Success remains Hoku Ho, at just 19, is living her dream.
a blessing for
Hawaii star Hoku
No sexy Hollywood roles
By Tim Ryan
for Don Ho's daughter
Star-BulletinIn the last year, the daughter of legendary Hawaii singer Don Ho married "the man of my dreams," recorded her first CD, sang the theme song "Another Dumb Blonde" for the motion picture "Snow Day," signed a six-figure recording contract, designed clothes and jewelry to sell on her Web site, hokustyle.com, and returns to Hawaii frequently to perform with her father. If that isn't enough, the petite, sparkling-eyed singer next month will be featured in a multipage fashion pictorial in the New York Times Magazine to be shot at various Oahu locations May 1 to 3.
The 12-page piece with the working theme "Coming Home" will be shot by photographer Jeff Riedel at Waikiki Beach, the Duke Kahanamoku statue, North Shore beaches, Hoku's bedroom in dad's Diamond Head house, and a daughter/father performance May 3 at the Waikiki Beachcomber Hotel. In the piece, Hoku will don ready-to-wear fashions by Gucci, Chanel, Ralph Lauren and other top designers.
It won't be Hoku's first walk down a runway. Last fall, she modeled in Tommy Hilfiger's fall fashion show, which found her alongside other young stars such as Mary J. Blige, Mandy Moore, LFO and TLC.It's been a year of growth for Hoku, emotionally and professionally, though she still exudes the innocence and sweetness of a teenager hoping Dad will extend her curfew. Hoku's good fortune was to have loving parents -- mom Patricia Swallie Choy lives in Huntington Beach, Calif. -- who kept her grounded and secure.
"I understand the business more now. I know things that no one can really tell you about when you start out because you're just thrown into this huge thing," Hoku said over lunch at Don Ho's Island Grill at Aloha Tower Marketplace. "You learn by doing."
Papa Ho sits across from his daughter, quiet mostly, observing her behind his trademark tinted glasses.
"I learned from Dad that you can't let others define who you are," she said. "A performer cannot take interviews and reviews seriously. Dad told me from the beginning to not even read them because one way or the other, they affect you."
Hoku has also forged a strong business relationship with Disney, performing for the "Mouse House" last year with BBMak in Cincinnati. She also was "the prize" in a Radio Disney contest in which a fan and his or her family gets to spend a day this coming Friday the 13th in Honolulu with the singer.
"It's going to be soooo much fun," Hoku said between slurps of poi. "We'll go to the beach, maybe surf, take a catamaran ride and have lunch here, just hang out.
"I'd like them to meet Dad if he's around. I'm just going to be tour guide for the day."
Considering Hoku's young fans, she and Radio Disney are a perfect match. More importantly to the vibrant, blue-eyed blonde, "They're in my corner."
That means that while her record label's execs at Geffen's Interscope may urge her to broaden the age range appeal of her music by using sex to sell CDs, she has other people who encourage her to stand by her moral convictions. It's Hoku's almost virginlike approach to music that has appealed to many. "My attitude about having a sexy image will not change: It's not who I am," she said. "I won't compromise my integrity. I would rather quit."
Hoku has also considered acting, but the roles offered haven't fit. "They all want me to play the bad girl or a tease, to take my shirt off and have my bra showing or some guy fondle me," she said. "That's not going to happen."
At the risk of sounding patriarchal, even sexist, it's unnerving to think of this demure, just over 5-foot, cute-as-a-button woman dealing with Hollywood and entertainment moguls.
"She's watched over," Don Ho interrupted. "She's surrounded by people to make sure she's secure. I have friends everywhere, you know."
And then there's husband Jeremy Clements, whom Hoku married almost two years ago (June 1999) with no fanfare, media coverage or -- gulp! -- her father's knowledge or consent.
Clements, now 23 and from the pricey Laguna Niguel area of Orange County, was working at a church on Oahu four years ago when Hoku wandered in to listen to a friend singing.
It wasn't long before she knew he was the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. They married in Southern California 11 days after Hoku's 18th birthday.
"I was scared to death, but when you know, you know," Hoku said. "I knew that once I did it, no one could undo it."
But daddy Ho put his future son-in-law through tests of fire.
"I wanted to make sure my daughter had a good guy," Ho whispers. "I didn't want anyone to take advantage of her."
Though Ho won't elaborate, he and Clements disagreed on "a few things," and "I grilled him," Ho said.
He was surprised that Clements "had the guts to go against me knowing my reputation. It showed that he really loved my daughter, that this kid was serious," he said.
Still, it would be two months before Hoku mustered the courage to tell her father about the marriage.
"I was s-o-o-o scared," she said.
Clements now serves as his wife's personal assistant, helping with the business side of her career, interpreting contracts and deals, managing her Web business.
Hoku kept her marriage low key to prevent media from following the couple around. (The couple declined being photographed together for this interview.) But Hoku's younger female fans did find out where the couple lived in Manhattan Beach.
"I started getting knocks on my front door all day, so we had to move," Hoku said. "It wasn't dangerous or anything, but very weird."
Though a second CD isn't planned, Hoku is in Los Angeles to finish recording the song "Perfect Day," which will be mixed into her debut disc for a June release. The song was written by Antonina Armato, who discovered Hoku on Maui singing with her father.
The new song takes Hoku's music into a new direction, more guitar-driven and with her playing.
"It's a little more punk sounding, rocky, Sheryl Crow-y, like the Go-Go's but now," said Hoku, whose contract with Geffen is expected to renewed next month.
Hoku still wants to record a duet album with her dad, but she's contractually prohibited under the Geffen contract. Performing live is allowed under Hoku's contract. She arrives in town this week and will perform tomorrow through Thursday nights with her father at the Waikiki Beachcomber Hotel.
"If they don't re-sign me, I'll just find another label or start recording with Dad," Hoku said. "I think the record company is afraid I'm going to go and pursue a local career and make more money on it and they won't be in on it."
As for her personal life, this girl next door admits right now she just wants to have fun.
"Jeremy and I want to enjoy this time together to travel, surf and do those things that are hard to do with kids," she said. "I'm only 19, so I have plenty of time."
And Hawaii will always be home. "You can't re-create Hawaii anywhere else in the world," Hoku said.
"Right now I'm living a dream, but if it stops I can come back here and sing to 10 people or a thousand people. I'll always be happy because that's what singing does for me."
Online video: Hoku Ho returns
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