Ayi Jihu Up close and personal
In her first in depth interview since landing in the United States Ayi Jihu speaks to Skip Fredicks about her life, her reason for being in America and her work from the tranquil location of Los Arboles Hotel in Palm Springs.
Ayi Jihu speaks about her work with schools and kids as well as her philanthropic work with Music from a bottle and A Celebration of Women Foundation Inc.
For More information on Ayi Jihu visit her website www.ayijihu.com
Ayi Jihu Sandstorms and Red Tails
Ayi Jihu and co had to brave some quite serious weather on their way to watch Red Tails at the Fox Cineplex in Banning.
On the way to the Cinema they witnessed what seem to be Huge Sand Storms twisting in front of them.
It was not long before the twisting Sandstorms in the distance where right upon them. ‘It was a bit scary’ Ayi said. ‘The car was swerving a bit and Rage was really trying to keep it under control, When the sandstorms hit the car you could feel and hear it. It was like someone pouring salt all over the car at speed. The crazy thing was as scary as it was it was so very beautiful too. You just could not stop looking at the beauty the weather was creating, from rainbows to dramatic godly skies, we just kept point things out to each other.’
Ayi Continued: ‘When we got back to the hotel it was a mess. The whole town was a mess. Lights out, trees down, debris all over the place. Wow Palm Springs took a bit of a battering!’
Ayi Jihu said the movie was worth the drive although when they were going to the cinema they considered turning back. As luck would have it they did the right thing as the storm was heading into Palm Springs and Banning was hardly touched by it.
The staff at Los Arboles hotel worked around the clock to return the boutique Hotel to its former glory.
For more information on Ayi Jihu please check her website www.ayijihu.com.
Ayi Jihu inspiring to achieve at Raymond Cree Middle school in Palm Springs
Watching hundreds of kids enthralled, listening to the experience of a young Chinese girl who fought against all the odds to become a star was truly something to behold. Having seen and reported on Ayi Jihu’s Canadian experience with kids in schools I like many others wondered just how the American youngsters would handle her. What we all discovered is that where ever she goes and whoever she speaks to the reaction is more or less the same: People are inspired.
Ayi Jihu is an honest, accessible star, No Bodyguards or limo’s, no fanfare, no passing out of CD’s or merchandise, no pluggin of a forthcoming single or album. Ayi just turns up and talks to the kids from the heart, she ask them for nothing but a moment of their time to hear her story and to be motivated by it. She wants them to know that if she can, they can.
I have seen this kind of response before, but it is usually reserved for superstars like Michael Jackson, Not many stars reach thier fans on an emotional level also. To see kids respond to an artist who before today they had not even heard of in this way is quite extraordinary. Whether it’s the lines of boys standing in turn just to get hug or to ask her to sign their arms, hands or school books, or the throngs of girls getting up from their seats to dance to her songs and circle around her as though she was the answer to all their questions. I have never quite seen anything like it. However what struck me most was seeing young girls in tears as she spoke, girls who seemingly before now did not feel anyone quite understood what they were going through. Ayi Jihu had hit a nerve for sure and as she spoke to these kids from different cultures and backgrounds she could see looking back at her was a room full of ‘Ayi Jihu’s’.
Just the reaction to the Fear Chaser Trailer alone tells you much, her first lines in the trailer speak of her loneliness and exclusion when she first arrived to the West and you could see the reaction of some in the Audience. You could see them thinking, ‘yeah that’s how I feel’.
During her Q&A Session the kids hands just kept popping up. Too many questions, not enough time. They hung on every word. As the word spread, more and more students kept coming, more teachers, more people. Something special was going down in the Auditorium
As a Woman of Action representing A Celebration of Women Foundation Inc Ayi Jihu is focused on helping women, young and otherwise around the world in anyway she can, but not at the expense of leaving the boys out. Her approach is balanced realizing that Great women need great men and visa versa. So although Ayi Jihu is a Woman and a Chinese one at that it seems that she has more in common with many of the students than we would first believe. When the students hear of her journey from a small village in China to the West, of how her aunt risked her life to get her there all they can see is not a Chinese girl, but someone who has overcome and made good and they want to be just like her.
What the entertainment world is slow to see as the system clings on to old ways, old messages and old values is what these kids see straight away. They are looking for stars they can believe in, stars who offer more than a dream for the few, Star who give as a way of being rather than who give as a way of not feeling so guilty about all they have. Ayi Jihu’s message is not pop idol or X Factor, it is not reality TV or fast track secrets to making it. It is not just for those who want to be singers, dancers or entertainers, it is for everyone and it is very simple. Hard work and humility are the keys to success at whatever you which to achieve in life. Giving while you get, not after you get, paying it forward, the mantra of A Celebration of Women Foundation Inc and its founder Catherine Anne Clark. It is a message teachers are happy to have preached in their school, as they try to combat the fast track mentality that is embedded in their students through the media. Ayi Jihu is a role model they can actually use and refer to.
For more information on Ayi Jihu visit www.ayijihu.com
For More information on A Celebration of Women Foundation Inc visit their website
For more information on Fear Chaser visit the Website.
Chinese star Ayi Jihu and Hollywood star Terrence Howard Steal the show
Chinese international Star Ayi Jihu and Hollywood star Terrence Howard Stole the show at the annual ‘Classy Party’ in Rancho Mirage. Terrence Howard who is promoting his new Movie Red Tails met up with Ayi Jihu at the event and the two visibly hit it off. Ayi Jihu is an admire of Terrence Howard and that morning watched his latest movie Red Tails at the beautifully refurbished 1920′s Fox Cineplex in Banning owned by her friend and part of her American team Michael Frydrych.
Ayi Jihu is a big fan of cultural, international and black movies and has spoken out recently on the need to preserve and promote these types of movies in Hollywood. Ayi Jihu who is working on her own Global and Movie project Fear Chaser is hoping to use a cultural and international cast in Fear Chaser.
We briefly spoke to Ayi Jihu about Terrence Howard at the Party and She told us: “It was quite bizarre watching him on the big screen a few hours ago and then meeting him in the flesh. I loved the Movie Red Tails, I walked out of the cinema crying and that does not happen to often. Terrence is a really nice man and we spoke about the movie and a few other things and lets leave it at that.”
Ayi Jihu is in Palm Springs for the Film festival (as well as establishing her North American team ahead of her push into the United states) was accompanied by Stevie Eagle E, Photographer Salvatore Tangorre, Amado Salinas and Rage Richardson from Operation Smoke Free. Ayi Jihu is also speaking to children as representative of ‘A Celebration of Women Foundation Inc‘ on the benefits of perseverance and working hard using her Fear Chaser project to ram home the message that fear prevents us from achieving.
For more information on Ayi Jihu vist her website www.Ayijihu.com
Find out more about Terrence Howard
Check out the Fantastic Red Tails starring Terrence Howard
, Cuba Gooding Jnr, Ne-yo, Method Man and many others here
Ayi Jihu – Motivating the kids to achieve!
Fresh from speaking to the kids in Canadian schools, Ayi Jihu was keen to understand what particular issues and problems some of the kids in American schools face. So she organized a trip around Palm Springs from Los Arboles Hotel with two young girls from the district so she could have a one on one conversation with them ahead of speaking to hundreds of kids in Palm Springs schools later on this week.
As an Ambassador for A Celebration of Women Foundation Inc, and also as an international Ambassador for Music From a Bottle, Ayi Jihu spends a lot of her time trying to help and empower youngsters to achieve their goals. Working with A Celebration of Women Foundation Inc and the Toronto School Board Ayi is focusing on Bullying and Cyber bullying in schools using her Fear Chaser project and persona as an example to the youngsters of how fear makes us do many things.
Andrew Eisenmann of Raymond Cree Middle School along with Amado Salinas have been the driving forces in getting Ayi Jihu in front of the kids in Palm Springs. Ayi Jihu is hoping the one on one time she had with a few of the students from the school beforehand will allow her to understand and prepare better for when she speaks to the kids at the school.
For more information on Ayi Jihu visit her website www.Ayijihu.com
Find out more about A Celebration of Women Foundation Inc
Find out more about Jasmine and the Najad Generation.
Chinese star Ayi Jihu – Why some black movies need to stay ‘All Black Movies’
Several Months ago I was introduced to my first Tyler Perry Movie. Since watching the first one, I have become the worlds biggest Tyler Perry fan. I watch his plays, his movies and follow him closely. In fact I would love Tyler Perry to direct my movie Fear Chaser despite what some members of my team say. Because Fear Chaser is not your typical Tyler Perry type movie. When I first started watching his movies I was struck that the cast was all black! I even asked Stevie Eagle E if that is how things really were in America, are their places where it’s just all black people and no one else? Yes he said. I came from China to UK, and in the UK there is no place where it is all just black really. There are a few places where the black people out number the others but not many, my experience in the UK is mixing with everyone, blacks (and all they cultures), Indian, whites, Chinese etc. That is how it is in the UK and I found Canada very similar to that. However in America that is not the experience for everyone.
At first watching these movies I found it strange, because I am programmed to see movies where blacks play mostly token parts or a minority in a white cast. So it took me a movie or two to get used to it. But once I did it seemed perfect to me, natural. I began to understand the culture and vibe of black people even more from watching these movies and I learnt so much. Mostly that they have the same problems, issues and worries as everyone else, they just handle things differently sometimes and that God and church is a huge part of their lives. What I also learned is that black people have an amazing strength and ability to smile and laugh through struggle, prejudice and and unfairness. It got to the point where I did not even notice there were no white people in the cast or very few, I was just absorbed in the story.
No one would complain about a Chinese movie having all chinese people in it, or even a Latin or Indian movie having all Latinos or Indians in it, and yes the studios will argue that the international market needs to have some ‘white faces’ in everything so it can sell. But is this really true? Or is it that they just do not want to take the time or effort to help people get used to another way of seeing things? At the end of the day is it not about the story and acting, rather than the color of the actors?
I am Chinese and I have no problem with it, in fact I love it. If anyone was gonna have a problem with an all black cast I would have thought it would be us the Chinese. I tell all my friends about Tyler Perry movies and many of my Chinese friends are big fans also now. But it is not just my Chinese friends, I have told everyone and anyone who I have told, who has taken the time to watch the movies love them as I do and do not question what color the cast is.
I know what it is like to be put in a box and told you cannot do this or that, or should not do this or that. As a Chinese singer and dancer doing RnB the black way more so than the pop way I have many people asking me, ‘What are you doing, or trying to do?’ I have people who hate me just because of what I am trying to achieve, breaking the mould. In fact there are organisations out there who seem to have a whole Anti Ayi Jihu agenda and I ask myself why? What is it that I am doing that scares them so much, that is so bad? The answer is simple, I am not playing the game and doing what everyone expects me to do in the way everyone expects things to be done. I am not just being a good little Chinese girl doing Canto pop or just copying some western artist. I am working with black people, my company and producers are black and my style is black and I am independent I am not part of the system. So I feel there is a lot of fear about what would happen if little old me really caught on!? Maybe that is what the world is afraid of with Black movies and all black casts, and producers and directors like Tyler Perry who do these kinds of movies. Maybe they are afraid that they will become really popular in the mainstream and shift the balance of power in the movie world?
I was invited to attend the premier of Red Tails and when I was finding out about the movie I could not believe the fight they had just to get it distributed and shown to the world. What a fantastic story, how has it taken so long for this movie to be made and why are they still facing prejudice and stigma now? I for one can’t wait to see the movie and I know if I can’t wait Millions of others can’t wait too, because it is a fantastic story.
While it seems most other cultures and nations around the world have no problem in taking a movie at ‘Face Value’ studio execs feel that the white world will. They seem to feel that movies with all blacks, or other cultures that do not show white faces will not go down with mainstream white audiences around the world. How did Slum dog Millionaire become such a huge hit I wonder? As I am about to take on a role as a typical Chinese girl in Flyy Girl a new TV show I am playing in I am sure people will understand and see that my role fits the story and I am not there just for flavor or to grab a Chinese Audience (although I am sure that does not hurt). Most of the cast are going to be black from what I have seen. The great thing about Flyy Girl and the reason I am doing it is because of the story and my part in it. For me it is honest and it works and I am not thrown in for no real reason, I am in fact almost playing myself.
I am not black so I have no axe to grind when I say ‘Let some black movies stay all black movies!’ In fact we do not need less of them, we need MORE! In the end it may only be the Almighty buck that makes things change, so go out there in your droves and watch ‘Red Tails‘ Make it a huge hit, and send the message out that not only white people can make you laugh, cry and feel, not only the white experience is interesting, money making and international, but that it is in the end the story, the human story that we want to see and learn from and that story comes in many colors, cultures and styles.
For more information on Ayi Jihu visit www.Ayijihu.com
Go and watch the Movie Red Tails
Ayi Jihu and Gladys Knight at the Fantastic Agua Casino
Chinese star Ayi Jihu met with Motown Legend Gladys Knight at the Agua Casino in Palm Springs. Ayi Jihu met with Gladys Knight and the two spent some time together before her show at the beautiful Agua Casino.
Some of the biggest names in show business play at the Agua Caliente Casino in Rancho Mirage. We spoke briefly with Ayi Jihu after the show. “It was a fantastic show, I have never seen her live before, in fact to be honest I have not seen much of her before, but I found I knew so many of her songs. I was supposed to meet with her in Wales UK around a month ago When James Womack hooked it up with her road management Larry Ward and due to my schedule I could not make it down to her show there. So when James Womack got in touch with us and told us they would be in Palm Springs the same time as me I was so excited. Meeting her was just amazing, it was short but very sweet, she is so kind and giving and she was very nice to me. She is a fantastic performer and singer and the stories she tells on stage are fantastic too. I learnt so much from watching her perform and being around her. I hope one day to be half as good as she is.”
Ayi continued: “The Agua has a wonderful arena for artists, one of the best I have ever seen and heard. I have now seen several desert casinos and they are all very, very nice. I hope I get to perform at these Casinos in the near future. If you come to LA or Palm Springs you gotta check out some of these desert Casinos. I know everyone thinks Vegas is the place and it is fantastic I have been there many times, but there are some great Casinos and shows in the desert too.
I want to say a special thank you to James Womack, Larry Ward and Michael Frydrych for making this happen. I am blessed to have a wonderful team.
For more information on Ayi Jihu visit her website www.ayijihu.com
Find out more about Gladys Knight here
Why not check out the Agua Casino and Spa
Chinese Star Ayi Jihu Mexican ‘cook off’ at El Mirasol Restaurant in Palm Springs
At El Mirasol Restaurant in Los Arboles Hotel in Palm Springs, Ayi Jihu, being Ayi Jihu decided to go into the kitchen and get jiggy. For all of us that know Ayi Jihu this is nothing new. Wherever she travels Ayi will find herself in the kitchen either to spice up the food or to see just how they are making such good food.
Chinese people love their food, and Ayi being Chinese is no different. Most of the food we eat in the West that we call Chinese food is westernized Chinese food and Chinese people don’t really care for it (that is putting it nicely). Ayi is from Sichuan, known for its spicy women and even spicier food, she knows her food well. Her mother is also a top chef and therefore Ayi’s standards, when it comes to food, are very particular and high. El Mirasol Restaurant in Palm Springs has proven to be a true Haven for Ayi who has described their Mexican food as some of the best she has ever tasted!
So it did not take much for Ayi to go looking for Chewy (head cheff at El Mirasol) to do her normal thing of finding out a few more secrets from a great pro in the kitchen. Many cultures love their food hot, but there is a distinct similarity between Mexican cooking and food Sichuanese cooking and food. For both of them it’s all about the almighty Chilli!
Chewy (who is the brother of owner Philippe) and Ayi have become firm friends since she arrived at Los Arboles and he had no problem with her in his kitchen taking his wonderful Chicken soup and making a Chinese version of it. Chewy is very proud of his food and cooking, He has been cooking almost all his life and cooks for both El Mirasol Restaurants in Palm Springs.
For More information on Ayi Jihu visit www.ayijihu.com
For more information about El Mirasol or Los Arboles Hotel check their website.
Ayi Jihu first pictures of her sexy Midnight Bikini photo shoot in Palm Springs
First picture of Ayi Jihu’s Midnight Bikini Photo shoot at the Los Arboles Hotel in Palm springs.
To find out more about Chinese Star Ayi Jihu visit www.Ayijihu.com
Real Talk Ayi Jihu hits BReal TV in LA
In a small studio come Art Gallery on Venice Blvd in LA, Chinese star Ayi Jihu met with host O Brown and company from BReal TV for an interview about her music and work.
Ayi spoke about her work with Music from a Bottle a Charity that recycles bottles to provide instruments for kids in school. Music from a Bottle is a new initiative that is gathering momentum and Ayi Jihu loves the project and is supporting their efforts. Abdu Brown CEO of Music From a Bottle was present at the interview.
Ayi Jihu also spoke about her work for A Celebration of Women Foundation Inc and her recent trip to Toronto Canada for the Foundation.
The Breal TV show is hosted by O Brown. BReal is was part of Cyprus Hill.
Ayi drove from Los Arboles in Palm springs to conduct the interview which was held just before midnight and went out live to tens of thousands of viewers on the internet. Ayi was accompanied by her North American Manager James Womack and CEO of Shlepp Entertainment Ltd Stevie Eagle E as well as Linda Pratt.
For more information on Ayi Jihu visit her website www.ayijihu.com
Watch BReal TV here
Find out more about Music From a bottle.
Find out more about A celebration of Women Foundation Inc.
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