From the home-grown to the world-renouned, The Asian Karaoke Idol Invitational plays host to the most eclectic set of guests & performers Asian culture fandom has ever seen! With "Brand-New Debuts", TAKII fans are introduced to the newest celebs in our midst through detailed bios, personal quotes, multimedia presentations, & more. While being a "Brand-New Debut" would mean that they haven't ever been a guest, or performer at a season of TAKII, this special brand of collective talents are always more than ready to get their feet wet & hands dirty as they celebrate Asian culture fandom "to the extreme" with their most passionate admirers, TAKII fanatics! For TAKII 8 ~HoliDAYZE~, "the world's most extreme Asian culture fusion festival" has opened its arms to some very special guests & performers, but with a yuletide twist: 

(c/o Wikipedia) Santa Claus, also known as Saint Nicholas, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle, or simply "Santa", is the legendary and mythical figure who, in many Western cultures, brings gifts to the homes of the good children during the late evening & overnight hours of Christmas Eve, December 24. The legend may have part of its basis in hagiographical tales concerning the historical figure of gift giver Saint Nicholas. While Saint Nicholas was originally portrayed wearing bishop's robes, in modern times, Santa Claus is generally depicted as a plump, jolly, white-bearded man wearing a red coat with white collar & cuffs, white-cuffed red trousers, & black leather belt with matching boots. This image became popular in the United States & Canada in the 19th century & endures even to this day. Santa Claus lives with his wife, Mrs. Claus, a countless number of magical elves, & 9 flying reindeer. There has long been opposition to teaching children to believe in Santa Claus, with some Christians saying the Santa tradition detracts from the religious origins & purpose of Christmas. Other critics feel that Santa Claus is an elaborate lie, & that it is unethical for parents to teach their children to believe in his existence period; to each their own, as they say (LOL). For TAKII 8 ~HoliDAYZE~, we couldn't be happier to have a very special guest/performer coming down own chimney & playing our own version of Santa Claus! Just who contacted The Asian Karaoke Idol Invitational & agreed to this "gig"? The only way to find out Santa's true "identity" is to not be late for TAKII 8, minna-san!!

(c/o Wikipedia) Mrs. Claus (sometimes referred to as Mother Christmas & Mary/Martha Claus) is the wife of Santa Claus. Unlike Santa, however, she does not have a counterpart in folklore or mythology, but was the creation of American authors. She was popularized by poet Katherine Lee Bates in Bates' poem, "Goody Santa Claus On A Sleigh Ride" (1889). Since 1889, Mrs. Claus has been generally depicted in media as a fairly heavy-set, kindly, white-haired elderly female baking cookies somewhere in the background of the Santa Claus mythos, assisting in toy production, & overseeing Santa's elves. Her reappearance in popular media in the 1960s began with the children's book "How Mrs. Santa Claus Saved Christmas", by Phyllis McGinley. Today, Mrs. Claus is commonly seen in cartoons, on greeting cards, in knick-knacks such as Christmas tree ornaments, dolls, in storybooks, in seasonal school plays and pageants, in parades....& we think you get the point that she is pretty damn accomplished LOL. Her personality tends to be fairly consistent; she is usually seen as a calm, kind, & patient woman, often in contrast to Santa himself, who can be prone to acting too exuberant. In some modern adaptations, Mrs. Claus is shown with a younger, even sexier appearance, which will be on full display during TAKII 8 ~HoliDAYZE~! Of our "Brand-New Debuts", just who will be helping our resident Santa Claus judge which TAKII fanatics have been naughty, or nice, this season? You'll be finding out soon enough on November 28th - 29th, 2009!

(c/o Snopes) To most of us, the character of Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer -- immortalized in song & a popular TV special -- has always been an essential part of our Christmas folklore. However, Rudolph is a decidedly 20th-century invention whose creation can be traced to a specific time & person. Rudolph came to life in 1939 when the Chicago-based Montgomery Ward company (operators of a chain of department stores) asked one of their copywriters, 34-year-old Robert L. May, to come up with a Christmas story they could give away to shoppers as a promotional gimmick. (The Montgomery Ward stores had been buying & giving away coloring books for Christmas every year, & May's department head saw creating a giveaway booklet of their own as a way to save money). May, who had a penchant for writing children's stories & limericks, was tapped to create the booklet. Drawing in part on the tale of The Ugly Duckling & his own background (he was apparently made fun of because of was shy, short, & not sexy LOL), Robert L. May settled on the idea of an underdog ostracized by the reindeer community because of his physical abnormality: a glowing red nose. Looking for an alliterative name, May considered & rejected Rollo (too cheerful & carefree a name for the story of a misfit, not to mention comically retarded) & Reginald (too British & fancy) before deciding on Rudolph. No matter what you wanna call him, Santa's most famous reindeer is set to appear at latest celebration of "the world's most extreme Asian culture fusion festival" come November 28th - 29th, 2009! Come see who is personifying this Christmas legend only at TAKII 8 ~HoliDAYZE~!!

(c/o Wikipedia) A snowman (or "yuki daruma", as they are known in Japan) is an anthropomorphic snow sculpture of a human. In occidental cultures & the Northern Hemisphere, snowmen are considered a symbol of the winter holiday season for many & they often appear on Christmas cards & in front houses. In Europe & North America, most snowmen are usually built with 3 spheres (or only 2 in Japan) which contain the head, torso, & lower body. No matter where you're from, the best time to build a snowman is usually in the next warmest afternoon directly following a snowfall with a sufficient amount of snow. The common trend is to then dress the snowman, usually with rocks, coal, wood sticks, & vegetables. Carrots, or cherries, are often used for the nose, as are sticks for arms & stones for eyes. Some like to dress their snowmen in clothing (scarves, jackets, hats, hotpants (LOL), etc.). However, some may prefer not to risk leaving supplies outdoors where they could easily be stolen if someone were so maliciously inclined (ya know, like all of those people who can't wait to rape snowmen of their dignity each Winter season LOL). The most famous snowman of them all is, of course, Frosty The Snowman! In short, Frosty is a snowman who came to life when a magical that some kids found was placed on his head (like Tuxedo Kamen's from Bishoujo Senshi SailorMoon LOL). He then had playful adventures with those same kids, which included games, sports, & other crazy things (no worries folks, he wasn't a Catholic priest ^_*). When Frosty visits them for the final time, he leaves them by saying, "I'll be back again someday," with that "someday" finally being TAKII 8 ~HoliDAYZE~! So which 1 of our identity-cloaked "Brand-New Debuts" is behind reviving the legend that is Frosty The Snowman? Seeing is believing come November 28th - 29th, 2009!!