Allison Gorshkov (born May 9, 2002),[2] known professionally as Allison Kove and formerly Alison Gold, is an American actress and former pop 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).
Allison Kove | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Allison Gorshkov |
| Also known as |
|
| Born | May 9, 2002 Fairfax, Virginia, U.S. |
| Genres | Pop |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 2011–present |
| Labels | PMW Live |
Career
editAllison Gorshkov was born in Fairfax, Virginia.[2] In 2012, she began working with producer 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" later in 2013,[14] which did not chart. The song's music video was described by The Telegraph as "weird and creepy" and "slightly chilling", and it was also removed by Wilson in 2018.[15] The music video for her third and final single with Wilson was "Shush Up" in early 2014, which received backlash over the sexualization of Gorshkov, who was eleven years old at the time. Pedestrian described Gorshkov's portrayal in the video as "apes tropes of adult sexuality well beyond her years in a variety of outfits and makeup you wouldn’t wish on anyone, let alone a child" and called it highly offensive.[15][16][17][18] The original upload of the video was likewise removed from YouTube, and Gorshkov has not released any new music since.[19][20]
Discography
edit| Year | Single | Peak positions |
|---|---|---|
| US [10] | ||
| 2013 | "Chinese Food" | 29 |
| "ABCDEFG" | — | |
| 2014 | "Shush Up" | — |
Other releases
- 2013: "Skip Rope" (credited to Tweenchronic)
Filmography
editFilm
edit| Title | Year | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Life Fine Tuned | Family Friend (as Allison Kove) | Short film |
| 2013 | Monster & Me | Mall Kid | Interactive web film |
| 2013 | Rainy Nights | Alice (as Allison Gorshkov) | Short film |
| 2014 | Lovesick | School student (as Allison Kove) | Interactive web film |
| 2014 | The Cheerleader | Daughter (as Allison Gregory) | Short film |
| 2016 | Rotten | Lisa (as Allison Gregory) | Short film |
| 2019 | The Experience | Scarlet (as Allison Gregory) | Interactive web film |
| 2024 | Continental Split | Emily Weddle | Interactive web film |
Television
edit| Title | Year | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | After divorced, I took over the wealthy family | Rachel | Short TV mini-series; 13 episodes |
References
edit- ^ "Random Media Experience Acquisition — The Experience (2019)". May 2019.
- ^ a b Alison Gold biography Archived April 27, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, AllMusic
- ^ "TweenChronic". pmwlive.com. Archived from the original on April 15, 2014. Retrieved April 17, 2014.
- ^ Tween Singer Alison Gold Doesn't Know Anything About "Chinese Food". Vice, November 15, 2013.
- ^ https://www.spin.com/2013/10/chinese-food-viral-video-fox-patrice-wilson-alison-gold/
- ^ 'Chinese Food' by Alison Gold: It could be the most annoying song ever. Los Angeles Times, October 15, 2013.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Chinese Food Has Received the Incredible Prequel You've Been Waiting For". Junkee.com. November 5, 2013.
- ^ "The 10 Worst Songs of the 2010s (So Far)". Billboard. Archived from the original on January 14, 2015. Retrieved January 1, 2019.
- ^ a b 10 Viral Video Hits that Charted on the Billboard Hot 100 Archived February 22, 2016, at the Wayback Machine. Billboard, March 21, 2014.
- ^ Wei, Clarissa (October 15, 2013). "Take It Down: Alison Gold's 'Chinese Food' Is Inaccurate And Racist | Commentary | Food". KCET. Archived from the original on March 28, 2014. Retrieved April 17, 2014.
- ^ "The Fox," "Chinese Food," and annoyance as a pop strategy. Chicago Reader, October 29, 2013.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Gilman, Greg (November 5, 2013). "Alison Gold Follows 'Chinese Food' Up With 'ABCDEFG' (Video)". TheWrap. Retrieved December 6, 2024.
- ^ a b Power, Ed (February 13, 2020). "'They call me a paedophile...that I eat children': the strange saga of the man behind Rebecca Black's Friday". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived from the original on February 14, 2020. Retrieved December 6, 2024.
- ^ "Five minutes of fame aren't worth the underage shame". The Johns Hopkins News-Letter. Archived from the original on February 28, 2024. Retrieved December 6, 2024.
- ^ "Patrice Wilson's Latest Music Video Production Crosses Just About Every Line". UPROXX. February 11, 2014. Archived from the original on December 6, 2024. Retrieved December 6, 2024.
- ^ PEDESTRIAN.TV (February 10, 2014). "Eleven-Year-Old Alison Gold's New Video 'Shush Up' Is Not Okay". PEDESTRIAN.TV. Archived from the original on May 18, 2022. Retrieved December 6, 2024.
- ^ "Alison Gold's Controversial 'Shush Up' Video Is "Art", Says Patrice Wilson - Music News, Reviews, Interviews and Culture". Music Feeds. February 12, 2014. Archived from the original on March 27, 2014. Retrieved April 17, 2014.
- ^ "Where Are the Massively Viral YouTube Music Stars of 2010 Now?". thetab.com. January 25, 2021.
