The Recording Academy collaborated with PBS’ ‘Great Performances’ on the all-star musical event.
This weekend, the 21st Annual Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day – official kick off to the US Open – took place at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadow, Queens. This year the event featured Laura Marano, Zara Larsson, Jordan Fisher, Flo Rida, Ansel Elgort, Forever in Your Mind and Troye Sivan. Tennis superstars Juan Martin del Potro, Jack Sock, Monica Puig and Venus Williams and others joined in for a day of tennis, music and fun to honor the legacy of legendary pioneer Arthur Ashe. Disney Channel’s Joey Bragg co-hosted this year’s show along with Jordan Fisher and Laura Marano.
We caught up with actress Fátima Ptacek at the event! She is the voice of Dora The Explorer.
Q: So tell me how excited you are to be here at AAKD?
Fatima: It is such an honor. This is actually my second year of being here and I absolutely love it. It’s so great to see all of these great athletes and performers, actors, people from all different industries coming together to support; and to honor someone who’s so incredible.
Q: Who were some of the acts you were excited about today?
Fatima: I’m obsessed with Zara Larsson so I was so happy to see her and her voice is just as perfect as I imagined it would be. I actually really love Venus so it was cool to see her in action even though she came in last place I was kind of disappointed, I was screaming the loudest for her.
Q: So tell me how has your summer been? What have you been up to?
Fatima: My summer has been really crazy. I did a lot of traveling which was good. I did England and I actually visited Oxford University, which is like my dream school. I did France for a bit and really a lot of meetings with people and reading scripts; stuff like that. Also just kind of getting some chill time which was really good… got to read a lot and spend time with my family at the beach.
Q: That’s awesome, and so how did you get your start in acting?
Fatima: I started when I was five and I actually started out in print work and just in photo-shoots and magazine covers, things like that. Eventually I branched out and realized how much I love being in commercials and then like little guest appearances and TV shows and eventually got more and more and now I’m here!
Q: And you also do work with the UN?
Fatima: Yes! I work with a campaign called He For She, which is part of UN women; it’s Emma Watson’s campaign. I’ve been working on their youth segment so I created a curriculum that we’re hopefully going to be bringing to different schools to start creating more awareness about gender inequality and make it a gender equal world.
Q: Absolutely, so what’s coming up in the fall? You have school I’m presuming and some other projects in the works?
Fatima: Yes, I do have school, which I’m really nervous about. We have a new schedule so now I start an hour earlier. I’m a normal teenager in that I really want more sleep. I do have a couple of projects, I’m going to be filming a movie, and it’s an indie film… I can’t give too much away obviously. And that’s going to be in California, which I’m really excited about. I have a couple of other little things that we’re just waiting to hear on.
The AAKD Grounds Festival offered a wide range of interactive activities and the opportunity for children of all ages to test their skills, hit with top tennis pros, win prizes and enjoy music:
• Hess Festival Stage – the Grounds Festival’s free concert featuring up-and-coming musical talent including 13-year-old phenom Jacob Sartorius, Beyoncé protégé Sophie Beem, Island Records recording artists Citizen Four, country music breakout Tegan Marie, West Coast pop band Los 5 and more to be announced. Hosted by Radio Disney!
• YouthTennis.com – Tennis is sized right for kids! With shorter courts, smaller racquets and lower-bouncing balls, the focus is on the fun so kids enjoy the game right from the start.
• USTA Play Day – Experience a “Play Day”—a welcoming way for kids to experience the social and competitive aspects of tennis. Play points and rally against other players and pros.
• Family Fun Court – Kids aren’t the only ones who can have fun playing tennis. Join your child on court and see how you can play tennis anywhere.
• Hess Toy Truck Obstacle Course – Test agility, balance, running and tennis skills on the engaging and challenging obstacle course.
• Hess Target Time – Intermediate and advanced level-kids can test their skills hitting targets.
• Emirates Airline Beat the Pro – Challenge the best playing points against some of the top touring and teaching pros in the world.
• Nike Tennis – Tennis and skill activities on two courts featuring Nike sponsored athletes.
• Wilson Future Stars – Hit with Wilson’s future ATP & WTA stars!
• USTAF Tennis and Education Zone – Innovative and fun tennis-based, educational activities to develop the skills of beginning players of all ages.
• Get Fit and Play – Challenging tennis courses for varying skill levels focusing on agility, balance, coordination, speed and strength.
• IBM Speedzone – Just like the pros, utilize IBM’s speed serve technology to test the power behind your shot.
• USTA Tennis Skills Challenge – Inspiring youth to pick up a racquet and elevate their game with a series of dynamic skill challenges. Participants will try to master a variety of trick shots to inspire creativity and further develop the basic tennis fundamentals.
• adidas Agility Court
Kids of all skill levels are invited to test their tennis agility.
• The US Open American Express Fan Experience – Step inside the US Open American Express Fan Experience for even more tennis fun! The Fan Experience is located in the Chase Center near the East Gate.
• Watch the Pros Practice – See tennis’s biggest stars up close as they prepare for the US Open. Public practices are featured on Louis Armstrong Stadium, Grandstand, Court 17 and Practice Courts 1-6.
• Also – Autographs, Face Painting, Juggling Workshop, Hair Beading and Braiding, Storytelling, Balloon Artists, Roving Entertainers and more!
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Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day presented by Hess is the largest single-day, grassroots tennis and entertainment event in the world and has been supported by Hess since 2003. Proceeds from Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day benefit the USTA Foundation which helps fund the National Junior Tennis & Learning Network (NJTL), a nationwide group of more than 500 nonprofit youth-development organizations that provide free or low-cost tennis, education and life-skills programming to more than 225,000 children each year, founded 47 years ago by Arthur Ashe, along with Charlie Pasarell and Sheridan Snyder.
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For more information on Youth Tennis and Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day, log on towww.YouthTennis.com and/or www.AAKD.com. To connect via social media, please “like” the official Facebook page facebook.com/ArthurAsheKidsDayand/or follow @AAKidsDay on Twitter and Instagram.
A Brit and a Yank is the creation of two good friends (John and James) and their comedic take on life, based in Los Angeles. James, the Brit, is a creative director by day, with very particular tastes and very little time for nonsense. John, the Yank, is a celebrity assistant, who is still learning how to properly become an adult. The two became friends through social media and decided their constant back and forth bantering would provide good comedic fodder. Together, the two take Hollywood by storm and deal with a variety of different topics and scenarios. Read our exclusive interview below:
Can you describe how the friendship between the both of you came about.
We actually met online through Twitter and, when we realized that we lived close to one another, we struck up a friendship. We had a lot in common but our opinions on the things we loved were always at odds which led to a lot of witty back and forth banter. Since that truth may be a bit boring, we may start telling people that we met on a safari and bonded after a near death experience with a wildebeest. That’s believable right?
What prompted you both to create a YouTube channel together and when exactly did the idea come up?
Again, social media played a huge role. Some of our followers started noticing our exchanges and would love when we would get into “arguments.” It would usually end with us calling each other something offensive…sent with love, of course. A few people started to say, “You guys should do a show. You’re so funny together.” That idea stuck in John’s head and when he was looking for a creative outlet outside of his job as a celebrity assistant, John immediately reached out to James and approached him about doing videos together. James came up with the name “A Brit and a Yank” and we were off and running crafting ideas with any free time we had available.
You guys do everything from taste test food to recap celebrity award shows – what’s been your favorite episode to tape so far?
Our TONYs recap was a lot of fun to do because so many different pieces came together for it. We were also in a time crunch to get it online as soon as the show was wrapping up live so we could get as many viewers as we could. It was chaotic but fun. Aside from actually providing commentary of the show, we did a song and dance routine which makes us smile every time we watch it. Speaking of song and dance, another fun short episode we did was our Thanksgiving episode which showed us both in giant turkey outfits on a 90 degree day doing some choreography atop the Hollywood Hills in Los Angeles.
You cover manscaping on one of your most widely viewed episodes. Can you give us a sneak peek into some new topics that we can look forward to?
We just finished our first short film, which is a mockumentary on the Spice Girls. In it, we tell the story of how the two of us were founding members of the group and present for all their major moments from Wannabe to Geri’s departure…yet we were constantly being hidden from the world against our will. This video (and our delusions) allowed us to live out our childhood dreams. Who didn’t want to be a Spice Girl? It was a lot of work to put together but we had fun. Coming up, we will also be covering the Rio Olympics once they wrap and the MTV Video Music Awards. Awards shows never let us down because there’s always some element of crazy that we can play off of.
What are some of the craziest comments you’ve received on the channel?
A lot of people who come across our channel think we are dating or married. They are always shocked when we tell them we are 100% just great friends and the idea of anything sexual makes us want to lean against a cold porcelain toilet and violently throw up. Yet, we still get some people asking us to make videos of us kissing…or worse. And while we’d do anything for a video…we won’t do that.
What are your ultimate goals for the channel?
The sky is the limit for us. Right now, we love bringing our ideas to life and we are truly having a blast. We’d love to develop a following large enough that would allow us to not only be successful, but to also transition into a longer format show online or in television. We also want to do more hosting, acting, interviews, write books, screenplays, etc. We love the entertainment industry, we’ve worked hard to become a part of it, and we’re just ready to keep working and collaborating.
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