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).

EMMY AWARDS 2016: Jodi Sta. Maria nominated for Best Actress for "Pangako Sa Yo/The Promise/La Promesa" and "Bridges of Love/Puentes de Amor" nominated for Best Telenovela

Not only are Pinoy teleseryes getting high ratings from its mostly primetime slots in many countries in many continents, they are getting the critical accolades too.

Jodi Sta. Maria was nominated for Best Actress for her role in the teleserye Pangako Sa Yo/The Promise/La Promesa. She will be vying against  UK.'s Judi Dench ("Roald Dahl's Esio Trot"), Brazil's Grazi Massafera ("Verdades Secretas") and Germany's Christiane Paul ("Unterm Radar").

Meanwhile, the teleserye Bridges of Love/Puentes de Amor (the first teleserye shown in Latin America) was nominated for Best Telenovela, vying against entries from Brazil: A Regra de Jogo by Globo TV and Verdades Secretas, also by Globo TV, and from Canada, 30 Vies by Ici Radio-Canada.

"BRIDGES OF LOVE" opens in Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Zambia, Malawi, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Malawi, Namibia, Senegal, Seychelles, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Togo, Zimbabwe

After successful runs on free-to-air TV in Kenya & Peru (where it was released as Puentes de Amor), Bridges of Love is now showing at My TV Africa, available to all Subsaharan African countries except South Africa (where Pinoy teleseryes are serialized on free-to-air TV when they are shown there).

The teleserye has just been nominated for Best Telenovela in the International Emmy Awards, vying against Verdades Secretas & A Regra de Jogo of Brazil & 30 Vies of Canada.

My TV Africa is available in these countries:

BOTSWANA

BURKINA FASO

CAMEROON

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

EQUATORIAL GUINEA

ETHIOPIA

GHANA

MALAWI

NAMIBIA

NIGERIA

OTHERS

SENEGAL

SEYCHELLES

SIERRA LEONE

TANZANIA

TOGO

ZAMBIA

ZIMBABWE

Desde Guayaquil, Ecuador: La Nueva Miss United Continents 2016 es Jeslyn Santos de Filipinas

SUB ESPAÑOL: Fast Talk With JaDine

Scattered around the world are fan clubs of Pinoy love teams. The fan clubs sprouted mainly due to the sheer star appeal of the Pinoy young stars.  The mere sight of the movies and teleseryes of these young stars and even without concerted effort to entice them to form fan clubs, the Pinoy loveteams suddenly became the instant objects of fandom in many parts of the world.

They also became objects of sabotage as a result. Some trying hard Asian wannabes have been deploying a vast & expensive propaganda network to pretend they were popular, but unfortunately they didn't look the part so they met little success. They didn't like that the  Pinoy young stars suddenly became resurgent without much effort and soon they sabotaged the hapless Pinoys instead.

The JaDine loveteam composed of James Reid and Nadine Lustre became the first Pinoy loveteam to shine in the Spanish-speaking world when their film Diary ng Panget became a hit in the Asiatic pirate film sites in 2014. They were also the first to be sabotaged and we tackled this in a series of articles. Read SCANDALS below the headbar & Tales of SABOTAGE at the sidebar for the details (& the identity of the culprits).

One of the fan groups that formed was a certain JADINE SPANISH. They subtitled into Spanish many of the film clips featuring the JaDine loveteam. I picked one.

"BARCELONA A Love Untold": Trailer with Vietnamese Subtitles

The latest film of the Kathniel loveteam composed of Kathryn Bernardo & Daniel Padilla is a certified blockbuster hit, reportedly earning PHP 130 million in its first 5 days. It has already started its international run in many countries, though there are still no reports that the film will be shown in Vietnam. Last year, Kathniel won the Foreign Stars of the Year Award in Vietnam, and their Vietnamese fans are actually very active in the social media. In fact, proof of their eagerness, these Kathniel fans have already subtitled all on their own the trailer of the movie.