Tonight, we get a little taste of the big time, when the red carpet rolls out for the 2008 Asian Excellence Awards. Yes, the awards show returns for its third year to celebrate the outstanding achievements of Asians and Asian Americans in film, television, music and the performing arts. Hosted by Carrie-Ann Inaba and Bobby Lee, the live show happens tonight, April 23, at UCLA's Royce Hall. Comedian Russell Peters will serve as backstage host, providing the voice and comic relief. Special honorary awards will be presented to YouTube founder Steve Chen and Olympic figure skating champion Kristi Yamaguchi.

Award nominees include Devon Aoki (War), Sharon Leal (This Christmas), B.D. Wong (Law & Order: SVU), Parminder Nagra (ER), Navi Rawat (Numb3rs), Michaela Conlin (Bones), Michelle Krusiec (Dirty Sexy Money), Sonja Sohn (The Wire), Rex Lee (Entourage), Will Yun Lee (Bionic Woman), James Saito (Eli Stone), Cheryl Burke (Dancing with the Stars), Mark Dacascos (Iron Chef America) and many more. For the full list of nominees, go here.

Presenters include Bruno Tonioli (Dancing with the Stars), Christian del la Fuentes (Dancing with the Stars), Jack Yang (Cashmere Mafia), Daisy Fuentes (Shop Like a Star), Brenda Song (Suite Life of Zack and Cody), Roger Fan (Finishing the Game), Tamlyn Tomita (The Eye), among others. The show will also feature performances from JabaWockeeZ and Kaba Modern, singer/actress Tia Carrere, and rapper Roscoe Umali.

The show will be taped tonight, then air on E! Entertainment on May 1 at 6:00pm ET/PT, if you're curious. The show will also be available on Comcast On Demand throughout the month of May in honor of Asian Pacific Heritage Month. Yay.

I think I've already expressed how I feel about these awards, back when the nominees were announced last month. In short, I think an Asian American awards show is a great idea, but some of the nominees in these categories... what the hell? I just think there's a better way to do it. That's all I'll say. Nevertheless, I'll be attending the show tonight to check out the scene. Hopefully, I'll have something excellent to report back here. See you there.