China's Liu Xiang out of Men's 110m Hurdles

In the biggest upset of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games for host country China, world and Olympic champion Liu Xiang stumbled at the start of his qualifying heat in round one of the Men's 110m Hurdles on Monday morning. During his warm-up, Liu grimaced as he attempted to stride over a set of two hurdles. He stepped onto the track with the other runners in his heat and warmed up in his start lane. In one practice run, he fell to his knees and held his leg. After a false start first-round heat, he attempted a run several times, but eventually shook his head, removed his race numbers and began to repeatedly kick a wall.

He later withdrew entirely from the event. At a press conference following the event, Liu's coach confirmed that the star's withdrawal was as a result of an injury to his right take-off foot, which has been affecting him for about six years. Liu also reported on his own website Sunday that he was suffering from a sore Achilles tendon. Liu Xiang's showdown with Dayron Robles, the Cuban who took away his world record earlier this summer, was one of the most eagerly-anticipated events of the Games.

Watch what happens to Liu Xiang in round one of the Men's 110m Hurdles (Cantonese)

Heroes Preview

Heroes has been getting a lot of air time during the Olympics. Previously, we brought you the Heroes Teaser, a Heroes Commercial, and Heroes at Comic-Con. Now comes a 2 minute preview complete with mixture of all previous promotional clips and a few new scenes. It is scheduled to air on NBC on August 30 when there will be a special presentation of their upcoming program schedule. Heroes Season 3 Villians starts on 9.22.08.

Heroes Preview

Coach Liang Chow helps Shawn Johnson get Olympic silver

Liang Chow had been a former co-captain of China's men's national gymnastics team for more than a decade. He represented China all over the world and won over 30 international gold medals and national championships. Chow was also the first gymnast in the world to perform the double front release with piked position on parallel bars.

In 1990, with his athletic career over, Liang Chow came to the United States, where he was offered a scholarship and a job coaching at the University of Iowa. He barely spoke any English when he arrived. To adapt to Western culture, he westernized his name from Qiao Liang, his given name, to Liang Chow. He also went back to Beijing to marry Liwen Zhuang, who Liang met when they were both at the national team training center in Beijing. She joined him in Iowa and built a new life together. Chow spent 7 1/2 years at Iowa, but he and his wife had dreams of starting their own gym. In 1998, they moved to West Des Moines and opened Chow's Gymnastics and Dance Institute with hand-me-down equipment.

Here's the mission statement for Chow's Gymnastics and Dance Institute

"We believe all children are precious gifts. Every child, regardless of ability, deserves the best instruction possible. It is our goal to provide a safe and loving atmosphere in which each child knows he or she is valued. We will strive to provide an environment that cultivates listening skills, confidence, self-esteem, self-discipline and responsiblity. Chow's Gymnastics and Dance Institute is a place where all children can feel great about their accomplishments."

Shawn Johnson signed up as a pupil of the gym at the age of 6. For the next ten years, Liang Chow trained Johnson using both American and Chinese methods. His star athlete has shown the world what she is capable of at the Olympics. Not only is Liang coaching Shawn Johnson, but he is also the USA Olympic Women's Gymnastics Team Head Coach. For the Olympics, he returned to his native city of Beijing for the first time since immigrating to the USA in 1991. So far, the USA Olympic Women's Gymnastics Team has won a team silver medal and Shawn Johnson has won two silver medals one for Women's Individual All-Around and another for Women's Floor Exercise. Shawn still has one more shot at a medal for Women's Beam.

Over a hundred volunteers helped prepare Chow's Gymnastics and Dance Institute for the flooding Raccoon River in West Des Moines in June 2008

Coach “Jenny” Lang Ping the Iron Hammer

“Jenny” Lang Ping of China is one of the most famous and respected individuals in the history of volleyball. Known as the “Iron Hammer,” she was a member of the Chinese women’s national team that won an Olympic gold medal over the United States at the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles, a World Championship crown in 1982 and World Cup titles in 1981 and 1985. Revered by Chinese fans, Lang Ping has been honored with her own postage stamp, had her wedding broadcast on Chinese national television and has stadiums named after her in China.

In 1995, Lang Ping became the head coach of the Chinese national team and eventually guided the squad to the silver medal at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. After leaving China’s national team program in 1999, Lang Ping was head coach for a number of championship teams in the Italian League including the Pieralisi Volleyball Club (Club Jesi). Lang Ping took over her current position from former Team USA coach Toshi Yoshida, who resigned late in 2004 to accept a professorship position at Biwako Seikei Sport College in Japan. She has been the head coach of the USA Women’s National Team for the past four years. Currently, she is guiding the team through the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

Lang Ping was inducted into the Volleyball Hall of Fame as a player on Oct. 18, 2002. She was also selected by the United States Olympic Committee as torchbearer on the Olympic Torch Relay’s only North American stop in San Francisco. She ran a leg of the relay on April 9 in San Francisco.

Learn more about Asian Americans at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

“Jenny” Lang Ping the Iron Hammer in action

Natalie Coughlin wins silver in Women's 4x100 meter Medley Relay

Natalie Coughlin, Rebecca Soni, Christine Magnuson and Dara Torres captured the silver medal in the women's 4x100 meter medley relay.

Natalie Coughlin swam the lead off backstroke leg of the race at 58.94 seconds. Her other teammates swam the following times: Rebecca Soni (breaststroke - 1:05.95), Christine Magnuson (butterfly - 56.14), and Dana Torres (52.27). The total team time was 3:53.30. However, this was not enough to get gold. The Australian team came in with a world record time of 3:52.69.

With this medal, Natalie Coughlin has won 6 total medals in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. She has won a gold in women's 100 meter backstroke, two silver medals (women's 4x100 meters freestyle relay and Women's 4x100 meter Medley Relay), and three bronze medals (women's 200 meters individual medley, Women's 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay, and Women's 100 meter Freestyle). She becomes the first female to win six Olympic medals during a single Olympic game.

Rewatch the Women's 100 meter Freestyle here.
Learn more about Asian Americans at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Swimming highlights
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Natalie Coughlin wins bronze in Women's 100 meter Freestyle

By winning the bronze in Women's 100 meter Freestyle, Natalie Coughlin has won her 5th medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The gold medal went to Germany's Britta Steffen along with an Olympic record of 53.12 seconds. Australia's Lisbeth Trickett swam 53.16 seconds for the silver, while Filipino HAPA Natalie Coughlin captured the bronze with a time of 54.40 seconds.

While she is not getting the media coverage of Michael Phelps, she is currently tied with Dara Torres and Shirley Babashoff for number of the Olympic medals won within the same Olympic game with five. She has an opportunity to break the record in her next event: the 4x100m medley relay.

Previously, she has won a gold in women's 100 meter backstroke, a silver in women's 4x100 meters freestyle relay, and two bronze medals one in the women's 200 meters individual medley and one in the Women's 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay.

Rewatch the Women's 100 meter Freestyle here.
Learn more about Asian Americans at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Swimming highights

Natalie Coughlin wins bronze in Women's 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay

Natalie Coughlin captured another medal yesterday in the Women's 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay along with fellow teammates Allison Schmitt, Caroline Burckle and Katie Hoff. They swam the following times Allison Schmitt (1:57.71), Natalie Coughlin (1:57.19), Caroline Burckle (1:56.70), and Katie Hoff (1:54.73). Total Time: 7:46.33. This is the first time the Americans have lost the event since it began in 1996.

Australians with Stephanie Rice, Bronte Barratt, Kylie Palmer and Linda Mackenzie got gold in 7:44.31 and setting a new world's record. The Chinese team of Yang Yu, Zhu Qianwei, Tan Miao and Pang Jiaying took the silver in 7:45.93.

Natalie now has a gold in women's 100 meter backstroke, a silver in women's 4x100 meters freestyle relay, and a bronze in women's 200 meters individual medley. Having another team win adds another medal to her collection.

Rewatch the Women's 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay here.
Learn more about Asian Americans at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Highlights from swimming events

Natalie Coughlin wins bronze in women's 200 meters individual medley

Natalie Coughlin won a bronze medal in the women's 200-meter individual medley. She continues to add to her Olympic medals. Earlier in the week she picked up gold in women's 100 meter backstroke and silver in women's 4x100 meters freestyle relay.

Australia's Stephanie Rice set a world record with a time of 2:08.45 seconds, while Zimbabwe's Kirsty Coventry finished second with a time of 2:08.59. Natalie Coughlin finished third with 2:10.34 for her bronze.

Watch Natalie Coughlin win the bronze in women's 200 meters individual medley here.
Learn more about Asian Americans at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Other swimming Olympics news

Lipsynching the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony

The Chinese government is being criticized for replacing a Chinese girl at the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony with another Chinese girl who was better looking. 9 year old Lin Miaoke lip-synched "Ode to the Motherland" at the opening ceremony over the voice of 7 year old Yang Peiyi. The switcheroo happened as Yang Peiyi was considered visually unsuitable to appear herself because of her teeth, so only her voice was used.

Here's a photo of Yang Peiyi:



A Chinese rep said:

"The main consideration was the national interest. The child on the screen should be flawless in image, in her internal feelings, and in her expression. In the matter of her voice, Yang Peiyi was flawless, in the unanimous opinion of all the members of the team.

We have a responsibility to face the audience of the whole country, and to be open with this explanation. We should all understand it like this, it is a question of the national interest. It is a question of the image of our national music, our national culture.

Especially at the entrance of our national flag, this is an extremely important, an extremely serious matter.

So we made the choice. I think it is fair to both Lin Miaoke and Yang Peiyi, after all, we have a perfect voice, a perfect image and a perfect show, in our team’s view, all together."

The secret of the Olympic karakoe was revealed Sunday by the ceremony's musical director Chen Qigang in an interview with Beijing Radio. He said a senior Politburo member had said after the final dress rehearsal that Miaoke's voice was not good enough and that Peiyi did not look right. The result was combining the perfect voice and the perfect performance. The parents of both girls said separately Wednesday they did not want their daughters to speak to the media, and said each felt privileged just to have taken part.

Yang Peiyi is a first-grader at the Primary School affiliated to Peking University. Lin Miaoke is a third-grader appeared in a television commercials with China's biggest gold medal hope, hurdling champion Liu Xiang.

What do you think of the controversy?

Olympic Karaoke - Lipsynching the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony

Natalie Coughlin wins gold in women's 100 meter backstroke

Natalie Coughlin not only won gold medal in the Women's 100 meter backstroke, but she also become the first woman to ever defend her title in the event. Coughlin finished the event in 58.96 seconds. The day before Natalie Coughlin won silver in women's 4x100 meters freestyle relay. Learn more about Asian Americans at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Watch Natalie Coughlin wins gold in women's 100 meter backstroke here.

Winning day for Olympic swimmers : Michael Phelps, Natalie Coughlin, and Aaron Piersol

Kevin Tan and Raj Bhavsar get bronze with USA Men's Gymnastics Team

China took home Olympic gold in Men's Gymnastics with a dominating performance, while the USA Men's Gymnastics Team took home the bronze medal with a team that came together at the last minute.

Both veteran gymnast Paul Hamm and twin brother Morgan Hamm withdrew from the Men's Gymnastics Olympic team due to injuries. Paul broke his hand in May, while Morgan succumb to an ankle injury just days before the start of the Olympics. This opened the door to the alternates eagerly waiting for an opportunity to participate in the 20008 Beijing Olympics.

Raj Bhavsar was the alternate who replaced Paul Hamm. Previously, he failed to make the cut to be on the Olympic team in Sydney and Athens. Raj had mulled quitting gymnastics all together. By sticking with the sport, Raj became the second Indian American gymnast to win an Olympic medal. (The first to medal was Mohini Bhardwaj, who was part of the USA Women's team which won a silver in Athens in 2004.) He had the following scores during the qualification rounds: Floor Exercise (14.175 - ranked 63rd), Parallel Bars (15.625 - ranked 19th), Rings (15.325 - ranked 16th), and Pommel Horse (14.050 - ranked 45th).

Chinese American Kevin Tan is the team captain for USA Men's Gymnastics. Under his leadership, he was able to transform a group with different personalities into a team that felt they could win when nobody believed in them. During the qualification rounds, the team ranked 6th overall. He had the following scores during the qualification rounds: Horizontal Bar (14.425 - ranked 47th), Rings (15.725 - ranked 9th), and Pommel Horse (14.100 - ranked 41st). In the finals, he competed on the rings and pommel horse. However, Tan had a rough day on both events. As a six-time All-American, he is used to scoring in the 16s on his specialty, the rings. Tan got a low 15.425 score. Something went horribly wrong on the pommel horse and he appeared to sit on the apparatus. The mistake was costly with Tan scoring a low 12.775 points. (Bhavsar did not score well, either.)

Although USA Men's Gymnastics Team had some troubles on the pommel horse. They had enough to hold off the German team and get bronze. With no Olympic veterans, nobody expected much from the Americans, but they pulled it off.

The events, order, and scores in which the USA Men's Gymnastics Team competed in the finals.

• Still rings: Bhavsar (15.325), Horton (15.625), Tan (15.425)

• Vault: Bhavsar (16.125), Horton (16.200), Spring (15.900)

• Parallel bars: Bhavsar (15.575), Horton (15.625), Spring (15.850)

• Horizontal bar: Hagerty (15.550), Horton (15.700), Spring (15.675)

• Floor exercise: Spring (15.200), Hagerty (14.625), Horton (15.575)

• Pommel horse: Tan (12.775), Bhavsar (13.750), Artemev (15.350)

In the picture above, the USA Men's Gymnastics Team, from right, Kevin Tan, Justin Spring, Jonathan Horton, Joey Hagertey, Raj Bhavsar and Alexander Artemev.

You can rewatch the Kevin Tan and Raj Bhavsar get bronze with USA Men's Gymnastics Team here. Learn more about Asian Americans at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Natalie Coughlin wins silver in women's 4x100 meters freestyle relay

The Women's USA swimming team won the silver medal in the 4x100 meters freestyle relay. One of the members of that team was HAPA Natalie Coughlin. (Natalie is on the far left in the photo above.) Silver medalists United States had a great lead off leg from the experienced Natalie Coughlin, were steady through Lacey Nymeyer and Kara Lynn Joyce, and were brought home strongly by Dara Torres who recorded a slick 52.44 split to give the USA team a time of 3:34.33.

If you missed the action, you can see the women's 4x100 meters freestyle relay here.
Learn more about Asian Americans at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Olympic Swimmer Natalie Coughlin talking Olympics

Jackie Chan Visa Olympic commercial

This is a funny Jackie Chan commercial for Visa. The commercial features international movie star, Jackie Chan and centers on Jackie’s eagerness to participate in the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. The fast-paced action moves between several of the Olympic venues as Jackie tries to find ways and means to make it to the Games. Eventually, he discovers an easier way to get to the Olympics – all it takes is his Visa card. The commercial was filmed across eleven days on location in Beijing and Hong Kong, to provide both dramatic night-time cityscapes & traditional, lush Chinese countryside scenery. Also a cameo by Yao Ming at the end of the commercial.

Jackie Chan Visa Olympic commercial

2008 Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony ratings

NBC's coverage of the 2008 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony in Beijing was the best overnight rating ever for non-U.S. Olympic Opening Ceremony earning a 21.5/37 (8-11:19 p.m. ET/PT). Additionally, NBCOlympics.com saw its most traffic ever on Friday with 70 million page views, 10 times more than the seven million page views on the opening day of the Athens Games. The overnight rating for the Opening Ceremony was a 19 percent increase over Athens in 2004 and 16 percent higher than Sydney in 2000, according to Nielsen Media Research data released today.

NON-U.S. OPENING CEREMONY OVERNIGHT RATINGS:
1) Beijing - 2008 - 21.5/37
2) Sydney - 2000 - 18.5/32
3) Seoul - 1988 - 18.3/33
4) Athens - 2004 - 18.0/30
5) Barcelona - 1992 - 16.5/32

Opening Ceremony in Atlanta in 1996 earned 27.2/47;

TOP 10 METERED MARKETS FOR OPENING CEREMONY:
1) San Diego - 26.5/49
2) West Palm Beach - 25.7/42
3) Sacramento - 24.3/43
4) Denver - 24.2/43
T5) San Francisco - 24.1/47
T5) Baltimore - 24.1/41
7) Indianapolis - 23.9/42
8) Salt Lake City - 23.5/49
9) Nashville - 23.4/37
10) St. Louis - 22.9/42



NBCOlympics.com garnered 70 million page views on 8/8/08 an increase of 900 percent and 10 times more than the opening day of the Athens Games in 2004 (7 million).

The 70 million page views are nearly 50 million more page views than the peak day in Athens (Day 4, 20.6 million).

NBCOlympics.com's 4.2 million unique users show an increase of 496% over the unique users for the opening day of the Athens Games in 2004 (705,000).

Since August 1, 2008, NBCOlympics.com has accumulated more than 127 million page views, nearly half the TOTAL for the entire Athens Games.

If you missed the opening ceremony, you can relive the experience here. Here's our coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympics - Asian American Edition

Watch highlights of the 2008 Beijing Olympics opening ceremony

2008 Beijing Olympics - Asian American Edition

The 2008 Beijing Olympics kicks off today on the luckiest day (08.08.08). The games run through from August 8 to August 24, 2008. 10,500 athletes are expected to compete in 302 events in 28 sports. We shifted through the list of athletes to compile a list of Asian American participating in the Games of the XXIX Olympiad. Here's what we can up with:

Badminton

Howard Bach
Howard Bach competes in men's doubles with Khan "Bob" Malaythong and in mixed doubles with Eva Lee. He began playing badminton at the age of 7 at the Golden Gate YMCA in San Francisco's Tenderloin District where his Dad played. Along with English, the Vietnam-born Bach speaks some Cantonese and Mandarin.


Eva Lee
Eva Lee competes in women's singles, women's doubles (with May Mangkalikiri) and mixed doubles. The Hong Kong-born Lee is currently attending University of California - Irvine.


Khan "Bob" Malaythong
Bob Malaythong competes in men's doubles with 2004 Olympian and 2005 World Champion Howard Bach and in mixed doubles with May Mangkalakiri. He was born in Laos and speaks Laotian. Bob works as a part-time badminton coach at the Orange County Badminton Club in Orange,CA.


Mesinee "May" Mangkalakiri
May Mangkalakiri competes with Eva Lee in women's doubles and Bob Malaythong in mixed doubles. She earned a Bachelor of Arts Degreee in Social Ecology at the University of California, Irvine in June 2006. The job she is most proud of doing is passing on what she have learned in badminton to the many kids in the U.S. Badminton Development Foundation/Orange County Badminton Club youth badminton group program.


Rajiv "Raju" Kumar Rai
Raju Rai competes in Men's Singles. He trains at the Orange County Badminton Club in Orange, CA. Hopes to one day become an optometrist.

Diving

Haley Ishimatsu
Haley Ishimatsu was a gymnast before becoming a diver. She is one of only three female divers to perform a back 3 1/2 pike (degree of difficulty is 3.6) and was the only female to do that dive at the 2008 World Cup.

Field Hockey

Amy Tran
Amy Tran is the field goalkeeper for the USA Field Hockey team. She was named World Cup Goalkeeper of the Tournament by collecting three shutouts in World Cup play vs. Japan (0-0), Korea (1-0) and Germany (1-0) to help the USA to a 6th place World Cup finish.


Kayla Bashore
Kayla plays as defender and midfielder. The Korean-born athlete began playing field hockey at age 15 when approached by the school's field hockey coach to try a fall sport.

Gymnastics

Kevin Tan
Kevin's favorite event is the rings. He is of Chinese descent, and his given name is Kai Wen. He gradutaed Pennsylvania State University with a Finance degree.


Raj Bhavsar
Raj's favorite event is the rings. He graduated with a degree in Business Administration/Marketing from Ohio State University.

Judo

Sayaka Matsumoto
Sayaka's favorite techniques are the Uchimata (inner thigh throw) and o soto gari (major outer leg throw). She was born in Japan and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. The third degree blackbelt began studying judo at the age of 5, under the instruction of her father, David Matsumoto.


Taylor Takata
Taylor is a native of Hawaii. He has attended San Jose State University and University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.

Shooting

Sandra Fong
Sandra participates in the Air Rifle and Three-Position Rifle events. The New York native will be attending Princeton University in the fall, where she will major in theater and history of jazz.

Softball

Lovieanne "Lovie" Jung
Lovie plays second base and hits right handed. She is a mix of Chinese, Lithuanian, Filipino, Spanish, Hawaiian.

Synchronized Swimming

Rebekah "Becky" Kim
Becky attributes her synchronized swimming inspiration to watching the 1996 U.S. National Team strike gold in Atlanta. She has also participated in gymnastics and figure skating.


Annabelle Orme
Annabelle had the goal to compete in the 2008 Olympic Games after watching the U.S. compete in the 2000 Olympic Games. Orme's mother is Chinese and she hopes to visit the house where her grandparents grew up, not far from Beijing.

Table Tennis

Wang Chen
Wang currently works as a table tennis club manager. The Beijing native has both English and Chinese songs on her i-Pod.


Crystal Huang
Crystal is fluent in Chinese and currently resides in San Gabriel, CA.


Gao Jun
Jun Gao started playing table tennis when she was five. After winning a silver medal in the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games for her native country China, Gao has since become a U.S. citizen.


David Zhuang
David is fluent in Cantonese. His current occupation is table tennis player and coach.

Wrestling

Clarissa Chun
Clarissa is only 4-11. The Hawaiian native attends the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs, where she is studying Communications.

Volleyball
Logan Tom
Logan plays Outside Hitter. The Chinese-Hawaiian Stanford graduate majored in international relations.


Robyn Ah Mow-Santos
Robyn plays Setter. The Hawaiian native graduated from the University of Hawai’i in 1996 with a degree in sociology.


Lindsey Berg
Lindsey plays Setter. The Hawaiian native graduated in December 2001 with a bachelor’s degree in business/marketing.

Swimming

Natalie Coughlin
Natalie will compete in the 100m backstroke, 100m freestyle, 200m individual medley, 4×100m freestyle relay, 4×200m freestyle relay, and 4×100m medley relay. She currently holds American and US Open records in eight different events in a short course yards pool. In 2004, she was only the third American woman to win five Olympic medals (two gold medals, two silver medals, and a bronze) at one meet. The San Francisco Bay Area native started swimming at age 6 and is part Filipino and part Irish.


Nathan Adrian
Nathan competes in the 4×100m free relay. The UC Berkeley student started swimming at age 5. His mother is Chinese.

Soccer

Natasha Kai
Natasha plays the forward position. The Hawaiian native likes to sing and takes after her father, Benny Kai, who is a professional singer at the Polynesian Cultural Center in Laie, Oahu. She also has 19 tattoos.

Fencing

Emily Cross
Emily competes in Women's Foil Fencing. She has fenced on the college team for two years. The Korean HAPA currently attends Harvard University, where she is majoring in Biology on the Honors track.

Track and Field

Bryan Clay
Bryan participates in the Decathlon (100m run, Long Jump , Shot Put, High Jump, 400m run. The Japanese HAPA's strongest events are the 100 meters, long jump, the 110m hurdles and the discus. He was influenced by 2000 Olympic decathlon bronze medalist Chris Huffins, who he met as a high school sophomore at a track clinic in Hawaii.

Are we missing someone? let us know.

2008 Beijing Olympics coverage

Yao Ming Coke Olympic torch commercial

Yao Ming carried the Olympic torch through Beijing a few days ago. Coke has a commercial of Yao Ming with the Olympic torch entitled Shuang City. See Beijing transformed into a fantastic Olympic playground, featuring Olympic basketball athlete Yao Ming. Coke also has a Yao Ming vs Lebron James Commercial.

Yao Ming Coke Olympic torch commercial

Hole in the Wall on FOX in September

We wrote about Human Tetris to be on FOX a few months ago. The show will start airing in September. This comes as Wipeout is picked up for a second season on ABC.

Hole in the Wall, the body-bending, mind-twisting, global game show phenomenon from AMERICAN IDOL producers FremantleMedia North America, will premiere Thursday, Sept. 11 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX.


Hole in the Wall became an instant ratings success story on-air and online after launching on Japan's Fuji TV in July 2006, where it continues to rank No. 1 in its timeslot. The format swiftly created waves around the world, with FremantleMedia currently producing versions in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, Colombia, Denmark, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Malaysia, Mexico, Russia, Sweden and the U.K.

Hosted by Brooke Burns ("Dog Eat Dog") and Mark Thompson ("Guinness World Records: Primetime"), Hole in the Wall is one of the trickiest, fastest, funniest and wettest shows on the planet where speed, agility and a hearty sense of humor are essential tools to survive. During each episode, two teams of three compete against each other in multiple rounds of play, facing various barrier walls speeding toward them with weird and wacky cut-out shapes. Each team must contort their bodies individually or in unison to fit through the wall or be swept away into a pool below. As players struggle to strike a pose, points and dignity can be easily lost with a simple miscalculation. As the rounds progress and the pace heats up, mind over matter, quick thinking, coordination, agility and clever teamwork play a crucial role as each team strives to maneuver through walls literally closing in on them. The team with the most points at the end of the competition will win $25,000 and the chance to face the dreaded "Blind Wall" for the opportunity to win an additional $100,000.

Watch the Australian version of Hole in the Wall. Here's what we can expect in September in the US.

Wipeout gets second season

Wipeout, the Japan game show import, has been picked up by ABC for a second season. Will this trend of Japanese game show imports continue? We may eventually see at least one on every network. Fox will be launching Hole in the Wall in September.

THE BIG BALLS ARE BACK!! ABC PICKS UP "WIPEOUT" FOR A SECOND SEASON

"Wipeout," ABC's wildly popular new reality series, has been picked up for a second season. Twenty-four thrill-seekers will compete in the world's largest extreme obstacle course designed to provide the most spills, face plants and wipeouts ever seen on television.

A hit summer series for ABC, "Wipeout" dominates Tuesday's 8:00 o'clock hour in Total Viewers and across each of the key Adult demographics (AD18-34/AD18-49/AD25-54). In its six telecasts to date, "Wipeout" has consistently ranked as the No. 2 show of the week in both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49. On average, the ABC freshman series leads NBC's competing new series, "Celebrity Family Feud," in the hour by 2.4 million viewers and by 81% in Adults 18-49. Since its debut, "Wipeout" stands as the summer's No. 1 TV program with Men 18-49 and Men 25-54, and is the No. 2 show in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, behind only NBC's "America's Got Talent" and Fox's "Hell's Kitchen," respectively. The No. 1 new series of Summer 2008 in viewers and young adults, "Wipeout" represents TV's highest-rated freshman summer series (for any net) in three years in Adults 18-49 -- since the initial season of "Dancing with the Stars" in Summer 2005.

Each week 24 daring new contestants of all ages, shapes and sizes will go head to head through four rounds of grueling and physically demanding but wildly hilarious obstacle courses to win the title of "Wipeout Champion" and the grand prize of $50,000. The contestants and the courses change every week, with over-the-top obstacles including the crowd favorite, the Big Balls. In the end, only one contestant will win, while everyone else will Wipeout!

"Wipeout" is hosted by John Anderson (ESPN's "SportsCenter") and John Henson (E! Entertainment's "Talk Soup"). Jill Wagner is co-host.

Wipeout

Comcast disconnects iaTV in San Francisco

AsianWeek reports that Comcast pulled the plug on iaTV, formerly Imaginasian, in San Francisco on July 22. iaTV is still carried in Asian American hotspots including New York and Los Angeles. Apparently, iaTV was give only 24 hours before they were disconnected in San Francisco.

Comcast's reason:

“[iaTV] was one of the least accessed channels in the San Francisco,” said Andrew Johnson, vice president of communications for Comcast in California. “Customer service surveys continually showed low interest for this station.”

Imaginasian 2.0 started with a bang, but losing the San Francisco market hurts their new strategy of "Asian pop culture". iaTV will need to find another outlet in the San Francisco Bay Area, but IA media president Adam Ware did not help his cause by bashing in-language TV stations in the Bay Area.

“Stations like KTSF do a disservice to the Asian American market as they niche Asian communities and then pitch programming in their languages - to me that’s horribly uninspired,” said Ware. “I am a firm believer that there is room for an English Asian pop culture channel.”

Do you want to see iaTV return to the San Francisco Bay Area?

iatv's latest teaser

Yao Ming carries Olympic torch

The Olympic flame approached the final destination of its long and sometimes contentious global tour Wednesday, greeted by rapturous crowds in the Chinese capital two days before it officially launches the Summer Games. Crowds cheered as China's biggest basketball star Yao Ming ran the torch through the Palace Museum and out onto the streets. Huge crowds greeted the torch as it made its way through the streets of Beijing and into the Forbidden City. China's most famous athlete, NBA basketball star Yao Ming, ran the torch through China's symbolic Tiananmen Square gate through the Palace Museum and onto the streets. The Olympic torch will wind its way through Beijing before ending up at the National Stadium for the opening ceremonies on Friday.

Yao Ming carries Olympic torch


Raw footage of Yao Ming carrying the Olympic torch

ACDC Crew vs M&M Cru Final Dance Off

Who won the dance off between ACDC Crew and M&M Cru? The final dance was broadcast on the 2008 Teen Choice Awards yesterday. A winner of The Biggest Online Dance Battle in YouTube History was declared with the help of Fergie. Watch the clip below and find out who wins the competition.

ACDC Crew vs M&M Cru Final Dance Off

Wild China DVD release

BBC's Wild China DVD is releasing right before the Beijing Olympics. Think Planet Earth meets China.

China is a vast country with an astonishingly diverse landscape and the world's largest population. An exotic fusion of natural history and adventure "Wild China" is a series of journeys through four startlingly different landscapes each based around the travels of a real historical character. With splendor scale and romance Wild China lifts the veil on the world's most enigmatic and magnificent country delving into its vibrant habitats to reveal a land of unbelievable natural complexity. Journey across China from the glittering peaks of the Himalayas to the barren steppe the sub-Arctic to the tropical islands through deserts both searingly hot and mind-numbingly cold and see in pioneering images a dazzling array of mysterious beautiful wild and rare creatures. Through unprecedented access, this six-part series reveals the little-known natural treasures and secret wildlife havens of China's wildest regions.

Buy Wild China DVD

Wild China DVD trailer

Mindy Kaling on the Late Show

Mindy Kaling was on the Late Show with David Letterman last week. For those who love The Office, she plays Kelly Kapoor.

From NBC's hit show, "The Office." Mindy's parents were born and raised in India. They moved to the United States soon after Mindy was born. 'Mindy' isn't her actual name; it's Vera Chokalingham. Her parents were living in Nigeria when her mom was pregnant with her and wanted a cute American name for their daughter. The only American TV show on in Nigeria at the time was "Mork and Mindy." Her mom thought Pam Dawber was adorable so Vera was given the nickname "Mindy." I guess it's a good thing they had a daughter. It would be tough to grow up with the nickname "Mork." Most people think that since she has parents from India, Mindy should also have an Indian accent. Mindy was cast to play a telemarketer in the film "Baby Mama" which came out in April She was supposed to have an Indian accent. The only reference she had was Apu from "The Simpson's." After the first take, the director yelled "CUT!" He came up to Mindy and said, "Could you do that less terrible?" Mindy fought back and confronted him on his insensitivity. How dare he tell an Indian woman that she speaks with an awful Indian accent! Who is he to tell her? But she knew he was right. And her scene was eventually cut from the movie.

"The Office received 8 Emmy nominations and Mindy says she just loves Award shows. She found herself standing behind J.Lo on the red carpet at the Golden Globes. Mindy is a huge fan of J.Lo's; so stylish and glamorous. Photographers were snapping a thousand photos of J.Lo and J.Lo knew just how to work it. She never looked directly at the camera; always looking slightly behind. At one point, J.Lo sees Mindy over her shoulder and mumbles, "I like your dress." Startled and excited, Mindy gushes back, "I like your dress, too!" J.Lo gives a look like, "No no no, this conversation is over. You go back and tell your friends J.Lo likes your dress. I'm not about to tell Marc Anthony that you like my dress." Very funny.

"The Office" - season 5 starts September 25th.

Mindy Kaling on the Late Show

ACDC Crew vs M&M Cru on 2008 Teen Choice tonite

Watch The Biggest Online Dance Battle in YouTube History continue to prime time TV tonight on FOX. This will be the last dance performance in their dance battle at the Teen Choice Awards. Who will win ACDC Crew or M&M Cru? Tune in tonite 8pm/ 7pm Central and find out.

M&M Cru revealing a little of what you can expect on the 2008 Teen Choice Awards

The Cho Show trailer

Margaret Cho returns to TV this summer, in her new series, The Cho Show, coming to VH1 on August 21! (Also airing on the Comedy Network in Canada) Follow Margaret Cho and her eccentric entourage through the surreal Hollywood shuffle, where, even in the wild and crazy world of entertainment, they're one of a kind. From sex tapes to plastic surgery, Margaret Cho fills us in on what to expect this season on The Cho Show. One of the episodes will cover Margaret Cho Day in San Francisco.

Watch The Cho Show trailer

Keanu Reeves in Cowboy Bebop?

Rumor is that Fox is developing a live-action Cowboy Bebop movie based on the anime series of the same name. The role of Spike Spiegel is to be played by Keanu Reeves. As of now, there is no writer or director on this project yet.

Watch opening theme song of Cowboy Bebop

ACDC Crew vs M&M Cru Official Announcement

Last week, we told you about the ACDC Crew and M&M Cru battle on Teen Choice Awards. Well, here's the official announcement of the LIVE face to face dance battle. On Monday, August 4th 2008 there will only be ONE standing. Be a witness to history as the BIGGEST ONLINE DANCE BATTLE IN THE HISTORY OF YOUTUBE becomes the BIGGEST LIVE DANCE BATTLE IN THE HISTORY OF MANKIND.

TEEN CHOICE AWARDS is the event.
Gibson Amphitheater is the venue.
And there WILL be a winner determined that night.

What began as a fun dance battle ends face to face. So mark it in your calendars as the ACDC Crew and the M&M CRU go head to head.

Millions will watch as we finally take this battle from ONLINE to PRIMETIME.
Crew Assemble!!!!

MONDAY AUGUST 4th 2008, FOX - 8pm/ 7pm Central

ACDC Crew vs M&M Cru Official Announcement

The Office Panel at Comic-Con

Some of writers/actors from The Office went to Comic-Con. The most notable Asian American on the panel for The Office was Mindy Kaling (aka Vera Chokalingam). She plays Kelly Kapoor. The Indian American actress had one of the biggest cheers as she was introduced. Also on the panel was writer Ryan Ko. Great to see Asian Americans as writers for hit shows like The Office.

The Office Panel at Comic-Con

Heroes Panel at 2008 Comic-Con

The entire cast of Heroes showed up at the 2008 Comic-Con. They showed the premiere episode of Heroes Volume 3: Villians to the crowd. On the panel afterwards, Masi Oka (aka Hiro) busted out some Japanese on the stage. Also an Asian dude dressed up in a Japanese samurai outfit asked some questions, while Masi Oka capitalized on the moment. Season 3 of Heroes returns on September 22, 2008.

Heroes Panel at 2008 Comic-Con

Lindsay Price nude in Esquire

Lindsay Price, the Lipstick Jungle star, posed nude for the first time in the recent issue of Esquire. The Asian Excellence Award winner for Outstanding TV Actress described her experience posing nude:

The week before the shoot, I worked out harder than I had in my entire life. I was anxious all week. The day of the shoot, I had fantasies of driving to Mexico to avoid doing it. I took the longest shower of my life, exfoliating, moisturizing, paying really close attention to where I shaved. I went to the set in my baggiest jeans and my most comfortable sweatshirt -- a really antisexy outfit.

The 31 year old HAPA returns