MTRCB Suspends Showtime for 20 Days

Oh, Showtime is suspended for 20 days starting today. Perhaps they're already regretting hiring Rossana Roces' services as a judge. Well, they suspended Osang after the incident but sadly, it's not enough for the MTRCB. Syempre, they should be responsible for everything that's happening.

Si Osang talaga. Pati mga teacher tinira. Palibhasa...

And just when everyone's enjoying Showtime, and just when Showtime is enjoying its highest ratings, Osang put it off air, albeit temporarily.

Watch the video that lead to the suspension below.

When Naruto Takes Over Sesame Street

Sesame Street is perhaps the most famous children's television show on earth. Most countries have their local versions of it but English-speaking nations just adapt its US version.

But since we're so bilingual here in the PH, we (me and my peers at least) grew up watching two versions - the Tagalog (Batibot) and the original Sesame Street. Batibot had been taken down when the bigger networks put up their own (short-lived) children's shows. But however original they claim it to be, they're all just patterned after Sesame Sreet.

Puppets in the local Sesame Streeet versions actually vary. In our country, we're so lucky Pong Pagong was lent to us by the Sesame Street US. At one point even, everyone was saddened when talks about getting Pong Pagong back to the US version spread around. Luckily, they let the turtle stay in our shores.

I guess the puppet that is originally ours is Kiko Matsing. They perhaps came up with the monkey puppet because of the famous children's story that involves a turtle and a monkey.

Since we grew up knowing the "pagong and matsing" story, seeing Pong and Kiko in Batibot was nothing new anymore. The puppets gave us a sort of connection to the well-loved fable and the values it taught us.

Pong Pagong and Kiko Matsing's tandem became a hit. These puppets taught the Filipino kids good values and the importance of friendship and working together. Along with Ate Siena and Kuya Bodjie (spell?), watching Batibot became a part of our weekdays.

In my time, it was aired twice in a day. One in the morning and one in the afternoon. Perhaps it was aired that way so the school kids in the morning classes could watch it in the afternoon, and those who went to school in the afternoon could watch it in the morning.

Currently, we only have animation/cartoon series as kid shows in the morning. Mothers have no choice but to turn on the tv to Pokemon or Mr. Bean or Naruto to entertain their kids while they do their morning duties. The better offs have options, though, if they have cable tv. Nickelodeon and Disney Channel are of course better alternatives. But what if they don't have cable tv?

Okay, so Pokemon has little moral lessons in its episodes. But unlike Batibot or Sesame Street, Pokemon doesn't teach the ABC's and 123's. And Mr. Bean and Naruto? I like watching Mr. Bean cuz it makes me laugh. But I'm very thankful that we didn't have Mr. Bean on tv when we were growing up. As with regards to Naruto, violence has really no space even in my tv viewing.

In South Africa, Sesame Street (or Takalani Sesame as they call it) is still a big thing. They even came up with a new puppet named Kami (short for the Setswana word “Kamogelo” which means “acceptance”). And why the name? Because Kami is an HIV-positive 5-year-old girl. And she needs acceptance. I guess you already know what happened when this puppet reached Sesame - her neighbors embraced her, and loved her with no prejudice. They listened to Kami as she talked about the challenges she's going through as an HIV-positive individual.

So you see, these children shows can bring hope and awareness to the kids, no matter how young or old they are. Africa is known to have a lot of HIV-positive children and they decided to use Kami to give these kids hope, to at least cheer them up to the thought that hey, there's a puppet who's going through the same ordeal as I am, and I don't have to lose hope.

We can actually use that right now. We may not have as much AIDS cases here but think about a flood-striken-puppet who was left homeless and have nothing to live by, walking aimlessly and reaching Batibot Street. I'm sure Ate Siena or Ate Isay would be very willing to take care of him and be instant family. Wouldn't it give such inspiration not only to the victims of Ondoy but to all of us?

On the other hand, imagine a Naruto-loving-kid hit by the flood in Marikina. What hope could he get from his favorite television show? Aspire to learn the art of water vending?

photo: thefrisky.com

Ding ang Bato!

I don’t normally watch primetime tv aside from “Tayong Dalawa” cuz mom is a fan. But tonight, with all the media hype, I turned on the tv while having dinner. It’s the premiere of Marian Rivera’s version of “Darna.”



I actually wanted to see Marian in the costume. But duh! I forgot all superhero stories begin with their childhood stories and how they got the power. So okay, I still continued to watch cuz the “pre-Marian Rivera” cast is quite good – Janice de Belen, Rita Avila, Vangie Labalan… The support is good. And yeah Angel Aquino is also included as the fairy who bestowed Rita Avila the gift to bear a child (the child would later on be Darna). It’s so nice to see Angel Aquino doing tv again. I mean something else aside from a glamour show.

But anyway I think I’m gonna watch Darna whenever I can. She’s so sexy in the Darna promo pics. And also, I’ve always liked how Marian Rivera deliver her lines.

I wonder who plays Ding… the carrier of the stone.

Now This is for Real

Kris Allen just won American Idol Season 8. At least he knows "Adam (Lambert) deserves this."

Oh well, Adam's already a star. But then again, it could have been better if he won.

This is Disappointing

Dialidol.com has always been accurate in predicting American Idol winners. Perhaps not to the last percentage of votes but they're always right in predicting who will win.

And they've just predicted Kris Allen to win tomorrow by a margin of 1.10%. Oh darn. I hope the last 2% isn't accurate.
Adam has done so much as to taking the competition bar so many notches higher. He's actually the best thing that has ever happened to the show.

Kris is good, but compared to Adam? C'mon.

But then again perhaps this is just premature disappointment.

Note to God

Katrina Halili can now do nothing else but pray... or send a note to God. Just like Charice Pempengco's latest single which had its debut on Oprah.

Bad, Horrific Notes

Danny Gokey got away with the bad notes! Can't believe it. But after Adam Lambert became part of the bottom 2 last week, I just knew (oh well everyone predicted) that we're in for more surprises. Grabe! He had the worst vocals last night for chrissake!

But then Paula Abdul performed haha! She still has it, people! Still has the groove. But it made me nostalgic of grade school. I hope they can also guest Janet Jackson make her sing es.. ca.. pade.. we'll have a good time / es.. ca.. pade.. leave your worries behind.

No Doubt also guested as well as David Cook, err, Daughtry.

And do you know that Danny Gokey already has a remix? Watch below.

The Prayer

My mom called me to the tv area while she was watching Wowowee. Robert Seña was one of the celebrity contestants. She knew I really admire Robert's singing.

He looked a little haggard, though. Parang may hang-over pa haha. But his magic was still there. He sang Frank Sinatra's The Impossible Dream with his turtle. His voice was really so theatrical. Loved it.

I wonder what he's up to now. Haven't been hearing about him. I searched YouTube for his video performing that Pavaroti-ish song (forgot the title) in Italian. Can't find it.

I found this instead:


Listen to the last note at the end of the video. He's really the best Filipino tenor of his time.

Anyway, Wowowee had celebrity contestants today. And I was kinda glued cuz their guests were celebrities who love pets. Andrea del Rosario brought her two Yorkshires, Eigenmann (was it Ryan or Gabby? LOL) had a terrier I'm not familiar with, Jenine Desiderio had her Persian cat with her, Erich Gonzalez's shih-tzu had a bad facial haircut (IMO), Karylle also brought two dogs (shih tzus) in teddy bear cut, and Robert had his turtle.

I was wondering what's wrong with Erich. Was she high on something? LOL! She was so laughing all the time and kept on slapping the host on the arms. The audience was quiet except for some collective laughs. And the laughs were conscious. Parang they didn't know what to make of it kaya they just laughed a little. You know those little laughs that we make when we get into an awkward situation? LOL. T'was really awkward. I was hoping she'd shut up already cuz I was starting to feel ashamed for her.

Good (Heavens) Evans

They're the first one to amaze me so far in this season of Britain's Got Talent.

I agree with Simon that Elliot is great, but I think Olivia and Georgia are equally as good capturing the hearts of the audience with their tender, tender voices. I don't think the two girls have to be just back-ups. But yeah, they have to keep their mom and dad at the backstage. LOL!

Why Can't You Visit Us?

Daniel Henney, who Filipinos first saw in the Tagalized version of Korea's tv series "My Name is Kim Samsoon," together with Hugh Jackman, will go to Korea to promote X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Makes me wonder why they don't come here to promote.

But really, why can't Hollywood stars come to the Philippines to promote their movies, when most of us Filipinos just love them. LOL! Really, Hollywood movies are a hit here in the Philippines, sometimes more than our locally made movies. I confess I rarely watch Tagalog movies, only when its critically-acclaimed (like Ploning) or isn't mainly a kilig love story.

Perhaps I'm really not into mainstream. While everyone was out watching You Changed My Life, I couldn't even find myself considering watching it. The last drama-love story Tagalog movie I watched that I really liked was Carlos Siguion-Reyna's 1991 film Hihintayin Kita sa Langit. I watched it through the recommendation of a friend, who also lent me the VCD a few years back. Watching it made me wonder why Siguion-Reyna stopped making films. Or did he? It also raised a question of why modern-day filmmakers won't make films of such story lines.

It was so well-made the characters will stick in your memory. Even if I saw it years ago, I still remember scenes of Gabriel and Carmina so in love with each other. I'm not really a fan of Richard Gomez's acting (and hosting) abilities but the fact that he made the character of Gabriel so unforgettable perhaps mean that he's a really effective
actor. Well, Dawn Zulueta as Carmina gave a flawless performance. A beautiful, helpless, fragile lady so in love with Gabriel but can't escape the cruelties of her brother.

Oh I really hope Reyna Films make movies again. I'm sure those who like Hollywood movies will patronize Tagalog movies with good story lines. By the way, isn't the lack of it made them turn their attention to foreign movies?

Speaking of unforgettable characters, there are two more that I can't forget. Victor and Alma from Andres Cristobal Cruz's "Ang Tondo Man May Langit Din." I'm kinda sure those who read the book can't forget them either.

Photo Source: k-popped.com

Stampede at ANTM Audition

This is crazy. But still, it wasn't as tragic as the Wowowee stampede.



I'm sure the injured will get support from the show.

But after the Wowowee stampede victims had been buried, did their families get any more support? Just asking.