1st Philippine Popular Music Festival

It was the birthday of the Philippines' Top CEO, Manny V. Pangilinan (MVP) last July 14th. And one of the celebrations for his birthday (which was initiated by Maynilad and Smart, together with other MVP Group companies) was the Finals Night of the 1st Philippine Popular Music Festival (Philpop), which is a song writing competition of both amateur and professional Filipino songwriters. This competition aims to revive the Philippine music industry and be a channel for Filipino songwriters to create new OPM songs that would capture the Filipino listeners.

This project started around March and the search happened from April to June. From over 3000 song entries, Top 14 songs were chosen. These were promoted to the public who were encouraged to vote for their favorite entries. Here are the Top14 songs:

Here are some photos during the event:

 nice stage set-up

 Ogie Alcasid's opening number

 Ogie and the Ryan Cayabyab Singers (RCS)

 Hosts: Nikki Gil and Ogie Alcasid

 "Negastar"

 "Dulo ng Dila" performed by JayR and DJ Poblete

 "Slow dancing" performed by Nyoy Volante --> one of my faves!

 "Minsa'y Isang Bansa" composed and performed by Gary Granada

 Too bad Ebe was sick that night so he wasn't able to do it perfectly

 Another favorite! Very chill music! Plus I love Marie, really nice person:)

 "Himig ng Panahon" performed by Luke Mejares, Duncan Ramos, and 2 more --> I like!

They also paid tribute to the King of Comedy, Dolphy...

 Jose and Wally

 "Kontrabida" performed by Sam Concepcion --> my fave!:)

 "Bawat Hakbang" composed by Mark Villaluz of The Akafellas...

 ...also performed by the group with Mark Bautista! --> nice song!;)

 "Kesa"

And another song entitled, "Takuza' performed by Rocksteddy, which I wasn't able to take a photo of because it was a quick song haha!

As an intermission, the best singers of the country performed the different songs composed by the country's best composers. 

 Christian Bautista, Regine Velasquez, Basil Valdez, Sharon Cuneta, Erik Santos

 "Big Time" performed by Baihana (the one wearing pink is my friend Anna)

 "Brown" performed by Brownman revival and the composer

 "Piso" performed by Joey Ayala

While the judges were tallying their votes, more singers performed a number featuring the songs from Metropop festival in the past years. Truly OPM!

 Hadji Alejandro, Rachel Alejandro, Gian Magdangal, Bituin Escalante,

Barbie Almalbis, Kitchie Nadal, Cris Villonco, etc.

And there came the awarding...

 Smart People's Choice: "Brown"

 2nd Runner-Up: "Kontrabida"

1st Runner: "Tayo-Tayo Lang"

 Grand Winner: "Bawat Hakbang" --> 1 Million Pesos!

 The Akafellas perfomed their winning piece for the finale

The program was aired on a delayed telecast via TV5. Anyway, after the program, there were light meals and drinks served at the 2nd floor of the PICC.

 Ely Buendia didn't smile so I looked like a fan girl LOL!

 w/ my BFF Dianne and Ana from DDB Philippines

 We sang the "Happy Birthday" song to the birthday boy, MVP

 a photo w/ the grand winner

and lastly, a photo with the birthday boss!:)

It was a great night of music! Grab a copy of the Philpop compilation album at any record bar for only Php 300. Let's support our own music!

Just like what they say, "Thank you MVP, OPM is alive!" :)

Just a Quick Rundown of Past Events

May 28 - June 5, 2011 - 22nd FIBA Asia

From its launch in the Meralco Multi-Purpose Hall, through the games and upto the finals in PhilSports Arena (formerly Ultra), we witnessed this highly reputable amateur basketball league. Smart Gilas Philippines indeed fought hard to be this season's champions; they were unbeatable until they were defeated by Iran, which put them out of the finals. They battled against Qatar for 3rd place, yet they lost. But still, Team Philippines was happy because 4th was the farthest they've reached in their FIBA history, not really bad! Great job by Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) for staging this event.

PRELIMINARY ROUND
May 28 - PHI vs KSA

May 29 - MAS vs PHI

May 31 - PHI vs IRQ

girls in support for the team

June 1 - JOR vs PHI

 with injured Coach Nash Racela

FINAL ROUND

June 3 - PHI vs SYR

June 4 - IRI vs PHI (battle for finals)

June 5 - PHI vs QAT (battle for 3rd)

June 5, 2011 - AKTV Run

TV5 launched its newest sports channel -- AKTV on IBC13.For me, it's great to have a local sports channel which keeps you updated about the latest in the world of Sports, and also encourages other people who are not so into sports to at least appreciate it. I didn't actually run, but I was there for our corporate booth.

 Rich Alvarez = endorser for free haha

 the Ateneo-Talk N Text boys: Larry Fonacier and Rich Alvarez

 Rabbeh Al-hussaini in the house

people lining up to sign up in the Maynilad Sports website

A Weekend with the NBA Stars

It was a week of non-stop "ticket" requests. Facebook, Twitter, BBM, SMS, name it! I really felt like I was Ticketnet after getting flooded with messages requesting for tickets for the Smart Ultimate All-Star Weekend.

It's probably the first time that famous NBA players came to the Philippines to play basketball against our local basketball players; so nobody seemed to let this chance pass. Thank God we're part of the group which brought them here -- the MVP Group of Companies. Smart and MVP Sports Foundation together with TV5, played a big role in this once in a lifetime event.

The night of July 22, we were at the Big Dome to fix some stuff for the big weekend. And we were surprised that at 10pm, the doors of the coliseum were being shut and security was alerted. Then woah! Some of players came in to do some practice shooting. Chris Paul and James Harden came in first with their entourage, but they were kinda snob. The 2nd batch who came were Tyreke Evans and Derrick Williams. I said "hi" to both and them and they smiled at me and said "hello". Cool! We followed them in the court but we were driven away by the very strict bouncers (yeah even if we're kinda part of the organizers).

JULY 23

A Meet & Greet lunch at The Lighthouse in Meralco was organized to accommodate fans who can pay at least Php10,000 for a lunch with the NBA Stars.

Then a Basketball Clinic was held at the Ynares Gym, wherein the NBA players taught the basics to young boys.

The event's Press Conference was held in the Isla Ballroom of EDSA Shangri-la Hotel. The hotel security was very strict; some members of the PRESS were not even able to enter the hotel. First to answer the questions from the media were PBA Players Sol Mercado and Gabe Norwood, and the Philippine team's Head Coach, Rajko Toroman. The NBA players came in one by one, and were never complete in the presidential table. After answering questions from media, they went up to their rooms to rest and prepare for their game in the evening.

Gabe Norwood, Coach Rajko Toroman, Sol Mercado

Patricia Bermudez-Hizon

Derek Fisher and Coach Chot Reyes

Kevin Durant, Derek Fisher, Coach Chot Reyes, Tyreke Evans

Kevin Durant

Patricia wasn't as ready as Paolo

At 7:30pm, the show started. I was in the dugout with the PBA players who were so excited to play against the NBA stars, but were actually more excited to get autographs from and have photos taken with their NBA idols. Security was soo strict that we can't take photos of the players. I was lucky that I got an inch closer to Kobe, but he wasn't able to hear me calling him to look back, so I just took a snapshot of his back. haha!

PBA All Stars

 MY IDOL!!!

Before the game started, a big revelation happened. Manny V. Pangilinan unveiled the new Smart-Araneta Coliseum! Woah what a surprising move!:)

I didn't have a seat but I enjoyed watching the game even if I was standing on the first half, then at the second half, I found seats beside my Smart Gilas friends. I took a couple of photos and videos during the game. It was obvious that the PBA All Stars got starstruck with their NBA idols. They just played the game for fun, and it's been a dunkfest for the NBA stars. The crowd really enjoyed the fact that it has been an awesome "show".

 the Kiss Cam was cool

 Gabe Norwood and his baby w/ Kevin Durant

 LA Tenorio during the Meralco-Maynilad 3-point Shootout

 Larry Fonacier

James Harden

 Chris Paul

the basketball fanatics

July 24

The better game day! Smart Gilas (RP Team) vs. Smart All Stars (NBA)

Team Philippines really put up a good fight; while Manny Pacquiao's arrival became a show stopper. The NBA stars asked for autographs on their jerseys from him. The score gap wasn't as big as the previous day's, and that proved how talented our local basketball players were, most especially Japhet Aguilar who had a coupe of dunks, and Jayvee Casio who had a couple of 3-point shots. Great game!

 i just love my job!:)

 Kobe Bryant and Manny Pacquiao!

 tattoos!!!

 my lucky friends who I was able to help get down to the ringside from Upper B

since Kobe and Patricia were already close 'coz of Nike

Also, after the show, a mini presscon was held at the center of the court. The best part, the NBA stars threw/gave away their belongings such as jerseys, shirts, and shoes! The players left right after the presscon; while Derrick Williams and James Harden went for a quick shopping in Greenhills with their security team.


IT HAS BEEN AN AWESOME WEEKEND!:)