Manny Pacquiao: Proud to be Kapuso

Author: Isah V. Red
Column: Life & Entertainment

Last Friday, scores of people (including the top honchos of the Kapuso network) waited for over two hours for boxing champion Manny Pacquiao at the ballroom of the New World Renaissance Hotel.

There was going to be a victory party for the boxer from General Santos City and everyone waited patiently, kept themselves busy with the food at the buffet table setting and the entertainment provided by Sexbomb member Rochelle Pangilinan and singer Jay-R. But as the time passed and still no sight of Manny was imminent, some started thinking of doing French leave, especially those that were only invited to be spectators to what was supposed to happen.

Paolo Bediones gamely tried to keep everyone’s spirit up with spiels that had nothing to do with the event, including doing an intro to an abbreviated version of the HBO PPV documentary Pacquiao-Hatton 24/7 and a replay of the two-round match that had Hatton dosing off after being hit by the GenSan boy just a couple of minutes to the end of the second round.

Pacquiao arrived minutes before the clocked ticked 10 p.m. past the bedtime of many, including this writer, yet his arrival energized a lot of senior citizens in the crowd including society columnist Maurice Arcache who immediately seized the opportunity for a photograph session.

A few minutes later, GMA Network chairman, president and CEO Felipe L. Gozon made a quick announcement about Solar Entertainment represented at the party by chairman and CEO William Tieng on the two entities’ decision to renew ties about Pacquiao’s upcoming fights to be aired on GMA-7. Pacquiao was party to the agreement as he signed the contract as well.

Also, Gozon took the opportunity to announce that the boxer will finally star in a sitcom along with former boxing Olympian-turned-comedian Onyok Velasco. Pacquiao himself made the confirmation in the presence of everyone including GMA-7 EVP and chief operating officer Gilberto R. Duavit Jr., and other top network executives, and Solar Entertainment president Wilson Tieng.

Representatives of the various advertisers like Johnson & Johnson Phils., Unilever Phils. Inc., PLDT, PNB, RFM, Starcom MediaVest Philippines, Smart Communications Inc., Procter & Gamble, Chowking, Goldilocks, Jollibee Food Corp., and Greenwich Pizza Corp., to name a few, packed the hall and waited for a chance for a photograph with Manny.

Manny, several times after his arrival, declared how proud he is to be Kapuso, something that made everyone, most especially those at the table occupied by the network’s top guns, smile.

It’s Kris Allen and Adam can’t take Idol title from him

Acoustic man Kris Allen beat glam rocker Adam Lambert in the recent finale of American Idol, aired locally on Q Channel 11, and became champ in what turned out to be a record-setting season.

The 23-year-old Arkansas native received more votes than Lambert out of the record-setting nearly 100 million cast by American viewers after the final performance show. That tally beat last year’s 97.5 million total and fittingly ended record-setting season 8.

Season 8 marks the entry of the fourth American Idol judge, Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Kara DioGuardi.

It also marks the very first time in American Idol history that a contestant has been saved from elimination following the decision of AI judges Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul, and DioGuardi to use the “judges save”—their power to save a contestant from being booted out. Matt Giraud was saved from elimination following “Songs from the Cinema” week, with the Top 7. He went on to reach the Top 5.

The votes cast for the top four (Allen, Lambert, Danny Gokey, and Allison Iraheta) was also a record-setting 64 million votes which shattered all previous non-finale voting records.

“The underdog, the dark horse, comes back and wins the nation over,” host Ryan Seacrest said after he revealed that Allen beat Lambert to become the new American Idol.

While Lambert, a 27-year-old musical theater actor, was memorable almost right at the start for his guyliner, glam rock persona, and wide vocal range, wholesome, boy-next-door Allen was not a standout at the beginning. But Allen slowly gained a loyal fan base thanks to his all-American good looks and his clean-cut image. He also gained admirers for his own acoustic, coffee-house-ready take on hits like Kanye West’s “Heartless,” Donna Summer’s “She Works Hard for the Money,” and Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine.”

The two-hour-plus finale had the finalists singing with veteran recording artists before the final results were announced. Gokey sang with Lionel Richie, Iraheta performed with Cyndi Lauper, Lambert with glam rock band KISS, Allen with Keith Urban. Other guests include Carlos Santana, the Black Eyed Peas, and Queen.

Katrina Darrell, famously known as Bikini Girl, also returned to accept one of the “special” awards and for a showdown with judge DioGuardi, with whom she bickered during the audition phase.

Who will be Next Big Star?

Out of 150 hopefuls, only 40 made the cut and will carry on with their journey towards becoming the next big name in the music industry in Are You The Next Big Star?, which airs Saturdays on GMA-7 after Pinoy Records.

Twenty males and 20 females make up the top 40 contenders who received the highest number of combined votes from the judges and the jury during the two-week audition phase, where the contestants each had a minute to make or break it in the competition.

As they progress into the competition, all 40 of them will be subject to closer scrutiny as they face more difficult tasks and weekly live performances that will test their versatility in different music genres.

For the next two consecutive weeks, the jury—a handpicked group of music aficionados—will account for 20 percent of the contestants’ scores, while the remaining 80 percent will come from the panel of judges namely, Danny Tan, Mon Faustino, Annie Quintos, Randy Santiago, and Pops Fernandez. Afterwards, a new voting system involving the judges and the contestants themselves will be revealed.

The race for superstardom continues in the most thrilling singing battle on Philippine TV, Are You The Next Big Star?, hosted by Asia’s Songbird Regine Velasquez and Keempee de Leon, on GMA-7.

Shows at HRC

Hard Rock Café (HRC) closes the summer season with exciting performances by two very talented musical acts.

Catch Side A and Drizzle band on May 29 (Friday), soul siren Nina and pop band Tres with Kaji on May 30 (Saturday), and rock band Hi-Way 69 on May 31 (Sunday). Fans can look forward to a series of evenings of beautiful music as this diverse lineup of artists dish out their respective hits and power the house of rockin’ and rollin’ with cover versions of today’s hottest chart-toppers, standard favorites, and party anthems.

These shows are in line with HRC’s on-going music for life advocacy which aims to bring topnotch performers closer and more accessible to Filipino music lovers.

HRC publicist Chuck Gomez announces that hard rockers can look forward to more special shows that feature today’s most exciting and talented acts and artists especially now that 2009 marks HRC’s 14th year in the entertainment industry.

All shows start at 9 p.m.

Old shoes wanted

MYX VJ Drei Felix donated sport shoes in support of Adidas’ Wanted: Old Shoes Campaign. The campaign aims to gather 5,000 pairs of shoes until May 31, for the benefit of the Pamulaan Center.

Local rock band Spongecola composed of Yael Yuzon, Gosh Dilay, and Erwin Armovit also donated sport shoes.

The campaign aims to gather 5,000 pairs.

Source: Manila Standard Today

Copyright © 2005 - 2009. Telebisyon.net. This article is a copyright property of Manila Standard Today. This page serves as an archived copy of the article written by Isah V. Red. All rights reserved. No part of this website shall be copied or reproduced in any means possible without explicit permission from the owners.