She’s reported live from the Grammys, the Junos and the Oscars; appears coast-to-coast on CTV every weeknight, and has sat down for live, hour-long interviews with the likes of Lenny Kravitz, Coldplay and Tom Cruise, but Tanya Kim says she’s still just a “jeans and Tshirt kind of person.

“People might have a preconceived notion of me, since they see me in a cocktail dress on TV every night,” she says. “But when I’m checked out, I’m out. I just hang with my dog and friends and loved ones.”

Born and raised in Sault Ste. Marie, the 33-year-old etalk host says northern Ontario is still in her blood. “I love the outdoors. Camping and going to the cottage are some of my favourite ways to relax, and it was a beautiful place to grow up.”

Kim’s parents emigrated directly from Korea to The Soo, and still live there. “It was definitely a culture shock for them — a long story and one I’m still trying to grasp,” she says. “When you’re younger you don’t understand why your parents do things, and you think they are just trying to make your life difficult. But looking back, they made a lot of sacrifices for my brother and I to have the amazing lives we do.”

Among those advantages were years of classical piano and dance training. Today, Kim’s older brother is a dancer, and director of Studio Dance Arts in The Soo, and dance remains a passion for her as well. “I actually wanted to be either an In Living Color Fly Girl, like J Lo was, or an L.A. Laker Girl, like Paula Abdul,” she says.

Eventually Kim headed off to Toronto’s Ryerson University, graduating from broadcast journalism in 1998. She landed a job in production for MuchMusic’s MuchNews, and later became a videographer. Kim went on to become the music reporter for CTV’s the chatroom, then a music and style correspondent for the first two seasons of Canadian Idol, finally joining etalk shortly after. Accolades soon followed; in March 2005, TV Guide ranked Kim as No. 2 on a list of “Canada’s Top 10 Newcomers on the verge of a major breakout.”

“We were ‘The Little Engine That Could’ back in the day,” she says, “but today we have a team of 80-odd producers.” And what makes up a typical day at Canada’s top-rated entertainment show? In the morning the team scours the wires for stories while voicing scripts, then around noon Kim begins what she calls “the hair and makeup shellacking process.” The show then tapes until mid-afternoon, pauses for rewrites and another script readthrough, and resumes shooting, finishing by 6 p.m., when the show has to be fed to the East Coast... unless breaking news means more rewrites.

“I love this career that I’ve carved out for myself and worked hard for, and it’s never not fun,” Kim says, but the pace can be a grind, and the start-stop nature of performing on cue for the camera can be draining. She also admits there’s always a danger of overdosing on pop culture. “For example, when Britney was having her breakdown it got under my skin a bit.”

That’s part of the reason Kim has, in recent years, increased her charity work. “It balances me out a little, and brings me back to reality,” she says. In fact, just a few weeks before speaking to Lifestyle magazine, Kim was in Zambia, doing outreach to support women in developing communities for CARE Canada’s “I Am Powerful” campaign.

I Am Powerful is designed to remind the world that women are key agents of change, and are at the heart of global poverty eradication efforts, forming 70 per cent of CARE’s beneficiaries around the world. In Zambia, Kim participated in a variety of projects, including ones to reduce the rate of preventable disease in young children, support victims of sexual and genderbased violence, improve access to education for orphans and vulnerable children, and reduce food insecurity.

“I share CARE’s belief that when you empower a woman, you also empower her family, her community and her nation,” says Kim. “It was a very hopeful trip, and it opened my eyes to a different side of Africa. You wouldn’t be human if you didn’t walk away feeling something.”

As a dancer and pianist, Kim names MusiCounts — an offshoot of theCanadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (the organization behind the Junos) — as another cause close to her heart. Since 1997, MusiCounts has donated $3 million to schools across Canada in the form of instrument grants, scholarships and education initiatives.

“I had the opportunity and luxury to grow up playing the piano, and it shaped my life in ways that [affect me] to this day,” Kim says. “Music is so important; all children regardless of socio-economic or cultural background should be able to play in school.”

A music lover through and through, Kim’s favourite interview to date is David Bowie. “Not only is he a musical icon who I adore, he was so friendly. It’s so lovely to meet normal people.We put these celebrities on a pedestal, but they are just normal, nice people, for the most part.” Case in point: Tom Cruise.While promoting Valkyrie in December, he appeared on a Live@etalk special. “I’m a little shocked to admit, but he just charmed his way into my heart,” says Kim. “He’s so meticulously professional —I’ve never seen someone work a room like Tom Cruise. I think every single person in this building shook his hand.”

To no one’s surprise — except possibly her own — celebrity reporting has made Kim somewhat of a celebrity and role model herself. “When I get a chance to hang out in Koreatown on (Toronto’s) Bloor St. West, it floors me when people react.” She says it also speaks volumes about CTV that the network was willing to put “someone like me” beside Ben Mulroney instead of the traditional WASPy blonde. “I never really realize the impact I make on occasion,” she says incredulously. “And as a minority and a woman, I absolutely feel like I need to represent.” •

Photo courtesy of CTV