The AirAsia Travel Photographer 2016

There were over 500 entries sent but only 6 finalists were chosen. They all travelled to Macau and battled it out in different challenges to win the title of AirAsia Travel Photographer 2016. 

Neil Cardano from Palawan, Mithilaya Miclat from Davao, Eliseo Zuniga from Taguig, Kimberly Pauig from Pasig, Daniel Magbanua from Quezon City and Dave Poblete from Makati went on a mission and shot picturesque Coloane Village, Fisherman's Wharf and other cultural attractions in Macau so they could take portraits, food shots, and experience the country and it's people. To judge the photos, they had Nachi Ugarte from GRID Magazine, Jacob Maentz who does documentaries, Wawi Navarrosa a photographer from Thousandfold and Rudy Khaw the head of AirAsia's Branding. 

They called in 3 finalists Kimberly Pauig, Daniel "DJ" Magbanua and Dave Poblete to explain their work. Kimberly shined on the portrait with three women, Daniel had a great architectural shot, while Dave Poblete excelled more on the food shot since he had a kid and a lollipop element in it. 

The grand winner gets 200,000 AirAsia BIG Points, a surprise vacation package from AirAsia, and prizes from partner brands GRID Magazine and Flight 001. They also awarded the People's choice winner which was done through public voting on AirAsia Philippines' website! 

In the end, the winner for People's Choice is Dave Poblete. The third place goes to DJ Magbanua, Second place goes to Dave Poblete and grand prize winner is Kimberly Pauig.

KUMAGCOW

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Sweet Talk with Inah De Belen

You are looking at Inah De Belen. She's the daughter of actor John Estrada and Ms. Janice De Belen. She has been in the industry for quite some time now, particularly in TV5. She's been paired with young hearthrob Akihiro Blanco and did a couple of programs including hit show Wattpad Presents among many others. She's jumped ship and went to the caring arms of GMA Network. She's been blessed to have the genes of her parents but have worked hard enough to be noticed as a formidable actress in her age group. She's starring in a new soap in the Kapuso Network called OH MY MAMA! based on the movie made raves years ago by Ms. Maricel Soriano and catapulted her love team with William Martinez in 1981.

Here's our interview with Inah De Belen.

We also did an activity with her and the people at bake shop. We went home with smiles on our faces because for most of us, it was our first time to make cakes. She's into baking too so if you're going to impress Inah, you must know how to cook. I wonder if her 2 leading men in the soap knows how to do just that!

 This is going to be a new OH MY MAMA, like a story based on that but not entirely. GMA Network and GMA Artist Center seems to have a lot planned for her and if she's up to the challenge, I'm sure she's going to make it. 

For more information about their artists:

Official GMA Artist Center

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http://gmanetwork.com/artistcenter

Come Watch Jersey Boys at the Meralco Theater

I was one of the few kids who got tortured with the music of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons. My dad used all the sound system he could muster pretty much when I was in inception up to the time I was working graveyards when I still had a blue collared job. Not that I didn't like it, but my Dad did this almost every day even if people were still sleeping or tired from work. It's his picker upper, the generation which he says even pre dated The Beatles in their hey days. 

I've grown to listen to them by force but turned out to have imparted me a LOT about the music back then. It gave me a piece of history, the nostalgia, I kinda learned to understand my Dad like the same fanaticism I have now with Eraserheads and the little annoying disconnect I get with the millenials when I tell them stories about them.

But enough about me, this time Atlantis Theatrical Entertainment Group is bringing the Tony, Olivier and Grammy Award winning musical production the Jersey Boys to Manila. 

Christian Bautista says "We had to research a LOT and didn't just depend on what's written on the script. Some of these guys were interviewed on video and you can still read certain things about how a song was made, the whole thought process and even how it saved their lives. Pressure? This is still running in Broadway, and this is the first time in Asia. You're going to sing, dance and stand up when you watch the show."

Nino Alejandro adds "We have to respect who they are and what they want to accomplish in their lives because these all happened in the past. We have to make the scenes believable, as these are true stories."

Markki Stroem "We had accent tapes to listen to and trained ourselves with mints in our mouths so we can do it. It's the iconic part, the character creation was a fun process. Watch the movies and you get to create your own interpretation without veering away from the spirit.

Nyoy Volante says "Franky Valli's voice is iconic and the group had him sing this way, it's hard to know it from his fans and the pressure not to be like it puts ton of pressure and we have a story to tell. The message of the show is good and we're doing the it for the first time in Asia. You can't top that!"

For tickets, you may visit www.ticketworld.com.ph or call Ten Bridges Media Corporation at (02) 6505144. Jersey Boys will tell you about the story of Franky Valli and The Four Seasons and why it's been one of the most watched and longest running show in Broadway history. 

KUMAGCOW

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Tanghalang Pilipino Presents A Filipino Adaptation of Shakespear's Midsummer Night's Dream

I'm not a hardcore Shakespear fan nor am I a religious watcher of plays. The last one I watched was El Fili in PETA Theater a couple of months back. This is a different company and as Artistic Director Nanding Josef says "We found and institution and individual who would help us pursue our dreams for the Filipino artists. We have scholars in the room, of which study performing arts and are taken cared of by this institution. We are commemorating the 400th deat anniversary of Shakespear and we are doing this in part because of that. There are a lot of shows featuring Shakespearian plays but I think he's got a universal message on love, on assertion of rights, and virtues that are all wordly."

Carlos Siguion Reyna adds "I was nervous and among Shakespear's plays I felt I had connection with the other ones because it had powerplay and power trip materials, but this has magic and stuff which I felt is also an opportunity to do it. It's been a joy doing it, I hope we can do justice and feel that in the production. I haven't seen one in the Philippines but I read the material and I felt interested is when order becomes conflicted, when passion gets chaotic, it becomes an interesting thing and we hope to put that out. It's dark but we have a lot of material, some crazy stuff and kicks a patriarchal court of issues right from the start. Through all of these, the painful things is that it's all love, falling in and out of love and the traditional forces of order and those who want to explore more. That's what we want to pull up from the production, it's magic, it's comedy, it's romance. You'll get to see a scene in the woods today and there are fairys, all sorts of animals. I am also looking at the structure of the fairy and the Athens court, I think especially with the four lovers it's going to be a bit hard. She falls in love with a guy not approved with the Father and comes into conflict with spells and situations which both can be funny and frightening."

It felt weird seeing a love quarrel in full Filipino language. The medium is a bit deep, and using it for an old English play was a little unnatural because it was too passionate for its form, until I heard them do the more oligarchial scenes in English. It's a way for people to decipher authority, the power they were trying to imply earlier. That makes sense.

Seasoned actors Rafa Siguion Reyna and Ms. Jackie Lou Blanco are part of the ensemble cast. Tanghalang Pilipino actually have some of the best and judging from the looks of it, this is going to be great. Ms. Jackie quips "I really wanted to do it and I couldn't say no to Tata Nanding. I haven't been able to work with Direk nor have I done anything Shakespear. I'm really glad I joined the company, I'm really excited! I hope you invite your friends and family to watch it."

Tanghalang Joseng Batute will be it's home for the duration of the production. "Pangarap Sa Isang Gabi Ng Gitnang Tag-Araw" (a reimagined Midsummer Nights Dream by Shakespear) will be shown on a three weekend limted run from September 30 to October 16, 2016. This is produced by Tanghalang Pilipino Actors Company. 

KUMAGCOW

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