UrbanWire

MAA stands for ‘Madness All Around’. No, seriously. This year’s MTV Asia Awards, the third and last to be held here, was at its uproariously cheekiest best. Who else but MTV could have toyed with the idea of smuggling in a world-famous diva, actually keeping her appearance top-secret till the show, and sending millions of its viewers across Asia into a state of wide-eyed delirium?

MTV Punk’d host Ashton Kutcher would have certainly approved. Following Mariah Carey’s shocking appearance, the reporters from Urbanwire managed to fortunately recompose themselves, and remain blithely amused at the enormity of everyone’s gaping mouth, revelling in the fun, naughtiness and love which defined this year’s MTV Asia Awards.

And yes, stop asking us “Where’s the Love”. We’re about to show it to you, as we unravel the juicy details of Urbanwire’s hot date on Valentine’s Day with the stars where we huddled in the press room backstage, and even caught first glimpses of them arriving on the red carpet.

They strutted onto the red carpet with the hook “Shut up, just shut up shut up” brazenly hollered at them. If it were any other group, the line would have echoed of Simon Cowell’s true sentiments towards deluded American Idol wannabes, but it’s the Black Eyed Peas we’re talking here, and the crazed repetition of their hit, ‘Shut Up’, by adoring fans only goes to show how big and universal they have become.

When a reporter asked the female lead singer, Fergie, to comment on the statement: “Girls make trouble when they’re around guys”, Fergie, dressed in a delicate, flowing white dress, candidly replied, “I’m good, [the guys’] are the crazy ones.”

So crazy that a question like “What do you think of Singaporean guys” (mistakenly) directed to apl.de.ap, the group’s only Asian member originally from the Philippines, instead of Fergie, the group’s undisputedly only female member, was good-naturedly answered by apl.de.ap. Striking an effeminate posture, he quipped “I’m all for the girls.” Someone shout “Hey Dada, erm Mama!”

Recipient of The Asian Film Award for her acting achievements, Michelle Yeoh may ironically be contemplating ditching the screen for the microphone. This former Bond actress enthused backstage, “I wish I was a singer though. I think the whole atmosphere, the very outgoing, boisterous, the ‘want to see your artiste, want to have fun’ attitude is just amazing. In the movies, you don’t get the first-hand reaction like that.”

She reveals, “When I was on stage, I nearly said, next year I want to come back as a singer, man, forget acting!”

While Vaness Wu of F4, who admitted to being star struck with Michelle, might have gladly offered her some tips, Duncan of Blue, winner of the Favourite Pop Act category, however, has taken a step in Michelle’s direction. He’s signed up with an acting agency called PFD. Duncan elaborates, “It’s nice that 3 years down the line with Blue, we’ve had the opportunity to have a go at other stuff.”

However, Duncan dispels firmly all prophecies of an impending group split as an “absolute load of rubbish”, and when asked if he would be acting soon, Duncan’s pensive reply was, “Who knows? At the minute, I’m in Blue, and everything we do is really positive.”

Nice try, Derek McDonald, but you aren’t fooling us that the naughtiest thing you’ve ever done was getting drunk at a bar. The 22-year-old Scottish singer, while giving out an award with Tanya Chua, cheekily donned the pair of G-string- on top of his jeans. (This year’s award winners had their names delivered on a G-string, if you didn’t know).

His plans for the night? Getting drunk again at the MTV Asia Awards after party, and being introduced to, ahem, pop sensation Stacie Orrico. Now, Derek, don’t get her drunk, the girl hasn’t even turned 18!

Talk about lingerie and the Pussycat Dolls have it down pat. This singing-dancing-performing group from Los Angeles are unabashed about making lingerie a big part of their image. These talented group of around 10 girls are working on an album with people who’ve worked on the Moulin Rouge move and Jennifer Lopez.

Taiwanese boy band 5566 had other, erm, issues with G-strings. They originally thought that it was called ‘T-Bar’. So much for things being Lost in Translation.

Urban Xchange who performed with Stacie Orrico and Too Phat, have a new game up their sleeve. They recently set up a new music

label called the Chyna House and are planning to release a new album titled Tales from the Chyna House in June.

The group’s frontman, Terry Lee, enthuses, “This label focuses on putting on a face to Asian Pop. We want a unified sound, one face, for Asian music to be put on the international scene.”

A new album is also to be expected of three-time winner of the Favourite Artist (Singapore) award, Stefanie Sun, at the end of the year. Quirkily, her award parallels the Valentine’s Day gift Stefanie received this year. She shyly admitted, “I received a book, 5 people you meet in heaven. Actually, I already have the book.” Oops.

For fans of Simple Plan, they have unofficially copyrighted the name Asian Invasion Tour for future tours in Asia. When asked what they thought about their music, they replied, “There are 2 types of music: good and bad. Fortunately, we’re in the middle. We’re okay.” Dunno what their plans are, but there’s no fear they’ll take up accountancy as an alternative career.

Naughty surprises, tongue-in-cheek performances and an all-round mad-cap crazy night for the 7,000 fans who got tickets to the awards. Next year, UrbanWire’ll have to travel a little further to catch the stars, and Cupid may not take a shot at our hearts, but for what it’s worth, this year’s MTV Asia Awards was worth our hearts and more than a little love. Hopefully, MTV will throw another surprise next year of Mariah Carey proportions. We can’t wait!