Far East Movement, an Asian band, stepped onto the stage Saturday night in Goldstein Auditorium clad in LED-lit astronaut helmets, sunglasses, skinny ties and patent leather high-tops.

The group was the headlining performer of the 12th annual Asian Students in America Night, a celebration of Asian heritage. More than 400 students came to see the evening of student and professional dancing and singing. In addition to Far East Movement, other performances included Syracuse Orange Bhangra, a student dance organization; the Hong Kong Cultural Organization; and Nu Alpha Phi.

Hong Kong Cultural Organization kicked off the event with a hip-hop medley of Michael Jackson’s “Remember the Time,” Lady Gaga and Beyoncé’s “Telephone,” and Chris Brown’s “Transformer.”

Technical difficulties with the audio soundtrack interrupted Syracuse Orange Bhangra’s dance routine halfway through the performance.

Jaspreet Bains, a sophomore advertising design major and member of the Syracuse Orange Bhangra, said he was disappointed with the unfinished performance.

“I understand that ASIA worked really hard to make this show happen,” Bains said. “But I am very upset with how they handled the whole situation, as we did not receive an apology until after we left the show.”

Audience members, such as Hoyin Tong, a junior architecture major, agreed with Bains and said that the Syracuse Orange Bhangra was “shafted.”

After more dance performances by various groups, including music video parodies by Nu Alpha Phi and Kappa Phi Lambda, the biggest cheer of the night was for the Asian music group Far East Movement.

Far East Movement’s music has been featured in blockbuster movies like “Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift” and in popular television shows such as MTV’s “America’s Best Dance Crew.”
Justin Lee, a junior information management and technology major, said he waited all night to see Far East Movement perform and wasn’t disappointed.

“ASIA Night had a wide range of performances. All of them were really good,” Lee said. “But the best performance was Far East Movement — bar none. Far East Movement had the whole audience and crowd moving and fist pumping.”

Amy Lau, cultural director for ASIA, was happy and relieved about getting Far East Movement to perform at Syracuse University.

“One of our accomplishments was getting ASIA and Far East Movements’ name out there and letting people know we can do something like this,” Lau said. “So many people came out to support ASIA and the performances, so it was a successful turn out.”

Published on April 25, 2010 at 12:00 pm