Courtesy of Alison Berlinski

Did you grow up wishing you looked like Barbie? Many Asian Americans grow up confounded by our idea of beauty. We see girls with blonde hair, blue eyes, and pointed noses grace the covers of magazines and pick up roles for popular TV shows. For Alison Berlinski, author of A Beautiful Mess, the struggle was seeing beauty from an Asian American and Polish perspective. To her, being biracial was like straddling two worlds, never identifying with just one race.

Photo via AllKPop.com

After months of anticipation, the Wonder Girls are finally coming to American entertainment. On February 2, the one-hour special Wonder Girls at the Apollo will premiere on Teen Nick, 8pm EST. The girls were recently interviewed by Access Hollywood about the movie’s charms. They say, “You get to see scenes about friendship, sisterhood, cat fights, and maybe a little bit of a romance!” Their English has improved a lot since the last time I heard them open for Jonas Brothers a couple of years ago. Glad to see they’ve been working hard. Moreover, the single they released is on the movie’s soundtrack is quite catchy as well. The track is called “The DJ is Mine” and features their on-screen rivals, American girl group School Gyrls. It’s a very upbeat dance song, perfect for attracting new and old fans alike. The song also hints at the romantic plot for the movie with cute DJ in the music video.

Photo via ViennieV.com

Although Viennie V released her first album Nightmare or Dream in September 2011, she already has something in common with pop sensation Justin Bieber: they both got their start by gaining attention on YouTube. The Los Angeles singer has quickly become viral (she became the number one musician on YouTube just a week after she premiered her first video). Viennie V names artists who like to push the envelope, such as Lady Gaga and Rihanna, as her musical influences.

Photo via CNN.com

In a thrilling five set match, Kei Nishikori defeated world number six Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to become the first Japanese male to reach the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, one of the four premier tournaments of tennis, in over 75 years. In addition, he is the first Japanese male to reach the quarterfinal stage (8 players left) of a grand slam since 1995.

“It’s an honor to make a lot of histories, to be the number one player in Japan,” said Nishikori in a quote from CNN. “But that never gives me pressure.”

He also said that he wishes to inspire Asian men’s players, and hopefully echo the success that China’s Li Na had in the past year, which included her run to the final of the Australian Open and a tremendous championship win at the French Open.

Nishikori, who is 22-years-old, has arguably played the best tennis of his career in the last year by notching up huge wins against top-ranked players. The highlight came this past October, where he defeated world number one Novak Djokovic in Basel.

Photo via RideLust.com

?What happens when you put the words stewardess, salt flats, paratroopers, sushi and falcon together and use them in a promotion ad? You get a very random commercial. Mini Cooper asked their customers to describe “The Best Test Drive Ever. Period.” in six words and the winning entry was made into an ad to promote the new Mini. I guess making the flight attendant Asian had something to do with the sushi part. Besides that, the ad is pretty entertaining.