Tag Archives: rare talent

Awesome Mush-Up

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I woke up, turned on my computer, check my Facebook account, did a little construction and rent collection of my Cityville then open Youtube to check and confirm if my personal discernment that Lady Gaga’s hit Born This Way sounded similar to Madonna’s classic Express Yourself.

Indeed, there are numerous videos in Youtube that tried to compare, equate and link both songs.  After checking out a couple of mush-ups, Fil-Am Youtube star, Manny Garcia’s funky and spunky version I think is the best.  It even got a dash of Cee Lo Green’s Forget You sprinkled with Enrique iglesias’ I Like It and Kelly Rowland’s When Love Takes Over as a cherry on top.  It’s a first-class, first-rate, five-star mush-up!

Check out Garcia’s genius work…

Tuod ang di mapasayaw nito.

Pekyaw

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So the Gods, the odds and karma are again in favor of Manny Paquiao.  His win today against the bigger Antonio Margarito only confirms that Paquiao is the greatest boxer in modern history.  Every time Pacquiao wins a boxing fight, I am always so impressed by how the heavens answer the intense prayers of Nanay Dionisia (his mother).  Also, every time Pacquiao wins a fight, I always remember my first ever encounter with this boxing hero.

It was more than a decade ago when I was still working as the Head of HR in 3-star Royal Palm Hotel (now Lotus Garden Hotel) located in Ermita, Manila.   Pacquiao then was a budding boxing athlete who could hardly speak the English language and was worth less than a million pesos.  He was not yet popular then.  Even the boxing ring announcers during that time could hardly pronounce his name.  He is either introduced as “Pakyeyiyow” or “Pekyaw”

Pacquiao during that year was due to have a boxing fight in Manila with Mexican Gabriel Mira and no five-star hotel (I suppose) agreed to sponsor both fighters’ hotel room so the organizers settled with ours.  Both Pacquiao’s and Mira’s team were billeted in our hotel.

I remember the owner of the hotel instructed me, Mr. Sal Magugat the Resident Manager and Mr. Oca Bangayan the Head of the Security to ensure that Pacquiao be given the most comfortable room.  On the other hand, she further ordered that Mira be assigned in a crib where the noisiest air conditioning unit is situated or in a chamber located on the street-side of the hotel where the earsplitting engines and honking of public utility vehicles (like jeepneys and taxi cabs) can be heard inside the room.  That’s just precisely what we did.

The following day, it was in all broadcast media that Manny Pacquiao retained his WBC Flyweight World Title and was tagged as boxer with the greatest potential to be the next boxing hero of the Philippines.  Let me clarify that Pacquiao did not cheat it’s just that his opponent was puyat (without sleep).

Isang sikretong pati si Pekyaw di alam…

FlipTop: The Modern Day Balagtasan

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I disagree that Balagtasan – the Filipino art of publicly arguing in extemporaneous, scaled and rhymed poetry manner – is dead!  There is a new form of modern day Pinoy poetry emerging nowadays called FlipTop (Filipino Rap Battle League).  The partakers are young street-smart dudes who can be considered geniuses in the contemporary Filipino language.

It is similar to Balagtasan in which the participants compete in a free-flowing articulation of rhyming thoughts.  The extemporaneous verbalization is in “rap” form without the music which is so mind-blowing I admit that I personally will have difficulty doing such. Instead of calling themselves master poets they consider themselves Master Rappers.  The free-style rap battle is also being mediated by a moderator similar to Balagtasan’s Lakandiwa.

The challengers’ unscripted choice of words can be very rude, vulgar and screechingly obscene yet their performance is a cross between histrionic art and indigenous oral tradition of poetry they can make the audience enjoy the flavor of rhyme, brainpower and humor.  But unlike the Balagtasan in which the poet who received the loudest applause from the audience wins, the winner is determined by selected judges based on the challenger’s verbal flair, brilliant wisecracks and dynamite cleverness.  Here’s a mind-blowing example on how these reincarnated makata do it…

Shet! Ang lupet!!!

Fame Flores: A Rare Filipino Talent

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Fame Flores, a semi-finalist in the TV contest Pilipinas Got Talent (a Filipino franchise-version of Britain’s Got Talent owned by Simon Cowell) possess the most tasteful, sophisticated and world-class talent among all the contestants.  Her singing was beyond Pinoy.  It can cross the boundaries of cultures around the world.  It’s the type that cultured souls would love to listen to.

She could be compared to world-class talents like Italy’s Andrea Bocelli; England’s Sarah Brightman; Charlotte Church of United Kingdom; or, New Zealand’s Hayley Westerna (my personal favorite among these lot whom I own 2 of her CDs).

The title of the show “Pilipinas Got Talent” is a misnomer.  It should have been called “Pilipinas Got Mercy” because the judges seem to base their decision/selection not from remarkable talent but from either: corporeal, financial or emotional state-of-affairs of the contestants.  Flores should have joined the British version.  For sure she could have undoubtedly advanced to the finals.

Unfortunately, the dubious lady judges are cheap and unsophisticated that is why they let such a rare talent go astray.  If Fame Flores reached the finals, her talent could have further widened the diverse spectrum of popular Filipino art and music. The Philippines do not have mainstream pop-classical genre.  Flores could have started it!

Paki-treyn nga ang mga diyadyes!