Simu Liu
#FIRSTLOOK: NEW TEASER FOR “BARBIE”
Literally THE MOVIE we’re waiting for in 2023. Check-out this bubbly new Teaser for Greta Gerwig‘s BARBIE starring Margot Robbie!
Warner Bros. Pictures Canada release BARBIE Summer 2023.
(Photo/video credit: Warner Bros. Pictures Canada)
#SPOTTED: SIMU LIU, JEREMY LIN, KIM LEE, CHARLES MELTON, RONNY CHIENG + MORE IN TORONTO FOR 2022 CCYAA CELEBRITY CLASSIC
It was one for the books as the second CCYAA (Canadian Chinese Youth Athletic Association) Celebrity Classic powered by Virgin Plus, took place last night at the University of Toronto‘s Goldring Centre! Headlined by and featuring guest appearances by the likes of Simu Liu and NBA star Jeremy Lin, Comedian Ronny Chieng, Comedian Hasan Minhaj, Bling Empire star Kim Lee, Shang-Chi star Meng’er Zhang and more, the weekend was highlighted by a series of events leading up to the match. The event raises funds for the Jeremy Lin Foundation and the CCYAA’s new Community Centre.
Among the festivities this weekend were three Comedy Shows at Yuk Yuk’s with Comedian Julie Kim headlining. Kim recently wrote the Script for the JUNOS, hosted by Liu, and is confirmed for the upcoming Just for Laughs Festival! There also was a Youth Jam held at Goldring Centre, plus a four-day vendor Festival, FRESH FEST, at indoor Asian Night Market, SUPERFRESH in the Annex. For one day only, popular California Bubble Tea Chain BOPOMOFE CAFE did a pop-up shop which saw at one point, a 90-minute queue outside the hotspot.
As expected, Lin strut his stuff at the tournament, not to be outshined by Content Creator Mike Wu, whom many were saying deserved MVP! Fans went wild seeing up-close and personal some of their Asian-Canadian/American idols!
We were out and about and so thrilled to get to meet some of the stars in-town for the affair celebrating North American Asian Excellence.
See who we spotted, with a little help from beanie!
This event is amazing and hoping in coming years it remains an annual thing! So important to celebrate the accomplishments of this Community!
Learn more about it here.
(Photo credit: Mr. Will Wong)
#FIRSTLOOK: 2ND ANNUAL CCYAA CELEBRITY CLASSIC X FRESHFEST TAKING PLACE THIS WEEKEND
In celebration of the 2nd Annual CCYAA Celebrity Classic presented by Virgin Plus in partnership with Actor Simu Liu, various events will be taking place around town, celebrating excellence in the North American Asian Community. The Basketball match will feature a star-studded line-up including professional Basketball Player Jeremy Lin, Actor Ronny Chieng and Comedian Hasan Minhaj. The Game takes place Saturday, July 9, 2022 6 PM at the Goldring Centre, University of Toronto. We’re hearing Bling Empire star Kim Lee might even make an appearance!
Just down the road from Goldring Centre in the Annex, FRESHFEST will be taking place at bustling hotspot SUPERFRESH. The four-day event showcases Arts, Music, Food, Drink, Lifestyle, and Retail. Just some of the vendors appearing for a limited time only between Wednesday, July 6, 2022 to Saturday, July 9, 2022:
● A Bopomofo Cafe (based in California) pop up which was co-founded by WongFu Productions creator Phil Wang
● An art-toy exhibit from Mindzai
● A free sneaker cleaning station courtesy of Crep Protect
● A merch-market which includes collaboration pieces with Mitchell & Ness including a limited
edition variant of the infamous BobaRaptor line
Schedule is as follows:
Wednesday, July 6 (4:00 pm – 9:00 pm)
Day Market, as curated by Auntie’s Supply Founder and Owner Christina Tolosa Pack, will feature a diverse line-up of 10 of the freshest Asian vendors Saigon Drip, Apothegeri, Kopi Thyme, Kumain Kitchen, Baker Rae Desserts, Mad Love Creative Co. and many more
Thursday, July 7 (9:30 pm – Close)
Freshfest DJ Night showcasing a line-up of local Asian DJs spinning fresh beats, curated libations and select street eats
Friday, July 8 (4:00 pm – 10:00 pm)
Freshfest Pop-up featuring Mindzai, Crep Protect and CCYAA Merch Market
Saturday, July 9 (12:00 pm – 7:30 pm)
Freshfest Pop-up featuring Bopomofo Café, Mindzai, Crep Protect and CCYAA Merch Market
Also taking place this weekend is a Comedy Night at Yuk Yuk’s with Headliner Julie Kim, who happened to write Simu Liu‘s JUNO Awards Script. And you just never know who will show-up!
Limited Tickets still are available here to the CCYAA CELEBRITY CLASSIC with Simu Liu and Jeremy Lin.
Learn more about Superfresh here.
We had the chance to visit recently. More here:
#FIRSTLOOK: BOOKING.COM SPONSORS TIME100 SUMMIT & GALA
BOOKING.COM was an official signature sponsor of the TIME100 Summit and Gala at Lincoln Center in New York, which included stars like Toronto’s own Simu Liu! The site is one of the largest travel marketplaces for both established brands and entrepreneurs of all sizes, enabling properties all over the world to reach a global audience and grow their businesses.
Booking.com aimed to further support getting important topics the increased attention they need and deserve while also providing travel inspiration for Summit & Gala attendees. The events brought together a cast of past and present TIME100 honorees and other influential figures from the worlds of art, culture, politics and entertainment with Booking.com polling the influential attendees on their summer travel plans via a survey at the brand’s dedicated activation space at Jazz at Lincoln Center.
Key insights include:
-Sustainability efforts at accommodations play a strong role in TIME100 event attendee’s vacation decisions, with 50% of survey respondents saying they would select one property over another if it had Booking.com’s Travel Sustainable badge.
-TIME100 event respondents said they prefer to stay at vacation rentals over hotels (62%).
-Trips where travelers get to enjoy the outdoors was the preference for TIME100 attendees with 46% of respondents wanting to take a beach vacation this summer and 41% wanting to take any type of nature trip.
-Experiencing local culture is TIME100 event respondents main motivation to travel this summer (37%), with relaxation not far behind at 32%.
-When asked what destination was top of the list this summer, Greece, Italy, Spain, Mexico, Colorado and Puerto Rico were the most popular among TIME100 event attendee survey respondents.
Some of the A-Listers at the affair:
(Photo credit: Booking.com)
#FIRSTLOOK: TEASER FOR “CARPOOL KARAOKE: THE SERIES – SEASON 5”
Season Five of CARPOOL KARAOKE: THE SERIES delivers just the hits! And Toronto’s own Simu Liu even appears this season! Here’s a new Teaser.
Synopsis:
Each episode of “Carpool Karaoke: The Series” features celebrities sharing a car, singing along to their personal playlists, and embarking on adventures. Season five kicks off with Simu Liu and Jessica Henwick; “The White Lotus” costars Murray Bartlett, Alexandra Daddario and Sydney Sweeney; Anitta and Saweetie; Zooey Deschanel and Jonathan Scott, who first met on “Carpool Karaoke”; the stars of All Elite Wrestling; and the D’Amelio family.
Season Five of “Carpool Karaoke: The Series” premieres with six episodes on Friday, May 27, 2022.
(Photo/video credit: Apple TV+)
#JUNOS: CHARLOTTE CARDIN, SHAWN MENDES, AVRIL LAVIGNE AND DEBORAH COX AMONG BIG WINNERS AT 2022 JUNOS BROADCAST GALA
The 51st edition of the JUNO AWARDS took place tonight at Toronto’s Budweiser Stage, a return to an in-person format after the Pandemic halted celebrations last year. Held outdoors to pivot around Covid-19, the event was a welcomed return to outdoor music and this also is the first time the event was held in Toronto since 2011’s edition at Air Canada Centre (now Scotiabank Arena). Tonight’s Broadcast Gala, aired live on CBC, concluded a weekend of celebrations honouring the best in the Canadian Recording Industry, including a Comedy Showcase, the Cadillac Fairview JUNO Fan Fare allowing fans to meet some of their favourite emerging Artists, plus the Opening Night Awards, held at Metro Toronto Convention Centre.
It was a star-studded affair on the outdoor Red Carpet as stars, including those performing, being honorued and nominated, made their way through, including the like of Shawn Mendes, Avril Lavigne and fiancé Mod Sun, Deborah Cox, Chris Bosh, Mustafa, Charlotte Cardin and several more. Host Simu Liu, star of Marvel’s SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS also graced us with his presence in a hot pink suit.
See Liu‘s Opening tonight, getting a little help from Michael Buble, Kim’s Convenience Co-star Andrew Phung.
Winning top honours tonight was Montreal’s Charlotte Cardin, who has had a career year and now is touring in support of her Album PHOENIX, which garnered her Artist of the Year, Album of the Year, Pop Album of the Year and Single of the Year for “Meaningless” which she performed live on the Broadcast.
Pickering’s Shawn Mendes also fared very well not only being honoured with the International Achievement Award, but also received the TikTok JUNO FAN CHOICE AWARD, based on fan votes.
Scarborough’s Deborah Cox was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. The R&B Vocalist known best for her smash hit “Nobody’s Supposed to Be Here“, was supposed her ber friend and NBA Hall of Famer Chris Bosh who surprised. Several stars like Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, Angela Bassett and John Legend recorded video greetings congratulating her.
Global Superstar Avril Lavigne might not have received any awards tonight, but added tons of starpower to the Awards this year, performing a Medley of her hits including “Complicated”/”Bite Me”/”Girlfriend”/”Sk8r Boi” and “I’m With You”. At her Ricoh Colisseum show last night, her label honoured her with a plaque for single “Bite Me” which has reached gold status in Canada.
The 2022 Humanitarian Award Presented by Music Canada was given to Susan Aglukark, recognizing her commitment to improving the lives of children and youth in Northern Indigenous communities.
Some magical Red Carpet moments we snapped tonight:
Mustafa and Shawn Mendes sharing an intimate moment backstage at #TheJunos. pic.twitter.com/WRsQNmMKUr
— MR. WILL WONG 📸 (@mrwillw) May 15, 2022
Avril Lavigne and Mod Sun backstage at #TheJunos. pic.twitter.com/R5tSicUZh2
— MR. WILL WONG 📸 (@mrwillw) May 15, 2022
Guests tonight got to experience this amazing Photo Op Booth courtesy of SONOS!
We’re at #TheJunos!! pic.twitter.com/WYI9LbMzuB
— MR. WILL WONG 📸 (@mrwillw) May 15, 2022
What a weekend!
The JUNO Awards return to Edmonton in 2023. Complete list of winners here.
(Photo/video credit: CBC/Mr. Will Wong)
#SPOTTED: JULIE KIM AT TORONTO’S COMEDY BAR
It’s been years since we’ve enjoyed some live Comedy! Scarborough’s Julie Kim continues to make waves in Comedy and Toronto was so lucky to get her back for two shows tonight on her current Tour, after having supported Funnyman Ronny Chieng on his Hope You Get Rich Tour. Though she’s based now in Vancouver, Kim‘s ties to Toronto continue to remain strong and she’s currently working closely with Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings star Simu Liu, as he hosts the Juno Awards in the City next month.
For those who aren’t familiar with Kim‘s Comedy, she looks at motherhood, marriage and also more so of late, race relations being a mother of a bi-racial daughter. She delivers a set that is unfiltered, hilarious and relatable, often poking fun at men and other women who are judgmental.
Kim headlined her own show at Comedy Bar on Bloor West, filling the club for two shows tonight – one at 7 PM and one at 9 PM. She worked the room, building to a crescendo. She ponders her life has a mother, whether it be breastfeeding, or her choice to “save the v” by doing the “c”, a Caesarian section. She admits she never thought much about race much growing-up, but this been on her mind of late as we group people by terms like “Person of Colour” or “BIPOC”, plus also seeing that many of her daughter’s classmates like her are bi-racial. She also makes funny observations about the “fetishization” of Asian women by white men.
Kim‘s ability to storytell is her strongest suit and in addition to being a sharp Comedian with a great command of the stage, her writing also is tight and edited. Inasmuch as the people in the front tables get picked-on a lot, we’re sure they love being in on the joke.
She was supported by some up-and-coming Canadian talent including Marito Lopez, who had the crowd cackling as he jokes about being a Latino Comedian from Calgary, and the height difference between his girlfriend and him, proclaiming himself a “Short King”.
Charles Demers emceed the night, the JUNO-nominated Comedian joking about being outnumbered by gay men in in his family and also being married to a Chinese-Canadian wife, something Kim wanted him to share seeing that some of her Comedy is inspired by her interracial marriage also.
Toronto’s Joe Vu also supported, reflecting on his experiences as an Asian man trying to date outside his race, with humour.
And there were some very special guests in the audience tonight, including Run the Burbs and Kim’s Convenience‘s Andrew Phung, plus also Meng’er Zhang who stars in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Zhang has just been announced to star in THE WITCHER as Milv, a Huntress with great skills in Archery. She is a good friend of Kim‘s! What a treat!
Learn more about Julie Kim‘s Comedy here, including her videos on YouTube which have garnered over 20+ million views.
(Photo credit: Mr. Will Wong)
#FIRSTLOOK: SIMU LIU “WE WERE DREAMERS” BOOK TOUR
Simu Liu (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) will be headed to Hot Docs this year with a talk in support of his upcoming Memoir, WE WERE DREAMERS. The Toronto star’s book talks about mastering our extraordinary circumstances.
Dates are as follows:
| Simu Liu: We Were Dreamers Book Tour Friday May 13 – Toronto, ON – Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema Thursday May 19 – New York, NY – Book signing at Yu and Me Books Thursday May 19 – New York, NY – First Unitarian Church Saturday, May 21 – Los Angeles, CA – Book signing at Barnes & Noble at The Grove Saturday, May 21 – Los Angeles, CA – El Rey Theatre Sunday, May 22 – San Francisco, CA – Book signing at Book Passage at the Ferry Building Sunday, May 22 – San Francisco, CA – The UC Theatre Thursday, May 26 – London, UK – EartH (Evolutionary Arts Hackney) Wednesday, June 1 – Boston, MA – The Wilbur Thursday, June 2 – Chicago, IL – Music Box Theater Tuesday, June 7 – Philadelphia, PA – Kimmel Center Perelman Theatre |
| Liu will be having a big week around the Toronto date above as he is set to host the JUNO Awards at Molson Amphitheatre. |
More on WE WERE DREAMERS here.
(Photo credit: HarperCollins)
#FIRSTLOOK: “HELLO (AGAIN)”
Canadian stars Simu Liu and Nathalie Younglai team together to create upcoming CBC Gem Series HELLO (AGAIN). The nine-episode Series at ten minutes each, arrives this later month.
The Series centers on Jayden (Alex Mallari Jr.) and Avery (Rong Fu) who meet by chance one day in a park. They begin their whirlwind romance, but flash-forward to the present, and we see them having relationship troubles. Months pass after their breakup, and Jayden has another chance encounter, this time crossing paths with a supernatural girl (Rebecca Chan) who while annoying him, also by puts him in his place, pushing him to giving love another go.
HELLO (AGAIN) takes the Rom-Com genre and offers a fresh-spin on it, lending focus to how relationships take much work to thrive, working its way backwards and then forward again. It recognizes the importance of self-reflection and doing the work with one’s self, because a relationship won’t fix all problems when there are underlying issues to be confronted. All this, while doing this in a distinctively Asian-Canadian voice, nagging mother sighing “Aiya” and all! The Music featured on the Series also is by Asian-Canadian Artist, Kierscey.
Mallari and Fu are engaging as our leads and while we’ve only previewed the first couple episodes, we are interested to see where the story takes them and their journeys.
Don’t forget to check-out HELLO (AGAIN) as it streams March 25, 2022 on CBC Gem. More here.
#FIRSTLOOK: 2022 JUNO AWARDS TO BE HOSTED BY SIMU LIU
The Juno Awards, celebrating Canada’s best in Music are returning to Toronto again this year! Even better, they will be in-person for the first time since 2019. And guess what? Simu Liu will be hosting!
The Awards take place at Budweiser Stage in Toronto, on Sunday, May 15 , 2022 and broadcast and streamed live across Canada at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on CBC TV, CBC Gem, CBC Radio One, CBC Music, CBC Listen, and globally at CBCMusic.ca/junos and CBC Music’s Facebook, YouTube and Twitter pages.
Tickets go on-sale March 4, 2022.
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