(LOS ANGELES, March 26, 2008) At a press conference held today in Los Angeles, Carrie Ann Inaba (
Dancing with the Stars, Dance Wars: Bruno Vs Carrie Ann) and Bobby Lee (
MADtv) announced the nominees for the 2008 JCPenney Asian Excellence Awards. This is the third year that the Asian Excellence Awards will honor the outstanding achievements of Asians and Asian Americans in film, television, music, and the performing arts via a national awards telecast.
Carrie Ann Inaba and Bobby Lee will co-host the show that will be taped at UCLA's Royce Hall in Los Angeles. Comedian Russell Peters will serve as backstage host, providing the voice and comic relief. The 2008 JCPenney Asian Excellence Awards will premiere on E! Entertainment Television on May 1 at 6 p.m. ET/PT, 5 p.m. CT. In addition, beginning May 7 and throughout the month of May, the show will be available on Comcast On Demand.
This year's award categories and nominees include:
OUTSTANDING FILM
Finishing the Game Director, Justin Lin
Lust, Caution Director, Ang Lee
Rush Hour 3 Director, Brett Ratner
War Director, Philip G. Atwell
OUTSTANDING FILM ACTOR
Naveen Andrews
The Brave One
Jackie Chan
Rush Hour 3
Chow Yun-Fat
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
Tony Leung
Lust, Caution
Jet Li
War
Lee-Hom Wang
Lust, Caution
OUTSTANDING FILM ACTRESS
Devon Aoki
War
Joan Chen
Lust, Caution
Vanessa Hudgens
High School Musical 2
Sharon Leal
This Christmas
Maggie Q
Balls of Fury
Tang Wei
Lust, Caution
OUTSTANDING TELEVISION ACTOR
Naveen Andrews
Lost ABC
Daniel Dae Kim
Lost ABC
Masi Oka
Heroes NBC
Sendhil Ramamurthy
Heroes NBC
B.D. Wong
Law & Order, SVU NBC
OUTSTANDING TELEVISION ACTRESS
Yunjin Kim
Lost ABC
Lucy Liu
Cashmere Mafia ABC
Parminder Nagra
ER NBC
Sandra Oh
Grey's Anatomy ABC
Lindsay Price
Lipstick Jungle NBC
Navi Rawat
Numb3rs CBS
SUPPORTING TELEVISION ACTRESS
Moon Bloodgood
Journeyman NBC
Michaela Conlin
Bones FOX
Janina Gavankar
The L Word Showtime
Mindy Kaling
The Office NBC
Michelle Krusiec
Dirty Sexy Money ABC
Sonja Sohn
The Wire HBO
SUPPORTING TELEVISION ACTOR
James Kyson Lee
Heroes NBC
Rex Lee
Entourage HBO
Will Yun Lee
Bionic Woman NBC
Ken Leung
Lost ABC
Kal Penn
House M.D. FOX
James Saito
Eli Stone ABC
Fans will also have the opportunity to vote for their favorites online at http://www.asianexcellenceawards.com in the following categories:
FAVORITE TV PERSONALITY (Internet Voting)
Cheryl Burke
Dancing with the Stars ABC
Julie Chen
Big Brother CBS
Mark Dacascos
Iron Chef America-"The Chairman" Food Network
Padma Lakshmi
Top Chef Bravo
Tila Tequila
A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila MTV
Vern Yip
Deserving Spaces HGTV
Carrie Ann Inaba
Dance Wars: Bruno Vs. Carrie Ann ABC
Kimora Lee Simmons
Kimora: Life in the Fab Lane The Style Network
FAVORITE REALITY STAR (Internet Voting)
Ronald & Christina
The Amazing Race CBS
Yau-Man Chan
Survivor: Fans vs. Favorites CBS
Victorya Hong
Project Runway Bravo
Hung Hyunh
Top Chef Bravo
JabbaWockeeZ
America's Best Dance Crew MTV
Kaba Modern
America's Best Dance Crew MTV
Ramiele Malubay
American Idol FOX
Nicole Niestemski
Your Mama Don't Dance Lifetime
Jonathan Silva
Your Mama Don't Dance Lifetime
Voting is underway and runs through April 16. The winners will be announced during the telecast.
