BoobooStrider

Watch this and tell me if:

a. American Idol is a scripted show
b. Results are manipulated - Jason Castro is definitely going.
c. Oh crap, Paula Abdul was just on drugs!

Last Year, I found out that our candidate for Miss Universe, Anna Theresa Licaros is a Summa Cum Laude and a member of the Portia Sorrority. Then they focused on her face and that's when I said I know this girl....


She had short hair when we were in college. She even worked as a Student Assistant at the College Secretary's office. I texted Giorjean and she reminded me that she was a Broadcast Communication graduate. We were classmates on our BroadComm 100 and Journ 100 classes. Such a nice girl but I never thought she would become a beauty queen. I always thought she was a tomboy. (Later I found out she has a boyfriend.)

Now, she has two shows (Unang Hirit on GMA and Fit&Fab on Q)! At least she's using what she learned from the College of Mass Communication. Way to go Tere!

PS: So glad you dropped the 'Anna'. People thought it was boring. I somewhat agree. Name is too long for showbiz.

O.M.G.

What the hell did they do to poor Miley Cyrus? I understand Annie Leibovitz is a great fotog and all but why the hell did they allow the poor 15-year-old star to do the vintage Diana Ross pose on Vanity Fair?! She is turning into a Lindsay Lohan and it's too damn soon for that!

Since Brian Gorrell's blog came out, I haven't really decided if I am for it or against it. I completely sympathize with people who have been duped and abused. But hey! A lot of people become victims in different ways every single day. What makes him different? Before I continue, I AM NOT GOING TO BATTLE WITH HIS FANS - let me make that clear. I myself have become a fan because -- let's face it -- we all want out daily dose of gossip, right?

And yet here's another one, a woman this time, who's trying to make use of the WWW to get back at her husband who is divorcing her and trying to evict her from their house. I don't know whether to laugh or cry when I watch this video.

I really hope she gets all the help she needs from a good lawyer.

It took a 10-year-old half-Filipino kid to almost get me to the top of Google's search list! It pays to update immediately! The first minute the I heard about Charlie Green, I posted his video right away and look what it did to me. I know my hits are nowhere near the ones on top of my blog but hey! At least I'm seeing some improvements!

A shoutout to my good pal, Charlie Green! You rock kiddo!

Ouch! This one's gotta hurt. Reuters reported that the Congo Police have arrested 13 suspects accused of using witchcraft to snatch other men's penises or at least give them a downgrade. The town is said to be in a state of panic when the lynchings started and were allegedly done through the practice of black magic.

I was reading several gossip blogs and I've read a lot of bad stuff against Mariah Carey today. I understand her performance on Good Morning America was a disaster. She had a big Ashlee Simpson moment when the pre-recorded back-up vocals started before it was supposed to. In my opinion, she was able to pull through.

Three minutes after, the stupid DJ or tech guy screwed up one more time and the played the back-up vocals once again. She then tried to improvise by singing 'Stop singing my part now baby!'



Whatever. She finished the song well and the crowd went wild. Right now, it hasn't been confirmed if her back-up singer also did a half-ass job. Methinks it's just the pre-recorded vocals that killed it so good luck to the whoever gets the axe.

Meanwhile, Mimi's other performances were great. I said great because of two reasons: her performance of Bye Bye was far better than the one she did on American Idol; and I'm That Chick performance was better than the very bad act on The Hills Premiere.



Mimi has a lot to celebrate though. She has the number 1 album in the US and number 3 in the UK. And in honor of her success, the Empire State Building's light will turn pink, white and lavander from April 25-27.

I've never really been a fan of Iron Man. I think I've used him a couple of times when I played Marvel Vs. Capcom. I do, however, want to watch the new film (coming out April 30 in Manila) because I want to see what this movie would be like compare to other Marvel movies.

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By now, everyone should have realized that American Idol is more of a popularity contest than a talent show. And while the judges (especially Simon Cowell) serve to swing the votes of the finalists' fans, it is inevitable for real talent to be the main qualification for an American Idol.

This week's another shocker, following the boot of Aussie finalist Michael Johns. Carly Smithson made her graceful exit from the show after Syesha Mercado was given yet another week to stay in the competition. Carly gave amazing performances such as her rendition of Mariah Carey's Without You. Unfortunately, her rock-infused performances went to the dogs this week. I hope she does well in her solo career after the show.

QUESTIONS HAUNT US RIGHT NOW.

Why the heck was Brooke White given another week when she made a major blunder on stage when she started on the wrong note and asked the musical director to start all over again?

When will the charming face of Jason Castro be left for the posters and not on the show?

At this point, if David Cook doesn't win, I'm gonna be very pissed. Good thing Leona Lewis was there to save the show with her live performance of the hit song Bleeding Love.

Whoa! It's raining Filipino talents! This time it's 10-year-old Charlie Green, who wowed the Britain's Got Talent judges on its second episode. His father is British and his mom is Filipina who also appear on this video. He's an amazing kid!

Here's another Filipino talent who is making waves abroad. Very touching performance. Thank you Simon Cowell for not being an arse for just this one moment.



*Special thanks to Daphne Osena for this video

In 2005, the workplace was filled with panic. People were surrounding a co-worker while watching him suffer from a strange illness. *Joey's left cheek literally froze which made him appear to have suffered a stroke. He was only 23.

He didn't go to work the next day. We just received news from his parents that he suffered from facial paralysis or Bell's palsy. Bell's palsy is a sudden facial paralysis which, according to statistics, is more common to people aged 25-35.

He resigned from work immediately and wrote us from the US and said he was being treated for his illness. Sadly, he was not immediately referred to any of the local doctors who could help him. He went to the U.S. to receive treatment after watching another victim of facial paralysis on TV.


If you can recall, Mary Jo Buttafuoco appeared on both the Entertainment Tonight and The Oprah Winfrey Show after she unveiled the results of a facial reconstruction procedure. Mary Jo was shot by Amy Fisher, a woman who was having an affair with her husband. She was shot on the face which caused ear damage and facial paralysis. She was then treated by Dr. Babak Azizzadeh, a reconstructive surgeon and Director of the Facial Paralysis Institute.

According to Oprah.com, Mary Jo received three treatments. First was asymmetric facelift which brought back the smile on her face. Then, they widened her ear canal which helped improve her hearing. Finally, she was assisted by a physical therapist in order to strengthen her facial muscles.


Luckily, the procedure was successful. I couldn't help but wonder if Joey's was also a success.

It was in 2005 when my Dubai dream was born. I applied for several jobs in Dubai and got called for interviews. I even came close to actually landing on a job. Unfortunately for me, I got [sort of] duped and some other bad thing happened so the trip was cancelled. Good thing a promotion helped me ease the pain.

Dubai is the fastest-growing city today. Here's a proof:


And it's getting even bigger by the minute. To date, it is said that Dubai has almost 25% of the world's cranes:


They also have the most expensive construction projects and the most breathtaking ones as well. Here's one of them: the Dubai Waterfront which is said to be the largest waterfront development in the world.


This is called The Palm Islands, which is made up of massive man made islands, using the latest technology available. When this is completed, it will be able to accomodate a whopping 500,000 people with its 2,000 villas, 40 luxury hotels, shopping centers, movie theaters, and many other facilities.

The marvelous city will also be the home of the future tallest building on the world, the Burj Dubai. Its entire 800 meter-high structure will be completed this year.


The city is so hot right now, it even attracted real estate mogul Donald Trump to build his Trump International Hotel and Tower, which will be located on one of the Palm Islands.

When I first heard of the news about Naomi Campbell's arrest, I laughed it off. Could she really be that mean? She allegedly spat at an office at London Heathrow's Terminal 5.


I don't remember if it was CBS Evening News which did a full story on the history of her arrests (emphasis on the 'S') and I was appalled when they reported that she's been sued for throwing phones (both cellphones and hotel phones) at her assistants almost every two years!


Anyway, I found this video on YouTube today and I couldn't stop laughing. Dunkin Donuts did a perfect job on cashing in on the supermodel's bad behavior. I wonder when this was released:

I started watching cycle 10 of America's Next Top Model this week and I have to say that this is probably the cycle with the best-looking finalists. I think it's too early to pick a possible winner (I have yet to watch the 6th episode) but I think the Somalian beauty Fatima should win, but she definitely has to get rid of her hairy armpits.

Wow, this is pretty exciting! Fortunately, Q-11 will have replays of the AI episodes for this week so I will be able to watch the Mariah Carey day on American Idol. Thank goodness for YouTube I have these videos. Which one's your fave rendition?



David Cook does 'Always be my baby'



Carly Smithson does 'Without You'



David Archuleta does 'When You Believe'

I was quickly looking for Ramiele's video then it suddenly occurred to me that she was already eliminated hehehe... Sayang! She would have done a phenomenal job. But with the remaining 7 finalists, I thought David Cook was the real winner. He added drama and a smidgen of rock effect to one of my Mariah favorites. It was so dramatic I almost cried while listening to the song... ewan! I heard kasi that he dedicated the song to his brother who is battling a serious disease. Dramz...

I thought Carly Smithson was also great. I have to agree with Simon that it's pretty predictable that David Archuleta picked 'When You Believe'. The kid's got the diva thing going! Haha!

As for the others: Jason Castro's number was charming as usual. He should thank his parents for his nice eyes. Without them, he would have been eliminated weeks ago. Charm baby charm. Brooke White was trying hard to be dramatic. The song is pretty dramatic but we didn't see that in the end. Syesha Mercado, on the other hand, did not quite pull off her inner Mariah. I was expecting more from this girl. She did hit the high notes but there was something missing there.

As for Kristie Lee Cook: YOU HAVE TO GO! NOW!

I hate job interviews. I have yet to learn the art of preparing for one. But since I am still left without a home in our huge organization, I am obliged to spruce up for several interviews with the managers of the existing departments. Last Friday, I had my first in almost 10 months (i think). It was pleasant though I thought I sucked in answering the interviewer's 'intellectual' questions.

Today's interview was surprisingly pleasant as well. I learned that the interviewer was someone I worked with in Clark. We were not really close back then but she was very close with my former manager. I was surprised when she told me that he (a.k.a. former manager) had the highest regard for me. I was beginning to put a smile back on my face when the inevitable question was then asked.

WHAT HAPPENED?

What happened to you? What happened to your career? What happened to you life?
It's the number question I've been trying so hard to avoid since I got back from CamSur. My life has been some sort of an emotional trainwreck since I started being on a floating status.

And I think there's only one statement that can best answer it: Shit happens.

I had no energy for blogging for the past two weeks because of my crazy state in the workplace. Last week, I was interviewed for two new posts (one in Makati and another somewhere else). I am still employed but not working and I am so anxious to get my hands on something again. We were informed that the results would come out last week but as of this writing, I've checked my mail twice and almost bumped into the manager who interviewed us and still no word on our pending applications.

Life stinks at the moment.

On the other hand, I am happy about the recent development in Philippine television. You should have heard by now that Project Runway's Philippine version will be shown soon on ETC. Pinoy Idol started two weeks ago. Wheel of Fortune is still crazy (with the contestants wishing their opponents to go bankrupt! Silly bastards!)

Speaking of Pinoy Idol, I have to say that I was very impressed when I watched the first two episodes. Raymond doing an excellent job. Wyngard Tracy is an excellent Pinoy version of Simon Cowell. His ugly remarks are more hilarious than insulting. And surprisingly, Jolina does a great job in being a Paula Abdul. She cries and cries when she says NO to a contestant. I just wish she would say more than 'Para sakin No'.

I am impressed GMA 7. I remember when I was younger that I would always insult GMA shows because they were always looking cheap and out of budget. But now that they're probably earning with ratings surpassing that of ABS-CBN's, they've completely improved.

And the latest chix I got is that they've earned the franchise of Survivor. Rumor has it that the US version will be filming the next season on an island in Camarines Sur. I hope the terrorists would stay away from the contestants.



Who's hosting Survivor Philippines? A PEP.ph writer wishes that it would be Paolo Bediones. For me, I think they should hire someone unknown, like the way they hired Jeff Probst years ago for Survivor Borneo.

Hi folks,

I need your help! I need volunteers whom I can interview for this piece I am working on. If you know people who:

-had or are in a relationship with their teacher or professor
-are below 25 and are already into plastic surgery

Please email me bk_santos@yahoo.com. The piece will come out on Inquirer's 2bu! HELP!!

Thanks!

pika