A Cup of Joe: No more Tequila, I want to be sober

By Joe Nguyen, AsiaXpress.com

Jan. 9, 2008

Ah, love truly is fleeting.

The Associated Press recently reported that 26-year-old MySpace queen Tila Tequila and 25-year-old film student Bobby Banhart — winner of her MTV bisexual reality dating show, “A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila” — have called it quits.

“He couldn’t handle it,” she said during MTV’s live New Year’s Eve programming. “He broke up with me.”

AP reported that Banhart said on a MySpace bulletin that “she never called me after the last show and no one would give me her number.”

If Tequila can’t find love on reality TV, what hope do the rest of us have?

Don’t fret because all is not lost for the petite vixen, whose real last name is Nguyen. MTV announced that there will be a second “Shot at Love” to air in the spring — finally some luck for the titillating Tequila, huh?

Hardly. It seems like nothing but MTV’s way of milking this for all it’s worth. Variety reported that the first season of “Shot” brought in a 5.9 rating among viewers age 12-34 — the highest-rated show for the network in more than two years.

But more importantly, can someone explain me why this woman is so popular? I remember when she was just an import model during the early part of the decade.

Somewhere between then and now, she became the MySpace queen. Why?

It certainly can’t be her endeavor into the music scene. I can’t imagine why with future classics on her MySpace such as “F*** Ya Man” and “Stripper Friends.” Her vocal skills fall somewhere in between Paris Hilton and Ashlee Simpson, but with far less studio work. Perhaps a fairer comparison is to fellow import model Kaila Yu, who has about the same talent level.

Have we, as a society, reached a point where we celebrate people because they are simply outrageous? There's no rhyme or reason as to why Paris and the women from "The Hills" are popular.

Sigh.

I hope there’s a new flavor of the month soon because Tequila makes me cringe.

Joe Nguyen is the editor in chief of AsiaXpress.com. He can be reached via e-mail at joe (at) asiaxpress.com.