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
Joan Chen Lust, Caution
Vanessa...

We had our usual binoculars out, but no, no Asian Pacific Americans won for acting at this year's 69th annual Golden Globes last night.

But, we did spot at least one host reporting the red carpet arrivals at the awards event, and we thought her dress and jewels were stunning.

Here is SuChin Pak wearing a diamond bracelet, French hook earrings and a diamond ring designed by Tacori. The Tacori press release says her bracelet was valued at $124,000. Now that's one special bracelet!

Ang Lee named Filmmaker of the Year by the Director's Guild of America

Ang Lee was named filmmaker of the year, adding the Director's Guild of America's Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film for "Brokeback Mountain" to his awards treasure trove.

The DGA's Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film puts Lee in a prime position to win the best director Oscar, as this particular award has traditionally served as a near-perfect barometer for the Academy Award for Best Director.

Only six times since the DGA Award's inception in 1949 has the winner not gone on to receive the Academy Award for Best Director. In 2000, Lee won the guild prize in 2000 for "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," but Stephen Soderbergh took home the best director Oscar for "Traffic."

This year, Lee was honored by his peers over fellow guild nominees Steven Spielberg ("Munich"), Paul Haggis ("Crash"), Bennett Miller ("Capote") and George Clooney ("Good Night, and Good Luck").

Based on a short story by E. Annie Proulx, "Brokeback" stars Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal as roughneck sheepherding pals who conceal their homosexual relationship from their families.

The DGA awards, presented at the Hyatt Century Plaza Hotel, honored directorial achievements in 10 categories. Veteran director Clint Eastwood was presented with the guild's lifetime achievement award.

WQXR Celebrates Chinese New Year with

“China in New York: A WQXR Festival”

January 23 – 29

An Exploration of China’s Rising Classical Music Scene

With LANG LANG, HUANG RUO, TAN DUN, among others

In Partnership with the New York Philharmonic, Queens Council on the Arts and Crossing Art

(January X, 2012 - New York, NY) – As China grapples with its relationship with Western culture, one Western art form is booming: classical music of the European canon.  Approximately 50 million children study classical instruments, new concert halls have appeared in major cities and provinces, and an increasing number of Chinese artists are gaining international recognition.

From Monday, January 23 – Sunday, January 29, WQXR will ring in the Year of the Dragon with CHINA IN NEW YORK: A WQXR FESTIVAL, an exploration of the work of Chinese-born composers and musicians now active in New York, as well as some of the economic and political issues surrounding classical music in China, through live events, radio specials, and online exclusives available at www.wqxr.org/china.

CHINA IN NEW YORK will be book-ended by two special live events at WQXR’s event venue, The Jerome L. Greene Performance Space.  The first, on January 23 at 6pm, is Chinese New Year with Lang Lang and the Quintessenso Choir.  In this preview of their New York Philharmonic concert, the renowned Chinese pianist Lang...