in the current craze…

Posted on by Eva Dimaculangan

I and some friends failed to see the main event of the 29th Olympiad’s opening ceremony. We were at Jane’s for her birthday where everyone was busy chatting, eating and taking pics that nobody remembered. Athletes were already on parade when we turned the TV on. Through the local news we got a glimpse of the presentation and boy… it was AMAZING! When it comes to big and extravagant field shows, we have to give it to the Chinese. Nothing beats their artistic ability in this stuff of performing. Thank God there’s youtube, I’ll browse through it later.

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When I hear people ask “when will the Olympics come to the Philippines?” I say “never”, if I get to answer. If I don’t get to answer then I still say “never” to myself. Reality dictates we can never afford such extravagance. And considering the security status of our country, there’s surely no Philippine official who will even dare apply for hosting it.

We have 15 delegates to the Olympiad this year and although there’s a whooping 15M reward to whoever will bag and bring home the 1st gold medal for the country, we are yet to get a good chance at it. So for me, it does not have to be gold. An Olympic medal of any color will certainly give this country a great deal of pride.

At any rate, medal or none, we still have to be proud that the Philippines was able to send 15 athletes to Beijing. 15 Filipino men and women who are at par to the standards of Olympic sports. Go team Philippines!

Pinoy Idol Is All About Money

Posted on by Eva Dimaculangan

I seem to be not over David Cook yet. I’m still watching videos of his performances online. Well, the man is just great and uncovering the hidden talent that he was is the main purpose of the Idol show. Too bad, hindi mangyayari yan dito sa Pinas and that, I think, is because unlike here, American Idol has voting lines that are “toll free” so avid fans don’t have to think twice if they want to vote for their faves. Sa Pinas, the only option to vote is through SMS. Not only that, the charge is 100% to 150% more that the regular SMS charges. Eh maraming kuripot na tao whose way of thinking is ” why will we vote for those Idol hopefuls na hindi naman namin kaano-ano at wala naman akong mapapala? Sayang lang ang load so pabayaan na lang sa mga kamag-anak at kakilala nila ang mag-vote. Bahala silang mag-sayang ng pera nila.”

And so, Pinoy Idol is maybe just close to being halfway through but we already know it’s a failure. The real good ones are gone and although we can’t say those who are left are without talents at all, it is obvious they don’t have enough of it to be really worthy of the title. I am not surprised if the show is not getting good ratings nowadays.

I’ve heard the jurors saying their plea for voters to choose wisely. Sorry jurors, hindi sila ganyan. Pinoy Idol is a typical Pinoy “popularity contest” where the ones with the most number of “Cash” wins. Naawa tuloy ako sa mga jurors. Ogie, Jolina and Wingard are definetely good artists who know their craft. They give a lot of effort in coming up with objective advices in the hopes of influencing the voting fans to choose wisely, eh hindi naman sila pinapakinggan. I can only imagine how frustrating their positions are. Oh well, malaki naman siguro bayad sa kanila for doing what they do.

Eh bakit nga ba walang libreng voting sa Pinoy Idol? Because aside from being a talent show, it’s primarily a business. In one of the seminars I’ve attended as a Mass Communications student I was lucky to have Mr. Jim Paredes as our main speaker. I’ll never forget when he said that TV and radio networks have a big responsibility in doing or giving public service. First and foremost, however, these networks are businesses and as that their main concern, at all times, is to protect their earnings. And so even the tagline “In the service of the Filipino people” is a way to promote the business. Syempre nga naman, if people are influenced to trust these networks eh di maraming manonood ng shows nila, maganda ang ratings at maraming sponsors hence, maraming pera.

As a summary, GMA cannot provide a free voting venue for Pinoy Idol so as to gather earnings in each and every vote that will be casted. The fans, on the other side, don’t vote thinking that the process is just a waste of money. Yes, it is always about money. Kaya ang ending hindi enjoy manood ng Pinoy Idol unless you have a ralative or a friend in the contest. At sinong losers dito? I’d say the voters, unless they are an immediate family of whoever will be the proclaimed winner for they are the only ones who will get something out of it in the end.