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 that has spread to 10 major cities across 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
