TAIWAN EXCELLENCE "Your Song of Excellence: Duo Legacy" Bares Winners

Taiwan certainly has a lot of things that Filipinos could connect to. One of it is the love for music. TAITRA aka Taiwan External Trade Development Council recently held the Taiwan Excellence "Your Song of Excellence: Duo Legacy" at the Market!Market! mall in Taguig City. 

Out of thousands who sent their entries, they got the judges choose 3 finalists to battle it out on this one day at the mall's activity center. This isn't a walk in the park as we talked to the judges Kean Cipriano, Ice Seguerra, Yeng Constantino and Paulo Zarate. They also had to choose a winner based off a themed composition about Taiwan Excellence and an original song. Taiwan is known for their various quality products and seeing the Taiwan Excellence seal on them just assures you of their high standards. Aside from the economic standpoint, it's the connections we share in culture that makes it a worthwhile event.

We also got to talk to the executives of TAITRA and asked about what they were looking for as far as winners go. It's a combination of talent, x factor and the ability to showcase the Filipino talent. Because just like Taiwan, we find excellence in these things. Makes sense?

 Various Taiwanese brands also joined the event in support of the Taiwan Excellence program and this songwriting and singing competition:

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In the end, they announced The Unexpected Duo's Vench Larenas and Renz Salazar as Second Runner Up, Haranajeeb Duo's Khen Aldovino and Nephtali Fajardo as the First Runner Up. The grand winner is Mandarhyme Duo's Rusty and Janine Loayon, they won Php 300,000 for it. The event was witnessed by TAITRA's Brian Lee, Alex Lai, and people from Taiwan Economic and Cultural Office. Also in the event was Ambassador Wallace Chow and Ms. Josephine Shun of TECO Philippines.

Real Robust Challenge Winners Bared

In the Philippines, we've come to see how Robust has inculcated in the lives of so many men... and in the process, fix personal physical issues when they get to a certain age. The brand has recently held a "Real Robust Challenge", a video blog competition amongst the Philippines' most talented content creators as they feature the all natural power packed supplement that contains Epidmedium Extract, Goat Weed, which is a Chinese aphrodisiac. It also has Gingko Biloba Leaf, Ginseng, Dansheng and Dahurian Angelica root, plus L-Arganine, for that long lasting performance.

Racking up millions of views for each video, they announced the top entries at the event a few nights ago. The Real Robust Challenge winners won 300k for 3rd Place given to Elaiza Sy (21,870,184 views), 500K for the 2nd Place went to FCY Channel (24,173,225 views), while the top prize of 1 Million went to VinF TV (41,285,748 views). Other top entries also won 30,000. Mind you, they also gave the prizes that day in cold cash, tax free!

The event was also graced by ATC Healthcare executives, makers of Robust in the country. Also in the crowd was the nice Raffy Tulfo himself, he was really nice talking in the sidelines especially to other vloggers who went up to him to take selfies.

They also announced that this will be repeated next year, but since ATC Healthcare International is feeling extra generous, Robust and Livermarin will be joining forces to give a whopping Php 2 Million for the winner in 2024. Congratulations on a very successful event! I can't wait to join the contest next year, it'll probably be huge as more content creators would take a jab at the prize and enjoy the same benefits that Robust gives.

Oscars 2015 Nominees and Winners

Lady Gaga performed songs from "The Sound of Music", it was epic!
(Image from www.telegraph.co.uk/Robyn Beck/Getty Images and not mine).  

I didn't get to catch the Oscars 2015 earlier because I had to go out and cover an event but I was watching my time line and got the best list so far that contains the nominees and winners. I think everyone would love to see their favorites, especially my favorite Julianne Moore who did an exceptional job in Still Alice.

Anyway here's the whole thing. The nominees for Oscars 2015 are as follows.


For Best Supporting Actor

JK Simmons for Whiplash -  Winner
Robert Duvall for The Judge
Ethan Hawke for Boyhood
Edward Norton for Birdman
Mark Ruffalo for Foxcatcher

For Achievement in Costume Design

The Grand Budapest Hotel – Milena Canonero -  Winner
Inherent Vice – Mark Bridges
Into the Woods – Colleen Atwood
Maleficent – Anna B Sheppard
Mr Turner – Jacqueline Durran

For Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling

The Grand Budapest Hotel – Frances Hannon, Mark Coulier - Winners
Foxcatcher – Bill Corso, Dennis Liddiard
Guardians of the Galaxy – Elizabeth Yianni-Georgiou, David White

For the Best Foreign Language Film

Ida – Paweł Pawlikowski - Winner
Tangerines – Zaza Urushadze
Leviathan – Andrey Zvyagintsev
Wild Tales – Damián Szifrón
Timbuktu – Abderrahmane Sissako

For the Best Live Action Short Film

The Phone Call – Mat Kirkby, James Lucas - Winners
Aya – Oded Binnun, Mihal Brezis
Boogaloo and Graham – Michael Lennox, Ronan Blaney
Butter Lamp – Wei Hu, Julien Féret
Parvaneh – Talkhon Hamzavi, Stefan Eichenberger

For the Best Documentary on Short Subjects

Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1 – Ellen Goosenberg Kent, Dana Perry - Winners
Joanna – Aneta Kopacz
Our Curse – Tomasz Sliwinski, Maciej Slesicki
The Reaper – Gabriel Serra
White Earth – Christian Jensen

For Achievement in Sound Mixing

Whiplash – Craig Mann, Ben Wilkins, Thomas Curley - Winners
American Sniper – John T Reitz, Gregg Rudloff, Walt Martin
Birdman – Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño, Thomas Varga
Interstellar – Gary Rizzo, Gregg Landaker, Mark Weingarten
Unbroken – Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño, David Lee

For Achievement in Sound Editing

American Sniper – Alan Robert Murray, Bub Asman - Winners
Birdman – Aaron Glascock, Martín Hernández
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – Brent Burge, Jason Canovas
Interstellar – Richard King
Unbroken – Becky Sullivan, Andrew DeCristofaro

For the Best Supporting Actress

Patricia Arquette for Boyhood - Winner, (my bet too!)
Laura Dern for Wild
Keira Knightley for The Imitation Game
Emma Stone for Birdman
Meryl Streep for Into the Woods

For Achievement in Visual Effects

Interstellar – Paul J Franklin, Andrew Lockley, Ian Hunter, Scott R Fisher -  Winners
Captain America: The Winter Soldier – Dan Deleeuw, Russell Earl, Bryan Grill, Daniel Sudick
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes – Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Daniel Barrett, Erik Winquist
Guardians of the Galaxy – Stephane Ceretti, Nicolas Aithadi, Jonathan Fawkner, Paul Corbould
X-Men: Days of Future Past – Richard Stammers, Lou Pecora, Tim Crosbie, Cameron Waldbauer

For the Best Animated Short Film

Feast – Patrick Osborne, Kristina Reed - Winners
The Bigger Picture – Daisy Jacobs, Chris Hees
The Dam Keeper – Robert Kondo, Daisuke “Dice” Tsutsumi
Me and My Moulton – Torill Kove
A Single Life – Joris Oprins

For the Best Animated Feature Film

Big Hero 6 - Winner
The Boxtrolls
How to Train Your Dragon 2
Song of the Sea
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya

For the Best Production Design

The Grand Budapest Hotel: Adam Stockhausen, Anna Pinnock - Winner (I think I need to see this!)
The Imitation Game: Maria Djurkovic, Tatiana Macdonald
Interstellar: Nathan Crowley, Gary Fettis
Into the Woods: Dennis Gassner, Anna Pinnock
Mr Turner: Suzie Davies, Charlotte Watts

For Achievement in Cinematography

Birdman: Emmanuel Lubezki - Winner (though I think The Grand Budapest Hotel should win!)
The Grand Budapest Hotel: Robert D Yeoman
Ida: Lukasz Zal, Ryszard Lenczewski
Mr Turner: Dick Pope
Unbroken: Roger Deakins

For Achievement in Film Editing

Whiplash – Tom Cross - Winner
Boyhood – Sandra Adair
The Imitation Game – William Goldenberg
The Grand Budapest Hotel – Barney Pilling
American Sniper – Joel Cox, Gary Roach

For Best Documentary Feature

Citizenfour – Laura Poitras, Mathilde Bonnefoy, Dirk Wilutzky - Winner
Finding Vivian Maier – John Maloof, Charlie Siskel
Last Days in Vietnam – Rory Kennedy, Keven McAlester
The Salt of the Earth – Wim Wenders, Juliano Ribeiro Salgado, David Rosier
Virunga – Orlando von Einsiedel, Joanna Natasegara

For the Best Original Song

Glory from Selma – Lonnie Lynn (Common), John Stephens (John Legend) - Winner
The Lego Movie – Shawn Patterson (Everything Is Awesome)
Beyond the Lights – Diane Warren (Grateful)
Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me – Glen Campbell, Julian Raymond (I’m Not Gonna Miss You)
Begin Again – Gregg Alexander, Danielle Brisebois (Lost Stars)

For the Best Original Score

Alexandre Desplat – The Grand Budapest Hotel - Winner
Alexandre Desplat – The Imitation Game
Hans Zimmer – Interstellar
Johann Johannsson– The Theory of Everything
Gary Yershon – Mr Turner

For the Best Original Screenplay

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Armando Bo – Birdman - Winner
Richard Linklater – Boyhood
E Max Frye, Dan Futterman – Foxcatcher
Wes Anderson, Hugo Guinness – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Dan Gilroy – Nightcrawler

For the Best Adapted Screenplay

Graham Moore – The Imitation Game - Winner
Jason Hall – American Sniper
Paul Thomas Anderson – Inherent Vice
Anthony McCarten – The Theory of Everything
Damien Chazelle – Whiplash

For the Best Director

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu for Birdman - Winner
Richard Linklater for Boyhood
Bennett Miller for Foxcatcher
Wes Anderson for The Grand Budapest Hotel
Morten Tyldum for The Imitation Game

For the Oscars Best Actor

Eddie Redmayne for The Theory of Everything - Winner (I think it's his year!)
Steve Carell for Foxcatcher
Benedict Cumberbatch for The Imitation Game
Bradley Cooper for American Sniper
Michael Keaton for Birdman

For the Best Actress

Julianne Moore for Still Alice - Winner (Yay!)
Marion Cotillard for Two Days, One Night
Felicity Jones for The Theory of Everything
Rosamund Pike for Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon for Wild

For the Oscars Best Picture

Birdman - Winner
American Sniper
Boyhood
The Imitation Game
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Selma
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash

Congratulations to all the winners and I hope you get to enjoy your gold statues at home. The Oscars has really chosen some good ones this year and I hope to get to see some other films that I haven't watched yet especially those short films. Selma was a little dragging though. I have something to say also about some gowns in the 87th Academy Awards that was held in Los Angeles but that's another story. For Birdman, you have my vote (for now) even though I love Boyhood better.

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http://www.oscars.org/