Our beloved Tila Tequila has a cover story on TIME.com. Not bad for an Asian model!
Tila Nguyen was 1 year old when she moved to the U.S. from Singapore, but she’s Vietnamese by heritage and blond by choice. As for what she does for a living, there isn’t really a word for it yet. Nguyen, 25, who goes by Tila Tequila professionally, is some combination of rapper, singer, model, blogger and actress. But what she mostly is is the queen of the massive social-networking website MySpace.
Read the complete article at TIME.com.
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quite impressive. she really is in the spotlight, more than i could have ever imagined.
It is not really a coverstory but she is indeed one of the persons illustrated in the article related to the coverstory about the person of the year. Not bad for Tila!
“There’s a million hot naked chicks on the Internet,” she says. “There’s a difference between those girls and me. Those chicks don’t talk back to you.”
This chick understood what it takes: personality and communication. It’s not only about photos and poses anymore.
Hot, somewhat agressive, writing in a genuine, down-to-earth, style. Explosive combination I see. Of course, none of it would have worked if she didn’t have the looks. 🙂
Her mySpace.
I do admire people that build their way up, so I hope this is the case: a genuine girl (even if she’s not my style but that’s another story) and not a marketing thing.
Hummm, just saw the previous thread about her. Hopefully Time did its homework and Tila is really genuine. This is a story I would like to believe, since it’s a very fine example of a person that broke the ‘rules’ and built her own way.
I still remember her before the blonde hair and tattoos. Right now she’s doing it big in this Web 2.0 world and it takes more than just looks to really make it big. You have to be that total package since there’s a flood of “models” out on the scene today.
She’s also getting ready to relaunch her website this week so I’m curious how well it’s going to do now since her popularity has skyrocketed. I’m also wonder if she would have been this popular if she didn’t start out posing nude and how long will it be before she quits posing nude and totally moves on to other endeavors. I wish her all the success because she indeed deserves it.
I found her interesting for a while…but then not. She’s still hot, just not my thing. Still can’t believe her tits are real. Are they?
As per her top spot on the popularity and fame totem pole — the people have spoken! And that’s all that matters in the game she plays. Take a lesson, Helen “$20” Su et al.
Sorry, Danz…when the article pic has her splayed across her PUBLICISTS shiny red sports car, you can bet the farm there is a whack load of marketing involved in TT’s professional career.
Maybe she should do some kind of shoot with Jenna Jameson — Queen of Porn vs. Queen of MySpace. That would be a good seller. Does Tila even do porn or just nude pics? (See, not a big fan.)
No porn, just softcore nudity K4K. And she’s had some surgery done.
Tila -and her type of celebrity-are the beginning of a shift towards “exotic” women being considered the standard of desireability in America.Blondes should probably be a tad nervous.;->
Blonde of course being code for…
I don’t think America (a blanket term for the West) will ever relinquish it’s grip on the ‘Blonde Bombshell’. There’s enough narrow-minded people in positions of control and enough red-neck citizens to keep the blonde bimbo firmly entrenched in the American psyche as the staple of beauty.
That would be like saying the popularity of BMW spells the end of Ford. Too many Americans still want their trucks and gun racks and big breasted blondes for some Asian hottie to ever take a major market share.
The #1 pornstar in America/the World? The blonde Jenna Jameson.
Top 5 highest paid Hollywood actresses? All blonde.
America needn’t fear an Asian Invasion because the general public won’t let it happen. Sad but true.
Here’s a question: what would happen if the Asian model became the norm? How long before we would tire of that look? What would be the next ‘exotic’? 😐
I just saw the new James Bond Casino Royale. No blond Bond girls this time! 😉
(Was there ever an Asian Bond girl?)
Yep, there was an Asian Bond girl – Michelle Yeoh.
As for Tila, what a load of BS. Yeah right, she’s the only internet model who responds to her fans. As Sachiko gets me to check her English in her correspondence with her fans, I can tell you she spends a lot of time and effort on this.
And for God’s sake, she’s stretched across her publicist’s car, yet she still expects us to believe she’s done everything herself – come on!
Of course. How could I forget Michelle!
Back to Tila.
I like her legs.
Oh yeah, her tits aren’t real. Does she claim this as well?
Just one more thing (I seem to have a lot of those recently!): Tila loves to go on and on about how ‘outspoken’ she is, but what does she actually say? Oh yeah, she swears a lot – that’s really something.
Once again, at least Sachiko talks about real issues – politics, sexual suppression etc. But she doesn’t have a publicist to stretch herself across! (Tila will probably say she talks about sexual suppression, but she doesn’t really: she just wants to brag to everyone about how she’s ‘beaten it’.)
Slow news day over at Time.com I guess…
Yeah – it’s probably important to emphasise that this is Time.com., NOT Time magazine! Has an Asian model ever made the cover of Time magazine?
The only Asian model/actress to appear on the cover of Time magazine was way back in 1958: http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19581222,00.html
A far cry from lil’ Ms. Tequila. I would say Tila either has a long way to go or has come a long way…not really sure which.
Whoah, this is surprising in two ways:
1) That Asian girls were appearing on American magazine covers back in ’58.
2) That they haven’t been on the cover of Time magazine again since!
How did you dig up this info K4K?
I think someone is anti tila. Not sure. Just a hunch.
Maybe just anti Time magazine.
Well, I have to say she is the epitome of two aspects of modern western culture I personally despise:
1) The trend amongst young Asians to look as unnatural and un-Asian as possible;
2) Our current culture of publicity is everything, while principles, talent, ability and content mean nothing.
Has Tila been featured in anything this year that hasn’t mention less than twice Myspace? Its getting old.
robin…there is a blonde girl in the latest Bond movie…Bond himself:))…havent seen it yet but the new guy is getting a lot of bad press from Bond fans…i heard it is very good though..
there has been several asian bond girls..ahem..michelle yeoh, and two japanese actresses in “you only live twice”…they were saucy wenches:)
i praise Tila for making it big with her little bod and her brain….but come on guys lets boiled down to the real nitty gritty…she is a blonde bimbo that try to send a message..not sure what she is trying to say…she has stripped down every features that is asian about her including her name…use to be Tila Nguyen…what the F*ck is tila tiquila.
no offense, if i offend anyone here but i just dont get it. she is pretty but like most of us here agree…very whitewashed and can we use the SC word (socal). and before you guys jumped on me for saying that any of us here would have any chance with girls like Tila…i know for a fact that a lot of these girls going through the career ladder, would have to go through a lot of “friends”, “patrons” and ahem more “friends”…common practice in that community in socal and or houston..
wish she would stick to being more genuine about her culture background..say like sung hi lee…or that craz bitch..Bai Ling:))
i am really refraining from offending people here so if i do..so solly:))
oh yea..if her boobs are real, than i am hung like CLM:))
Doc — I just Googled ‘Time magazine covers’ or something like that. Then did an ‘actress’ search within the site. I tried ‘models’ first and result nothing except Brooke Shields.
Law — You have a 3rd leg too, huh?
Doc again — about your point 2) above: I certainly agree on that but I also think that even though the current POPULAR culture values propaganda and publicity at the moment, it’s the “forgotten” values — talent, skill, ingenuity, intelligence etc — that will always rise to the top. Power behind the throne, if you will.
Tila et al would be nothing without Bill Gates. Billy boy, however, would still be everywhere without Tila.
Oh, now we going to discuss if Bill is good or not. (just kidding, lol)
Regarding her entourage, yes, I do know she has already a marketing team behind her. Which star doesn’t? She is kind of a star right now, for the myspace kids. But there must be some real personality points that really appeal to the masses. That’s what distinguishes her. No marketing team can make a boring person interesting: the minute they open the mouth by themselves… it’s all gone.
Ok, Sachiko and a few other models probably communicate a lot with the fans already. But my point was that other much more famous models out there didn’t bother doing that. And for some that dare doing it, there’s a big market share waiting. This is the era of communication, so interaction with fans is going big, in my opinion.
After studying this a bit more, I think Tequila may be a way to try to appeal to the hispanic crowd. After all, there’s marketing and there is money involved (fashion, clothes, etc). Nevertheless, she has made it big, communicating with the difficult myspace crowd. Others didn’t. Her genuine talent lies there.
Although she is not the pure asian for our tastes (not mine either) she’s still hot, in a socal way. 🙂 Her style and attitude are not my favorite, but this is what a large part of myspace crowd likes at the moment. They’re just ‘chillin’ … 🙂
I wouldn’t put too much stock into her popularity into her MySpace popularity because half of those people just want someone hot to put on their profile.
And as much as I hate the SoCal look, it sells. Men want to see blonde hair and big titties, but mainly big titties. So it’s no surprise that the models who are the most successful look the way that they do. Look at Helen Su for example. The natural Asian look sells more in pornography than on the Import scene because there is much more competition out there, especially now because of MySpace.
hey dazn…if you are referring to her support staff in response to my post about her “friends”…i meant a lot of these girls usually were supported at first by..ahem “friends”…you know, something, something in exchange for benjamins 😉
kobe..i have a third leg too but that’s only because my other two legs are really short 🙂
I admire Tila and her hustle to the top.
However, I really agree with Candymans comment.
Even with my site AsianModelSpace.com I constantly get emails from ladies who think because they have 1000 or so myspace friends they are instantly “popular” and somehow that qualifies them as a model.
I’m sure most of those ladies are nice people, but I’m sorry.. it takes more then some shoddy digital cam pictures and a fanclub of sexcraved fools to make someone into a true modeling success.
So many of these girls seems destined to be taken advantage of by the modeling and/or porn industry out of their illusions of grandor.
And as great as Tila is.. she is often perceived by the media as just an advertising puppet for myspace.
Think about it.. when is the last time you heard Tila’s name without myspace being mentioned immediately before or after?
…and that is a fact that is truly sad.
Flame on. Or do you guys agree with me?
.. and no. I was not trying to diss the ladies/models with my above comment. I was just pointing out the flaws in myspace generated “fame”.
(I just saw all the debate that happened over the last week of postings.. my land you guys have a lot of drama over here sometimes.. or all the time?)
I agree with you Auron. I love drama, especially when it comes to discussing Asian chicks. Now that I think about it, is Tila really at the top when it comes to Asian models in the U.S.? I haven’t seen her in anything this year that wasn’t related to MySpace. And how many of those people have gone to see her or bought any of her pics like I have? If she was really that popular, then I doubt that she would be pictured sprawled out on top of a Ford Thunderbird at her publicist’s house? Where’s her at her house on top of a Lambo? We’ll know how really big she is in ’07.
We live in an age where the internet can make anyone instantly famous. And MySpace has brought alot more chicks in the game which is good for me but not good for them. Modeling is a very tough business. You need to bring alot to the table to be successful or not let it be the only source of income. Look at how many models on the Import scene either opt for surgery or totally change their look or transition into nude modeling. And just like in porn, once someone that’s younger and prettier comes along, you’re forgotten by most people, so you got to do what you have to do and move on.
But eventhough I don’t put Tila at the top, for her to be this significant for someone who’s been around for over six years and more significant than some of the models that I’ve seen her featured with is incredible. I loved her before all the Tila Tequila mess, but if she stayed all natural and didn’t do nudity, she would never be this popular. The natural Asian look is not a big seller because most men are shallow. And Tila has put in alot of work, so I wish her all the success in the world eventhough the MySpace popularity is mainly phony.
There’s a million hot naked chicks on the Internet. There’s a difference between those girls and me. Those chicks don’t talk back to you.
Couldn’t have said it better myself.
auron…agree….i admire Tila for her success, but it is somewhat shallow….what is her message?…maybe there is none except look at my boobs and ass. she is pretty but the makeover is a little over the top. she doesnt even look asian anymore….cant wait till she goes porn:)
and yes mike…chicks should not talk back at you…; ) i am such a pig:)
Nope, can’t be real…
http://www.blogged-babes.com/bigpic/62457.jpg
In my opinion, her tits are a little too round and firm. The nips are nice tho!
But Dr. Lee, aren’t almost all of the women featured here part of that “current culture of publicity,” where “principles, talent, ability and content mean nothing” and only physical features do? At least one writer stated it plainly above: they should only display themselves but not speak.
i heard she was real bitch in real life..
There’s nothing wrong with being a model: fashion designers need them, magazines need them, and we enjoy looking at them! Modeling is just as worthy a job as anything else, as it fulfils a need in society.
However, what irks me are all the people these days who don’t have any talent for anything but who still think they can be stars. At least Tila has a talent for modeling, so if she stuck with that I wouldn’t have a problem with her. But she shouldn’t sing when she can’t – only those who can sing should.
Soon she’ll be Queen of Twitter, too. 😉