Yes, it's Official!

After she was rumored to appear in Glee, she went and auditioned anyway.. and yes, she got in.

Charice is officially included in Glee's second season which begins in September. I have mixed feelings about it, but the dominant feeling is excitement. She will not be a regular but will have a recurring role in the series.

Woohoo! Pinoy Pride!

Mabuhay ka, Charice! :)

Pacman Makes History

With another impressive win today against Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico, Manny Pacquiao has cemented his legacy by making history. It was not an easy fight with the power and heart of Cotto, not to mention his size advantage, but Pacman was just too good, he was just too much for the valiant Puerto Rican. The cocky Floyd Mayweather, who came back from retirement to supposedly challenge Pacman, may have second thoughts after Pacquiao did what no fighter has done before - win a belt in a seventh weight class. More impressive, though, is how he has fought, dismantling opponents despite moving up consistently from 106 pounds to the 144 he weighed for the fight.

I've said this a million times before, I'll say it once again -

I'm damn proud to be PINOY! ♥

Proud to be Pinoy

Case Closed.

Manny Pacquiao just cemented his place in history as the Best Pound-for-Pound boxer in the world, even better than Floyd Mayweather, Jr., the undefeated champion who previously owned the pound-for-pound title. And looking at Mayweather and Pacquiao's last fights, it's not even close. He may be smaller, but he's way too talented than Floyd. Pacquiao's speed and power are just incomparable.

As expected by most, Pacman demolished the Hitman, Ricky Hatton of Britain. What was not expected though was how fast it took for Manny to do it. Hatton hit the canvass thrice, the third one was the most fatal. All in all, Pacman destroyed the Hitman in less than two rounds (359 seconds) of their mega-fight in Las Vegas, Nevada. Before the fight, Hatton was very cocky and arrogant in saying that he'll be Pacman's biggest opponent in the ring. He failed to mention that he'll also be the worst, the fastest to fall among Pacman's opponents.

Just another reason to say how proud I am to be a Filipino. And not only because of Pacman's impressive win, but also because my idol, my greatest musical influence, Martin Nievera, was the one who sang the Philippine National Anthem and he sang it the way it's supposed to be sung. It was an excellent decision by Pacman in choosing Martin, as it was Tom Jones himself who sang Britain's National Anthem, God Save the Queen. Martin's version was both amazing and inspiring. I've listened and sang Martin's songs all my life, but his version of the Lupang Hinirang gives me goosebumps every time I listen to it, and take note, it was approved by the National Historic Institute. In singing the song, he wore a Three Stars and a Sun shirt under his sports jacket. The shirt was designed by the late-great Francis M.

After Manny chose him, Martin said, "My role is very, very small, although in my career it's very, very big because I feel that the national anthem is actually the round one. And I have to get the first punch with a great performance sana, great delivery, great interpretation, of the 'Lupang Hinirang.'"

And before I forget, WWE Champion Batista was beside Manny when he walked from the locker room to the ring. Another Filipino doing good in the world stage. Another reason to make us proud.

Mabuhay Manny! Mabuhay Martin! Mabuhay Dave (Batista)!

Susan Boyle

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

Martin Luthor King, Jr.


Discrimination is universal. I don't think there is anyone in this world who have not experienced being discriminated at some time in their lives. I know I have - A LOT of times. That is one of the reasons why I usually root for the underdogs. Seeing an underdog surpass expectations and prove her detractors wrong is just priceless.

And recently, in the TV show Britain's Got Talent, an underdog brought almost everyone to tears and brought the house down. Her name is Susan Boyle, an unemployed 47 year old lady.

When she walked out on stage, you could tell no one expected her to do well and when she gave a little hip gyration before she started singing, you could tell by the looks some people were giving her that they expected her to flop, big time. But she had the last laugh when she belted out a song no one expected her to be able to sing. Her performance was near flawless and her personality makes you like her right away. I wasn't able to control my tears watching the video, and I'm sure I'm not the only one.

When she started singing "I Dreamed A Dream" from Les Miserables, she was quickly rewarded with a standing ovation as well as shocked faces from the judges. Simon Cowell sat with a huge smile on his face as she sang. The audience stood and clapped as she gave an emotional performance and then started to walk off the stage when she was done.

The judges had to call her back to let her know how shocked they were as well as to tell her she received three yeses from them. One of the judges, Pierce Morgan, told her that he was giving her the biggest yes he has ever given anybody.“I am so thrilled because I knew everybody was against you, I honestly think that we were all being very cynical and I think that’s the biggest wake up call ever,” were the words of Amanda Holden, a judge on the show, referring to how dismissive the audience was of Boyle before she took the stage.

Until now, I never get tired of watching the video again and again, and every single time, it still makes me cry. I was a part of the Les Miserables cast for more than ten years, and I've heard a lot of interpretations of "I Dreamed a Dream" but Miss Boyle's version made me cry after hearing just the first line of the song. She is simply amazing.

Susan Boyle may have shocked the audience with her stunning singing talent and her vibrant bubbly personality before her performance, but according to Yahoo! Buzz, she was the shocked one when her church gave her a standing ovation when she walked in.

Susan said she has always dreamed of becoming a singer, her voice was a stunning surprise and I'm sure I'm not the only one wondering how no one found her before now. You can't always go by first impressions and this is a perfect example of why that is true.

The thing that people seem to look at first is looks, but this is a talent competition not a beauty contest. We will be seeing a lot more from Susan Boyle, her voice will be gracing the airwaves even if she doesn't win this competition.

Proud Papa

My daughter got the Academic Excellence Award for the second straight school year today, her second year in semi-formal education. Last year was sweet because it was her first time, but this year was sweeter because it wasn't easy. She had a stricter teacher this year, and the lessons were... let's just say, lessons that even I needed to read through her books again and again just to help her with her assignments, and she's only six years old.

I wasn't able to control my emotions when I went up the stage with her to get her medal, as tears fell from my eyes. As my daughter said, "I am growing up and Papa is growing old..." I am not yet old, but I am getting older. Time flies so fast, I can still remember when I went up onstage to *ahem* get my medals too.

It was not easy, but she did it again. Hay, I'm so proud to be the father of this little girl. She deserves even a short break so right this moment, while I'm at the office, she's already in Davao with her mom and grandmom. I will hopefully follow them tomorrow after my shift.

Can't wait for our long-postponed vacation! Next time I'll be blogging from Davao del Norte... or is it Davao del Sur? Whatever! As long as I'll be on vacation!

Till then.