Happy Halloween! Well, that was last night. But still we’re on a subject that’s apt for the All Saints and All Souls season – fear.
Today we debunk one of the unspoken fears swirling around TV land and the Internet space – has ABS-CBN found its own star that can eventually – gasp – dethrone the pop star princess?
After a long wait, Charice finally releases her second international album, Infinity. First announced to be released in the US in 2012, it came as a surprise when Infinity started occupying the New Releases racks of local record bars, without any
announcement or promotional activity.
Nevertheless, Infinity has all the look, sound and feel of an international record, because, although we hate to admit it, most local albums simply lack the certain gloss, finesse and craftsmanship of the global CDs (just compare Charice’s Warner Music International albums with her Star Records releases).
Charice looks and sounds all grown-up and sophisticated in Infinity. While we had troubles whether to accept her as a child singer or a mature performer in her first self-titled international release, Infinity showcases Charice’s successful transition to being the pop R&B lady with the powerhouse vocals.
YES!, the monthly glossy that calls itself “The Number One Entertainment Magazine” has changed the landscape of showbiz journalism in the country. Beyond “tsismis” and blind items, it has elevated entertainment reportage into something serious and respectable. Its deep analysis on issues and its habit of presenting not just both, but ALL sides, made YES! the go-to literature for the showbiz-crazed Pinoys.
Another thing that YES did is that it started the trend of showbiz magazines cutting across all socio-economic classes. No longer is an entertainment magazine just something you pick up at the parlor while waiting for your turn or a palengke staple that will eventually become tinapa wrappers. You will see YES! today even in high-end Makati offices and even in cars of executives.
For it’s October 2011 issue, YES! worked with returning superstar Nora Aunor on the cover and the result is nothing less than amazing.
Hello everyone. Popfanzine is back! For good, hopefully. Anyway, what better way to mark this blog’s return but to celebrate one of the best “comeback” albums in recent months. We’re talking about Kyla’s Private Affair.
Private Affair is Kyla’s super fine album that succeeded two consecutive massive disappointments Heartfelt and Heart to Heart. These two albums named after our favorite internal organ not only blurred what kind of artist Kyla really is, but more notably, featured cover songs that are identical with the original versions, just recorded over with Kyla’s vocals.
Album of the Year nominees
The Awit Awards, organized annually by the Philippine Association of the Record Industry, is the closest thing we have to the well-respected Grammy Awards of the U.S. Logically, it IS our Grammys since it is THE country’s music industry award-giving body.
We expect the Awit Awards to be rewarding creativity, innovativeness, artistry but without disregarding business-savvy. But this year, the list of nominees for the Album of the Year, the awards’ highest honor, is a little disappointing.
All of the nominees are primarily cover albums. These “revival” records are competing for the top Awit Awards creativity prize. Although the surge in the demand for covers is very evident and noticeable, it is a little sad that some excellently-crafted all original music records for this year have been completely disregarded.
We can only hope that the Awit Awards consider this the next time they build their nominees list. By championing original musical artistry, they are helping nobody but themselves.
And of course, we also wish music consumers would start supporting artists who come up with original songs, and work hard on the concept of their albums. We have had enough of music artists who simply record an entire “song hits” and call it their “new album.”
PPS finalist Elise Estrada is making a name for herself in Canada.
Elise Estrada is an overachiever. At 23, she has already won several beauty pageants, singing competitions and professional music awards in her country of residence, Canada.
This year, she is set to release her second album under a Canadian music label. Her first album spawned several singles backed by music videos with that professional gloss. Having been nominated at the Juno awards, Canada’s Grammy equivalent, Elise Estrada is a star.
But before she was Canada’s pop star, she was a Pinoy Pop Superstar.
Elise (in green top) in PPS finalists' recording)
Elise competed in Pinoy Pop Superstar (PPS)’ second season, where, of course, she lost. This was during the second year PPS brought in imports from Canada and the US, which was a pointless thing since the poor kids from the west were just thrown into the PPS arena with zero prior screentime and zero fan base. Elise (just like the other US and Canadian Filipinos whom we cannot even remember today) simply had no shot at winning then.
But today, we are happy that Elise is doing what she’s good at and her outputs are spectacular. Check out these samples from her discography:
Elise Estrada on Entertainment Tonight:
Here’s an outdoor ad for the Judy Ann Santos – Sarah Geronimo movie Hating Kapatid, produced by Viva Films (installed at SM City North EDSA).
And here’s a VIVA logo at the bottom right:
Is this the new logo of the VIVA Entertainment group? What can you say about it?
Previously used logos:
Read PART 1 HERE.
We continue our countdown of the most memorable, if not, the best Pinoy TV themes.
5. Di Na Nag-iisa (Darna) – For GMA’s first TV adaptation of Mars Ravelo’s Darna, they needed a theme that will, like the superheroine, soar high. Regine Velasquez lends her voice to this very haunting lyrical and musical masterpiece made for the TV series that helped the network ascend to the top. And the result was magnificent. The song itself gave Darna, the character, a richer story and a personality with more heart.
Best lines: Habang pasan ko ang daigdig, pag-ibig mo’y mananaig, at balang araw tayong dalawa’y magsasama.
4. Starstruck Theme (Starstruck) – During the worldwide reality show boom of the early 2000′s, Starstruck was one of the first to launch a search for multimedia talents in the country. And along with a spectacular first season was this little known theme that’s full of competitive energy, heart-pumping emotions and, like most of its contestants, star quality.
Best lines: Dream! Believe! Survive!
3. Ikaw Nga (Mulawin) – Like Di Na Nag-iisa, this telefantasya theme song was written by Jay Durias. His band South Border interpreted this song in a way that can make you feel like this song is about flying creatures, even if you have no idea what the TV show is about. Yes, the song was that powerful. South Border’s excellent interpretation even made the song one of the few outstanding OPM songs of the new decade.
Best lines: Nais kong ipagtapat sa’yo. Sana’y dinggin mo ang lihim ng pousong ito, kahit na tayo’y magkaibang mundo.
2. Reach Out & Talk To Me (Today with Kris Aquino) – This theme is of international caliber. You can imagine it being a theme song for international talks hows. It is so tailor-fit with the show and the host, and Zsa-Zsa Padilla’s vocals just gives it so much life and energy, and not to mention, class.
Best lines: You can’t hide it, cause we’ll find it. Just reach out and talk to me.
1. Batibot Theme (Batibot) – It’s like Pavlov’s experiment. We hear the first few notes of this song, and whole world stops and we run to the TV. This song has been part of the lives of the kids who have been educated by the television before there was internet. It is a perfect song to perk-up every Pinoy kid’s morning. It is the song perfect for the TV show that raised generations.
Best lines: All the lines from start to finish! We know you know the song!
Other Outsatanding TV Themes worth Mentioning: Superhero by Rocksteddy (Super Inggo), Makita Kang Muli by Sugarfree (Panday), Langit Na Bituin by Carol Banawa (Bituin), Mapagkunwari by Faith Cuneta (Impostora), Valiente by Vic Sotto (Valiente) Cristy Per Minute by Gio Alvarez (Cristy Per Minute), Ober Da Bakod by Andrew E (Ober Da Bakod), Oki Doki Doc by the Cast (Oki Doki Doc), Home Along the Riles by the Cast (Home Along Da Riles), Wansapanataym by Michelle Ayalde (Wansapanataym), Mara Clara (Mara Clara)
Jovit Baldivino during his audition.
Pilipinas Got Talent is not a singing competition like Pinoy Dream Academy or Pinoy Idol. It is a type of “anything and everything goes” talent show where your chances of winning or even being noticed is based on your talent’s uniqueness, novelty, difficulty and sometimes, shock value. So why did have a simple vocalist as the first winner of our country’s version of the Got Talent franchise? Here are some points that could explain why Jovit Baldivino, dimsum vendor from Batangas, beat an entire circus cast to be the first PGT grand winner.
Anyway, we commend ABS-CBN for a wonderful adaptation of the format. There were a few kinks, and we’ve had minor issues like with how it looked on TV (all the lights and movements could cause seizures!) and how Kris and AiAi’s energy is too much for the respectable Mr. FMG. But over-all they did a great job, especially in searching the whole Philippines for the best of the best.
How about you? Are you happy with how they handled this show? Are you happy with the results? Let’s talk about it in the comments section! Discuss!
P.S. I like how intelligent and well thought of the comments in this blog are, so far. You’re proof that this is more than just a tsismis blog. You guys are the best. Thank you :)
Album artwork of Charice' US-produced album
Do you know who Gian Barbarona is? Probably not, but that’s forgivable. Gian was just some boy who lost to Sam Concepcion in the 2005 ABS-CBN talent show, Little Big Star. Gian was 2nd place, beating that little girl who settled for 3rd. That little girl was Charice Pempengco, now simply know as Charice.
Now this girl Charice – you probably know her by now. You’ve heard her story. You knew about her appearance in a Korean show, wowing, among others, Korean supergroup Super Junior. You’ve heard about her YouTube videos that led her to different platforms from Ellen’s Warner Brothers studios set to Celine Dion’s Madison Square Garden stage. Recently, she became the first Filipino (some even say, first Asian) to debut at the top 10 of the Billboard 200.
She got lucky and she knows it. In one interview, she acknowledges that there are a hundred other girls in the Philippines who can sing exactly like her. She looks short and she’s not stick thin, breaking the mold of the American tween pop sweetheart. She’s has superpowers others do not have, superpowers known as Oprah and David Foster. She has the machinery of a mainstream record label and publicists with the media savvy to make outlets like Perezhilton, Just Jared and Disney Radio like her.
But most importantly, she has the backing of the worldwide Filipino community. She recently stunned Toronto when she filled a mall with black heads during her album promo tour. Suddenly, she has a fan base far greater and stronger, even than that of Sam Concepcion’s and Gian Barbarona’s voters combined.
Filipinos rallied behind her because, like it or not, she is the Pinoy’s latest chance at finally cracking the international mainstream music scene, and we can feel that she actually has a shot. We have tried before with the likes of Banig, Lea Salonga, Jocelyn Enriquez and Jasmine Trias, only to achieve modest chart successes. (Don’t say Black Eyed Peas and Pussycat Dolls cause that’s different).
But amidst this Filipino admiration comes the bitter poison that comes with every stroke of luck one gets. Charice, dubbed by Oprah as one of the world’s most talented kids, is also the one of the internet world’s most hated. And most of these hatred come from Pinoys too.
Check out her videos on YouTube and even posts about her on blogs. For every positive post she gets, mostly from people who haven’t even heard of her before, there pops a Pinoy somewhere saying things like “Well, we really hate her here in the Philippines,” or “There are more singers here in the Philippines who are better and more attractive than her.” There are some more Pinoys who are filled with inexplicable rage just because they can’t stand the singer’s singing voice or the way she speaks English.
Fact is, while some people think it makes them feel better to say Charice does not deserve her magnificent stroke of luck, she doesn’t deserve that kind of hate either. If she got noticed by the international audience, that is because she has talent to begin with. Go give her a chance. Buy her album and listen to it. Do you know, that even though she’s been trained all her life to sing big old-woman wailer songs, her voice and perfromance transcends well to contemporary pop music? Do you know she can rap? Do you know that given the right material, she can actually sound fresh, young and original? Do you know that given the limits of the materials (having been positioned to capture the tween pop Miley Cyrus/Taylor Swift market), she can actaully make her vocals stand out nonetheless?
Full disclosure: I, the writer, do not like Charice very much as well because the first records she made wasn’t really my kind of music and she is in that awkward phase where she doesn’t know whether to act like a kid or a grown-up so her actions come off as annoying (especially when she’s hosting ASAP, oh God). But I do not go flooding internet threads about her of my hatred and disdain. I may not be her biggest fan, but I want her to succeed. She works hard, she has talent, she’s got her chance, let’s all give her a break.
Charice, the talent show loser, may not be the best artist we can offer the world, but right now, she is our best chance. And there are only two things you can do for her: support her, or leave her alone.
(Note: By “support her”, I do not mean reminding the world every minute that Charice is a Filipino and typing “Mabuhay ang Pinoy!” or “Proud to be Pinoy” every minute you get. I tell you, that’s annoying and that doesn’t help her at all. Trust me.)
