‘China Doll’ Wins American Hearts

May 21, 2008

Olympic figure skating champion Kristi Yamaguchi became season six winner of the sixth season of Dancing Wwith the Stars this week. No surprise if looking at it from a purely mathematical standpoint. Kristi, after all, Kristi received a ridiculous number of perfect 10s from the judges and earned the highest cumulative score ever in the show’s history. She also broke the men’s winning streak of the past four seasons. But does technical brilliance alone galvanize American viewers to phone in their votes of adoration?

Dancing With the Stars, much like American Idol, is a show less about pure dancing talent and more about overcoming handicaps, like being overweight, deaf, or literally having a prosthetic leg. The most charming of these seems to be America’s fascination with the man’s man retaining his masculinity in the face of the effeminizing dance; hence the four previous wins were given to these types of men.

Kristi’s Achilles’ heel, as the judges time and again would pointed out to her, was her lack of passion during the Latin rounds. She was the go-to girl for the exuberant and fun jive for which she received her highest marks; but her tango, on the other hand, received the lowest. and Kristi herself had trouble getting into the passionate sexy dance and resorted to role- play where she was Kristiana and her partner Mark was Mercucio. Kristi’s win seems to reinforce America’s notion that men can’t be effeminate (read: gay) and woman can’t be sexy (read: slut), and that these stereotypes are the cornerstone to American mores. Of course, Kristi’s ethnicity only compounds this image of the unsexed “China doll,” which is why she’s the winner of America’s heart. …

On the other hand, Step It Up and Dance takes itself a bit more seriously; there is no audience participation, and the contestants are judged solely by dancing professionals. Unlike Kristi, Michelle “Mochi” Camaya seemed to thrive in this past week’s sexy Latin dance-off and was aptly rewarding her ed for it, winning her first challenge. It’s this sexuality that the judges delight in, and fortunately, it’s the judges who make call the shots. This sexy nymphet would not do well under the auspices of puritanical America. …

Dale Talde, the chef everyone likes to hate, seems to have finally exhausted his “I-Hate-Dale” streak as other Top Chef contestants pulled dirty tricks on each other to avoid elimination. It shouldn’t be surprising that Dale was viewed as a villain. Five wins out of twenty 20 challenges should inspired a little jealousy, rage and hatred from the super- driven contestants. But it also shouldn’t be surprising that Dale’s ego is so large. After all, he “does his own thing” and is a model of self-reliance. But at the end of the day, being for those who are too self-reliant (as many second- generation Asian Americans are), who’s left to congratulate you on the job well done? Only your lonely self and your equally lonely ego.

Written by Elise Shin · Filed Under Asian 'Reality' Check

Comments

3 Responses to “‘China Doll’ Wins American Hearts”

Aaron Kitashima on May 22nd, 2008 2:07 am

Kristi won the program because of her experience in skating, since it requires heavy discipline in the art of dancing on the ice; for her, this was a piece of cake.

If you think it is because of race, you are just nuts.
Nancy on May 23rd, 2008 12:02 pm

From the very beginning I was a super fan of Kristi Yamaguchi. I had wanted her to win. And she did. I am one of the tons of Asian American who are extremely proud of her. I was afraid that they might pick Jason to win it. I rarely agree with who they pick as the winner, specially last season.

When I read the above article, I felt nausea. I am not even going to comments on it.
justagal on May 23rd, 2008 4:40 pm

you are honestly a moron who should NOT be allowed to touch a computer.

Kristi did well because she’s a world class skater. of COURSE she’d be athletic and practiced enough to do well on the dance floor.

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