You know what they say: The grass is always greener on the other side. Rappers want to sing. Singers want to act. Actors, of course, always wanted to direct. Keeping up this noble tradition is pop polymath Nick Jonas. First gaining fame as a member of the accurately if not creatively titled boy band, "The Jonas Brothers," Nick has since spread his wings and flown the coop as a solo singing star. Along the way, he has dipped his distal digits in different dilettantish diversions. He has acted in films and on stage, produced television shows, launched a fashion line and served as a judge on the singing competition show, "The Voice." Now, the hunky heartthrob with the platinum falsetto is staking his claim in more challenging territory. Jonas fancies himself quite the table tennis player, and has even gone so far as to charge fans $3,500 for a chance to play with him. It takes chutzpah for Jonas to charge this exorbitant fee, however, after losing to a fellow pop star. "Just played Justin Bieber in ping pong," he tweeted in 2012. "Went to deuce both times, but he's the ping pong champion." Despite such a stinging setback, Nick boasts quite the résumé. "I've won the Jonas Brothers tour championship, I've won the 'Jumanji' championship, and 'The Voice' championship is the most important one yet," he recounts to a politely interested-seeming Kanak Jha, the two-time Olympian and reigning four-time US men's singles national champion. "Let's add one more," the amusingly overconfident Jonas gibed. With the sweatband-bedecked challenger's bona fides established, it was time to get down to business. Jonas, to his credit, approached the match with appropriate focus. Jha, not so much. While Jonas wailed away, Jha absentmindedly blocked his most earnest topspin drives while chatting on his phone, ordering a pizza, even passing the time with a good, old-fashioned book. When Jha finally grew tired of toying with his cheeky challenger, he easily smashed a forehand winner past the sweaty try-hard. Afterward, Jonas continued in his effort to put a positive spin on the proceedings. "So we can both agree it was a pretty close match," Jonas fished. "Totally," Jha gracefully indulged him, before declining a rematch and walking away. While Jonas is not quite ready to add US National Table Tennis Team member to his burgeoning CV, he at least got some top-notch practice out of the deal. Maybe now he's finally ready to claim his place in the pop ping-pong pantheon. That is, if he can dethrone the mighty Bieber.

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