Tag Archives: popularity

Adele + Boy George = Sam Smith

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my new favorite male singer artist

my new favorite male singer artist

One of my best references to know and be updated about emerging hit songs is my dear nephew Luis.  When I wanna be updated, I would simply ask him what’s his latest music downloads.  He of course would be all but willing to play these songs in his phone.  I then would got to select which ones would I like and ask him to send it to my phone via the ever reliable bluetooth.

Several weeks ago, Luis introduced me to the music of Sam Smith.  After that moment, I was totally hooked on the beautiful music of this British singer.  When Luis first played Sam Smith’s song on his phone, I asked him if the guy was a black artist.  It is because he sounded like a soulful black singer!

When I first saw his video on Youtube, I believed that Sam Smith – with his enormous talent and rising popularity – is an Adele in the body of Boy George.  That Sam Smith would most likely be the offspring in case Adele and Boy George would have a baby.

Kidding aside, since then I got so curious with the body of his works.  I was so impressed by his unique voice, his exceptional vocal range and the stirring lyrics of his songs.  I now got a separate playlist of Sam Smith’s music in my phone.  Songs taken from his debut and sophomore albums.

Here is Sam Smith, my favorite male singer this year!

Ibang bumirit! Simpleng Husay!

Counting Stars by OneRepublic

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this photo was taken from One Republic's facebook page

this photo was grabbed from OneRepublic’s facebook page

Poetic genius, that’s how I would simply describe this song.  Though not a new song, this track has actually been the music I kept on playing and listening to inside my bathroom every morning while I take a bath for the past two weeks.  I would even sing along loudly, as in at the top of my horrible out-of-tune voice.

I don’t know why I am so stuck and fascinated by its catchy beat.  Or maybe it’s the lyrics of the song that kept me captivated.  It tells you about overcoming the hideous parts of life and finding a greater meaning of it.  It proclaims that sometimes taking risks in life are doorways to the best moments of your existence.  The ones you were meant to experience and live to see.

Or maybe the reason why I so like this song is because of my internal desire for an insane precursor that something big is coming.  Because, instead of counting dollars I’d soon be counting stars!

This song is dedicated to me! Go me!

Selpish lang ang peg!

Megan Young BBC Interview

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miss world 2013

miss world 2013

Upon knowing that we were Filipinos, the local Starbucks crew inside Siam Discovery Center in Bangkok told us that Ms. Philippines who won the Ms World 2013 pageant was indeed beautiful.  We left that coffee shop proud and with a smile on our respective faces.

I have seen a couple of YouTube clips of the pageant and saw how stunning Megan Young strut her stuff.  She was undeniably elegant and was no doubt a standout among all the candidates.  It seems that all stars and heavenly bodies connived and has preordained that Miss Philippines will be crowned as this year’s Miss World.

This pageant’s question and answer portion though was a bit floppy.  It is because all the finalists had ample time to think of the best philosophical answer that they could give on why they should be the next Ms. World.   They were even given the opportunity to listen to the answer of other candidates, thus, a lot of cerebral reckoning and calculations can be done before you are given the chance to answer the same question.  It was therefore not surprising that all the finalists gave superlative answers.

Miss Philippines winning the crown absolutely made all Filipinos proud.  But what made me more impressed about Megan Young was not her performance during the pageant per se but the interview she had with a BBC correspondent.  Her being level headed, articulate and impressive bearing during the whole interview reaffirmed, showed and validated that she unquestionably deserves the title. Also, the interview makes you glad and appreciate that we Filipinos knows without effort the powers of speaking the universal language, that is, English.

It was an effortless eloquence from this year’s Queen Of The World.

Nowsblid ako…

Game of Thrones: A Hauntingly Entertaining TV Series

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gameofthronesIt must already be in the hundreds if I have tallied and counted the number of times I uttered the words “grabe”, “shocking” and “galing” while watching the episodes of the great HBO tv series Game of Thrones.  These do not include the occasions when I sighed, gasped and screamed while watching it.

The series is so biting and disturbing in a great sense of these words.  It will definitely bring sharp chills on your spines.  All the elements of backstabbing, manipulation, double-dealing, erotica, greed and brutality are present.  The show never holds back!

Unlike a usual TV series where the lead stars are expected to remain alive and be the main and principal characters throughout the whole show, in Game of Thrones characters are dynamic and evolving.  It is unexpected that right in the middle of the story, the lead character (who you thought was the lead character) would just suddenly meet a brutal death.  Or the character you’re starting to like would unexpectedly become a horrendous iron-handed protagonist.  And amazingly, these characters would literally go down and dirty!

For those who have not watched it, I must say that you are missing a hell of a lot.  I swear to the old gods and the new that Game of Thrones is hauntingly entertaining.  This show definitely ranks right up there as masterworks of ingenuity and wild imagination.

Pugot kung pugot! Patay kung patay!

Acid Rain On Treadmill

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treadmillI don’t run.  I brisk walk.

Brisk walking is one great exercise.  It makes you healthy. But brisk walking outdoors in a place called Metro Manila would actually make you more sick than healthy. The air is so polluted it would be stupid to jog or brisk walk outside.  And if tough luck besets upon you droplets of acid rain may even infiltrate your lungs making you even more prone to illness.

That is why a Metro Manila inhabitant like me would rather settle to go to a gym and do my brisk walking on a painfully boring treadmill.  Let me be clear that I do not detest Metro Manila the way I have grown to detest the treadmill with growing hatred.

Brisk walking on the treadmill is a mental game for me.  Aside from shaping up my delicious mortal chassis, brisk walking on a treadmill for me is an exercise of mental toughness.  It is because brisk walking on a treadmill is so god awfully boring.  There’s nothing more dreadful than seeing the seconds count down and being fully aware of how much time is still left and the calories you have shred off was actually just equivalent to a spoon of mayonnaise.

To ease the agony of boredom and win the battle against this mentally tormenting machine, I have sought the service and assistance of musical artists particularly of the dance-electronic genre. Now I shape up and step on a treadmill with matching beats.  My walk has gone interesting since the pacing and distance of each stride depends on the beats of the music on my earphones.

Music of Alexis Jordan has been an often tune in my playlist every time I step on the treadmill.  She’s got great selection of songs with varying fast beats.  The most recent one that I truly enjoy listening to is ironically entitled Acid Rain.  This is the Acid Rain that will definitely not hurt at all. Now, boost up the volume and start listening!

Lakad na!

A Refreshing Anti-Love Song

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michael bubleMichael Buble is so mainstream.  He is not your ideal fresh indie-singer or indie-band whose songs have ironically been listened to by everyone but only sold in a couple of thousands.  He is so popular, everybody loves him and he sells millions that is why he is not considered an underdog.

But having said this, you would realize that Buble being “too” mainstream in his profession could actually be categorized as the underdog.  He is an underdog because his being too mainstream means he will never be categorized as critically acclaimed. He is too mainstream he will never receive the greatest review of a prominent music critic on any of his present and future works.

And since I am not a prominent music critic, let me bestow a little accolade for the most recent work and music of Michael Buble.  His new single Its A Beautiful Day is probably one of the best anti-love song ever composed.  It’s upbeat, positive, sunny and refreshing.  Though it is a gladsome song it nevertheless did not fail to bring a message of kick-ass spunk and the naughtiness of its-your-loss-not-mine attitude.

This song can also make you realize that the messed-up and awful relationship that you may be in now which you never actually aspired for is something that can be treated as your today’s curse which can be tomorrow’s blessing.  I therefore declare that this song is my official anti-love song.

Ang kanta ng masayang sawi.

Anna’s Cups Is Erika’s Music

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erika: the lady with pretty good musical foresight

erika: the lady with pretty good musical foresight

This post is dedicated to my niece Erika who would frequently play this music when I and my relatives were having a fun vacation in Japan.

Last year when I was in Japan, Erika could not stop playing the song Call Me Maybe when it was still fresh and not yet a big hit.  She even fell asleep in front of the computer playing that song.

This year, while having a vacation in the same country again, Erika yet again keeps on playing a song.  This time its entitled Cups sang by the lovely Anna Kendrick.  Though not really a new track, this song was included in last year’s musical movie entitled Pitch Perfect.

As an upshot of incessantly hearing the same song over and over which is similar to a hypnotic induction, I and my relatives were actually swayed to watching the movie via web while in Japan.  And we did and we had a good laugh!  The movie was purely entertaining!

Surprisingly, while we were in Japan, Anna Kendrick last April 12 actually published/released a new (director’s cut) video of this track on YouTube which as of this writing has reached more than 2.6 million hits.  Though the acapella version is really fresh this remixed edition has some cool vibe it in.

Here’s another pretty cool version

Now that I’m back in Manila, Cups is starting to become a huge hit…

Tenks Ikang… Lavet…

25% of Abba is Back

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I am not particularly a fan of Abba but I no doubt enjoyed watching the movie as well as the stage musical of Mama Mia.  In both occasions, I could not stop myself from singing along those fun fun lyrics which I grew up with during the 70s.

But today and in the coming weeks, I’m pretty sure Abba fans will enjoy the newly released songs of Agnetha Faltskog.  Abba may not be getting back together soon but at least ¼ of the group is back to offer us fresh new bunch of her music.

Walang kupas ang bruhang Agneta…