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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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Press Stop. Don’t Rewind.
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LAST Saturday night’s FAHSI-Sumisibol fundraising show at the club Rewind was a major letdown. Yes, to some of the best bands from Poptimes Magazine, it was worse than the iPhone/AT&T mess. At least with the AT&T foul-up, iPhone buyers still got their cool phones. But with last Saturday’s rock show, everyone didn’t even get to rock.
For some asinine reason, the guys at the club Rewind wouldn’t let the bands play at the normal rock n’ roll volume. They threatened to shut the show down if the bands play above their desired decibels. It was as If they were pulling a Spinal Tap joke on reverse- turn the amp down to -1 instead of up to 11.
It was disappointing and frustrating for the four bands that came up, hauled their instruments and ‘tried’ to rock out for the very few that came. Right from the start, when triCKBag played, red flags were everywhere from club Rewind. It was too loud they said.
Duh, isn’t this a rock n’ roll show? Weren’t they informed that rock n’ roll is supposed to sound loud and full?
It wasn’t like the bands brought 700-watt amps that could shake Wembley Stadium. In fact, the bands brought rehearsal amps for the event. Amps that couldn’t even shake Rewind’s bathroom. But still, it was ruled out as ‘too loud’ for the Lower East Side’s Noise Code!
Imagine that! Too loud for the Noise Code of NYC’s Lower East Side! Isn’t it that the Lower East Side is known to be the birthplace of punk?
Anyway, it appeared that the guys at Rewind were not into rock music.
As a matter of fact, right after they cut Bleud’s set and The Happy Analogues’(yes, they did take one hour from the show due to their disapproval with the bands’ sounds), the DJ there started to play House and R&B mixes using their own 700-watt power amps. It was so loud, you couldn’t even hear the toilet flush.
The Rewind gig is perhaps the worst gig this year, and now Rewind can really make sure that there will be no Fil-Am rock shows there until they shut down.
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Poptimes Magazine 1st Anniversary
ON August 31 and September 1, 2007, Fil-Am and Fil-Can bands will converge in what is dubbed as the biggest gathering of artists in the last 5 years, when the premiere online resource for Filipino artists in North America, Poptimes Magazine, holds its 1st year anniversary.
The two-night show will feature 18 bands from all over , and it will be held in two clubs in the Lower East Side of Manhattan: Club Midway on August 31, and The Delancey on September 1.
This is a rare chance for music fans to witness great bands from a s far as California and Toronto, as well as local NY/NJ bands like Bleud, The Kuwagos, Binky Bianca, The Happy Analogues, Sodapop Suicide and triCKBag.
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AS PART of its efforts to strengthen further its presence in the Asian region, San Miguel Corporation (SMC) has tapped Jet, who is set to appear in what SMC execs say is their biggest, most ambitious advertising campaign in Asia.
Why Jet Li? SMC execs believe he best embodies the core values of the brand: Leadership, excellence and integrity. Jet will be shooting the television commercial in the country, and is slated to arrive quietly this week. While there is no final word on which brand he will endorse, there are reports it is an international SMC brand since the TV ad will be aired all over Asia.
Few people know this but Jet actually got his screen name in the Philippines. A production company which released one of his early films locally was doing a promotional ad and got permission to change his Mandarin name Li Lian Jie to Jet Li.
They asked if they could drop the Lian and Anglicize his name so that his real name came first and his surname came last. It became Jie Li. Then one Filipino said, “Well his career is taking off like a jet plane so why don’t we call him Jet?”
Past SMC international endorsers include Tony Leung (The Lover), Stephen Chow (Kung Fu Hustle), Andy Lau (Infernal Affairs) and Shu Qi (So Close).
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Gary Valenciano leads this year’s Awit Awards with eight nominations.
The awarding ceremonies will take place on August 8 at the Meralco Theater in Ortigas, Pasig City.
Gary is nominated twice in the Best Performance by a Male Recording Artist category for the songs Manila and In Another Lifetime, while his album Gary V. Relevance (produced by Universal Records) is one of the choices for Album of the Year Award.
On the technical side, his vocal arrangement for the track You Are also took him into this year’s Awit elite list.
Kamikazee and Sponge Cola earn seven and five nominations, respectively.
The wacky rockers behind the big hit Narda lead the nominees in the Best Rock Song category with both Narda and Doobidoo.
On the other hand, Sponge Cola boasts of nominations in Album Packaging for Transit and Best Music Video for Bitiw.
Other artists with multiple nominations include Regine Velasquez, Sitti, Reuben Laurente and Kala with four nods.
Those with three are Sandwich, Nina, Skarlet and Michael V., whose Bubble G Anthology CD made it to the Best Selling Album category.
His composition, Hindi Ako Bakla, is in the running for Best Novelty and Best Dance Song.
Pinoy Dream Academy winner Yeng Constantino, meanwhile, fronts the list for Best Performance by a New Female Recording Artist, while Philippine Idol finalist Gian Magdangal is a big contender in the Best Performance of a New Male Recording Artist category.
Other nominees are Lani Misalucha, Mon David, Hale, Mike Hanopol, Gerard Salonga, Moy Ortiz, MYMP and Sharon Cuneta. (MNS)
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MANILA -- Even the legendary feistiness of actress Dina Bonnevie was cowed by the prospect of a faceoff with the acid-tongued former sexy star Rosanna “Osang” Roces at the height of local media’s preoccupation with the comparison of their looks.
The supposed tiff between Dina and Osang was discussed because the two will star on the new ABS-CBN soap “Natutulog Ba Ang Diyos?”
That tiff was supposed to have been sparked by comparisons made by the media during the height of Osang’s stardom as queen of soft-porn flicks during the 1990s.
The press had noted back then that Dina and Osang looked alike, an observation that supposedly incensed the former.
“Actually, to be very honest I never really even thought of opening my mouth to Rosanna,” said Dina, who was then asked why she chose to remain silent.
Dina replied that she refused to respond partly due to the pettiness of the issue and her being wary of the Osang’s reaction.
Osang is notorious for making memorable harangues against her enemies, statements that became fodder for the entertainment press and have sparked libel cases.
Dina, on the other hand, is also known for her intimidating presence and her razor-sharp frankness which had also cut down detractors in the past.
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MANILA -- How sad to hear that Cesar Montano and Sunshine Cruz’ nearly nine-year-old marriage is having troubles.
Rumors have it that when Cesar arrived from the US, after meeting a Hollywood producer who reportedly offered him another chance to do a foreign movie, he didn’t go straight to their house in Scout Rallos in Quezon, where Sunshine and their thee daughters were waiting for him. Instead, he proceeded to Bohol, where he also owns a house.
For awhile now, talks have been going around that Cesar and Sunshine had a quarrel when the latter learned that Cesar went to a girlie club. Sunshine reportedly refused to buy Cesar’s alibi that he went there to research on the lives of the girls working in the nightspot.
Sunshine’s being a jealous wife is common knowledge. Remember when she suspected that an affair was going on between Cesar and Julianna Palermo when the two were doing a movie together? Sunshine went to town telling people about her suspicion.
In the end, though, Sunshine apologized to Julianna.
Meanwhile, Sunshine, who’s here in Manila, continues to evade all questions about their quarrel when she used to be communicative before each time someone wants to interview her. “Baka naman pareho lang munang nagpapalamig ng ulo bago sila mag-usap uli,” says one writer. We pray the couple will still be able to patch things up between them. (MNS)
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MANILA -- An actor has been arrested inside a plane bound for Palawan province for allegedly telling a flight attendant that he had a bomb in his baggage, a police official said.
Jay Manalo, who was on board PR flight 195, made the claim after he was asked to put his baggage at the overhead compartment instead of along the aisle, said Chief Superintendent Atilano Morada, Aviation Security Group chief.
But Manalo, allegedly irked by the order, told the flight attendant to keep off his baggage because there was a bomb inside, said Morada.
Manalo was arrested for making a “false bomb threat” under Presidential Decree 1727 although the offense carried a P10,000 bail, said Morada.
If found guilty, Manalo could face up to five years imprisonment and would be asked to pay P40,000 in damages.
Last May, another actor, John Estrada, was also held by airport police after refusing to undergo the standard inspection. He was however allowed to board the plane after undertaking the procedure. (MNS)
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