Garrett Bolden and Mirriam Manalo Launch Singles

Sat down over coffee and got us interviews with GMA Music's Garrett Bolden and Mirriam Manalo. They're out with new singles called "Handa Na Maghintay" and "Una Ka" under the same label. They looked ecstatic from where we were seated.

Garrette says "I am so excited for you to hear Handa Nang Maghintay. It's about being a martyr, for those who want to wait for that perfect time to love somone. There is a performance video, it's already on YouTube. Meeting my real Dad, I waited for that. I didn't know how to do it but it did come, when we had communication, it felt it was something I wanted but it did come. I hope it would be more albums, songs, hopefully concerts and international exposure too. I am not expecting this at all, and I realize it is a hard path. I have always wanted to have a duet with Qwest and South Border or Julie Anne San Jose. I am still learning the ropes on how to compose and I hope I can do songs with other Clash artists as well. I have done gigs and set aside money so I could go to auditions outside the country. I did it with my own funds, hopefully I could do festivals and do the country proud. I still look at them now and the availability. I have tried Miss Saigon as well, but fear when it was just too big for me but I would still like to experience it because some artists do tell me it fits my voice. I have experienced TV acting and I enjoyed it and I hope this is just a start of opportunities to come. Maybe I could sing something for Descendants of the Sun, perhaps insert songs like this into that series. Hopefully soon. I wish to advise The Clash season 2 finalists to just be patient, take risks, and never doubt yourself. If you take a big step it will be a huge thing for people who will listen to you. Take the step."

Mirriam Manalo says "This is my dream, my first single, it's high tech and I have waited for this since I was 12. I hope this becomes a part of a teleserye. My first child reacts quite nicely, my voice was gone when I gave birth and I couldn't belt anymore. I accepted it and the baby was a nice trade for the voice, a bit hard but this is my happiest time. Very fulfilling, I love being a Mom. I have consulted doctors, they told me this happens. I was thinking more of what will happen to my daughter when I was singing and she was still in my womb. I want to do a collab with Ms. Regine, with Garrette, I got stressed but when I see my daughter, I feel it's all worth it. My song is about dreaming, you get inspired with the person you love, more inspirational than pop. I sing to her and sometimes listen to Jazz, it gets us to sleep. I look up to a lot of jazz artists, they inspire me to sing. When I was 8 nobody believed I could sing, I joined contests and did it on my own in karaoke. I was 11 when I joined contests, my folks thought I was so confident on stage and started doing gigs when I was in my teens. I fell in love when I heard the song, I knew it was my song and knew this is it. This is perfect for me, I felt the song chose me. I still wish to be the next Lani Misalucha and how she soulfully do songs. I didn't change my goals, I still wanted to sing in a cruise ship, to write songs and perform it. When I got to The Clash, I still I felt it was out of my league but this is all happening, becoming a recording artist is surreal. I hope I get to build my own home, my business and bring up my kids a better future. I am training get my groove back but you know there are a lot of songs I could still sing, hopefully I would recover soon."

She also told us it was so hard to record this unlike before where it would have just taken minutes. But really, when we heard her it was just like before. She's really good. Now go download their music on Spotify and other digital stores worldwide because they deserve this huge break!

They're really good.

GMA's New Femme Group XOXO

There were several teasers that came out in the GMA Artist Center instagram account about XOXO, blurred photos with women behind them which denotes something big is about to happen. We just met with them today at Trinoma and apparently, XOXO is an all female group composed of Riel, Dani, Lyra and Mel. What’s common is that they all came from the recent reality singing competition “The Clash” on GMA where they completely got their roster of singers filled after some left for other stables.

They currently have a great career individually and guesting on Studio 7 every week, why did they have to get together as XOXO? They probably want something different on the table, because they are packaging them on their differences as Riel will be The Diva, Dani will be “Fierce and Sexy”, Lyra will be “The Tough Girl” and Mel will be “The Sweet Girl”.

They will be releasing a single soon on GMA this August 24 on Studio 7 of course! This rebranding looks so good, I could almost see how they’ll be performing in other countries too. That’s gonna happen I’m sure. Follow them all now on @xoxo_gma and their individual accounts @xoxo_gma_riel, @xoxo_gma_mel, @xoxo_gma_lyra, @xoxo_gma_dani on all social channels. Hugs and kisses!

Sue and RK for Cuddle Weather

Another festival “Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino” is going to have some naughty entries courtesy of Project 8 Corner San Joaquin productions and Regal Films. Sue Ramirez and RK Bagatsing will play two lovestruck strangers caught in hustle and bustle red light district of Makati. She is a hustler, he was a previous plumber who had to learn the ropes on how to be to be a gigolo and yes he learned from the best. It’s been rainy, cuddle weather is in season, now even if it’s becoming a fun active thing now, they’ve become closer, close enough that it may actually spark a relationship.

Interesting to be in this scenario, are they capable of going into a real long lasting relationship? Or is that going to be a nono especially in an industry like this?

Sue says “I have accepted this when they pitched it because it was a timely topic. It’s not about workers, it’s about regular people. I was laughing reading the script, it’s a step to do roles that I’m afraid of and this is it. Surprisingly it was easy to do sexy scenes, we were put on the spot during the photoshoot and we didn’t feel malice at all, I mean it’s already 2019 and people shouldn’t put too much of a big deal about it. I don’t sexualize my own body, we all have differences and we should open our minds more, not to be overly insensitive. What we want, or what they want, we all have to respect each other’s preferences. Before we started, we did immersion, we had to talk to real people who work in the same industry. We saw their heart, it’s why Adela is like that. Our workshops involved how far we could push our maturity. When we arrived on set, we didn’t have any qualms anymore. We shouldn’t judge people quickly, we can change, if you want it you will have to do it yourself.”

RK adds “The last movie was in 2015, I focused in TV series and didn’t make one for a while, when it was offered they told me about the premise but I was so game even if there were some conflicts in schedules. In the even of photos and videos plus social media, we know there is a lot of material out there. If we have preferences, we have to respect that. I got to talk to an escort and his story is just unbelievable, we had to relate to them as they are very human. I hope people get to know the characters, it has more elements, it is a romantic comedy too.”

Now make sure you watch Cuddle Weather as it hits cinemas this September. If you want to see how Sue and RK become a funny, sexy version of themselves, maybe this is a relief from the usual romcom. Get to know Adela Johnson and Ram, they might be your best bet to learn the ropes of falling in love.

The Mina Anud Celebrity Screening

We watched the movie Mina Anud the other day and was surprised how the story was totally different from the usual instagrammable scenic movie it looked like in the posters. It had a rich story. Dark comedy? Yeah, you can say that because it just meshes the realities of poverty, crimes, corruption, extortion, and just about the inane casualties of families, friends and themselves. You will get to see how capable Dennis Trillo is as a prime actor, not too shabby with the body exposures because that’s a given, but in this you’ll see how he struggles with shocking events with his wife, daughter, because they had to resort to some illegal activities just to get by.

Oh and the celebrity screening made it all special, I loved how their friends and family all supported the project.

Mina Anud is still screening on hundreds of theaters nationwide. You’ll love Dennis, the kid and Jerald Napoles in this movie. There, I said it.