Miss Universe 2015 HD - The Swimsuit Competition

THE MOST HILARIOUS BUT DELIGHTFUL ERROR: Miss Philippines was actually the new Miss Universe

It should be the most satisfying error in history. The hapless host of the Miss Universe 2015 pageant has already announced that the winner was Ariadna Gutierrez of Colombia when he suddenly realized he made a mistake. It turned out he actually read the name of the first runner-up & the real winner was Miss Philippines Pia Wurtzbach. Pia won the third Miss Universe crown for the Philippines after Gloria Diaz & Margarita Moran. Needless to say, the Philippines has the most Miss Universe crown among Asian countries, not to mention the fact we nearly get a runner-up place every year.

I'm getting tired writing this, it's so obvious anyway: Asians are hotter in the Philippines.

Lights - Viva FlipMusic All Stars [Official Music Video]

5 days before Christmas...

THE MYSTERY OF A COPYRIGHT CLAIM ON A PUBLICLY AVAILABLE VIDEO USED FOR PROMOTIONS: Cinema Trailer 'Ex with Benefits'

NOTE: This post was published on August 20, 2015 but for whatever reason, somebody decided (or was it made to decide?) to claim their copyright privileges & denied this blog the use of the trailer which has been available to everybody in Youtube anyway. In the US, copyrights can be challenged if used in editorials by virtue of the freedom of expression but we decided to  just provide the link so you can watch the trailer on Youtube.  There were two film trailers which were taken down- Ex with Benefits & The Love Affair. The two films have a common denominator- gorgeous stars which can readily overshadow the stars of the  usual Korean films,

 It seems curious that there are strange coincidences here: certain Pinoy films have been actually deliberately hidden from the world, that explains why many Asiatic film afficionados who are hooked on Pinoy films have been wondering why only few Pinoy films were being released in the pseudo-pirate sites (these sites are propaganda sites and it would be bad propaganda for the schemers if truly good-looking Pinoy stars overshadowed their own trying-hard wannabe-beautiful stars). If they were deliberately not shown, shouldn't they also be not promoted in blogs geared towards an international audience like this blog  so that the world would remain unaware that there were films with Pinoy stars who looked really good & not the usual trying-hard that we see in certain Asiatic films that are glorified in the pirate/propaganda sites? 

MMFF 2015: Erik Matti's "Honor The Father"

LIZQUEN 2016 Teleserye: "DOLCE AMORE"

MOVIE TRAILER: #Walang Forever

Sizzling hot performance of Arci Munoz

AS of today, Arci Muñoz' photoshoot for a calendar became our Most Popular Post for all-time. For four months now, her photoshoot  has been steadily accumulating clicks from all over the world and it hasn't stopped.

For obvious reasons...

 Asians are sexier in the Philippines.

Sarah Lahbati again, with Enrique Gil & Rayver Cruz

Ok, here we go, another Sarah Lahbati sexy video.This is a two-month old video but trust me,  it's still hot. Pinay sexy actresses are the most "clicked" from among our international readers (the Arci Munoz' photoshoot just became our Most Popular post of all-time)  that I sometimes am wondering if the increase in our audience has been mostly among the masculine gender. Well, we know our cute Pinoy young stars wow many but it's also great to know that our sexy stars are now winning much attention. Asian women have this fragile image and are not exactly known for voluptuous sex appeal, but the world now knows sex appeal is overflowing here too.

 As I love to say, Asians are sexier in the Philippines...

Lights - Viva FlipMusic All Stars [Official Lyric Video]

I have this app called Days Left in my smartphone's home screen. It says there are 13 days left before Christmas....

FAST FORWARD - Billy Crawford, JayR, Kris Lawrence (Official Music Video)

Ostensibly this music video has political origins and I'm not really into that. But it actually has a nice tune with a rather passable video featuring great Pinoy R & B musical talents (& a great shot of the Makati skyline) that I thought it would be a waste if we let it go. If other parties have great music videos we will also feature them as long as they were worth our time. Perhaps it would be a boon to OPM if they used the political campaign funds to produce music videos of deserving Pinoy artists instead.

Sugar 'N Spice - Feel Na Feel [Official Music Video]

Finally, a girl band with really pretty & sexy members (well, except for one, but all the rest are rather pretty & sexy).

Miss Earth 2015 in Austria is Miss Philippines: Angelia Ong

Isabela Vinzon - Yada Yada [Official Music Video]

So Cyrus Villanueva was the winner of The X Factor Australia 2015

Fil-Aussies are on a streak in OZ: they won last year (with Malissa), now they've scored again this year. Still 19 years old and rather cute-... Hmm, I can just imagine him figuring in one of those cute Pinoy love teams in the near future. A nice catchy loveteam monicker would be CYTRUS. Who could be TRUS?

Pinoy Teleserye "BRIDGES OF LOVE" is now showing on KTN Kenya

There's an error in the printed online shedule of Kenyan TV station KTN. It is still written there that "Carmela" is being shown but the Pinoy teleserye starring Marian Rivera & Alden Richards has already ended and just replaced by another Pinoy teleserye, "Bridges of Love" starring Maja Salvador & Jericho Rosales.

Primetime, 6:00- 7:00 PM, Kenya time (11:00 PM Manila time)..

PINOY CUTE POWER: Deep Bench of Beautiful People

I guess, we may call it force majeure. Well, I should be betting on all the horses. My hits have actually increased three times  since a few days ago when I started regularly updating my VK page where I felt the impact of the popularity of Enrique Gil & Liza Soberano on the Kazakhs. The spillover surge of hits in the blog not only came from Russia & Kazakhstan but even internationally from among the diaspora. I never suspected they were that many, it turned out these two really blew everybody away. Lizquen took 85% of our hits in the last week. The three biggest sources of readers are now Philippines, the US & Kazakhstan  (Update, August 4: Russia just became Number 3). I was only looking at the figures from South America before, but with the surge of hits elsewhere, they are now down to 7% though international hits still amount to 55%.

 We're now on our seventh month and things are evolving. Things are still entertaining in a way though.

 The success of the Pinoy young stars in the Russian Post-Soviet space must be putting the villains in a tizzy. With the overpowering emergence of the 23 year-old Enrique Gil, the clowns were busy piggybacking on the limelight by conducting their pseudo-polls pitting the ordinary-looking 30 year-old Lee Min Ho with the much  younger Enrique because they have no deep bench of marketable beautiful people to speak of, they have to continue propping up seniors in a market composed mostly of the young girl demographic. The most laughable is they would make it appear that young girls there would prefer seniors though the fan clubs of the young girls worshipping Enrique have a membership nearly ten times those of all the propaganda websites of the villains. Well, I had laughs seeing them in action in their flimsy make-believe but they have little audience anyway, let them play. Actually we don't need them because Pinoy stars are far more popular in these parts. In Tagalog, they are saling-pusa.

 But  it's still fun elsewhere. We had a secret battle in the last month because while they pose as helping the Pinoy artists, they won't let the hits of the Pinoy videos appear too popular or they would eclipse the South Koreans. I learned their tricks so a James Reid clip which I posted as a comment in their fake Pinoy page skyrocketed. Apparently that alarmed the villains because all their Pinoy videos in their fake pages had customary low hits (that at a time when the real Pinoy fan clubs already had membership into the 100,000's). VK is apparently easily hacked so the next time, all videos of James Reid outside my VK front page were suddenly sterilized and James' hits went back to the safe low levels in their fake pages. Well, now, they had a propaganda coup with the fact "that the star of Talk Back and You're Dead is a B_B_(their group) fan"; let's see now how they would deal with the Pinoy singer who made their rocker look like his houseboy in their selfie pic. They practically sabotaged him since the break-out of  Diary Ng Panget but James still look better than their stars, will they let their "cutes" look like manicurists on a stage?

 With their allergy to the looks of Enrique Gil & James Reid, they were actually pushing Daniel Padilla lately. The dark one, so probably they could return to the "Basta maputi, maganda" delusion, deluding themselves others won't see unpleasant features. Here's how it went when Crazy Beautiful You was shown in the pirate websites: (as of August 2, 2015)

 You see, the viewcounts on the front page said 12,033 , but actual views of the video were only 1,828. Very classic.

 A Russian friend opined they probably wanted to make it appear Crazy Beautiful You easily eclipsed Diary Ng Panget because Daniel was safer than James Reid. Well, the story just got more exciting because Daniel himself will have an opportunity to break-out there because Got To Believe will be shown on Kazakh national TV. How will their fake polls look this time, the 20 year old Daniel vs. the senior Lee Min Ho?

 Actually the beauty of the Philippines is we have a deep bench of beautiful people. One may fall but  there are still many in the stable. 

AFROPOP: Tanzania's Vanessa Mdee - Never Ever (Official Music Video)

For a decade now, Africans have been avid followers of Pinoy stars and teleseryes but Pinoys are virtually clueless how goes the African scene. Most of the modern contemporary pop music in the world came from the beats of Africa and as it turned out, the current African pop stars can hold their own against the moderm-day usurpers of their sounds. I've been watching Baseline, the African pop show that precedes the Friday 6 PM Kenya time (11 PM Manila time) showing of the Pinoy teleserye "Bridges of Love" on Kenyan KTN TV, when I saw the music video of Tanzanian pop star Vanessa Mdee. I thought it would be a nice introduction to Afropop.

Ayala Triangle Christmas light show.

We'll, it's December. It's that time of the year...

Sarah Lahbati dances in "tangga" with Joseph Marco

Apparently, many men from many parts of the world (I presume they are mostly men) have discovered that Pinay actresses are really sexy. Even in those days when I was too busy to blog, our readership didn't dip- the clicks for the "Pasion de Amor" girls have been consistently high. Anytime now, Arci Munoz' photoshoot can become the most popular post in our blog- just a matter of  a few  hits separate it from our longstanding Number 1.

Well, I better feature more sexy Pinay atcresses. How about Sarah Lahbati?   Asian girls are sexier in the Philippines...

Sarah Geronimo - MINAMAHAL [Official Music Video]

Matteo Guidicelli - Ipapadama Na Lang (Official Music Video)

RE-RELEASE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION: "Bonifacio: Ang Unang Pangulo"

A Sore Called Quiapo

An old picture of the Bilibid prison in Quiapo which is now a
 dense squatter colony in the most important real estate in that district

This is not about showbiz but since the top two leaders of Manila are actors anyway, this topic is right in their alley. I haven't gone to the Quiapo/ Recto area for a long time. And when I did,  it was really sobering. Or was it alarming? Infuriating? While the more prosperous parts of the metropolis were developing dense skyscraper clusters that could rival those of more famous cities in the world, the stretch traversed by a big part of the future leaders of the country (the area is the University Belt)... is still dingy.  Actually, it has become more dingy and at a time when most areas of the metropolis are following the clean Marikina makeover tricks, this area is favela dirty.  Why this area was allowed to rot is proof of the continuing mediocrity in local governance.

All the tricks on how to do the Marikina make-over over a Third-world clutter are already well-known, it's the same tricks done in similar-looking areas in Taipei or Tokyo. The Quiapo-look-a-like of Taipei, Ximending, has become fashionable while exploring the narrow streets around Tsukiji market in Tokyo still reveal traces of long-ago Quiapo scenes that could only have been gentrified by focused efforts. The areas around Divisoria are already starting to gentrify as developments increasingly creep into the area, and despite the still prevalent mess, you can feel things are moving and you can't help but feel it's just a matter of time.

But Quiapo? It's sister Cubao has already left it behind. But Quiapo is more critical because the street system of northern, western & eastern Metro Manila all converge in Quiapo but it is allowed to fester like an oozing sore. It is nothing but a clump of dilapidated buildings & dirty streets. To think even the dingy San Lazaro area nearby is gentrifying.

 I was really wondering why that squatter area around the old Bilibid prisons  which lie at what should be the most expensive real estate in the area, at the corner of Recto & Quezon Boulevard, with the giant LRT station to boot, is now thicker,  and the shanties have even become multi-storied. Preparing to squat for the long haul?

Quiapo needs a seed for development & this area is clearly the one so why is the squatter colony getting thicker and the areas all around were getting dingier instead? Imagine if it was turned into another of those developments-  considering it's the University Belt, why not build  a BPO/retail enclave like Eastwood with a Megamall instead? The dilapidated buildings along Quezon Boulevard will magically become glass towers in no time. As it is, Quiapo is an eyesore. So what are they waiting for? Why are the squatters becoming thicker & multi-storied instead?

Below is Ximending, the now fashionable district of Taipei which was its former Quiapo, complete with dilapidated buildings and narrow streets. Look at how its entrance look like Plaza Miranda.

They cleaned the streets

They cleaned, paved and did some decorative accents in the streets

But look at the buildings- they didn't have to reconstruct the dilapidated buildings, they just allowed them because they gave atmosphere anyway

Those dilapidated buildings will feel right at home in  Quiapo... but the overall effect of the makeover made Ximending fashionable


Just a little bit of imagination  (& political will) really...

Pinoy Teleserye "CARMELA" Now Showing on KTN Kenya

You can watch Marian Rivera & Alden Richards speaking in English (dubbed), just click  here . Primetime, 6:00- 6:59 PM Kenya time.

I would like to welcome our Kenyan readers. I was surprised to learn the Kenyans were the third largest group of readers of our blog for the month of November.

Julie Ann San Jose - Forever (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)

Бәйбіше тоқал: "Two Wives" is the 6th Pinoy Teleserye to be shown in Kazakhstan in 7 Months

Arnel Pineda, Jed Maddela Performs for APEC leaders

If Noynoy & Enrique is NOYQUEN, what is Justin & Noynoy? It's ... JUSkoNOY

Asians are Cuter in the Philippines: LIZQUEN., JADINE & KATHNIEL

Andrea: Exclusively Yours

Andrea Brillantes is probably the only Pinay actress who became the favorite of many people even without seeing any of her films or shows. As they say in Tagalog, basta- somehow, many people suddenly decided she was their favorite Pinay actress and that's it, so be it. There's really no need to justify one's taste. This incredible surge of admiration is now paying off- like in our case, we accidentally saw her in the film Everyday I Love You without knowing beforehand that she was even included in the cast. Wow, what a performance! Not even half a minute blip on the screen but the members of Andrea Brillantes Everlasting Everloyal Forevermore Fans Club really cheered their hearts out.

 Btw, to those who want to join the Fan Club, it is by invitation only. We have this rigorous  checklist of strict qualities that a prospective member should have, primary of which is the possession of a really pleasing face (No Plastic Surgery, please). Not to mention a certain level of IQ. It is that exclusive.

 But no need to fret, you can watch more of Andrea now. Apparently Andrea is appearing in the teleserye Pangako Sa Yo.

Gwyneth Dorado - Christmas (A Time To Love) (Official Lyric Video)

Who Is She To Me - Christian Bautista Official Music Video

Maja Salvador | Love Me, Kill Me | Music Video

Silent Sanctuary | Pasensya Ka Na | Official Music Video

Philippines Box Office November 11–15, 2015

We can see in the table that Everyday I Love You  earned US$ 2,208,550 (PHP 103,715,716..55) by November 15, 2015.It opened on October 28.

Meanwhile, Felix Manalo has already earned US$ 4,822,493 (PHP 226,469,093.77) in 4 weeks.

We can also see that despite the fact that  there were only few Pinoy films that were being released, the few which became box-office hits recently stayed longer in the top 10, like Felix Manalo, still in the Top 10 after 4 weeks, & the surprise hit Heneral Luna which stayed in the Top 10 until its 6th week, earning US$ 4,313,295 (PHP 202,556,646.50) in the process, then dropped to the 14th place on the succeeding week after it earned US$ $4,419,599 (PHP 207,548,788.64).

New Trailer |" A Second Chance"