Alison Gold
Born
Allison Elizabeth Gorshkov

(2002-05-09) May 9, 2002 (age 21)
Fairfax, Virginia, U.S.
Other names
  • Allison Gregory
  • Allison Kove[1]
EducationUniversity of Southern California (BS)
Occupations
  • Singer
  • Internet celebrity
Years active2011–2014
LabelPMW Live

Allison Elizabeth Gorshkov (born May 9, 2002),[2] better known by her stage names Allison Kove and formerly Alison Gold, is an American former singer. She is best known for the 2013 single "Chinese Food", which peaked at number 29 on the Billboard Hot 100. She has since further pursued an acting career, having starred in the LGBT teen romance film The Experience in 2019.[3]

Career

Allison Gorshkov was born in Fairfax, Virginia.[2] In 2012, she began working with Patrice Wilson, with whom she has worked on all of her songs. Her first single, "Skip Rope", was released as part of the musical duo Tweenchronic, which consisted of Gorshkov and another young girl identified as "Stacey".[4] Her first single as a solo artist, "Chinese Food" was written by Wilson; Gorshkov stated that she "loved it right away" after Wilson demoed it for her, and recorded it soon after.[5] Wilson performs an uncredited verse on the song, in which he advertises Panda Express.[6][7] The song became a viral hit, charting at number 29 on the Billboard Hot 100 in November 2013 and reaching 14 million YouTube views by March 2014. The video for "Chinese Food" included images of Wilson dancing in a panda costume and dancers flanking Gold in (Japanese) geisha outfits.[8]

Despite its chart and viral success, both the song and music video received an overwhelmingly negative response from critics and audiences; it was mainly criticized for having simplistic portrayals of other cultures, with Billboard deeming it "outright racist" and ranking it second in their 2015 list of "The 10 Worst Songs of the 2010s (So Far)". The video was also the subject of reaction videos by YouTubers including LeafyIsHere and h3h3Productions.[9][10][11][12] The Chicago Reader thought it remarkable that the song's "having bugged millions of people in an interestingly annoying way has earned [it] a spot, however small, in pop's history books."[13] Both Gorshkov and Wilson have discredited the song's accusations of racism, with Gold stating: "I don't really understand what that's all about... I mean, I'm not trying to criticize anyone – I just really love Chinese food!"[14] Wilson removed the video from his channel in 2018, although it was later re-uploaded by others on YouTube.

She later released another single with Wilson titled "ABCDEFG" in 2014, which did not chart (this was also removed in 2018 by Wilson). The music video for her third and final single with Wilson was "Shush Up". The original upload of the video was likewise removed from YouTube, and Gorshkov has not released any new music since.[15][16]

Discography

Year Single Peak positions
US
[11]
2013 "Chinese Food" 29
"ABCDEFG" —
2014 "Shush Up" —

Other releases

References

  1. ^ "Random Media Experience Acquisition — The Experience (2019)". May 2019.
  2. ^ a b Alison Gold biography Archived 2015-04-27 at the Wayback Machine, AllMusic
  3. ^ "Film review — The Experience". oldaintdead.com. 28 August 2020.
  4. ^ "TweenChronic". pmwlive.com. Archived from the original on 2014-04-15. Retrieved 2014-04-17.
  5. ^ Tween Singer Alison Gold Doesn't Know Anything About "Chinese Food". Vice, November 15, 2013.
  6. ^ https://www.spin.com/2013/10/chinese-food-viral-video-fox-patrice-wilson-alison-gold/
  7. ^ ‘Chinese Food’ by Alison Gold: It could be the most annoying song ever. Los Angeles Times, October 15, 2013.
  8. ^ Alison Gold’s ‘Chinese Food’ Is From The Guy Who Gave Us Rebecca Black’s ‘Friday,’ Only It’s Offensive. Huffington Post, October 15, 2013.
  9. ^ "Chinese Food Has Received the Incredible Prequel You've Been Waiting For". Junkee.com. 5 November 2013.
  10. ^ "The 10 Worst Songs of the 2010s (So Far)". Billboard. Archived from the original on 2015-01-14. Retrieved January 1, 2019.
  11. ^ a b 10 Viral Video Hits that Charted on the Billboard Hot 100 Archived 2016-02-22 at the Wayback Machine. Billboard, March 21, 2014.
  12. ^ Wei, Clarissa (15 October 2013). "Take It Down: Alison Gold's 'Chinese Food' Is Inaccurate And Racist | Commentary | Food". KCET. Archived from the original on 2014-03-28. Retrieved 2014-04-17.
  13. ^ "The Fox," "Chinese Food," and annoyance as a pop strategy. Chicago Reader, October 29, 2013.
  14. ^ Flanigan, Sarah (October 18, 2013). "Alison Gold Responds to 'Chinese Food' Racism Claims". Yahoo!. Archived from the original on November 5, 2013. Retrieved November 3, 2013.
  15. ^ "Alison Gold's Controversial 'Shush Up' Video Is "Art", Says Patrice Wilson - Music News, Reviews, Interviews and Culture". Music Feeds. 12 February 2014. Archived from the original on 2014-03-27. Retrieved 2014-04-17.
  16. ^ "Where Are the Massively Viral YouTube Music Stars of 2010 Now?". thetab.com. 25 January 2021.

External links

Authority control databases: Artists
Categories