dawn yang – blogging her way to instant fame

Posted at November 10, 2005

blogger dawn yang

I did the collage above using film grain, ‘coz that’s what Dawn Yang is going to look like in the papers (read news article below).

The Great Swifty will be pleased that his object of fascination is headed for MTV-like greatness. Maybe he should get her to star in one of his independant films or something; nobody objects to obvious pretty-ful chicks.

I think it’s pretty hot that she got noticed via her blog (and looks, obviously) even though she’s a semi-socialite in Singapore and all that. I read her site from time to time, she seems pretty nice and non-malicious, plus the scholarship to the US should be some kind of indication that there’s a brain working somewhere.

Though I do agree with Mr. Miyagi’s thoughts on this being a gimmick (refer to article below), well no harm seeing where this leads to. MTV sucks, manufactured pop idols suck (looks like Dawn’s headed that way if she’s to hone her entertaining skills and the no-bf disclaimer) but she’s got brains so she’ll figure out her own path after the publicity. At least I hope so, would like to see her succeed.

Yeah I like her ‘cos she’s hot and if I had a hammer instead of a pipehole I would definitely invent all sorts of fantasies, with her in every scene of course.

Added: I just realised that her name quoted in the papers is Dawn Yeo, though she calls herself Dawn Yang on her blog. Whatever lah.

Added: The outcry over her surname is silly. I’m Tew in Hokkien, Zhao in Mandarin. As far as I know, Singaporean Chinese use the Mandarin versions of surnames instead of dialects like Malaysian Chinese. Why not spend more time and effort arguing if conforming to media and advertising’s version of beauty from a lack of self esteem is beneficial or not, healthy or not?

Via The Electric New Paper:

Talent agency snaps up Singapore’s ‘hottest blogging babe’ to groom for stardom
SINGAPORE’S most famous celebrity bloggers have done much to attract notice.
By Jeanmarie Tan
10 November 2005

SINGAPORE’S most famous celebrity bloggers have done much to attract notice.

Some post semi-nude pictures of themselves online.

Others pen socio-political commentary.

Yet others indulge in controversial musings on loos for the handicapped.

All blogger babe Dawn Yeo – better known as clapbangkiss – needs to do is upload drop-dead gorgeous photographs of herself and the eyeballs follow.

She is currently No 1 on hottestblogger.com – an online ‘beauty pageant’ which ranks local female bloggers according to looks – and her year-old website www.xanga.com/clapbangkiss has registered over 200,000 hits.

She is also possibly the first Singaporean blogger to score an artiste management contract.

Tinsel Management, which handles stars such as Utt and Denise Keller (see other report), has just signed her up.

Within the next year, it plans to groom her for acting, singing and advertising opportunities in Taiwan, Hong Kong and China.

Judging by the pictures, this girl is a knockout.

With her manga-heroine eyes and sweetie-pie sex appeal, Dawn – whose grandparents have Thai and Dutch blood – is a pan-Asian hybrid in the style of Fiona Xie and Vivian Hsu.

In person, the 21-year-old student is sweet, shy and understandably reserved for her first-ever media interview.

Yes, her long eyelashes and hazel peepers are fake, but at least she doesn’t have a fake ang moh accent.

She seems self-deprecating and even nonchalant about her stunning looks (’I'm flattered when people compliment me, but I don’t want to be known as a ‘hot blogger’ ‘).

Yet, the 1.66m-tall, 47kg girl turned surprisingly overly-critical of some less-than-flattering shots taken by our photographer and pleaded with us not to publish them.

But don’t hate her because she’s beautiful.

Local blogger Wendy Cheng aka xiaxue told The New Paper huffily: ‘She’s not a real blogger. She’s just a pretty girl who happens to have a blog.’

While Benjamin Lee aka Mr Miyagi has ‘no impression’ of Dawn’s blog, he has certainly heard of her cyber reputation as a beauty.

When Ms Melissa Lam, director of Tinsel Management, visited Dawn’s blog for the first time after countless recommendations, ‘the captivation factor became clear’.

‘She was an ordinary girl with an extraordinary face,’ said Ms Lam, who believes that the next wave of stars will come from the Internet.

‘She has that girl-next-door quality that the Taiwanese will like. Although she’s still a bit of an introvert, the blog is a way to see another side of her that’s not that sweet!’

But Ms Lam added that ‘a lot of honing and polishing’ is needed.

Dawn will get intensive singing, dancing, Mandarin and even Japanese lessons till she becomes ‘idol drama material’ and a ‘well-rounded artiste’.

Ms Lam said: ‘We can only support her with the resources to groom her for the industry. Whether or not she will make it to the top will depend on her own hard work and, of course, the right timing.’

Dawn herself is a mixture of nerves, excitement and eagerness as she attempts to break into the entertainment industry.

She said: ‘Every kid has dreamt of becoming a singer or actor and it was a fantasy I never thought of pursuing. But since the opportunity has presented itself, I might as well give it my best.’

BOYFRIEND

Dawn admitted to having a Singaporean boyfriend – until Ms Lam jumped in and advised her to keep a ’single status’ for the sake of her career.

She also seems well-prepared for the criticism that comes with the territory.

Her good looks have inspired much jealousy.

‘In school, someone started weird rumours about how I got into a catfight with another girl. People also accuse me of having plastic surgery, but what can I do?’ she shrugged helplessly.

Pictures of her clubbing with celeb pals such as Fiona Xie and Alex Polstra on her blog have led to Dawn being labelled a ‘laidback airhead’ who leads a ‘dazzling decadent lifestyle’.

But Dawn was a straight-A student who attended Singapore Chinese Girls’ School and Raffles Junior College.

She spent a year at the Singapore Management University (SMU) but left for the US on a scholarship to study business and communications at the University Of Southern California.

She has also been called a ‘rich spoilt brat’ because she writes about driving an SLK Mercedes – but in the US, it is ‘really cheap at US$15,000′.

Dawn revealed that she is ‘well-to-do but not loaded’, and that her family – comprising her retiree dad, HR manager mum and 16-year-old younger sis – lives in a semi-detached house in Bukit Timah.

She said in her calm, soft voice: ‘I guess when you get more known, you will always get haters.’

Which is why Dawn avoids turning her blog into a ’social-political commentary’ or shooting her mouth off on controversial issues – although she feels the handicap toilet debacle surrounding Wendy has been ‘blown out of proportion’.

She said: ‘If I need to express my opinions, I usually post my comments on other people’s blogs.

‘My blog is for my own personal enjoyment, for my friends and family. I never blogged for an audience.’

That will change next month when Dawn’s supporters can look forward to her online journal, which will chronicle her journey to becoming a star.

Blogger Benjamin frowns on such a ‘passe’ publicity gimmick as it has been ‘done to death with so many reality TV programmes’.

But Sandra Ng aka Sandralicious has voiced her support of Dawn, adding: ‘It’s a cool idea. People will be fascinated by its novelty. It’ll feel a bit more personal, bring her closer to the public.’

Izzy aka Sarong Party Girl also feels that the diary will succeed provided it is well-written and easy to identify with.

‘Everyone loves a Cinderella story. And even the ‘zero to zero’ plot works in modern culture, especially if she can turn a failed career into a touching story of burnt hope and how it is so difficult to be an artiste in Singapore. I’m sure people would buy that.’

Update: oO check this out too. Not sure if it’s the same person. How many Dawn Yeos who get scholarships are there in Singapore?

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