Coco Talanoa — Entertainment / Page 23

Last night Janet Jackson was honoured with an 'Icon' award becoming the first black female artist to receive the award.  She performed a medley of her hits and dancing right alongside her on stage was Samoan professional dancer Isaac Tualaulelei.

At the 0:49 mark he comes into view on the far right side of the stage (black & white checkered shirt) dancing to Janets 'Nasty Girls' 

He tweeted after the performance: 

And in celebration of Janet's new doco mini series coming out yesterday, he tweeted his look from behind the scenes at the 2018 Billboard Music Awards 

Check out more of Isaac's dance & choreography work on his Youtube channel here

Isaac is a proud Samoan Professional Dancer, Instructor and aspiring Choreographer originally from Seattle, WA and currently residing in Los Angeles.…more

LEITIS IN WAITING is the story of Joey Mataele and the Tonga leitis, an intrepid group of indigenous transgender women fighting a rising tide of religious fundamentalism and intolerance in their South Pacific Kingdom.

The film follows devout Catholic Joey as she organises an exuberant beauty pageant presided over by a princess, provides shelter and training for a young contestant rejected by her family, and spars with American-financed evangelicals who threaten to resurrect colonial-era laws which would criminalise the leitis’ lives.

With unexpected humour and extraordinary access to the kingdom’s royals and religious leaders, Joey’s emotional journey illuminates what it means to be different in a society ruled by tradition, and what it takes to be accepted without forsaking that tradition and culture.

This film won the Audience Awards at FIFO International Documentary Festival in Tahiti 2018 and the Commonwealth Film Festival 2018 in London. Joey was recently awarded the Commonwealth heads of Government Award as one of the influential LGBTI leaders in the Commonwealth.…more

Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson was on the Graham Norton show recently promoting his latest movie 'Rampage'.

He talks about his grandfather High Chief Peter Maivia being the inspiration behind his character Maui in the Moana movie, Samoan tatau and then raps one of his Maui verses!  

Check out Rihanna's performance at the Grammys with DJ Khaled & Bryson Tiller for their hit "Wild Thoughts" and the dance choreography which was thanks to our girl Parris Goebel!!! 

She said on Facebook "Always blessed when I get to work with Rihanna"

& she tweeted this after the performance:

Australian Rock Band 'Gang of Youths' received the most nominations at this years ARIA awards in Australia last week - 8 nominations in total - and they came away with 4 for Album of the Year, Best Group, Best Rock Album and Producer of the Year.

Two of the band are Pacific Island!  Lead Singer David Le'aupepe is Samoan/Jewish and guitarist Joji Malani is Fijian!

In his acceptance speech David said ...

"This country was built on a strong Indigenous people and on the backs of immigrants, to be heralded in the cultural and entertainment landscape in Australia is quite something.  

"The presumption of Pacific islanders is they play footy, do security or play R'n'B and that's just not the case."

Get to know some of Davids story in the video above.

David also stopped by the 13th floor to preview 3 new songs off their album "Go farther in Lightness" & also shared his views on youth suicide in the video link below:

https://youtu.be/IQm8ooEfLWY

Dinah Jane sang the national anthem unaccompanied at the Semi Final of the Rugby League World Cup where Mate Ma'a Tonga took on England on Saturday .... and she NAILED it.

She talks about what it meant to her grandfather when she sang it for the first time here

Fabulous. Brilliant. Vibrant. Fun. A whole lot of “colossal” brought into one!

Fez Fa’anana, creative director of Breifs - Close encounters, has brought the magic to Auckland. A variety show that encompasses circus, drag, burlesque and comedy all through the art of theatre.

“It’s theatre in a bent, upside down world”. He chuckles.

A New Zealand born Samoan, raised in Australia, Fez felt responsible in portraying strong messages through his new show as an expression of protest and peace.

“For this show in particular, I wanted to address some of the crazy stuff that’s going on at the moment. Cars are being used as weapons, we’ve been questioned about equality and marriage; in Australia there’s uncertainty and un-rest in public spaces… …I just wanted to make a show to demonstrate how extraordinary we humans are.”

Being a Samoan bearded lady brings elements of uniqueness to a show such as this one.

“The Samoan culture is about reflecting your habitat and reflecting your lifestyle.…more

We're keepin it fresh at the 2017 Vodafone Pacific Music Awards in South Auckland.

Suggested Links: 

Get to know Beulah Koale on Fresh

Beulah Koale hosts Fresh

Thank You for Your Service is an upcoming 2017 American biographical war drama film written and directed by Jason Hall in his directorial debut, based on the non-fiction book of the same name by David Finkel. The film is about posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depicting United States soldiers who try to adjust to civilian life after returning from Iraq. The film is produced by DreamWorks Pictures and distributed by Universal Pictures, starring Miles Teller, Haley Bennett, Beulah Koale, Amy Schumer, and Scott Haze. Principal photography began on February 9, 2016 in Atlanta. It will be released on October 27, 2017