Christina Milian talks about Vida Diva Wines and her Bottle Signings

Christina Milian has had such a diverse career to date. She started her singing career at 19 and had hit singles like “Dip It Low”. She has starred in various films including “Be Cool” and this year’s “Baggage Claim”. She was also recently a contestant on season 17 of ABC’s hit reality show “Dancing with the Stars”. Her latest venture is wine, as she recently became part owner and spokesperson for the company, Vida Diva Wine. Media Mikes had a chance to chat wine with Christina and talk about her upcoming bottle signing.

Mike Gencarelli: Tell us a little bit about Vida Diva Wine and what made you become a part owner and spokesperson for the company?
Christina Milian: I feel like it was just meant to be honestly. I met Robyn Santiago from Illumination PR at a MTV gifting suite. Robyn was just so sweet and was handing out glasses of their Moscato wine. I tried out the mango and strawberry and thought it was so delicious. Just as a wine lover, I have always thought “One day, I would love to have my own winery”, but you never think in the near future that would happen. She told me that I should do something with this brand and I said “I would love to”. It seemed right because if you look at the name Vida Diva Wine…that is so me. It just screams loud and confident, so personally it says many things to me with its name and brand alone. Robyn was really on it as well since from that point on after meeting it was a really quick turnaround. I signed on as part owner of the company shortly after. I started doing tastings, had meetings with the CEO and learned about where our wines come from. I consider myself a wine connoisseur and I enjoy drinking it and bonding with my girlfriends. So I hope that others can do the same with Vida Diva Wine.

MG: How many difference products are there and what is your personal favorite?
CM: I actually have two but my absolute favorite is our Vida Diva Pineapple Coconut Moscato. It is delicious. It is like a Piña colada but very light. I love that our Moscatos are not too syrupy. You get a nice cool feeling when you drink and not overwhelmed with sugar. The flavor is very tropical and feels like a vacation in a glass. My second favorite favorite is our Pinot Grigio. I love white wine and I think that it has this classic feel. Our Pinot Grigo is paired very well for dinner like a nice fish or something. Also our simple Strawberry Moscato is a favorite of mine, I think that is everyone’s favorite. So I had to add a third favorite as well [laughs].

MG: Where else do you have planned with your nationwide bottle signing tour?
CM: We are doing a bottle signing on December 14th in Miami at Sedano’s, which is very exciting. We have done four other signings and I got to meet some really great fans. I like being able to come to the people. That is what I love most about these signings. Sometimes people feel so far away and not very tangible. To me I am very about my fans and this is a great opportunity for me to get out there and meet them and give them a taste of Viva Diva Wine. So I am so lucky to get a chance to present this to them. We are working additional tour dates right now actually. The next couple of stops we are looking at for 2014 are going to be in New York, New Jersey and California. So I am very excited and I can’t wait.

MG: If people are looking to purchase this where can they do that?
CM: For online and retail, we are currently available in over 27 states. We are in the following retail chains including Walmart, Sedano’s, Spec’s, Rouses, Glory Supermarkets and coming soon to Vallarta’s in California. So we are expanding quickly nationwide and hopefully people can get a chance to try it and spread the word!

Christina Cha talks about competing on Season 24 of CBS’ “Survivor”

Christina Cha appeared on season 24 of the CBS hit reality show “Survivor”. Christina talked recently with Media Mikes.com about her experience on the show and also about some of her current projects.

Adam Lawton: What first prompted you to try out for “Survivor”?
Christina Cha: I had been a fan of the show since I first saw it back when I was still in high school. I thought it was amazing to see a show that takes someone from their normal adapted elements and puts them into these really harsh environments. I also am a very competitive person and I love playing games. In about 2010 I was working in corporate America and due to the economy I got laid off twice. I felt really sorry for myself as I didn’t understand why this happened. I took it very personal which is something I normally never do. I saw an open casting call for “Survivor” and did it absolutely last minute. I think there was only about 48 hrs. left to submit a video. I thought that it was something I had to do and I knew it was something I could be good at. I took my phone and shot a video of me being as obnoxious as I could be. (Laughs) From there I started going through the audition process and ended up on the show.

AL: Can you tell us anything about the audition process?
CC: I can’t say too much about the audition process. There are multiple stages that you have to go through. You start with your video and go from there. I had got through on my first try but I have talked with other people who have applied a bunch of times and they didn’t even get a call. I had gone in to a couple interviews and I also did one over the phone.

AL: Is there a certain memory that sticks out for you from the show that the viewers didn’t get to see?
CC: There were parts. When they are taping these reality shows they are taking about 3 days of footage and condensing it down to a 40 minute segment. There was a lot of stuff missing. You didn’t get to see me strategizing a lot which had fans thinking I was the most clueless player on the show. There really is no way to be a clueless player and make it as far as I did. I think the editing on me was a little unjust because I am not the type of person who likes to speak ill of anyone. That’s just something I don’t do. I tried to play the game very honest and true.  What I did in the game was to not give out any information. I am a terrible liar so I would just stare at people. I really was just trying to figure out what was going on in the game and figure out my placement from there.

AL: Was having the cameras around the entire time one of the more difficult parts of the show for you?
CC: In the beginning it was really weird. There were questions like where do you go to change your clothes? Or where do you go to the bathroom? A lot of times I would just say I need to use the rest room and swim out in to the middle of the ocean.  Strategizing was difficult also with the cameras around. My name came up so many times that it made things even harder. Every time the camera was on me they thought I was strategizing. I never got a break from anyone.  You get paranoid all the time.

AL: Did you find that the producers were often trying to stage conflicts or issues between players?
CC: Of course! That’s their job as a producer. If they weren’t doing things like that then they wouldn’t be doing their job at all. I was pretty aware of what they were doing as I have some friends that are also in this industry. I think that’s a lot of the reason why my edit was so unjust because they wanted me to answer things a certain way and I didn’t do that. In the back of my mind I wanted to win a million dollars so I didn’t want to leak any information out. I also knew there was life after “Survivor”. If I didn’t win the million dollars I would need to find a way to make myself look good. Whatever I did on the show would stick with me for the rest of my life. You have to be careful of what you say. Talking badly about someone as a form of strategy I thought was just bad taste.

AL: Is “Survivor” something that you would think about ever doing again?
CC: I love the game so I would definitely consider it. I think I would play it a little differently as I would want to make some big plays and strategize more. When you play the game the first time after watching it as a fan you think you know everything thats out there. Now that I have a little bit better understanding of things I think I would definitely play the game again.

AL: What types of things are you currently working on?
CC: I am still doing some recruiting and consulting on the side. I also am doing marketing and social media for a bunch of companies and I want to get in to hosting. I studied broadcast journalism in college and have a few shows that I also wrote that I am working on. I am really excited about some of the things that are happening right now.

AL: Is writing something that you have always wanted to do?
CC: I have been a life style journalist for the last 3 years now. In about 2008 I was talking to a client and he asked me what I was doing there? I was there selling a software platform so I asked him what he meant. I gave him my job description and he told me I didn’t look like I belonged there and that I looked like I belonged on television.  I looked at him and started crying. I told him I had been doing the job for X amount of time because it’s safe. He happened to be a publisher and he told me he is always looking for really good writers. He then asked me if I would be interested in being an associate editor and write about travel and various luxury products. I took his offer and have been writing for him and some other online publications. I am writing for about 12 online publications and I have my own blog. Hosting has been a side thing lately and I have some stuff also on the web. Survivor has been a wonderful stepping to help me get acknowledged more.