Continue reading »]]> For all the party rockers and LMFAO fans out there, check out the premiere of LMFAO’s official music video for “Party Rock Anthem” featuring Lauren Bennett and GoonRock. But guess what… it also features Quest Crew! See if you can spot the crew:

The amazing choreography was done by Hok and assistant choreographers Ryanimay and Feng! Did you also see Colette Carr (Cherry Tree Records:  http://www.colettecarr.com/ ) in the LMFAO video?

Quest Crew, Lauren Bennett, GoonRock, and LMFAO (© www.questcrew.com)

Everyday I’m shufflin’! Check out LMFAO at www.lmfaonews.com

Continue reading »]]> I was extremely lucky to win Z100 tickets to Avril Lavigne’s exclusive show at the P.C. Richard and Sons Theater in New York City. I guess those 36+ online entries really paid off! (;

I waited on line for about an hour in the frigid wind with my mom, alongside a bunch of fans waiting to get inside. I was shivering because of the cold and anticipation!

The Z100 Car

The show was an amazing 40 minutes. It was too short in my opinion but it was still great. The venue was small, only enough to fit approximately 200 people. There were some pretty tall people in front of me but I managed to get some nice pictures and video of Avril performing. Avril performed “What The Hell” plus some new songs from her new album Goodbye Lullaby (that was just released on March 8, 2011!). She sang, “Wish You Were Here”, “Push”, “Smile” and some old favorites, “Girlfriend” and “Sk8erboi”.

Later I got two autographs, one from her drummer, Rodney Howard, and one of the lead guitarist, Al Berry. I couldn’t get Avril’s so I’m just going to wait until there’s another show!

Avril Lavigne is a phenomenal singer and to hear her live was freaking crazy! She’s one of my idols and I’ve been listening to her music for such a long time. I had a blast and I really hope I can see her perform again. Everyone please support her and buy her new CD Goodbye Lullaby!

Z100 New York

What The Hell Music Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQmEd_UeeIk

Go to http://www.z100.com/cc-common/ondemand/stripped.html?apid=7244 and find Avril Lavigne’s Stripped Performance concert video to see her performance at this show!

BTW: Thanks Z100 for the tickets! I was jumping up and down with excitement when I found out I won. And thanks to my friends who congratulated me on the win and told me to have fun! Hahaha.

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©photo: Wai Ng_ www.WaiNg.com

By Valerie Chase

The Diamond Ice – The Ace Hotel – Liberty Lounge, 16 West 29th Street, NYC.
UrbanBallers.com were on the scene last night mingling with Gotham’s local Gangsterati.  Guys and doll faces in high style piled in to this subterranean speak easy type house filled with seductive live music and live performances from; El Gato Loco; Strictly Tango Dance Co.; Medianoche Burlesca,; Veronica Varlow; Disko Nouveaux and Mr. J Burmeister, MC.
http://www.DancesOfVice.com Shien Lee the diva of sexy themed events put this evening together.  Veronica  Varlow’s burlesque show http://www.DangerDame.com/ started off the evening and we all got in the mood with her sexy teasing and a strip that blew us all away. This evenings highlight was a live tango show piece called “Crimes of Passion & Romance” performed by Sergio Seguro and Matt Grubler with the Strictly Tango Dance Co. This was hard core meets high testosterone in a duel of milongeros battling it out on the dance floor for the amor of the lady of the evening.  When they’re not out performing all around nyc they can be found teaching Tango at: http://www.LearnArgentineTango.com/

The band El Gato Loco held the evening together with a mixture of hot Latin and Cuban jazz, tango, salsa and swing dance music keeping the energy in crowd up and everybody on their feet and moving! http://www.GatolocoMusica.com ©photo by: Wai Ng http://www.WaiNg.com

Continue reading »]]> Congratulations to Dominic Sandoval (aka D-trix) of theDOMINICshow for winning Youtube’s “On The Rise” contest!

Today, D-trix’s channel is featured on the YouTube homepage in the “Spotlight” Box.

You may know D-trix from So You Think You Can Dance and ABDC Season 3 (Quest Crew). He’s a talented dancer and huge jokester. Watch his hilarious videos and subscribe to theDOMINICshow!

Continue reading »]]> YouTube has risen the popularity of the many unknown talented artists in the world. There are a a certain few who are from New York that have caught my attention, one with the name of Andrew Kim. I was pretty lucky to have been able to watch him sing live at Fordham University’s Dynasty IX in the Bronx. Sadly I didn’t have the chance to talk to Andrew… maybe next time? (;

Andrew Kim at Dynasty IX

Here’s his biography:

Andrew Kim is a 19 year old, singer-songwriter, from Queens, trying to make it into the New York music scene. Being a student pursuing a career in Music Production/Engineering, he also writes his own songs. With up to 30+ songs to date, he is currently recording his debut album, “New Beginnings” in his own bedroom, hoping to release it around early next year. He also records YouTube videos on the side, covering artists like Usher, Kings of Leon, Bruno Mars, and even Korea’s own, Taeyang. He’s gained an online fan-base with almost 7000 subscribers on his channel and over half a million total views on his videos. He hopes to make music his career, if the right opportunities come his way. You can check out his YouTube channel, until his album release: http://youtube.com/seoulj4zz

This guy is going to amaze you, making you want to see more of his videos, watching them over and over again. I love his covers. Support his work [especially the New Yorkers]!

Leave the comments below. If you know anymore New York artists I should check out, include that too!

Continue reading »]]> On November 19, 2010, Quest Crew was in Bronx, NY for Dynasty IX, having a last minute rehearsal at the Leonard Theatre at Fordham Prep. My dad and I were extremely fortunate to be able to get in as VIP thanks to Leuis Ng (Ng’s are awesome!) and Tiffany Li. I had the privilege to take pictures before hand, picking whichever seats I wanted. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw that I was in the same room as Quest Crew… they were just a few feet away!

Quest Rehearsals

I later got a group shot with the guys of Quest; Hok was courteous and polite, giving up his seat so I could get a good spot for the photo. (:

Rehearsals went on; making the crowd outside the theater restless. Quest rehearsed quickly and soon people started to file in. Everyone was super excited and tried to get the good seats.

The performances (not in order):

ACE Dance Crew danced to the choreography to Wonder Girls’, ” Tell Me”.

Expression Dance Alliance danced a beautiful contemporary and a tap number.

Zubi Ahmed and Alyson Cadena sang a duet of “Defying Gravity”.

Andrew Kim did covers of “Chasing Cars” by Snow Patrol and “Over My Head (Cable Car)” by the Fray. For “Chasing Cars”, he forgot some words and was honest about it; what a good trait to have! For “Over My Head (Cable Car)” he had some technical difficulties with his music, sadly unable to continue. He’s a remarkable singer; his voice is really good.

Alfa Garcia performed “Hey Soul SIster” by Train and some of her original songs, one of them called “Love As Tragedy” and another called “Pi Song” (π, 3.14159…). The Pi song was very cute and witty and when I heard it, I immediately thought of my friend who is really good at math and how she would like that song.

Napon Pintong rapped and sang alongside Andrew Kim on guitar and Matt Pana‘s beatboxing.

Yung MAC got the audience to the front of the stage and threw “money”( with his face on it) into the crowd. Here’s a picture (it’s pretty similar to a regular $100 bill, right?).

Yung MAC "Money"

Mitchell Grey/Ryan Bandong performed original songs “Hazel” and another song (I can’t remember it…sorry).

Fordham Flava who performed to a mix of songs, got the crowd cheering. Everyone got loud when Like a G6 came on. Haha, go Far East Movement! I really loved them and wanted to see it so many more times! I want to dance like them and Quest.

Fordham Flava and Quest Crew

The one and only Quest Crew performed their usual performance and then their freestyle. Everyone was out of his or her seats crowding the front of the stage. I was taking video while my dad took photos. I have never been this close to Quest when they were performing. It was the best experience of my life. And meeting them made it the best day of my life, especially when they loved my gift and took pictures with me.

Quest Crew Performance

Meet and greet was outstanding. I gave the gift that I worked on for with such precision to Aris Paraculles, and Ryan Feng then opened it. He showed it to the rest of the guys and they all liked it. I was smiling like crazy! Ryanimay Conferido highfived me (which made my hand smell really good. Now I’m on my quest to find out what that smell is…Haha maybe.) and Aris gave me a hug/squeeze. My heart was pounding really hard and I had butterflies in my stomach. They passed on my camera so I could get a picture with each and every one of them, which was honestly kind of embarrassing because I never thought that so many people would stare at me wondering why I was so special. After pictures, I went back to the front of the table to get autographs. When I got up to Victor, he gave me his special signature ” Victor King” because he knew I was the one who gave the gift. It made me know that they really do love and appreciate their fans! ♥

The last time I saw Quest Crew was at ISANY’10 (International Secret Agents ’10) and I was pretty far away from the stage. This time, I wore my Quest Crew t-shirt and came prepared with good paper and sharpies.  I showed my Quest love that day without being over the top. Quest members are super sweet guys (Aris, Ryanimay, Steve, Feng, Hok, Hirano) and I love them with all my heart. Thank you SO much to Asian Cultural Exchange for organizing this show for all the true, devoted Questies out there in NYC. Thank you Fordham, ACE, Quest, and all the performers for making this one of the ultimate, most memorable day of my life.

Anyways, sorry for such a late long blog post. It’s my first one! Leave comments below!

• Quest Crew: http://www.questcrew.com/
• Asian Cultural Exchange (ACE): http://acefordham.tumblr.com/
• Andrew Kim: http://youtube.com/seoulj4zz
• Alfa Garcia: http://alfa-music.violago.net/
• Yung MAC: http://www.yungmac.com
• Fordham Flava: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKCIEafsu_g
• Fordham’s Expressions Dance Alliance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBWQlHmrETc
• Mitchell Grey (formerly Ryan Bandong): http://www.myspace.com/ryanbandong http://www.youtube.com/user/rgbreezy
• Napon Pintong: http://www.youtube.com/user/Nap3s
• Matt Pana:  http://mattpana.tumblr.com/
• Wai Ng Photography: http://www.WeddingFlair.com/

For those who performed / attended, I suggest contacting Wai Ng to view more pictures and go to the ACE website for video by CloudRedProductions.

Continue reading »]]> By Valerie Chase

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By Valerie Chase
The Max Reger Foundation of America 2010 Inaugural Gala, at Landmark on the Park. 160 Central Park West NYC

UrbanBallers Magazine photographer Wai Ng was among the many guests and contributors from the music and fashion worlds to attend this event. Gunther Schuller, The Honorary Chairman and Bill Ritter, ABC News The Master of Ceremonies hosted the evening for the MRFOA.  Performing for the fundraiser was 14 year old pianist Phuong Nghi Pham (recipient of The Max Reger Foundation of America John C. Holtz Ambassador Award), and CellistJessie Reagen with DJ Scinentific. Michael Kaye Couture presented a fashion show of elegant evening gowns as well as contributing generously to the Silent Auction. The Max Reger Foundation of America presented awards to the Honored Guests;Milton Babbitt – Extraordinary Life Time Musical Achievement Award; Michael Kaye – Extraordinary Achievement In The Arts Award (presented by super model Nancy C. Donahue who was wearing one of Michael Kaye‘s glamourous gowns, Nancy also has a beauty/wellness products company HoneyBelle bodybuffer by Belle Core worth checking out.)  Jessie Reagen Mann received an award for Extraordinary Achievement In The Musical Arts. Delicious gourmet food was catered by Chef Love Jones throughout the evening.  The combined efforts of the Benefit Committee chaired by Inky Kim and the Event Committee chaired by Ericka Guerrero made this evening a success of many levels.

©photo by: Wai Ng for UrbanBallers.com