Carrie Ann Inaba and Bobby Lee to Host the 2008 JC Penney Asian Excellence Awards Airing May 1 on E! Entertainment Television.

(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

SERIOUSLY's HEART Tour kicks off its concert tour with a mission to help the Asian American Bone Marrow Donor programs nationally. Check your schedules for UC Irvine, UC Berkeley, Stanford, UC San Diego, UC Davis, and the Asian Cultural Festival in New York, and Georgetown University, Vascon 4, Marriott Connvention Center.

AsianConnections' is proud to be a media sponsor for LA-based pop/alternative/rock band SERIOUSLY for its national HEART Tour from April 5 to April 25.

Together, we can make a difference. Enjoy the concert and show support for this hot music band, which just so happens to be led by Asian American talent, and also help save some lives at the same time.

The HEART Tour's goal is to sign up 2,000 people to help increase awareness about fatal blood diseases and the urgent need to increase the number of potential bone donors in the APA community.

Come out and enjoy the performances with pop/alternative/rock band featuring Chris Pham (19) Vocals and Acoustic Guitar, Nathan Park (19) on Electric Guitar, Joshua Baek (22) on Bass, and Philip Park (19) on Drums.

The four formed their band when they met at a local Asian church near their hometown community of Diamond Bar, California. SERIOUSLY competed in KOLLABORATION, an Asian American talent show in Los Angeles and won the grand prize which included $1,200 in cash and the opportunity to record with music publisher and distributor

Academy-Award-winning director Jessica Yu's PING PONG PLAYA is the AAIFF08 Closing Night Presentation.

COMPILED BY LIA CHANG FROM THE AAIFF.ORG/2008 WEBSITE

In her narrative feature debut, Academy-Award-winning director Jessica Yu (BREATHING LESSONS: THE LIFE AND WORK OF MARK O'BRIEN, IN THE REALMS OF THE UNREAL) departs from her usual fare of documentary film into the sport of ping pong and, along the way, lampoons the common perceptions and misconceptions regarding the Asian American experience for the AAIFF08 Closing Night Presentation: PING PONG PLAYA.

In PING PONG PLAYA, all that's politically correct and incorrect coalesces in Christopher "C-dub" Wang, Jimmy Tsai's caricature of a trash talkin', smart aleck, b-baller-wannabe who spends his time lamenting the genetic shortcomings that have prevented him from becoming the first Chinese American to play in the NBA. When older brother, doctor and model minority, Michael (Roger Fan, FINISHING THE GAME, BETTER LUCK TOMORROW), sustains a wrist injury, it's up to C-dub to defend the family's title at the National Golden Cock Tournament.

The Closing Night Reception & Awards Ceremony will follow the screening. The filmmaker discusses her creative process in an intimate "One On One with Jessica Yu," Saturday, July 19 at 145pm, as part of our inaugural New Landscapes: Media & Its Adaptations panel series.

When: Thursday, Jul 19, 700pm
Where: Asia Society, 725 Park Avenue (at 70th St)