By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
OKC TV co-host Tiny Tadani, right, and Perri
introduce the Drill Team Hawaii act.
She idolizes Barbra Streisand,
By John Berger
co-hosts Oceanic Cable's new
TV show -- and she's 11
Special to the Star-BulletinSTARDOM is coming early to 11-year-old Jennifer Perri.
She was a big surprise and easy winner in the Oceanic Cable's Kiddieoke-Plus competition last year. Now she's co-hosting a new television show. Oceanic's "OKC TV" offers kids 2 to 12 a half-hour of games, interviews, personality profiles of successful young people, live entertainment, and kid-oriented public service announcements.
Perri's co-host and senior partner is Oceanic's veteran Kiddieoke-Plus contest host and well-known sports reporter, Tiny Tadani.
"Tiny plays around but he's really fun, " Perri said recently while preparing to tape several episodes of the show at Ala Moana Center.
Tadani helped create "OKC TV" as an extension of the network's successful Oceanic Keiki Club. He says there was no question in his mind that Perri would be the perfect co-host for the show.
"She's spunky, and cocky in a way that's not detrimental to her. She's also very cute and very talented. I didn't want to use prompters in front of a live audience so a lot of the time we're winging it. I'll give her a line before we go on and she'll do it the first time."Perri will also be seen this month on Oceanic in "A Christmas Mele V," a Christmas special that debuts Sunday, Dec. 13, at 9 p.m., on Channel 16.
She says there isn't that much difference between hosting "OKC TV," taping the segment for the special, and competing in talent contents.
"You can't have a big head. You have to do your best and keep on trying to get to your goal."
She adds that although she's appeared as a singer/actress in several local musical productions her dream goal is to be "a real real big star" like Barbra Streisand and Celine Dion. She's seen Dion in concert twice. Her dream now is to see Streisand.
"They're my role models, and I want to become that standard when I grow up. I love theatre but I want to go for singing."Perri seems on track thus far to achieve her goal. An impressive rendition of "River Deep Mountain High" made her a finalist in the recent Pacific Dream Pop Singers Contest (Until recently she knew it only as a Celine Dion song but has since discovered the soulful Tina Turner original). Perri flies to Japan on the 18th to compete in the international finals at the Nagoya Hard Rock Cafe. Her prizes to date include a trip for two to the finals; her parents, Paul and Hiromi, will be using some frequent flier miles to make it a family vacation.
Sony Music Entertainment Japan is offering a record deal to the overall winner in Nagoya. Winning that opportunity would mean more to her than the cash prize. However, several local song writers and producers have already expressed an interest in recording her here.
By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
Jennifer Perri gets her hair done prior to her on-stage
appearance at Ala Moana Center Stage as co-host of OKC TV.
Wherever she makes her first recordings, Perri is going to be busy. In addition to her generally glamourous life with "OKC TV," her schedule includes weekend singing and dancing lessons -- and school. Perri attends Kahala Elementary and mentions P.E. and L.A. (Language Arts) as two of her favorite subjects."Obviously I enjoy music, but I also love to write," she explains. She says that most of her classmates seem to see her as "Not really a normal person, but not really a big star," but that some of the boys act like, well, boys, and give her a hard time.
"A lot of them are like, 'Oh, I could be on TV, I can be as good as you,' and all that kind of stuff."
She adds that although some of the boys may have a more mature attitude her schedule keeps her so busy that she's not in a hurry to have a "boy friend " anyway.
"Singing and dancing and acting is much more important. I still need to have my childhood, but I'm happy, and I love what I'm doing.
