I heard this song as I was driving last night. It had an acoustic-folk-easy listening feel to it. The problem is I didn't get the song's title and the singer. He kind of sounded like Jason Mraz, but I think I hit all search engines and Jason Mraz lyrics and none of his songs quite matched the song in my head.
It's funny because I can't even make out the tune of the song, or the chorus of it. But the lyrics are quite nice. The verses speak of things this guy imagines to be with this girl: like falling in love, getting married, having kids. And I think every verse ends with a line that goes like (not the actual verbatim): you are gonna love me, but you just don't know it yet. or something like that. There's always this witty line and ends with "but you just don't know it yet."
Does this song seem familiar to anyone?
Anyhow, I caught a glimpse of ASAP last Sunday. They sang the Gary V. song I used to associate with this certain girl. The Pinoy Dream Academy people did an acoustic number.
All the other finalists were playing instruments except Ronnie and Irish, so in a way they seemed inferior as music artists. But then after the second chorus, Irish started playing the violin. Sure she's not a Vanessa Mae, but she played decent violin. Now Irish is not the best singer among the finalists. She sounds OK, but nothing really special. But the violining just further enhanced her stamp as the sultry/sophisticated/classy PDA scholar.
And I never really considered her pretty, even as she was often described as "the pretty one" But the shots they took of her while playing the violin were really flattering. I actually thought she looked hot (although this youtube video has poor resolution). I wouldn't be surprised if she started posing with her fiddle in Men's Magazines.
1. Trivial activities of Manny Pacquiao 2. Anna Nicole exclusives in Entertainment Tonight 3. Lovey-dovey scenes from Meredith and Shephard 4. Starlets brandishing their dirty laundry (Ethel Booba-boyfriend, the new starlet who stabbed her boyfriend's lip) 5. Ara Mina making pa-cute 6. Richard Gomez electioneering 7. Details of Kris Aquino's pregnancy 8. More scandals involving GMA and her family 9. Koreanovelas 10. Young babies turned FHM Ladies. Nakakaawa kasi.
This year I decided to spend Christmas away from my family. Well, at least, my immediate family. I haven't visited my grand parents and my cousins for 12 years so I figured a change of pace might do me some good.
I remember last Christmas...dreading the 26th. Dreading the day she will leave this country to spread her wings elsewhere. This year was going to be different. Not as depressing as last year. Not ecstatic either.
More nostalgic.
I remember my childhood with the old folks. We were always spoiled when we come here. Before college, my grandmother tried to bribe me with a car if only I would go to college here.
So much has changed. The old hangouts were replaced by the new. More malls sprouted, bringing all the people from nearby provinces.
It's definitely not provincial. It wasn't provincial then. Moreso now. And every Davaoeno will scream in protest if you call their Metropolis a "province."
And now I remember why I loved coming to this place. I love the clean air. The tropical weather. The law-abiding drivers and pedestrians. The fast responsive local government units (they have 911 as the emergency hotline number: for all types of emergencies. Just like in the USA).
I love the fact that they dont have firecrackers, except in the main town plaza during the new year.
I love the food...cheap, quality, great-tasting food.
I love it that everything is just 15 minutes away...including the beach.
I love the clean, fun, parties (without having to die of second-hand smoke).
The people are nice. The women are pretty and I mean real pretty. They arent maporma at all. They don't wear much make-up. They are quite manang compared to the Manila, but when you get down to the way they look, they are absolutely stunning.
Forget the parties at the Fort. The crazy events in Boracay. This is where Christmas is Christmas. And I think I'll probably make this an annual habit.
What can I say? Filipinos really love singing contests. Ever since I was young, my mom's TV habits has forced me to follow singing contests on TV (Tanghalan ng Kampeon). I guess old habits die hard cause when they started airing American Idol on Star and ABC-5, I found myself being glued to the show. I guess it's also no wonder why a lot of Filipinos watched both Philippine Idol and Pinoy Dream Academy.
I was not really able to watch 100% of the shows, especially the weekday runs of these two shows. But I always tried to catch the weekend shows, although I still missed a few episodes.
Now that both shows are over and the winners have been declared I can't help but give my points of view about the winners and the show itself.
Lets start with Philippine Idol. I must say I got excited when this started out, as it had the same "auditions" amusement factor as the American counterpart. I think the reason why this "Idol" version faired poorly in the ratings include: 1. Not a lot of good-looking or cute contestants 2. No "authority" in the panel of judges 3. Bad Network Coverage and technicals in the show (microphones not working, bad sound quality) 4. Filipinos/Fans not voting right
Let me elaborate on item number 2 for a moment. While Francis Magalona is my idol, he does not seem to be able to communicate his points and comments. He just didn't make any sense. And while Pilita is probably one of the best singers this land has ever produced, her comments aren't very helpful to the contestants. Only Ryan Cayabyab seemed like an authority figure.
Because of the problem in item number 2, we were led to the problem in item number 4. The judges weren't able to provide the viewers with enough guideposts for their voting criteria. In the end, voters chose the ones they "knew", the ones who look good, and the ones who can belt (because historically, we thought the capacity for belting = good singer). As a result we had the totally off-key MIGGY (Miguel...whatever his name was) and the awkward-performing-is-he-gay-or-not JAN NIETO making it to the final legs of the competition.
I am not homophobic. In fact, my bet was Paw Chavez, who everyone "suspects" to be gay. I don't like it when people say: "there can only be one AIZA", because I think their styles are different and in fact, Paw can do a lot of smooth moves that Aiza can't. Of course, when it comes to love songs, they more of less sound similar. I like he quality of Paw's voice and the crisp-ness of her delivery. And I like the fact that she's different.
As for the winner, Mau Marcelo. I think she's our traditional "good singer." My problem is, she reminds me of Frenchie Dy, who also won the singing contest in another channel. She's okay and she deserved to be in the Grand Finals, and probably among the last three she was the best. Her "Diamonds are Forever" blew me (and Lea Salonga) away.
Now let's move to Pinoy Dream Academy. I think this show rated well because of the "Pinoy Big Brother" formula. Pinoys are naturally chismoso/chismosa that's why they want a peek into the lives of the would-be singers. Plus they got "teachers" that are authority figures and judges who commented well. I like Kitchie Molina who would give informative comments on the contestants to help them sing well and the viewers to have guideposts on what to look out for. You could also see how the contestants developed from looks to moves to singing.
I was totally turned off when that off-key singer Kristoff with the girl who has the face of a print-model but can't sing Michelle would always be left at the Academy because the people or the housemates voted for them. They were right in changing some of the rules to get rid of those two.
I admit I didn't find the logic behind Rosita being chosen and always getting "saved" by the faculty, but looking back I see that she has really developed as a singer and that she sings songs for her jologs target market...which is good. I think if she made a "jukebox" type of album, it will sell. And a lot of people really identify with her. I was surprised she didn't make it to the finals.
As for the grand finalists, here are my points of view: Ronnie: I don't understand why people think this guy is cute. He sings okay, but nothing special. Ivan would've been the best male singer, but he just doesn't have any appeal.
Chad: This guy is off-key at times. I guess it's the packaging and attitude and the face. I don't understand why he was the "star scholar" when he sang "Anak". I thought he murdered the song.
Irish: Among the "global" girls, I think Joan had the best voice and it would've been nice to see her sing in the finals. But Irish is not that bad. At least not as bad as Gemma and Michelle. (Is it just me or does Irish look like sister-in-law?)
JayR: I am happy this guy made it to the finals, because the song he released was Cebuano. I don't get why people look at him as a hearthrob...o well, Romnick Sarmenta and Jordan Herrera were hearthrobs before, so I guess it should be understandable.
Panky: To me, she's the best female singer. She sings great and she's different. I just think she doesn't have much appeal. And the events in the house might have affected the votes (Cebuanos supported JayR instead). I think, if people only saw the performances and not the events at the house, they would've voted for her. By the way, I love her composition.
And of course, there's the grand winner 18-year-old YENG CONSTANTINO. Okay, so I'm distracted with her "Tanghalan ng Kampeon" moves and her juvenile ways and her speaking voice is irritating, to me she's the runaway winner. She sings well, and she writes catchy tunes. I think it was a good decision for her to sing her own composition for the solo performance in the Grand Finals. It showcases her talent and the song had some "drama". Although she had better performances in the past, she did pretty well.
Besides, she had a hit song with HAWAK KAMAY, she wrote the theme of Pinoy Dream Academy and she still has a lot of songs to share.
The popular HAWAK KAMAY (I heard she wrote this when she was 14)
ANG AWITIN (Acoustic)
I DON'T KNOW THE TITLE (but I think she wrote this for her special "classmate" RJ. Ignore RJ's composition in the second half of this video. I think it's quite corny)
THE PINOY DREAM ACADEMY THEMESONG (fast version as she intended it to be)
IF WE FALL IN LOVE (Well her "boyfriend" RJ wrote this for her. But I think they sang it well)
I can't wait to buy her album. I guess this post makes me a Yeng Fan.
