Love Songs and Love Stories for Himig Handog 2018 Announced

Had the chance to listen to the top songs for Himig Handog 2018 this afternoon. Here they are in no particular order.

"Dalawang Pagibig Niya" by Bernard S. Reforsado interpreted by Sheena Belarmino, Krystal Brimmer and MNL48. It felt young, very KPOP-ish and easy to sing along.

"Hati na Lang Tayo" sa Kanya by Joseph Santiago, interpreted by Eumee. This one is heartfelt, hurt, very emotional. Eumee also belts this out in the chorus, pretty good. The composer said the one asking attention was the legal wife.

"Kababata" is composed by John Michael "Kritiko" Edixon, interpreted by Kritiko himself ft Kyla. Again another hurtful song but more like a rap song.

Interpreted by Janine Berdin, this one is composed by Mhonver Lopez and Joanna Concepcion, it's entitled "Mas Mabuti Pa". You could see this is another slow ballad type song, using the voice of the TNT winner to their advantage. It could well be used for a teleseryes, it could pass like that. This is an old song but the composer asked another composer if she could continue writing it (they are best friends) because it is on a woman's perspective.

Composer for this one is from Dubai, he's Robert William Peña. The song is called "Para Sa Tabi" and is interpreted by BoybandPH. It's very pop, boyband-ish and the lyrics are fun. I get a little annoyed about the sound of the chorus though.

JM De Guzman interpreted this one, it's called "Sa Mga Bituin Na Lang Ibubulong". It is composed by Kyle Raphael Borbon. JM sounds like a boy who would sing a heartfelt love song for someone he adores. It's so cool to listen to, it could pass as a song for spas and massage centers, make you feel good and sleep in that little corner your boyfriend has under his arms.

"Sugarol" is composed by Jan Aldrile Sabili and is interpreted by Maris Racal. It felt like something you would listen to while you're flying over several mountain ranges while you are looking for the love of your life. It's like she's trying to find that one true love. The composer says this is about her personal experience, she says she was in the state of falling in love but she was hesitant. Maris says "When I heard this I loved the lyrics, I do this too so it is a really good opportunity to get to sing this song because a lot of people would be able to relate to it."

I think this is the first time Jona is interpreting a song (not), it's called "Tinapos Ko Na" which is composed by Sarah Jane Gandia. Again it is very emotional, thinking of a relationship if it is true or not, and being afraid to fall, but still hopeful. Quite nice because she has runs. She says "I guess the way I sing is because of the inspirations I got from my idols Regine and Jaya. The song has a line and lyric that has reminded me of relationships, a very challenging material because it's got less vocal acrobatics. I get really challenged with restrained songs."

The next one is called "Wakasan" composed by Philip Arvin Jarilla and performed by band Agsunta. This song is about hopeful love, about waiting forever and not even caring how long that takes lol. It sounds a little bit like country. Things that Garth Brooks would sing, but in a very band setting. The composer says this song is from that old Filipino comic called Wakasan, but it is an open ended song.

Sam Mangubat interprets this next one called "Wala Kang Alam" which is composed by Mel Magno and Martin John Arellano. It's a slow hurtful ballad, about lost love and setting them free. It also felt like it is full of regrets, and the other person clueless about how much you've hurt. The composer said it was his way to get back with his ex's, about men, relationships and the hurt he's felt. It's his real life experience. He doesn't move on from pain as an artist and he pulls emotions from that. He's gay but it also applies to heterosexual relationships.

Jonathan Manalo says "These songs are based on real life, stories that are relateable and put into a song. These are the next ones in radio, film or TV."

Roxy Liquigan adds "We had 5000 songs to listen to and had to cut it down several times until we reached 10. If you ask us how true this is we had one song that was sung initially by 10 year old kids, we had the interpreters chosen by us, all for those who would be on top of mind so we got teens to do it too. We focused a lot on the appropriate artists, we got what we wished for and this year you'll see an even bigger, current showcase of songs. We know these will be BIG hits!"

Who will you be choosing? Which is the best one?

KUMAGCOW
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CHANGING PARTNERS in Cinemas Today

Just saw Changing Partners today and boy was I impressed. The hit cinemaone originals entry that talks about LOVE got it's needed commercial run tomorrow and a premiere night with the four artists Jojit Lorenzo, Agot Isidro, Sandino Martin and Anna Luna.

Now the good thing is I'm looking at this movie like a regular spectator, as I havent watched the PETA production or when they showed this at the CinemaOne originals festival last year. The reason I said this needed a commercial run is because this is one spectacular representation of a world class production. Albeit casting lesser commercial appeal stars, it has greatly been able to tell the story of 4 relationships. All along I thought the narrative might have been given away at the trailer already but no, you need to see it on screen how they meticulously tied these gay, lesbian and May December affairs. The obvious message they would want to send is that love knows no gender, but really I think it's more than that. They treated each persona differently, and each individual may or may not ne affected by what the partner is doing. I am most impressed on how the material basically has said bluntly what a person should say in a situation, like if it does happen in real life it would have meant relationships would all go to shambles.

As writer Vincent De Jesus puts it, “Love can be overrated, the story is about my personality with humor, I am weird that way. It’s about relationships, friendships, how complete strangers become complete. We try to tell the story with truths and see how it plays there. We hope people would watch this film for just the mere goodness of the material, we are nervous but excited for everyone to see it!”

Here’s a video of our interview with the writer and some of the stars of the movie.

CHANGING PARTNERS will be shown to the public tomorrow at leading cinemas including SM. Check out and see why it’s the most talked about film and why it won awards at the CinemaOne Originals festival last year. It definitely is worth every minute. If there would be some improvements I'd like to happen, it's those dizzying camera shots during the first few miniutes of the movie, aside from that I loved it. I'd give it 4/5 cows.

Hurry and watch it before you get old like a banana.

KUMAGCOW

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Good Days for OPM Happening at #CokeStudioPH

Looks like Coke is getting their hands warm on Filipino music. They've been always like that and despite hard times, they've managed to put up tons of concerts, shows and caravans that make us all proud of our own music. They're not stopping there because every Saturday, they will be seen helping established, up and coming and indie bands + artists to up the ante on their OPM game for COKE STUDIO PH. It's a new show seen on TV5 every Saturday at 7PM and just a few weeks ago I had the opportunity to see the launch at SMX Convention Center. It was like a town fiesta like no other!

Coke had us stay in the center, surrounded by different stages that had musicians, artists take over for a few minutes and boy it was crazy! Different genres, different takes on new and old Filipino songs, all of us got comfy seats and sang along with the crowd.

The crowd wasn't letting down as throngs of them lined up even after the first performers came out. Sandwich opened the show, I went ballistic! Haha!

They switched back to acoustic and played my favorite Eraserheads songs, an era I am very familiar with.

Then they toned down a bit and made it a bit romantic. These two had us feel like we were in a park busking in the moonlight.

I wasn't surprised TV5 had this on their station. I remember Coach Chot saying that they wanted to have something that isn't seen on the other stations, this would really be something special for them, not to mention a good platform to be seen, to help those bands and artists that are good but haven't been seen by the general public. To hopefully broker record deals if they find them awesome on stage.

I couldn't remember their name but they played percussion instruments like they were in Rio De Janeiro. I'd like this in my own party!

A section of the hall was dedicated to a Coke Studio filled with your favorite drink, and a Karaoke + recording facility. It was a time to sing your heart out in front of tons of people. I didn't do this but I would if I could brave the line that they had that evening.

The other side of the hall had a conversation space where the artists and the band members were interviewed, made to inspire us ordinary people, and the up and coming bands and artists too. The juke box though isn't your ordinary box, it's an automatic labeler so you can just put in your name and get your own personalized Coke bottle!

Coke executives weren't just going to sit around and watch, they played too!

When Sandwich came on stage, I shouted, I jumped with excitement, and joined in with the crowd who wanted more of this music.

Stephan from Coke also gave a speech. Here it is on video so listen in!

I had so much fun!

For the finale, they had the artists, the executives from Coke and the bands on stage including Franco. God was I so zonked this night but I still got my A game on. I wished the evening wouldn't stop!

Thank you so much Coca Cola Philippines for the opportunity to party with you guys! Every year I always look forward to your gigs!

Again for those who would want to see the show and how you mix in the old and the new, keep it on TV5 every Saturday at 7PM. You'll like Noel Cabangon do it with rapper CurtisSmith, and other artists on the pipeline. Cheers to Coke and Pinoy Music!

KUMAGCOW
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