Kim Domingo Circa 2017

Now, now, now... Kim Domingo is really welcoming 2017 with a BANG! with her cover feature in the hot FHM Magazine for January, 2017. I just hope she'll finally be letting go of those hands in a movie this coming year. She really should... She gotta... Basta!

MOVIE TRAILER: EXTRA SERVICE Starring ARCI MUÑOZ, JESSY MENDIOLA & COLEEN GARCIA

A sexy welcome to 2017. May there be less eyesores in 2017...

Lol!

MMFF 2016: SAVING SALLY Starring RHIAN RAMOS

Out of curiosity, I lean on watching this film. Not a usual fare. Already some of the biggest artists of Marvel Comics were Filipinos, not to mention the fact many have figured in many Hollywood CGI effect projects. Will this film by Indie director Avid Liongoren pull it off?

Hmm, I just got to support trailblazing endeavors like this ...

BEST XMAS GIFT: Naia Expressway finally opens... Wheww!

Several elevated expressways in the Metro Manila area are on the pipeline, and the one connecting the airport terminals to the first skyway and to the Bay Area has finally opened a year after the original schedule. What does that got to do with a showbiz blog, you say? Well, finally a big ray of hope... relief, I should say. Manila's hellish traffic has stymied many times my attempt to watch a movie... and many times I cursed "Why don't they build the ribbons of elevated expressways of Tokyo?" If ever there's a metropolis whose hectic spread  Metro Manila is tracing is Tokyo. And with the expected construction of a number of elevated expressways which leapfrog the bottlenecks in a few years, one can not begin to imagine the less aggravating traffic flow to the cinemas...

Lol!

FILMS I WILL WATCH IN THE MMFF 2016: Erik Matti's SEKLUSYON

Lol, definitely, politics gave more laughs in 2016 with the antics of what could be our tackiest comedian yet, the hopefully un-Senatored ASAP, Leila de Lima, but still, the year saw the release of some great Pinoy movies. I just hope there will be more this 2017.

 Sometimes I watch a movie because of the director. Among the local ones, Erik Matti is a shoo-in. Since I first watched Tiktik Chronicles, I haven't failed to watch an Erik Matti movie. I will surely include this in my list for the MMFF 2016.

COMEDIAN OF THE YEAR WAS NOT AN ACTOR: Will Eugene Domingo be suitable to play Leila de Lima in a ANG BABAE SA SEPTIC TANK Sequel?

So, next month, January 2017, our blog will be 2 years old. Who would have thought what started as a prank would last that long? Anyway, we like to believe we have found our niche. I still have to find more time to devote to the blog though- but hopefully we'll be more consistent and do it on a larger-scale in the coming new year.

 2016 was highly entertaining, but showbiz was trumped by the political comedian named Leila de Lima who gave us the laughs the most. Self-uprighteousness pretensions were never as laughable. She is expected to entertain us more in 2017 as she hilariously tried to enlarge her stand-up comedy act in the international comedy stores. Nice to know 2017 will be as rib-tickling as this year.

 Eugene Domingo might not be appropriate to interpret De Lima on the screen anymore. Eugene just got an Italian boyfriend, she might be too classy to many to play the sugar mommy of a provincial driver-bodyguard.

 I liked the first version of Ang Babae sa Septic Tank. I'll surely watch the second one.

MY FAITHFUL HUSBAND opens December 25 on My TV Africa

GMA is not only resurgent in the local scene. It is throttling in a big way internationally in a wide geographic arc, from Southeast Asia to Africa. Another GMA teleserye, My Faithful Husband, starring Jennilyn Mercado, will open on December 25 replacing the ABS-CBN hit teleserye Bridges of Love.

MY DESTINY opens in My TV Africa

My Destiny is still showing on KTN Kenya but it will be shown on December 14 to practically the rest of Subsaharan Africa (except South Africa) via My Tv Africa. African schedule: Primetime 8:00 PM Nigeria time. It stars Carla Abellana, Rhian Ramos and Tom Rodriguez. It replaces another GMA teleserye One True Love starring Alden Richards.

PANGAKO SA'YO/ JANJIKU is showing on MNCTV Indonesia

Pangako Sa Yo/ The Promise/La Promesa has just got another title: Janjiku.

From Africa to Central Asia to South America, now it is finally shown in Southeast Asia. It is being shown at 20:30 WIB, just ahead of another Pinoy teleserye, On The Wings of Love. Nice to know they were well-accepted. They have become a staple of the Indonesian social media.

The Pinoy loveteams have just started to spread their wings in the region. LizQuen next?

ON THE WINGS OF LOVE showing on MNCTV Indonesia

Finally, somebody bought  On The Wings of Love. It is the most pirated Pinoy teleserye, available on many languages online. Now, it has the assurance it could be seen by millions more on free TV, this time by our southern brothers, the Indonesians. It is being shown at 22:30 WIB, following another Pinoy teleserye (see next post).

As expected, it was a hit.

The loveteam game just turned regional...

AKIN PA RIN ANG BUKAS/ PERFECT VEANGENCE showing at TV3 Malaysia

GMA has teleseryes showing now in various parts of the world. This 2013 teleserye starring Lovie Poe, Cesar Montano & Solenn Heussaf is now being shown again in Malaysia.

Elha Nympha, Voice Kids Philippine champion, on Indonesian TV

Elha Nympha, the Philippine Voice Kids champion became a guest in the Indonesian Voice Kids competition in early December. She appeared in some TV programs as well, being interviewed in one where his interpreter was the noted Pinoy sinetron (teleserye) star in Indonesia, Leo Consul (first video below). The second video was her appearance in the hit variety program Dahsyat. The last was her guest performance in the Indonesian Voice Kids 2016 Final Night.

I actually like the eventual winner, Christopher Edgar of Bandung. He got class & style; if he was a Pinoy, he could have been a shoo-in in one of our teen loveteams. He could still be, it's about time we go regional.

DESTINED TO BE YOURS: First Aldub Teleserye

So, the top loveteam of GMA, Aldub of Alden Richards & Maine Mendoza, will finally have a teleserye.

With the recent renaissance of GMA in the wake of the success of Encantadia & Alyas Robin Hood, the network wars will surely become really interesting come 2017. The top loveteams of ABS-CBN are preparing theirs as we speak. KathNiel of Kathryn Bernardo & Daniel Padilla has La Luna Sangre while LizQuen of Liza Soberano & Enrique Gil already has one in the backburner.

Will they battle each other head on? As they say in Tagalog, Abangan...

KATHNIEL MOVIE PREMIERE IN VIETNAM: "Barcelona, A Love Untold"

Finally, the right moves are being made. The hot Pinoy stars are starting to touch base with their international fans.

The recent hit of the Kathniel loveteam composed of Kathryn Bernardo & Daniel Padilla, Barcelona, A Love Untold was recently shown in Vietnam & the Pinoy top stars graced the occasion. It's about time Pinoys embrace the happy fact that they actually already have a thriving international audience and they should cultivate it.

The folowing video was made by the Kathniel Vietnamese Fans Club which they posted in Youtube.

Thiên Đường Tình Yêu/ PARAISO KO'Y IKAW is showing on Vietnam Today TV

Never-ending Masochism of Pinoys: At Least ... KATHNIEL has a new teleserye LA LUNA SANGRE

Well, I have been on vacation & the news of the upcoming TV shows of ABS-CBN I got to know only now. Nobody among my friends bothered to email them to me, now I know why.

First the good news, Kathniel will have a new teleserye. I got the trailer below. Nice title btw.

The bad news, Abs-Cbn is trying to revive the careers in the Philippines of the washed-up Koreans the sponsors of whom have sabotaged its stars in many parts of the world as documented in this blog. The most recent was in Peru (read at Tales of SABOTAGE in the sidebar). It's obvious there are Western footprints behind the Koreans who want the latter to be the dominant pop cultural force in these parts as a resurgent China and East Asia become the focus of the world. But it's also obvious that after a decade, the Koreans were already a spent force here. Their kpop is not popular, their drama series don't rate. Their only claim was one hit film recently among a bunch of flops (The Thais had a hit here in Shutter & the Japanese had the The Ring & the rest of the genre so that doesn't mean a thing). The only saving grace is the alleged big online hits of Korean shows from the Philippines- but that is not even a proof the Filipinos were watching. We have more than a 100,000 Korean migrants & nearly 800,000 Korean tourists and all these would be watching online for shows from their homeland because that is how nationalistic they are.

So why would Abs-Cbn be promoting Korean shows now & be part of the propaganda machine propping up the myth of the Korean wave? Can the upsurge of GMA shows in the ratings be giving it cold feet (Encantadia & Alyas Robin Hood are lording over the ratings)? Its usual strategy to deny the other its strength like recruiting the big stars of the latter has now been reduced to competing with GMA in its usual fallback to snap alleged big hits in Korea which turned out to be flops here anyway? If the previous alleged big hits in Korea didn't rate here before, why promote other alleged big hits now?  Is it worth feeding the inferiority complex and masochism of Pinoys just to revive spent foreign competitors just because one is having cold feet due to stronger local competition?

Lol!

TOMORROW BELONGS TO ME /SANA BUKAS ANG KAHAPON opens Dec 12 on Televista Nigeria

BUBBLE GANG: Kim Domingo's Boobs, ups, Chest Exam & Michael V's Viral Spoof of an Up Dharma Down Song

I haven't featured Kim Domingo for a while.  Well, here she is & her famous upper torso being auscultated. It's gonna be hot.
As chaser, Michael V follows with a spoof on a famous song by Up Dharma Down.

REGIONAL ALDEN: Alden Richards hosts Asian TV Awards 2016

BIRIT MADNESS: Regine & Jona

The most powerful voices of Pinoy Birit.

HURRY WITH THE 3RD LIZQUEN TELESERYE: FOREVERMORE/ «Мен саған ғашықпын» shown again in Kazakhstan 31Kanal

In 2015, Forevermore was shown in Kazakhstan and it became the first teleserye to be shown in Central Asia. It became so big a hit its stars, the Lizquen loveteam composed of Liza Soberano & Enrique Gil became the hottest Pinoy idols in the area. The second teleserye of the pair, Dolce Amore, was just shown earlier this year. Guess which replaced it? The reissue of the first. The Kazakhs couldn't wait for the third Lizquen teleserye.

It should be remembered that 2 of the films of the loveteam have been shown on 31Kanal: She's The One and Just The Way You Are. Another Enrique Gil teleserye was also shown in the same channel, Muling Buksan Ang Puso.

JULIA BARRETO stars in VINCE AND KATH AND JAMES: The Fast Break?

Let's see if Julia Barreto will finally have a click loveteam. She has two possible partners in this movie. As the evolving vamp among the current crop of young stars, I can see Julia Barreto playing a Bea Alonzo-Arci Muñoz mix types roles eventually. It's about time that she matches the strides achieved by her contemporaries. This movie, included in the Metro Filmfest come December, might just do the trick.

COMING SOON: Love, 2 Million Naman Para Sa Bahay Natin Sa Probinsiya O

I am still on vacation but I can't help myself. This is just too delicious. It's politics but this is so big I am sure a movie version will be shot in time. The Pambansang Boytoy, Ronnie Palisoc Dayan, was just nabbed & he readily admitted they've been on for 7 years. Lagot si Pambansang Sugar Mommy, the eerie Senator Leila De Lima, she suddenly became a second-rate comedian. I guess Eugene Domingo will be the perfect actress to interpret her.

Frankly they should have shown the sex videos just to prove it was her. Truth has no gender, so is sex, & the claim that it was a violation of woman's rights & dignity was inane. The penis she was allegedly sucking in the video belonged to a man (the more it should be shown because it bolsters gender equality), and since she had been denying all along she was the one in the video, then it should be shown just to prove if she was lying or not. Truth sets everybody free.

Best Actress nominee at International Emmy for PANGAKO SA YO/THE PROMISE/LA PROMESA: Next time, Jodi Sta. Maria

I am still on vacation but this news didn't escape me. The German actress prevailed eventually as the Best Actress in a telenovela in the recently concluded International Emmy in New York. But being nominated for Best Actress in the International Emmy's was already an extraordinary feat.
Congratulations anyway, Jodi Sta. Maria...

Disney's Moana - "How Far I'll Go" music video - Janella Salvador

Battle of the Sexy Posts: How about Max Collins?

I'm not so sure anymore if hot-blooded males are still my biggest readers. It's true Arci Muñoz & Ellen Adarna are consistent hit-getters but there are already more boys in our Most popular Posts. If you look at our Most Popular Posts list at the sidebar, Kenneth Medrano matches the girls' consistency. Surprisingly, our relatively new post on Pinoy Big Brother participant Tanner Mata just reached the Top 10 list. The 11-20 slots in the list feature more boys waiting to break into the column: Luis Hontiveros, Mark Neumann, etc. Meaning, the gays & the girls among our readers are not behind the hot-blooded males, they just have more varied tastes.

How about Max Collins? Surprisingly my previous post on her had a big international patronage but it stalled and just hovered shy of the Top 10. She is still sexy and she deserves to be appreciated.

ARIGATO, TOKYO: Sarah Geronimo wins Asian Best Performer in 2016 Classic Rock Awards in Tokyo, Japan

Japan is not only the biggest direct investor in the Philippines (it puts its money where its mouth is), it is also fair & devoid of trying-hard delusions like those of a certain delusional Northeast Asian neighbor which sabotages fellow Asians just because of the delusional pretensions of its so-called stars who were actually devoid of star quality.

Pinay pop star Sarah Geronimo just won the Best Asian Performer Award in Tokyo.

MOVIE TRAILER: "The Unmarried Wife" Starring DINGDONG DANTES, ANGELICA PANGANIBAN & PAULO AVELINO

HOW TO MAKE A STAR 101: "Tsuper Hero" DERRICK MONASTERIO sings REYNA (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO) plus starmaking propaganda tips

Note: I changed the title of the post. Like always, the meat of my posts are the comments. Below are nice tips on the use of propaganda in star-making. One can surely pick up tricks.

GMA has a few interesting loveteams, like that of Derrick Monaterio & Bea Binene. They have a good vehicle in Tsuper Hero, fantaserye being a time-tested successful recipe for the station. I wonder if the GMA people have noticed their young stars have a weak presence in the social media space. Their videos only have a few hits while lesser known stars have hundred times those. They haven't learned much from the propaganda tricks of the Koreans with whom they love to play uto-uto frequently. The patronage of GMA in the urban areas around the metro is still strong, and social media is strongest here so there is a clear hole there in their strategy.  The Koreans have proven a mistaken perception of  "popularity" can be manufactured through a well-oiled propaganda machine, and the best way is to not neglect possible damning signals of unpopularity in the social media. GMA lacks its own trolls to gush over its videos on Youtube, for instance. Somebody should be assigned to raise the hits to 100,000 within a week. How can they create a bandwagon if they don't have a minimum infrastructure to create a popular, however contrived, hook for their stars? If the Koreans, who are not star material, have the gall to propagandize themselves, why not GMA with its infinitely better-looking stars?

UH-UH... It Should Have Been Frontal, Ellen !...

Things are really getting interestingly sexy in local showbiz. Ellen Adarna is making some bold moves... we would like to encourage her to up the ante... we are egging her, in fact...

Miss World 2016 Contestant Intro: CATRIONA GRAY, Miss World Philippines 2016

BATTLE OF THE SOAP HEAVYWEIGHTS IN AFRICA

There are two Africa-wide broadcast companies that distribute content in many countries in that continent. The two with the biggest footprints are My TV Africa & Startimes, both regular patrons of Pinoy teleserye. Teleserye has built a loyal following in the continent since the original Pangako Sa Yo took the continent by storm in the early part of the 2000's. Teleserye battled it out initially with the pioneering telenovela of the Latin Americans, with the emergence later on of other successful series-producing countries like India & Turkey but teleserye remained a big force in the continent.

Recently, Startimes asked the readers of its Facebook account, which among the leading content providers in Africa (Philippines, Turkey, India and the Latin American countries of Venezuela, Colombia & Mexico) is practically the most loved. You can gauge the prevailing sentiment from the responses.

It's good that teleserye is raising the flag of  Asia in Africa. High ratings don't lie, even the most thick-faced propaganda machine can't make that up.

A few more responses below:

MOVIE TRAILERS: "MULAT" / "APOCALYPSE CHILD"

Currently showing are two Pinoy Indie films which earned accolades in the international film festival circuit. It's always wise to balance our knack to celebrate the popular (AKA commercial) successes of  Pinoy films with our appreciation of the more "intellectual" side of the industry.
Great films.

Elmo Magalona - Kay Dali (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)

RUSSIAN SUB: Elmo Magalona - "Tayo Na" (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)

The latest music video of rising young star Elmo Magalona was just released on October 27 but already, Russian-subtitled videos were released in the Russian VK, the Facebook equivalent of the Russian-speaking space, an area where Pinoy teen stars (and their loveteams) have become  hot pop idols of late.

MY DESTINY next on KTN Kenya

The successful run of the Pinoy teleserye Forevermore, starring the Lizquen loveteam of Liza Soberano & Enrique Gil, just ended & a new teleserye will be shown as its replacement on the Kenyan TV station KTN starting November 2. Same primetime slot at 6 PM.

My Destiny stars Carla Abellana & Tom Rodriguez.

At 10 AM in the same channel is the re-run of another teleserye Two Wives. It was previously shown last year on the same primetime slot alloted to first-run Pinoy teleseryes on KTN.

Pinoy teleseryes continue to shine brightly in Africa.

GOOD-LOOKING NEWCOMERS: Tanner Mata of Pinoy Big Brother

 It's a holiday but I suddenly received a "shrieking" call from my gay professor friend. He didn't see a ghost, he was just excited He was blabbering, finally the new faces he saw on TV were worth his time. This one looked like Superman.

Tanner should be given a more boy-next-door packaging though. More non-chalance, & not the contrived posturing of a model, which he was before he was discovered, so he must shed off some mannerisms fast. He might be sending the wrong messages, & that would be the worst news to my friend. Handled right, Pinoy showbiz will look light years cuter with him around.

THE 6th MISS INTERNATIONAL TITLE FOR THE PHILIPPINES: Kylie Versoza is Miss International 2016

The Philippines has just won its 6th Miss International title in Tokyo. Miss Philippines-International 2016 Kylie Versoza is bringing home the crown, the latest in a now rather long list of victories in international beauty contests by Pinay representatives. The various Pinay Misses dislodged the Venezuelans last year as the powerhouse winners of international beauty contests when they won the most crowns. It appears the Philippines will repeat the feat this year: so far, the Philippines has won 4 in 5 contests this year (winning 4 crowns: Miss Asia, Miss United Continents, Mrs. Grandma Universe and Miss International, & getting the first runner-up in the 5th: Miss Grand International) and that, even before the beauty pageant season has started in earnest. 

Asian elegance, Latin sex appeal. The Filipina beauty for you.

After the successful showing of FOREVERMORE, DOLCE AMORE opens on November 5 on Startimes Novela E1

There are new sets of Pinoy stars who have become big in Africa. The earlier ones like Kristine Hermosa & Jericho Rosales of the original Pangako Sa Yo & Marian Rivera of  Marimar fame led the way. Now, the younger ones like the loveteam Lizquen composed of Enrique Gil & Liza Soberano  are getting the much-deserved attention. After the successful showing of their first teleserye Forevermore early part of this year, their second, Dolce Amore, is set to start on November on Startimes Novela E1.

Startimes covers the African countries of Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Republic of Central Africa, Guinea & Kenya.

Pinoy actor LEO CONSUL in an Indonesian sinetron "CINTA YANG TERTUKAR"

Leo Consul went to Indonesia in 2014 as an English teacher but his singing talent was soon immediately discovered, which led him to explore the possibilities of the Indonesian entertainment industry. He was soon hired as a host for the Indonesian version of the Pinoy noontime show Eat Bulaga for a year, after which he left to try to enlarge his footprint in the industry. After a few more TV shows, he finally landed the leading role in an Indonesian sinetron (telenovela), Cinta Yang Tertukar, with his rumored lover, Indonesian actress Yuki Kato. It is still shown at the Indonesian channel SCTV.

He sings the theme song below, upper video.

MOVIE THEME SONG OF "The Escort": No Ordinary Love - LOVI POE

MOVIE TRAILER: "The Escort" Starring LOVI POE

SCANDAL!!! Part 7: Getting Close To The Nitty-Gritty: SO... WHY DID THEY DO WHAT THEY HAD TO DO?

Upon the prodding (teasing, actually) of a Spanish friend, this blog started as a minor cheerleading squad for the Pinoy teen stars who were supposedly just starting to be noticed then but actually already eclipsing the usual fare in the supposedly-pirate Asiatic film websites (we now know these are just masquerading as pirate sites, they are actually propaganda sites). It was fun reading young fans complain they were "tired of watching" the old usual faces and that the Pinoy teen stars were a "relief". Little did we know that we would witness the blatant sabotage done on the Pinoy teen stars and their films. Diary ng Panget immediately became a hit when it came out on October 2014 and all the pirated Pinoy films received a boost, but it was the teen stars that really led the attack, with She's Dating the Gangster sustaining the Pinoy teen upsurge well into 2015. By February 2015, the requests for the second film of the Jadine loveteam, Talk Back And You're Dead, were started to be deleted in a Spanish site, Cineasiaenlinea. The requests for the film continued in the Comments section for Diary Ng Panget however... until all of a sudden, all the Comments, including the glowing reviews of the latter film, were summarily deleted in the end of February (Read SCANDAL!!! PART 2). The sabotage was not limited to the aforementioned website but in other big Spanish-speaking pirate sites (We would soon discover it's not limited in the Spanish blogosphere, either). Signs of desperation, from any measure.

CHUYỆN TÌNH NÀNG TIÊN CÁ/DYESEBEL opens on SNTV Vietnam

GMA must be jumping with joy, it has sold a teleserye again. Or is this a re-issue? This teleserye was released on 2008 yet. But it stars regional stars Marian Rivera & Dingdong Dantes. Marian Rivera is the biggest Pinay star in many geographic areas of the world like Africa & Indochina. To its credit, GMA knows how to produce stunningly beautiful stars. I wonder why they keep destroying the view with the low-rating kdramas they keep on inserting. Needless Halloween views as a result.

Anyway, another good news for Pinoy teleserye.

LA PROMESA Capitulo 3: Staking Virtually Virgin Territory

For more than a week now, the Peruvians were the biggest readers of the blog. They were searching for "La Promesa serie filipina" or "... novela filipina". When the teleserye was first shown at Panamericana TV in Peru on September 22, our Peruvian readers were only still searching for news about "Puentes de Amor", the first teleserye shown there. It seemed nobody there was aware that a new Pinoy teleserye "La Promesa" was already showing.

The Latin American distributor, 7A Media, posted the first 3 episodes on Youtube about a week ago, together with a few press releases, & that apparently made the people finally aware. We're featuring the third one to support promotions.

Also noticeable was the lack of video clips of the teleserye in the usual telenovela sites which featured Puentes de amor promptly before, a first for an Asian drama (Korean dramas are featured in Asian-only pirate sites which apparently are their own propaganda outlets- however, the Koreans still have dwelt in the bottom of the Peruvian TV ratings for a decade up to now despite the special propaganda sites, confirming the actual resistance of the market to them). The Spanish-speaking telenovela sites led to the upward ascent in the awareness scale of the first teleserye to be shown in Latin America which lifted its ratings later on, confirming the market is receptive to teleserye if properly cultivated. Pinoy teleseryes are still a novelty in Latin America, as proved by the initial low ratings of La Promesa. Protection of copyrights might not be wise when one is still virtually an unknown in an area. We still need to pump prime awareness in virgin territories, more now that we are already aware of a fierce regional competitor which tries to sabotage in so many ways.

Marco Gallo: Somebody's Il Bambino

This post is sort of a force majeure. My gay professor friend was beside himself, he cried he might not be seeing the twink Marco Gallo's face again, his bambino. He was allegedly booted out by the "uglies & wa K". I don't have coverage of  Pinoy Big Brother ever since my teenage assistant enrolled in college so I was totally ignorant of the going-ons there, but here I had my otherwise "respectable" friend imploring me to feature his bambino. I couldn't refuse, could I?

Oh, the kid has the makings of a matinee idol, I bet we'll see lots of him yet. So, the fans better relax...

Gerphil Flores does "Dust in the Wind"

I was planning to post another when I opened one of the emails that clutttered my inbox and clicked the link sent by a friend. Do you remember the Pinay soprano singer who stole the limelight of the one & only (so far) Asia's Got Talent last year? She's got this beautiful interpretation of a classic song.

So ...Catriona Gray is indeed Miss Philippines World 2016

A few months ago, there was this video done by a Latin American (?) which in a way predicted that the next Miss Philippines World would be the model Catriona Gray (the first video). I've already done a draft of an article featuring the prediction, even preparing a collage of the best poses of the girl (collage above), but for some reason, I forgot to post it.

  It turned out the prediction was right. She indeed won. Catriona will be the representative of the Philippines to this year's Miss World competition.

I was scanning my drafts when I saw the missed file. Better late than never. The second video shows the coronation.

"One True Love" shown on October 14 at My TV Africa (all Subsaharan African countries except South Africa)

I'm on travel and the internet connection sucked. I usually allot 10 minutes sneak time to post my articles via my smartphone but my attempts the past days were really a struggle, be it via Wi-Fi or LTE. Sorry for the missed posts.

Anyway, we have here an encouraging news from GMA, the second TV broadcast station of the Philippines. It sold a teleserye starring Alden Richards & it's going to be aired on My TV Africa on October 14. I criticized GMA before for undermining the world-class Pinoy capacity to produce teleseryes by continuing to ply low-rating Korean dramas, acting like the Peruvian Panamericana TV of the Philippines (Panamericana showed kdramas for 10 years though they were perennially at the bottom of the Peruvian ratings lorded over by telenovelas from Mexico, Peru, Turkey, Colombia & the Philipines, but it was a low-rating station generally which needed other sources of income, while GMA should have had more self-respect because it was supposed to be in a higher class- its shows could still rate rather highly). But we'll continue to encourage so it can outgrow its inferiority complex (and help some Pinoys outgrow their liit ng tingin sa sarili) and join in strengthening the Pinoy brand- because teleseryes have only one brand- Pinoy.

"La Promesa" Capitulo 2: How To Silently Show A Teleserye

A sign that it was barely publicized, it is only now that the Peruvians have started arriving to the blog searching for "La Promesa serie filipina". For the last two days, the Peruvians have been the biggest readers of this blog. It started when the Latin American distributor released a few press releases   and posted a few episodes (at least 3) on Youtube five days ago. The dearth of publicity around the showing of the teleserye on September 22 from the usual outlets that release publicity materials from the Panamericana station of Peru was puzzling.

It should be remembered that when the first teaser of the teleserye was first shown just after the end of showing of  Pinoy teleserye "Puentes de amor" a few months ago, the alleged "avid fans" of the perennially low-rating South Korean dramas protested and for strange reason, bashed Pinoy teleseryes. The Peruvian authorities probably are still not aware of the usual modus operandi of the alleged South Korean "fans" in other countries where they also have low-ratings, like the Philippines, where they hold manufactured noise to pretend a  fandom to exert pressure. My professor friend suspected the usual Panamericana outlets were subsequently stymied in publicizing "La Promesa" online because they apparently avoided the noisy pseudo-trolls. The initial copious publicity became scarce, especially that the teleserye's showing  had to be delayed because of the slow dubbing into Spanish. When it was time to show, I myself only became aware of its showing not from the usual publicity outlets used by the station but from a passing comment in a Peruvian forum.

There is another "La Promesa" series from Colombia, so that if one googles the title of the series, the one from Colombia is often returned. One has to emphasize it was the "serie filipina".

"La Promesa" Capitulo 1: Pilot Episode in Spanish

For those who are curious how the pilot episode of Pangako Sa Yo/La Promesa looks in Spanish. It is shown at 6 PM local time in the Peruvian station Panamericana TV.

Aqui esta el primero capitulo de la telenovela filipina La Promesa que actualmente se estrena en Peru.

PINOY TELESERYE IN NIGERIA: "Legal Wife", "Mara Clara" & "Be Careful With My Heart" open in Televista TV Channel 15 Nigeria, "Bridges of Love" showing on My TV Africa

WORLD FORCE IN CHOIR MUSIC: Around the World with "Rosas Pandan"

Let's celebrate Pinoy music today. Not only are Pinoy singers winning reality singing competitions around the world- they have won twice in Australia, also in Germany, Austria, Vietnam, etc. Not only singers of Pinoy descent are big names in world pop music- Bruno Mars, Enrique Iglesias, Nicole Scherzinger, etc. Even in the choir music arena, Pinoy singers and music became major forces around the world. The Pinoy choir group Madrigal Singers regularly wins Choir competitions around the world, particularly the main competitions in Europe.

The rich Filipino musical tradition include great songs which became staple fares in choral concerts and competitions. Rosas Pandan is a Visayan song & it has become a favorite in choir concerts around the world. I chose a few clips showing various choral groups interpreting it.

Romania

Canada

US- Brown University

Russia- Moscow Boys' Choir
US- Purdue University
Spain
Turkey
France

Pinay wins the Vietnam Idol: Janice Buco AKA Janice Phuong

A Pinay does it again. From US to Europe, Pinoys have been winning reality singing competitions. Janice Buco (with screen name Janice Phuong) just won this year's Vietnam Idol.

Vietnam has been a good place for Philippine singers, actors & teleseryes.

On display in the video below was not only the vaunted singing prowess of Pinoys but their knack for languages. Janice Buco here speaks in perfect Vietnamese. She has lived in Vietnam for seven years, performing professionally at bars and clubs.

The full show:
 

INTERNATIONAL KATHNIEL: Viet Subtitles of a Kathniel' Date Night video... Plus Iceland Memories

The country's top young loveteam, Kathniel, composed of Kathryn Bernardo & Daniel Padilla, was awarded the Face of the Year  for 2016 in Vietnam. Below is a Viet sub of one of their cute clips.


They recently did a magazine photoshoot in Iceland.

Meanwhile, five days ago, their latest film, BARCELONA A Love Untold" (filmed in... where else, Barcelona, Spain) reached PHP 200 million in the box-office in 12 days (not including international sales).