LOS ANGELES — Asia Kim will make her first feature dancing appearance as the reigning Spearmint Rhino Entertainer of the Year tonight in downtown Los Angeles.
The 24-year-old, South Florida native captured the title of Entertainer of the Year for the worldwide club chain at the Spearmint Rhino’s annual competition last October in Torrance, Calif. The winner receives cash, prizes and a year-long contract to tour the country as the Rhino’s marquee feature act.
Kim actually started featuring in March, but this will mark her first time on a Rhino stage since winning the crown.
“I’m very excited because it’s in LA and especially because LA is close to Torrance and a lot of people are coming out that were at the Entertainer of the Year contest,” Kim told XBIZ Friday. “I had never danced in California before that. When the competition came to California it was my first time ever coming to the West Coast.”
Kim, whose home club is the West Palm Beach, Fla., Spearmint Rhino, was no stranger to competitions when she entered the 11th annual contest in October. She won several pole-dancing contests in Florida going back to when she was a house dancer before she even turned 18.
“But I was never in a competition like Entertainer of the Year before that,” Kim said. “For that one I had to bring a full-on show. Normally, when I’m doing my pole competitions I just kill the pole and hang on the pole for eight minutes without even touching the floor. This is a full show, so it’s very different for me but very exciting.”
Kim said claiming the Spearmint Rhino crown “brought something out of me that I never knew I had.”
“I love it. I found out that I’m living my dream and didn’t know it until the Entertainer of the Year competition,” Kim continued. “Before that I was known as a pole-hugger — no eye contact, just work the pole. But now I’m getting to do the pole and put on a semi Cirque de Soleil show.”
She said her style on stage is “very Miami.”
“We’re bringing South Beach, Miami nightclub-style to California with lots of lights and lots of fire,” said Kim, who is half Korean and part Italian and German. “... And there’ll be lots of twerking.”
She also brought her backup dancer, production manager and choreographer, J. Good, who’ll be on stage with her this weekend doing a robot-themed, fire act like he performed at the Entertainer of the Year Finals. Kim said a lot of the buzz surrounding her show is her choice of trapstep music.
“I fell in love with it and I’m using it for the shows,” she revealed. “It’s like dubstep but with more of a hip-hop vibe. It’s like break beats and dubstep had a baby.”
Kim will perform three shows today and Saturday — at 10, midnight and 1:30 a.m at the downtown location at 2020 East Olympic Blvd., LA 90021.
Her next stop will be May 16-17 at the Rhino in Dallas, Texas, followed by a return to her home club May 23-24 in West Palm Beach.
