Asian Awards Honor 'Kung Fu Hustle'

"Kung Fu Hustle" was named outstanding film and Daniel Dae Kim and Yoon-jin Kim, who star on the hit TV show "Lost," were honored for outstanding male and female TV performance at Thursday's 2006 Asian Excellence Awards.

Other winners include Stephen Chow for outstanding film performance in "Kung Fu Hustle" and Lynn Chen who won outstanding newcomer for her performance in the film "Saving Face."

"Kung Fu Hustle" beat out other nominees "Memoirs of a Geisha," "Saving Face" and "2046." In the female TV category, recent Golden Globes winner Sandra Oh of "Grey's Anatomy" and Kristin Kruek of "Smallville" were nominees.

The awards celebrate achievement in arts, entertainment and individual contributions in advancing the profile of the Asian American community.

Several special honors were awarded during the ceremony. NBA legend Earvin "Magic" Johnson presented the Inspiration Award to AIDS researcher Dr. David Ho; the Building Bridges Award went to writer-director Quentin Tarantino; the Visibility Award was given to actress Lucy Liu; and a lifetime achievement honor was posthumously awarded to producer Ismail Merchant, who died in May. Merchant worked on such films as "Howards End" and "The Remains of the Day."

The show was taped Thursday and will air at 8 p.m. Jan. 29 on AZN Television.