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I commented on college girl's post about a "Daddy by 13!" It was a really interesting article about a boy in Britian who just became a father. That's insane! A father at the age of 13! But then again, the WFAA news last night had a story about a girl who was 9 and just got her "dream marriage." So I guess it happens. But, I liked the fact that college girl discussed the effects of the media on stories like these. The media hypes up or down anything they want. And sometimes personal lives are on display for the whole world to read.

Did she deliver her baby on stage?

Last night was a historical night for music entertainment. Last night was the 51st Annual Grammy Awards. The night was sizzling with great performances by so many talented artists: from Justin Timberlake with T.I., to Neil Diamond, to the Jonas Brother with Stevie Wonder, and Miley Cyrus doing a duet with Taylor Swift. But what about M.I.A? She is pregnant right? Did she perform on her due date?

That is exactly what happened. Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam better known as the rap singer M.I.A from Hounslow, London, is a second generation immigrant, like me, whose parents are from Sri Lanka. She is Tamil and a lived in Sri Lanka for quite some time. She now lives in Brooklyn and is engaged to Benjamin Brewer singer and guitarist for the band The Exit and a member of the Bronfman Family. Her music talent exploded with the highly acclaimed “Paper Planes” from the movie Slumdog Millionaire. She was asked to perform at the Grammy’s this year on Febuary 8, 2008. However, she is nine months pregnant and that was her due date!

But nevertheless, M.I.A pulled the number off amazingly well, and even with a see-through top and black tights. She performed “Swagger Like Us” alongside Jay-Z, Lil’ Wayne, T.I., and Kanye West. Her performance was mind-blowing: her being nine months pregnant and still dancing on stage. That just doesn’t take courage, but skill as well. M.I.A. shows us that anything is possible, even performing on stage when you’re about to deliever a baby. She is an amazing artist who deserves the fame she is getting. Her number in Slumdog Millionaire is very well crafted and fit the scene greatly. That is a movie everyone should see at least once if not twice. It opens your eyes to reality, I sure know it opened mine. Some of the actors in the movie are in poverty! But M.I.A says that she will perform at the Oscar Awards as well no matter when the baby is coming. Now that is what I call true determination.
In the link, it shows an aticle from the New York Daily News about M.I.A’s performance along with a YouTube clip of the performance itself.

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I commented on college girl's post about how music helps people adapt to their surrounding and how it is a great escape from reality. I can relate to this post on so many different levels. I love music and she does a good job of displaying her views of music as well. Even the doctor suggests music as a cure for so many different cases.

What next? Watch out Hollywood, here we come.

The time is here—award time.

After finding out that my favorite band, the Jonas Brothers, was going to present an award at the Golden Globes, I decided to tune in and watch the whole thing. I hate being the one scratching my head when all my friends are buzzing with news about how amazing whatever Bradgenlina wore or how dazzling Eva Longoria and Penelope Cruz looked with all the ice around their necks. That Sunday night, my eyes were glued to the televisions set.

After the usual spotting of celebs, Tom Cruise, the Jonas Brothers (oo la la), Bradgelina, and so on, I spotted a few familiar faces. I saw Anil Kapoor, a famous Bollywood actor, A.R. Rehman, a famous Bollywood music Composer, and finally Shah Rukh Khan, the king of bollywood himself. I thought, “What in the world are Bollywood actors doing in Hollywood? Especially, why are they at the Golden Globes?” Indian Cinema critics always laugh about how Bollywood will one day make it to Hollywood. But that conversation has been going on for about a hundred years, so to speak. Bollywood never made it, until today. The film stars of the east are now present in the west.

I then figured out they were nominated for four Golden Globes for the British Director, Danny Boyle’s new film Slumdog Millionaire. But four Golden Globes? That’s is un-heard of in Bollywood Cinema. And after the Golden Globes, I realized that it is now nominated for ten Oscars. Ten? In the history of Indian Cinema I think Bollywood has won about three Oscars, and one was for the old film Mother India. However, they would win the category of “Best Foreign Film.” Never has an Indian movie ever been nominated for “Best Film.”

Well, I should say this, Slumdog Millionaire is not a “Indian-indian Movie” rather it is a British movie done about a person who moves from the slums of India to the riches and elite class, all by pure luck. But still, it does have some Indian flavor.

My point being that about six years ago I would talk about Shah Rukh Khan and Bollywood Cinema and no one had ever heard of Bollywood. Everyone looked at me strange and thought I was “wak-oo.” Seriously, people would have no idea that after Hollywood, Bollywood would be producing the biggest amount of films per year.

Bollywood is being mixed in with Hollywood--Slumdog Millionaire being one example. Even the Cheetah Girls: One World had an Indian twist. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, the most famous and most beautiful Indian actress, is now staring in Pink Panther 2 with Steve Martin. And the Indian flavor fashion is becoming extremely popular on the runways and with paisley in high couture. What next? Watch out Hollywood, here we come.