"Dolce Amore" Trailer 1: Liza Soberano is Serena

Teejay Marquez, Below-The-Radar International Fame

UPDATE: Checking the sources of my audience always brings a nice surprise. Our number 1 country for the last two days was not the Philippines nor the US. It was Indonesia. And they were all clicking on this post which was first published last June 26, 2015. Unfortunately I discovered all the videos were taken down. It's easy to look for substitutes however, that's how popular Teejay Marquez' dubmash videos have become. I posted more, thus the repost.

 Teejay Marquez is apparently already creating some ripple at  the start of his 3-month foray in our neighbor down south. He has appeared in many programs on Indonesian TV (Rumpi No Secret , INI Talk Show, etc.), did a magazine photoshoot, attended some showbiz parties & got photographed with certain Indonesian personalities.

June 26, 2015 - I often read my news in other languages to keep abreast with the many languages that I had the chutzpah to learn. A year ago, imagine my surprise when I chanced upon an Indonesian blogpost about the fan club of a Pinoy actor whose name I haven't even heard of then. It was called 

Teejaynatics and they were busy fundraising to finance his trip to Indonesia (which they ultimately accomplished & he went to visit them). To gather material for this blog, I had to spread my reading to more countries and while researching other artists,  my surprise only grew: I inadvertently discovered he has fans in  Vietnam, Malaysia, India, Thailand, and even Russia. In fact, he was included as one of the ten best-looking Pinoy actors by an Indonesian magazine website. Star power in action here, & I don't even know the star. How can one become a star in the Philippines? To tell you the truth, despite the many Pinoy movies and teleseryes shown outside, both pirated and legal, only a few Pinoy stars really stood out, that's how lackluster most of the stars churned out here in recent years despite the hype spinned around them. While we're winning all those international beauty titles, the stars of our silver screen became more and more ordinary, just as the stars of our neighbors looked more & more like the Pinoy stars of yesteryears (Thailand, which was never under Western occupation has practically replaced its superstars line-up with Western hybrids). For two decades of teleseryes, only Kristine Hermosa & Marian Rivera really created a big impact outside  (but what an impact!). It took James Reid only last year to pull the attention of the world towards the Pinoy teen stars, and fortunately, the teen stars were pretty & cute this time (a few years earlier during Jolina's time & I'm pretty sure it would have been a dud). We have a deep bench of beautiful people, deeper than our neighbors, but I wonder why the worms even reach the spotlight. Perennial Pinoy masochism? Pinoys always find a reason to sabotage their main assets...

Teejay Marquez created ripples outside just by being cute in his Youtube clips. I wonder how big the wave would be if he had a proper break. In the latest twist of his below-the-radar fame, 3 of his so-called Dubmash compilations are getting viral, pushed from 3 directions: first from the Russian Post-Soviet space (where he got hitched with the current preoccupation with Pinoy teen stars engendered by pirated teen films and the television showing in Kazakhstan of Forevermore), the middle from Vietnam (which like Malaysia, is an avid follower of Pinoy showbiz) & the bottom from India.(NOTE: For some dubious reasons, all those clips disappeared from Youtube at the same time. But Teejay has so many fans that it's easy to look for reolacements)

For the record, in an interview in a Malaysian website, he claimed not having foreign blood. That's Pinoy for you: the mixing of blood among the races happened through the centuries you only know  it's gotta be Asian.

Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach || Grand Homecoming Parade

ANBIE, He is 6'4, She is 4'8": "THAT'S MY AMBOY"

I have to admit I was a little bit taken aback when a friend called out my attention to this loveteam. It definitely grabbed my attention. We have here a 6'4" Andre Paras & a 4'8" Barbie Forteza and they apparently just came fresh from a long-running (two-years) afternoon teleserye called The Half Sisters. Aha, they already have a track record. Pronto they were paired anew- for primetime this time. And what do you know, I can actually see a particularly interesting  chemistry  between the two in a romantic comedy. What do you think?

The improbables are working loads for GMA: the seemingly unlikely Gabby Concepcion-Carla Abellana tandem is working its magic with many. After the hugely-successful ALDUB team-up, it appears GMA has finally gotten the groove of creating interesting tandems.

EVEN GRANDMAS ARE HOT IN THE PHILIPPINES: Filipina Babylyn Decena Newfield is Mrs. Grandma Universal 2016

The Philippines dominated the world's beauty contests last year, winning 6 of the titles, the most for any country for 2015.

 2016 started very right. Celebrating Pinay beauty at any age has now become a tradition. Filipina grandma Babylyn Decena Newfield just won the title of Mrs. Grandma Universal 2016 in Sofia, Bulgaria..

It has been a weekend of celebration of Pinay beauty. Just as the Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach arrived for her homecoming, the Grandma version also arrived a couple of days later.

HOT NEW LOVETEAMS TO WATCH FOR 2016?

I asked five of my female friends who they think among certain new loveteams will shine in 2016.  Like me, they only got hooked on Pinoy films last year. All are well-educated successful professionals so not the typical showbiz hags, their choices were most likely well-considered more from logical parameters because their mental faculties normally work that way. Actually, I gave them a choice of 10 pairs. Just for variety, I juggled the pairings of the established loveteams on top of the new ones being groomed by the studios.  These were the Top 3, from the top, the Number 3, down to Number 1.

Elmo Magalona & Janella Salvador

Mark Neumann & Shy Carlos

James Reid & Julia Barreto

Teleserye Teasers: DOLCE AMORE Starring LIZQUEN

THEY ALSO SCREAM THERE, DON'T THEY?: Teejay Marquez on Indonesian TV

Well, he may not still be too well-known in the Philippines, but Pinoy actor Teejay Marquez is surely wowing them abroad. The power of his popular dubmash videos has brought him so much international popularity it landed him on Indonesian TV. Note the screaming- so not only Kathniel, Lizquen & Jadine fans in the Philippines know how to scream. They certainly do it too in Indonesia.

Махаббат... Ғажайып... Сенім.../ JUST THE WAY YOU ARE: Another Lizquen film shown in Kazakhstan

From the looks of it, the Kazakhs will get to watch all the Lizquen movies. They actually started from the very first pairing of Enrique Gil & Liza Soberano in "She's The One" when the monicker "Lizquen" was not still the hot buzz like it is today. Then they watched the first full-length film of the loveteam last January 14. Lucky Kazakh fans!

"Everyday I Love You" next?

(NOTE: There are reports the video below is erratic in showing up with Chrome, you can use Edge or Firefox: the trailer dubbed in Kazakh was extracted from the Russian VK which unfortunately is now a banned domain outside their sphere so we can't do simple video embedding. I've uploaded a copy of the video into Blogger but unlike other uploaded videos, this one is erratic in making its appearance)
(NOTE: Even with Edge, it can't be accessed now, unlike before. This side story is turning out to be interesting too)

TALKING THE TALK: Teejay Marquez on INI TALK SHOW in Indonesia

Please look at the sidebar: Yesterday, one of our posts on Teejay Marquez jumped to the 10th position in our  All-Time Most Popular Posts List. Tonight,  it just jumped to the 9th.

He must have made made many fans in Indonesia because the Indonesians have topped the readership of this blog this week.

A Tausog Star In Malaysia: Wawa Zainal

Pinoys are mostly clueless to their neighbors down south but there's actually some very interesting  coincidences: the areas adjacent to the Philippines are hailed as sources of the best-looking girls in our neighboring Malay countries. In Indonesia, the Northern Sulawesi area just below Davao is traditionally known for the Latin-tinged beauty of the people & is a source of many beautiful Indonesian celebrities (it was formerly a Spanish outpost before it was transferred to the Dutch colonizers so the people had the same mestizaje like in the Philippines; morever, its Minahasan language, unique among Indonesian languages, is part of the Philippine family of languages, & it was interesting to read in my research  while doing this post that the Minahasans, the name of the people, believe they look more like Filipinos (In Indonesia, a Minahasan descent is popularly called Manado, taken from name of the biggest city in Northern Sulawesi).
Meanwhile, in Malaysia, Sabah just below Mindanao is also known in Malaysia for its beautiful girls. A big part of the population, nearly a third, are migrant Filipinos

dispersed by the war in Mindanao, most of them Tausogs, Samas & Chavacanos. One of the brightest young stars of Malaysia before she got involved in a controversy way back in 2013 with her now husband, actor Aeril Zafrel, was Wawa Zainal from Lahad Datu, Sabah, with a Filipina Tausog mother & Brunei-Badjao father.

Watch Wawa & Aeril in the video below.

Trailer "Girlfriend For Hire"

MORE PHOTOS OF KATHNIEL FROM VIETNAM: Best Foreign Actor & Actress for 2015

2015 ended with a big bang for Pinoy young stars- the top loveteam, Kathniel, made so much an impression in Vietnam thet they were given the Face of the Year Awards for the Best Foreign Actor & Actress for 2015. Below are some more images from the said event:

World Pinoy Pop Classic "ANAK" in Various Languages

This 1978 original song by Pinoy legend Freddie Aguilar was recorded in 27 languages, about a hundred versions in 56 countries  & sold about 30 million copies. The original Tagalog version topped the Billboard charts in the US, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Japan, etc. Proof that great music is universal no matter the language of the lyrics.

I chanced a friend watching it in his computer while we were hanging out in a coffee shop. I got curious of its versions in other languages.

You can watch selected versions in other languages below:

"FOREVERMORE" in Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya & Zambia: From Southeast to Central Asia, Lizquen has spread its wings to Africa

Every now & then, I check the country distribution of my readers. Imagine my surprise when there were two African countries in my Top 5. Kenya was glued at Number 3 since last year (after the Marian Rivera-starrer "Carmela", the Maja Salvador teleserye "Bridges of Love" is showing there now, among others I'll mention below) but Number 4 was a new one- Nigeria, the largest country in Africa. They were clicking the Lizquen posts. I guessed right away, "Forevermore" must be showing there already. Indeed, StarTimes Nigeria is showing it at its #STNovela E1 platform Monday-Thursday at 6:50 PM local time and it's hot.

I was slow catching this one. But no problem- I kinda find it fun that the fans from a particular country would alert  me themselves when they started clicking on my blog. What's more fun was the keyword that they used in reaching this blog- it was "Lizquen". That means, Lizquen has really gone places. Needless to say,,,

 Forevermore is at StarSat Television Zambia Channel 127 Mon-Thur 19:50 local time. In Uganda: StarTimes Uganda E1 053, Mon-Thu 8 PM local time. In Kenya: StarTimes Kenya E1 053, Mon-Thu 8 PM local time. All Primetime.
Another Enrique Gil teleserye is showing at StarTimes Kenya, If Only (Mulng Buksan Ng Puso), Mon-Fri Central African Time at E1 053.

Kathniel in VietNam: KATHNIEL FACE OF THE YEAR AWARD Best Foreign Actor & Actress

So the Dubmash hero Kenneth Earl Medrano is already a Teleserye actor

Take a look at the sidebar & you'll see that Number 7 in our All-time Most Popular posts is the Cebu guy whose popular Dubmash clips last year  first led him to the public eye. Then he won the 'That's My Bae" competition in a local TV show. Our post on him first appeared during the competition itself but his post received steadily  accelerating clicks since then. It was one of the 3 most popular posts in the last months of 2015 well into early 2016 (the other consistently popular posts were that of Arci Munoz, currently Number 1 in our list, and that of Ellen Adarna, currently Number 3). Apparently, Kenneth has upped further the ante- he's now a teleserye actor at GMA. Good for them, they have a new star who really looked like a star. Judge for yourself from the clips below how he's faring.

THE MOST DOWNLOADED PHOTO IN OUR BLOG: Arci Muñoz

TASTE STORY: Pia has a crush on James Franco....James replied "I Love The Philippines!"

Well, Pia Wurtzbach has taste. When she mentioned in a US TV show interview that James Franco is one of her celebrity crushes (the other two were Seth Rogen & Channing Tatum), James Franco immediately posted the above pic in his Instagram, with the caption: "I love the Philippines!" Needless to say, James Franco also has taste.

The "PINOY BLONDE GLUTATHIONE" Look: "Idoru's"

1. At first glance, it looks like the modernized Kabuki look of the Japanese idoru's (idols), but this is actually what I call the "Pinoy Blonde Glutathione" look. We had this former maid who went to work as a nanny in Europe but when she returned for a vacation, she came to visit and I nearly didn't recognize her because she was definitely fair-skinned already and her long hair was blonde. I won't say they look exactly alike, they might get mad.

We know it's not Japanese because the Japanese prefer their idoru's to have small, thin faces, in contrast to the more pronounced moon-facies of mainland Northeast Asian artists (though Ayumi Yamasaki's face expanded as she got older). I am not really a fan of this look, especially when adapted by boys, a look trailblazed by the boys of Johnny Kitagawa (collectively known in Japan as Johnny's boys), a Los Angeles-native transplant in Tokyo who changed the Japanese pop boy look, which was eventually adapted by all the other Northeast Asian boy bands. A Japanese friend said a social engineering "success" that neutered the sexual appeal of a group of people already snickered about in that department.

 Though I myself consider the Yayoi-Jomon mixture of Japan- without the stylized Kabuki make-up, that is- as the sexiest among the Northeast Asian Mongoloids.

 The song was nice, so was the video. I almost didn't believe it was done by Starmusic. Things must be moving there finally.

Yeng Constantino - Dance Without The Music (Official Music Video)

TRÁI TIM VÀNG: "Basahang Ginto" at Vietnam Today TV

Vietnam Today TV is showing the 2010 GMA teleserye Basahang Ginto starring a young-looking Carla Abellana & Geoff Eigenmann.

I love listening to Vietnamese-dubbed Pinoy teleseryes....

Pia Wurtzbach, Miss Universe 2015 LIVE on various US TV programs

Edward Benosa - Iingatan Ko (Official Music Video)

Well, nobody would dare suggest that the title of this song should be "The Constipation Song" like what happened in his previous video. But for a moment there, when I saw the initial shots, Edward's face was so contorted by strange wrenching emotions that I thought it was going to be about some toilet ritual again.... but thankfully, he was made to smile so much in time that I sighed with relief. No, it was not "The Constipation Song" all over again. My assistant suggested it should be 'The Pancake Song" instead but I  won't dare pretending to be an expert in what she called thick glistening make-up so let's just listen to the song.
It was a sweet ballad, actually.

Pia Wurtzbach has a Colombian twin, According to the Colombian press

According to the Colombian enetertainment press, Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach from the Philippines has a Colombian twin. Her name is Luz Elena Ramos, a journalist & TV host in the local Caracol Tv.

Well, it's easy to pick pictures where they look alike. Judge for yourself how similar their looks are from this video from one of Luz Elena's shows:

THE PHILIPPINES DOMINATED MOST OF THE WORLD'S BEAUTY PAGENTS FOR 2015, TOP WITH 6 WINS: Now, Even Pinay Politicians are being noticed.... Better believe it!

Lucy Torres Gomez turned out to be one of the extremely hot & beautiful female politicians of the world, according to Gabdig.com. Nothing surprising about that, one only has to have a pair of functioning eyes to verify that the Leyte Congresswoman is a looker.

 To be fair, this is not one of the usual "Top this, Top that" Lists. It's just a list of extremely hot and beautiful female pols who attracted the attention/research of the author. Of course, the fact that Lucy was noticed right away confirmed the power of her charms. She has always stood out.

The celebration of Pinay beauty has become a tradition worldwide. For 2015, the beauty of the Filipinas was dominant in most of the beauty contests worldwide. We won 6 titles last year, the most for a country. Just to complete your info:

Miss Universe 2015 winner in Las Vegas
Miss Earth 2015 winner back to back held in Vienna, Austria
Miss Globe 2015 winner held in Toronto, Canada
Tourism Queen 2015 winner in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Miss Scuba International 2015 winner held in Malaysia
Miss International Queen 2015 winner held in Thailand
Miss Grand International - 4th runner up in Thailand
Miss Heritage International - 1st runner-up (almost back to back)
Miss Global - 4th runner-up held in Philippines
Miss International 2015 - Top 10 held in Japan
Miss Supranational - Top 20 held in Poland

See the whole list of "8 Extremely Hot & Beautiful Female Politicians"  at Gabdig, click here 

"Жауын астындағы бойжеткен"/ "SHE'S THE ONE": Early Enrique Gil-Liza Soberano Film shown in Kazakhstan TV

The Enrique Gil-Liza Soberano fever is still hot in Kazakhstan. The Kazakhstani TV 31Kanal is still showing the 2013 Enrique Gil  teleserye Muling Buksan ang Puso, but it seems the Enrique Gil-Julia Montes was not enough to keep the fans of the Lizquen loveteam from hankering for more.

While waiting for their second teleserye, Dolce Amore, there was another option to keep the embers glowing. The 2013 pre-Forevermore  film, "She's the One, was dug up and shown about 3 days ago. It had Dingdong Dantes & Bea Alonzo as main leads but it was the first full-length appearance of Enrique & Liza together  and that surely made the fans happy.

For now. More options are on the way...

Th

Bailey May - Gusto Kita (Official Lyric Video)

TOP BOX-OFFICE HITS OF 2015: Preliminary List

Pinoy filmmaking was really flying high in 2015. To think I only started being interested in local films last year. The blockbusters were really big & it was really good riding the wave of its success. I can feel we aren't seeing the crest yet. Good looks & good stories, talent galore. Let's hope the focus won't be sidetracked this 2016.

We have here the preliminary list of the Top Box-office Hits of 2015 (figures in Philippine Peso):

1. A Second Chance - 556,000,000
2. Crazy Beautiful You- 322,000,000
3. A Love Affair - 300,000,000
4. Heneral Luna - 254,000,000
5. Felix Manalo - 226,000,000
6. You're My Boss - 210,000,000
7. The Breakup Playlist - 148,000,000
8. The Thing Called Tadhana - 134,000,000
9. Everyday I Love You - 103,715,000 (local)
10. Just The Way You Are - 100,000,000 (est)
      Ex with Benefits - 100,000,000 (est)

TRIVIA: A Second Chance is the top-grossing Pinoy film of all time.
               The popular young loveteam, Lizquen, only a year-old but has two films in the Top 10, Everyday I Love You & Just The Way You Are.
               The two films of Bea Alonzo in the Top 10, #1 A Second Chance & #3 A Love Affair, earned PHP 856,000,000.

HK DISNEYLAND ANNIVERSARY THEME SONG: Janella Salvador - Happily Ever After (Official Music Video)

"The Bitter Song" By Callalily LIVE

Cute Sexy 2016

2015  had a special icing... this blog. One of my resolutions is not to take as many vacations from this blog this 2016.

To those who have been following us, we all know it all started as "katuwaan" (fun, prank). Pinoy  showbiz might as well have been a buzz from outer space for me prior to 2015- but somehow, I found myself developing this child-like wonder in discovering a new world. Somehow, I confirmed Pinoy showbiz is one of the few obvious strengths of the Philippines because of some now-obvious reasons: 1) the East-West look of the Filipino doesn't require much learning curve to appreciate, Pinoy actors are really better-looking and more appealing than what one would normally expect from Far Eastern cinema, 2) the long history of film making in the country which started yet in the last years of the Spanish period, strengthened during the American era & blossomed even after Independence has so honed local expertise that Pinoy products are now well-appreciated in many parts of the world.

Reality check came accidentally. Suddenly I witnessed with my own eyes it was being sabotaged! Neglected by most people & "feeling small" as it was, why would a well-funded supposedly "successful" competitor even bother to sabotage it if it was inconsequential? It became clear to me that in its own quietly competent way & obviously beautiful looks, it is actually the biggest threat to delusions mostly borne out of unfortunate genetics. Bad genetics, particularly if  refractory to  desperate acrobatics of Plastic Surgery, is a bane to delusions in showbiz.

Well, nothing can be done about that, Plastic Surgery, like any human endeavor, obviously has its limits. We can be magnanimous though. Sabotage can't change genetics anyway.

I exposed some" scandals" along the way. Just read Scandals # 1-8. I now realized they are confirmations Pinoy showbiz has beautiful actors, and that it has come a long way.

Here's to a Cute & Sexy 2016. 

More Pia Wurtzbach, Miss Universe 2015, guestings on US TV programs

Full Trailer "Lumayo Ka Nga Sa Akin"

The Year of Janella: HAUNTED MANSION & BORN FOR YOU Trailers

Well, I've been very open about my admiration at the beauty of 17 year-old Janella Salvador. Her film "Haunted Mansion" was a surprise hit of last year's Metro Manila Filmfest (it is still going strong, ranking 4th in the boxoffice tally as of this writing, easily beating films of more veteran stars at her ABS-CBN home studio).

Box-office Gross (as of December 27, 2015 at 4PM)
1. My Bebe Love: #KiligPaMore - P159M
2. Beauty and the Bestie - P 131M
3. #Walang Forever - P 36M
4. Haunted Mansion - P 29M

Just as her first film with her erstwhile loveteam Marlo Mortel, grabbed attention, here comes the news she will have a new loveteam with Elmo Magalona in her forthcoming teleserye., "Born For You"..

A beautiful team-up, I must say. Pinoy loveteams just keep going from strength to strength.


Born For You Trade Trailer

Haunted Mansion Trailer

Miss Tourism Queen of the Year 2015 is PHILIPPINES Leren Mae Baustista

Well, a beautiful news after that long vacation. After a very Merry Christmas, we now have a very Happy- rather very Pretty- New Year. After winning a lot of those beauty contests in the  previous year, we have here a "pahabol" news- just before 2015 ended, another international beauty contest was won. Tourism Queen of the Year 2015, which was held in Kuala Lumpur,

Ms. Leren Mae Bautista, from Laguna, doing the honors this time, the third Filipina to win the title in its short history.

 Here we go again. I'm really getting  tired writing this, it is becoming a cliche: Asians are hotter in the Philippines.