Pinoy artist wins silver award at Florence Biennale

A Filipino artist reaped an honor for the Philippines after winning an award at the recently concluded prestigious international art event in Florence, Italy.

Maximino Balatbat, also known as Maxbal, received the Lorenzo Il Magnifico silver award for his painting entry called "Avenida Manila" at the 7th Florence Biennale held from December 5 to 13 at the historical Fortezza da Basso.

Read more reports by ABS-CBN news.

Maximo Balatbat (right)

(Photo from maxbal.multiply.com)

Charice awarded Best Oprah Show Musical Performance

Teen singing sensation Charice Pempengco beat Whitney Houston, James Taylor, Michael Bublé, Journey and the Black Eyed Peas to cop the “Best Oprah Show Musical Performance” honor.

The 17-year-old was the runaway winner in the online poll on Oprah.com as she received 70% of the votes for her “Note to God” performance.

“Note to God” is her debut international single which she launched on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” on May 18. The song, written by Diane Warren and produced by David Foster, peaked at No. 35 in the Canadian Hot 100 and No. 44 in the US Billboard Hot 100.

Other groups with Filipino members such as The Black Eyed Peas, with Apl de Ap got 9% of the votes for their “I Gotta Feelin’” kickoff party performance and Journey, fronted by Filipino Arnel Pineda, was nominated for “Don’t Stop Believin”.

Charice is also included in the live action-animation movie “Alvin and the Chipmunks 2: The Sqeakquel” to be released in 2010.

Sandra Seifert Won 2009 Miss Earth Air

Miss Philippines Earth, Sandra Seifert is Miss Earth Air, (First runner-up) in the recently held Miss Earth 2009 at the Ecovillage Convention Center in Boracay Island.


The 2009 Miss Earth Winner is Miss Brazil, Larissa Ramos.

Sandra Seifert also bagged some special awards including Best in Long Gown, Best in Swimsuit and Miss Jubilee Presidents’ Foundation.

The other beauties who entered the Top Eight:
Thailand – Rujinan Phanseethum
Brazil – Larissa Ramos
Poland – Izabela Wilczek
Martinique – Pascale Nelide
Spain – Alejandra Echevarria
Venezuela – Jessica Barboza
Philippines – Sandra Seifert
Colombia – Alejandra Castillo Múnera

Rap Salazar at The Ellen DeGeneres Show

Rap Salazar, ABS-CBN former Little Big Star grand champion debuted his singing talent in Hollywood at the Ellen DeGeneres Show. Salazar who won the title as the grand champion in ABS-CBN's singing competition also the coveted titles as Junior Grand Champion Solo Vocalist of the World, and Junior Grand Champion Performer of the World in the 13th World Championships of Performing Arts (WCOPA) 2009, also known as the “Talent Olympics”.

Salazar's friend, Charice Pempengco, also started her Hollywood break after she performed at Ellen's.

Here is Rap Salazar's performance at Ellen's:

Miss Earth 2009 Candidates List Cut Short

Miss Earth 2009 registered 91 contestants from different countries, but only 80 left vying for the Miss Earth 2009 crown.

Ten(10) candidates withdrew earlier while 1 candidate was disqualified because of height restrictions. Miss Botswana Tumisang Sebina was disqualified because she was deemed too short for the pageant’s height requirement.

The contestants who withdrew from the pageant were:

Bolivia, Noemi Dominique Rosa Peltier De Liotta
Bosnia & Herzegovina, Lejla Adrovic
Croatia, Vinka Groseta
Curacao, Amada Beatrix Hernandez
Ethiopia, Genet Denboba Ogeto
Kazakhstan, Inessa Nazarova
Malawi, Queen Christie Tiembo
Romania, Roxana Ilie
Vietnam, Truong Thi May
Zambia, Esther Sitali Banda

Watch Miss Earth 2009 LIVE on November 22, 2009 on ABS-CBN. The Miss Earth 2009 will be held at Convention Center in Boracay!

Miss Philippines Sandra Seifert - Miss Earth 2009 Best in Swimsuit

(photo by Jory Rivera for OPMB)

Miss Philippines candidate Sandra Seifert bested 14 other finalists for the Best in Swimsuit title in Miss Earth 2009. This is the first time that the Philippines won in the Swimsuit competition.

The Best in Swimsuit finals was held Saturday night, November 14, at the Fontana Leisure Park and Casino in Pampanga.

Watch the 2009 Miss Earth Live on ABS-CBN, the official media partner of the Miss Earth Foundation.

Miss Sandra Seifert was once a candidate for Bb. Pilipinas but was disqualified two days before the finals night. The Bb. Pilipinas management said the disqualification was due to sexy pictorials of Seifert to FHM Magazine.

The 2009 Miss Earth coronation night will be on November 22, 2009 at the Convention Center in Boracay.

Watch Miss Earth 2009 LIVE

Don't miss to watch one of the largest beauty pageants in the world, Watch Miss Earth 2009 LIVE! This 2009, about 90 contestants from different countries and territories are expected to compete in this year’s Miss Earth. The Boracay Ecovillage Resort and Convention Center in the colorful island of Boracay will host the 2009 Miss Earth Pageant. The only mountain resort in the island that allows you to enjoy the white sand and turquoise water of Puka Beach as well as the rich nature of the vicinity and its flora and fauna.

The Miss Earth winner serves as the spokesperson for the Miss Earth Foundation, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and other environmental organizations.

Miss Earth pageant will be on November 22, 2009. Outgoing titleholder Miss Earth 2008 Karla Henry of the Philippines will crown her successor. Watch Miss Earth 2009 LIVE coronation night, just check your local listings.

So watch out for Miss Earth Pageant live on ABS-CBN on November 22, 2009.

Pinoy shows at the International Emmys

Filipino TV shows are quiet improving today and to this coming International Emmy Awards, three entries from the Philippines are nominated in different categories.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS
Angel Locsin
The Wolf (Lobo)
ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation

TELENOVELA
Magdusa Ka
GMA Network, Inc.

A Time for Us (Kahit Isang Saglit)
ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation / Double Vision SDN BHD

It's the first time for Ms. Angel Locsin to be nominated in a prestigious award internationally, so when asked about it, she said she was very excited and felt honored being one of the nominees. Even though she will not take home the award, she's already happy that her acting was noticed. Lobo or The Wolf is the first "Teleserye" of Locsin with ABS-CBN.

Another entry from ABS-CBN is the "teleserye" team up of Jericho Rosales and Malaysian actress Carmen Soo, Kahit Isang Saglit or the english title A Time For Us, nominated in a Telenovela Category. This was a co-project of ABS-CBN with Double Vision Malaysia.

GMA Network, Inc. also has its entry for Telenovela Category, "Magdusa Ka" starring Katrina Halili and Dennis Trillo.

The International World Emmy Television Festival will be held on November 21 & 22, 2009 at the Sofitel Hotel, New York. And the 37th International Emmy Awards will take place Monday, November 23, 2009 at the Hilton Hotel, New York to be hosted by British comedian, Graham Norton.

View the full list of Nominees for the 37th International Emmy Awards.

Filipino beauties who conquered Miss Universe Pageant

Philippines have won the Miss Universe title twice already back in 1969 and in 1973. In 1969, 19-year-old Gloria Maria Aspillera Díaz, an eighteen year old Miss Philippines won the first title for the country. She was the third Asian to win the title. The pageant that time was held in Miami Beach, Florida, USA.

Gloria Diaz, Miss Universe 1969

The second Filipina who won the Miss Universe title is Miss Margarita Moran in 1973. The Miss Universe 1973 pageant was held at the 2,000-year-old amphitheatre of Odeon of Herodes Atticus, at the foot of the Acropolis in Athens, Greece. Margarita Moran, was also picked as Miss Photogenic during the preliminary judging.

Margarita Moran, Miss Universe 1973

Other beauties who represented the country and awarded runner ups and received special awards were:

• Miss Philippines Universe Vida Valentina Doria - 1971 Miss Photogenic
• Miss Philippines Universe Maria Margarita Moran - 1973 Miss Photogenic
• Miss Philippines Universe Ailleen Damiles - 1996 Miss Photogenic
• Miss Philippines Universe Abbygale Arenas - 1997 Miss Photogenic
• Miss Philippines Universe Gionna Cabrera - 2005 Miss Photogenic
• Miss Philippines Universe Lia Andrea Ramos - 2006 Miss Photogenic
• Miss Philippines Universe Anna Theresa Licaros - 2007 Miss Photogenic

Interesting fact: Philippines has the most number of candidates who won the Miss Photogenic award.

1. Philippines (7)- 1971, 1973, 1996, 1997, 2005, 2006, 2007
2. Puerto Rico (5)- 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004
3. England (5)- 1959, 1962, 1976, 1979, 1988
4. Spain (3)- 1984, 1993, 2000
5. Italy (3)- 1960, 1964, 1986

In 2008, for the first time since the award's inception, no Miss Photogenic Award was given.

• Miss Philippines Universe Charlene Gonzalez - 1994 Best Hair/Style Award(tie with Miss Belgium); Best National Costume; Top 6 Finalist
• Miss Philippines Universe Mirriam Quiambao - 1999 1st Runner-Up

Baras Beach Resort

View from the top

Baras Beach Resort, located in Brgy. Lawi, Jordan, Guimaras is one cool place you can spend your summer along with your family and friends. It is actually an island and you need to take a small boat or "bangka de motor", (that's what the locals call it) to get there.

Last December 2008, my friends and I spent a one day vacation there. From the port of Iloilo City, we took a pump boat going to Guimaras, and from the port of Jordan, we need to find a jeepney going to San Miguel. Then from there we took a tricycle going to Brgy. Lawi and we rented a small "bangka de motor" (with a capacity of 10 people) to take us to the island where the resort is.

We actually passed at the "pawikan" (sea turtles) reserve station and took some pictures of these endangered species. It took us 20 minutes to reach the resort from the pawikan station. When we reached there, we unloaded our baggage and went straight to our cottage. Their rates are not really that pricey, infact we were surprised that we only paid P1200 for the cottage composed of 3 double beds complete with pillows and blankets perfect for the 6 of us. Plus they provided towels and mosquito nets. The most exciting is that, there is no electricity in the island, only generators, but they started the lights on around 6:00 p.m. and lights off at around 11:00 p.m.

Cottage above a huge rock

If you are looking for a perfect place to do anything you want, Baras Beach Resort can provide you with that. You can keep yourself busy playing darts, volleyball, basketball, billiards, rowing, snorkeling, hiking and of course swimming! Their cottages are uniquely situated above huge rocks and are apart from each other, so you wouldn't be disturbed by others when you want to go on a retreat there.

If you are on a tight budget, you can bring food along with you, anyway you can cook your own food there and store it in their fridge.

Perfect for boating and rowing!

Very clear water

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