This year, Godo S., the former chair of Barangay, took a different route and made it an all-Asian beauty pageant and called it "Asiatica 3 --Burning with Desire." He wanted to have a show (not just a dance party) with entertainment, fashion, and most of all, a Miss Universe-like contest of the "sexiest Asian men." Well, he surely succeeded in this venture -- I, for one, enjoyed his show more than the real Miss Universe pageant televised the night before.

The show started with glow-stick dancers and flaggers (a Godo's trademark) like those in the WeHo clubs. This provided the fitting scenario for the introduction of the contestants. During "the Parade of Nations," contestant wore Asian costumes representing their countries. The first two, John W. and Steve, represented China; Davin, who was last year's Emperor of the Lotus Imperial court Pageant, represented Korea; Zuke O. in his Karate uniform represented Japan; Chris represented Singapore; Zaldy represented the Philippines; and Ryan (who later told me he is Chinese from Vietnam) represented Vietnam.

The first entertainment number of the evening was a drag show performed by none other than Karina S., the most decorated and best-known Asian impersonator in Southern California. As usual, "she" was beautiful, glamorous, classy and professional.

Now, where am I? Oh yes, anyway, the next dance number was performed by a group of young (all in their 20's) dancers, who are really the current Barangay board members. It was club dance, go-go dance, drag show, hip hop all incorporated into one dance number, with Asian influence and drag campiness to make it most interesting. The use of Chinese fans and Chinese ribbon dance-like ribbons was most appropriate for this occasion which, after all, was a gay Asian event.

The evening-wear section of the show focused on the stylish side of the contestants. Here, it was the model type, not the gym bunnies, that ruled the stage. However, not all contestants had a trendy suit or tux on. The judges were no doubt influenced by criteria other than poise, style, and the GQ-look. From there, 5 finalists were chosen and the tension of expectation really mounted. The 8 judges were introduced to the audience, volunteers and paid staff thanked.

Now the moment of truth: Who would be crowned the sexiest Asian man, if not in the country, at least in the Southland? Perhaps to no one's surprise, all three winners had wonderful gym bods. The second runner-up went to Zuke, the first runner-up Steve, and the title went to .........Ryan. With his youthful good looks, high-lighted hanging hair, very wide shoulders, trim waist, killer pecs, Ryan was probably most everyone's favorite. When answering the questions, he showed his smooth dance moves and his extroverted personality. But all winners were deserving of their titles, each has his own winning features.

So, with a very small budget and lots of hard work, time, and creativity, Godo succeeded in this monumental task of producing such a satisfying show. He even emceed the entire event by himself (the intended female co-host never showed up), formulated the fun and alluring questions for the finalists, and all that without the help of a seasoned or professional producer and a director! Wow, talk about talent and versatility.

I must also mention the great work of DJ J.J. M., who was superb on sound and music. I mean, Zuke just had to utter the word "music," and the right tune came on within half a second, all without prior rehearsal.

Personally, I had wished to see other popular hunks competing in the show. But Bryan Wong was in S.F. that weekend, Rex C. was notified too late, Orlando of Newport Beach said he was too shy for this kind of things, and Raf had a relative's birthday party to go to. Any one of those aforementioned beauties could have had a shot at the title. Well, maybe next time. So guys and gals, keep your eyes peeled for these hunks perhaps competing at this year's Lotus Imperial court Pageant in October, won't you?

Once again, congratulations to Barangay and the winners of Asiatica 3. Let them bear the torch to show and tell the community and the world that Asian male beauty is definitely world-class beauty, the definitive standard of beauty of the 21st century.