HERMANAS/THE HALF-SISTERS: Believe it or not, for International Release...

I never really bothered to check this when it was still being shown in the Philippines. But I was so surprised, and delighted after watching the trailer, to learn now that it had a brillant plot: two girls born at the same time but from two ova fertilized by different sperms. Very original, just like the feral child in Cautiva/Hanggang Makita Kang Muli. I'm now really impressed by the storytellers of GMA.

Of course, not having watched it, I have no way of knowing how they developed the plot narrative. But it lasted for two years so it must have pushed the right buttons to lure idle homebound masses in its afternoon slot. It's now being marketed for international release. As can be seen from the trailer, the mother of the main protagonists, the still beautiful Jean Garcia, hogged most of the clips, as if the salesmen were hesitant to highlight the two main stars. I myself have reservations why the two actresses were  even discovered. GMA has mostly displayed a fine taste in  its stable of stars but the presence of not quite a few saling pusa really puzzles me. Why even bother? The two main protagonists could have passed in a comedy, but with such a spectacular plot, this teleserye could soar higher with more star-quality stars. We  see here the limitation of stars meant for a supposed clueless masa in the more discriminating international arena. There, good plots are wasted by looks that people won't be bothered with. Just look at the kdramas that actually tenaceously cling from the bottom of rating charts in most parts of the world despite the fake hossanas of the Korean propaganda which can never obfuscate their physical limitations.

VOLVERE POR TI/ONCE AGAIN: Will Somebody Buy It in Latin America?

Latin Media hit gold with Cautiva, the first Pinoy teleserye it sold in Latin America. Of the four teleseryes it tried to sell in the recent NATPE telenovela market in Miami Beach, USA (Hermanas/The Half Sisters, Volvere por ti/ Once Again, No me olvides/Someone To Watch Over Me and Cautiva/Hanggang Makita Kang Muli, the most in any of the country it was trying to market in said occasion), two have already been shown (No me olvides just opened in Peruvian 7 pm primetime while Cautiva went on to become the top-rating Asian telenovela earlier this year). Will the other two be finally sold?

Meanwhile, another Pinoy teleserye not included in the 4 but still marketed by Latin Media is set to open in Peru. It's Una nueva oportunidad (Second Chances) starring Jennilyn Mercado.

The Most Handsome Athlete in the 29th Southeast Asian Games is Pinoy Triathlon Gold Medalist Nikko Huelgas?

According to the Indonesian press, the most handsome athlete in the ongoing Asian Games is the Pinoy Triathlon Gold Medalist Nikko Huelgas.

 Now, we already know the Indonesians really have taste. From Pinoy dubmash amateurs which led to their discovery of Teejay Marquez who went on to do a movie & some sinetrons there, to the Kathniel loveteam (Daniel Padilla & Kathryn Bernardo) who reached the Number 5 slot in the Indonesian TV ratings chart with their international hit Pangako Sa Yo teleserye.

 And now, they sure have proved they have the eye for Pinoy sportsmen as well.

 The 26 year old Pinoy athlete won the Triathlon event in the 29th Asian Games being held in Kuala Lumpur. He also won the Gold Medal in the preceding Sea Games held in Singapore in 2015.

 The titles of the articles said it all:

 From Bolasport: Ganteng Maksimal inikah atlet paling tampan di Sea Games 2017 (Maximum Handsome, Here is the Most Handsome Athlete in the Sea Games 2017)

 From Rilis.Id: Gantengnya Nikko Huelgas Atlet Triatlon Filipina Bikin Wanita Meleleh (The Handsomeness of Pinoy Triathlon Athlete Nikko Huelgas makes women melt)

I found an old promotional video. He looks even better here than in the photos. 

A more recent one:

CAUTIVA/HANGGANG MAKITA KANG MULI next on OROMAR TV ECUADOR

The trailblazing of the highly-successful GMA telenovela Cautiva (Hanggang Makita Kang Muli) hasn't stopped. After becoming the most successful Asian telenovela in Peru, it is slated to be shown next in neighboring Ecuador. It will be broadcast by Oromar TV.

Cautiva stars the most popular (as it turned out) young loveteam of GMA, Derrick Monasterio & Bea Binene.

NO ME OLVIDES/ SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME opens Tuesday on Peru's Panamericana TV at 7 PM Lima time (8 AM Wednesday Manila time)

You can now watch the Spanish version of the GMA hit series Someone To Watch Over Me at 8 AM Manila time starting Wednesday (7 PM Tuesday Lima time) at the Panamericana TV website.

No me olvides (Forget Me Not in English) stars Lovi Poe & Tom Rodriguez. It is the second GMA teleserye to be shown in South America, & it has a challenging task ahead of it- that is, to surpass the record of the first GMA teleserye to be shown there, Cautiva, which went on to become the highest rating Asian telenovela ever to be shown in Peru.

No me olvides is the first of two GMA teleseryes which will open shortly on the same station. The other one is  Una nueva oportunidad (Second Chances), starring Jennilyn Mercado.

BIRDSHOT & SALVAGE: Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino Weekend Tales

I devoted the weekend in watching 2 films included in the ongoing Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino. I based my choice on the supposed quality of the films. Last Saturday, I watched the first, Mikhail Red's Birdshot, because I remembered reading not too long ago that it received a best Picture award somewhere (it turned out to be the Best Film of the Asian Future competition of the 29th Tokyo International Film Festival). On Sunday, the second, because of the supposed reputation of its director, Sherad Anthony Sanchez, whose films I still have to see. I love experimental films, I endured Raya Martin's Autohystoria (& that's a mean feat to anybody's book) but though I liked Birdshot, I lost patience with the second one midway & left the 6 people who shared the cold cinema with me.

  Birdshot's quiet laconic pace bored me for a while but the surprising texture of a rural Philippine film noir gripped me eventually. Salvage had no hook whatsoever to make me glued to my seat. Frankly, it turned me off so much I decided it was not really worth waiting for the supposed "surprising" climax. I was simply not interested anymore.

 After my experience with Salvage, I don't know if I will still risk watching any of the other entries. I might eventually but I'm still sweet-talking myself.


 Birdshot- directed by Mikhail Red
 

Salvage- directed by Sherad Anthony Sanchez

LA PROMESSE/PANGAKO SA YO sur STARTIMES NOVELA F Plus: OUI, KATHNIEL in French!

Africa, like Southeast Asia, was colonized by different Western powers, thus the people speak a hodge-podge of European languages. Not all parts speak English. In Western Africa, the French-speaking states, just like the English-speaking ones elsewhere in the continent, love the Pinoy teleseryes. The international hit Pangako Sa Yo has been dubbed into French for its run in French-speaking Africa.

Meanwhile on MyTV Africa: DOLCE AMORE on MyTV Africa; BE CAREFUL WITH MY HEART, THE PROMISE & BRIDGES OF LOVE on MyTV Series

MyTV Africa

While GMA has dominated in the number of new teleseryes being bought, ABS-CBN actually has more teleseryes being shown in Africa. Its big hits last year are recirculated many times in different channels in many countries in Africa, confirming their popularity. In 2 channels alone of MyTV Africa (which serve the whole Subsaharan area), they figure prominently in the programs.

MyTV Series

UNA NUEVA OPORTUNIDAD/SECOND CHANCES shortly on Panamericana TV Peru

The third GMA teleserye to be shown in South America after the rousing success early this year of the first,  Cautiva, which raked in the highest ratings ever for an Asian telenovela in that area. Opening next is the second one, No me olvides (Someone To Watch Over Me), followed muy pronto a little bit later by this Jennilyn Mercado starrer.

SA PILING NI NANAY/YSABEL showing on TV3 Malaysia

After Glamorosa of TV5, another GMA teleserye is showing on Malaysia's top free-to-air TV channel.

Ysabel stars Yasmien Kurdi-Soldevilla, Mark Herras.

I'LL NEVER SAY GOODBYE/MAGPAHANGGANG-WAKAS next on MyTV Africa

This time, it is the turn of ABS-CBN to jump with joy. Finally, it sold a new teleserye abroad after a relatively long-time deluge of new offerings from its local competitors, GMA & TV5!  

A close perusal of the list of new teleseryes sold in the teleserye international markets would reveal most of the new ones were almost monopolized by GMA since late last year (TV5 surprisingly maintained traction in Malaysia with titles like Glamorosa & Seduction). Last week, all the new teleseryes being shown in Africa, South America & Southeast Asia (except Burma) was a GMA teleserye. With the end of Memories of Love (Hiram na Alaala) in MyTV Africa, a ray of hope which would certainly melt ABS-CBN's heart finally dawned- it sold a new teleserye: Magpahanggang-Wakas (international title of I'LL NEVER SAY GOODBYE). It will be shown in most of Subsaharan Africa.

I'll Never Say Goodbye stars the sexy Arci Muñoz.

LỜI NGUYỀN KHỦNG KHIẾP / Ang Lihim ni Annasandra on VIETNAM TodayTV

NO ME OLVIDES/SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME next on Panamericana TV Peru

The first GMA teleserye to be shown in Peru, Cautiva/Hanggang Makita Kang Muli, became the most successful Asian telenovela to be shown in that part of the world.  It's now reportedly being negotiated to be shown soon in Ecuador, Bolivia & Uruguay. It's not a surprise that another GMA teleserye is being lined up to be shown by the same Peruvian channel which first showed Cautiva in the afternoon two months ago (surprisingly, they are currently reshowing it at a more primetime slot, at 7:00 PM, just a couple of months after the end of its first showing).

No me olvides/Someone to Watch Over Me stars Lovi Poe, Tom Rodriguez & Max Collins. The teleserye was a finalist in the New York Festivals World's Best TV & Films.

DERBEA/ The Top Asian Loveteam in Peru... DERRICK MONASTERIO & BEA BINENE

The GMA teleserye HANGGANG MAKITA KANG MULI (retitled as CAUTIVA in its Spanish version) created a sort of history in Peru. It only ended its first run last month but it was so successful that it became the highest rating Asian telenovela ever in that Latin American country (besting all the other Pinoy teleseryes shown there including the Kathniel-led La Promesa/Pangako Sa yo, but not only that, it also outclassed all the Korean dramas, including the much-ballyhoed just-concluded Descendants of the Sun which was stuck in the bottom of the Peruvian ratings chart,  like all the other kdramas which became the traditional bottom-dwellers of the Peruvian ratings chart, below all the other telenovelas, since they started appearing in that country. In a way, Cautiva & its main stars, Derrick Monasterio & Bea Binene became the flag bearers of Asia in Latin America.

Cautiva is not finished making history. Tomorrow (April 15, Peru time), just a month  after its first run, it will return again on the Peruvian small screen. Not in its former 4:00 PM slot but at the main primetime hour of 7:00 PM. No more the usual afternoon graveyard for Asian telenovelas, it has already been promoted to the Peruvian big leagues.

Below is a Peruvian fan-made video for Derbea.

NO WAY UNDER THE SHADOWS OF THE PINOYS: Upstaging the Fictitious Korean Wave in Peru... As always, Sabotage Galore?!

So, the hit Pinoy teleserye in Peru, Cautiva ended its run on Panamericana TV. It was able to maintain the record of all the previous teleseryes there- they all rated higher than the kdramas which have been hugging the bottom of the Peruvian ratings chart for nearly 15 years, tenaciously below all the other countries showing telenovela in Peru.  I posed the question in my last article: Would the Koreans, who for mysterious reasons were still being shown despite their long-standing bottom-hugging performance,  allow themselves to be under the shadows of the  resurgent Pinoys in the prime beachhead of the Korea Wave fiction in Latin America? I already documented here in this blog the many acts of sabotage done on Pinoy stars & films which inadvertently upstaged the fictitious Korean Wave along the way (Read starting from Sabotage #2 below the banner). Just as I suspected, they wouldn't allow themselves to be upstaged & thereby humiliated, be it in Peru or in the backwater Internet pirate sites . Events would consistently prove I was correct.

Very early in the journey of the Pinoy teleseryes in Peru, alleged "Kdrama fanatics" already trashed the arrival in Peru of the second teleserye, La Promesa, after the successful kdrama-busting run of the first, Puentes de amor- another mystery because both Pinoy & Korean novelas were  being shown on the same channel & at different times. More mysteries came: teleseryes from Abs-cbn disappeared (Puentes de amor & La Promesa all rated higher than the kdramas) & replaced by kdramas. Then Cautiva, which became the highest-rating novela at Panamericana TV to levels barely dreamed-of by the kdramas, ended today & will be replaced by another kdrama. Whatever mysterious reasons tied the Panamericana TV management to the unpopular kdramas were stronger than its ratings performance. The teleseryes, which brought unheard of ratings to the Panamericana afternoons, have disappeared from its screen.

Well, it's good to be vindicated. I was the guy who cried wolf, alone in accidentally  discovering two years ago the almost discrete sabotage done on a Pinoy teen film being shown in a pirate Asiatic film site (which turned out to be a propaganda site for the Korean Wave fiction). Given the unexpected resurgence of Pinoy stars & telenovelas in many countries,  I immediately suspected those desperate treacherous moves won't stop & bound to culminate into an open sabotage. The propaganda fiction of a Korea Wave doesn't allow any Asian to upstage the pretension (I actually think, delusion is the better word) of the Koreans.

I asked in a previous post: If they have proven to tenaciously cling no matter how unpopular they were just to continue with the motions of pretending there is a  Korea Wave in Peru, will they be willing to stay under the shadows of the now more popular Pinoys? We have the answer. Apparently they collected on their mysterious tie-up to the insiders at the Peruvian station & the lowest-rating telenovelas in Peru, the kdramas, will continue clinging in the bottom of their rating charts.

 Read the ff. to get a better grip on the topic:

 1. NOT FAKE CLAMOR: THE PROMISE/PANGAKO SA YO on Joy Prime Ghana

 2. CALM BEFORE THE STORM?: CAUTIVA rages in Peru... But why somebody might not be happy?

Read more: 

 1. UTO-UTO SYNDROME: The Folly of Philippine TV

 2. ESCAPING THE KOREAN ASIAN TRAP: Can LA PROMESA do a JANJIKU in Peru?

 3. KAPIT-TUKO KOREAN-STYLE: Anatomy of the Fake Fame & How To Cling Desperately (plus Tips on How To Mob an Unknown in an Airport)

4.   SABOTAGE OF PINOY TELESERYES IN PERU: Now we know why they are bitter & cruel (as if they weren't used to the lowest ratings. VERY "POPULAR KUNWARI" INDEED!!!)

NOT FAKE CLAMOR: THE PROMISE/PANGAKO SA YO on Joy Prime Ghana

Ok, we're back after a rather long hiatus. A quick look at what's happening in Africa and we have this. The Promise has been shown throughout Subsaharan Africa last year, but here we have the Ghanaians having second helpings from one of their prime networks.

Doing this blog made me learn many new things about international showbiz. One of them is that just because a series was shown didn't mean the market was asking for it. It was sobering to realize one can always "fake" the market.  It has always puzzled me why the Koreans have been showing for nearly 15 years in Peru when  they mostly hugged the bottom of the ratings charts, below the other telenovelas shown there which were mostly from Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Turkey & the Philippines. If "normal" shows were immediately axed for bad ratings, then there must be other extraneous reasons why one is impervious for the longest time to the normal course of things. As if we needed no ratings chart after all? (Well, the network wars are superfluous, after all?). Well, if these days "fake news" , "fake popularity", "fake etc." have become de rigueur, don't be surprised we can have fake everything...

What's good with The Promise is there's nothing fake why it's now showing again in Ghana. The series is popular in Africa.

CALM BEFORE THE STORM?: CAUTIVA rages in Peru... But why somebody might not be happy?

I am still on vacation but I couldn't resist writing this one. So how is the Pinoy teleserye Cautiva/Hanggang Makita Kang Muli faring in Peru? It has been battling the Turkish telenovela Elif which lorded over its time slot since the latter's  opening last year (the Turk slugged it out with another teleserye La Promesa/Pangako Sa Yo earlier, preventing the latter from scoring more than 3.5 points, blunting the what-could-have-been Kathniel upsurge in Peru ).  The other day, while Elif had 7.3 points, Cautiva had 4.6 points. Yesterday, Cautiva upped its score to 4.9, the highest score for a Pinoy teleserye, or Asian drama for that matter, in the Peruvian ratings chart. It is expected to go way past 5 points as its popularity gains.

This development has created an emergency (humiliating) situation to the other Asian being shown in Peru. The Koreans have been shown in Peru for nearly 15 years but they have been generally stuck at the bottom of the Peruvian charts, mainly getting 1-2 points rating, except when the Pinoy teleseryes arrived & the other Asian telenovelas were lifted slightly on the Pinoy's wake (2 kdramas were shown before the teleserye then in the same channel, Panamericana TV). The first Pinoy teleserye, Bridges of Love/Puentes de amor, shot up way past that, up to 4.4, very high rating for an afternoon telenovela then in Panamericana TV. The kdrama preceding it broke through its usual ratings on the wake of the teleserye's surprise success (though as always, still lower than everybody else  showing telenovelas in Peru- lower than the Mexicans, Brazilians, Peruvians, Turkish, Greeks, Filipinos). It was curious that when Puentes de amor ended, its timeslot of 5:30 pm was given to another kdrama, Mundos opuestos, that subsequently inherited its audience & became the highest-rating kdrama (though again, still low compared to everybody else). But soon enough, the kdramas returned again to their usual 1-2 points in the bottom of the ratings chart. The return of another teleserye, La Promesa/Pangako Sa Yo, proved once again that a teleserye will always rate higher than the kdramas. When La Promesa ended , its timeslot again was given to another kdrama, Amor secreto, which managed to retain the audience for a few episodes until it dived again to the usual nook of the kdramas at the bottom of the ratings. The third teleserye to be shown, Cautiva, caused more sensation, & as the strategy of the Koreans to duplicate Mundos opuestos failed, the lackluster track record of the Koreans became more obvious and the  Peruvian forums finally decided the Pinoys are performing better than the Koreans. Some were even openly commenting the Korean dramas be stopped altogether. Despite long years of being stuck at the bottom of the Peruvian charts, for whatever mysterious reasons, the Koreans were still being shown. And now they are being openly ridiculed. How will they cling on, as they have proven they would cling one way or the other just to pretend there is a Korean wave in areas which ignore them?

The blog has confirmed the so-called Korean wave outside East Asia is a propaganda fiction. The vast propaganda apparatus might be noisy in proclaiming the Koreans are very popular but the usual gauges used to detect audience acceptance proved they were practically ignored. The reality beyond the digital propaganda of questionable viewcounts and paid army of trolls is very much dismal. Their permanence at the bottom of the Peruvian ratings chart for nearly 15 years was probably first confirmed publicly in this blog (we also confirmed it in Indonesia & lots of other places). The reason they were being shown in Peru is certainly not due to audience acceptance, they were practically ignored. So why were they still being shown after that long-standing unpopularity?

 The tenacity to remain in Peru & everywhere else is simply amazing. But disquieting, because there lies the dark clouds. The blog also confirmed the forces behind the Koreans are not above sabotaging their competition, especially the Pinoys. This blog has annotated the series of sabotage done on Pinoy stars way back 2 years ago in the Sabotage series (read it below the banner or click Tales of SABOTAGE at the sidebar). The initial sabotage was on the surprise resurgence of Pinoy stars in the Spanish-speaking pirate sites. We discovered these pirate sites were actually designed to promote the Korean wave, using the pretense of promoting Asian artists. But when other Asian artists get hotter than the Korean artists, they were immediately cut down so as not to upstage the Koreans. The Pinoys were apparently pointedly sabotaged in Spanish-speaking sites because the Pinoys were naturals with a Spanish or a Latin American audience. As being proved in Peru right now. 

Could the initial sabotage on the Jadine loveteam when the film Diary ng Panget became big in the Spanish-speaking pirate sites in 2014 (read Sabotage #2) be  a portent? The first sabotage was apparently designed to blunt the connection of a target audience to a competition which has a cultural, & even physical, connection to such an audience. Now, that connection was made in the real world, far from the dark fringes of the pirate world. Worse, they are being humiliated in the real world. What is the next move of the Koreans? In fact, they already made the first move: when the second teleserye was announced after the success of the first, the familiar scene of alleged Korean fanatics noisily protesting exploded (a now-obvious tactic everywhere- despite their low ratings, their miniscule fans are prone to protest be it in Peru or anywhere, no matter how low their ratings are- which reminds me of coup plotter tactics or "terrorists", if you may- where a small group of people use protests- or "terror"- to get their way. Obviously, these people were working from the same script). If they have proven to tenaciously cling no matter how unpopular they were, will they be willing to stay under the shadows of the now more popular Pinoys?

Interesting times ahead in Peru.

Read also:

1. UTO-UTO SYNDROME: The Folly of Philippine TV

2. ESCAPING THE KOREAN ASIAN TRAP: Can LA PROMESA do a JANJIKU in Peru?

3. KAPIT-TUKO KOREAN-STYLE: Anatomy of the Fake Fame & How To Cling Desperately (plus Tips on How To Mob an Unknown in an Airport)

4. SABOTAGE OF PINOY TELESERYES IN PERU: Now we know why they are bitter & cruel (as if they weren't used to the lowest ratings. VERY "POPULAR KUNWARI" INDEED!!!)


NOTE: Somebody copied the comments from a previous article in the pic above into the Comments section, dividing it into 4 segments. Some complained they cluttered the Comments section below but it turned out, some can't make out the letters in the pic so I'm allowing the Comments for now. I get ideas from the Comments of each article & make my spin to them. This group of Comments nicely tackled the situation now developing in Peru.

CALLING ARCI, KIM & ELLEN! Penekula Revisited: BEWARE BED SINS (1985) Starring SARSI EMMANUELLE

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Teleserye Beyond Philippine Shores: DOLCE AMORE in MYANMAR

I guess this blog was successful in its mission. To highlight the upsurge of Pinoy showbiz outside the Philippines, with its young loveteams as spearhead. There is now a wider realization that not only are Pinoy young stars with their Latin-Asian looks, but Pinoy teleseryes in general, are making their mark in many parts of the world. That Pinoy teleserye in particular is one of the top telenovela products in the world, competing with the top heavyweights like the Mexican, Turkish & Indian in the major markets. The top Pinoy loveteams Kathniel, JaDine & LizQuen are no longer just adulated in the Philippines but in many countries beyond Philippine shores.

  Prior to this blog, everything was just anecdotal, and as so often happened with anecdotes, they just fluttered for a few moments before being immediately relegated to oblivion. I needed to keep a more organized record of what was then developing gingerly beyond our shores. Everything started when I accidentally noted the response to Pinoy young stars in the pirate sites. Being multi-lingual, I immediately decoded a new reality just developing, a genuine fan base born not out of a propaganda smoke machine or government intervention. I guess the innate inferiority complex of the Pinoy as a result of an  almost endemic economic & political  incompetence never even tickled  anybody to suspect of this possibility. But the reality was there & I just had to transition my blog from a prank to a celebration. We had the ingredients in the first place: an impressive cultural history which unfortunately never found enough confidence to assert itself, & natural multi-racial good looks which win over the disparate racial prejudice of various groups.

 I would like to think I helped in focusing everybody's attention and adjust to the new reality. I was the only one writing of what was happening on the teleseryes in Peru & everybody just invaded the Peruvian pages. Clearly, there is now a new confidence. Pinoy showbiz should no longer be the provincial entity relegated to the lower classes. It should strut according to its new status and relevance.

In Myanmar, the Pinoy loveteams are hot. The latest teleserye of the LizQuen loveteam of Enrique Gil & Liza Soberano is showing there after the successful run of their first teleserye Forevermore.

UTO-UTO SYNDROME: The Folly of Philippine TV

Our TV ratings in the Philippines is comedic in a big way. We have two big multinational rating agencies proclaiming completely different results. On one side, we have AGB Nielsen used by GMA, TV5, CNN Philippines, Net 25, etc while Kantar has Abs-Cbn on the other side. I often laughed at the schizophrenic reporting I read on some sites. One post now could be declaring that Abs-Cbn shows were leading, according to Kantar, while the next post would proclaim GMA dominating, according to Nielsen. The weird situation satisfies the caprice & need of everybody- but still, one wonders, what is the true picture?

Even while I was championing the Big 3 young loveteams of Abs-Cbn, I was always baffled by the station being watched in Manila: be it in a dentist office, a canteen, a government office, etc., it was always turned on on GMA. I mentioned before, even my mother's TV was stuck on GMA. I myself don't watch TV very much, I am mostly connected to the web. Well, except local news.

I mostly thought low of GMA because of how it allows itself to be made inferior by Korean shows (I actually like  GMANEWS TV, mostly it had no political agenda like it should be, but I was often disgusted by the ShopTV & Korean shows that clutter what could be the country's finest news  TV; it could be the most credible news station around, with interesting travel & food shows, without the unrelated clutter).

Lately, in my early evening runs, running 7 kilometers through 2 subdivisions, I was struck by the sound of TV along the way. Again, GMA. I turn around in a public market where I drink buko & eat some fruits for electrolytes, rest awhile & I would see a TV turned on. Encantadia. Alyas Robin Hood. I lambasted GMA before in previous posts because of its unnecessary subservience to Korean delusions, but if you have noticed, I couldn't help lately but feature more & more GMA stars. Its popularity gnawed at me. But somehow, there was a disconnect between the popularity of its shows and the relatively lackluster radiance of its stars. To be sure, the station has great-looking stars but somehow, their visibility in people's screens were not translated into a more radiant stardom. Instead of cluttering its screen with the Korean shows, it could have copied the propaganda methods of the Koreans instead, and presto, it could have had bigger stars because they were easier to sell with their superior looks compared to the plain-looking Koreans.

Encantadia & Alyas Robin Hood are a watershed for GMA. It is resurgent & apparently the ripples have unnerved the competition. Abs-Cbn's strategy has always been to clear its competitor's swamp: recruit its stars, now it has been reduced to competing for the superfluous Korean shows. Which had low ratings mostly so you wonder why they even figure now in the game; they might just be resurrected because they suddenly became the bone of contention so would have to be publicized heavily to become viable.

I expected more from Abs-Cbn because it was supposed to be bigger. I could cut GMA more slack because it was supposed to be weaker. But both forgot they were big powers in many areas of the world because of the teleserye.

For all the low self-regard of the Filipinos in their home grounds, they figure high in  international waters. The teleserye is one of the biggest telenovela products in the world, competing in many areas of the world...& wonder of wonders, it is bigger than the Korean drama series in all the areas where they meet head on. How could they have been fighting over a product whose claim to ratings just came from propaganda in the local arena? Now they just might be forced to participate in the propaganda so they can sell their folly. And in the process make bigger their competition.

They forgot they are helping sell their competition which has been sabotaging them as they tried to make headway into the world (read Tales of SABOTAGE at the sidebar). Will it stop sabotaging them considering it doesn't have their looks (despite their propaganda that they are the most beautiful Asian "according to Asian themselves", the looks are the biggest reason why the Koreans were the perennial bottom-dwellers in the Peruvian & other non-Mongoloid charts for a decade now)  and their successes despite the lack of a propaganda machine?

Pinoys lack appreciation of their strengths. It appears we are still at the easily impressionable hillbilly stage, and seeing our biggest broadcast stations acting like uto-utos from the boondocks is really baffling...

THE MOST BEAUTIFUL BWA HA HA HA HA LIST

Actually, I was not aware of this particular 2015 list.  Nobody bothered to take it seriously because it was so ridiculous. It was a day when the meaning of Beauty became synonymous with Comedy. Pity, nobody lingered to savor the joke. More out of revulsion? I only got to know it yesterday. The undermining of resurgent Pinoy teen stars are still ongoing like I described in the Scandals series though it evolved into subtler undermining tricks after it was first exposed in this blog: in a forum where some Pinay teen actresses were being lauded, this list was suddenly uploaded, clearly intended to undermine. As expected, the list turned into a laughingstock instead. Apparently, the list is still constantly recycled in the propaganda network of the villains: they most likely treated it as a propaganda coup, though it was practically useless because only a few bother with them anymore anyway. They don't have to admit it but they have simply become washed-up years ago. The only noise remaining comes from their propaganda outlets. For a special purpose?

The list of supposedly "most beautiful people" were dominated by ordinary-looking South Koreans so that promptly destroyed its credibility. There was no hassle because there were no subscribers or readers who would withdraw their membership for pure revulsion (For one, when I use lists in this blog,  I use only accountable ones from magazines or subscription websites where ridiculous lists can mean withdrawal of  subscriptions or membership altogether). It was a website like any website, but apparently it was handy for psy-op operations like this one. Needless to say, it failed to deliver .

I decided to write about this now because it appears the villains have upped the level of  their delusion. Inadvertently, the new developments suggested a bigger conspiracy which would need updating our understanding of this issue. The hallmarks of a tired playbook were there: say some truths but speak more lies that could be confused with the truths. Show some really beautiful faces and insert simple faces that must be confused as beautiful too. The gimmick has become hackneyed: the list was simply ignored (though even true beauties Kathryn Bernardo & Liza Soberano were used as supporting cast to give credibility to the charade).

In the usual conversations about beauty among friends where beautiful people is the favorite topic, Koreans still don't figure at all though their propaganda machine is rampant here. The list was actually hilarious: the houseboy-looking rocker was supposedly one among the "Top 10 most handsome in the world" though I couldn't find any among my female & gay friends who doesn't think he's ugly. Gigantic leap indeed from being ugly to the Top 10 Most Handsome in the world, that's hard to beat! The "most beautiful girl of the world" was just as ridiculous: she was not ugly but definitely looked out of place among the really beautiful ones in the list (and none among them were her countrywomen).
         
 The problem is that the more credible lists might be degraded by ridiculous lists such as this. Of course, we know this pseudo-affirmative gimmick has been done so many times before by pretentious campaigns that people are now jaded. Many, like me, laughed when they actually saw it. So did all my friends.

My college professor friend thinks the South Koreans are being used. The question is for what purpose?  I first thought that this was a simple pro-Mongoloid campaign but my  friend had a different take: This looks like a pro-Mongoloid campaign on the outside but the fact that the promotions done were lopsidedly in favor of the South Koreans over the Chinese & Japanese (who incidentally have far bigger markets & relatively more interesting culture & people) revealed  another story. Throwing some crumbs to the Chinese & Japanese  was just done to recruit them to a Mongoloid campaign which actually has its ultimate aim in their own denigration, especially to the Chinese, the main target. For example, China & Japan were given 4 slots each in this Top 100 list but 8 were given to the South Koreans. More critically,  they were made irrelevant in the international  promotion infrastructures given to the Koreans. For one, the Koreans were even allowed to use the illegal pirate sites for promotions  and we know who actually control these sites. The Korean promotion is to give them a headstart as the trendy & beautiful Mongoloid face of Asia, undercutting the ascendancy of the soft power potential of the resurgent Chinese, the feared cutural hegemon of the near future. An unorthodox  geopolitico-cultural war?

What do I think? Frankly, I couldn't care less. People have long seen through these tired social engineering  gimmicks. My only concern is that now that their perennially unrequited desire to be the most beautiful Asian is undercut by the popularity of the Cute Pinoys who became resurgent despite the lack of a propaganda machine, what will that make of the Cute Pinoys? More sabotage?

SCANDAL!!! PART 6: I Can Not Be Corrupted, Sorry! It Won't Be Fun Anymore so No Way

About 5 days ago (August 6, 2015), the figurehead of the propaganda front masquerading as fan club of Pinoy artists in the Post-Soviet space contacted me in my VK account and offered me to relieve him in his post. That in effect, I can become the new administrator AKA figurehead of their propaganda front whose lies I just began to document and expose (so far I exposed one in my blog & another one in my VK account). He admitted that at least 95% of what they were publishing were true (only 5% were lies?) but he claimed it was his companions who did those without his knowledge. I'm not judging him if what he's saying was true, he might have been actually used because it's de rigueur that propaganda fronts use innocent figureheads to pretend plausible deniability. Needless to say, I rejected him outright. Not out of any emotional reasons, but more on practical considerations. The propaganda front was established there for a particular reason and they are not to stop now. But the fact they were found out, documented and exposed has already produced the effect I was expecting: they have to make it appear they are not what they actually are and make good 100% in what they are doing. The Pinoy artists will only benefit for the meantime. In fact, I've toned down my VK account, limiting myself only to publicity of the Pinoy artists with films being shown in Kazakhstan and let them feature more Pinoy stars. I only do this for fun, but that's their career.

Above is part of the message of the Admin of the Fake Pinoy Group (We use direct Google translation  in order that I won't be accused of putting my own interpretation): "I have noticed that you are keen on Filipino culture, you do not want to become the administrator of the group? Will no longer be propaganda, and I will give all the control to you. I have very little free time"

 But of course, the 5% lies are what that front is about. It's just a matter of time, every animal has its own DNA which it has to act upon... but even then, we've been tipped off beforehand, we will be there waiting.

 Now, if they indeed had seen the light and reinvent their genes, so much the better. Anyway, their work is really puny in the scheme of things. The Pinoy artists have already made inroads that even the villains haven't achieved in that area, and Pinoys won't need them as much as they needed to piggyback on the Pinoys in the limelight. As we have shown, this front is used by the villains to capture the Pinoy fans as ready captive for South Korean propaganda (Scandal 4 & 5).

 With this latest turn of events, we saw how they really operate, but which I expected because that's the textbook procedures in counterpropaganda: coup d'etat at the top. Reminiscent of the move to turn in the stars who were the original target of the initial sabotage, or the blatant influence on admins of some local fan clubs.

 Frankly, I don't find the South Koreans as threats. They have very obvious deficiencies which are fatal roadblocks to their big ambition (Plastic Surgery has its limits, for one). It's actually funny that they were caught doing what they were not supposed to be doing (just like the politician being caught dipping his fingers to the pie: if he was not caught, nobody would have been the wiser). But these are mere hiccups if they want to set things right.

 As I mentioned, I made a deliberate decision to limit myself in my VK account on the stars with films shown in Kazakhstan (or any place in the world where they are hot, for that matter). That is now beginning to be felt on my blog. This blogging is supposed to be fun, and I find it more fun monitoring the inroads of the Pinoy stars in their international forays. So far, I find only few of our local stars as interesting and it would be more fun zeroing in on only those who are interesting.

 As to the question of James Reid, have I really turned my back after the Houseboy-looking Rocker incident? My change in tactic was just a coincidence. In the beginning, I fed mostly Jadine articles because I was always thinking of my South American readers, my initial international readers. Moreover, ever since I stoked a diversionary intrigue to deflect the blowback of the Para Sa Hopeless Romantic flop on the Jadine love team, readers have looked to this blog as a Jadine fanatic. Wrong, it was just that I saw some bad moves, and it was like instinctively saving a baby from being run over by a speeding car. But the fact that I was mostly featuring the team limited my audience. When I started featuring Lizquen, the deluge of the readers made me really think but I played it slow so as not to offend. Then I got my perfect alibi: the Houseboy-looking Rocker incident was a perfect time to shift gears. I actually received unsolicited emails which said they understood. Whatever they understood, I am not sure. If ever On The Wings Of Love is shown in Kazakhstan or anywhere else, I'll be promoting them again. The Houseboy-looking Rocker Incident didn't mean a thing: James Reid will still have his handsome face so that means the villain still lost. They sabotaged him because fans loved his handsome face in the first place.

ESCAPING THE KOREAN ASIAN TRAP: Can LA PROMESA do a JANJIKU in Peru?

So how is Pangako Sa 'Yo/ La Promesa faring in Peru?

Just recently, we were witness to a relatively lackluster start which ended in a skyrocketing finish of Pinoy teleserye Pangako Sa 'Yo/ Janjiku in Indonesia. In Peru, the teleserye has also started slow, will it finally pick up as it hurtles on to the finish line? In both cases, they were shown in relatively "un-stellar" channels. In Indonesia, the ascent of Pangako Sa 'Yo/ Janjiku created a wave that lifted the local channel shows to the top. Will the same thing be duplicated in Peru?

La Promesa is being shown in a station that is called by Peruvians as "cold antenna" (antenna fria)", just like TV5 in the Philippines. Panamericana TV generally fares low in the ratings. Just like MNCTV before in Indonesia in the beginning when  Janjiku was shown. But we saw later that as Janjiku rose up the Indonesian  charts in the homestretch, it took along with it to the top of the ratings the sinetron shown before it and the one shown after it (the former Ayu Ayu Anak Depok City & Untuk Selamanya for the latter). See first table where Ayu Anak Depok City was #7 while Untuk Selamanya reached # 14. It is not a surprise that both Ayu Anak Depok City & Untuk Selamanya dropped out of the Top 20 when Janjiku ended its run.

This phenomenon was also seen in Peru when the first Pinoy teleserye , Bridges of Love/Puentes de Amor, was shown. For almost a decade, South Korean dramas were shown in Peru but they were always at the bottom of the Peruvian rating charts, generally  earning 1-2 points as a matter of course  (hilariously, this perennial unpopularity was constant  but  their many Spanish propaganda websites were also constant in proclaiming they were popular). But when Puentes de Amor  unexpectedly became the top telenovela for the Panamericana station, earning double those normally earned by the kdramas, the kdrama shown before it was suddenly lifted too (earning up to then unheard-of 3 points). Moreover, the slot of Puentes de Amor , which was later given to another kdrama, inherited the ratings of Puentes de Amor for a while.  That should have made them happy,  but when another teleserye was bought (Pangako Sa 'Yo/ La Promesa), the now familiar strategy of scenes of "avid" Korean fanatics suddenly protesting exploded (they were perennially at the bottom of the ratings-  it's too much a stretch to believe they always manage to convert miniscule fans into combative fanatics, be it in the Philippines or Peru, but it seems this strategy was effective enough to "massage" executives, be it in the Philippines or Peru). It was surprising because both the South Korean & Pinoy teleseryes were shown in the same channel & at different times, so it makes you wonder why they trashed the Pinoys.  But it's easy to understand what was happening if you look back over the pattern of past events described in this blog- the constant sabotage of Pinoy artists in the international arena as described in our previous posts (See Tales of SABOTAGE in the sidebar). Especially that we first detected the sabotage done in a Spanish-language  pirate website when the  Pinoy film  Diary ng Panget became a hit among the Spanish-speaking Asian film fanatics. It was obvious that they didn't want to be upstaged by another Asian, especially Pinoys sharing the history and physical features of the disputed market. Now they were actually humiliated by Pinoy teleseryes in a Spanish-speaking public space.

The showing of La Promesa was delayed due to dubbing issues. Meanwhile, at this point, there were hossanas in their propaganda press that the persistence of the South Koreans after a decade of low ratings were paying off (understandably, nobody mentioned of the effect of Puentes de amor). It was written that "it was good they persisted" (understandably also, nothing was mentioned  what were the quid pro quo in exchange for the miracle of being shown for a decade despite their permanence in the bottom of the ratings).


Their gloating was short-lived, however. The kdramas soon returned to their familiar places in the bottom of the Peruvian ratings when La Promesa was finally shown. Below is the typical ratings of the shows of Panamericana TV. The 3 kdramas (Cuando un hombre ama (1 point), Los dos madres (0.8) , Melodia del Destino (1.4)) are permanent fixtures in the bottom of the ratings.

If you look at all the shows being shown in Peru- as always, they were at the bottom in the lowest-rating station..

As has been confirmed by this blog, the Pinoy teleseryes have always trounced the South Korean kdramas where they faced off everywhere in the world. In Peru, like everywhere in South America,  the South Koreans never managed to elevate the status of Asians, it just made them permanent in the bottom of the ratings. The arrival of a Pinoy teleserye therefore assured the teleserye of a dragging baggage. Could the teleserye trascend the heavy prejudice to Asians wrought by the unpopular South Korean dramas in the preceding decade? Fortunately, Puentes de Amor managed to soar a bit to heights not reached by the other Asian, but it's clear that the marketing of Pinoy teleseryes should be so  designed so as not to be trapped into being merely Asian, contaminated as it is by the long-standing South Korean permanence at the bottom of the ratings. The relative popularity of Pinoy teleseryes in Peru derives from their Asian Latin appeal, and we just hope the Latin appeal will engender enough connection to finally get off the Asian trap cultivated by the Koreans in the bottom of the ratings. La Promesa hasn't exactly reached yet the heights of Puentes de amor- but it is picking up.  Will it shoot in the homestretch too like in Indonesia?

KAPIT-TUKO KOREAN-STYLE: Anatomy of the Fake Fame & How To Cling Desperately (plus Tips on How To Mob an Unknown in an Airport)

I'm a keen student of the use of Propaganda and that is probably the appeal of Showbiz to me (that is, besides Politics, another propaganda-driven enterprise). Most of the reality we see is mostly propaganda, especially politics. And once you see the "script", "reality" loses credibility, like what is happening to the mainstream political press where it is not so taken seriously anymore these days. While the gullible would still be expected to be the majority, there would come a time when you are not sure anymore, like now. When the tricks have been revealed, the magic is gone. You can feel the shift in  the dynamics & everybody can appreciate the true  reality more clearly once the propaganda was unmasked.

Same in Showbiz. If you have read the biography of the Rolling Stones, you would have known the various tricks to propel their popularity. When they were just starting, their manager hired people to scream, to present a fake popularity which the gullible entertainment press lapped up & consequently wrote about a hot new band, triggering the subsequent bandwagon of real fame (they still had no money to bribe in the beginning so the innocence of the press was genuine).

Reading the Comments in this blog actually led me to discover another propaganda mirage. One of the biggest propaganda creation is the so-called Korea Wave. At a time when the so-called Korean boybands supposedly sold hit albums after hit albums (when nobody could be heard singing their songs), the local producers thought there was a new trend so they created their copycats as usual instead of investigating who was the real buyer of the albums. While previous trends (which up to then only came from the West) produced local hit groups, nobody among the Kpop copycats succeeded. Was there really a trend, or just a propaganda ruse? True, songs from boybands a la One Direction were hot locally in the airwaves- but why the immediate demise of the local kpop copycat bands? Were some here, who were supposed to know better, still not capable to distinguish the true from the fake before committing their cash to a supposed trend?

 One could expect novelty as an initial kick to a phenomenon but when a bandwagon did not arrive for the fake one, the ruse would eventually implode. Like what has happened with the Koreans. Actually, if you read the propaganda sites created to pretend popularity, it is humming the usual pretend narrative as if nothing happened. But, as a reader once commented, it took a little blog like ours which pricked the balloon of propaganda. Suddenly, reality focused: low-rating of kdramas, no Korean melody in the airwaves (no  budget to support their own albums for a decade?), etc. That is how flimsy the "popularity" was, you don't have to do much, just redirect the attention to the fact. This also happened in Peru: if you read Korean propaganda, they were very popular in Peru. But this blog discovered that they were shown there for almost a decade, true- but all those time, they were in the bottom of the Peruvian charts, earning 1-2% rating, managing to be noticed slightly only when the Pinoy teleserye Bridges of Love (Puentes de Amor) was shown there & consequently upgraded Asian profile. One can only guess the reasons how they managed to be shown for a long time there with those low ratings and it's definitely not due to their popularity. What was clear was, as one reader put it, their lack of shame in pretending popular & clinging kapit-tuko in a market which has been resistant to them for a decade. What better proof of unpopularity?

Frankly, all of these should have been  something to just laugh about. But unfortunately, they were apparently willing to sabotage a fellow Asian- the Pinoys-  just so they could delude themselves & believe their own  propaganda (read Tales of SABOTAGE in the sidebar). Part of the kapit-tuko package of delusion? It's obvious they will sabotage (more assiduously) for a long time yet.

These are interesting times because they are undertaking big efforts to reshape back reality to the narrative of their propaganda. Their propaganda machine is doing double-time in regaining whatever momentum they thought they had. Unfortunately, the basic reason why they didn't succeed, & won't succeed again, is (as one reader put it) they didn't look the part. They can't change how they look no matter how Plastic Surgery advances, or how strong the propaganda noise, so we know how this still would end up.

But at least, we could learn from their propaganda tactics. We definitely should be wiser before we commit our cash to a supposed trend. Also, we could definitely use the modus operandi of using fake fans. One can always blame  fake fans as scapegoat- they can be as noisy or  combative when protesting for you no  matter if you are a permanent inhabitant of the bottom of the ratings like when they protested the Pinoy teleserye "La Promesa" in Peru when they sensed the Pinoys had more appeal to a market which rejected them for a decade. Oh, anyway, the fake fans don't have to be combative always- they have their other uses too. They can be ordered to mob you no matter how unknown you are in the airport.

COMEDY HOUR & Other Suspenseful Stories: ... Meanwhile, in Colombia, Fil-Colombian mestizo journalist Manuel Teodoro reports on the Pinoy Drug War in "SEPTIMO DIA" Caracol TV

There are many things happening in Pinoy showbiz, both international & national. But they pale in comparison to what's currently offered by politics. Both local & international. You find yourself wondering which was in fact more entertaining- politics or showbiz? Really, there is no contest.

I have to admit, politics has been lately dishing out more laughs hands down. I've actually somewhat stopped treating it seriously for sometime now. Despite the many wars, international politics came out somehow hilarious for years, but lately, the domestic front has joined the fun, been busy twisting itself whichever which way for more laughs, as if making up for lost time. With the incarceration of the biggest comedian, Leila De Lima, it simmered down for a while but many emerged recently to take her place in the comedy store. Most people today have the opinion we are in the most dangerous phase of recent modern history because of hectic international geopolitical games, but somehow the danger is upstaged by the many ridiculous events going on at the same time. You know it was not intended to be so, therefore you are sure, some major change is just off the corner. Added suspense. Dark humor, anyone?

It turned out my hunch was right all along- even when I was a student, reading all the political theories & so-called expert opinions, there was something not quite right, as if the arguments were contrived & not really convincing. Really, putting people in boxes & expect them to think & act according to the rules of the boxes? Very unnatural all along, don't you think? The old gimmick of over-rated experts talking so you should just go along  have become hilarious as the experts themselves turned out to be the biggest flops of them all, the self-important media turned out to be as mercenary as the most corrupt they attacked, etc. Worse, the old self-upright arguments like freedom of the press, human rights, people power,etc.  have certainly become spoofs of the real things. Really, a country like the Philippines with a noisy surplus of such issues being surpassed in the prosperity game by countries in the neighborhood  with supposedly less regard for such democratic ideals, is the biggest joke. Most delicious of all, watching the news has often become moments of guffaws.  We are at a time when it is so easy to pick out who are the fools by how they react to current events.

I was only too glad none in the crowd where I circulate is that stupid.

So how can showbiz catch up with the laughs easily coughed up by politics? My interest has been on the spontaneous  international impact of Pinoy teen stars but recent events certainly gave me cold showers. I am not sure now who owns a TV station when it is now featuring the news I laughed myself off watching at international news channels. If even a taxi driver could see the ruse (I rode one when my nightly jogging was rudely interrupted by heavy rains & the talkative driver educated me on the real owners of Daesh/Abu Sayyaf), how can't an educated TV news director or the supposed owner of the station itself?

This business about the Koreans. I have uncovered the fictitious Korea Wave for some time now. A massive propaganda fiction, & the local minions are currently busy with more propaganda, but I guess, we know how this will turn out anyway. For the past nearly two decades, we were bombarded by the same tricks but by the time I started investigating the then-accepted-by-common-assumption Korean popularity two years ago, it turned out they were nowhere near their supposed popularity in reality. With all the supposed local hoopla, I still have to see a change in the general indifference, & I live in a part of the metropolis where there are many local Korean residents & businesses. If I didn't discover the acts of sabotage done on Pinoy stars 2 years ago, I wouldn't waste my time with them. A popular Korean-made premier phone didn't mask their looks anyway (If Kuya Kim looks like their supposed to be hottest matinee idol, I have no more comment). What could not be done for  two decades means it's hopeless already-  and arguments are likely to be overtaken by events anyway, so why bother?

But having started writing about the sabotage on Pinoy teen stars (read Sabotage series below the banner or  Tales of SABOTAGE from the sidebar), it got me thinking about many things. If you've been following the Comments, they were coldly discussing the expected next Korean war. We have here free-spirited readers so it was no-holds barred as usual. One wrote there was a reason why the division of the Korean peninsula was never resolved. It remained for a purpose. The massive propaganda for the South Koreans- the tools used indicated the South Koreans have massive support from a bigger godfather which didn't help them in their most basic need- peace in their land. There's a bigger story about to unfold there and some readers are catching the drift?

After the laughs, comes the real suspense?

Meanwhile, in Colombia, a Fil-Am (Filipino father, Colombian mother) who was formerly an RPN anchorman migrated to the country of his mother (& his wife) & became that country's most celebrated TV journalist. He returned home recently to the country where he grew up up to his 16th birthday before emigrating to the US, to report on the current drug war in the Philippines.

I won't allow comments in this post. If you have something in mind, just add your comments to this post (click here) .

NOTE: Caracol TV was the Colombian station which supposedly bought the teleserye Puentes de amor (Bridges of Love) but hasn't shown it yet.