Kristi Yamaguchi made it into the semifinals of Dancing with the Stars — although not without some serious criticism from judge and fellow Asian American, Carrie Ann. After the ballroom quickstep, Carrie Ann remarked, “Your technique is always flawless; I’ll never fault you on that. But, I thought you got a little out of sync.” After the samba, she continued to make her point known: “I didn’t care for it. It was actually a slightly bit awkward.” Judges Len Goodman and Bruno Tonioli saw Yamaguchi’s performance in a less critical light, and one wonders why Carrie Ann was pushing her so hard. Maybe Carrie Ann wants to give the other dancers a chance … or maybe she’s like a typical Asian American mama bird, pushing her fledglings to soar, to really dance. Yamaguchi was still stuck trying to impress with technical “wow” factors, like the lift. And unlike the “bejeweled hummingbird” as Bruno described her, in reality, Yamaguchi looked the part of a sparkly Big Bird, clipped wings and all.
Let’s demystify what Louross of Hell’s Kitchen was trying to articulate last week when he said, “Me and Corey are like two peas in a pod. You know what I’m saying? Like a twinkie in a philly. I heart her.” The “twinkie” is the stand-by racial metaphor for looking “yellow” and being “white” on the inside. The “philly” refers to Philadelphia’s signature cheese-steak sandwich. My concern — apart from the weird ethnic allusion and a totally mutilated metaphor — is how does one imagine this particular pairing of sponge cake and savory cheese steak … especially a chef?
Top Chef Dale Talde veered away from Asian cooking by making turkey bratwurst with potatoes, cabbage and apples, with kid sous-chef Emmanuel in tow. While serious bonding was had with pint-size Emmanuel, the judges didn’t think much of his not-so-kid-friendly entrée.
In A Shot At Love II, Tila Tequila made the contestants quaff shots of tartar sauce, fish oil, hot sauce, and anything else that would cause projectile vomiting. Her point was to see just how far people were willing to go for her … and, as if group puking wasn’t enough, the winners were then asked to eat pig’s … how to say this delicately … goodies. It’s really an exercise of melding Asian stereotypes of street slut and high-maintenance princess. What more could the MTV crowd want?
Step It Up and Dance did the Broadway musical, and Michelle Camaya shined for the judges as a sexy troublemaker who “scintillated” and “glistened.” She enthusiastically gushed, “This type of movement was very yummy to me.” Unfortunately, golden boy Cody was fed the good news of having won immunity as the sex stayed skewed in his favor — three female judges, and one male.