand finale, ending the show in an inspiring fete.

  Audience members, guests, performers and staff members were brought to a halt at the end as a surprise tributary video, starring John Cho, Aaron Yoo, Brian Tee and other Kollaboration affiliates was dedicated to Executive Director PK. PK was joined by his wife Tammy Kim with their baby Solomon in tow was accompanied by Executive Producer Roy Choi and Associate Producer Christine Kim to take his final bow as the face and visionary behind Kollaboration.

  SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS

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