Alison Gold Explained

Alison Gold
Birth Name:Allison Gorshkov
Birth Date:9 May 2002
Education:University of Southern California (BS)
Birth Place:Fairfax, Virginia, U.S.
Label Name:PMW Live
Years Active:2011–2014

Allison Gorshkov (born May 9, 2002), better known by her stage names Allison Kove and formerly Alison Gold, is an American actress and former singer. She is best known for her 2013 single "Chinese Food", which peaked at number 29 on the Billboard Hot 100. She has since further pursued an acting career, starring in several short films such as "Rotten" (2016), "The Experience" (2019) and "Continental Split" (2024).[1]

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".[3] 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.[4] Wilson performs an uncredited verse on the song, in which he advertises Panda Express.[5] [6] 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.[7]

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.[8] [9] [10] [11] 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."[12] 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!"[13] 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.[14] [15]

Discography

YearSinglePeak positions
US
2013"Chinese Food"29
"ABCDEFG"
2014"Shush Up"

Other releases

Filmography

Film

TitleYearRoleNotes
2011Life Fine TunedFamily Friend (as Allison Kove)Short film
2013Monster & MeMall KidInteractive web film
2013Rainy NightsAlice (as Allison Gorshkov)Short film
2014LovesickSchool student (as Allison Kove)Interactive web film
2014The CheerleaderDaughter (as Allison Gregory)Short film
2016RottenLisa (as Allison Gregory)Short film
2019The ExperienceScarlet (as Allison Gregory)Interactive web film
2024Continental SplitEmily WeddleInteractive web film

Television

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Allison Gold(II). www.imdb.com . 6 August 2024 .
  2. https://www.allmusic.com/artist/alison-gold-mn0003187597/biography Alison Gold biography
  3. Web site: TweenChronic . pmwlive.com . 2014-04-17 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140415052743/http://tweenchronic.pmwlive.com/#about . 2014-04-15 . dead.
  4. https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/wd48nw/tween-singer-alison-gold-doesnt-know-anything-about-chinese-food Tween Singer Alison Gold Doesn't Know Anything About "Chinese Food"
  5. https://www.spin.com/2013/10/chinese-food-viral-video-fox-patrice-wilson-alison-gold/
  6. https://www.latimes.com/food/dailydish/la-dd-chinese-food-alison-gold-20131015-story.html ‘Chinese Food’ by Alison Gold: It could be the most annoying song ever
  7. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/chinese-food-song-alison-gold_n_4099182 Alison Gold’s ‘Chinese Food’ Is From The Guy Who Gave Us Rebecca Black’s ‘Friday,’ Only It’s Offensive
  8. Web site: Chinese Food Has Received the Incredible Prequel You've Been Waiting For. Junkee.com. 5 November 2013 .
  9. The 10 Worst Songs of the 2010s (So Far). Billboard. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20150114210055/http://www.billboard.com:80/articles/columns/pop-shop/6436566/10-worst-songs-2010s-half-decade . 2015-01-14 . January 1, 2019.
  10. https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop-shop/5944768/10-viral-video-hits-that-charted-on-the-hot-100?page=0%2C0 10 Viral Video Hits that Charted on the Billboard Hot 100
  11. Web site: Clarissa Wei. Wei . Clarissa . Take It Down: Alison Gold's 'Chinese Food' Is Inaccurate And Racist | Commentary | Food . 15 October 2013 . KCET . 2014-04-17 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140328011427/http://www.kcet.org/living/food/the-nosh/commentary-1/take-it-down-alison-golds-chinese-food-is-inaccurate-and-racist.html . 2014-03-28 . live.
  12. https://www.chicagoreader.com/Bleader/archives/2013/10/29/the-fox-chinese-food-and-annoyance-as-a-pop-strategy "The Fox," "Chinese Food," and annoyance as a pop strategy
  13. Web site: Alison Gold Responds to 'Chinese Food' Racism Claims . . October 18, 2013 . November 3, 2013 . Sarah . Flanigan . November 5, 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131105120322/http://omg.yahoo.com/blogs/celeb-news/alison-gold-responds-chinese-food-racism-claims-143110901.html . dead .
  14. Web site: Alison Gold's Controversial 'Shush Up' Video Is "Art", Says Patrice Wilson - Music News, Reviews, Interviews and Culture . . 12 February 2014 . 2014-04-17 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140327234942/http://musicfeeds.com.au/news/alison-golds-controversial-shush-up-video-is-art-says-patrice-wilson/ . 2014-03-27 . live.
  15. Web site: Where Are the Massively Viral YouTube Music Stars of 2010 Now?. thetab.com. 25 January 2021 .