Insightful, Hopeful

After missing the succeeding episodes after the first one, I was finally able to watch Idol again. I was glad that choosing the final 24 was not over yet. I thought it was last week.
Like American Idol, the contestants were grouped into three. Some groups had some conflict, but unlike their American counterparts, I did not see any walkouts or mumbling of bad words. I saw some familiar faces, those that previously joined other singing contests: Marinel Santos and OJ Mariano (from Star in a Million 1st and 2nd season, both 2nd placers) and Jason Velasquez (from Search for a Star where Sarah Geronimo won). I was also surprised to see Divo, a local singer.
Anyway, after the room elimination, (where contestants were asked to stay in a room and only 2 out of 4 rooms would make it to the next round), the singing contest finalists and Divo were eliminated. Only 40 remained. My guess is that the judges of course expected more from these contestants who had previous contest experience. Divo was bitter, after being eliminated saying "Maraming hindi magaling" (many of the other contestants are not good). The grandson of Dolphy, was also not included.
The 40 contestants were further trimmed to 24. The contestants had to sing solo choosing one of pre-selected songs. Next Saturday is the first performance night, and people get to vote :)
My dad, however, pointed out that Smart (the cell network) was the sponsor. And no way could we use our Globe sim  :(  But I told him a PLDT number would sure be available. Or I was thinking, I could buy a Smart sim card :)
I have some favorites - Freddie (who reminds me of Luke Mijares), Joseph Astor (has an angle where he looks like Sam Milby though Sam still looks more cute), Erika (if I'm not mistaken, she's the girl with the hearing impairment. If all goes well for her, she could be our local Elliot Yamin), Pau (because she's true to herself) and Maureen (just saw her in the Top 40 and she was good).

For the last few months, I have not been able to post anything. It's because there's something wrong with my PC and I can't connect to any ISP :(

I'm thinking of buying a new harddisk and reformating so that I'll be able to have a fresh start and hopefully eradicate the problems I had been having with installation, connecting to the internet, etc.

I'm now at my friend, Mimay's house, writing this blog entry. She asked me last week if I wanted to stay with her over the weekend coz it's her mom's death anniversary and her dad and bro were out of town.  I thought it was a great time to bond with her at the same time watch her favorite shows.

Before going to her house, I watched 6 straight episode of LOST, which she burned for me. Then when I went to her house, we watched the first season of Grey's Anatomy. She had been raving about the show, and I was able to watch the 2nd episode on the local channel, Studio 23. I was able to watch up to the 8th episode of Season 1. The show is interesting coz it has some comedy, drama and you learn a bit about medicine too coz the show focuses on the lives of surgical interns. It was just unfortunate that her PC kept on restarting on the middle of some episodes.  

I used to be a real TV addict, and before I had to wait week after week for my favorite shows. Right now, it's so much easier because the episodes can be downloaded on the internet or you can buy a DVD. 

Now, I'm back to being a couch potato, up until I can watch all the episodes I copied from Mims :) 

This month, I thought of blogging but then I don't think there's anything interesting to blog about. Maybe I've been lazy. Or perhaps the activities I do seem to be routinary, or that it might not interest my millions of audience (wishful thinking hehe).

The best excuse for not blogging is that I've spent an ample amount of time watching reality shows. My two most favorite are American Idol 5 and Pinoy Big Brother (Teen Edition).

This is the 2nd American idol I've really watched from beginning to end. The first one was the 3rd season. I'm happy for Taylor Hicks, he seems to be a very nice guy. At first, I didn't like him that much. I thought he was odd and not that good. But like Simon Cowell, I had a change of heart. He was a total performer. His vocals was average, but he gives it all when he performs. So congrats to you Taylor and to the Soul Patrol :)

I really had no one favorite in the group. At first, I liked Chris, Paris and Katherine. But then as the weeks went by, I lost interest on Chris and Kat because of some boring performances. Paris was ok, but she showed different personalities which is also a minus at some point. The real talent however is Elliot Yamin. He seems to be such a gentleman too. And his story is so inspirational, being almost deaf and a diabetic. I hope he gets to record his own album, and that "A Song for You" will be included in it.

As for Pinoy Big Brother, I just enjoy watching the teens. Being teens, they are just having fun inside "kuya's" house. My guess is that Kim will win, and Gerald will be in 2nd place. That's just my guess anyway. :)

I have "abandoned" this blog for a while. I've been sick for most of January, and I've been too lazy to blog. I've listed down a few topics but maybe I wanted a fun topic, or something I can write about without too much explaining.

Luckily, I just saw a post about Batibot on my friend, Tolit's blog, and thought it might be interesting to post it here too. My officemate, Lian and I have been reminiscing about this children's show we used to watch as kids. It was a big part of our childhood, and I guess also for Filipinos born late 70s to early 80s.

"Pagmulat ng mata, langit nakatawa sa Batibot" goes the familiar intro. It's Batibot, the Filipino counterpart of Sesame Street.

Here's a link to a site dedicated to our favorite children's show. "Wag kayong aalis, babalik agad ang Batibot."

Postcript: Btw, Lian's pregnant! :) Congrats friend! I hope Batibot DVDs would be available sometime in the future so kids today and in the future could watch it too. Wouldn't hurt if we peek at our favorite episodes too hehe.

I watched Pinoy Big Brother today, and at the end of the show they featured the interview of interview of Cassandra, Uma and Sam. This is to end the rumors regarding the immediate entry of the said housemates without having gone through the screening process. A good move on the part of ABS without causing much stir.

Got this forwarded email today from one of my officemates. I don't know if it is true, but if it is, could pass as another "Hello Garci" scandal. But it could also be is a scheme from the reality tv's rivals and detractors. Read on.

Ipinatawag ni Ms. Linggit Tan sina UMA at CASS together with Ms. Carol E., Mr. Pablito B. and Director Lawrence Dyogi (The Voice Behind BIG BROTHER).

Uma - Yes, Mam,

Ms. Liggit Tan - Yes we are working for that. Basta do your best, UMA and CASS. Tapos if ever my na force evict sa mga housemate, papasukin naming si SAM. Ok?

Ms. Linggit Tan - OK na? here's the money 10,000.00 para makabalik ka sa Davao, inform your parent about this ok?

Director Dyogi - CASS, UMA, basta pag nomination na pagpasok niyo sa confession room, nakalista sa likod ng camera kung sino ang i-vo-vote out niyo, kayo na lang ang magbibigay ng rason

Know The Fact!!!

UMA - Is a model and talent of ABS-CBN and MS. Charo Santos Concio's Personal Favorite

----- SO si BOB, RAQUEL, JB, RICO, NENE, FRANZEN, CHX, SAY at si JAYSON ay pawang mga BIKTIMA ng PINOY BIG BROTHER!!! ---- Tunghayan ang mga susunod na pangyayari sa bahay ni kuya. Ang lahat na ito ay nai-record naming sa isang CD, na may kasamang larawan (picture) na nagpapatunay na niloloko lang tayo ng ABS-CBN at pamunuan ng BIG BROTHER. Ito po ay ilalabas namin, pagkatapos ng PINOY BIG BROTHER o sa kaukulang panahon.

Sources (MS. Carol E, Mr. Pablito B and MAY)

Like most Filipinos these days, I am one of the avid viewers of Pinoy Big Brother. I missed some episodes but whenever I can, I try to catch it on tv.
Last Monday's episode was a tearjerker, featuring the departure of Bob from the Big Brother house due to health factors. The other housemates were really worried about him, and cried a lot when he left.

Bob was the kind of housemate who knew how to play the game yet he is honest in showing his emotions when he is irritated, or against something. He does this in a "kuya"-like way, not showing tantrums but in a firm, disapproving way. Though he had some disagreements with other housemates, the concern they showed him made me realize why Filipinos are known for our "pakikisama" around the world. Even though Bob was an opponent, the housemates still remembered his positive traits. Bob, also, apologized to his housemates for any bad thing he did or said.

I have watched other reality tv shows before and none showed the same sadness when a co-contestant was leaving. That makes Pinoy Big Brother unique, because it truly shows our culture. That no matter what happened, we still treasure the people around us and treat them with respect. We are able to forgive and emphatize when problems arise. We cry yet move on. We cherish our families and friends, and are willing to sacrifice for them. That makes us truly a wonderful people.