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Raising Asia

The reality TV show Raising Asia started in the UK recently. It follows dancer Asia Monet Ray (8 at the time of filming) and her family, mum Kristie, dad, former bodybuilder Shawn and little sister Bella Blu as they help Asia in her bid to be the "next Beyonce". Asia and Kristie first appeared on dance teacher Abby Lee Miller's Abby's Ultimate Dance Competition and then featured on Dance Moms.They left the show at the end of series./season 3 when Asia left the Abby Lee Dance Company (ALDC) to focus on dance training  and launching a singing and acting career back in LA. For more on Asia's time on Dance Moms check out this post: http://starsparklex.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/dance-moms-asia.html

In Raising Asia viewers watch as Asia works on her dancing with choreographer Anthony Burrell (who once worked for Abby's arch rival Cathy on Dance Moms!) and her singing with manager and vocal coach Billy Hufsey (who starred in the 80s TV series Fame) and see her perform at various venues in the lead up to to a big performance at Universal City.. Asia's grandma Nana Vicky and her aunt Gina (Kristie's mum and sister) also appear on the show.

The show is entertaining. There is often tension between Anthony and Billy over which direction Asia's career should go in. In that respect it reminds me somewhat of the reality series Eden's World, and also because that show was about a child star. Eden Wood started out as a beauty pageant contestant on Toddlers and Tiaras and then launched an acting and singing career. The adults in her life argued over where her career should go.

Antony and Billy really do not like each other! Unless it's put on for the cameras, lol. Anthony thinks that Billy is marketing Asia in a old fashioned way. During the series she works on a song called Go Back, which Anthony thinks is too "old school". There is also conflict over how involved Shawn should be in Asia's career. Kristie is usually the one most involved with Asia and spends the most time with her, while Shawn spends time with Bella. He worries that Bella misses out on having her mum around. As the series progresses he wants to have more input about which people would be the best fit to help Asia reach her goals.

Asia has since released a single called Christmas Time and EP Asia Monet and she acted in the film Sister Code.

I think Asia is a very good dancer. Her singing doesn't seem as strong but she's very young, so has plenty of time to work on it. :)

Here's a trailer for Raising Asia:






And here's her performance of Go Back at Long Beach Pride (Episode 9):






For more on the show and family visit these links:

 Official US Lifetime page: http://www.mylifetime.com/shows/raising-asia

Official UK Lifetime page: http://www.lifetimetv.co.uk/shows/raising-asia

Asia's official site (Note: Last time I went on it I got  a warning saying it was an Untrusted Connection but it seems to be ok now): http://www.iamasiamonet.com/

Shawn's official site: www.shawnray.com

Asia vs JoJo (my post): http://starsparklex.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/dance-moms-asia-vs-jojo.html

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