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For the past 21 years, The Filipino Express has provided the Filipino American community the best news, arts and entertainment coverage from around the United States and the Philippines.
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This website includes selected articles from this week's edition of the Filipino Express. Not all the stories published in the printed version appear on this site.
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MERELY a week after the monumental album launch of The Kuwagos, the buzz generated by the activities in the Fil Am music scene has gone to full blast, and the Fil Am mainstream media is starting to take notice.
Television
This weekend (Feb 3-4), two Jersey City bands, Bleud and The Happy Analogues will fly to San Francisco, California to play a gig in downtown Sanfo on Saturday, Feb 3, and will head over to San Carlos to tape two episodes of the ABS-CBN/TFC show SPEAK OUT the next day, Sunday, Feb 4.
These two bands were invited by the producers of the ABS-CBN/TFC program a couple of weeks back to grace their highly rated show, which airs every Sunday at 7 PM.
Without a doubt, these TV appearances will open doors for the two bands, and most likely open the floodgates for a lot of other bands, especially bands, from the east coast, who want national exposure. How important is this TV appearance for the east coast scene? Very important.
Not only will the east coast bands get TV time and boost their stock, they will also establish once and for all, that there is a treasure chest of great artists here in the other side of the US.
As we all know, ABS-CBN/TFC has been featuring bands on their programs, but they get bands mostly from within their local scene: Sanfo, LA etc. So the appearances of these Jersey City bands will be the first time local east coast acts will ever be featured on a regular TFC program.
It is pretty much certain that more east coast bands will get booked on these shows after the Bleud-Analogues appearance, because the buzz generated by our scene here is too much to resist.
The Kuwagos might appear there in March, so is Qwadra from New York and P.I. from Washington D.C.
So stay tuned and watch the Bleud-Analogues episodes on Feb 25 and March 4, respectively. More details to come.
The print media
Given that television is a more widespread media, we still cannot count out the equally important coverage of the newspaper. In fact, newspapers, though it has limited reach compared to TV, has a more lasting impact on a band’s life, because newspapers have shelf lives. The story remains for as long as there’s an existing copy. Whereas for TV, the buzz ends the minute a new episode replaces the old one.
This week, The Kuwagos got an amazing coverage from Los Angeles’ premiere Fil Am newspaper, BALITA. Thanks to their entertainment writer, Joe De Veyra, The Kuwagos is now news in the western region US.
The band was cyber- interviewed by Joe right before their album launch and the article he wrote was spot-on.
Even OPM’s website www.titikpilipino.com has been keeping an eye on the Fil Am scene and has released several news articles about it.
While TV and print expressed their interest in covering the Fil Am music scene, the only frontier left to conquer is terrestrial radio.
Wouldn’t it be nice to hear Fil AM artists’ music blasting on FM radio?
Wouldn’t it be great to hear a weekly countdown of hit songs by Fil Am artists?
Sure it would. But from where we stand now, radio is still a distant reality.
With TV and print media already in the game, the possibility of having the attention of the three main media: TV, Radio & Print looms. And when that happens, the Fil Am music scene will cease to be a ‘scene’. It will become a full-blown industry.
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RUFA Mae Quinto is getting controversial without really trying. At the height of the Gretchen Barretto-Lani Mercado word war, Lolit Solis hinted that Rufa’s one of the actresses who had an affair with Bong Revilla.
She was also implicated in the Alessandra de Rossi-Jeremy Marquez breakup. It’s likewise reported that her boyfriend Erik Santos got jealous when she had a sexy love scene with Alfred Vargas in her “All This Time” music video where she was bra-less. Lastly, she’s said to be the replacement of Gladys Guevarra in “Eat Bulaga.”
“About Sen. Bong, magkasama kami for eight years sa ‘Idol Ko si Kap’ at ‘Hokus Pokus,’ siempre minahal ko rin naman siya, pero bilang katrabaho lang,” she says. “Kahit naging close kami, hindi naman ako nakatanggap ng anumang text message from Lani na pinagseselosan ako. About Alex de Rossi, nag-usap na kami at alam niyang wala akong anumang kinalaman sa breakup nila ni Jeremy. Ang cheap, ha. Ewan ko nga kung bakit nai-involve ako sa kung anu-anong issues sa showbiz? As for Erik, it’s not true he got jealous. He’s not narrow-minded naman. Alam naman niyang ang dami ko ng ginawang sexy movies, ‘no? Yung kay Alfred, MTV lang ‘yun, walang malisya. Very tame nga compared sa mga ginawa ko before. Kung galit si Erik, ‘di hindi na niya gagawin ang repeat ng concert namin. About ‘Eat Bulaga,’ not true kapalit ako ni Gladys. Wala namang offer, e.”
What if there’s an offer? “Why not? Aba, blessing din ‘yun. Hindi ko pa na-try mag-host ng daily lunchtime show.”
“When Erik Met Rufa, The Repeat” will be held at Aliw Theatre on February 16, 9 p.m. with Ogie Alcasid and Ai Ai de Las Alas as their special guests, directed by Bong Quintana.
“Actually, kami ni Erik, parang Romeo and Juliet kasi Kapuso ako, Kapamilya siya.
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MANILA -- It is official: Derek Ramsey is now openly courting Angelica Panganiban. The hunk is said to have officially called it quits with his non-showbiz girlfriend.
Someone close to Angelica said that her going out on dates with the guy does not necessarily mean she is in love with him. “Ang alam ko, she’s not completely over Carlo (Aquino), who was her boyfriend for four years. Ganunpaman, wala rin daw siyang balak na balikan pa si Carlo, kahit pa ligawan siya nitong muli,” our source continued.
Angelica is about to start work on her new movie, an untitled project with Maricel Soriano and Aga Muhlach. Produced by Star Cinema, the movie will have Mayor de los Reyes at the helm. (MNS)
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MANILA -- At the Star Magic birthday presscon hosted by Rikka Dylim, Melissa Ricks, who turned 17 on January 9, was chided by some writers for being the reason why Heart Evangelista left ABS-CBN.
She’s the original leading lady of Jericho Rosales in “Ang Panday” but Heart replaced her, fell in love with Jericho, and both of them chose to leave ABS. In “Rounin,” Melissa is paired with Joross Gamboa and she’s blamed for causing his breakup with Roxanne Guinoo.
She has also always been close to Hero Angeles when they started in “Star Circle Quest” and this is the reason why he never became close to Sandara Park.
Now, she’s the rival of Olyn Meimban over Matt Evans in “Pedro Penduko.” Won’t she also cause the split up of Olyn and Matt who are real life sweethearts?
“Bakit naman ako lagi ang sinisisi?” Melissa laughs. “Wala naman akong kasalanan diyan.”
Born in California to an American dad and a Pinay mom, Melissa made it to the top 5 of SCQ and she’s thankful that she’s never without an assignment on ABS. Aside from “Pedro Penduko,” she also hosts “ASAP 07” every Sunday.
Will she be willing to pose sexy like Roxanne in her liquor ads? “Ay, hindi ko pa kaya. Mahihiya ako.”
She says she’d rather join a beauty pageant later and most writers agree that she’d be a good candidate since she’s tall at 5’7” and also articulate. (MNS)
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THE third album of Rachelle Ann Go entitled “Obsession” is Hollywood-bound because of producer Christian De Walden who had worked with leading pop stars in Spain, Italy, Mexico and the United States. It is earmarked for foreign sales on Viva Records label, Viva West.
“Obsession” was launched at Mugen Bar in Metrowalk Tuesday night and we noticed that Rachelle’s voice has become fuller. She has transformed herself into an accomplished and matured performer. She surprised us when she sung a love ballad where in some parts, Rachelle went operatic.
“Don’t Say Goodbye” is the first single release and it was recorded in Manila, Los Angeles and Milan with engineers Luca Vittori and Eric Payumo.
As the title implies, the majority of the cuts in the CD is all about love: And Me You, This Must Be Love and two cuts in Tagalog, Alam ng Ating mga Puso and Bakit, the theme song of the telenovela, Mirada de Mujer.
Don’t make the mistake of associating the sad songs in the CD as the true state of Rachelle’s personal life. It is completely the opposite as lovebirds Rachelle and Christian Bautista celebrate Valentines Day with a concert at the Aliw Theater on Feb. 13 simply titled “You & Me”.
Her CD launch complete with a front act provided by Jimmy Marquez is almost like a sneak preview of what she will offer the audience on their Valentine concert. (MNS)
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THE kissing scene between Richard Gutierrez and Angel Locsin in “Mano Po 5” is nothing compared to their exchange of kisses in the forthcoming Valentine movie entitled “The Promise”.
It is something they have never done before— raw, intense, fiery and always catching for breath. It is a love scene that Oyo Boy Sotto may not be able to watch or allow his former girlfriend to engage in even for art’s sake.
“The Promise” is an adaptation of the romance classic “Wuthering Heights” by Emily Bronte. Previously it was produced by Reyna Films starring Richard Gomez and Dawn Zulueta when they were still the couple to watch more than a decade ago. It was titled “Hihintayin Kita sa Langit”.
It is now Richard Gutierrez’s turn to fill in the shoes of the lowly man who lost the love of his life to a wealthy guy.
“The Promise” is a collaboration between GMA Films and Regal Entertainment under the keen direction of Mike Tuviera.
The original story has an unhappy ending. But since it is a Valentine offering, writers Annette Gozon and Racquel Villavicencio promise not to make the moviegoers weep when they leave the thea-ters. We presume they compromised with two kinds of endings to name everyone happy. (MNS)
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SHARON Cuneta’s attempt to win the battle of the bulge is paying off.
When she met the entertainment press for the launch of her pre-Valentine concert (titled My Mega Valentine 2) at the Araneta Coliseum on February 10, she said she already lost 50 pounds.
She further revealed: ”Nag-crash diet ako noon pero hindi naging mainam at may side effects sa akin. I am doing it slowly now and I am properly guided. I don’t want to tell what kind of diet it is dahil baka gayahin ako. What is good for me may not be good for others since our body metabolism are different. You have to consult a dietician first bago simulan ang diet programming. Hopefully, kapag nagsimula na akong mag-shooting ng pelikula, I would have reached my ideal weight. What am I targetting at? Kung sasabihin kong I want to weigh 110 pounds baka naman sabihing hitsu-rang addict ang nangyari sa katawan ko. Basta, one thing I will advice is never go on a crush diet because it is a bit dangerous.”
Regardless of her shape, Sharon is appreciated by her thousands of fans and supporters and proof of this is the repeat of her mega Valentine show at the BigDome where her special guests will include concert queen Pops Fernandez and the Apo Hiking Society. The music of the APO has a great influence on Sharon. Remember she recorded APO’s “Ewan” when she was only 16? The concert is produced by Artists House and will be directed by Johnny Manahan.(MNS)
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